Son of Alleged Uyghur Kingpin Spent Millions on Mosque and Cultural Center in London
The son of a Chinese-born Uyghur oligarch who allegedly ran a massive smuggling and money-laundering ring has purchased a former church in North London for more than $3 million and converted it into a mosque and cultural center, OCCRP reported.
Brazilian Fraudsters Used Celebrity Deepfakes to Reap Millions
Police in southern Brazil have arrested four people accused of running a nationwide Instagram ad scam that used AI-generated videos and images of supermodel Gisele Bündchen and other celebrities, Reuters reported.
As Illegal Gold Mining Grows in the Western Hemisphere, So Do AML Risks
Illegal gold mining has grown into one of the Western Hemisphere’s largest and fastest‑expanding illicit economies, out‑earning narcotics in parts of Colombia and Peru and pushing conflict‑linked gold toward U.S. ports and banks.
In Sweeping Reorganization, DOJ to Disband Cartel Task Force, Merge Money-Laundering Section
The U.S. Justice Department will shut down its flagship anti-cartel task force as part of the most far-reaching DOJ shakeup in two decades, according to internal documents reviewed by Reuters.
Congress Expected to Subpoena Banks Linked to Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein remained embedded in Wall Street’s elite financial networks in the years before his 2019 death, maintaining accounts at more than 20 banks and executing large transactions with prominent investment firms, according to new reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
CRYPTO LAUNDERING: How Tech Salaries Fund North Korea’s Weapons Programs
North Korea’s government-backed IT workers are quietly infiltrating global tech firms and contractor platforms, earning steady crypto salaries that are laundered through a sprawling network of intermediaries to fund the regime’s weapons programs, according to new analysis from Chainalysis.
FinCEN Pushes Real-Estate Reporting Enforcement to 2026
The U.S. Treasury Department has postponed enforcement of its new residential real-estate reporting rule until March 1, 2026, issuing a temporary exemptive order to give the industry more time to prepare.
Money Laundering Tied to Pig-Butchering Scams is Increasingly Sophisticated, Report Finds
Pig-butchering schemes have scaled into a multibillion-dollar criminal industry, according to a new report by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic cited by CoinDesk.
U.S. Drug Prosecutions Fall to Decades Low as Money-Laundering Cases Plummet: Report
U.S. federal prosecutions for drug crimes have fallen to their lowest level in decades this year after the Trump administration redirected agents to immigration enforcement, according to a Reuters analysis.
Ex–Nodus Chair Pleads Guilty to $13.6 Million Fraud
The former chairman of the board at Puerto Rico–based Nodus International Bank, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in a $13.6-million scheme that contributed to the institution’s 2023 collapse.