Global Financial Crime Review

Digital wealth, physical harm: The rise of crypto kidnapping
AFC Challenges, Compliance, Global Financial Crime Review, Practical Solutions, September – November 2025

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During the past year, there has been a dramatic increase in physical violence toward individuals within the crypto industry or associated with crypto wealth. This new variant of kidnapping for ransom During the past year, there has been a dramatic increase in physical violence toward...
Oksana Ihnatenko: Fighting financial crime in Ukraine
AFC Challenges, Global Financial Crime Review, Interviews, September – November 2025

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Oksana Ihnatenko, CAMS, is a managing director at the Center for Financial Integrity in Ukraine and a researcher for the Supervising and Monitoring Ukraine’s Reconstruction Funds project at the Centre for Finance and Security at the Royal United Services Institute. Her research focuses on Ukraine’s...
Fentanyl: Tracing the deadly money trail
AFC Challenges, AFC Policy, Global Financial Crime Review, September – November 2025, World Digest

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This article examines how illicit fentanyl trafficking has triggered a financial crime threat. It analyzes criminal finance networks, international cooperation and regulatory measures in the U.S. and Canada. It highlights recent advisories, updated case studies, cross-border intelligence sharing and the anti-money laundering (AML) enhancements needed...
Fighting fentanyl: OFAC and FINCEN trends in financial services and beyond
AFC Policy, Compliance, Global Financial Crime Review, September – November 2025

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Disclaimer: Nothing herein is intended to be legal advice and should not be construed or relied upon as legal advice. On January 20, 2025, Inauguration Day, the Trump administration issued Executive Order 14157 promising to implement policies designed to achieve the “total elimination” of certain...
The exploitation gamble: Financial sextortion of minors
AFC Challenges, Compliance, Global Financial Crime Review, Practical Solutions, September – November 2025

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The headlines are horrifying. It seems every week another teenager has committed suicide as a result of financially motivated sextortion. The loss of life rightly captures the headlines, but the business model of blackmailing kids with explicit images can no longer escape the limelight. But...
Kleptocracy and sanctions: Keeping the proper focus
AFC Policy, Global Financial Crime Review, June – August 2025, Sanctions

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Kleptocracy is the misappropriation―or, to put it plainly, the stealing―of a country’s wealth and resources from its citizens by corrupt government officials. With the rise of kleptocracy, preventing and detecting sanctions evasion today has become a game of Whac-A-Mole for anti-financial crime (AFC) professionals. However,...
Financial Investigations and Confiscation in Fighting Crime
AFC Challenges, Europe Express, Featured Column, Global Financial Crime Review

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Rapid technological development, digital society, mass globalization, migration and political turbulence are confronting the fight against crime with new challenges. Despite small fluctuations depending on geographical area and crime types, traditional methods seem ineffective. Crime is increasing, becoming more transnational and organized. In addition, criminals...
Huione Group and the Rise of a Financial Crime Superhub
AFC Policy, Fraud, Global Financial Crime Review, World Digest

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In May 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) took a decisive step in the global fight against cyber-enabled financial crimes. In a historic Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), FinCEN identified Cambodia-based Huione Group as a financial institution (FI) of primary money laundering concern under...