Hello! It’s November 19, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Trafigura hunts missing $500M in Mongolian fuel fraud, Singapore says launderers who surrendered $1.4 billion are free to go, BIT Mining to pay $10M for bribing Japanese politicians, hacker gains access to file with damaging testimony about Trump AG pick Matt Gaetz, and much more…

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Watch the latest episode of Coercive Capital with Elaine Dezenski for a deep dive into the Defense Department’s financial crime combat with China.

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🎯 Trafigura hunts missing $500M in Mongolian fuel fraud. Trafigura made provisions of $1.1B after discovering what it described as "misconduct" at its Mongolian unit. Reuters

Top Stories

🌎 Singapore says launderers who surrendered $1.4 billion are free to go – but can’t return. Much of the illicit funds came from illegal gambling and unlicensed money lending in China. Bloomberg

🌎 BIT Mining to pay $10M fine for bribing Japanese politicians in former life. BIT Mining paid $2.5M in bribes to Japanese officials between 2017 and 2019. Cointelegraph

🔐 Heather ‘Razzlekhan’ Morgan sentenced to 18 months in prison Record 

🌎 Hacker Gains Access to File With Damaging Testimony About Gaetz. The computer file contains testimony from the woman who said she had relations with Trump’s AG pick when she was 17. NBC

🌎 U.S. defense agencies, industry expands AI use with tech companies’ backing. AI models made by the biggest US tech companies are increasingly being used for military purposes. Semafor 

🔥 Illicit Edge Originals: Watch the latest episode of Coercive Capital with Elaine Dezenski for a deep dive into the Defense Department’s financial crime combat with China.

🌎 We Can’t Give Up Paper Checks, and That’s a Gold Mine for Scammers.  Fraudsters congregate anonymously on message boards and social media, figuring out which banks to target with altered checks. WSJ

🌎 Andrew Tate claims ‘monumental victory’ in human trafficking trial. Prosecutors have been given five days to decide if they will withdraw the case. Independent 

🌎 Russian man accused of being connected to multimillion-dollar ransomware gang is extradited to US. 42-year-old Evgenii Ptitsyn is accused of administering the sale, distribution and operation of Phobos ransomware. CNN 

🚩 Treasury Issues Final Regulations to Sharpen CFIUS Procedures to Protect National Security FinCEN

Terror

💥 Treasury Targets Key Hamas Leaders and Financiers U.S. Treasury

💥 Israel Finds Large Troves of Russian Arms in Hezbollah’s Hands WSJ

💥 U.S. sanctions companies that build settlements in occupied West Bank Axios

💥 Hamas political office in Doha has not been permanently closed Reuters 

💥 I Saw How Georgetown’s Prestigious School of Foreign Service Coddles Violent Anti-Semites Free Beacon

Russia & China

📌 Can Trump’s Hardball Tactics on China Ease America’s Fentanyl Crisis? WSJ

📌 UK Sanctions Russians Over 'Forcible Deportation' Of Ukrainian Kids AFP

📌 UK hits Iran with new sanctions for supplying missiles to Russia AP

📌 Huawei's advanced chips are taking a hit from U.S. sanctions Quartz

📌 Russia Sanctions – No Time to Wobble CEPA

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Wall Street’s Top Cop Plans to Exit Before Trump Takes Power Bloomberg

💸 Brazil police arrest ex-Bolsonaro aide, 4 others, in plot to kill Lula in coup Reuters 

💸 Footage of $50M seizure falsely linked to Indonesia gambling case AFP Fact Check

💸 Bombardier UK Probe Dropped as SFO Defers to US, Canada Bloomberg

💸 Vietnamese Member Of Multinational Media Company Charged With Scheme To Launder $67M DOJ

Trafficking

🚚 Tren de Aragua has already set up shop in these 16 states NYP

🚚 Trump Confirms He Plans to Use Military for Mass Deportations Bloomberg 

🚚 Treasury Targets Fentanyl Traffickers U.S. Treasury 

🚚 ICE Can Already Sidestep Sanctuary City Laws Through Data-Sharing Fusion Centers Wired 

🚚 Pakistani National Pleads Guilty To Drug-Trafficking Charges DOJ

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