Category: Financial Services

Regulatory Watch News

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  Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, Co-Founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, Arraigned in Brooklyn on International Drug Charges

  US Department of Justice

  September 13, 2024

  Defendant Allegedly Led the Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera for Decades and Continued for Years Since El Chapo’s Arrest

  Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, 76, a citizen of Mexico, was arraigned this morning in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on 17 counts related to drug trafficking, firearms offenses, and money laundering. This fifth superseding indictment relates to El Mayo’s decades-long leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl. El Mayo was previously charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise, as well as murder conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana manufacture and distribution conspiracy, as well as other drug-related crimes.

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  Cryptocurrencies and financial crime: a strategic approach to ensure security

  Europol

  September 13, 2024

  Investing in preventing and combating the misuse of the crypto ecosystem for financial crime is vital to safeguard both national and international security. This was a resounding message arising from the 8th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies, which concluded on 12 September 2024 after two days of intense discussions and updates from leading voices in the field. The two-day hybrid conference attracted over 1,000 participants, including key stakeholders from the private sector, law enforcement, government bodies, intergovernmental organisations, academia and civil society.

• U.S. Citizens Convicted of Conspiring to Act as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government

  US Department of Justice

  September 12, 2024

  A jury today convicted Omali Yeshitela, 82, Penny Hess, 78, Jesse Nevel, 34, all of St. Louis, and Augustus C. Romain Jr., 38, of Atlanta, of conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign government. The defendants were charged in a superseding indictment on April 13, 2023. According to evidence presented at trial, from at least May 2015 until July 2022, Yeshitela, Hess and Nevel agreed to act on behalf of the Russian government within the United States. Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, a resident of Moscow, was the founder and president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), an organization headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and funded by the Russian government.