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Jun 28, 2023 • 4 min read

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U.S. Treasury Wagner Sanctions:

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Wagner, a Russian mercenary group, with the aim of restricting its weapons funding. The sanctions target four companies in Russia, UAE, and Central African Republic, and one individual, all accused of facilitating illegal gold trades and weapon deals for Wagner, particularly in Ukraine and Africa.
The undersecretary of the Treasury, Brian Nelson, stated that Wagner's operations are partly funded by exploiting natural resources in countries like Mali and Central African Republic. The US intends to disrupt Wagner's revenue streams to prevent its expansion.
The sanctions also affect Andrey Nikolayevich Ivanov, a Wagner executive allegedly involved in Wagner's activities in Mali, and Diamville SAU, a Prigozhin-controlled company implicated in a gold-selling scheme. Wagner's activities have raised concerns as they've been accused of committing civilian massacres in Mali.

FTX Recovered Funds/SBF Trial:

The upcoming trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, for alleged fraud and theft of customer funds is set to start on October 2, as decided by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
Bankman-Fried, accused of illegally transferring billions from FTX to cover losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund, as well as fraudulent political donations and misleading investors, has pleaded not guilty. Despite his request to dismiss some of the charges, Judge Kaplan sided with the prosecutors, indicating that the misappropriated funds do represent a property loss.
Meanwhile, the new management at FTX, the now-bankrupt crypto exchange, has made significant headway in recovering lost assets. They have reclaimed $7 billion, as confirmed by Bloomberg and detailed in a new investigative report.
However, the report reveals that the exchange still owes its customers a total of $8.7 billion. The new CEO, John Ray III, pledged commitment to maximum recovery for creditors, promising continued transparency in their findings and progress.

Costco Membership Sharing:

In response to increased misuse of membership cards, Costco has implemented stricter policies to counteract card-sharing. Costco has seen more card-sharing after expanding its self-checkout systems across more stores.
To mitigate this, the retailer is now requiring shoppers to show a photo ID at self-checkout registers if their membership card doesn't include a picture. Costco's business model sets it apart from other retailers. The majority of its earnings come from membership fees, which help cover company expenses and allow Costco to keep prices low.
It charges $60 for annual memberships and $120 a year for its higher-tier plan, known as Executive Membership. In recent financial updates, Costco's net sales saw a year-over-year increase of about 2%, rising to $52.6 billion.

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