Plus: Russia Prepares Legal Battle Plan to Freeze Seizure of Frozen Reserves...
View in browser

1/12/24

Illicit Edge logo

Breaking News for Financial Crime Professionals

shubham-dhage-V7OKG7WAlV0-unsplash

Happy Friday!  It's January 12, and weโ€™re tracking top stories to take you into the weekend: EU is not in the Champions League of economic security, Nasdaq invests in AI compliance tech, Congress grills DOE official over $3B solar scam, Russia prepares for legal war over frozen assets, and much more...

Featured Story

 

๐ŸŽฏ European Union not in โ€˜Champions Leagueโ€™ of economic security. The Dutch semiconductor equipment giant is among several business groups critical of Brusselsโ€™ efforts to de-risk its relations with Beijing. SCMP 

 

๐Ÿ“Œ IE Insights: Top 10 Sanctions Enforcement Actions Since 2012 Illicit Edge

 

Top Stories

 

๐ŸŒŽ Nasdaq Invests in Fighting Financial Crime Using AI Technology. The firm is working with banks, other exchanges and brokerage firms that can use the software to eliminate threats. Bloomberg

 

๐ŸŒŽ Congress Grills DOE Official Over $3 Billion Loan to Solar Company Accused of Scamming Elderly. The loan to Sunnova was approved by the DOE Loan Programs Office, which is currently being probed by lawmakers and the DOE inspector general for conflicts of interests. Free Beacon

 

๐ŸŒŽ Russia Prepares Legal Battle to Stall Seizure of Frozen Reserves. The Bank of Russia is currently nearing an agreement with international law firms to represent the countryโ€™s interests in case of a court showdown. Bloomberg

 

๐Ÿ“Œ Treasury Targets Commodity Shipments Financing Iranโ€™s Qods Force and Houthis U.S. Treasury

 

๐ŸŒŽ U.S. imposes sanctions over Russia-North Korea arms deal. Last week, the Biden administration said Russia had acquired ballistic missile launchers and several dozen ballistic missiles with a range of 550 miles from North Korea. UPI

 

๐ŸŒŽ Morgan Stanley to Pay Under $300M to Settle Trading Probe. The penalty will be divvied up between the Justice Department and the SEC and wonโ€™t include any criminal charges against the bank. Bloomberg

 

๐ŸŒŽ Visitors to Colombia warned over dating apps after eight US deaths in two months. U.S. embassy issues warning after US citizens died in Medellรญn following suspected drugging and robbing on app-arranged dates. Guardian

 

๐ŸŒŽ Law firm Clyde & Co fined $635K for breaching UK money laundering rules. The London-founded firm admitted it failed to conduct adequate due diligence on a shipping industry client in relation to 14 transactions between 2014 and 2018. Reuters

 

๐ŸŒŽ On Hamas, what did Qatar know and when did it know it? On the question of who stood to benefit from October 7, Western intelligence turns its gaze to Doha. Politico

 

๐ŸŒŽ Pentagon failed to track more than $1B in weapons sent to Ukraine. Among the items that are designated for enhanced end-use monitoring (EEUM) are weapons like Javelin and Stinger missiles. CNN

 

๐Ÿ“Œ U.S. Senate Testimony of Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyamo U.S. Treasury

IN THE NEWS

China

 

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China, Russia Trade Soared In 2023 As Commerce with US Sank AFP

 

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ Beijing ramps up corruption crackdown Semafor

 

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China raises concerns with US over chip-making export controls, sanctions Reuters

 

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ Taiwan bombarded with cyberattacks ahead of election Politico

 

MORE TOP STORIES...

Russia

 

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Gucci is cheap and eggs are pricey in Russiaโ€™s surreal economy Economist

 

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Enforcement of G7 price cap hitting Russian oil Reuters

 

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Western Sanctions Challenge and Restrict Ruble-Rial Trade Between Iran and Russia Jamestown

 

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia's Sibur raised LPG exports via Baltic Sea ahead of sanctions Reuters

 

MORE TOP STORIES...

Corruption & Financial Crime

 

๐Ÿ’ธ ESPN caught in ridiculously dumb Emmy fraud scandal Awful Announcing

 

๐Ÿ’ธ Authorities seek to dismiss criminal fraud cases in Va. spurred by Amazon WaPo

 

๐Ÿ’ธ Trafigura Paid Me Bribes, Former Top Ecuador Oil Official Says Bloomberg

 

๐Ÿ’ธ Brazil Arrests Man Suspected of Laundering Nearly $2.66 Billion OCCRP

 

MORE TOP STORIES...

Crypto & Cyber

 

๐Ÿ” Child Abusers Are Getting Better at Using Crypto to Cover Their Tracks Wired

 

๐Ÿ” Cutting Edge: Suspected APT Targets Ivanti Connect Secure VPN in New Zero-Day Mandiant

 

๐Ÿ” eBay will pay $3 million over bizarre cyberstalking campaign Verge

 

๐Ÿ” Elizabeth Warren slams SEC over decision to allow spot bitcoin ETFs Block

 

MORE TOP STORIES...

Trafficking

 

๐Ÿšš Texas blocks federal border agents from processing migrants in Eagle Pass public park CBS

 

๐Ÿšš Florida police arrest 123 people for human trafficking-related crimes, including teacher and nurse Fox

 

๐Ÿšš From drug routes to Bukeleโ€™s influence: Keys to the security crisis in Ecuador El Paรญs

 

๐Ÿšš Leaders Of International Drug Trafficking And Firearms Smuggling Organization Sentenced To 21 And 20 Years In Prison DOJ

"As you know, I'm not on SnapFace and all that, so I don't really get those. I'm really just worried about getting our team ready to go." --Bill Belichick

๐Ÿ“ฉ

Share Illicit Edge with friends!

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

The Illicit Edge, P.O. Box 20559, New York, NY 10025

Manage preferences