Happy Friday! It’s July 31, and we’re tracking top stories to take you into the weekend: UN Is Actively Obstructing U.S. Probe Into Links Between Its Gaza Relief Groups and Hamas, Treasury Cracks Down on Global Networks Enabling Iran’s Mahan Air and IRGC, Pentagon Fuel Subcontractor Owned by Alleged Front for U.S.-Blacklisted Brothers, Hollywood producer charged with seven counts of wire fraud in $100M scheme, and much more…

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🎯 FEATURED STORY

UN Is Actively Obstructing U.S. Probe Into Links Between Its Gaza Relief Groups and Hamas, as Americans Warn UN To Divorce 'Cancerous UNRWA'. The USAID inspector general's investigation — dubbed Operation Stop the Carousel — was initiated late last year to root out Hamas-linked UNRWA staffers and stop them from migrating to other U.N. agencies that perform work in Gaza with U.S. taxpayer funds. Free Beacon

🔥 TOP STORIES

Treasury Cracks Down on Global Networks Enabling Iran’s Mahan Air and IRGC U.S. Treasury

Treasury Disrupts Iranian Regime’s Strait of Hormuz Extortion Network U.S. Treasury

Pentagon Fuel Subcontractor Owned by Alleged Front for U.S.-Blacklisted Brothers OCCRP

Hollywood producer charged with seven counts of wire fraud in $100m scheme The Guardian

Head of FinCEN Leaving to Join Citibank as Global Head of Sanctions OCCRP

EU Sanctions Target Prince Group and its Chairman Chen Zhi Over Cyber-Scams, Forced Labor OCCRP

Sanctions Bill Would Give Trump Sweeping New Tariff Powers New York Times

China to send rocket launchers to Iran Telegraph

ShinyHunters claims Brinks Home breach, threatens to leak stolen data BleepingComputer

Justice Department’s Fraud Division Announces Unprecedented Fraud Enforcement Actions in Southeast DOJ

The Missing Signal: What DNS Data Can Tell Us About Scam Compounds Stimson Center

ICAC charges 3 former HSBC managers over accepting bribes to fast-track accounts South China Morning Post

The Alleged Mastermind of a $2 Billion U.S. Telemedicine Scam Is Enjoying the Luxury Life in Russia OCCRP

Amazon Ties North Korea to String of Cyberattacks on Open-Source Software WSJ

Nigeria drug trade: How Mexican cartels have outsourced meth labs BBC

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

China’s humanoid robots have been taking over the global market. Now the US is banning them. CNN

Why Did China Sanction 2 High-Tech Institutions in Poland? The Diplomat

London university that works with MoD has links to China military Telegraph

How the Taliban came to be Moscow’s strategic ally in Central Asia The Insider

Beijing’s Next Play for the South China Sea Foreign Affairs

Where Can Russia Find More Money for War? Moscow Times

🚀 SANCTIONS & TERROR

Potential roadblocks ahead for Graham-led Russia sanctions bill Politico

Illicit gold is a global security threat the US must address Hill

US sanctions mainland China, Hong Kong firms over Iranian oil shipments South China Morning Post

Rosatom is a Military Supplier – Europe Must Treat It as Such RUSI

Norwegian teen found guilty in UK murder plot tied to Iran-linked group CBS News

Three teenagers arrested in Dutch terrorism investigation Reuters

DOJ Files First Case in U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court to Deport Afghan Alien Who Supported ISIS DOJ

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

South Florida convenience store owners charged in $19 million SNAP fraud scheme NBC News

Identity Theft Ring Including Former Bank Employee Charged with Posing as Bank Customers and Stealing Millions DOJ

CEO and VA Employee Plead Guilty to Paying and Receiving Illegal Health Care Kickbacks and Bribes DOJ

Iraq seizes $1.9 million cash haul from former finance official’s home The National

The Crumbling Property Empire of a Vietnamese Tycoon Who Faced Death Row Bloomberg

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Scam Artists Are Posing as IRS Agents to Drain Crypto Wallets Bloomberg

Jaguar Land Rover cuts hundreds of jobs after devastating cyberattack Telegraph

Feds issue warning to local water systems over increased cyberattacks, following Minnesota incident ABC News

OpenAI’s rogue models roamed the internet for 4 days and staged a second attack Politico

🚚 TRAFFICKING

Texas woman pleads guilty to smuggling sedated migrant children USA Today

$20 Million Worth of Cocaine Seized from Commercial Truck at Border DOJ

Cuban National Sentenced for His Role in an International Alien Smuggling, Asylum Fraud, and Money Laundering Conspiracy DOJ

Boeings carried weapons for Sudanese paramilitary Reuters

Ex-Cathay worker jailed over human smuggling case after 16 years on the run South China Morning Post

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

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