In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with three individuals committed to exposing cryptocurrency scams and drawing attention to imprisoned investigative journalist Mech Dara, who is responsible for uncovering the horrific conditions and practices within Cambodian-based crypto fraud compounds. 
 
Zeke Faux, author of “Number Go Up,” Danielle Keeton-Olsen, a freelance journalist based in Phnom Penh, and Erin West, Deputy District Attorney, Santa Clara County CA, discuss Dara’s treatment by the Cambodian government and its seeming indifference to fraud compounds that enslave tens of thousands and operate in plain sight, causing the financial ruin of millions around the world. During the podcast, Erin touches on the success law enforcement has had in recovering some victims’ money, Zeke calls on VASPs to do more to interdict crypto fraud funds, and Danielle identifies some of the organizations working for Dara’s release.

Standing Against "Pig-Butchering,"  with Zeke Faux, Danielle Keeton-Olsen and Erin West

‘I believe that it’s become very complex for financial institutions to actually comply. The ask by the Treasury to focus on sanctions evasion is really, in many ways, the bridge back to AML’
-Bill Fox on the global sanctions landscape and what it means for FIs
 
‘The only sector that really can enforce [sanctions] are the financial institutions sector. We are the police – even though we say all the time in the AML world that we’re not the police – I think we are the police when it comes to sanctions’
-Rick Small on the global sanctions landscape and what it means for FIs

On the latest episode of the Sanctions Space Podcast, Justine sat down with AML legends Rick Small, Executive Vice President, Director Financial Crimes program at Truist and Bill Fox, former Managing Director Financial Crimes at Bank of America. They discuss the intersection and interlinkage between sanctions and AML, assessing sanctions risk in a complex environment, and how the effectiveness of sanctions frameworks could be improved.

AML Legends Talk Sanctions

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Adam Levine, Director of Government Engagement for the Child Rescue Coalition (CRC).

Adam and Kieran discuss CRC’s efforts to enable law enforcement to trace online child sexual abuse material to its creators and collectors. During their discussion, Adam details some of the typologies associated with child exploitation that in tandem with CRC’s training and technological support has, to date, resulted in the arrest of more than 15,500 predators in more than 100 countries. 

Fighting the Online Exploitation of Children, with Adam Levine of the Child Rescue Coalition

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Claudia Quiroz, Director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, or NCET, at the U.S. Justice Department.

Claudia and Kieran discuss the rise in cryptocurrency-enabled crime that necessitated NCET’s creation three years ago and the team’s subsequent efforts to prosecute cyber predators and seize the proceeds of their crimes. Serving as a dedicated nerve center staffed by crypto experts within the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of Justice, where Claudia is deputy chief, NCET pursues a variety of frauds and scams, money laundering and other abuses of cryptocurrency. During their talk, Claudia touches on some of NCET’s cases, including against “Pig Butchering,” which she points out often involves two victims: the individual who is defrauded and enslaved individuals forced perpetrate the fraud.

Prosecuting Crypto Criminals, with the Justice Department’s Claudia Quiroz

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Michael Bruno, who is anti-money laundering program manager at the service’s national headquarters.

Mike details some of the Inspection Service’s efforts to tackle the theft of bank checks that are “washed” to fraudulently change the payees and amounts and that are all too often stolen during violent attacks on mail carriers. Crediting the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Inspection Service’s law enforcement partners and a massive education effort, Mike shares how in roads have been made against check washing. He also discusses how the service is fighting money laundering and other types of fraud connected to the abuse of Postal Service money orders.  

Neither Rain, Nor Snow: Fighting Financial Crime Threats to the US Postal Service, with Michael Bruno

‘Navigating the fault lines between the U.S. and China and this accelerated convergence of economic statecraft – not just how sanctions might be deployed, or export controls, but also tariffs and investment review – all of which are going to figure into this new space.’

-Elaine Dezenski on key risks to be thinking about


In the latest episode of the Sanctions Space Podcast, Justine is joined by Elaine K. Dezenski, senior director and head of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. They discuss predictions for U.S. sanctions in 2025 under the new administration, including how sanctions may be positioned within a broader set of economic tools and economic statecraft, how global alliances may evolve, as well as how the U.S. and its partners can combat transnational kleptocracy.

Read Elaine’s bio here: Elaine K. Dezenski
https://www.fdd.org/team/elaine-dezenski/

Elaine Dezenski on U.S. Sanctions and Economic Statecraft in 2025

‘We’re living in an age of economic warfare. Sanctions, export controls, tariffs – they’re now the primary way that states compete with one another.’

In the latest episode of the Sanctions Space Podcast, Justine is joined by Edward Fishman, author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare and a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, among other roles. They discuss the latest U.S. - Russia negotiation headlines, the importance of leveraging sanctions relief as a diplomatic carrot, how the use of tariffs in economic warfare is evolving, plus what may be next for U.S. sanctions on China and Iran.

Find out more about Edward’s new book here.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/726149/chokepoints-by-edward-fishman/


Edward Fishman on the Age of Economic Warfare

‘I think that the administration is prudently reviewing the sanctions to determine what measures could be eased, in what sequence, in the event that Russia does prove amenable to negotiations. I, for my part, believe that we will have to go down the path of additional punitive measures first.’

-Marshall Billingslea on potential sanctions easing on Russia 

In the latest episode of the Sanctions Space Podcast, Justine is joined by Marshall Billingslea, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute. They discuss how the second Trump administration may be thinking about the use of sanctions and economic statecraft and what listeners should be prepared for. This includes the potential for relief - or indeed intensification - of U.S. sanctions on Russia, the increased use of tariffs, the restoration of maximum pressure against Iran, and how the administrations' fentanyl strategy is likely to play out.

Marshall Billingslea is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, prior to which he was the special presidential envoy for arms control at the US Department of State, holding the rank of ambassador. Before joining the State Department, Mr. Billingslea served as the assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the US Department of the Treasury, and in 2018, he was selected as president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

You can read more about Marshall’s background here.
https://www.hudson.org/experts/1358-marshall-billingslea

Marshall Billingslea on U.S. Sanctions Policy and Priorities

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Geoff White, the author of three crucial books on financial crime, including “The Lazarus Heist: From Hollywood to High Finance: Inside North Korea's Global Cyber War.”

Drawing from “The Lazarus Heist” and a plethora of recent information, Geoff details North Korea’s $1.5 billion theft of ether in February from Bybit, a large global cryptocurrency exchange.  

During their discussion, Geoff provides a decades long history of North Korea’s efforts to steal foreign currency, particularly dollars, and describes how its hackers used a third-party vendor and long-term surveillance to empty Bybit’s Ethereum wallet. Geoff also describes Bybit’s ongoing efforts to recover the lost cryptocurrency and argues for a concerted worldwide effort to prevent future hacks.

“If North Korea gets its hands on this money it’s fairly obvious what it’s going to do,” Geoff says. “It’s going to be spending on, well perks for the regime partly, but its going to be spending on missile parts and nuclear weapons material.”

In addition to “The Lazarus Heist,” Geoff is the author of “Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks” and “Crime Dot Com: From Viruses to Vote Rigging, How Hacking Went Global.”

Understanding North Korea’s $1.5 Billion Bybit Theft, with Geoff White

‘As we start to piece this all together, we found that there were certain trends and typologies that were very similar in terms of how China was working with Russia, as well as how China was working with Iran, and then just kind of shaping out this broader network of actors.’

In the latest episode of the Sanctions Space Podcast – recorded at the ACAMS Hollywood Assembly - Justine is joined by Kimberly Donovan, director of the Economic Statecraft Initiative within the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center. They discuss geopolitical trends and the interrelation with sanctions compliance - including the emergence of an ‘axis of evasion’ network utilizing techniques such as barter trade to circumvent sanctions restrictions - and how modern financial crime fighters need to increase their understanding of the evolving geopolitical environment in order to build it into their programs.

Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Kimberly served in the federal government for fifteen years, most recently as the acting associate director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) Intelligence Division and FinCEN’s chief of staff and senior advisor to the director. 

Read Kimberly’s full bio here.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/kimberly-donovan/

Kimberly Donovan on Geopolitics and the Emerging Axis of Evasion

In this podcast series, Kieran Beer (Chief Analyst at ACAMS) interviews the movers and shakers of the anti-financial crime world. 

Listen for fast-paced conversations about the latest financial scandal to hit newsstands, and insights on trending Financial Crime topics. 
 
Have something you’d like to hear covered? Email Kieran on podcasts@acams.org and tell us what matters to you. You can also follow Kieran on twitter www.twitter.com/kieranbeer

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