British and American Officials Warn of State-Backed Cyber Attacks
UK and U.S. officials are warning of rising cyber risks driven by Russia- and Iran-linked hacker groups, according to new reports by the Financial Times and Bloomberg.
Illicit Finance
Fraud Scripts and Chinese Restaurants: Inside a Cambodian Scam Compound
A sprawling scam compound on Cambodia’s border with Thailand housed an estimated 10,000 workers and included offices, dormitories, villas, and restaurants, underscoring the industrial scale of Southeast Asia’s cyberfraud industry.
In Spain, Two Corruption Cases Highlight Parties’ Legacies of Political Graft
Two criminal trials opening in Madrid this week have put renewed focus on allegations of kickbacks, illicit party financing, and broader political corruption in Spain.
New Polymarket Bets Again Raise Questions of Insider Knowledge
Three Polymarket accounts made about $611,000 betting on a U.S.-Iran ceasefire before President Donald Trump’s conditional ceasefire announcement, according to a Decrypt report citing blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps, in trades that renewed scrutiny of possible insider activity on prediction markets.
Treasury Proposes AML and Sanctions Rules for Stablecoin Issuers
The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday proposed new anti-money-laundering and sanctions-compliance rules for permitted payment stablecoin issuers, marking a major step in implementing the 2025 GENIUS Act and expanding federal oversight of the sector.
FinCEN Proposes Overhaul of AML Rules, New Role in Oversight
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on Tuesday proposed a broad rewrite of anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism-financing rules that would shift the focus of compliance from technical box-checking to whether a financial institution’s controls are actually effective.
China Turned to Small Banks, ‘Teapot’ Refineries to Dodge Iran Sanctions
China has helped Iran blunt the impact of U.S. sanctions over the past five years by buying the bulk of its oil exports and supporting a complex financial and shipping network that has allowed Tehran to keep earning billions of dollars in revenue.
Epstein Made $25 Million in 2015 as a Consultant in DOJ Bank Settlement
Jeffrey Epstein received $25 million in late 2015 for consulting work tied to a U.S. Justice Department tax-evasion settlement with Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild Group.
Georgian Company is Helping Russia Sell Donetsk Commodities Abroad
A Georgia-based company has inked a deal with Russian-installed authorities in occupied eastern Ukraine to export coal, chemicals, and metals, opening what Le Monde described as a new channel for Moscow to skirt international sanctions.
Brazil Adds China’s BYD to Registry of Firms Linked to ‘Slavery-Like’ Work
Brazil has added Chinese automaker BYD to a government registry of employers linked to slavery-like labor conditions after an investigation into the treatment of Chinese workers hired to help build the company’s factory in Bahia state.