Hello!  It’s March 26, and we’re tracking today's top stories: U.S. Treasury sanctions drug traffickers supporting Syrian regime, SWIFT plans CBDC platform launch in 12-24 months, NYC begins distributing debit cards to illegal migrants, global sanctions shrivel as Russian oil deliveries follow DPRK weapons transfers, and much more...

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🎯 Treasury Sanctions Financial Facilitators and Illicit Drug Traffickers Supporting the Syrian Regime. OFAC sanctioned 11 individuals and entities supporting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad through Captagon trafficking. U.S. Treasury 

Top Stories

🌎 SWIFT planning launch of new CBDC platform in 12-24 months. 90% of the world's central banks are now exploring digital versions of their currencies. Most don't want to be left behind by bitcoin and other cryptos but are grappling with tech complexities. Reuters

🌎 New York Starts Distributing Debit Cards to Migrants, Despite Uproar. City Hall said a family of four with two children under the age of 5 years old will get $350 loaded onto their card weekly. PIX

📌 NYC council asks state’s highest court to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections NYP

🌎 Blood and Oil: Russian Oil Deliveries Follow North Korean Weapons Transfers. DPRK tankers have begun loading oil from a Russian port in the country’s Far East, lifting the veil on what Pyongyang has secured in return for the transfer of vast quantities of munitions and missiles. RUSI

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🌎 US sanctions, indicts China-based hackers for targeting critical infrastructure. National security leaders have consistently warned that Chinese state-affiliated actors were carrying out cyber operations in the U.S. ABC

📌 Who are Chinese hacking group APT 31? Telegraph

🌎 CCP-Backed Businessman in Fiji is a Top Australian Criminal Target. Prominent Fiji-based businessman Zhao Fugang is a trusted advocate for China’s interests in the Pacific. Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies suspect he plays another part. OCCRP

🌎 Marina Granovskaia linked to secret payments by former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. Powerful chief executive of Chelsea under Abramovich appears in documents showing offshore payments by oligarch. Guardian

🌎 Elon Musk’s Starlink Terminals Are Falling Into the Wrong Hands. How they are smuggled and the sheer availability of Starlink on the black market suggests that its misuse is a systemic global problem. Bloomberg

🌎 Lambos. Jewels. How ‘easy money’ from Uncle Sam made Miami a feast for PPP fraudsters. By the end of the fiscal year in September, federal prosecutors brought fraud charges against nearly 3,200 defendants nationwide — including 250 in South Florida. Miami Herald

🌎 Ripple’s Garlinghouse Says SEC to Seek $2 Billion in Crypto Case. The SEC sued Ripple in 2020, claiming the firm broke its rules when it raised money by selling the digital token without registering it as a security. Bloomberg

🌎 Shohei Ohtani says he never bet on sports in first remarks since Ippei Mizuhara accusations. He claimed Mizuhara had secretly stolen his funds to pay off debts Mizuhara allegedly owed to an illegal bookmaker. LAT

🌎 Sean Combs’ Homes Raided as Part of ‘Sex Trafficking’ Investigation. Officials descended upon the rap mogul's LA and Miami homes on Monday, four months after Cassie accused him of sexual assault. Rolling Stone

🚀 More news at Illicit Edge!

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 US and Cyprus will sign a deal to fight money laundering and evasion of Russian sanctions AP

🇷🇺 US penalizes Russian fintech firms that helped others evade sanctions Record

🇷🇺 Russia’s Crude Shipments Rebound Even as Sanctions Snare Tankers Bloomberg

🇷🇺 Indian refiners buy more US crude as Russia sanctions tighten Reuters

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China

🇨🇳 TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance paying influencers to push its other app Lemon8 as ban looms NYP

🇨🇳 Millions of Americans caught up in Chinese hacking plot BBC

🇨🇳 Former China soccer head jailed for life after corruption crackdown CNN

🇨🇳 Dutch minister vows to defend ASML interests ahead of China visit Reuters

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Brazil summons Hungarian envoy to explain why Bolsonaro hid in embassy Guardian

💸 Two dead bodies, drugs and 'weird characters.' Are these illicit hot tubs a safety threat? LAT

💸 New charges could block ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder from public office Columbus Dispatch

💸 Inside a C.E.O.’s Bold Claims About Her Hot Fintech Start-Up NYT

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Crypto 'supervillain' who hoped to be declared a reincarnated goddess by the Dalai Lama and become a queen goes on the run after '£3billion bitcoin swindle' Daily Mail

🔐 Email phishing scam targeting BlockFi, FTX creditors reels in millions and counting Decrypt

🔐 Senator demands answers from HHS about $7.5M cyber theft in 2023 Record

🔐 Portugal orders Sam Altman's Worldcoin to halt data collection Reuters

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Trafficking

🚚 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine found in carrot shipment at U.S.-Mexico border LAT

🚚 Mexican president denies cartels are producing most fentanyl, blames US drug use on family breakdown Fox

🚚 Adams to impose curfews at three more massive migrant shelters in NYC NYP

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