Hello, Tuesday! It’s October 27, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: The Battle Over Moving Russian Oil, Hezbollah readies for new regional war with funds from Iran, Chinese Prosecutors Seek to Confiscate $5.1B in Bitcoin Seized by UK in Qian Case, Romance Scammers Turned a Texas Man Into an Unwitting Money Mule, and much more…

***

Breaking News for FinCrime Professionals
Tell a friend to subscribe to Illicit Edge here!

🎯 FEATURED STORY

Death Threats, Lawsuits and Billions in Play: The Battle Over Moving Russian Oil. A former Deutsche Bank executive got into business with the kingpins of Russia’s shadow fleet. It all went south. Wall Street Journal

🔥 TOP STORIES

Hezbollah readies for new regional war with funds from Iran Reuters

Chinese Prosecutors Seek to Confiscate $5.1B in Bitcoin Seized by UK in Qian Case Decrypt

Romance Scammers Turned a Texas Man Into an Unwitting Money Mule Wall Street Journal

In U.S. Gas Talks With Kremlin, Hidden Financing for Alaska Project Emerges New York Times

How purchases of sanctioned Iranian jet fuel were disguised by Myanmar Reuters

UAE leads $39 billion global digital fraud crackdown with more than 900 arrests The National

US regulator is probing suspicious Iran oil trading Reuters

James Comey charged for a third time by the Trump administration NBC News

FBI Explores Espionage Case Against Saudi OpenAI Suspect Wall Street Journal

British aid charity reviewed over ‘links to Hamas’ Telegraph

Lebanese widow can be pursued for husband's role in $2bn corruption scandal The National

How Beijing's Africa ambitions, financed by China's mega banks, triggered a crisis in Zambia ICIJ

Federal agency reports nearly 600% increase in licences stripped from money services firms National Post

Scott Bessent says Iran's economy is 'collapsing' as Treasury tightens financial vise Fox Business

FBI captures six Most Wanted fraudsters after combined 4,000 days on the run Newsweek

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

How the Seizure of a Russian Vessel Brought the Ukraine War to the Arctic Wall Street Journal

Chinese copper tycoon He Jinbi gets life sentence for fraud The Standard

Pentagon designates Confucius Institutes in US a national security threat Reuters

Wealthy Chinese move offshore money to U.S. banks as Beijing’s tax net widens CNBC

Russian refiners ramp up diesel output after US deal Reuters

‘Pull Out the Sick Trees’: Xi’s Constant Purges Pave Way for Next Term New York Times

🚀 SANCTIONS & TERROR

UK sanctions Sudanese military leaders implicated in El Fasher ‘campaign of rape’ Guardian

U.S. intel memo warns of "advanced" Iranian plots to kill officials abroad Axios

Two UN-sanctioned North Korean tankers spotted repeatedly off China VOA

Yemeni forces intercept Houthi weapons being smuggled from coast The National

Jordan strikes southern Syria after linking church attackers to 'terrorist groups' Reuters

Terrorist linked to Isis ‘smuggled himself into UK on back of lorry’ The Times

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Head of Mexico's electoral authority resigns amid corruption allegations Reuters

Former NBA player Malik Beasley to plead guilty in federal sports betting case ABC News

Brazil: defeated Flávio Bolsonaro ordered to surrender passports Guardian

‘Body brokers' responsible for 'hundreds' of homeless addicts in Skid Row — as secrets of sick drug rehab trade revealed New York Post

Turkey risks recession as massive fund scandal implicates Erdogan’s family and inner circle Nordic Monitor

Hungarian Tycoon’s Firm Funded Pro-Orbán Advertising Agency OCCRP

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Dutch police extradite Chinese national accused of laundering Cambodian investment scam funds Record

FBI Cybercrime Operation Nets Nine Arrests in Nigeria OCCRP

Jaguar Land Rover cyber-attack was state-sponsored, former minister admits Telegraph

South Korea Arrests Seven in First Big AI-Assisted Hacking Case Decrypt

Russia’s Sberbank links the crypto networks used by Moscow and Tehran to evade sanctions Insider

Chinese Scam Boss Murdered in Sri Lanka Had Multiple Identities OCCRP

🚚 TRAFFICKING

Leader of FARC Dissident Group Extradited to South Florida to Face Federal Cocaine Trafficking and Money Laundering Charges DOJ

Cars stolen in U.S. become daily drivers for Mexican cartels Washington Times

Old soldiers use military training to smuggle £34million of cocaine into UK after using fishing boat to scoop it up in English Channel Daily Mail

Indonesia Busts Mongolian-Flagged Tanker for Ketamine Smuggling Maritime Executive

Former Texas Tech professor sentenced to 480 months in federal prison for “pink flamingo” fentanyl trafficking conspiracy DOJ

Orange County couple sentenced for trafficking tiger pelt, rhino horns and other wildlife KTLA

“Money is like muck, not good except it be spread.” —Francis Bacon

Share Illicit Edge with friends!

They can subscribe here for free and never miss a story.