September 28 - Canada's financial intelligence agency says a wide range of businesses -- from food wholesalers to electronics repair services -- are being used to disguise the proceeds of illicit cannabis operations. In a new operational alert, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, known as Fintrac, warns banks and others that handle cash to be on the lookout for various clues that dealings are linked to the black-market pot trade. Canada legalized the recreational use of cannabis four years ago and set out a legal framework for production, sale and possession of the drug.

September 28 - Alberta police have seized an estimated $55 million in illegal drugs through a cross-border investigation into organized crime, trafficking and money laundering. The investigation, called Project Cobra, began in 2020 and was a joint effort between the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), RCMP and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. ALERT says 928 kilograms of methamphetamine and six kilograms of cocaine were seized as a result of the nearly three-year-long investigation.

September 26 - The RCMP confirmed Monday that it is looking into a threat of sexual violence directed at Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's wife, Anaida Poilievre. Poilievre denounced the threat from far-right political commentator Jeremy MacKenzie and said his office contacted law enforcement about the matter. An RCMP spokesperson told CBC News Monday that it's looking into the report. "We can confirm that the matter has been referred to the RCMP and we are reviewing the information provided," they said in an email.

September 22 - German police raided a lakeside villa registered to Russian-Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov in the southern state of Bavaria on Wednesday as part of investigations into suspected money-laundering, sources familiar with the matter said. Over 250 officers searched an apparently abandoned villa in the upmarket holiday town of Rottach-Egern on the shores of the Tegernsee. "Any allegations of tax evasion by Mr Usmanov are unfounded, false and damaging to his honour, dignity and reputation, which Mr Usmanov will defend by all disposable legal means," Usmanov's press service said in a statement.

September 22 - Ontario Provincial Police have laid a dozen more charges against an eastern Ontario man accused of taking money for firewood and never delivering after more complainants came forward. OPP had previously warned the public about a potential fraud involving online ads on platforms like Facebook offering firewood for sale. Police allege the accused would request a deposit by e-transfer, but never deliver the firewood and would not respond or be unreachable by buyers.

September 20 - The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), an independent commission created to combat corruption and crime, said it was handling more than 1,000 cases as it intensifies its war against corruption. ZACC Chairperson Loice Matanda-Moyo told Xinhua that more than 300 cases had been handed over for prosecution between 2019 and 2021, and the commission has come up with various strategies aimed not only at prosecuting offenders, but also ensuring that corruption did not take place. "When we were constituted as a commission in 2019, corruption was so endemic in Zimbabwe that it had become a culture, almost a way of life for all Zimbabweans and institutionalized," she said.

September 20 - Federal prosecutors announced charges Tuesday against 47 people accused of carrying out the biggest Covid fraud scheme to date, a theft of $250 million through what officials described as a brazen and staggering plot that exploited a federal program designed to feed needy children in Minnesota. Prosecutors say a web of charities, restaurants and individuals pulled off the fraud by claiming they were providing meals for tens of thousands of underserved children, when in fact the money was going to commercial real estate, luxury cars, fancy homes and even coastal property in Kenya. Authorities say the defendants took advantage of loosened eligibility rules — and a lack of oversight — due to the pandemic.

September 15 - Police have arrested “one of Europe’s biggest money launderers” after a raid in southern Spain, saying the British-Irish suspect is believed to have shifted more than 200 million euros ($200m) in illicit cash. The operation led by Spain’s Guardia Civil and coordinated by Europol is seen as a significant blow against the notorious Kinahan organised crime group, which United States law officials have called “a threat to the entire licit economy”.