Russia’s Shadow Fleet: The Post That Exposed a Ghost Navy
A hobby ship-spotter posts a single photo on social media—and hours later, warships are scrambling across the Mediterranean.In this episode of RegTech Real Talk, Charlie and Jamahal dive into the surreal world of Russia’s shadow fleet: hundreds of rusting oil tankers with fake identities moving billions in sanctioned crude, military equipment, and geopolitical influence across global waters.We follow the true story of the Barbaros, a ghost ship spotted by open-source analyst Yörük Işık, and explore how a single X post triggered an international naval response.Also in this episode:How Russia built a $10B shadow fleetWhy 86% of Russian crude exports evade sanctionsThe terrifying overlap of sanctions evasion, hybrid warfare, and environmental riskWhy traditional compliance tools are failing — and what must changeThis isn’t just about sanctions. It’s about the weaponization of global commerce.Get free, practical sanctions training at anqacompliance.com
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11:14
Billion Dollar Heist in Plain Sight: The Isabel dos Santos Sanctions Story
In this episode of RegTech RealTalk, we tell a story so outrageous it sounds fictional—except it’s backed by 700,000 leaked documents.Isabel dos Santos, once hailed as Africa’s richest woman, rose to global prominence through insider deals, offshore networks, and elite partnerships. Backed by firms like PwC and McKinsey, her business empire spanned telecoms, oil, diamonds, and banking. But behind the glossy headlines was something else: a cautionary tale of compliance systems that saw nothing, asked nothing, and stopped nothing.Then came the Luanda Leaks, exposing a sprawling network of shell companies, sweetheart contracts, and red flags that should’ve triggered action years earlier.We explore:How risk systems failed to flag one of the world’s most politically exposed individualsThe role of Western enablers in building her empireWhat the Isabel case reveals about the infrastructure gap in global complianceWhy these failures aren’t rare—and why it’s time compliance tools became essential infrastructureIt’s not just about one woman’s fortune. It’s about what happens when global systems are built to serve profit, not protection.🎧 Tune in now to learn why this case matters for every compliance officer, regulator, and policymaker fighting financial crime.Dive deeper into the Isabel dos Santos case and the compliance gaps it exposed on our blog:https://www.anqacompliance.com/anqa-blog//isabel-dos-santos-sanctions-pep-screeningAnd read more about this incredible story here:https://substack.com/home/post/p-165163976
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10:37
When Trust Gets Exploited: NGOs and Financial Crime
A Malaysian NGO raised millions for Palestinian winter relief. Instead of helping desperate families, the money allegedly bought gold and luxury real estate.In this 7-minute episode, Jamahal and Charlie unpack one of Southeast Asia’s most shocking NGO scandals — 164 criminal charges, millions misappropriated, and a humanitarian mission derailed.They explore: - How trusted organizations can be used to launder money - What went wrong in the Aman Palestin Berhad case - Why even small NGOs need strong financial controls - How compliance can protect both donations and livesA must-listen for anyone working in the humanitarian space.For the free compliance training course built specifically for nonprofits discussed in this episode visit:https://www.anqacompliance.com/free-aml-sanctions-training-for-ngosPlease share.#NGOCompliance #FinancialCrime #HumanitarianAid #TrustMatters #MoneyLaundering #Palestine #FreeTraining
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6:32
Corporate Enablers: The Hidden Players in Financial Crime
When HSBC got caught laundering $881 million in drug cartel money, their stock price went UP.In this surprising episode, Jamahal and Charlie reveal how the world's most "respected" companies have turned enabling fraud into a profitable business model. From Mercedes-Benz's shockingly casual approach to money laundering risks to Meta becoming "a cornerstone of the internet fraud economy," discover how corporate giants have mastered the art of looking the other way—and making billions doing it.The most dangerous player in modern financial crime isn't wearing a mask or hiding behind encryption. They're wearing a business suit and hiding behind respectability.🎙 Based on Respectable Racketeers by Justin Pemberton: https://medium.com/@justin_92850/respectable-racketeers-how-corporate-giants-quietly-helped-build-the-modern-fraud-economy-ed18602fcda9#FinancialCrime #CorporateComplicity #RegTech #RespectableRacketeers
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6:19
The Hidden Advantage: Africa's Digital Compliance Revolution
Forget everything you've been told about Africa "catching up" to Western financial systems. This debut episode flips that narrative on its head, revealing how the continent's apparent technological disadvantages have morphed into its most potent competitive edge.While London and New York's financial giants wrestle with the digital equivalent of archaeological digs—layer upon layer of fossilized code and decaying infrastructure from last century—Africa's fintech innovators are building streamlined digital-native operations that move with almost supernatural agility.Regions with historically limited banking access are now pioneering mobile-first financial architectures that traditional powerhouses can only fantasize about implementing.This isn't merely technological evolution—it's regulatory jujitsu. African businesses are transforming compliance from bureaucratic burden into strategic currency, unlocking global partnerships while their Western counterparts remain tangled in migration nightmares and compatibility crises.Discover why we created Anqa Compliance: not as a Western solution imposed on emerging markets, but as a platform born from the peculiar alchemy of high regulatory standards meeting resource-constrained innovation—where enterprise-grade compliance must thrive without enterprise-grade infrastructure.The future of financial compliance isn't emerging from marble-lobbied institutions but from the chaotic, vibrant laboratories of Africa's digital economy. And it's happening right now.#AfricanTech #FinTech #ComplianceRevolution #LeapfrogInnovation
RegTech Real Talk is your gateway to the hidden machinery of financial crime and the global resistance against it.
From crypto havens to the unexplored fintech frontiers of Africa, Asia, and the global South, we decode patterns invisible to the conventional financial gaze.
We navigate the collision points where regulation meets innovation—exploring how bad actors exploit gaps while compliance teams race to build better defenses.
No fluff. No legacy systems. Just real talk.
New Zealand