Plus: 90 Tons of US-Bound Cocaine Traced to Dirty Honduran Mayor and Mexican Cartels...
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8/30/23

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Breaking News for Financial Crime Professionals

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Hello! It's August 30, and weโ€™re tracking today's top stories: Goldman Sachs used Chinese government money to acquire US companies, judge won't let banks hide their Trump documents, shady export leaks show Russia sanctions working, 90 tons of cocaine headed for US traced back to Honduran mayor, and much more...

 

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๐ŸŽฏ Goldman Used Chinese Government Money to Acquire US and UK Companies. Despite increasing tensions between Beijing and Western nations, Goldman has inked seven transactions through a $2.5 billion private equity "partnership fund" it created with China Investment Corporation (CIC) in 2017. The Messenger 

 

Top Stories

 

๐ŸŒŽ Judge Wonโ€™t Let Banks and Insurers Hide Their Trump Docs. Companies that did business with the Trump Organization as it allegedly inflated the value of the company can't magically hide documents showing their ties to Trump. Daily Beast

 

๐ŸŒŽ Shady export leaks suggest Russian sanctions work. EU exports to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan jumped 80% in the 18 months starting in January 2022. There are clear signs that some of the goods were redirected to Russia. Reuters

 

๐ŸŒŽ Honduran mayor detained for assisting cartels in shipping 90 tons of cocaine to the U.S. via boats and planes. Honduran officials suspect that Mexican cartels transport Colombian cocaine to the U.S. via Central America and Mexico, initially landing in Honduras' Mosquitia and other Atlantic regions. Daily Mail

 

๐ŸŒŽ Smuggler with ties to ISIS helped migrants enter US from Mexico. The incident kicked off a flurry of urgent meetings among top national security and administration officials at a time when Republicans have hammered Biden on the security of the southern border. CNN

 

๐ŸŒŽ Putin moved $90M superyacht weeks before Ukraine invasion to avoid having it seized. Russian journalist Maria Pevchikh revealed documents showing the Russian president's yacht 'Graceful' sailed from Blohm & Voss in Hamburg to Kaliningrad two weeks before the war. Independent

 

๐ŸŒŽ US commerce secretary rejects Chinese appeal to ease export controls. Raimondo also pressed Chinese leaders to disclose more information about restrictions on U.S. technology companies that appeared to be arbitrary and too unpredictable, but said she received no commitments. AP

 

๐ŸŒŽ SEC's Secret Binance Court Filing Has Observers Bracing for Bad News. The Securities and Exchange Commission late filed a sealed motion in its case against Binance that includes more than 35 exhibits. CoinDesk

 

๐ŸŒŽ Boosters, fencers, and cleaners: Inside cartels' newest criminal enterprise of organized retail theft. In recent years, cartels have gone from illicit drug manufacturing and smuggling, human smuggling and trafficking, and illegal firearm smuggling to commandeering crime in the retail environment. Washington Examiner

 

๐ŸŒŽ FBI announces it has dismantled global network of hacked computers used in major fraud scheme. The Justice Department seized over $8 million in cryptocurrency from the hackers and removed their malicious code from an unspecified number of infected computers in the US and around the world. CNN

 

๐ŸŒŽ H-1B doctorโ€™s jihadist plot: How well do we vet visa applicants? A Pakistani doctor who got an H-1B temporary work visa to join the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is going to federal prison for incubating a plot to kill fellow Hippocratic oath takers while โ€œbehind enemy lines.โ€ NY Post

 

๐ŸŒŽ Connecticut oil trader hit with new charges in Petrobras bribery case. The DOJ said that between 2010 and 2018 Oztemel and Eduardo Innecco, a Brazilian-Italian oil and gas broker, paid bribes to Brazilian officials to help two Connecticut trading companies secure contracts and learn confidential details about Petrobras' fuel oil business. Reuters

IN THE NEWS

Russia & China

 

๐Ÿ’ฅ Putin struggles with falling ruble, rising prices as sanctions bite WaPo

 

๐Ÿ’ฅ Despite an embargo, Russian oil exports are booming, funneling billions into Moscowโ€™s war machine Euromaidan Press

 

๐Ÿ’ฅ Americans are unwittingly financing the CCP. It has to stop. WaPo

 

๐Ÿ’ฅ China continues coal spree despite climate goals Guardian

 

๐Ÿ’ฅ Russians impersonate Washington Post and Fox News with anti-Ukraine stories The Record

Corruption & Financial Crime

 

๐Ÿ’ธ Covid fraud: Street gang in Milwaukee allegedly stole millions to pay for murder, guns and drugs CNBC

 

๐Ÿ’ธ Ukraineโ€™s path to EU membership: Tackling corruption, an independent judiciary and reining in the oligarchs El Pais

 

๐Ÿ’ธ Gabon army officers say they have seized power after election in oil-rich country Reuters

 

๐Ÿ’ธ Former minister Gerry Grimstone under fire over undeclared UAE meetings Guardian

 

๐Ÿ’ธ IRS agents are getting paid by private accounting firms The Hill

Crypto & Cyber

 

๐Ÿ”‘ Deepfake scams have arrived: Fake videos spread on Facebook, TikTok and Youtube NBC News

 

๐Ÿ”‘ Tornado Cash Indictments May Prove to Be Just a Localized Storm After All CoinDesk

 

๐Ÿ”‘ The Weird, Big-Money World of Cybercrime Writing Contests Wired

 

๐Ÿ”‘ FTX Customers Hit by 'Withdrawal' Phishing Mails After SIM Swap Attack CoinDesk

 

๐Ÿ”‘ Chinese Hacking Group Exploits Barracuda Zero-Day to Target Government, Military, and Telecom Hacker News

"Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.' --Ronald Reagan

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