Plus: Debit Card Boondoggle Spawns Bermuda Triangle of Disappearing, Untraceable Cash in New York's Migrant Madness
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2/20/24

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Hello!  It’s February 20, and we’re tracking today's top stories: FATF poised to drop the UAE from dark money list, FBI seizes LockBit dark web site, how the U.S. can ground Iran's terrorist airlines, inside New York's migrant debit card boondoggle, and much more...

 

Catch up on ALL the news with Illicit Edge...

Featured Story

 

🎯 UAE Poised to Exit Watchdog’s Dirty Money List After Reform Push. FATF assessors conducted an on-site visit last month and subsequent feedback on the UAE’s action plan noted significant progress by the country. Bloomberg 

 

Top Stories

 

🌎 FBI and allies seize dark-web site of world’s most prolific ransomware gang. The seizure marks a major blow to LockBit, a global ransomware menace, as authorities seize its dark web operations. CNN

 

🌎 How the US can ground Iran’s ‘terrorist airlines’. Washington can cause serious additional damage to the Venezuelan regime and its allies in Nicaragua and Iran. Hill

 

📌 IAEA chief says Iran's nuclear enrichment activity remains high Reuters

 

🌎 Inside NYC Mayor Adams’ migrant debit card boondoggle – no-bid bank gets $50M, border crossers up to $10K each. The debit-card program has the potential to become an open-ended, multi-billion-dollar Bermuda Triangle of disappearing, untraceable cash. NYP

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🌎 Stranded Russian Sokol oil cargoes begin to move to China and India. Two tankers are carrying a combined 2.2M barrels of Sokol to Chinese ports. Reuters

 

🌎 ‘China has a lot more to lose’. U.S. considers sanctioning Chinese firms aiding Russia’s war in first direct penalties against Beijing. CNBC

 

🌎 Ex-takeaway worker on trial after £1.4bn Bitcoin seized by police says 'I was duped'. Jian Wen insists she was misled into laundering £5bn from a Chinese investment fraud. Sky

 

🌎 Legal Weed in New York Was Going to Be a Revolution. What Happened? Legal challenges and unlicensed sales mar NY's attempt at social justice through legal cannabis. New Yorker

 

🌎 Democrats weaponized justice system to punish Trump in business case. The combination of the draconian fine and the threshold deposit for appeal has produced a shudder throughout the New York business community. NYP

 

🌎 AI Jihad: Deciphering Hamas, Al-Qaeda and Islamic State’s Generative AI Digital Arsenal. Terrorists and extremists increasingly use AI for digital propaganda, raising novel security concerns. GNET

 

📌 Minnesota man charged for aiding ISIS, threatening attack on New York Hill

 

📌 Al Qaeda resurges in Afghanistan, with the Taliban concealing ties. Daily Wire

 

🌎 India financial crimes agency has not yet found forex breaches at Paytm unit. Last week, India's Enforcement Directorate announced an investigation into overseas transactions by the bank. Reuters

IN THE NEWS

Russia

 

🇷🇺 Biden Considering New Russia Sanctions After Navalny Death VOA

 

🇷🇺 Putin grants HSBC approval to sell Russian unit to Expobank Reuters

 

🇷🇺 Ukraine Accuses Russian Oligarch of Fueling the Invasion OCCRP

China

 

🇨🇳 Former Bank of China chairman indicted for bribery AP

 

🇨🇳 Anger grows at China’s struggling shadow banks Guardian

 

🇨🇳 US Moves to Restore Stockpiling ‘Panic Button’ in EV Metals Fight Bloomberg

 

🇨🇳 China Cements Grip on Tech as Beijing Tightens Economy Control Bloomberg

Corruption & Financial Crime

 

💸 Matt Gaetz accused of paying woman for sex parties as new bombshell texts emerge Independent

 

💸 Singapore’s Biggest Money Laundering Case Tests City’s Weak Property Market Bloomberg

 

💸 Back-to-Back Scandals Lift Lid on Venezuela’s Judicial Corruption Insight Crime

 

💸 Temenos Announces Independent Review of Hindenburg Claims Bloomberg

 

💸 Haiti judge charges widow, ex-PM over president's assassination Reuters

Trafficking

 

🚚 Brutal donkey skin trade banned by the African Union BBC

 

🚚 At least a dozen dead in northern Mexico shootout near Texas border Reuters

 

🚚 Mexican bishops negotiate with drug traffickers in Guerrero El País

 

🚚 Dozens of Chinese migrants spotted entering US illegally at California border Daily Mail

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