Illicit Finance

Australia’s Federal Court has ordered Westpac’s mortgage brand RAMS Financial Group to pay A$20 million (about US$13 million) after finding widespread breaches in the way it arranged home loans, including approvals supported by falsified pay slips, Reuters said. 

European lawmakers will push for wildlife trafficking to be recognized as organized crime by 2030 and for tougher global enforcement at next month’s United Nations meeting on endangered species, Euronews reported. 

The U.S. Treasury Department designated Colombian President Gustavo Petro and several of his family members and associates, alleging his policies have fueled record cocaine production and benefited narco-traffickers.

A former Citibank relationship manager has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to two years in jail for helping a Chinese criminal network launder money in Singapore, the Financial Times reported. 

The U.S. Treasury Department disclosed the existence of roughly $9 billion in 2024 financial activity tied to Iranian “shadow banking,” mapping a web of front companies and intermediaries used to sell sanctioned oil, launder illicit proceeds, and procure banned technology.

President Donald Trump has granted a pardon to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of Binance, after months of behind-the-scenes efforts by Zhao and his allies to secure clemency.

A new legal filing alleges that a cryptocurrency promoted in January by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump was part of a sophisticated scheme that used celebrity association to lend legitimacy to token launches, according to Wired. 

The United States imposed expansive new sanctions Wednesday on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, escalating U.S. economic pressure as negotiations to end the war in Ukraine falter.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has filed a High Court lawsuit against crypto exchange HTX, alleging the platform unlawfully promoted cryptoasset services to consumers in breach of the country’s financial promotions regime, the Financial Times reported. 

One of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels is smuggling gasoline and diesel into the Port of Ensenada with the aid of a “dark fleet” tanker and a Houston-based company, according to an investigation by Reuters.