Reported by Quentin Sommerville (Summarized version featured below) The BBC article by Quentin Sommerville explores the fentanyl trade between Mexico and the United States, highlighting its devastating impact on American communities and the broader geopolitical implications. It begins by providing rare access to a Mexican cartel’s fentanyl smuggling operation, where traffickers hide pills inside a […]

Reported by FinCEN The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) to combat illicit financial activities involving Mexican currency exchange houses (centros cambiarios) and money transmitters operating in certain U.S. border areas. This order mandates specific record-keeping and reporting requirements for money services businesses (MSBs) in select counties in California, Arizona, […]

Reported by ALEXANDRA SVOKOS (Summarized version featured below.) The Kiplinger article highlights the evolving deadlines for the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirement under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). Initially, businesses were required to file their BOI reports by January 1, 2025, but legal challenges led to delays. A court ruling on February 18, 2025, […]

Reported by Julia Jacobs (Summary version featured below) The legal battle surrounding Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, has intensified as allegations of sexual abuse mount against him. Reciprocity Industries, a legal services company based in Montana, has become the central hub for collecting complaints against Combs, fielding over 26,000 contacts through a dedicated hotline […]

Reported by U.S. Department of Justice In a coordinated international operation, the U.S. Department of Justice, alongside German and Finnish authorities, dismantled the online infrastructure of Garantex, a cryptocurrency exchange allegedly involved in laundering funds for transnational criminal organizations, including terrorist groups, and facilitating sanctions violations. Since its inception in April 2019, Garantex reportedly processed […]

Reported by FACT Coalition On Sunday, the Department of Treasury announced via social media that it no longer intends to enforce the landmark Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) – the 2021 law that, for the first time, requires disclosure of information on the true owners of anonymous shell companies – against domestic entities and persons. This dramatic reversal of Treasury’s […]

Reported by Aaron Katersky, Peter Charalambous and John Parkinson Cryptocurrency tokens known as meme coins — such as the one promoted by President Donald Trump last month — are not subject to federal securities regulations, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday. Meme coins associated with Donald and Melania Trump soared shortly before Trump’s inauguration — likely […]

Reported by Jonathan Greig The suspected North Korean hackers behind the theft of more than $1 billion from crypto platform Bybit have completed the initial stage of laundering the funds.  Experts from multiple blockchain security companies said Monday that the hackers were able to move all of the stolen ETH coins to new addresses — the first step taken […]

Reported by FACT Coalition (Summarized version featured below) The article from the FACT Coalition titled “Treasury Reopens the Floodgates to Dirty Money in the U.S.” highlights several critical concerns regarding the Treasury Department’s recent decision to cease enforcing penalties under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA): 1. Undermining Anti-Money Laundering Efforts: The Treasury’s decision contradicts over […]

Reported by FinCEN FinCEN announced that it will not issue any fines or penalties or take any other enforcement actions against any companies based on any failure to file or update beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act by the current deadlines. No fines or penalties will be issued, and no […]