Happy Monday! It’s September 28, and we’re tracking top stories to start the week: 5 British nationals arrested on suspicion of terror offenses near base U.S. used to strike Iran, Trump Brought Venezuelan Gold to the U.S., but Refiners Won’t Touch It, Senate Investigation Finds Rampant Use of Tether’s Stablecoin by Iranian Regime, Pentagon data breach of military personnel raises national security concerns, and much more…

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Breaking News for FinCrime Professionals
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🎯 FEATURED STORY

5 British nationals arrested on suspicion of terror offenses near base U.S. used to strike Iran. Dozens of homes were evacuated and a large emergency presence was seen around RAF Fairford, shaking the normally quiet rural area west of London. NBC News

🔥 TOP STORIES

Trump Brought Venezuelan Gold to the U.S., but Refiners Won’t Touch It NYT

Senate Investigation Finds Rampant Use of Tether’s Stablecoin by Iranian Regime Wall Street Journal

Prosecutors seize bank accounts of Montana firm linked to Tether Reuters

Pentagon data breach of military personnel raises national security concerns CNN

As Singham faces federal probe, wife marches in anti-Israel protest led by groups he funded Fox News

Crypto platform Bitget suspects North Korea is responsible for $352 million hack CNBC

Vietnamese National Charged for Role in Massive “Pig Butchering” Cryptocurrency Scam DOJ

Polymarket Wagers on Bank Failures Trigger FDIC Concerns Bloomberg

North Korea Is Testing Swarm Attacks Mixing Drones and Missiles Wall Street Journal

Mystery $1.3bn UK firm and the empire sanctioned for 'Tehran tollbooth' fees The National

How firms linked to sanctioned Chinese cotton giant sell clothes to U.S. Reuters

UK gave citizenship to Hamas chief’s guard, then he ‘plotted terror’ The Times

Kalshi subject to state gambling laws, appeals court finds -- major blow to prediction market giant New York Post

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

China weighs allowing ByteDance, Alibaba to buy new Nvidia chips Reuters

See How the U.S. Is Attacking China’s Control of Critical Minerals WSJ

More than 100 “shadow fleet” oil tankers have switched to the Russian flag since the start of 2025 The Insider

Gold-rich Nicaragua hands Chinese miners rights to a tenth of its land Financial Times

How Beijing is neutralizing Washington’s sanctions machine South China Morning Post

Bulgarians detained over Munich arson were part of GRU-linked group operating from Slovakia The Insider

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🚀 SANCTIONS & TERROR

A U.S. Arm-Twisting Campaign Is Cutting Iran Off From the Rest of the World Wall Street Journal

Waltz says Iran wanted sanctions relief up front in rejected deal Politico

UK Tightens Sanctions on Iranian Banks in US Pressure Campaign Bloomberg

Swiss say no to hardening neutrality principle, safeguarding sanctions on Russia Politico

Iran behind attacks of Jewish sites in Liège and Antwerp Brussels Times

RCMP say Quebec man researched chemical weapons, planned attack for ISIS CBC

Why are Pakistan and Afghanistan fighting – and what could happen next? Independent

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Investors pursue Dubai investment group over missing payments Financial Times

SNP-backed Chinese renewables boss named in bribery scandal The Times

‘Smart Rings’ CEO Found Guilty of Running $2 Million Ponzi Scheme DOJ

The IRS loses up to $304 billion a year to fraud. It still has no antifraud strategy. Washington Times

Internal Watchdog says Data Leaks and Bribery Push French Police Misconduct Cases to Five-Year High OCCRP

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

ShinyHunters Renewed Mass Exploitation Campaign Targeting Oracle PeopleSoft Google Cloud

Why the Coldcard and Liquid Network Hacks Were the Worst in Bitcoin's History Gizmodo

‘Mum, where did my Robux go?’ The Roblox scam targeting children. The Guardian

Brooklyn man sentenced to 12 years over $16M Coinbase phishing scam CoinDesk

Kiteworks urges customers to shut down their servers amid 'imminent' threat of cyberattack TechCrunch

🚚 TRAFFICKING

U.S. Troops Are Now Fighting the Drug War on the Ground in Ecuador Wall Street Journal

Guns, Camouflage, and Facebook: How Colombia’s Biggest ‘Narcoinfluencer’ Weaponized Social Media OCCRP

California’s Shadow Welfare System for Illegal Immigrants City Journal

Accused drug kingpin 'Spider' who commanded 1,000-person cocaine army to face justice in California New York Post

Drugs gang jailed over plot to import cocaine and ketamine into UK hidden in frozen fish deliveries Sky News

DHS issues stark warning after 300 ‘hostile’ cartel drones detected at southern border Fox News

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.” –Peter Drucker

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