Hello Wednesday! It’s December 10, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Britain will beef up anti-corruption force amid national security fears, ObamaCare Is a Mecca for Fraud, Cambodian payment processor freezes customer funds before regulators shut it down, CAIR's Political Arm Has Operated Without Legal Authority Across US, and much more…

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🎯 FEATURED STORY

Britain will beef up anti-corruption force amid national security fears. The U.K. government on Monday pledged £15 million to expand its “Domestic Corruption Unit” — a body which investigates corruption in local authorities and banks. – Politico

🔥 TOP STORIES

ObamaCare Is a Mecca for Fraud – The Wall Street Journal

Cambodian payment processor freezes customer funds before regulators shut it down – ICIJ

CAIR's Political Arm Has Operated Without Legal Authority Across US – Free Beacon

Why Russian Spies Are Using Mexico to Target the U.S. – New York Times

China to restrict access to Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips — as Trump looks to lift export curbs – New York Post

Ukraine targets Russia's shadow fleet in foreign waters as sanctions fail to sink Putin's oil sales – CBS News 

California man pleads guilty to RICO charges as DOJ indicts crypto theft gang – The Record 

UK sanctions Russian and Chinese firms, warns of cyber threats and hybrid warfare – South China Morning Post 

Three hacking groups, two vulnerabilities and all eyes on China – The Record

FinCEN Assesses $3.5 Million Penalty Against Paxful for Facilitating Suspicious Activity Involving Illicit Actors – FinCEN

Justice Department Announces Actions to Combat Two Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Criminal Hacking Groups – U.S. Department of Justice

Walking into disaster: the narcotrafficking scandal that blew up the BVI – The Guardian

US cracks down on Mexican remittances over alleged money laundering – El País

Honduras issues arrest warrant for ex-president Hernández recently pardoned by Trump – CNN 

U.A.E.’s Ransom Payment for Kidnapped Prince Bolsters al Qaeda in Mali – The Wall Street Journal

Cocaine, corruption and colonialism: the crisis in the British Virgin Islands – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

💥 SANCTIONS

US bank floats plan to repay US investors via Lukoil asset sale – Reuters

Germany to Tweak Local Rosneft Trusteeship to Avert US Sanctions – Bloomberg

Belarus Accused Of Sabotaging Lithuanian Airspace As EU Moves Toward New Sanctions – RFE/RL 

Turkey to guarantee flow of Russian gas to Hungary – Reuters

Japan rebuffs EU plea to join Russian assets plan – Politico

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Putin clears deals with Rosneft and Shell's joint-venture stake in Caspian Pipeline Consortium – Reuters 

Former Chinese senior banker Bai Tianhui executed for taking US$155 million in bribes – South China Morning Post

Gazprom delivers first post-sanctions LNG cargo from Portovaya to China – Reuters

Russia Plans Limits on Cash and Gold Exports in Push to Curb Shadow Economy – The Moscow Times

Nepal charges Chinese contractor with corruption over airport deal – South China Morning Post

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Former betting bosses facing bribery and fraud charges begin lawsuit against Gambling Commission – The Guardian

Biden’s supercharged federal contracting pipeline targeted for freeze after bribery bust, undercover sting – Fox News

COVID schemes' fraud and error cost taxpayers £11bn – Sky News

Philippines ‘flood control queen’ faces arrest over corruption scandal – South China Morning Post

Police raid Argentine football HQ, clubs in graft probe – AFP

Hamas ran secret money-exchange network in Turkey with Iran help – Fox News

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

22-year-old pleads guilty to money laundering for $263 million crypto syndicate – The Block

Binance post confirming insider trading sends 'year of the yellow fruit' meme token even higher – The Block

ChatGPT Helps Expose a $1 Million Crypto 'Pig-Butchering' Scam – Decrypt

Zcash Founder Helped to Create This Anonymous Phone Service – Decrypt

40% of Canadian Crypto Users Flagged for Tax Evasion Risk – CoinDesk

Officials offer $10M reward for information on IRGC-linked leader and close associate – CyberScoop

Korea to Treat Crypto Exchanges Like Banks After Upbit Hack – Crypto News

🚚 TRAFFICKING

Teen dies just 3 hours after being ‘sextorted’ as nefarious international groups like 764 target US kids – New York Post

Trump has rescued 62K migrant kids from sex trafficking, child labor – New York Post

The Problem With Taking Narco-Traffickers to Court – The Wall Street Journal

End of Major Corruption Case Embarrasses N.Y. Cannabis Regulators – The New York Times

Mexican ex-governor expected to face charges for money laundering – AP

Indonesia repatriating 2 Dutch drug traffickers convicted on drug trafficking charges – AP

Colombia’s last major guerrilla group now a binational criminal force – Miami Herald

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