Greetings! It’s May 5, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Nordea Unit Faces Danish Probe Over Suspected AML Lapses, How Iran’s Chief Sanctions Buster Went From Death Row to Crypto, The Medicaid Money Trail Leads Somewhere You Won’t Like, Beijing Deploys Long-Threatened Economic Arsenal Against U.S. Pressure, and much more…

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🎯 FEATURED STORY

Nordea Unit Faces Danish Probe Over Suspected AML Lapses. The FSA said that Nordea did not have sufficient knowledge of individuals within a larger group of customers who were ‌issued with credit ⁠cards. Reuters

🔥 TOP STORIES

How Iran’s Chief Sanctions Buster Went From Death Row to Crypto WSJ

The Medicaid Money Trail Leads Somewhere You Won’t Like Daily Wire

Beijing Deploys Long-Threatened Economic Arsenal Against U.S. Pressure WSJ

U.S. Warns China Over Iranian Oil as Sanctions Fight Intensifies NYT

🔥 Featured Report: A Gameplan for American Economic Security – Supercharging U.S. Statecraft, From an Economic Pentagon to the Near-Global Economy FDD

5 charged in ‘Operation Mousetrap' cocaine trafficking bust in Midtown Miami NBC

Ex-GOP Rep. David Rivera convicted of secretly lobbying U.S. officials on behalf of Venezuela NBC

Two Georgia men sentenced in $522M health care fraud Fox

How Iran’s Leaders Hide Their Billions National Interest

Canadian Miner Invested in Cuba Says It's Assessing Trump's Fresh Sanctions Bloomberg

Member of Prolific Russian Ransomware Group Sentenced to Prison DOJ

Governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa indicted in US drugs investigation says he will step down CNN

US threatens shipping firms with sanctions if they pay Iran tolls BBC

Coinbase says deal reached on key provision of crypto bill Reuters

A mob hit in Ireland, a 10-year manhunt and an arrest in Dubai Washington Post

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Kremlin Uses Corruption Charges to Militarize Frontline Regions Jamestown Foundation

Commission blocks EU funding for Huawei solar tech Politico

The Chinese spy bots behind Beijing’s AI heist in the West The Telegraph

The U.S. Wants to Break China’s Drone Dominance. Here’s Where It Will Struggle. WSJ

Xi’s Forever Purge: The Real Goal Behind China’s “Self-Revolution” Foreign Affairs

Sacked Russian Deputy Minister Flees to U.S. Amid Fraud Probe Moscow Times

🚀 SANCTIONS

US extends protection of Venezuela-owned Citgo from creditors Reuters

Absent reforms, unfreezing Libyan Investment Authority is risky The New Arab

China’s ‘Teapot’ Refiners, Targeted by U.S., Offer Financial Lifeline to Iran WSJ

Oil Tanker Hijacking Stokes Fear of Links Between Houthi Rebels and Somali Pirates NYT

How Iran Accumulated 11 Tons of Enriched Uranium NYT

💥 TERROR

The U.S. Shouldn’t Lose Sight of the Real Terrorist Threats Just Security

Western Withdrawal, Jihadist Expansion: How the Sahel Became Ground Zero for Global Terrorism War on the Rocks

North Korea terrorism creditors move to seize Arbitrum-frozen Kelp DAO ETH ahead of DeFi United vote The Block

The Muslim Brotherhood Threat to the United States RealClearWorld

Iranian network linked to Revolutionary Guard openly operating in the UK The Telegraph

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

After Big Albania Bust, Experts Warn Scam Centers Are Hard to Stop OCCRP

How Dr. Oz became Trump’s Medicare and Medicaid fraud fighter CNN

She Blew the Whistle on Deutsche Bank to the SEC. Her Award: $0. WSJ

Hong Kong's 'block trade king' pleads not guilty as Segantii insider trading trial begins Reuters

The U.S. Set Off a Corruption Scandal That Is Gripping Mexico NYT

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

One of Iran’s most powerful families founded its largest crypto exchange. It’s used by the IRGC to move millions. Reuters

Western Union launches USDPT stablecoin issued by Anchorage on Solana The Block

Aave fights court-ordered $73 million ETH freeze, argues 'a thief does not own what he steals' The Block

Kraken's parent company Payward alleges $25 million crypto custody fraud in lawsuit against Etana and firm's CEO CoinDesk

Trellix discloses data breach after source code repository hack BleepingComputer

Brazil's central bank bans stablecoin and crypto settlement in cross-border payments CoinDesk

🚚 TRAFFICKING

Pakistani man pleads guilty in smuggling ring using fake film companies Washington Times

Poverty and technology fueling record levels of slavery in UK BBC

Texas Man Found Guilty in HSTF Case Involving Large-Scale Cartel Firearm Trafficking DOJ

Smuggling Starlink tech into Iran to beat the internet blackout BBC

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” —Thomas Jefferson

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