Episode 287

5th October – 8th October 2026

Sanctions

UK FCDO Updates Russia Sanctions List with Vessel Restrictions and Administrative Adjustments

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated the UK Sanctions List under The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, introducing two additions, two administrative corrections, and two revocations. The update specified two vessels, namely the GALLE ENERGY (IMO 9344411) and the BEBEK-E (IMO 7808401), under shipping and trade sanctions, prohibiting UK persons from chartering or operating the ships, providing port access, or delivering financial, technical, and operating services. In addition, the FCDO has issued administrative corrections to the listings for Marat Arkadyevich Kambolov and Artur Valerevich Orlov, confirming that both individuals remain subject to asset freezes, travel bans, trust services sanctions, and director disqualifications, while revoking earlier vessel entry records to align with the newly updated listings.

UK FCDO Revokes Sanctions Against Former Syrian Economy Minister Houmam Jazai'iri

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated the UK Sanctions List under The Syria (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 to revoke sanctions against Houmam Jazai'iri, Syria's former Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade. Jazai'iri had been designated by the UK on 31st December 2020, and was subject to an asset freeze, travel ban, and a director disqualification sanction. Following an official decision-making review, the FCDO confirmed that the entry has been removed from the sanctions list, lifting all financial, travel, and corporate governance restrictions previously imposed on the former minister.

US Treasury Sanctions France-Based Sham Charities and Facilitators in $2 Million Hamas Financing Network

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned Gaza-based Hamas military wing member Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, two France-based fundraisers, and two affiliated organisations for operating an illicit terrorism financing network under Executive Order 13224. According to federal officials, fundraisers Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid utilised purported humanitarian front organisations, namely Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux, to collect and transfer over $2 million in fiat and cryptocurrency to al-Zaq for the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades between 2020 and 2026, with $1.5 million raised following the 7th October 2023 attack on Israel. Executed in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local law enforcement partners, the sanctions freeze all US-linked assets of the designated individuals and entities, prohibit financial transactions by US persons, and subject foreign financial institutions facilitating significant transactions to potential secondary sanctions.

US Treasury Delists 125 Entities and Updates Screening Identifiers in Third Sanctions Modernisation Round

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has removed 125 individuals and entities from its sanctions lists and updated 22 entries as part of a sanctions modernisation initiative launched in May by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. According to Treasury officials, the removals, which covered deceased individuals, defunct companies, and entries lacking sufficient identifying details, followed an interagency review to ensure alignment with current US economic, foreign policy, and national security priorities. In addition, OFAC updated identifier details across 22 list entries to reduce false-positive matches and ease manual screening burdens for private sector compliance teams.

Fraud

Brooklyn Social Adult Day Care Owner Pleads Guilty to $65 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme

Federal prosecutors have announced that Brooklyn resident Ahsan Ijaz, 29, has pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to conspiracy to commit health care fraud for his role in a $65 million scheme targeting New York State Medicaid. According to court documents, over a seven-year period, Ijaz utilised his ownership of Happy Family Social Adult Day Care Centre, Inc., Family Social Adult Day Care Centre Inc, and Responsible Care Staffing Inc. to pay illegal cash kickbacks and bribes to Medicaid recipients in exchange for their enrolment. The entities then submitted fraudulent claims for social adult day care and home health care services which were never delivered, including claims for individuals who were out of the country when services were allegedly rendered. Ijaz, who is the tenth defendant to plead guilty in connection with the investigation, faces a statutory maximum penalty of up to ten years in prison at his sentencing scheduled for 10th March 2027.

Adam Iza Sentenced to 78 Months in Federal Prison for $37 Million Meta Fraud, Tax Evasion, and Civil Rights Scheme

Adam Iza has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $23,402,766 in restitution following his guilty plea to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion. Federal prosecutors established that between August 2021 and April 2022, Iza conspired with off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies, five of whom have since been convicted, to obtain confidential law enforcement data and court-authorised search warrants to harass, intimidate, and extort his personal and business adversaries. Concurrently, Iza executed a scheme from December 2020 to September 2024 which fraudulently accessed Meta Platforms Inc business manager accounts and lines of credit to generate over $37 million in illicit sales to advertising companies, while evading $13.2 million in federal taxes by concealing corporate ownership and transferring funds to cryptocurrency custodians.

Florida Business Executive Convicted of Bankruptcy Fraud Following Federal Bench Trial in Delaware

Deborah Evans Mott of Ormond Beach, Florida, has been convicted of making false statements under penalty of perjury in a bankruptcy proceeding following a four-day bench trial in the District of Delaware. Federal prosecutors established that as the controlling and majority member of Team Systems International LLC (TSI), Mott intentionally concealed closed corporate bank accounts and omitted more than $3 million in transfers to herself and family members from TSI's Statement of Financial Affairs after the firm filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2022 following a $6 million civil judgment. Mott was convicted on one count of making false statements under penalty of perjury and acquitted on a second count concerning deposition testimony. She faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at her sentencing scheduled for 4th February 2027.

Report Fraud Urges Switch to Passkeys as UK Account Hacking Losses Exceed £6 Million

Report Fraud has launched a national campaign urging the public to adopt passkeys following a 417 per cent increase in financial losses from email and social media account hacking. According to official data for the 2025/26 financial year, stolen sums rose to £6.3 million from £1.2 million in the previous year, while total account hacking reports increased by 34 per cent, making account compromise the most frequently reported form of cybercrime in the UK. Promoted alongside the National Cyber Security Centre and technology partners during Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the campaign emphasises that fraudsters routinely exploit hacked accounts to impersonate victims and solicit money from contacts, advising the adoption of passkeys and two-step verification as primary defences against unauthorised access.

Money Laundering

UK Court Sentences Members of Organised Network for Smuggling £30 Million in Illicit Cash to UAE

Six members of an organised crime group involved in smuggling nearly £30 million in criminal cash from the UK to the United Arab Emirates have been sentenced this week at Bolton Crown Court. Following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation, authorities established that between December 2017 and November 2019, the network collected illicit proceeds across northern England and concealed cash inside suitcases carried on Dubai-bound commercial flights departing Manchester, Birmingham, and Brussels airports, aided in part by a corrupt airline check-in attendant. Five defendants received immediate prison terms ranging from four years and three months to seven-and-a-half years, while a sixth received a suspended sentence, with sentencing hearings for two additional co-defendants scheduled for late October and November 2026.

Chinese National Pleads Guilty to $597,000 Money Laundering Conspiracy Involving Government Impersonation Scheme

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of California have announced that Binghui Liu, 33, a Chinese national formerly residing in San Jose, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to court records, between March and April 2025, Liu acted as a physical courier for an international government-impersonation fraud network, collecting approximately $597,100 in cash from 24 victims across California and Nevada. The underlying scheme involved co-conspirators in the United States and abroad who impersonated law enforcement and federal agency personnel, convincing victims that their assets were under threat of being frozen and instructing them to surrender cash to couriers for "safekeeping". Liu, who was apprehended during an April 2025 FBI sting operation after collecting $20,000 in fake currency from an undercover setup, faces a statutory maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison at his sentencing scheduled for 4th January 2027.

Bribery and Corruption

Former TD Bank Employee Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes and Laundering $4.8 Million to Colombia

Gerardo Aquino, a former TD Bank employee from Hollywood, Florida, has pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to launder monetary instruments and receiving bribes as a bank employee. According to court filings, between April 2022 and November 2023, Aquino accepted over $8,000 in cash and peer-to-peer digital bribes in exchange for opening fraudulent accounts, issuing hundreds of debit cards, and unblocking cards restricted for potential fraud. Using a single Miami commercial address to open 86 customer accounts, Aquino enabled co-conspirators to funnel approximately $4.8 million in illicit proceeds out of the United States to Colombia. Aquino faces statutory maximum penalties of up to 20 years in prison for money laundering conspiracy and up to 30 years for receipt of bribes, with sentencing set for 23rd March 2027.

Cybercrime

International Law Enforcement Seizes Infrastructure and Arrests Three Suspects in Disruption of KillSec Ransomware Group

Law enforcement agencies across ten countries led by German authorities and supported by Europol and Eurojust have disrupted the KillSec ransomware network under "Operation KillSwitch". The operation has taken control of the group's dark web leak site, five central servers, and secured at least 110 terabytes of stolen data. Active since 2024 and linked to approximately 1,000 attacks worldwide, about 500 of which have been verified as successful, KillSec exploited system vulnerabilities and artificial intelligence tools to exfiltrate sensitive organisational data and extort ransom payments under threat of public release. Officers executed eight search warrants and made three provisional arrests across Greece, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom, identifying a 16-year-old as the group's alleged administrator and main operator alongside suspects fulfilling developer, negotiator, and affiliate roles.