Hello! It’s April 30, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Former executive sentenced to jail for embezzling from Atlanta Hawks, Pasadena clinic received $34 million in Medicare skin graft scam, The Plywood Smuggling Ring That Ensnared a Building-Products Giant, Federal law enforcement conducting raids connected to massive fraud investigation in Minnesota, and much more…

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🎯 FEATURED STORY

Former executive sentenced to jail for embezzling from Hawks. Former Atlanta Hawks finance executive Lester T. Jones Jr. was sentenced to three years and five months in prison for embezzling approximately $3.7 million from the team through fraudulent expense reimbursement requests and misuse of corporate credit cards. AP

🔥 TOP STORIES

Pasadena clinic received $34 million in Medicare skin graft scam Los Angeles Times

The Plywood Smuggling Ring That Ensnared a Building-Products Giant Wall Street Journal

Federal law enforcement conducting raids connected to massive fraud investigation in Minnesota NBC News

Suspected members of Nigeria-linked Black Axe crime gang arrested in Switzerland Reuters

Anthony Fauci adviser indicted by Department of Justice New York Post

FinCEN Should Use Special Authority to Enable Better Compliance Bloomberg

Crypto Venture Linked to Men Sanctioned in Scam-Ring Probe Partnered With Trump Firm Wall Street Journal

US court sentences Cartier descendant to 8 years in $470 million crypto laundering case Block

Two Chinese nationals indicted in plot to build industrial meth factory in New York Washington Times

FBI brings China-linked hacker to US in rare extradition as Patel defends Italy trip Fox News

Duo Who Sold Fake Warhol, Banksy Plead Guilty in $2M Fraud Artnet

Call centers dismantled and ten arrested in EUR 50 million online fraud case Europol

Soldier who placed Polymarket bet on Maduro operation pleads not guilty Politico

Upstate New York man pleads guilty to stealing more than $50M in Ponzi scheme AP

Mexican officials charged with importing massive quantities of drugs into US Associated Press

U.S. warns banks of sanctions risk over China ‘teapot’ refineries handling Iranian oil CNBC

276 arrested in connection with 'scam centers' targeting Americans USA Today

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Chinese Propaganda Outlets Jump Into Crusade Against Data Centers as Beijing Races To Achieve AI Supremacy Free Beacon

China's financial regulatory head Li Yunze demoted Reuters

Senators introduce bipartisan bill banning Chinese vehicles and auto parts NBC News

US sanctions on China's Hengli mark escalation in Iran oil crackdown Reuters

Russia Hoped Africa Corps Would Replicate Wagner's Success. It's Not Going Well. RFE

Litasco's top US traders splinter to rival firms after Russia sanctions Reuters

Beijing Pushes Back As US Sanctions Chinese Oil Refinery Over Iran Links RFE

🚀 SANCTIONS

UN sanctions brother of Sudan's RSF leader, Colombian mercenaries Reuters

📘 Featured Report: The EU's 20th sanctions package targets the architecture of crypto sanctions evasion Elliptic

U.S. sanctions Iran shadow banking network as peace talks stall UPI

Zelenskyy threatens Israelis with sanctions over stolen grain Politico

Iran football chief with IRGC ties sent back by Canada after arrival Iran Int’l

United States Cuts Off Billions in Illicit Funding to Iranian Regime US State Department

White House workshops plan to bring back Anthropic Axios

💥 TERROR

Report to Congress on Palestinian Payments for Acts of Terrorism and Limitation on Assistance to the West Bank and Gaza U.S. State Department

Charity founded by Hamas member raising funds on US-based platform Long War Journal

Qatar Influence Operations: Unmasking a Suspected Network FDD

Al-Qaida-linked leader in Mali ordered to pay millions for crimes AP

Engineering the Virtual Caliphate: Islamic State’s Exploitation of Gen-Z Culture ICCT

The Collapse of Indefinite Detention in Northeast Syria CTC Sentinel

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Southern Poverty Law Center says its informants weren't a secret to DOJ NBC News

The Simple Travel Scam That Cost a Seasoned Traveler Over $12,000 Wall Street Journal

Swiss court dismisses case against daughter of former Uzbek president Financial Times

Oil tycoons deny paying bribes to former Nigerian minister BBC

In Argentina, corruption scandals encircling Milei’s government come before Congress El Pais

Lebanon detains former Palestinian ambassador on corruption charges Associated Press

Fidelity blocks fund donations to SPLC after federal indictment Hill

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Crypto exchange KuCoin EU hires anti-money laundering talent to appease Austrian regulator, FMA CoinDesk

Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Banned From Crypto Industry in $10 Million FTC Settlement Decrypt

Feuding Ransomware Groups Leak Each Other's Data Dark Reading

How Cyber Command is building its AI cyber war playbook Axios

Seeing the Cyber in Economic Statecraft War on the Rocks

🚚 TRAFFICKING

Agents Pulled Nationwide As ‘Gotaways’ Surge In Border Town Daily Wire

Why Belgium struggles with 'dirty money' in drug trafficking Brussels Times

Meth worth $8.1 million found in shipment disguised as tiles at U.S. border CBS

Federal drug raids underway across Orange County KTLA

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” —Arthur Schopenhauer

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