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Hello! It’s May 23, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Russia pressures governments to avert FATF blacklisting, second Hunter Biden whistleblower emerges, U.C. Berkeley’s $220M China scandal unfolds, Top 10 books on illicit financing, and much more.

Featured Story

🎯Russia Pushes India for Help to Avert FATF Blacklist. The Kremlin is pressuring governments including India behind the scenes, threatening to upend defense and energy deals unless they help block expected moves aimed at turning Russia into a financial pariah state over its invasion of Ukraine. [more]

Top Stories

🔸Second Hunter Biden IRS whistleblower emerges after dismissal despite five years on case. The new whistleblower is a special agent in the IRS’s international tax and financial crimes group and worked on the Hunter Biden case since it opened in 2018 — until he was ousted without explanation last week. [more]

🔸Berkeley’s $220M Mistake Exposed in Massive Deal With China. U.C. Berkeley has failed to disclose to the U.S. government massive Chinese state funding for a highly sensitive $240 million joint tech venture in China that has been running for the last eight years. [more]

🔸What are the Top 10 Books on Corruption, Kleptocracy, and Illicit Financing? [more]

🔸TikTok Will ‘Soon’ Grant Oracle Full Access to Code, Algorithm. ByteDance’s TikTok is “on track” with its undertaking to have all US user data hosted and overseen by Oracle, as the Chinese tech behemoth struggles to win over critics worried about the national security implications of its hit video app. [more]

🔸Lebanon set to be grey-listed by financial crime watchdog. Lebanon is likely to be placed on a "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny over unsatisfactory practices to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. [more]

🔸EU Sanctions Iran Revolutionary Guards' Investment Wing. The latest round of sanctions — the eighth imposed by the EU over the repression — came after Iran hanged three more men convicted in relation to the demonstrations. [more]

🔸Indonesia, Iran sign preferential trade agreement. Deal comes as ties between Iran and the West become increasingly strained following Iranian security forces' violent crackdown on protests against the country's clerical elite after the death of a Kurdish woman in morality police custody last year. [more]

🔸‘Uber with guns’: Black Wolf ride-sharing app has armed drivers — and it’s coming to NYC. The surge in violent crime nationwide has inspired a former bodyguard to launch a ride-sharing app that features armed drivers. [more]

🔸Married Putin Stooge Accused of Hiding Kids With Secret American Lover. A bombshell investigation has tied Moscow’s most prominent mouthpiece to a second family of U.S. citizens. [more]

🔸Covid Loan Fraud Probes Turn to the Bankers Who Approved Them. Larger banks with more sophisticated prevention practices are less vulnerable, but regional and local institutions and fintechs—or web-based financial services providers—face greater scrutiny. [more]

StoneTurn assists companies, their counsel and government agencies on regulatory, risk and compliance issues, investigations, and business disputes. We serve our clients from 15 global offices across five continents. Learn more.

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🔸US Says Russia's Wagner Group Seeking to Transit Material Acquisitions Through Mali. U.S. State Department said Russia's Wagner Group is trying to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, adding that Washington has been informed the mercenary force is seeking to move those acquisitions through Mali. [more]

🔸Russian Deputy Minister Dies Suddenly After Slamming ‘Fascist Invasion’ of Ukraine. Russian military officials, energy executives, and outspoken war critics have all died in mysterious circumstances over the course of the first year of the war. [more]

🔸Putin Signs Off on Sanctioned Tycoons’ Shared Yandex Stake. Russia’s richest man Vladimir Potanin and oil tycoon Vagit Alekperov will join steel magnate Alexei Mordashov and VTB Bank to form the so-called “consortium of billionaires”. [more]

China

🔸TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App, Arguing It Violates First Amendment. TikTok says Montana’s newly enacted law that would criminalize usage of the short-form video app is unconstitutional — and the app company has taken legal action to fight the state’s ban. [more]

🔸US Now Says No Plan to Lift Sanctions on China Defense Minister. The US said it has no plans to lift sanctions on Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, appearing to backtrack on comments made a day earlier by President Joe Biden while he attended the G7 summit in Japan. [more]

🔸Chinese citizens sue Florida over law barring them from owning houses.  Governor DeSantis, who is expected to announce a bid for president soon, has said the law will protect Florida from China’s Communist Party. [more]

Crypto & Cyber

🔸Crypto phishing service Inferno Drainer defrauds thousands of victims. A cryptocurrency phishing and scam service called 'Inferno Drainer' has reportedly stolen over $5.9 million worth of crypto from 4,888 victims. [more]

🔸Dallas Municipal Court Building Closed This Week Due to Ongoing Ransomware Attack. The closure comes as "Royal," the group believed to be behind the ransomware attack, is threatening to release personal data including Social Security number and credit card information from court cases and government files. [more]

🔸Bitcoin Pizza Day Turns Sour as Meme Coin Shysters Profit Over $200K in Rug Pulls. Meme coin traders poured capital into several pizza-related tokens on Monday as rug pulls put a damper on the anniversary of the first purchase made with bitcoin. [more]

Recent headlines have reinvigorated the conversation on Insider Risks. The recent slowing of the US economy and volatility in the digital asset market have surfaced some less talked about aspects of insider risk that companies should consider. Learn more.

Corruption & Financial Crime

🔸U.S. Law Enforcement Disrupts Networks Used to Transfer Fraud Proceeds, Taking Over 4,000 Actions in Fifth Campaign. Multiple law enforcement actions addressed conduct by individuals sometimes referred to as “money mules,” who have been providing critical services to fraudsters by receiving money from fraud victims and forwarding the fraud proceeds to the perpetrators. [more]

🔸On the run fraudster who ran £70m Ponzi-style investment scam is found guilty in his absence. Anthony Constantinou was convicted of one count of fraud, two counts of fraudulent trading and four counts of money laundering at Southwark Crown Court on Monday. [more]

🔸Bulgaria agrees government with rotating PMs to tackle corruption. A coalition of Bulgarian parties on Monday agreed to form a government tasked with uprooting corruption and led by two rotating prime ministers — one of whom will be former European Commissioner for Innovation Mariya Gabriel. [more]

“If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.” –Peter Marshall

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