Happy Friday!  It’s August 2, and we’re tracking top stories to take you into the weekend: Police in Sydney seize meth worth $828M hidden inside machinery, Wells Fargo faces government probe on AML/sanctions, DOJ trial program offers millions for tips on fraud, U.S. Treasury names acting senior sanctions official, and much more...     

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🎯 Police in Sydney seize meth worth $828M hidden inside machinery. Feds charge 31-year-old man after drugs found in shipping container from U.S. at Port Botany. Guardian 

Top Stories

🌎 Wells Fargo faces government probe on AML, sanctions. Wells didn’t specify which government was inquiring about its practices or what was being probed. Reuters

🌎 DOJ Trial Program Offers Millions for Tips on Fraud, Bribery. The program will fill gaps left by awards programs at agencies such as SEC, pointing to settlements involving Binance and Glencore as examples. WSJ

🌎 U.S. Treasury names acting senior sanctions official. Smith's appointment comes as the U.S. seeks to increase pressure on Russia and maintains punitive measures against Iran. Reuters

💸 Don’t Use Economic Policy as a Tool of Foreign Policy Manhattan Institute

🌎 Russian hackers use fake luxury car ads to target diplomats. In one example, the hackers created an online advertisement for a 2009 Audi Q7 Quattro SUV for about 5,500 Euros. Axios

🌎 $10M cash withdrawal drove secret probe into whether Trump took money from Egypt. Political appointees rejected efforts to search for additional evidence investigators believed might provide answers. WaPo

🌎 GLAAD’s Sarah Kate Ellis Under Fire After Investigation Into Spending. Months of expense reports, lavish travel costs, rental in popular summer vacation destination, and a home office renovation back concerns. Hollywood Reporter

🌎 He Was an FBI Informant – and Inspired a Generation of Violent Extremists. Joshua Sutter infiltrated far-right extremist organizations as a confidential FBI informant, all while promoting hateful ideologies. Wired

🌎 Inside the dark world of dognapping. In one case, two thieves distracted a pet store clerk while the other snatched a puppy from a display kennel by the front door. Conversation

🌎 Inside the Secret Negotiations to Free Evan Gershkovich. The effort unfolded on three continents, involving spy agencies, billionaires, political power players and his mom. WSJ

🧐 Who the West gave up in the prisoner swap that freed Evan Gershkovich NYP

IN THE NEWS

Terror

💥 Families of late 9/11 heroes still fighting Saudi Arabia after mastermind KSM’s shock plea deal NYP

💥 Statement Of U.S. Attorney On The Conviction Of Haji Abdul Satar Abdul Manaf DOJ

💥 ISIS-K Goes Global Foreign Affairs

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China

🇨🇳 China’s swimming doping controversy making waves at Paris Olympics LAT

🇨🇳 Russia, China leading wave of ‘unprecedented’ intelligence threats to U.S. VOA

🇨🇳 Taiwan government-backed research organization targeted by APT41 hackers Record

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Russia

🇷🇺 Police hunt scammers after takedown of Russian Coms fraud platform Computer Weekly

🇷🇺 EU snubs Hungary and Slovakia over Ukraine oil sanctions Politico

🇷🇺 Estonia To Step Up Checks On Russian Border Over Sanctions Bypassing AFP

🇷🇺 Hungary says Croatia 'unreliable' when it comes to oil transit Reuters

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 The Shame of Saint Ann’s NY Mag

💸 Short-Seller Andrew Left’s Deleted Tweets Reappear in Fraud Case Bloomberg

💸 Vatican judge under investigation for allegedly favoring the mob Crux

💸 GPB Capital Founder Gentile Found Guilty in Ponzi-Like Fraud Bloomberg

💸 A Lawsuit Promises Justice for Rio Tinto’s Mining Disaster in Bougainville OCCRP

💸 British tech tycoon: I only got justice because I'm rich BBC

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Montenegro to Extradite Do Kwon to South Korea CoinDesk

🔐 $500 Open-Source Tool Lets Anyone Hack Computer Chips With Lasers Wired

🔐 Man Pleads Guilty to Theft After Crypto.com Refunded Him $6M Instead of $65 Decrypt

🔐 FBI warns of scammers posing as crypto exchange employees Bleepingcomputer

🔐 Ransomware attack forces hundreds of small Indian banks offline Reuters

🔐 DeFi Protocol Convergence Hacked, CVG Token Plunges 99% on Curve CoinDesk

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

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