Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #fincen

Most recents (24)

@ericgarland Only the beginning, Eric.

Why?

I considered the flaw in cryptocurrency enabling the mass tracking/takedown of organized crime/Russian intel a modest side project for more than one reason. As we proceed, *why* will become more apparent.
@ericgarland So, SS7 protocols represent a massive flaw in cell-phone security.

Likely useful for years, but less so as it becomes public knowledge.

But sources & methods you *can* safely declassify?
cc: @LouiseMensch @ninaandtito @thespybrief @911CORLEBRA777
@ericgarland @LouiseMensch @ninaandtito @thespybrief @911CORLEBRA777 What if a staggering source of hard evidence in the Russian coup came from a technical weakness of rapidly diminishing utility, & which urgently needed to be closed anyway?
Read 16 tweets
@ericgarland @911CORLEBRA777 @JamesFourM @thespybrief @patribotics @LouiseMensch @ninaandtito @DirkSchwenk @xtrixcyclex @colinkalmbacher @claytonpurdom @emzanotti @RoyBlunt @FBIWFO @NewYorkFBI @FBILosAngeles @INTERPOL_HQ @DHSgov It's hard to overstate how important a cooperating Manafort becomes to unraveling media subversion.

But let's start with Eric's documentation of media-influence operations & go from there.
@ericgarland @911CORLEBRA777 @JamesFourM @thespybrief @patribotics @LouiseMensch @ninaandtito @DirkSchwenk @xtrixcyclex @colinkalmbacher @claytonpurdom @emzanotti @RoyBlunt @FBIWFO @NewYorkFBI @FBILosAngeles @INTERPOL_HQ @DHSgov First, remember @ericgarland initially just released the public, executive summary of his research into *one* aspect of this - a consistent pattern of harassment in response to his original Game Theory thread.
@ericgarland @911CORLEBRA777 @JamesFourM @thespybrief @patribotics @LouiseMensch @ninaandtito @DirkSchwenk @xtrixcyclex @colinkalmbacher @claytonpurdom @emzanotti @RoyBlunt @FBIWFO @NewYorkFBI @FBILosAngeles @INTERPOL_HQ @DHSgov There are so many critical details to go over here.

One, the patterns were easily detected, & hard evidence could be found in abundance.

Two, Eric *didn't* stop with documenting & researching just that one piece.
Read 55 tweets
Apropos of nothing, here is a thread with links to #crypto guidance from the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or #FinCEN
July 21, 2011, FinCEN clarifies what a money service business means gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2…
March 18, 2013, FinCEN issues guidance with respect to using, exchanging, and administering virtual currency fincen.gov/sites/default/…
Read 10 tweets
@ericgarland @20committee @JamesFourM @Medium @FBI @NSAGov @DHSgov @GCHQ @LincolnsBible @USTreasury @BarackObama @NATO @DARPA @JohnBrennan @GenMhayden @CIA @TheJusticeDept @gametheorytoday @DEAHQ So, to list of other things .@FBI .@NSAGov .@DHSgov .@GCHQ .@USTreasury could use in a #BigData search to pull any remaining deep-cover spies:

Yes, as I've noted before, you can pull all the "re-issued" credentials, then check for any preceding ID.

But that's just a start.
@ericgarland @20committee @JamesFourM @Medium @FBI @NSAGov @DHSgov @GCHQ @LincolnsBible @USTreasury @BarackObama @NATO @DARPA @JohnBrennan @GenMhayden @CIA @TheJusticeDept @gametheorytoday @DEAHQ That's an obvious thing .@FBI .@NSAGov .@DHSgov .@GCHQ .@USTreasury could do, given the supposed tendency of deep-cover operatives to request "re-issuing" of a "lost" ID that never existed in the first place.
Read 173 tweets
@ericgarland @20committee @JamesFourM @Medium @FBI @NSAGov @DHSgov @GCHQ @LincolnsBible @USTreasury @BarackObama @NATO @DARPA Again, there was a warning about more evidence being released in tandem with egregious attacks on Kremlin's critics.

Given the targeting of Brennan, we’ve hit another tipping point.
.@FBI .@NSAGov .@DHSgov .@GCHQ .@USTreasury
@ericgarland @20committee @JamesFourM @Medium @FBI @NSAGov @DHSgov @GCHQ @LincolnsBible @USTreasury @BarackObama @NATO @DARPA I was planning to drop more evidence sources, but I don't think everyone yet realizes the security-clearance fiasco is a giant evidence-reaping machine *in* *itself.*
@JohnBrennan @GenMhayden
.@FBI .@NSAGov .@DHSgov .@GCHQ .@USTreasury
@ericgarland @20committee @JamesFourM @Medium @FBI @NSAGov @DHSgov @GCHQ @LincolnsBible @USTreasury @BarackObama @NATO @DARPA @JohnBrennan @GenMhayden As discussed previously in this thread, we have no shortage of people who direly need to proffer *something,* in the face of an investigation that needs neither their testimony nor their evidence.
.@FBI .@NSAGov .@DHSgov .@GCHQ .@USTreasury
Read 227 tweets
@ericgarland @20committee So, .@ericgarland gets a new kind of botnet targeting, & .@JamesFourM runs into issues w/his article on @Medium?

There was a warning about harassment & the countering release of evidence on the conspiracy.
.@FBI .@NSAGov .@DHSgov .@GCHQ
@ericgarland @20committee @JamesFourM @Medium @FBI @NSAGov @DHSgov @GCHQ The warning: Any egregious harassment of Kremlin critics could release or expedite yet *another* major evidence source against the conspiracy.

While unpleasant, I think these two each warrant something modest… yet formidable.

& apropos.
.@FBI .@NSAGov .@DHSgov .@GCHQ
@ericgarland @20committee @JamesFourM @Medium @FBI @NSAGov @DHSgov @GCHQ So, Eric you brought up the agencies rating investments recently, as well as AIG, stock markets, etc.

What, you might ask, is so deadly about global finance & the conspiracy? Beyond the obvious flows of money & influence?
.@FBI .@NSAGov .@DHSgov .@GCHQ
Read 322 tweets
@TheRickWilson @LouiseMensch Oops.

For everyone seeking a deal w/law enforcement, there is one *small* detail we may have glossed over for all parties.

Asset forfeiture. To the government, and... to civil suits.
cc: @thespybrief @ericgarland @TrueFactsStated
@TheRickWilson @LouiseMensch @thespybrief @ericgarland @TrueFactsStated And if you're thinking you'll fight - *great!*

A #RICO conviction proving guilt up front?

Involving treason, organized crime, media collusion, child trafficking, etc?

*&* you harassed or threatened people's kids? *Not* just the adult ones?
@TheRickWilson @LouiseMensch @thespybrief @ericgarland @TrueFactsStated I'm sure jury pools drawn from DC, New York, London, etc will be sympathetic.

But do remember a couple of *other* trivial details.

One, the Democratic Party already filed such a suit, and named Russian intelligence as a defendant.
Read 11 tweets
@ericgarland @MingGao26 @YouTube Maybe I should clarify a few points. Nothing the .@FBI, .@NSAGov, .@DHSgov, @thespybrief aren't aware of already.

But for Russian operatives approaching the point of no return, why you *want* a deal w/#Mueller.
@ericgarland @MingGao26 @YouTube @FBI @NSAGov @DHSgov @thespybrief Briefly, as I've said before, the US can impose a total lockdown of any aggressor's economy, but the worst part is we can lift that total sanction on *everything* for a mere pittance - a virtual gift, even.

For every intel operative & leader involved in this assault.
@ericgarland @MingGao26 @YouTube @FBI @NSAGov @DHSgov @thespybrief If you're thinking, "Wait, we'd never be able to execute an attack like this again if they turn us in" you may have missed what a fiasco it is already.
Read 24 tweets
@ericgarland I loved it when prosecutors added 700+ pages of Cohen's formerly "encrypted" WhatsApp messages to the court.

It's not just "what, commercial encryption *isn't* unbreakable?"

Think about all the people calling fellow conspirators on Signal who were already under warrant.
@ericgarland No, not just FISA warrants.

But we've had multiple, vast sources of hard evidence of criminal activities.

#Cryptocurrency transactions, Transition emails, the 420,000+ Hansa users, #FinCEN data, money laundering & so forth, *already* forming a global map of crime & subversion.
@ericgarland So what happens when law enforcement records the phones calls of numerous people for whom they not only have probable cause, but evidence already "beyond a reasonable doubt"?

And what happens when so many callers think their words are encrypted & they can speak *very* openly?
Read 7 tweets
@lauferlaw @ninaandtito Remember...

1. Everything @thespybrief has been teaching us about Venona and deep-cover spies.

cc: @ericgarland @counterchekist
@lauferlaw @ninaandtito @thespybrief @ericgarland @counterchekist 2. If you were taking down cell after cell of Russian assets engaged in conventional criminal activity, you could simply reap harvest after harvest along with all the ordinary criminals, & defer espionage prosecution.
@lauferlaw @ninaandtito @thespybrief @ericgarland @counterchekist 3. If you had already broken their secure communications, say, by expelling "official cover" spies who could act as secure go-betweens w/known credentials & breaking all means of encryption, etc, then it becomes very difficult to warn them about the jaws closing.
Read 23 tweets
@ericgarland Jan 2021: The first 113 top Russian & other foreign-intelligence operatives and leaders have not only confessed for improved treatment, but have effectively been teaching counterintelligence classes on "everything we have & everything we've ever done."
Codename: Vodka Season
@ericgarland Feb 2021: Mass-allocation of all global Mob funds seized in the 2019 mass incarceration known as The Reaping is complete.
Codename: So *That's* Where the Money Went
@ericgarland Mar 2021: Department of Justice and it's recently established Office of Social Media Management announce all existing trolls, bots and unverified/anonymous accounts have been purged from significant platforms, & measures taken to prevent their resurgence.
Codename: We *See* You
Read 12 tweets
Hmm. *How* easy is it to track #cryptocurrencies?

By definition, a permanent, online, irremovable record of each exchange.

Aka, the #blockchain.

@Bambenek literally set up an automatic tracker of neo-Nazi #bitcoin transactions. @NeonaziWallets.
twitter.com/NeonaziWallets
I go into this rather extensively. In part because of just how *much* has surfaced recently on how vulnerable it is.

For criminals at least.
If your wallet public/private key is out there, people can literally Google it.

But notice just how *many* huge cryptocurrency law-enforcement takedowns have been in the news recently.

Backpage gets taken down for child trafficking & money laundering $1/2 billion... in bitcoin?
Read 16 tweets
There's another motivation that crops up: When you're talking about money on the scale we have flowing through the markets in places like Florida, New York City & London, *everyone* invested in the market ends up w/a stake in property inflation, even if not directly involved.
If you're speculating, or being paid rents in a market that can bear the cost, seeing property values go up 10, 20 or 50% in a short time is very enticing.

But it creates a bigger problem when you're looking at rooting it *out,* market collapse.
.@FBI @ericgarland @LouiseMensch
People have been asking why, say, the UK government hasn't dropped the hammer faster & harder on Russia.

No one gains from a market crash except more speculators.

But that's why targeted sanctions are *freezing* oligarch/Russian-organized-crime assets.
.@FBI .@GCHQ
Read 14 tweets
And bear in mind, there are a *lot* of threads which amplify their ability to track down not just the laundered money, but criminals & intel assets, records of crimes, etc.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/9573220…
For example, #botnets! Thousands, sometimes *millions* of computers linked together, letting you hack, launch DDoS attacks, dox and stalk, reap kompromat and demand blackmail ransoms or distribute bribes!

What could go wrong?

Everything.
The trick is: What happens when you overlay all this data from different sources on top of the map created by #cryptocurrency exchanges the underworld thought were invisible & the transactions & holdings unearthed by #FinCEN.
Read 7 tweets
Last week I tweeted that I thought @MichaelAvenatti scoop about Cohen shell companies came from a #FinCEN leak. I went on @allinwithchris the following night & discussed that the info could have come from #Fincen or perhaps the financial institutions. Tonight @RonanFarrow /1
Confirmed that the leader of the #SARS was from #FinCEN. I must admit when @RonanFarrow and I spoke this week, I was stunned about the possibility that someone could have removed SARS. I felt that there is no way this could happen short of work by a nefarious actor. But, I also/2
Would share that I am not worried whether Mueller’s team has the SARs. I’ve been tweeting since March 2017 that I believe that #FinCEN holds the key to #TrumpRussia, in part because the SARs are filed and the data collected long before Trump got elected. Which means that from /3
Read 6 tweets
🔥WHOA🔥

The USG official leaked Cohen’s financial records b/c the official became “alarmed” after being unable to find 2 suspicious-activity reports on Cohen in a government database & worried the info was being withheld from law enforcement‼️ 1/

newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
Two previous suspicious-activity reports (SARS) documented **even larger flows of questionable money** into Cohen’s account👉🏼>$3 million‼️ Which individuals or corporations remains a mystery.🤨 2/

#Coverup
#Bribery
#Corruption
The 2 SARS were *absent* from #FinCEN’s database: “I have never seen something pulled off the system. That system is a safeguard for the bank. It’s a stockpile of info. When something’s not there that should be, I immediately became concerned. That’s why I came forward.”😳 3/
Read 23 tweets
"7000 data points" -- That. They're. Willing. To. Admit. To. -- "on 240 million Americans".

If they've been actively manipulating the electorate & recording responses, they'll have a *lot* more than 7000 data points on many, *many* Americans.
But if they had access to medical & especially psychiatric records & exploited them, their knowledge gets far more intimate.

And the story likely gets far darker.
Cambridge Analytica probably stumbled into using evolutionary algorithms in their work - assuming they ever realized that's what it was.

The difference between throwing programs that fail you & people who "fail you" is a subtle one, to be sure.
Read 9 tweets
Just remember - as I'm sure you do - that Flynn had flipped and was actively cooperating for *months* before it was announced publicly.

That was enough of a warning shot.

The more people secretly cooperating, and legally bound to do their utmost, the better.
So many are waiting for a Great Figure to pronounce Final Judgement upon All the Guilty.

Nation humbling nation, alliance crushing alliance.

What's ironic is the individual workings of real-world justice are more precise and more formidable.
*None* of the conspirators bear each other any real loyalty.

They have been bought or blackmailed to begin with, bound by fear of discovery after that.

But they're self-centered & quite willing to turn on the others.
Read 18 tweets
The Dutch didn't just get the whole hack on video, they got personal information on 420,000+ Hansa users.

When I say you can track #cryptocurrency - you can *literally* search your evidence for the number string of a #bitcoin wallet.

You can *Google* it.
wired.com/story/hansa-du…
Even if you're more cautious now, it's easy to track past transactions.

But even local cops can search a computers files for numerical strings of interest.

Now ask yourself what the @FBI & @NSAGov can do.
wired.com/story/bitcoin-…
When @NeonaziWallets can run an automated feed showing the daily bitcoin activities of white supremacists, imagine what the Federal law enforcement & counterintelligence who have known about this for at least almost 6 months could do with their data.
Read 71 tweets
The Dutch Hansa takeover.
"They obtained at least some data on 420,000 users, including at least 10,000 home addresses, which they've turned over to Europol to be distributed to other police agencies..."

#Cryptocurrency map.

@ericgarland @patribotics
"We want people to be aware," says Ras. "We have the data. It's here, and it's not going away."
wired.com/story/hansa-du…
"Researchers have used the blockchain to tie years-old Silk Road bitcoin transactions to current, public accounts."
wired.com/story/bitcoin-…
Read 50 tweets
#Cryptocurrency is readily admissible evidence re: a host of felonies. But no one may have stated how much more it can do or how easily. Until now.

.@ericgarland .@counterchekist .@911CORLEBRA777 @20committee @thespybrief @patribotics @gametheorytoday .@FBI .@NSAGov @GCHQ
1st, some basics. #Cryptocurrencies create a permanent, online record of each transaction, arguably the most easily tracked exchanges on Earth. But law enforcement shut down multiple #Darknet auction sites even before that was common knowledge. .@FBI .@NSAGov
Those sites had tens of thousands of users. And money launderers, Russian intelligence, terrorists & ordinary criminals have moved into it en masse. The world’s worst method for making nefarious transactions. .@FBI .@NSAGov
Read 69 tweets
.@CNN .@ABC .@CBS .@NBCNews .@MSNBC
So Dutch intelligence recorded the entire Russian hack of the US election, & has the hackers & their visitors *on* *video.*

Things just got exciting.
.@CNN .@ABC .@CBS .@NBCNews .@MSNBC
In other words, it’s even more beyond question that Russia hacked the election – we literally have them on camera doing it. We have their faces, & the faces of those directly overseeing them.
volkskrant.nl/tech/dutch-age…
.@ABC has done a piece on this revelation, but I thought I’d bring it to the attention of .@CNN .@CBS .@NBCNews .@MSNBC. And I wanted to sum up the other devastating revelations tearing this would-be coup, & its perpetrators, apart.
abcnews.go.com/Technology/wir…
Read 48 tweets
Newly Uncovered Payments By Russian Embassy Are A Focus Of Mueller Probe: Sergey Kislyak received $120K ten days after the election of Trump. Bankers flagged it to US Gov't as suspicious because, marked as payroll, it didn’t fit prior pay patterns.
#Maddow buzzfeed.com/jasonleopold/n…
^ @benjaminwittes: "@a_cormier_ & @JasonLeopold took a lot of criticism for their earlier story on wire transfers to the Russian embassy...that story warranted more consideration than it was receiving. This followup emphasizes that."
#Maddow
^ Nov 14, 2017 piece referenced above: FBI scrutinizes more than 60 money transfers sent by the Russian Foreign Ministry to its embassies across the globe, bearing a note that said the money was to be used “to finance election campaign of 2016.”
#Maddow
Read 5 tweets
This big story by @JasonLeopold and @a_courmier_ shows how #FinCEN uses it’s suspicious activity reports/SARs collected from financial institutions (like Citibank here) to track illicit financing and connect the dots for $ laundering. You can bet Mueller has it if he wants it.
Please excuse spelling errors. A few words about SARS - #FinCEN requires banks, financial institutions, wire transfer companies, money services businesses, jewelers, etc. to file reports documenting suspicious banking activities that they witness online or in person./2
So for example, if you normally make deposits at one rate and pace, and all of a sudden your accounts starts receiving deposits once a month for $300,000 from a non-employer, your bank may file that as a SAR with FinCEN. Or if a guy walks into a bank with $19,000 in cash, and /3
Read 15 tweets

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