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🎯 UK banking giant Barclays sued over ex-CEO Jes Staley’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Investors said Barclays concealed or made misleading statements about Staley’s and Epstein’s relationship in public statements and regulatory disclosures. Reuters
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🌎 Far from war in Gaza, Hamas chief oversees vast financial network. Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of the militant group’s political bureau, lives in Qatar and controls assets across the Middle East now under U.S. scrutiny. WaPo
🌎 US intel suggests Syria’s Assad agreed to send Russian missile system to Hezbollah with Wagner group help. The Russian mercenaries, which operate in Syria, have been tasked with carrying out the delivery of the surface-to-air SA-22 missile system. CNN
🌎 U.S. Treasury Designates Virtual Currency Money Launderer for Russian Elites and Cybercriminal. Treasury said an unnamed Russian oligarch asked Ekaterina Zhdanova for help in transferring over $100 million in assets. Block
🌎 Sam Bankman-Fried Guilty on All 7 Counts in FTX Fraud Trial. A tentative sentencing date was set for March 28, 2024. Bankman-Fried could spend decades in prison and potentially up to 115 years. CoinDesk
🌎 US imposes sweeping new sanctions targeting Russia over war in Ukraine. The latest measures target a major entity involved in the development, operation and ownership of a massive project in Siberia known as Arctic-2 LNG. Reuters
🌎 Prophecy Fund Co-Founder Pleads Guilty to $294 Million Fraud. In August, Kahn led a $2.6B management buyout of Franchise Group, which owns brands including Vitamin Shoppe and Sylvan Learning. Bloomberg
🌎 Prisoners’ Dreams to Stash $54M in Crypto in Exotic Locales Dashed as Feds Grab Them for Treasury. While convicted traffickers sought the best offshore destination for crypto riches, U.S. authorities say they listened in and pounced on the ill-gotten gains from darknet drug sales. CoinDesk
🌎 FBI investigation of NYC Mayor Eric Adams fundraiser centers on illegal contributions from foreign nationals. The scheme would have allowed money coming from foreign business entities to be masked as donations from American citizens who did not actually donate the money. CNN
🌎 Singapore’s biggest money-laundering case has links to Chinese gamblers. Gambling has long been illegal in China, except in Macau, whose casinos had hitherto been exploited by high rollers not only for gambling, but also to evade the country’s strict capital controls. Economist
🌎 Designation of Kosovan Public Official Nexhat Krasniqi for Significant Corruption. The U.S. is designating the former Director of the Department of Procurement at the Kosovo Ministry of Trade and Industry, as generally ineligible for entry into the United States. U.S. State Department
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