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Kremlin Connect, Slim Shady, and Terrorist Cement
Illicit Edge - Edition for August 3, 2026
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Happy Monday! It’s August 3, and we’re tracking top stories to start the week: The Russia links to a £600m UK theme park, Cement Giant Paid Terrorists — Victims Want a Share of Its $778 Million Penalty, Smugglers Eye Big Profits Running Weight Loss Drugs into Brazil, UBS Fined $125 Million by U.S. Regulators for Money Laundering Violations, and much more…
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Breaking News for FinCrime Professionals
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🎯 FEATURED STORY
Kremlin Connections: The Russia links to a £600m UK theme park. French company Puy du Fou worked with a sanctioned oligarch on plans for a Crimea resort longer than disclosed, and later courted Iran and China. Guardian
🔥 TOP STORIES
A Cement Giant Paid Terrorists. Victims Want a Share of Its $778 Million Penalty. WSJ
Slim Shady: Smugglers Eye Big Profits Running Weight Loss Drugs into Brazil OCCRP
UBS Fined $125 Million by U.S. Regulators for Money Laundering Violations Reuters
Iran-linked exchange sent $676 million to Binance in alleged sanctions-evasion operation Block
Scope of Hacks on U.S. Water Supply Widens as Evidence Points to Iran New York Times
Italian-led EU force boards sanctioned tanker from Russia's 'shadow fleet' in Mediterranean Reuters
Capital One bank cites money-laundering probe to justify closing Trump Organization accounts AFP
Disrupting a Criminal Scam Operation OpenAI
DHS Announces Addition of 43 Companies to UFLPA Entity List DHS
Coldcard Hardware Wallet Flaw Linked to $70 Million Bitcoin Theft in 41 Minutes Hacker News
EU Announces New Sanctions Targeting Southeast Asia-Based Online Scam Networks The Diplomat
Europe sanctioned crypto exchange HTX. Experts say the firm is deploying tactics that could blunt the impact. ICIJ
Turkey-Based Global Director of Sham Charity Arrested and Charged with Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Hamas DOJ
IN THE NEWS
🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA
Russian Banks Lack Cash to Buy Government Debt, Sberbank Executive Says Moscow Times
Chinese police AI algorithm tracks bitcoin money laundering with 90% accuracy South China Morning Post
How China Keeps Tabs on Foreigners New York Times
Russian ship defies sanctions to send military vehicles to Mali BBC
Russia is sharing valuable electronic intel with Iran, officials say, as U.S. war drags on NBC News
Expense receipts shouldn't require a search party
Adam spent 20 minutes looking for a $36 receipt. His finance team sent three Slack messages. Someone made a sticky note.
Ramp would have matched it automatically the moment he swiped. Auto-coded, in-policy, synced. Nobody had to ask Adam for anything.
This is what finance looks like when it runs itself.
Your team can be Adam. Or they can not be Adam.
🚀 SANCTIONS & TERROR
Concerns about tariff authority in Russia sanctions bill undermine universal support for Ukraine Washington Times
Sanctions Drive Growth of a Parallel Shipping Economy Maritime Executive
US Treasury Sanctions Iranian Firms Taking Bitcoin for Hormuz Passage Decrypt
What New U.S. Sanctions Mean for the Sudan Civil War Washington Institute
Vitol, Cargill, Glencore cut ties with Radiant World Reuters
Pakistan Police Station Bombing Kills at Least 14 New York Times
Poilievre asks public safety minister to declare Iran-backed group linked to synagogue attack a terrorist entity National Post
CAIR, a Muslim Nonprofit, Gets a Terrorism Label in Florida and Texas New York Times
💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME
Nigerian scammers bilk the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer cash Washington Times
Swedish Fraudster Jailed in U.S. Over 'Gold Phones' Bearing Pablo Escobar's Name Complex
Brazen social media fraud schemes wreak havoc as Trump official issues stark warning for 'fraudfluencers' Fox News
VC-backed startups commit more fraud, and researchers think they know why TechCrunch
From Tehran to Texas: How a Convicted Iranian Pyramid Scheme Ringleader Built a New Life in the U.S. OCCRP
🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER
Security Flaw Placed 30 Years of DNA Evidence at Risk of Hacking WSJ
CaptiveCrunch: Midnight Blizzard targets travelers worldwide for malware delivery and credential theft Microsoft Security
Hacker uses DeepSeek AI to autonomously attack vulnerable servers BleepingComputer
Amgen says cloud data breach exposed patient health, proprietary info BleepingComputer
Max-severity Exchange server flaw under active exploitation by Kremlin hackers Ars Technica
🚚 TRAFFICKING
People smugglers cut prices to exploit migrant crisis Telegraph
Inside Myanmar’s scam centers: how AFP exposed a global web of fraud AFP
Human trafficking in Mexico: the dark side of tourism DW
Spain's PM blames trafficking mafia for ongoing Ceuta migrant crisis AFP
“I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.” —Patrick Henry
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