Happy Friday!  It’s March 1, and we’re tracking top stories, podcasts, and reports to take you into the weekend: Pig-butchering scams net criminals $75B in stolen crypto, Fed announces termination of Société Générale enforcement action, Boeing hit with $51M export violations penalty, a NYC housewife's salacious lawsuit against Bravo, and much more...   

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Featured Story

🎯 'Pig-butchering' scams have netted criminals $75B in stolen crypto. Victims send money for fake investments and are ghosted soon after. BI 

Top Stories

🌎 Federal Reserve Board announces termination of enforcement action with Société Générale. The action was related to SocGen’s deficient AML/CFT controls. Fed

🌎 Boeing to pay a $51M civil penalty to resolve export violations. Three Chinese workers at Boeing facilities downloaded export-controlled technical data involving multiple DOD assets. UPI

🌎 ‘Dark Secrets,’ ‘Psychological Warfare,’ and Cocaine. NYC housewife speaks about a new lawsuit against Andy Cohen and Bravo in which she alleges all of these things (and more) created a “rotted workplace culture.” NYT

🌎 YouTuber Finds Her AI Clone Selling Russian Goods on Chinese Internet. Speaking Mandarin and promoting love for China, countless videos of foreign-looking women started popping up on Chinese social media platforms. VOA

🌎 Putin plans to stoke conflict in Africa with private militias, 'weaponizing' the flow of migrants. Russia is trying to destabilize Europe and influence its elections by driving migrants into the continent using private armies. Daily Mail

🌎 Russian man who smuggled military technology to Russia pleads guilty in US court. Marchenko used shell companies to conceal fraudulent procurement of OLED micro-displays. Reuters

🌎 Biden To Give $850M to a Chinese-Owned Battery Company. KORE Power loan meant to combat China’s grip on the global market and 'strengthen domestic battery supply chain'. Free Beacon

🌎 The Man Who Now Controls the U.S. Border. López Obrador has seemingly gone out of his way to show deference to crime figures – most notoriously in a video clip of him walking down a dirt road towards El Chapo’s mom’s car. Atlantic

🌎 Deutsche Bank to file liquidation suit against Chinese developer Shimao. $11.7B worth of offshore debt is deemed to be in default. Reuters

🌎 Elon Musk sues OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, claiming betrayal of its goal to benefit humanity. Under its founding agreement, OpenAI would make its code open to the public instead of walling it off for private gain. AP

🌎 Ransomware attack on U.S. health care payment processor ‘most serious incident of its kind’. American Hospital Association CEO says effects of the attack "are continuing to be felt throughout the entire health care system." CNBC

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 Yellen says G7 still working on ways to tap frozen Russian assets Reuters

🇷🇺 Russia Uses Price Floor for First Time to Protect Government Oil Revenue From Sanctions Bloomberg

🇷🇺 US Expands Sanctions on Russia, Targets Kyrgyz Companies ProffLab and Muller Markt BNN

🇷🇺 Inside the brazen Arctic trip supplying Putin’s flagship energy scheme FT

GET MORE NEWS AT ILLICIT EDGE!

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China

🇨🇳 Imports Under Closely Watched U.S. Trade ‘Loophole’ Surge WSJ

🇨🇳 US Sees China’s Space Threat Growing at ‘Breathtaking Pace’ Bloomberg

🇨🇳 China repatriates hundreds of scam factory survivors DW

🇨🇳 China’s war on corruption doubles punishment for bribery SCMP

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Trump Media sued by co-founders ahead of DWAC merger CNBC

💸 Who fakes cancer research? Apparently, lots of people. Vox

💸 HealthCare-dot-gov enrollees will also receive voter registration emails NexGov

💸 Chemours’s stock plunges on news that accounting issues are much worse than first thought Marketwatch

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Trafficking

🚚 Federal judge blocks enforcement of controversial Texas immigration law CNN

🚚 Former Brazilian news anchor arrested for trafficking drugs was top 'supplier' for drug dealers Daily Mail

🚚 Myanmar’s controversial timber trade persists, despite sanctions ICIJ

🚚 Oregon’s pioneering drug decriminalization effort faces rollback WaPo

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Nigeria Detains Binance Executives as It Investigates the Crypto Exchange CoinDesk

🔐 Here Come the AI Worms Wired

🔐 North Korean hackers exploit Windows zero-day flaw Record

🔐 The FBI Is Using Push Notifications to Catch Sexual Predators Gizmodo

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Pods & Reports

📌 Treasury in the Time of Russia Sanctions: Insights with Liz Rosenberg RUSI

📌 Sanctions Past, Present, and Future with OFAC Director Brad Smith Lawfare

📌 FBI Director Wray talks takedown operations, nation-state hackers, and growing threats in cyberspace Record

📌 Do sanctions still work as a weapon of war? Economist

📌 DOD Fraud Risk Management: Enhanced Data Analytics Can Help Manage Fraud Risks GAO

📌 Building Resilience: UNODC's Multifaceted Approach to Empower Iraq Against Financial Crimes UNODC

Have a wonderful weekend!

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