War, Sanctions, Fraud, and the State of Public‑Private Partnerships

In this milestone 300th episode of This Week in AML, Elliot Berman and John Byrne reflect briefly on the evolution of the podcast before diving into a wide‑ranging discussion of the most pressing developments in the AML, sanctions, and financial crime landscape. The episode features key takeaways from the Fifth Annual AML Partnership Forum in Washington, DC, including insights on public‑private collaboration, cryptocurrency investigations, fraud trends, sextortion, and human trafficking. Elliot and John also unpack major global and domestic developments—from wartime corruption risks and sanctions involving Iran and Russia, to FATF’s new anti‑fraud toolkit and a federal court ruling striking down FinCEN’s residential real estate AML rule. Additional topics include emerging concerns about insider trading and prediction markets, nonprofit investigations tied to domestic extremism, shifting counterterrorism resources, and new reporting on classified information and financial motives. The episode closes with reflections on public service and the legacy of former FBI Director Robert Mueller. As always, listeners are encouraged to review the source material referenced and draw their own conclusions.