Hello!  It’s February 27, and we’re tracking today's top stories: Inside North Korea's forced labor program, U.S. Treasury says its warnings are slowing Russian financial flows, Brazil repatriates trafficked animals from Togo, Treasury Secretary Yellen urges allies to unlock frozen Russian funds, and much more...

Tell a friend to subscribe to Illicit Edge here.  It's free!

Powered by

Adverse Media Knowledge Partner

Featured Story

🌎 Inside North Korea’s Forced Labor Program. Workers sent to Chinese factories describe beatings and sexual abuse, stolen wages, and being told that if they try to escape they will be “killed without a trace.” New Yorker 

Top Stories

🌎 Treasury says U.S. warning to banks slows Russia financial flows. Washington's threat to hit foreign financial institutions with sanctions has made a significant difference in flows between Russia and other countries. Reuters

🌎 Brazil police repatriate exotic native animals trafficked to Togo. Each macaw is worth between $60,000 and $100,000 on clandestine markets; the tamarins go for $15,000 each. Reuters

🌎 Yellen urges world leaders to ‘unlock’ frozen Russian Central Bank assets and send them to Ukraine. The U.S. and its allies froze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian foreign holdings in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. AP

Be certain in an uncertain world.

🌎 U.S. sanctions Iranian deputy commander, Houthi member and ships that transport Iranian oil. The Kohana has shipped over $100M in Iranian commodities to businesses in China for Iran’s Ministry of Defense. AP

📌 Iran has further increased its total stockpile of uranium AP

📌 Houthis knock out underwater cables linking Europe to Asia JP

🌎 U.S. Blacklists Sandvine for Censorship, Web Monitoring Abroad. The U.S. Commerce Department is adding computer networking company Sandvine to a blacklist that will effectively ban it from obtaining US technology. Bloomberg

🌎 Russia Buys Tens of Millions of Euros of Banned EU Weapons Tech. A quarter of $488M of high priority items that reached Russia from the EU in the first nine months of last year was shipped directly from Europe. Bloomberg

🌎 German prosecutors confirm probe into former Lebanon central bank chief. Salameh is being investigated in Lebanon and at least five European countries for taking hundreds of millions of dollars from Lebanon's central bank. Reuters

🌎 UK’s Financial Watchdog to Go Public With Cases in Bid to Deter Crime. The FCA will identify firms it’s investigating at a much earlier stage, in an effort to encourage whistleblowers to come forward and boost deterrence. Bloomberg

🌎 Dirty Money Is Destroying Sudan. UN analysis found that the UAE aids the RSF by receiving gold that sanctioned firms illicitly smuggle out of Sudan – often in partnership with Wagner-affiliated companies. Foreign Affairs

🌎 The informant next door: A quiet L.A. life masked Kremlin ties for FBI source accused of lying about Bidens. As a valued FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov hopscotched the globe to sweep up information on powerful figures and illicit activities. LAT

🌎 Looming Venezuelan Sanctions Give a Bump to Colombian Oil Prices. The U.S. has threated to reimpose oil sanctions in April if the Venezuelan government upholds a ban on opposition front-runner Maria Corina Machado’s run for president. Bloomberg

🚀 Much more news at Illicit Edge!

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 Russian Billionaire Antipov Detained After Steel Plants Nationalized Moscow Times

🇷🇺 Roman Abramovich business associate loses appeal against UK sanctions Guardian

🇷🇺 North Korea has sent 6,700 containers of munitions to Russia Reuters

🇷🇺 Russia to Ban Gasoline Exports for 6 Months Moscow Times

--

China

🇨🇳 U.S. Senate Committee Sets Hearing on China's WuXi AppTec, BGI Bill Reuters

🇨🇳 Shein Considers London IPO After US Resistance to Listing Bloomberg

🇨🇳 Leaked Hacking Documents Show China’s Focus on Tracking Ethnic Minorities WSJ

🇨🇳 Alibaba staffer offers a glimpse into building LLMs in China TechCrunch

--

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Migrant security guards paid up to $90 an hour as NYC taxpayers fleeced by no-bid contracts NYP

💸 How the LAPD took down a sneaker heist ring that stole millions worth of Nikes LAT

💸 A new tool targets voter fraud in Georgia – but is it skirting the law? Guardian

--

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Risk Management in DeFi: Paternalism vs. the Invisible Hand CoinDesk

🔐 Russia cyber spies behind SolarWinds breach adopting new tactics Record

🔐 Tornado Cash Reportedly Suffers Backend Exploit, User Deposits at Risk CoinDesk

🚀 Much more news at Illicit Edge!

Trafficking

🚚 Six-year Dutch trial ends in life sentence for cocaine cartel leader Guardian

🚚 Military take on the world's most powerful drug cartels in Ecuador Sky

🚚 DEA issues letter to e-commerce companies over illegal pill-making machines Reuters

A fully integrated, single source of truth.

📩

Share Illicit Edge with friends!

They can subscribe here for free and never miss a story.