Hello Wednesday! It’s October 2, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Fentanyl traffickers exploit U.S. trade law to kill Americans, mistaken birthdate allows top Russian spy to slip past sanctions, how North Korea infiltrated the crypto industry, Binance executive’s family ordeal revealed in new podcast, and much more…

🚀 Check out Part One of the two-part launch of Designated with Yaya Jata Fanusie. Part Two drops tomorrow!  

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🎯 How fentanyl traffickers exploit U.S. trade law to kill Americans. Hundreds of millions of small packages pour into the U.S. each year from China – some with fentanyl stashed inside. Reuters

Top Stories

🌎 Mistaken Birthdate Could Allow Top Russian Spy To Slip Past Sanctions. The second-in-command of Russia’s security intelligence agency may be slipping through cracks due to mistakes in his birthdate. OCCRP

🌎 How North Korea Infiltrated the Crypto Industry. More than a dozen blockchain firms inadvertently hired undercover IT workers from the rogue state. CoinDesk 

📌 Sanctioned North Korean unit tried to hack at least 3 U.S. organizations this summer Record 

🌎 'Is Daddy on the Airplane?' Jailed Binance Exec Gambaryan Family’s Ordeal in New Podcast. U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick alleged in the “Designated” podcast that Nigeria is holding him as a “hostage”. CoinDesk 

📌 Binance founder CZ made over $25M per day while in prison Protos

🌎 It’s Time to Tighten Enforcement of Iran Oil Sanctions.  Iran is reaping windfall profits from near-record oil production this year. Newsweek

🌎 Starling Bank fined £29m for ‘shockingly lax’ financial crime controls. Challenger bank apologizes for leaving system wide open to criminals and those subject to sanctions. Guardian

🌎 How the FBI and Mandiant caught a ‘serial hacker’ who tried to fake his own death. Jesse Kipf was a prolific hacker who sold access to systems he hacked. TechCrunch

🌎 The Cyber Sleuth. It is oftentimes an IRS cybercrime agent who uncovers the critical evidence in big, multiagency cases, even if they don’t always get the credit. WaPo

Russia

🇷🇺 Police unmask Aleksandr Ryzhenkov as Evil Corp member and LockBit affiliate Record 

🇷🇺 EU Moves to Sanction Russia Over Hybrid Attacks AFP

🇷🇺 Russia Getting Paid in Oranges in Trade Barter with Asian Ally Newsweek

🇷🇺 UK sanctions cyber-crime gang it says Russia charged with attacking NATO Reuters

🇷🇺 Planes Seized by Russia Spark Multibillion Dollar Insurance Spat Bloomberg

China

🇨🇳 Chinese Man Extradited to U.S. Over $700M Plot to Sell North Korean Tobacco Newsweek 

🇨🇳 U.S. sanctions Chinese and Iranian Houthi weapons smuggling networks UPI

🇨🇳 U.S. Treasury Calls for Transparency on China’s Currency Swaps Bloomberg

🇨🇳 Chinese start-up Numemory claims memory chip breakthrough amid sanctions SCMP

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Ex-Jaguars employee who stole from team sues FanDuel for $250 million for "exploiting" his gambling addiction CBS 

💸 Fed terminates 2013 money laundering enforcement action against Citigroup Reuters 

💸 Ex-official from Ecuador laundered millions in bribes in Miami. He just got 10 years. Miami Herald 

💸 Next-in-Line for New York Mayor Got Contributions From Donor in Eric Adams Indictment WSJ

💸 What’s a Golden Visa and Where Can You Still Get One? Bloomberg

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Hacker pleads guilty to stealing $37M in crypto via ‘cyber intrusion’ Cointelegraph

🔐 India disconnects 20M phone numbers in ‘cyberslave’ crackdown Protos

🔐 Systems used by courts and governments across the US riddled with vulnerabilities Ars 

🔐 September crypto hacks surpass $120M, centralized exchanges hit Cointelegraph

🔐 International police dismantle cybercrime group in West Africa Record

“Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
—Hemingway

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