The Growing Threat of Terrorist Financing Through Online Gaming
STR: Suspicious Transaction Report
Release Date: 11/28/2025
STR: Suspicious Transaction Report
Over two billion pounds from the sale of Chelsea FC languishes frozen in a UK bank account. Why is that, and what happens next? Nick Purewal, news and sports journalist, and author of 'Sanctioned: The Inside Story of the Sale of Chelsea FC' joins host Tom Keatinge to explore the sanctioning of Roman Abramovich by the UK following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the consequences for one of England's biggest football clubs and two decades of investment in south west London. Differences in opinion - and legal drafting - mean that despite rising rhetoric from the UK government, the...
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In a new book, author Anton Moiseienko argues that designing the right incentives will determine the future success of financial crime fighting. In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge is joined by former CFS colleague Anton Moiseienko, who is now a Senior Lecturer and Research Director at the Australian National University Law School in Canberra. They discuss Anton's new book, 'Doing Business with Criminals: Between Exclusion and Surveillance'. It is a book that provides an important assessment of the history of financial crime fighting and the policies and laws that...
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Jeffrey Robinson writer, storyteller, and passionate believer joins host Tom Keatinge to think the unthinkable and challenge the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) status quo. After all these years of effort to combat economic crime, are we so convinced that our approach is the right one that we are unwilling to challenge the status quo? Acknowledging that we are on the wrong path is hard to do, particularly when there are so many vested interests at play. As Obi Wan Kenobi might have said, the force of the Echo Chamber is strong.
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Gonzalo Saiz and Galen Lamphere-Englund speak with host Tom Keatinge about how online gaming might be exploited by extremist and terrorist actors. In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge caught up with CFS Research Fellow Gonzalo Saiz and Galen Lamphere-Englund co-founder and convener of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network to discuss Gonzalo’s recent paper on the growing threat of terrorist financing through online gaming platforms. They discuss how terrorist and extremist actors are increasingly exploiting online platforms, not only to fundraise but also...
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Jessica Davis, Stephen Reimer and host Tom Keatinge discuss the Financial Action Task Force's recent report on terrorist financing. In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge caught up with CFS Associate Fellows Jessica Davis and Stephen Reimer to review the Financial Action Task Force's latest report on the means used by terrorists to raise funds and the wide variety of methods used to move money within and between organisations. They consider that while the FATF update is undeniably comprehensive in terms of its scope and heft, they query whether it properly measures and...
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With three FIU (financial intelligence unit) leadership positions under his belt, and much more besides, Daniel Thelesklaf shares his varied and valued experience in tackling financial crime. In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge catches up with Daniel Thelesklaf, long-time friend of RUSI’s Centre for Finance and Security. Through FIU leadership positions from Liechtenstein to Germany via Switzerland, and roles as the Moneyval president, the Director of the UN University Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking programme and, now, Egmont vice-chair (not to mention...
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Elise Thomas speaks with Tom Keatinge about why the growing role of cryptocurrencies in sanctions circumvention needs urgent attention. In this latest episode, host Tom Keatinge caught up with Elise Thomas from the Centre for Information Resilience during a recent visit to London, to dive into her work on the murky world of A7 and its rouble-backed stablecoin 'A7/A5' With Russian sanctions evasion a continual challenge, this episode shines an important light on how - and why - the Kremlin is supporting the development of alternative financial systems that avoid the traditional banking sector,...
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Kimberly Donovan joins Kinga Redlowska to discuss the evolving role of economic security and economic statecraft in global affairs. Kimberly Donovan, Director of the Economic Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council, talks to host Kinga Redlowska about the important differences between economic security and economic statecraft, the value of ‘positive economic statecraft’ and Global South engagement, the ‘axis of evasion’, and much more besides.
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The effective use of sanctions needs clear objectives and outcomes, multilateral coordination, and rigorous enforcement; their overuse can have unintended consequences. Former US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo talks to host Tom Keatinge about the 2021 US Treasury Sanctions Review, the use of sanctions following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the challenges posed by cryptocurrencies in designing sanctions in response to Hamas's murderous attack on Israel. He stresses that sanctions must be tied to measurable goals, integrated into broader foreign policy, and enforced via...
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A personal story exploring the challenges of introducing financial integrity and transparency to Myanmar's financial system - and of 650 days of imprisonment as a result. We talk a lot about the realities of fighting financial crime and the harms that these crimes cause. But what happens when the victims are the financial crime fighter or the financial reformer themselves...? In this first episode of Season 8, CFS Director Tom Keatinge speaks with Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and central banker, about his attempts to reform Myanmar's dysfunctional banking system after Aung San Suu...
info_outlineGonzalo Saiz and Galen Lamphere-Englund speak with host Tom Keatinge about how online gaming might be exploited by extremist and terrorist actors.
In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge caught up with CFS Research Fellow Gonzalo Saiz and Galen Lamphere-Englund co-founder and convener of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network to discuss Gonzalo’s recent paper on the growing threat of terrorist financing through online gaming platforms.
They discuss how terrorist and extremist actors are increasingly exploiting online platforms, not only to fundraise but also disseminate propaganda, recruit members and incite and engage in radicalisation activities.