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12/28/23

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Breaking News for Financial Crime Professionals

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Hello!  It's December 28, and weโ€™re tracking today's top stories: Israeli raids in West Bank target Hamas funding, Singapore imposes civil penalty on Credit Suisse for managers' misconduct, Washington puts forward G7 plan to confiscate $300B in Russian assets, inside the underground world of dog fighting, six new reports, and much more...    

 

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Featured Story

 

๐ŸŽฏ Israeli raids in West Bank target Hamas funding. Israeli forces raided foreign exchange and money transfer agencies in Ramallah, seizing millions intended to fund terrorists. Reuters 

 

Top Stories

 

๐ŸŒŽ Singapore imposes civil penalty on Credit Suisse for managers' misconduct. MAS imposed a $3M fine for failing to prevent or detect misconduct by its relationship managers. Bloomberg

 

๐ŸŒŽ Washington puts forward G7 plan to confiscate $300B in Russian assets. While no decisions have been taken and the issue remains hotly debated, the acceleration of work on confiscating Moscowโ€™s assets for Ukraine highlights its rising importance for the west. Reuters

 

๐ŸŒŽ Inside the underground world of dog fighting. A Michigan-based dog fighter used WhatsApp to share videos of animals fighting, including one that featured โ€œBarracuda,โ€ who he describes as a โ€œstraight finisher throat and kidneys!!!โ€ CNN

 

๐ŸŒŽ โ€˜We are not equipped to deal with thisโ€™: Migrant surge overwhelms U.S. border. Thousands of migrants are arriving at the border every day, trekking from the farthest reaches of the globe, from Africa to Asia to South America. NYT

 

๐ŸŒŽ Billion-Dollar Scam: A sophisticated criminal network is using modern day slaves to con thousands of Americans out of their life savings. CNN

 

๐ŸŒŽ Russia, Iran Officially Ditch U.S. Dollar for Trade. The global de-dollarization drive has been going on for years with BRIC countries and the so-called pariah states trying to ditch the American dollar in favor of other currencies. Oil Price

 

๐ŸŒŽ Spyware attack chain used previously unknown iPhone hardware feature. The Russian government blamed the campaign on the U.S., alleging that it hacked โ€œthousands of Apple phonesโ€ to spy on Russian diplomats. Record

 

๐ŸŒŽ How 'blood gold' from Africa is funding Russia's war on Ukraine. The Wagner mercenary group uses gold mining in Africa to funnel money to the Kremlin. NPR

 

๐ŸŒŽ U.S.-backed effort to fight Colombia money laundering has so far been a flop. U.S. officials complain of a โ€œglass ceilingโ€ in combating money laundering, with certain individuals untouchable due to political connections. Miami Herald

 

๐ŸŒŽ Bitrace report zeroes in on stablecoin money laundering methods. Illegally obtained stablecoin may sell at a premium or a discount, depending on how it is being laundered. Cointelegraph

IN THE NEWS

China

 

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ The Chip Wars Are Metastasizing WSJ

 

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ TikTok is making users give their iPhone passwords for unclear reasons NY Post

 

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ At least 20% of NHS suppliers at โ€˜high riskโ€™ of modern slavery use Guardian

 

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ Hong Kong, India arrest 8 from syndicate that laundered HK$500M in diamond trading scheme SCMP

 

MORE TOP STORIES...

Russia

 

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Swiss Banks to Quickly Close Their Open Flanks to the U.S. Finews

 

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia's trade with the US plummets to a 3-decade low while its commerce with China surges past $200 billion Insider

 

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia Tells South Korea Not to Be Surprised if Moscow Retaliates Over Sanctions Reuters

 

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia, India closer to joint military equipment production Reuters

 

MORE TOP STORIES...

Crypto & Cyber

 

๐Ÿ” Ousted Binance Founder CZโ€™s Fortune Grew by $25 Billion in 2023 Bloomberg

 

๐Ÿ” India targets Apple over its phone hacking notifications WaPo

 

๐Ÿ” Money mule hiring spree goes digital as crime syndicates turn to Telegram Straits Times

 

๐Ÿ” Chinese Hackers Exploited New Zero-Day in Barracuda's ESG Appliances Hacker News

 

MORE TOP STORIES...

Financial Crime & Trafficking

 

๐Ÿ’ธ Federal Election Commission employee downloaded sexual content to gov't computers Raw Story

 

๐Ÿ’ธ India probes suspected human trafficking after 276 nationals return home Reuters

 

๐Ÿ’ธ Chicago mayor pleads for federal help as he sounds alarm on border crisis: โ€˜Country is now at stakeโ€™ NY Post

 

๐Ÿ’ธ 120 Kilos Of Cocaine Wash Up On Australian Beaches AFP

 

MORE TOP STORIES...

Reports

 

๐Ÿ“˜ Crypto 2024: What to expect in digital assets and Web3 โ€“ a range of predictions from CoinDesk staff and contributors. CoinDesk

 

๐Ÿ“˜ Ukraineโ€™s Stolen Children NYT

 

๐Ÿ“˜ How Snatching American Citizens Turned Into a Tool of Hostile Governments WSJ

 

๐Ÿ“˜ Iraqโ€™s New Regime Change: How Tehran-Backed Terrorist Organizations and Militias Captured the Iraqi State Washington Institute

 

๐Ÿ“˜ These Eight Charts Show Why Fentanyl Is a Huge Foreign Policy Problem CFR

 

๐Ÿ“˜ The Sudanese commanders waging war on the Masalit Reuters

"Everyone says corruption is everywhere, but for me it seems strange to say that and then not try to put the people guilty of that corruption away." --Alexei Navalny

๐Ÿ“ฉ

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