Financial Crime Weekly Episode 222
Sun Feb 08 2026
Welcome to episode 222 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, we lead with a light flurry of UK sanctions activity, including the designation of six individuals under the Sudan regime and an update to general licensing following the merger of Bank FC Otkritie, while a new analysis explores how cryptocurrency is being leveraged to sustain Russia’s war economy. In fraud developments, we cover a nationwide US marriage-fraud and bribery indictment and in the UK a warning regarding AI voice cloning used to hijack direct debits. We also examine a Home Office evaluation of the National Fraud Squad, and a MONEYVAL assessment of Serbia. Finally, the CCRC has referred five City-trader convictions back to the Court of Appeal, and a significant shift in US policy toward lighter-touch financial regulation and expanded leniency for cooperative corporations.
A transcript of this podcast, with links to the stories, will be available at www.crimes.financial.
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Welcome to episode 222 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, we lead with a light flurry of UK sanctions activity, including the designation of six individuals under the Sudan regime and an update to general licensing following the merger of Bank FC Otkritie, while a new analysis explores how cryptocurrency is being leveraged to sustain Russia’s war economy. In fraud developments, we cover a nationwide US marriage-fraud and bribery indictment and in the UK a warning regarding AI voice cloning used to hijack direct debits. We also examine a Home Office evaluation of the National Fraud Squad, and a MONEYVAL assessment of Serbia. Finally, the CCRC has referred five City-trader convictions back to the Court of Appeal, and a significant shift in US policy toward lighter-touch financial regulation and expanded leniency for cooperative corporations. A transcript of this podcast, with links to the stories, will be available at www.crimes.financial.