Daily financial-crime intelligence · Updated 20 Jul 2026, 02:01 UTC
Money laundering
Zhuoying Chen, 27, of Brooklyn, New York, and Haojie Zhang, 38, of Queens, New York, made their initial appearance on charges of conspiracy to launder money derived from cyber investment fraud scams.
Other
Bellingcat investigation reveals connections between Jitendra Maharaj, a Christchurch-based cryptocurrency entrepreneur and former pilot, and LeakedBB—a forum facilitating non-consensual intimate image sharing.
Other
John Harold Rogers, 64, a former senior adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, was sentenced to 38 months in federal prison for making false statements to federal investigators about sharing restricted Federal Reserve information with Chinese intelligence operatives, according to the Department of Justice.
Bribery & corruption
China's Communist Party expelled former Politburo member Ma Xingrui on corruption charges. The investigation found that 'Ma provided advantages to certain individuals in public office selection processes and arranged affairs improperly for others,' according to party authorities.
According to a New York Times investigation based on interviews with five current and former Western intelligence officials, Russia has allegedly established a sanctions evasion network acquiring Japanese military technologies through third countries.
Bribery & corruption
Febrie Adriansyah, 58, who served as the prosecutor overseeing special crimes, resigned after police raids on 12 locations discovered 74 kilograms of gold bars and approximately $20 million in cash in multiple currencies.
The New York Times investigation found that Russia's GRU 20th Directorate operates a technology procurement operation in Japan run by Maksim Filchenkov, 49, posing as an Aeroflot employee in Tokyo.
Money laundering
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced a new suspicion against a former executive director for physical protection at Energoatom, referred to as 'Tenor' in case materials, for allegedly laundering over UAH 30 million ($674,000) obtained through a corruption scheme called 'Shlagbaum,' according to NABU.
Money laundering
Guo Wengui (also known as Miles Guo or Ho Wan Kwok) ran a scheme that defrauded over 1 billion dollars from thousands of investors through false promises of investment in companies including the media platform GTV and cryptocurrency platform Himalaya Exchange.
Money laundering
Yang Youlin, a former vice director of an economic zone in Nanjing, was sentenced to death by Changzhou Intermediate People's Court for accepting more than 2.2 billion yuan (approximately $324 million) in bribes between 1993 and 2023.
Singaporean prosecutors filed additional charges, including money laundering, against Alan Wei Zhaolun in an AI server fraud case involving alleged diversion of Nvidia Corp. chips to China in violation of U.S. export controls.
Estonian courts released judgments on 6 July 2026 detailing 5 convictions across 3 cases for sanctions breaches related to Russia.
Other
A Dutch national and a 40-year-old Venezuelan national allege they were kidnapped, held captive for several days, sexually assaulted, and forced to transfer approximately $17,000 in cryptocurrency after being lured to Lahore under the pretext of a business meeting following a cryptocurrency conference in Singapore.
Sanctions
New Zealand and Australian authorities conducted coordinated search warrants across Auckland, Christchurch and Melbourne targeting suspected breaches of New Zealand's Russia sanctions regime.
Money laundering
Wenshen Xu, 52, a Honduras-based Chinese national extradited from Guatemala, pleaded guilty to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, conspiring to launder money derived from drug trafficking, and providing material support to Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).
Sanctions
New Zealand and Australian authorities conducted coordinated raids in Auckland, Christchurch, and Melbourne in late June 2026, with search warrants first executed on June 22 and additional warrants carried out in Christchurch the following week, coordinated with simultaneous raids in Melbourne by Australian Border Force and Australian Federal Police.
Money laundering
On June 23, 2026, the DOJ announced the seizure of a cloud computing account used by subsidiaries of the Cambodia-based Huione Group, which allegedly assisted individuals and organizations in transferring billions of dollars in proceeds from cryptocurrency investment frauds and cyber scams.
Fraud & scams
DOJ announced 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown charging 455 defendants, including 90 licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims. Cases spanned 56 federal districts and 45 states.
Sanctions
US Treasury sanctioned Jiangsu Bangdeya New Material Technology Co., LTD, a Chinese company, for offering illicit substances for sale, including fentanyl and protonitazene.
Other
BaFin prohibited Equity Research Ventures PTE. LTD. (operating as 'AlleAktien'), claiming to be based in Singapore, from publicly offering a capital investment product called 'Co-Investment AlleAktien Wealth x SpaceX' in Germany.
On June 11, 2026, a Brussels court sentenced three men for operating a criminal organisation to circumvent EU sanctions by exporting restricted goods to Russia through intermediary countries.
Australia imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions on three individuals linked to the terrorist organisations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Fraud & scams
A Chinese national pled guilty on June 5, 2026, in D.C. federal court to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in a sanctions evasion scheme involving North Korean tobacco smuggling, ending a case that had seen two mistrials. The case is part of broader U.S.
Bribery & corruption
Indonesia's KPK arrested Deputy Immigration Minister Silmy Karim and 16 others in a major corruption case involving alleged extortion of foreign nationals seeking residency permits. Investigators allege the suspects collected at least Rp 145.
Fraud & scams
The World Bank imposed an 18-month debarment on China National Technical Import & Export Corporation (CNTIC), a Beijing-based state-owned enterprise, for fraudulent practices affecting three energy infrastructure projects in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Maldives.
On May 26-27, 2026, Federal Court of Australia imposed civil penalties of $50,000 against Castra Licensee Pty Ltd and $45,000 against Princeton Securities (NSW) Pty Ltd after they failed to pay infringement notices issued by AUSTRAC in September 2024 for alleged breaches of the AML/CTF Act.
Xie Jianfeng, General Manager of Finance at Sasseur-related company, was convicted and fined S$200,000 on May 19, 2026 for insider trading.
MAS revoked Major Payment Institution Licence of Bsquared Technology (BSQ) effective May 14, 2026. BSQ no longer permitted to provide digital payment token services in Singapore. MAS found BSQ provided false or misleading information to regulator on multiple occasions.
MAS imposed S$40,000 composition fine on Havenport Investments Pte Ltd (HIPL) for regulatory breaches including failure to maintain adequate risk management framework, breaching base capital requirement, and failing to report non-compliance to MAS.
Fraud & scams
Perfectus Aluminum Inc., Perfectus Aluminum Acquisitions LLC, and four affiliated warehousing companies agreed to pay $549.5 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly evaded antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions imported from China between July 2011 and June 2014.
Money laundering
OCCRP investigation revealed Worldclear, tiny New Zealand payment firm, transferred hundreds of millions for high-risk clients including wire fraud fugitives, tax fraud convicts, and Belarusian oligarch.
Australian regulator AUSTRAC expressed serious concerns about Tabcorp's money laundering and terrorism financing risk management controls, commenced enforcement investigation. Focus on effectiveness of Tabcorp's AML/CTF program and customer monitoring processes.
Sanctions
Joint investigation by OCCRP and Follow the Money reveals Western shipowners earned at least $6.3 billion selling hundreds of aging tankers to shell companies that became part of Russia's shadow fleet. At least 230 vessels from Europe and U.S.
Australia's AML/CTF reforms commenced April 2026, expanding laws to cover virtual asset service providers (VASPs, renamed from DCE providers).
OFAC designated Cambodian senator Kok An and 28 individuals and entities in his network for controlling scam compounds throughout Cambodia used for digital asset investment fraud targeting Americans.
Other
FIA arrested five suspects in Karachi operating organized hawala network with China. Initial investigation revealed approximately $4 million transferred illegally to China over eight months. Authorities recovered 2.
Bribery & corruption
On March 19, 2026, the Paris judicial court validated a CJIP for Colas Rail Asia (subsidiary of Colas Rail, Bouygues group) carrying a fine of nearly EUR 30 million for corruption in the context of two railway contracts of EUR 150 million each won in Malaysia in the 2010s.
The Paris judicial tribunal validated a CJIP on March 19, 2026 for Colas Rail Asia, a Bouygues subsidiary.
MAS issued prohibition orders against Wang Qiming (16 years) and Liu Kai (7 years), former relationship managers convicted of charges connected to major August 2023 money laundering case involving S$3 billion.
OFAC designated six individuals and two entities for facilitating North Korean IT worker fraud schemes that generated nearly $800 million in 2024 to fund DPRK weapons programs. Network includes Amnokgang Technology Development Company and facilitators in Vietnam, Laos, Spain.
Singapore Police and MAS jointly conducted enforcement operations March 5, 2026 against Capital Asia Investments Pte Ltd and its directors for suspected money laundering offences and suspected failure to comply with obligations as licensed capital markets services licence holder.
Seng Hok Ling (47, Malaysian national), who pleaded guilty to money laundering offences at Southwark Crown Court and was sentenced on 11 November 2025 to four years and 11 months, was ordered on 22 January 2026 to pay back £5,603,305.81 or face an additional eight years in jail.
AUSTRAC ordered appointment of external auditor to assess whether Airwallex Designated Business Group is meeting its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations.
Money laundering
ICIJ's trailblazing analysis revealed that as recently as July 2025, Huione Group, a Cambodian financial institution flagged by U.S. authorities as a 'primary money laundering concern,' sent about a million dollars worth of tether a day to accounts at Binance.
Money laundering
ICIJ investigation traced tens of thousands of cryptocurrency transactions revealing at least $28 billion tied to illicit activity flowed onto Binance, OKX and other major exchanges. Analysis found $408 million flowing from Huione Group (Cambodian institution flagged by U.S.
Securities & markets
The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong issued a circular on June 2, 2026, calling upon licensed firms to strengthen their cybersecurity measures against emerging threats enabled by frontier artificial intelligence models.
Money laundering
Andorra's top court sentenced 18 executives of Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA) to prison terms ranging from three and a half to seven years for laundering money in favor of a single client.
MAS imposed S$27.45M in composition penalties on 9 financial institutions (Credit Suisse, UBS, Citibank, Julius Baer, UOB, LGT Bank, UOB Kay Hian, Blue Ocean Invest, Trident Trust) for AML/CFT breaches related to August 2023 S$3B money laundering case (illicit assets from overseas scams/online…
Fraud & scams
Coordinated operation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) dismantles tax fraud network in merchandise imports from China. Tax evasion exceeding €700 million in Europe, €56 million in Spain.
Sanctions
Investigation reveals that Russia is attempting to build 'sovereign internet' and expand surveillance capabilities, but key players in system integration and server solutions depend on imported components from Taiwan, China, and Korea.
Other
In March 2026, the Department of Justice charged three individuals—Yih-Shyan Liaw, Ruei-Tsang Chang, and Ting-Wei Sun—for allegedly conspiring to divert high-performance computer servers with sophisticated U.S.
Fraud & scams
Hong Kong SFC issued circular June 2, 2026 warning brokers and virtual asset platforms about AI-enhanced cybersecurity vulnerabilities enabling unauthorized access to client data and asset misappropriation. Cyber incidents rose 27% to 15,877 in 2025.
AUSTRAC finalized its enforceable undertaking with Sportsbet Pty Ltd after the company addressed serious deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) controls.
Fraud & scams
Cypriot court issued confiscation order for fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low's €5.9 million luxury villa in Cape Greco, Ayia Napa. First time such action taken in Cyprus without conviction by local court. Low allegedly masterminded 1MDB fraud scheme, siphoning at least $4.
Money laundering
The Changzhou Intermediate People's Court in Jiangsu Province sentenced Yang Youlin, 69, to death after finding him guilty of accepting over 2.21 billion yuan ($325 million) in bribes across three decades, according to OCCRP.
Securities & markets
Movie producer Wong Pak Ming was convicted of insider dealing in Pegasus Entertainment Holdings Limited shares and sentenced to five months' jail and fined HK$99,720 on June 9, 2026.
Securities & markets
The Securities and Futures Commission mandated that online brokers and virtual asset trading platforms adopt phishing-resistant authentication methods within 12 months, banning one-time passwords delivered via SMS, email, or app-based logins.
Other
On June 1, 2026, SFC reprimanded and fined XHK Limited $2.5 million for regulatory failures related to preparation of financial returns, maintenance of required liquid capital, and handling of client money and non-client money.
Fraud & scams
The Hong Kong SFC alleges Ng Yu, former chairman of Target Insurance Holdings Limited, was party to a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate funds that were transferred to a Cayman-incorporated fund he controlled. Legal proceedings were restored at a June 17, 2026 case management conference.
Samlit Moneychanger Pte. Ltd. was charged in court on July 9, 2026 with 19 counts of failure to comply with a direction on complaints handling under the MAS Act and FSMA. Samlit's Director and Compliance Manager were also charged on July 9, 2026 with 17 counts under FSMA, according to MAS.
Money laundering
Investigation documents suspicious financial flows involving Belarusian businessman Aliaksei Aleksin totaling approximately $1.8 million through Pacific Private Bank and Worldclear (2017-2018). Key allegations include circular fund transfers between Cypriot companies, questionable interest-free $13.
On May 25, 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore imposed a composition penalty of S$300,000 on Padang Trust Singapore Pte. Ltd., a licensed trust company, for breaches of MAS' Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism requirements.
US Treasury OFAC sanctioned six individuals and two companies on March 12, 2026 for helping North Korea convert approximately $800 million into cryptocurrency in 2024 to launder funds for weapons programs. A key facilitator converted approximately $2.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore issued a 10-year prohibition order under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 against Mr Andrew Tiew Siew Ing, a former representative of AXA Insurance Pte Ltd.
Australian financial intelligence unit AUSTRAC applied for Federal Court civil penalty orders against Mount Pritchard and District Community Club Ltd (Mounties) for alleged serious and systemic non-compliance with Australia's AML/CTF laws.
Fraud & scams
The U.S. Treasury Department announced a new package of sanctions targeting nine individuals and 26 companies associated with Cambodia's Prince Group, accused of engaging in cyber-scams and forced labor.
Fraud & scams
Japanese police arrested Hu Xiaowei (also known as 'Hu Shi' under a Cypriot identity) in Osaka on charges of filing a fraudulent change-of-address notification and violating laws against using false electronic official records while attempting to acquire permanent residency under a 'high-skilled professional' visa.
Money laundering
Assets worth nearly $2.03 billion have been surrendered in Singapore's largest money laundering case, as 17 suspects remain out of reach of authorities. 15 foreign nationals, part of a group of 17 suspects, have agreed to surrender their assets and have been barred from returning to Singapore.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore imposed a civil penalty of S$120,000 on Dr Chua Han Boon Kenneth for insider trading in shares of Singapore Medical Group Limited.
The U.S. Department of State concluded an administrative settlement with General Electric Company to resolve 116 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and ITAR, including unauthorized exports of technical data to China and unauthorized exports of defense articles.
OFAC sanctioned nine individuals and 26 entities linked to Prince Group TCO, including TCO leadership (Hu Xiaowei, described as 'second-in-command'), investors in scam compounds, and front companies across British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Jun Wang, 63, a Chinese national and lawful permanent U.S. resident, found guilty of money laundering conspiracy for redeeming $2.2 million in gift cards purchased by fraud victims between June 2019 and June 2021.
Bribery & corruption
Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption arrested 42 individuals in connection with an alleged scheme where a consultancy firm collaborated with triad-linked intermediaries to manipulate public construction tenders through bribery.
Bribery & corruption
Ko Wen-je, 66-year-old former Taipei Mayor and 2024 presidential candidate who founded Taiwan's opposition Taiwan People's Party, was sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for accepting approximately T$17.
Fraud & scams
UK sanctioned entities linked to Cambodia's Prince Group for operating vast online fraud network. #8 Park (operated by Legend Innovation Co.) allegedly holds up to 20,000 trafficked workers forced into cryptocurrency fraud schemes. Xinbi, a Chinese-language Telegram marketplace, processed over $19.
AUSTRAC entered into a legally binding enforceable undertaking with online bookmaker bet365 on July 6, 2026, requiring the company to strengthen its anti-money laundering controls after AUSTRAC identified serious gaps in how it manages risk and reports suspicious activity.
Other
OCCRP reports that businessman Gaurav Srivastava allegedly posed as a CIA agent while cultivating relationships with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his brother, securing five preliminary defense procurement agreements worth tens of billions of dollars.
Bribery & corruption
Indonesian authorities formally transferred the criminal case of Febrie Adriansyah, former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, to the Attorney General's Office for prosecution, according to OCCRP.
Fraud & scams
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sar Sokha, who serves as both deputy prime minister and minister of interior, has been involved in a lobbying controversy related to U.S. legislation to create an anti-cyber-scam task force. Sar Sokha was previously included in draft U.S.
MAS issued prohibition orders against two former relationship managers convicted in connection with Singapore's August 2023 $3 billion money laundering case.