Hello and welcome to episode 209 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the UK has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia's GRU following the conclusion of the Salisbury poisoning inquiry, and implements dual sanctions targeting both malicious cyber actors and entities destabilising Ukraine. Australia has launched a world-first autonomous sanctions framework against key Taliban leaders, while the US Treasury sanctioned a transnational network primarily composed of Colombian nationals for recruiting fighters for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces. On corruption, in the UK, the government unveiled its comprehensive Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025, and world anti-corruption day has been marked by a range of global agencies. Fraud concerns were highlighted by the US recovering nearly $1.7 million in cryptocurrency stolen through a sophisticated investment scam, and a UK report reveals that taxpayers lost £10.9 billion to Covid support scheme fraud and error. Finally, regulatory enforcement targeted the financial sector, as FinCEN imposed a $3.5 million penalty on Paxful for wilfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

A transcript of this podcast, with links to the stories, will be available at www.crimes.financial.