Illicit Finance

President Donald J. Trump speaks with members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Thursday, April 16, 2026, en route Joint Base Andrews for a trip to Las Vegas. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

Suspicious Trades Have Become a Hallmark of Trump’s Second Term

Unusual bursts of trading across oil, equities, and prediction markets repeatedly appeared shortly before some of President Donald Trump’s most market-moving public statements.

Pedestrians walk past the sign outside the headquarters of the Serious Fraud Office in London.

ENRC Wants $168mn for Mishandled SFO Probe That Spanned a Decade

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation is seeking more than $168 million in compensation from the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), law firm Dechert, and former Dechert partner Neil Gerrard over losses it says arose from a decade-long criminal investigation.

A photo of a woman riding a bike past a Danske Bank branch in Copenhagen — “Danske Bank | IMG_2231” by Jimmy Baikovicius / Flickr. Edited from the original. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 (CC BY-SA 2.0).

A Decade on, Nordic Banks Emerge from Russian Money-Laundering Scandal

Nordic banks are finally beginning to move past the Baltic money-laundering scandal that engulfed the region’s financial sector, after nearly a decade of probes, fines, management upheaval, and costly compliance overhauls.

2020 July 20,HSBC, Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in Hong Kong.Standard Chartered in Hong Kong.

Five Banking Giants Tied to Alleged Iran Sanctions-Evasion Scheme

Five of the world’s largest banks have been drawn into allegations that they unwittingly processed payments tied to a sanctions-evasion and money-laundering scheme benefiting Iran.

A DEA wanted poster showing Daniel Kinahan, edited with AI to fit 3:2 landscape

Daniel Kinahan, One of Europe’s Most Wanted Criminals, Arrested in Dubai

Daniel Kinahan, the Irishman long alleged to be one of Europe’s leading organized-crime figures and drug traffickers, has been arrested in Dubai on an Irish warrant and is expected to be extradited to Ireland.

Jules Sedney Haven, Formerly Nieuwe Haven, The Main Cargo Seaport of Suriname in Paramaribo

Drug Cartels are Changing Tactics and Routes in Response to U.S. Crackdown

South American governments are deploying soldiers, drones, sniffer dogs, artificial intelligence, and expanded port surveillance to try to stem a record flow of cocaine, but the crackdown is having little impact as traffickers change up routes and tactics.

Unknown man walks into the beautiful glass office of Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank Self-Reports Possible Russia Sanctions Violations

Deutsche Bank has alerted financial regulators of potential breaches of EU sanctions rules involving Russian clients after discovering that its retail unit had accepted deposits of more than €100,000 from individuals subject to the bloc-wide prohibitions.

Sign and seal at an entrance to the US Department of the Treasury office on sunny day in downtown Washington, D.C.

OFAC Targets Militias in Iraq, Mercenary Recruiters in Sudan

The U.S. Treasury on Friday imposed sanctions on seven Iraqi militia commanders in what it called “Economic Fury,” targeting figures it said were responsible for planning, directing and carrying out attacks on U.S. personnel.

Tapentadol molecule. It is synthetic benzenoid, opioid analgesic for treatment of moderate to severe pain. Skeletal chemical formula. Paper packaging for drugs. Vector illustration

A Powerful Opioid Made in India is Flooding into West Africa Illegally

Indian companies shipped more than 320 million tapentadol pills to West Africa over the past three years, even though the synthetic opioid has not been approved by regulators in most countries in the region, according to a Bellingcat investigation.

Washington DC, USA-July 12, 2024: Security guards apparently discussing an issue in front of the International Monetary Fund building.

IMF Calls for Stronger Interbank Data-Sharing to Combat Rising Digital Fraud

The International Monetary Fund has urged banks to share more threat and transaction data with one another, arguing in a recent working paper that the sector’s response to fast-rising digital fraud is weakened by information silos within institutions and across borders.