@cynthiao.bsky.social
Financial Times reporter. Investigations. Following the dodgy money. Have a tip? Contact me at cynthia.omurchu@ft.com
www.ft.com/content/363f... We asked a number of Hizbollah-linked sanctioned charities how they take donations.
We found they routinely instructed donors to direct financial transfers through Lebanese digital payments providers, via private individuals.
#AML #CFT #emoney @financialtimes.com
We found they routinely instructed donors to direct financial transfers through Lebanese digital payments providers, via private individuals.
#AML #CFT #emoney @financialtimes.com
Hizbollah-linked groups turn to digital payments for fundraising
Charities affiliated with militant movement appear to exploit apparent weaknesses in money laundering fight
www.ft.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:57 PM
www.ft.com/content/363f... We asked a number of Hizbollah-linked sanctioned charities how they take donations.
We found they routinely instructed donors to direct financial transfers through Lebanese digital payments providers, via private individuals.
#AML #CFT #emoney @financialtimes.com
We found they routinely instructed donors to direct financial transfers through Lebanese digital payments providers, via private individuals.
#AML #CFT #emoney @financialtimes.com
Reposted
This deserves *way* more attention than it’s getting
Reform’s former Wales leader admits he received corrupt payments in exchange for making statements in the European Parliament to promote Russia’s interests in #Ukraine.
Reform’s former Wales leader admits he received corrupt payments in exchange for making statements in the European Parliament to promote Russia’s interests in #Ukraine.
Reform UK’s ex-leader in Wales Nathan Gill pleads guilty to bribery charges
Reform UK’s ex-leader in Wales Nathan Gill pleads guilty to bribery charges
Gill admits to eight charges while an elected member of the European parliament
Nathan Gill, a former leader of Reform UK in Wales, has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to eight bribery charges while an elected member of the European parliament.
More details soon … Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
September 26, 2025 at 5:26 PM
This deserves *way* more attention than it’s getting
Reform’s former Wales leader admits he received corrupt payments in exchange for making statements in the European Parliament to promote Russia’s interests in #Ukraine.
Reform’s former Wales leader admits he received corrupt payments in exchange for making statements in the European Parliament to promote Russia’s interests in #Ukraine.
The Boris Files. "Leak exposes how former leader has used publicly subsidised office to manage commercial interests."
Evening reading from the Guardian. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/seri...
From meeting with Peter Thiel to a £200,000 payment post visit to Nicolas Maduro from a "hedge fund..
Evening reading from the Guardian. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/seri...
From meeting with Peter Thiel to a £200,000 payment post visit to Nicolas Maduro from a "hedge fund..
The Boris files | The Guardian
<p>A Guardian investigation into leaked material from Boris Johnson’s private office raises serious questions relating to his time in No 10 and since he resigned as prime minister</p>
www.theguardian.com
September 8, 2025 at 7:02 PM
The Boris Files. "Leak exposes how former leader has used publicly subsidised office to manage commercial interests."
Evening reading from the Guardian. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/seri...
From meeting with Peter Thiel to a £200,000 payment post visit to Nicolas Maduro from a "hedge fund..
Evening reading from the Guardian. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/seri...
From meeting with Peter Thiel to a £200,000 payment post visit to Nicolas Maduro from a "hedge fund..
“Meta says its own AI created inappropriate images, violating its policies”
Says it all.
Says it all.
Meta is building and giving users tools that will only exacerbate enforcement issues. This feels inevitable. www.reuters.com/business/met...
Exclusive: Meta created flirty chatbots of Taylor Swift, other celebrities without permission
Meta has appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities – including Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez – to create dozens of flirty social-media chatbots without their permission, Reuters has found.
www.reuters.com
August 30, 2025 at 12:30 PM
“Meta says its own AI created inappropriate images, violating its policies”
Says it all.
Says it all.
Reposted
ICE plans to 6x its current budget for immigrant transportation and deportations. The money offers a potential windfall for a few contractors and charter airlines — some with close ties to the Trump campaign. Yet the system is already under strain, with significant concerns for detainees' safety: 🧵
The booming business of Trump’s deportation flights
Companies are jostling for billions of dollars to fly immigrant detainees out of the US
ig.ft.com
August 28, 2025 at 8:35 AM
ICE plans to 6x its current budget for immigrant transportation and deportations. The money offers a potential windfall for a few contractors and charter airlines — some with close ties to the Trump campaign. Yet the system is already under strain, with significant concerns for detainees' safety: 🧵
Reposted
Israel has killed at least 20 people, including several journalists, in a double strike on Nasser Medical Complex, the largest health facility in southern Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave. on.ft.com/41X8Jsz
August 25, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Israel has killed at least 20 people, including several journalists, in a double strike on Nasser Medical Complex, the largest health facility in southern Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave. on.ft.com/41X8Jsz
Insane lengths the government goes to to fight transparency. Great to have Lucas Amin @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @jennacorderoy.bsky.social fighting back.
The Cabinet Office refused, claiming disclosure could harm “the effective conduct of public affairs.” - Ridiculous.
The Cabinet Office refused, claiming disclosure could harm “the effective conduct of public affairs.” - Ridiculous.
🚨 New: The UK government spent £32,251 fighting to hide a blank form.
Yep - 30 grand plus to avoid releasing a blank template of the ministerial interests form.
A wild story - with a surprise twist. Would read to end of this one... 🙄 (🧵)
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/why-did-ta...
Yep - 30 grand plus to avoid releasing a blank template of the ministerial interests form.
A wild story - with a surprise twist. Would read to end of this one... 🙄 (🧵)
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/why-did-ta...
The blank piece of paper that cost taxpayers £32,000
Government ‘obsession with secrecy’ descends into farce
democracyforsale.substack.com
August 7, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Insane lengths the government goes to to fight transparency. Great to have Lucas Amin @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @jennacorderoy.bsky.social fighting back.
The Cabinet Office refused, claiming disclosure could harm “the effective conduct of public affairs.” - Ridiculous.
The Cabinet Office refused, claiming disclosure could harm “the effective conduct of public affairs.” - Ridiculous.
Reposted
📣 A huge development in the fight against #SLAPPs as news drops that the Solicitors Regulation Authority is taking disciplinary action against a partner from Carter-Ruck, after the libel law firm acted for OneCoin in threatening a victim of its giant Ponzi fraud with legal action:
Just announced: the UK's most famous libel firm, Carter-Ruck, is being prosecuted before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for recklessly enabling a $4bn fraud
It's astonishing how reckless Carter-Ruck was - likely causing $$$ more to be lost to fraudsters
The full story:
It's astonishing how reckless Carter-Ruck was - likely causing $$$ more to be lost to fraudsters
The full story:
August 6, 2025 at 2:33 PM
📣 A huge development in the fight against #SLAPPs as news drops that the Solicitors Regulation Authority is taking disciplinary action against a partner from Carter-Ruck, after the libel law firm acted for OneCoin in threatening a victim of its giant Ponzi fraud with legal action:
Reposted
⚖️ Today the Kazakh commodities giant ENRC is in the Court of Appeal looking to add $128m to the eye-watering damages they are pursuing against their former lawyers and the Serious Fraud Office, following a decade-long corruption probe into the miner’s operations that was dropped in 2023.
July 16, 2025 at 10:10 AM
⚖️ Today the Kazakh commodities giant ENRC is in the Court of Appeal looking to add $128m to the eye-watering damages they are pursuing against their former lawyers and the Serious Fraud Office, following a decade-long corruption probe into the miner’s operations that was dropped in 2023.
Lots of 👀 moments in this story www.opendemocracy.net/en/enough-br... "At least one organisation has received a cease and desist letter from a high-profile law firm acting on White and Allchurch’s behalf after it raised concerns about Enough’s approach."
Question: which law firm?
Question: which law firm?
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/enough-bristol-diy-rape-kits-bristol-university-start-up-katie-white-tom-allchurch/"At
July 14, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Lots of 👀 moments in this story www.opendemocracy.net/en/enough-br... "At least one organisation has received a cease and desist letter from a high-profile law firm acting on White and Allchurch’s behalf after it raised concerns about Enough’s approach."
Question: which law firm?
Question: which law firm?
Reposted
New: Inside Gaza’s 'death traps'. A US-backed scheme forces hungry Palestinians to trek kilometres for food aid. First-hand testimony, satellite imagery and verified video shed light on the dangerous journey from which many never return.
on.ft.com/4lKG6Go
on.ft.com/4lKG6Go
July 14, 2025 at 7:27 AM
New: Inside Gaza’s 'death traps'. A US-backed scheme forces hungry Palestinians to trek kilometres for food aid. First-hand testimony, satellite imagery and verified video shed light on the dangerous journey from which many never return.
on.ft.com/4lKG6Go
on.ft.com/4lKG6Go
People who say there is no climate change need do some time travel and go skiing one day in 2025 and one day in 1985. Compare, then speak. Or not.
www.ft.com/content/e903...
www.ft.com/content/e903...
July 13, 2025 at 9:09 PM
People who say there is no climate change need do some time travel and go skiing one day in 2025 and one day in 1985. Compare, then speak. Or not.
www.ft.com/content/e903...
www.ft.com/content/e903...
Reposted
In a letter drawn from a posthumous collection of correspondence, published in 2019, the neurologist Oliver Sacks argued that society had no immunity to the seductions of digital life. “What we are seeing—and bringing on ourselves—resembles a neurological catastrophe on a gigantic scale,” he wrote.
The Machine Stops
The neurologist Oliver Sacks on steam engines, smartphones, and fearing the future.
www.newyorker.com
July 10, 2025 at 4:03 AM
In a letter drawn from a posthumous collection of correspondence, published in 2019, the neurologist Oliver Sacks argued that society had no immunity to the seductions of digital life. “What we are seeing—and bringing on ourselves—resembles a neurological catastrophe on a gigantic scale,” he wrote.
Extra sprinkle from Bloomberg on the Puerto Rico case involving former Tory donor Julio Herrera Velutini, a former FBI agent and the former governor of Puerto Rico news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and...: Justice Department leadership ordered prosecutors to reach a more lenient deal....
DOJ Overruled Prosecutors in Deal for Trump-Linked Governor (1)
Justice Department leadership ordered prosecutors about to start a major bribery trial to reach a more lenient deal with Puerto Rico’s former governor, who had endorsed President Donald Trump, and a b...
news.bloomberglaw.com
July 8, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Extra sprinkle from Bloomberg on the Puerto Rico case involving former Tory donor Julio Herrera Velutini, a former FBI agent and the former governor of Puerto Rico news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and...: Justice Department leadership ordered prosecutors to reach a more lenient deal....
Reposted
Reposted
Facebook is asking to use Meta AI on photos in your camera roll you haven’t yet shared: techcrunch.com/2025/06/27/f...
Facebook is asking to use Meta AI on photos in your camera roll you haven't yet shared | TechCrunch
Facebook is asking users for access to their phone's camera roll to automatically suggest AI-edited versions of their photos -- including ones that
techcrunch.com
June 27, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Facebook is asking to use Meta AI on photos in your camera roll you haven’t yet shared: techcrunch.com/2025/06/27/f...
Reposted
🆕 Loopholes in our existing election laws leave the next UK general election at serious risk from malign actors. The government must use the forthcoming Elections Bill to fill these gaps in our defences and safeguard our democracy. Read our latest briefing on the risks and potential solutions.
Briefing: How foreign or hostile actors could hijack the next General Election - Spotlight on Corruption
The British electoral system is wide open to abuse from malign or foreign actors seeking to unfairly influence our politics as a result of major loopholes in
www.spotlightcorruption.org
June 26, 2025 at 1:53 PM
🆕 Loopholes in our existing election laws leave the next UK general election at serious risk from malign actors. The government must use the forthcoming Elections Bill to fill these gaps in our defences and safeguard our democracy. Read our latest briefing on the risks and potential solutions.
Reposted
New investigation from me for @cen4infores.bsky.social
and covered by the @financialtimes.com! Thread incoming shortly but in the meantime go read the FT's piece www.ft.com/content/1c71...
and covered by the @financialtimes.com! Thread incoming shortly but in the meantime go read the FT's piece www.ft.com/content/1c71...
Crypto coin for Russian shadow payments moves $9bn
The A7A5 token aims to facilitate financial flows disrupted after Ukraine war
www.ft.com
June 25, 2025 at 5:09 AM
New investigation from me for @cen4infores.bsky.social
and covered by the @financialtimes.com! Thread incoming shortly but in the meantime go read the FT's piece www.ft.com/content/1c71...
and covered by the @financialtimes.com! Thread incoming shortly but in the meantime go read the FT's piece www.ft.com/content/1c71...
Cracking story 👇
The A7A5 token, billed as the first stablecoin pegged to the rouble, was launched in February by a fugitive Moldovan oligarch and a Russian defence sector bank. www.ft.com/content/1c71...
June 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Cracking story 👇
www.ft.com/content/f044... A former Conservative donor - Venezuelan-Italian banker Julio Herrera Velutini - is set to plead guilty to a misdemeanour charge relating to US political contributions to resolve a criminal case involving the former governor of Puerto Rico.
Tory donor to plead guilty over US political contributions
Julio Herrera Velutini agreed to plea as part of deal to dismiss more serious charges related to alleged bribery
www.ft.com
June 24, 2025 at 9:08 AM
www.ft.com/content/f044... A former Conservative donor - Venezuelan-Italian banker Julio Herrera Velutini - is set to plead guilty to a misdemeanour charge relating to US political contributions to resolve a criminal case involving the former governor of Puerto Rico.
Reposted
👏 Fantastic to see such strong cross-parliamentary support for an innovative way to secure desperately needed funding for the fight against economic crime in last week’s debate on the Crime & Policing Bill.
👇 @joepowell.bsky.social explains the “smart economics” of an Economic Crime Fighting Fund:
👇 @joepowell.bsky.social explains the “smart economics” of an Economic Crime Fighting Fund:
June 23, 2025 at 11:31 AM
👏 Fantastic to see such strong cross-parliamentary support for an innovative way to secure desperately needed funding for the fight against economic crime in last week’s debate on the Crime & Policing Bill.
👇 @joepowell.bsky.social explains the “smart economics” of an Economic Crime Fighting Fund:
👇 @joepowell.bsky.social explains the “smart economics” of an Economic Crime Fighting Fund:
Always go beyond the enticing headline and check out what the lofty promises actually cost. Then weigh up the pros and cons. 👇
Reform UK is proposing a "Britannia card" that would let wealthy foreigners pay a £250k fee to move to the UK, and live here exempt from all tax on their foreign assets
What they don't say: it would cost the UK £34bn
Report here, and thread below: buff.ly/gpe2Dpf
What they don't say: it would cost the UK £34bn
Report here, and thread below: buff.ly/gpe2Dpf
June 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Always go beyond the enticing headline and check out what the lofty promises actually cost. Then weigh up the pros and cons. 👇
Exactly right. Garbage in garbage out.
Continuing my process of alienating nearly everyone by posting good thing about LLMs one day and bad things the next. This one is pretty bad. open.substack.com/pub/mikecaul...
Hallucination Chains
AI searches citing Grok hallucinations is not the future we want
open.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Exactly right. Garbage in garbage out.
Spot on. #FakeCompanies are still haunting Companies House
Plus: there's good reason to believe that a significant chunk of the "small company" tax gap isn't real small companies at all, but companies established by bad actors for the sole purpose of ripping off the taxman. See our report for more details.
June 20, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Spot on. #FakeCompanies are still haunting Companies House