Hello Wednesday! It’s January 15 and we’re tracking today’s top stories: French Woman Says AI Brad Pitt Scammed Her Out of $850K; Binance Called Cauldron of Fraud Without Evidence; Spymaster Sheikh Wants to Dominate AI; Cookies, Cocktails and Mushrooms on the Menu as Justices Hear Bank Fraud Case, and Much More…

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Featured Story

🎯 French Woman Says AI Brad Pitt Scammed Her Out of $850K. The scammers used fake, AI-generated photos of the megastar that led the French woman to believe she was communicating with the real Brad Pitt. Hollywood Reporter

💰 What is Pig Butchering? Illicit Edge

Top Stories

🌎 Binance Chief: The SEC Called Us a Cauldron of Fraud, Without Any Evidence CoinDesk 

🌎 A Spymaster Sheikh Controls a $1.5 Trillion Fortune. He Wants to Use It to Dominate AI. Wired 

🌎 Cookies, Cocktails and Mushrooms on the Menu as Justices Hear Bank Fraud Case NYT

🌎 U.S. encounters European skepticism in last-ditch push to seize $300B in Russian assets CNN 

🌎 Taiwan’s spy agency says China is working with gangs, shell companies to gain intelligence AP

🌎 A kidnapped Chinese actor, a scam gang, and a very public rescue operation Guardian

🌎 Former Wells Fargo Executives Fined for Role in Fraudulent Bank Accounts WSJ 

🌎 Trump says he will create an ‘External Revenue Service’ agency to collect tariff income AP 

🌎 SEC charges Robinhood with securities violations, brokerage to pay $45M penalty CNBC 

🌎 Wall Street Fraudsters’ Sentences Bake in Risk of Future Crimes Bloomberg 

🌎 Dogged By Debts, Disputes, And Divorce, A Russian Oligarch Also Draws FBI Scrutiny RFE

🌎 Biden moves to lift state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba AP 

🌎 Capital One sued by U.S. CFPB for avoiding billions in interest payments Reuters

🌎 Virginia AG Miyares Ratchets Up Investigation Into American Muslims for Palestine Free Beacon

China

🇨🇳 U.S. Bans Imports From Dozens Of Chinese Firms On 'Forced Labor' AFP

🇨🇳 Chinese company pleads guilty to stealing trade secrets from Motorola CBS

🇨🇳 Chinese TikTok alternative RedNote tops app charts ahead of potential TikTok ban NBC

🇨🇳 Mexico Plans Nearshoring Incentives to Curb China Imports Bloomberg

🇨🇳 U.S. probe finds China unfairly dominates shipbuilding, paving way for penalties Reuters

Russia

🇷🇺 LVMH says 'impossible' to control final sales point after report of champagne shipments to Russia Reuters

🇷🇺 Oil tycoon Shvidler says UK sanctions are arbitrary in landmark appeal Reuters

🇷🇺 SLB under pressure to exit Russia after Biden administration widens sanctions Seeking Alpha 

🇷🇺 Russian LNG Shipment Lands in Spain After New US Sanctions Bloomberg

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Former Wamco Executive Said Star Investor’s Suspicious Trades Go Back a Decade WSJ 

💸 U.S. sues KKR for allegedly avoiding antitrust scrutiny Reuters

💸 Four Indicted In Conspiracy To Commit Bank Fraud Involving $128M In Criminal Proceeds DOJ 

💸 Venezuela AG requests Interpol red notice for opposition's Leopoldo Lopez Reuters

Trafficking

🚚 Two California Men Who Supplied Fentanyl Sold to Darknet Customers Sentenced to Prison DOJ

🚚 Kenneth fire ‘person of interest’ is a convicted felon and entered country illegally LAT

🚚 5 killed in Mexican town caught between battling criminal groups AP

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Biden looks to penalize Salt Typhoon telecom hackers WaPo 

🔐 U.S. issues final rule barring Chinese, Russian connected car tech Record

🔐 Crypto firm Tether and its founders finalizing move to El Salvador Cointelegraph

🔐 North Korea stole over $659M in crypto heists during 2024, deployed fake job seekers TC

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