Happy Friday!  It’s March 15, and we’re tracking top stories to take you into the weekend: Swiss bank EFG to settle U.S. sanctions violations, JPMorgan fined $350M for trading record gaps, U.S probes Hamas crypto transactions before October 7th, the biggest bank heist in history is coming, new podcasts and reports, and much more... 

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🎯 Swiss Private Bank EFG to Settle U.S. Sanctions Violations. The bank agreed to pay $3.7M to settle allegations it held and invested securities on behalf of blacklisted individuals. WSJ  

Top Stories

🌎 JPMorgan Fined $350 Million for Trading Record Gaps. The settlement marks the second sizeable fine in the last few years for the bank over its data management. Reuters

🌎 U.S. Probes Hamas’s Use of Crypto Before Oct. 7. The U.S. Treasury Department investigates $165M in digital transactions linked to the militant group. WSJ

🌎 The Biggest Bank Heist in History Is Coming. Regulators are permitting banks to tokenize financial assets such as bank deposits, U.S. Treasuries and corporate debt. But they want institutions to use permissioned networks rather than the decentralized blockchains that keep assets safe from hackers. CoinDesk

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🌎 Firm related to sanctioned crypto exchange Garantex is a partner of Moscow gang leader and has links to Kremlin-controlled Rosneft. A new probe reveals how a murky network linked to the Moscow-based crypto exchange appeared after the mysterious 2020 death of a founding shareholder. ICIJ

🌎 Chinese Mogul Funneled Millions to Bannon, Fox, and Gettr. Guo has long bankrolled Bannon and Miller’s post-White House endeavors – even as critics accuse the former construction tycoon of serving as a covert double agent for Beijing. Daily Beast

🌎 Despite Sanctions, North Korea Runs More Than 50 Restaurants in China. The DPRK regime takes most of the wages its workers earn abroad to fund its nuclear and missile programs. VOA

🌎 Lazarus Group moves $12M from HTX, HECO hacks to Tornado Cash. Despite U.S. sanctions, North Korea’s Lazarus Group has resumed laundering stolen crypto funds through Tornado Cash. Cointelegraph

🌎 FTC Goes Undercover Against Fake Antivirus Company. Restoro is allegedly behind pop-ups that trick people into downloading a piece of fake antivirus software and paying sizable fees. Court Watch

🌎 Hedge fund manager faces arrest over $533M taken from ed-tech startup. A U.S. bankruptcy judge ordered the arrest of William Morton, who helped Indian education technology startup Byju's hide money from lenders. Reuters

🌎 Owners of notorious Texas ‘illegal alien settlement’ sued by state for fraudulent claims, predatory practices. Colony Ridge is said to have attracted many who have newly arrived in the US with a ‘no questions asked’ approach, but the lawsuit states the owners made “fraudulent claims” and exploited customers. NYP

🌎 Orwellian Canada wants to put you in prison before you commit a thought crime. The country that brought you debanking protesters and government-assisted suicide for the poor now wants to criminalize speech to lock up people for life. NYP

🌎 Boom time for Myanmar opium farmers amid coup chaos. Myanmar became the world’s biggest opium producer in 2023, overtaking Afghanistan after the Taliban government launched a crackdown on the crop there. AFP

🚀 More news at Illicit Edge!

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 Moscow Bans 227 Americans from Entering Russia OCCRP

🇷🇺 Russia's economy is going strong: why haven't Western sanctions worked? Euronews

🇷🇺 Russia's Top Oil Buyer Deals a Blow to Putin CNN

🇷🇺 Russia Strengthens Its Internet Controls in Critical Year for Putin NYT

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China

🇨🇳 Sen. Marco Rubio: We must stop China from using TikTok against America NYP

🇨🇳 Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Global must face US investor lawsuit over IPO Reuters

🇨🇳 Britain fires off warning over cheap Chinese car ‘dumping’ Telegraph

🇨🇳 James Comer mounts crackdown on Chinese Communist Party’s influence in US after TikTok bill vote NYP

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Haiti's top gang leader threatens politicians as fires break out in capital Reuters

💸 Chilean burglars targeted ‘millionaire neighborhoods’ in Baltimore County Baltimore Banner

💸 A Fake Bill Ackman Is Scamming Investors Out of Millions on Facebook WSJ

💸 Two Guilty of Selling Counterfeit Aircraft Parts to Canadian Airlines OCCRP

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 El Salvador to transfer 'big chunk' of bitcoin to physical vault Reuters

🔐 Nigeria seeks to prolong detention of Binance executives Reuters

🔐 Third-Party ChatGPT Plugins Could Lead to Account Takeovers Hacker News

🔐 Hong Kong Regulator Says Crypto Exchange MEXC Has Been Operating Without a License CoinDesk

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Pods & Reports

📌 North Korean Hackers Return to Tornado Cash Despite Sanctions Elliptic

📌 Inside the i-Soon papers and China’s secret world of hackers-for-hire Click Here

📌 China in Sub-Saharan Africa: Sanction-Proof Supply Lines and Dual-Use Ports RUSI

📌 Intel Threat Assessment, New Sanctions Compliance Note, and More AML Conversations

📌 Illicit Drugs Are Undermining Pacific Security USIP

📌 Intellectual Property: Stronger Fraud Risk Management Could Improve the Integrity of the Trademark System GAO

📌 Fighting corruption’s threat to democracy Brookings

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