Three residents of Laredo, Texas, Angela Ruby Ponce, 18, Oscar Axel Flores, 22, and Mario Alberto Tovar, 28, are facing charges for their alleged involvement in purchasing firearms for the Cartel del Noreste (CDN) and transporting them to Mexico, as announced by U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. What is CDN? The Cartel del Noreste, also known as the Northeast Cartel, is a Mexican drug cartel which was founded in 2014 by Juan Gerardo Chavez Trevino, the nephew of Los Zetas leader Miguel Trevino Morales. Based in Tamaulipas, it was formed as a result ..read more

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a substantial fine of nearly $200 million against the four largest wireless carriers in the US – AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile (including its subsidiary Sprint) – for illegally sharing customers’ location data. This decision, which was first announced in February 2020 and finalized recently, comes after a long investigation into the unauthorized sharing of sensitive user information, highlighting serious concerns about user privacy. Verizon, Sprint and AT&T Sold the Data to Aggregators The investigation, initiated four years ago, was tri ..read more

Nikolay Grigorev, 36, of Brooklyn, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States in an illicit export control scheme involving the shipment of electronic components from the United States to companies affiliated with the Russian military. Nikolay Grigorev’s co-defendants, Nikita Arkhipov and Artem Oloviannikov, are currently at large. Nikolay Grigorev exported Dual Use Goods Nikolay Grigorev’s guilty plea reveals his role in smuggling over $250,000 worth of sensitive American drone technology to Russian companies, supporting Putin’s unlawful war against Ukraine. Deputy Attorney ..read more

An indictment unsealed in the Central District of California has revealed a complex Pump and Dump Securities fraud scheme involving the acquisition and sale of Airborne Wireless Network securities. Kalistratos “Kelly” Kabilafkas, 48, of Moorpark, and Jack E. Daniels, 74, of Agoura Hills, are accused of conspiring to defraud investors in a multi-year scheme that allegedly involved misappropriation of funds, false reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and a deceptive advertising campaign. According to court documents, Kabilafkas and Daniels conspired to acquire a publicly tr ..read more

Roger Ver, known in the cryptocurrency community as “Bitcoin Jesus,” has been detained in Spain on charges brought by the US of evading taxes amounting to at least $48 million. The US Department of Justice confirmed that Ver, aged 45, faces allegations of mail fraud and tax evasion, with the indictment revealed post-arrest this past weekend in Los Angeles Federal Court. Details emerged that the US Supreme Court last year declined to hear an appeal from an unnamed law firm which was held in contempt for not complying with a grand jury subpoena seeking records pertinent to a client, speculated t ..read more

Japan Tobacco’s chief executive, Masamichi Terabatake, has announced that the company will continue its operations in Russia to appease investors, despite the challenges posed by sanctions. The tobacco giant has reorganized its supply chains and business strategies to comply with international sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Initially considering the sale of its Russian business, Japan Tobacco has instead opted to suspend all investment and marketing activities in the region while maintaining its presence. Russia has historically been a significant market for the company, acc ..read more

In the shadowy realm of cybercrime, few names strike as much fear and fascination as the Lazarus Group. Renowned for their brazen heists and staggering hauls, this nefarious collective has become synonymous with the dark underbelly of the cryptocurrency world. With each audacious attack, they leave a trail of chaos and financial ruin, challenging the very foundations of digital security. The Heists: A Legacy of Cyber Theft The Lazarus Group’s notoriety in the cyber realm is well-earned. With a string of high-profile hacks, they’ve amassed a staggering sum of over $2 billion in digital assets ..read more

The alleged assassination plot of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has resurfaced in the news with reports naming an official from India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) as being involved in the attempt to kill Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States. Furthermore, the report reveals that the operation had been sanctioned by R&AW’s then-chief, Samant Goel. The R&AW Operative: Vikram Yadav According to a report by the Washington Post, the plan to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was orchestrated by a R&AW agent identified as Vikram Yadav. Last year, US authoritie ..read more

South Korea has pledged to uphold UN sanctions on North Korea, even as the UN monitoring panel comes to an end following Russia’s veto on extending its mandate, the South Korean foreign ministry announced Tuesday. The UN Panel of Experts, tasked with monitoring sanctions against North Korea’s illicit weapons programs, will cease its operations on Tuesday (New York time) after Moscow blocked a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution aimed at renewing its mandate for another year, according to the Yonhap news agency. China Abstains from Voting against Veto China, one of the five permanent UNSC mem ..read more

Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping company, is renaming and reflagging its oil tankers in order to evade the US and European Sanctions. According to Bloomberg, at least four tankers have been renamed and reflagged to Gabon. The Kemerovo is now known as NS Columbus, the Belgorod as NS Bravo, the Kaliningrad as NS Captain, and the Krasnoyarsk as NS Creation. The Strategy Behind Renaming and Reflagging The U.S. Department of the Treasury has taken significant action to responsibly reduce Russia’s revenue from oil sales by targeting Joint Stock Company Sovcomflot (Sovcomflot), which is Russia’s ..read more