Hello Wednesday! It’s September 16, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: U.S. charges Russians for financing terrorism, murder-for-hire plots; Robinhood Engineers Charged With Fraud Over Crypto Listing Trades; Chinese banking giant serves firms linked to oligarchs and autocrats to push Beijing’s agenda; Kim pro quo: North Korea emerging from international isolation by backing Russia’s war in Ukraine; and much more…

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Breaking News for FinCrime Professionals
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🎯 FEATURED STORY

Members Of Russian Intelligence Services Network Charged With Conspiring To Finance Terrorism And Commit Murder For Hire In The U.S. The RIS Network is one arm of the Russian Federation’s apparatus to carry out external attacks, including murder, around the world, which has focused on Russian dissidents, defectors, and nations perceived as allies of Ukraine. DOJ

🔥 TOP STORIES

Robinhood Engineers Charged With Fraud Over Alleged Crypto Listing Trades Decrypt

Chinese banking giant serves firms linked to oligarchs and autocrats to push Beijing’s agenda ICIJ

Kim pro quo: North Korea is emerging from international isolation by backing Russia’s war in Ukraine The Insider

Nicolás Maduro ally Alex Saab pleads guilty in Miami federal court to money laundering AP

FBI believed Pennsylvania man was planning attack in support of ISIS CBS News

Two Chinese Firms Used Binance to Launder Iranian Oil Money New York Times

How a Chinese Hacking Firm Tapped AI to Supercharge Cyber-Spying Wall Street Journal

Bug bounty programs tricked with AI Axios

U.S. Probes Cyberattacks on Energy Tankers Bound for American Coast Wall Street Journal

Norway police investigate Telenor over suspected crimes against humanity in Myanmar Reuters

South Africa is at risk of becoming a mafia state The Economist

Russian National Pleads Guilty to Smuggling U.S. Aerospace Goods to Russia DOJ

Lithuanian Authorities Target Founders of Failed Cryptobank OCCRP

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Chinese bank helped Huawei spirit $1B out of London days after US indictment of the tech giant ICIJ

U.S. Pressures Mexico to Box Out China’s AI Hardware Exports Wall Street Journal

The New Chinese Way of Cyberwar: How Beijing Will Weaponize Digital Chokepoints Foreign Affairs

US invests in critical minerals but China maintains grip Reuters

Russia’s Shadow Fleet Is Sailing in NATO’s Blind Spot: Irish Waters Wall Street Journal

🚀 SANCTIONS & TERROR

Chairman Mast Leads Sanctions Letter Urging President Trump to Investigate Southeast Asian Scammers and their Enablers for Sanctions House Foreign Affairs Committee

'Putin Is Watching': US House Panel Advances Russia-Iran Sanctions Bill RFE/RL

Belarus’ authoritarian leader meets U.S. envoy to push for lifting sanctions Los Angeles Times

Yemen’s Houthis Show Growing Sophistication and Self-Reliance in Weaponry New York Times

Most ISIS-linked federal defendants are US citizens Washington Examiner

Iraq faces dual deadlines: US military exit and militia disarmament AP

The Criminal Nexus: States, Organized Crime, and State-Sponsored Assassinations Soufan Center

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Twelve Individuals Charged in $10M Home Daycare Fraud Schemes Washington Times

Two New Yorkers, Who Are Chinese Nationals, Plead Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy Involving the Interstate Transportation of Stolen Used Cooking Oil DOJ

Feds Uncover Massive Fraud Scheme Tied To Illegal Alien Smuggling Operation Daily Wire

Former head of Chinese food and drug watchdog jailed for bribery Reuters

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Senate cloture vote on Clarity Act fails, dealing regulatory blow to crypto industry CNBC

Iranian cyber targeting of dissidents, activists and journalists National Cyber Security Centre

Electric and gas utility CenterPoint Energy warns of data breach after dark web post Record

How a simple coding mistake let a hacker drain $7.8 million from a crypto wallet CoinDesk

America's Driver's License Breach Is a National Security Disaster Lawfare

🚚 TRAFFICKING

A Teen Autopsy Marks the Arrival of a Deadly Drug in San Francisco New York Times

Downtown L.A. Residents Arrested on Federal Complaint Alleging Possession of More Than 42 Kilograms of Fentanyl, Small Alligator in Stash House DOJ

Ghana Arrests Three for Allegedly Aiding Dutch Fugitive Drug Lord Jos Leijdekkers OCCRP

CBP agriculture specialists intercept rare Chief Goliath beetles being smuggled to Germany U.S. Customs and Border Protection

“History is a race between education and catastrophe.” —H. G. Wells

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