Hello Wednesday! It’s December 4, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead FBI, targeted in Iranian hack, China bans rare mineral exports to U.S., Barclays reaches $19.5M settlement over debt sale blunder, fintechs launder cocaine cash for Brazil's largest criminal gang, and much more… 

🚀 Don’t miss the latest Illicit Edge podcast drop!  
Corporate America’s Big China Challenge Coercive Capital

In partnership with:

Featured Story

🎯 Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead FBI, targeted in Iranian hack. Trump announced last month that he planned to replace FBI director Christopher Wray with Patel. Axios

Top Stories

🌎 China Bans Rare Mineral Exports to the U.S. The move escalates supply chain warfare and comes a day after the Biden administration expanded curbs on the sale of advanced American technology to China. NYT 

🇨🇳 U.S. announces new export controls on China's chip industry Reuters

🌎 Barclays reaches $19.5M settlement over debt sale blunder. Barclays agreed to settle a lawsuit in Manhattan by shareholders who accused the British bank of securities fraud. Reuters 

🌎 Fintechs Launder Cocaine Cash for Brazil's Largest Criminal Gang. The company scrubbed hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of dirty money for First Capital Command and funneled cash into political campaigns. Bloomberg

🌎 Alex Mashinsky, Founder and Former CEO of Celsius, Pleads Guilty to Fraud. Mashinsky repeatedly lied to investors about whether the platform was making uncollateralized loans. CoinDesk

🌎 US Ramps Up Sanctions on Iran's Shadow Fleet. The fleet is a network of tankers and ship management firms that transport petroleum to its overseas customers using false documentation. Newsweek

🌎 Silk Road Bitcoin Worth Nearly $2B Moved to Coinbase Prime. The U.S. Marshals Service partnered with Coinbase to "safeguard and trade" the government's large-cap digital assets. CoinDesk

🎙️Illicit Edge Originals: Special Agent on the Silk Road Designated

🌎 ‘Mr. Non-Compliant’ Believed He Was Part of Trafigura ‘Family’. The evidence shines a light on how Trafigura used companies set up by former employees as intermediaries around the world. Bloomberg

🌎 How Cuba fooled the U.S. to get millions of dollars from Miami for its armed forces. Cuba has been fooling U.S. sanctions by concealing the true nature of the company that handles money sent by Cuban-Americans to the island. MH

🌎 The Israeli Investigator Who Delivered Dirt on Exxon’s Enemies. Formerly a sleuth with the Manhattan DA’s office, Eitan Arusy is now caught up in a globe-spanning ‘hack-and-leak’ probe. WSJ

🚩 Hackers pivot from data breaches to total destruction. Axios

Russia & China

📌 Sanctioned Tanker Is Taking Russian Crude the Long Way to Suez Bloomberg

📌 Dual US-Russian national arrested for attempting to smuggle Cessnas to Russia AFP 

📌 Hungary requests US sanctions exemption for gas payments to Gazprombank Reuters 

📌 To defend Taiwan tomorrow, we must prepare to sanction China today Hill

📌 Chinese hack of global telecom providers is ongoing Politico 

📌 California Man Arrested for Exporting Firearms, Ammunition to North Korea DOJ

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 San Francisco’s $30,000 ‘Equity-Centered’ Plan Used DEI Formulas To 'Target' Majority-Asian School. Free Beacon 

💸 Mitsubishi Corp loses $90M in suspected copper fraud Bloomberg

💸 Former EU justice chief Didier Reynders suspected of money laundering Euro News 

💸 Super Micro whistleblower doubles down on claim he was fired for complaining about accounting practices. Fortune 

💸 Florida woman who led a nearly $200M Ponzi scheme sentenced to 20 years in prison CNBC 

💸 Bangladesh Estimates $16B Siphoned Yearly in Hasina Rule Bloomberg

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Trump's currency cakeism Axios

🔐 The Guy Who Bought (and Ate) That Banana Art Is Actually a Dangerous Criminal Slate 

🔐 Japanese Crypto Exchange to Shut Down After $300M Hack, Transfer Accounts to SBI Decrypt 

🔐 Police shutter MATRIX encrypted chat service used by criminals Record

Trafficking

🚚 Greece dismantles sex trafficking ring targeting Colombian women Reuters 

🚚 NYC Mayor Says He’ll Work with Trump to Deport Illegal Immigrant Criminals National Review 

🚚 Grains for gold: Indian export curbs drive boom in barter smuggling Reuters 

🚚 They went to rehab to kick drugs. Instead, they died in S.F.’s biggest treatment program SFC

Stay current: Illicit Edge is redefining financial crime news and entertainment. See how!

Share Illicit Edge with friends!

They can subscribe here for free and never miss a story.