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Chip Smugglers, Dirty Hoops, and U.S. Hits Merrill Lynch
Illicit Edge - Edition for June 30, 2026
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Greetings! It’s June 30, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Supermicro Taiwan offices raided in chip smuggling probe, Ex-NBA players Malik Beasley, Ed Davis indicted in gambling case, SEC fines BofA's Merrill Lynch $7.5 million for not flagging enough suspicious activity, How a Master of Deception Conned Investors Out of $50 Million, and much more…
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🎯 FEATURED STORY
Supermicro Taiwan offices raided in chip smuggling probe. Prosecutors also raided the offices of data center operator Chief Telecom and Super Micro distributor Albatron Technology as part of the probe. Bloomberg
🔥 TOP STORIES
Ex-NBA players Malik Beasley, Ed Davis indicted in gambling case ESPN
US SEC fines BofA's Merrill Lynch $7.5 million for not flagging enough suspicious activity Reuters
How a Master of Deception Conned Investors Out of $50 Million — in His Own Words Wall Street Journal
Vietnamese National Pleads Guilty To Conspiring To Commit Identity Theft In Connection With $67 Million Dollar Money Laundering Scheme Justice Department
DOJ launches grand jury probe into Marxist mogul Neville Roy Singham's funding of leftist groups Fox News
U.S. nabs major Minnesota fraudster -- in Somalia Washington Times
He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive. WIRED
Amazon seller reveals rare glimpse of shadow bribery market Bloomberg
Ukrainian in $450m fraud case ‘pretended to be funded by Astors’ The Times
US Treasury Opens Online Portal for Sanctions Removal Requests Bloomberg
Russia Weaponizes Civilian Tanker in Baltic Sea, Surveillance Images Show OCCRP
For These Teens in Mexico, Soccer Is Life. Now, the Cartels Want In. New York Times
IN THE NEWS
🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA
Putin decree paves the way for seized American canned food company to be sold to Russian buyers The Insider
Chinese Spies, Smuggled Drugs Fuel Takaichi’s Security Push Bloomberg
China adds 20 Japanese entities to its export-control list South China Morning Post
The RAF's Top Gun 'traitors' paid hundreds of thousands to train Chinese pilots how to shoot enemy planes out of the sky Daily Mail
Alibaba, Tencent Dropped by DC Lobbyists to Comply With US Curbs Bloomberg
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🚀 SANCTIONS
Trump’s U-turn on Iran sanctions would unravel decades of curbs Fortune
Cabinet of the Blacklisted: Sanctioned Loyalists Take Charge of Venezuela’s Quake Relief OCCRP
Ex-prisoner questions easing Belarus sanctions as repression persists Reuters
Energy firm named after £500,000 Russia sanctions settlement GOV.UK
UK poised to act over Iran sanction breaches Financial Times
Oil, cod, Kirill: friction points emerge in new EU sanctions on Russia Euronews
US sanctions Rwanda gold refinery accused of smuggling DR Congo's minerals BBC
💥 TERROR
Gulf shares concerns with US as Iran’s influence and power continue by proxy The Guardian
Trump wants Syria to fight Hezbollah, alarming Lebanon and Israel Associated Press
Security alert as ISIS releases footage of military-grade weapons captured in Niger Daily Post Nigeria
‘Knowledge-Based’ Economy Facilitates Tech Transfers to Iran Jamestown Foundation
💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME
Truckloads of Tesla Batteries Keep Getting Stolen Before They Even Leave the Factory WIRED
Netflix Scammer Sentenced; Judge Scolds Carl Rinsch's "Money Laundering & Lies" Deadline
Ex-China Exec of Advertising Giant Sentenced to Life in $176 Million Bribery Case Bloomberg
FirstEnergy’s Ex-CEO Wins Dismissal of SEC Suit Tied to Bribery Bloomberg
A lawyer is accused of mass immigration fraud using humanitarian visas Associated Press
Argentine President Javier Milei’s top aide and Cabinet chief resigns over spiraling corruption scandal AP
Iraq detains politicians, officials in anti-corruption crackdown Reuters
🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER
Ukraine Takes $8.3M in Seized Crypto Under State Management in a First Decrypt
Polymarket hack updated to $3.1 million days after the platform promised users full refunds CoinDesk
Coinbase and OKX try to lure in Binance’s users after it failed to secure a MiCA license CoinDesk
US Offers $10 Million Bounty for Russian State Hackers as Messaging App Attacks Evolve SecurityWeek
Advancing Trilateral Cooperation to Disrupt Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Cyber-Enabled Revenue Generation State Department
🚚 TRAFFICKING
Popular Ibiza DJ named as alleged 'mastermind' behind international drug trafficking operation Euronews
New Mexico's governor seeks civil damages over DEA fentanyl shipments Associated Press
Member of Vast International Alien Smuggling Organization Pleads Guilty Justice Department
U.S. Adds Narcoterror Charge Against Uruguayan Trafficking Suspect OCCRP
'Like a small airport': Feds nab biggest prison drone-smuggling operation in history Washington Times
INTERPOL and Germany Federal Environment Ministry step up cooperation to combat environmental crime INTERPOL
“History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.” —Alexis de Tocqueville
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