In this episode of RegTech Real Talk, Jamahal and Charlie break down how Alice Guo built a pig butchering scam empire literally behind City Hall — 800 people trapped, billions laundered, and a ghost identity so perfect it collapsed with one simple question: “Who was your teacher?”

Listen in for the true crime, the spy twist, and the compliance lessons for spotting the next Alice Guo.
Want the compliance angle? Read the Anqa blog here:

https://www.anqacompliance.com/anqa-blog/alice-guo-philippines-pogo-human-trafficking

Want every messy twist? Read the full Substack here:

https://justinpemberton.substack.com/p/alice-in-phantom-land

Answer: the rise and collapse of FTX.

Sam Bankman-Fried didn’t just build a crypto empire—he built a belief system.

Effective altruism. Earning to give. Longtermism. Philosophy became camouflage.

In this episode, we unpack how the founder of FTX transformed complex ideology into one of the greatest confidence tricks in financial history—convincing regulators, politicians, and celebrities that he was crypto’s ethical saviour… all while customer funds were vanishing behind the scenes.

We cover:

• The rise of “earning to give” and how it justified extreme risk and eventual theft

• Longtermism and the cosmic math that made current losses seem morally acceptable

• Why a $32 billion company operated without a CFO—or even proper accounting

• The role of image laundering in building unearned trust

• How the same system that let FTX thrive penalises smaller, legitimate firms

It’s more than a crypto collapse. It’s a masterclass in how philosophy, branding, and unchecked power can cover up one of the greatest financial crimes of our time.

Find out more on Anqa's blog: https://www.anqacompliance.com/anqa-blog/ftx-collapse-image-laundering-vs-compliance

In 2019, a poisoned whistleblower leaked 30,000 documents exposing how Iceland's biggest fishing company orchestrated the systematic looting of Namibia's ocean resources. The money—enough to build 1,300 schools—vanished through a dizzying maze of shell companies spanning Cyprus, Dubai, Mauritius, and Norway.

Six years later, the masterminds are free, the trial keeps getting postponed (latest excuse: no WiFi in the courtroom), and European supermarkets still stock the stolen fish. Meanwhile, the whistleblower breathes through damaged lungs, and Namibian fishing communities remain destroyed.

Join Jamahal and Charlie as they unpack this modern-day pillage dressed in spreadsheets: fake consultants who never consulted, the Justice Minister who took bribes, ghost companies with million-dollar invoices, and why Norway's biggest bank treated a $45 million fine as a cost of doing business.

This isn't just another financial crime story—it's a masterclass in how to exploit jurisdiction gaps, weaponize legal procedures, and turn corruption into corporate strategy.

Key moments:

• How a "technical consulting" invoice hid millions in bribes
• The assassination attempt that created an unstoppable whistleblower
• Why claiming poverty while owning 27 properties is a legitimate legal strategy
• The compliance red flags that everyone saw but nobody stopped

A RegTech RealTalk episode that proves truth is stranger—and more infuriating—than fiction.

🎧 Subscribe for more wild stories from the world of financial crime

And for compliance solutions visit https://www.anqacompliance.com

#FinancialCrime #Fishrot #RegTech #Corruption #TrueCrime #Podcast

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 fleet

• Why 86% of Russian crude exports evade sanctions

• The terrifying overlap of sanctions evasion, hybrid warfare, and environmental risk

• Why traditional compliance tools are failing — and what must change

This isn’t just about sanctions. It’s about the weaponization of global commerce.

Get free, practical sanctions training at anqacompliance.com

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 individuals

• The role of Western enablers in building her empire

• What the Isabel case reveals about the infrastructure gap in global compliance

• Why these failures aren’t rare—and why it’s time compliance tools became essential infrastructure

It’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-screening

And read more about this incredible story here:

https://substack.com/home/post/p-165163976

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 lives

A 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-ngos

Please share.

#NGOCompliance #FinancialCrime #HumanitarianAid #TrustMatters  #MoneyLaundering #Palestine #FreeTraining

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

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