Greetings! It’s June 7, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: U.S. Treasuries blacklisted by German ESG law, OneTaste charged with forced labor conspiracy, DHS gave risk scores to social media users, the companies who remain in Russia despite sanctions, and much more…

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Featured Story

🎯US Treasuries Blacklisted by German State as ESG Law Takes Hold. The new environmental, social and governance filters have resulted in US Treasuries ending up on an investing blacklist, due to America’s failure to ratify a number of treaties. [more]

Top Stories

🔸Founder, ex-executive of edgy company OneTaste charged with forced labor conspiracy. Two former executives of company known for offering “orgasmic meditation” sessions have been charged with psychological abuse and economic exploitation. [more]

🔸'Night Fury': Documents Detail DHS Project to Give 'Risk Scores' to Social Media Users. Internal DHS documents detail a plan to monitor social media for content related to terrorists, the illegal opioid trade, and foreign interference bots. [more]

🔸Over 1,000 Companies Have Curtailed Operations in Russia – But Some Remain. Over 1,000 companies have publicly announced they are voluntarily curtailing operations in Russia beyond the bare minimum required by international sanctions — but some companies have continued to operate undeterred. [more]

🔸U.S. had intelligence of detailed Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream pipeline. Three months before saboteurs bombed the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, the Biden administration learned from a close ally that the Ukrainian military had planned a covert attack. [more]

🔸Mark Meadows testified to federal grand jury in special counsel probe of Trump. Meadows was ordered to testify and provide documents after a judge rejected Trump’s claims of executive privilege. [more]

🔸US sanctions group of people and firms from Iran, China and Hong Kong tied to Iran ballistic program. Targets include the China-based firm Zhejiang Qingji, which sold centrifuges and other materials to an Iran-based firm affiliated with the nation’s defense ministry. [more]

🔸UK unveils plan to strip Chinese cameras from government buildings. Cabinet Office will create a National Security Procurement Unit and publish a timeline for the removal of cameras produced by companies subject to China’s National Security Law. [more]

🔸How to Build a Compliant Crypto Exchange Post-Coinbase. Crypto isn’t going anywhere – though Coinbase might – so what the market needs is a fresh start: new exchanges that can avoid the ever-present threat of SEC enforcement by being structured correctly in the first place. [more]

🔸Treasury sanctions Mexican cartel members for arms trafficking, fuel theft, money laundering. Treasury also sanctioned Mary Cruz Rodriguez Aguirre for helping to launder the CJNG's illicit funds between the U.S. and Mexico. [more]

Exclusive Access: Illicit Edge readers are invited to Join U.S. Treasury and Customs officials to debate trade risk and economic security. Register today!

IN THE NEWS

Russia & China

🔸As China raids U.S. businesses and arrests workers, the corporate landscape is getting "very risky". The offices of Capvision, a consulting firm with offices in New York and Shanghai, and two American firms have been raided in recent weeks as Chinese authorities exercise their power under a new security law. [more]

🔸New US Spy Satellites to Track Chinese, Russian Threats in Orbit. The US Space Force is set to launch a constellation of satellites to track space vehicles that can disable orbiting objects. [more]

🔸Russia's Sakhalin invites India and China to tap energy resources. The local governor of Russia's Pacific island of Sakhalin has invited companies from India and China to tap in following the departure of European and American oil and gas majors. [more]

Corruption & Financial Crime

🔸Six Defendants Charged In $14.7 Million Scheme To Fraudulently Obtain Pandemic Relief Loans. The fraudulent applications collectively sought more than $14.7 million in loans and resulted in the disbursement of more than $4.6 million from various financial institutions, all guaranteed by the SBA. [more] 

🔸9/11 families group slams PGA Tour over LIV Golf merger. 9/11 families have pointed to LIV as a blatant example of sportswashing – an attempt by the Saudis to use golf to deflect attention from their wide-ranging record of human rights abuses. [more]

🔸NYC’s drug-themed vending machine cleaned out of crack pipes overnight. City officials’ new drug-themed vending machine is a huge hit with local addicts – who wasted no time stocking up with free crack pipes, lip balm, and Narcan. [more]

Limited Seating: Join U.S. Treasury and Customs officials at this exclusive free event on export controls and economic security. Register today!

Cyber & Crypto

🔸North Korean hackers spoof venture capital firms in Japan, Vietnam and US. By targeting investment banking and venture capital firms, the group aims to expose sensitive or confidential information, which may result in legal or regulatory action, jeopardize pending business negotiations or agreements.” [more]

🔸Marc Andreessen has a plan to use 'AI to save the world' – and it doesn't involve regulation. The cofounder of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz dispelled fears about AI's risks to humanity – both tangible and imagined – in a lengthy blog post, insisting AI can "make everything we care about better." [more]

🔸Blatant tech frauds run amok on the biggest online marketplaces. Online retailers that host third-party sellers, like Amazon and Walmart, have served as playgrounds for fraudulent sellers, who list products with inflated or deceptive performance claims. [more]

Compliance Tools & Reports

✅ Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships: Risk Management [more]

✅ Developing Bad Habits: What Russia Might Learn from Iran’s Sanctions Evasion [more]

✅ Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report [more]

✅ Iran's Malign Behavior Tracker: Iran’s Escalating Intransigence Since the JCPOA [more]

✅ ASPI’s Critical Technology Tracker - AUKUS updates [more]

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