Greetings! It’s December 18, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: U.S. officials worry about ISIS jailbreak in Syria, Russia’s spy network under Moscow’s religious cloak, U.S. charges Colombians in deadly migrant smuggling, FinCEN warns of fraud schemes that abuse its name and authorities for financial gain, and much more…

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New Episode of COERCIVE CAPITAL: The State & Sanctions With Financial Crime Expert Cari Stinebower.

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Featured Story

🎯 ‘Ticking time bomb’: U.S. officials worry about ISIS jailbreak in Syria. Now a full-scale ISIS comeback may hinge on whether the U.S. and a weakening group of allies can prevent their escape. Politico

Top Stories

🌎 Russia’s Spy Network Under Moscow’s Religious Cloak United24

🌎 U.S. charges Colombians in deadly migrant smuggling scheme NBC 

🔥 FinCEN Warns of Fraud Schemes That Abuse Its Name, Insignia, and Authorities for Financial Gain FinCEN

🌎 'Significant Risk of Fraud': Federal Watchdog Calls for Emergency Halt to Biden's $400 Billion Energy Loan Fund Free Beacon 

🌎 Nigeria arrests nearly 800 in raid on crypto pig butchering hub Cointelegraph 

🌎 Deutsche Bank Tries to Tackle Compliance Hurdles for Public Blockchains Bloomberg 

🌎 U.S. Shuts Down North Korean Crypto Money Laundering Network CoinDesk

🌎 U.S. Weighs Ban on Chinese-Made Router in Millions of American Homes WSJ

🌎 Treasury Takes Sweeping Action Against Global Narcotics Traffickers U.S. Treasury

🌎 Russian 'shadow fleet' to be boarded or sanctioned if it refuses to prove insurance Reuters

🌎 New York tax preparer called ‘the Magician’ charged for tax fraud of $145M Guardian

🌎 Meta fined $263M for alleged GDPR violations that led to data breach Record

🌎 US bank regulator considering legal action against former SVB executives Reuters

🌎 Millions stolen from LastPass users in massive hack attack — what you need to know Tom’s

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Russia & China

📌 Britain imposes sanctions on trading firm, 'shadow fleet' over Russian oil Reuters

📌 China’s AMEC Dropped From Pentagon Blacklist After Suing US Bloomberg

📌 Biden Set to Announce Chinese Semiconductor Probe Bloomberg

📌 FBI warns lawmakers that China aims to create fake stories about them to erode support for Taiwan NBC

📌 US hits North Korea and Russia with new sanctions RFA

📌 China Responds to EU Sanctions Over Ukraine War Support to Russia Newsweek

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Isabel dos Santos hits out over UK's 'dirty money' sanctions BBC

💸 Son-in-law of top foe of Venezuela’s president sentenced to 30 months on money laundering charge AP

💸 Adani deal under bribery scrutiny was approved against officials' advice Reuters

💸 Judge denies Eric Adams’s request to dismiss his bribery charge Hill

💸 Canada proposes more powers for AML regulator amid increasing scrutiny Reuters

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 INTERPOL Pushes for "Romance Baiting" to Replace "Pig Butchering" in Scam Discourse Hacker News 

🔐 Drug Dealers Have Moved on to Social Media Wired

🔐 Apple accused of using conflict minerals BBC

🔐 Coinbase Says It Nixed wBTC Because Justin Sun Posed 'Unacceptable Risk' CoinDesk

Trafficking

🚚 Invading Mexico Will Not Solve the Cartel Problem American Conservative

🚚 Mexico Arrests Drug Lords in Operation Against Trafficking Bloomberg

🚚 Records tie narco-trafficking son of former Australian political leader to offshore company and Cyprus bank account ICIJ

🚚 From Canada to Lagos: Police Disrupt Christmas Drug Haul Worth Millions OCCRP

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