Author: gracechurchfcp

CBD boss sentenced for fraud and money laundering after using funds to buy Lanzarote property

Fraud, Money Laundering
A CBD brand boss has been sentenced for fraud and money laundering after transferring loan funds through multiple accounts to help buy a property in Lanzarote. Alex Hope, 41, was director of management consultancy A Hope Ltd when he fraudulently secured a £25,000 Bounce Back Loan in 2020. He was also a director of Virtutum Limited, which traded as CBD Asylum in Hull, when the company secured a £56,000 loan from a private lender in 2021. Funds from both loans were laundered through a number of accounts before being used to help purchase the property for Hope and his wife.…

DNB imposes fine on ABN AMRO for shortcomings in part of anti-money laundering framework

Money Laundering
ABN AMRO has taken note of the decision by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) to impose an administrative fine of EUR 8.5 million in relation to structural shortcomings in the execution of due diligence for a part of its high-risk customers. DNB identified structural shortcomings in a number of files investigated for the period from 20 September 2023 to 9 September 2024. Since the shortcomings were identified by DNB, ABN AMRO has taken further concrete remediation measures to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML processes. ABN AMRO acknowledges the seriousness of the shortcomings identified by DNB and the factual findings in…

City police dismantle Organised Crime Group smuggling high-strength cannabis in air passengers’ suitcases and laundering millions

Organised Crime
Two men who controlled an organised crime group (OCG) involved in laundering £5 million and arranging the transportation of hundreds of kilos of Californian cannabis in the UK have been jailed. Tejpal Vig, 36, of Newton Road, Denham, and Rikesh Shah, 33, of Bute Close, Barnet, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class B drugs and money laundering. They have both been sentenced to eight years and six months for conspiracy to supply class B drugs and eight years to money laundering to run concurrently. The criminal network was dismantled by the City of London Police’s Serious Organised Crime…

EUR 1 million seized during ongoing investigation into money laundering network

Money Laundering
French and Italian authorities have continued to work together on an investigation into a money laundering network that uses gold bars to launder drug trafficking profits. Following an initial operation in which EUR 30 million was seized, criminal assets worth EUR 1 million were seized under the coordination of Eurojust and Europol, together with Kosovar authorities. The international criminal network had set up a sophisticated money laundering scheme whereby the illicit proceeds generated from drug trafficking in France were collected at a residence in Italy and converted into gold bars and gold sheets. This made it possible to hide the…

Over 5,800 arrests, USD 293 million intercepted in global fraud bust

Fraud
LYON, France – A global anti-fraud operation involving 97 countries and territories has led to the arrest of 5,811 individuals and the interception of USD 293 million in illicit assets. Operation First Light 2026 (15 Jan 2026 – 30 April 2026), coordinated by INTERPOL, focused on combatting social engineering scams and associated money laundering activities. Social engineering is a broad term that refers to techniques that exploit a person’s trust to obtain money or confidential information. This type of fraud can include business email compromise, sextortion, as well as romance, impersonation or investment scams. After an initial period of intelligence…

Anti-corruption in France: first AFA sanction and 2025 report

Corruption
The French Anti-Corruption Agency (Agence française anticorruption, AFA) published its 2025 activity report in July 2026. Beyond its institutional review, the report contains a number of figures and trends that are directly relevant to companies and their legal and compliance departments: a sharp increase in reports received, continued recourse to the judicial public interest agreement (convention judiciaire d’intérêt public, CJIP), persistent weaknesses in anti-corruption programmes, and an expanded scope for Article 17 of the Sapin II Law. In the immediate aftermath of this publication, on 9 July 2026, the AFA Sanctions Committee issued its first decision imposing financial penalties on…

EU steps up the fight against fraud to better protect taxpayers’ money

Fraud
The European Commission today published its 2025 Annual Report on the Protection of the European Union’s Financial Interests (PIF Report), introducing for the first time a comprehensive assessment of the entire anti-fraud cycle and setting out the next steps to strengthen the protection of the EU budget against fraud and corruption. The report marks a significant evolution in how the European Union measures its efforts to safeguard public funds. Rather than focusing primarily on fraud detection, it assesses every stage of the anti-fraud cycle, from prevention and early detection to investigation, prosecution, recovery and reporting. By bringing together information from…

Sanctioned Alleged Iranian Oil Network “Financier” Behind £25M in Luxury London Real Estate

Sanctions
An Iranian businessman sanctioned by the U.S. this week for allegedly financing a massive oil-smuggling network owns 25 million British pounds ($33.46 million) in luxury London real estate, newly uncovered property records show. On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Iranian businessman Hossein Ghorbani Zahed as part of a broader package of measures targeting the “illicit shipping and sanctions evasion network” of oil distribution magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the action against the Shamkhani network, first sanctioned in July 2025, was part of “ongoing efforts to ramp up economic pressure…

Spies, Malware, and Blackouts: EU Blames Secret FSB Unit for Decade of Cyber Sabotage

Cyber Crime
The European Union and Britain on Monday blamed a highly specialized unit of Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, for a decade-long campaign of cyber-espionage and attempted sabotage targeting critical infrastructure, including power grids and defense networks, across Europe. To counter the threat, the Council of the European Union imposed asset freezes and travel bans on nine individuals and four entities linked to the campaign. Britain issued parallel sanctions targeting 24 individuals and entities. In a coordinated series of announcements, Western officials identified the 16th Center of the FSB as the orchestrator of several notorious hacking collectives, including the group…

UK Finalizes Crypto Rulebook, Opening Path to Full FCA Supervision

Digital Currencies, Regulation
The UK Financial Conduct Authority published the final rules governing firms that buy, trade, safeguard and issue cryptoassets, completing the policy framework that will underpin the country’s new regulatory regime. The package reaches well beyond anti-money laundering controls and financial promotions, bringing prudential requirements, market conduct standards and consumer protections into a sector that has long operated under a narrower form of oversight. For firms hoping to build a long-term business in the UK, the message is equally clear: authorization will become mandatory, and the standards expected of crypto firms will begin to resemble those already applied across much of…

Finnish Court Jails Businessman Over Exports to Russia

Prosecutions, Sanctions
A Finnish court sentenced the chief executive of a transport company to three years and eight months in prison for exporting trucks and trailers to Russia in violation of EU sanctions, the Finnish public service broadcaster, Yle, reported Wednesday. The South Karelia District Court found that Risto Riihimäki, head of Lappeenranta-based Idän Liikenteenvälitys IL Oy, played a central role in sending 164 trucks and trailers to Russia in 2022 and 2023, despite restrictions imposed after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The company, which now operates as Rent ja Kalusto Oy, had declared that the vehicles were bound for companies registered…

UK Finance Fraud Report: adapting to the next phase of fraud and scams

Fraud
Fraud volumes continue to rise across the globe, and UK institutions are in the crosshairs of increasingly sophisticated criminal networks. UK Finance’s Annual Fraud Report 2026 highlights a troubling reality: while financial institutions continue to prevent significant volumes of fraud, criminals are becoming more skilled at avoiding scrutiny. In 2025 alone, criminals stole £1.28 billion through payment fraud, representing a 4 per cent year-on-year increase and the second consecutive year of growth. These figures reflect not only the scale of the threat but also the adaptability that new technologies afford organised criminal enterprises. The most important insight from this year’s…

Iraq Intensifies Anti-Graft Drive with Dozens of High-Profile Arrests, Asset Seizures

Corruption, Prosecutions
A sweeping anti-corruption campaign led by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has resulted in the arrest of dozens of senior officials and lawmakers, drawing praise from parliamentary watchdogs who also warn that the drive must cut deeper to dismantle the country’s entrenched patronage networks. Taha Difai, the head of Iraq’s parliamentary Committee for Integrity, cautioned that the high-profile arrests and asset seizures would ultimately yield little long-term impact unless investigations targeted the powerful political factions that have dominated public spending for more than two decades. “We support the government’s measures to combat corruption, pursue corrupt officials and recover public funds. These…

Interpol: 5,811 Arrested, $293M Seized in Massive Cyber Crackdown

Fraud, Prosecutions
An international anti-fraud operation coordinated by Interpol has led to the arrest of 5,811 individuals and the interception of $293 million in illicit assets, the international police agency announced Thursday. The operation, which spanned 97 countries between Jan. 15 and April 30, targeted ‘social engineering’ schemes. These included business email compromise, sextortion, impersonation, and investment scams, as well as the money laundering activities linked to them. Over the course of the four-month crackdown, authorities identified more than 142,000 victims globally across 152,808 cases. Interpol stated that the sheer number of victims “highlights the extent to which social engineering scams and…

EU Moves to Standardize Anti-Money Laundering Enforcement

Money Laundering, Regulation
On Wednesday, AMLA published draft regulatory technical standards that would establish, for the first time, a common methodology for supervisors across the European Union when enforcing breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules. The proposal is less about creating tougher enforcement than creating more consistent enforcement. If two organizations commit the same breach under the same circumstances, supervisors should begin from the same framework and, absent meaningful differences in the facts, arrive at comparable outcomes. It is an idea that sounds almost self-evident when stated plainly. Until now, it has not been the reality. Most discussions about enforcement focus…

China: Former Official Sentenced to Death in $325 Million Bribery Case

Bribery, Prosecutions
A Chinese court has sentenced a former senior official to death for accepting more than 2.21 billion yuan ($325 million) in bribes over a 30-year period, according to a statement from the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangsu province. The court found 69-year-old Yang Youlin guilty of bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, and abuse of power. The offenses were committed while he held various administrative positions from 1993 to 2023, including his role as deputy director of an economic zone in the eastern city of Nanjing. In addition to the death sentence, the court stripped Yang of his political rights for…

Scoular to Pay Over $10 Million to Resolve FCPA Bribery Case

Bribery, Prosecutions
What appeared on the books as re-inspection fees was, prosecutors say, something else entirely. Over six years, The Scoular Company allegedly reimbursed customs brokers for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes paid to Mexican border officials, a scheme that has now resulted in a resolution worth more than $10 million with the U.S. Department of Justice. The Omaha-based agricultural supply chain company entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement after being charged with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The case stems from conduct between 2013 and 2019, when Scoular relied on customs…

Global financial crime FATF watchdog adds Iraq and Bosnia to ‘grey list’

Law, Regulation & Guidance
The global Financial Action Task Force watchdog added Iraq and Bosnia ​on Friday to its ‘grey list’ of ‌countries that need increased monitoring in terms of their efforts to tackle money laundering and ​financial crime.“The Plenary added Bosnia and ​Herzegovina to the grey list, as work ⁠is needed to strengthen its defences ​against criminals and terrorists abusing its financial ​system and ensure effective supervision of the banking sector,” said FATF president Elisa de Anda Madrazo ​in a statement. “Iraq has also been ​added to the grey list as work is needed ‌to ⁠tackle risks related to cash, increase money laundering…

HM Treasury Advisory Notice: Changes to the FATF’s Public Lists

Law, Regulation & Guidance
The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the “MLRs”) require the UK regulated sector to apply enhanced customer due diligence in relation to high-risk third countries (“HRTCs”). This obligation is in addition to the requirement to apply enhanced customer due diligence where there is an assessed high risk of money laundering or terrorist financing, including geographic risk based on credible sources (for example the UK’s National Risk Assessment). Regulation 33(1)(b) of the MLRs requires regulated businesses (“relevant persons”) to apply enhanced customer due diligence measures and enhanced ongoing monitoring in any business…

Two men sentenced for funnelling £14m through East London high street in £190m global crime network

Money Laundering
Two men who played key roles in a major international money laundering network have been sentenced following a City of London Police investigation into large‑scale international money laundering, facilitated via the “Encrochat” encrypted messaging network. During the investigation, the Serious Organised Crime Team, a joint City of London Police and National Crime Agency partnership, seized over £2.5m in cash and gold. The pair were convicted for their involvement in laundering over fourteen million pounds linked to serious and organised crime groups operating across the UK and overseas. Ali Raza, 43, of Winston Way, Ilford was sentenced to six years in…

Gang jailed for £23 million crypto cash-laundering operation

Money Laundering
Four men who laundered £23.4 million of dirty cash into cryptocurrency have been jailed for a total of 27 years. Michael Konnor, 27 and Shiraz Khan, 47, controlled a money laundering gang that cleaned cash for organised crime groups between January 2018 and June 2020. John Geddes, 76 and Carlos Zapata, 58 moved the cash and provided key links to Irish and Kurdish criminal groups, who utilised the services of Michael Konnor and Shiraz Khan to launder money. Following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) the men were charged and prosecuted with money laundering by specialist prosecutors in…

Government sets out its plan for making the FCA the super-regulator for money laundering

Regulation
As the government lays out its plans for a major expansion of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) anti-money laundering (AML) supervision responsibilities, we look at how these proposals can be strengthened. After a period of transition, the FCA will become the AML supervisor for around 60,000 firms in the legal, accountancy and trust and company services sectors. These are currently supervised by 22 different professional body supervisors in a regime widely criticised as ineffective. As recently as March this year, the Office for Professional Body AML Supervision (OPBAS) found that eight years after it was established to enhance supervision of…

Corruption & economic crime prosecutions on the rise but white-collar criminals let off the hook

Prosecutions
New data on key corruption and economic crime offences in Spotlight’s enforcement tracker has revealed big increases in prosecutions across the board in 2024-25. But looking beyond the headline numbers, what story does this data really tell us about the state of anti-corruption enforcement in England and Wales? Domestic corruption enforcement surgesMisconduct in public office (MIPO) prosecutions rose by 104%, and convictions by 56% in 2024-25 compared to the previous year – a record-breaking spike coinciding with recent news headlines of high-profile MIPO investigations. This is the main offence for prosecuting corruption in the UK. Abuse of position prosecutions –…

Holidaymakers warned over social media scams for fake accommodation

Fraud, Scams
Holidaymakers have been advised to carry out amateur detective work to ensure they do not book into fake accommodation this summer, as research showed a third of travellers had seen an increase in potential travel scams on social media. Consumer experts have urged holidaymakers to do a reverse image search on photographs of holiday homes and check their locations on an online map to verify they are real. People may be booking in a hurry this year as many have left it later than usual because of uncertainty around the impact of the Iran war, increasing the risk of falling…

Sri Lanka sees ‘alarming’ rise in cybercrime as scam networks relocate from south-east Asia

Fraud
Experts have warned that Sri Lanka is emerging as a hub for transnational cybercrime, after a crackdown in south-east Asia pushed Chinese-run criminal networks to relocate their vast scam operations. Sri Lankan police spokesperson Fredrick Wootler said the country was witnessing an “alarming increase of cybercrimes” perpetrated by people entering the country as tourists, and then illegally setting up scam operations targeting people across the world. Authorities in Sri Lanka have carried out more than a dozen raids on alleged scam operations in the country since the beginning of the year, arresting and deporting almost 700 foreigners accused of involvement.…

Investment fraud in UK soared to more than £220m lost last year, trade body says

Fraud
Increasingly elaborate investment scams involving gold, cryptocurrencies and wine have soared in the past year with more than £220m lost to the fraud, according to a report. UK banks reported almost 15,000 investment scams in 2025 as criminals use artificial intelligence to dupe people out of their money. About £221.5m was lost to scams in which people were persuaded to move their money to a fake investment or a fictitious fund, a rise of 40% from the year before, according to the report from UK Finance. This particular fraud is popular among criminals as it often has high returns, according…

Armenia Asked to Freeze Magnitsky-Linked Funds

Tax Evasion
Shortly after the Swiss Supreme Court ordered the confiscation of funds tied to the notorious Magnitsky tax fraud, the money quietly vanished. In April, Europe’s top human rights watchdog sounded the alarm, revealing that millions of dollars had been drained from Swiss accounts and redirected into financial institutions in Armenia and Israel. But despite the explicit warning from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), authorities in Yerevan took no visible action. Now, new transaction records have revealed exactly where a portion of that money landed in the Armenian financial system—and the apparent regulatory paralysis that allowed it…

As the 2026 World Cup Looms, a Shadow Tournament of Cyber Fraud Begins

Fraud
Just days before the kickoff of the 2026 World Cup, cybersecurity experts are raising the alarm over a massive, highly sophisticated surge in digital fraud targeting soccer fans worldwide, offering them fake tickets, nonexistent travel packages, counterfeit merchandise, suspicious betting apps on websites impersonating FIFA. The tournament, which has drawn unprecedented global interest, has become the “perfect bait” for opportunistic hackers and criminal syndicates, according to David Gonzalez Cuautle, the awareness and research manager at the cybersecurity firm ESET. “Cybercriminals tend to operate in seasons and with specific themes,” Gonzalez Cuautle said in an interview with OCCRP, adding that the…

Hungarian Prosecutors Vow Action on Graft Claims, but Target Anti-Corruption Chief

Corruption
Hungary’s top anti-corruption watchdog has called for a sweeping investigation into the government of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, alleging a vast procurement scheme that may have bilked European taxpayers out of billions of euros, according to Politico. But in a striking twist, Hungarian prosecutors told OCCRP they are pressing criminal charges against the very official demanding the inquiry. Politico cited on Monday Ferenc Pál Biró, the head of Hungary’s Integrity Authority, as saying that “high-level politicians can and may well be prosecuted” over alleged manipulation of state contracts. The watchdog had claimed that three unnamed companies received roughly 10…

FINMA Flags Remaining Gaps in Anti-Money Laundering Risk Assessments Despite Industry Progress

Money Laundering, Risk Assessments
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has published supplementary guidance on money laundering risk analysis, acknowledging improvements across the financial sector while warning that significant weaknesses remain in how some institutions assess and manage financial crime risk. The guidance builds on FINMA’s Guidance 05/2023 and follows a renewed review of money laundering risk analyses conducted at more than 30 banks previously inspected in 2023, alongside assessments of numerous other banks and institutions supervised under Switzerland’s Financial Institutions Act (FinIA). The regulator said banks have made measurable progress since its earlier guidance was issued, particularly in defining risk tolerance and…

Egyptian Tycoon Detained in Organized Crime Probe

Money Laundering
Egyptian authorities have detained the prominent businessman Sabri Nakhnoukh and frozen his assets, accusing him of leading an organized crime syndicate involved in money laundering, theft, and illegal weapons possession. Prosecutors allege the group used a private security firm as a front for its operations. The arrests, which include Nakhnoukh’s brother and several co-defendants, stem from an investigation triggered by a violent brawl at a Cairo car dealership last week. Nakhnoukh, 63, has long been a polarizing figure in Egypt. Historically known for collaborating with state security to suppress protests under former President Hosni Mubarak, he was sentenced to life…

Ahead of World Cup, Mexico Quietly Orders Banks to Tighten Terror-Finance Controls

Counter Terrorist Financing
Two months ahead of the World Cup, Mexico’s financial intelligence agency asked banks, brokerage firms, and other financial entities in the country to increase surveillance of transactions that could be linked to terrorism financing and the profiliation of weapons of mass destruction. The non-public directives were sent to financial institutions in April. OCCRP obtained a copy of the document that outlines risk indicators designed to flag illicit money flows. Experts consulted by OCCRP pointed out the timing of the instruction and the fact that the World Cup context is propitious for the increase of risk levels in financial operations. The…

Italy Dismantles Underground Bank that Moved €100 Million a year for Organized Crime Groups

Financial Crime
Italian authorities have dismantled a major underground illegal bank that moved up to 100 million euros ($116 million) annually to finance operations for domestic and international drug traffickers and organized crime syndicates, police announced Monday. The illicit bank, operated since 2021 by a Chinese national, is believed to have processed payments between 80 and 100 million euros ($93-116 million) a year over at least a three-year period. Headquartered in the Tuscan city of Prato, the bank had established branches in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. According to investigators, among the bank’s clients were the Italian mafia organizations ‘Ndrangheta,…

US Slaps New Round of Sanctions on Cambodia’s Prince Group

Fraud, Sanctions
The U.S. Treasury Department today announced a new package of sanctions targeting nine individuals and 26 companies it says are associated with Cambodia’s Prince Group, which is accused of engaging in cyber-scams and forced labor. “Southeast Asia-based criminal organizations often recruit individuals to work in scam centers under false pretenses, such as by offering fake technology or customer service jobs at the centers’ connected casinos, resorts, and front companies,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. “Once the individuals arrive at the compounds, the operators confiscate their passports and use debt bondage, physical violence, the threat of forced prostitution, and…

Ukraine Exposes $3.5M Scheme to Buy Off Top Anti-Graft Officials

Corruption
Ukrainian authorities claim that they have concluded an investigation into a former prosecutor with Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office and a team of lawyers who are believed to have orchestrated a $3.5 million scheme to buy off the country’s elite anti-corruption prosecutors and judges. The results of the investigation have paved the way for a trial. According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the group targeted a suspect in an active corruption investigation. The former prosecutor and the lawyers allegedly promised they could make the case disappear by using the money to bribe prosecutors from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s…

German Court Sentences Black Market Banker to Nearly Four Years in Prison

Financial Crime
A German man with a history of black market banking allegations was recently sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison for moving 33 million euros in illicit funds through the international financial system. Gerard Grischew was sentenced on June 10 in the Berlin Regional Court after pleading guilty to charges of forging documents and operating an unregistered banking system. He will appeal the length of his sentence, his lawyers told the court. Prosecutors said Grischew used forged IDs and strawmen to set up more than dozen companies with accounts at German banks. He allegedly used those accounts to…

At least £325bn of ‘dirty money’ flows through UK each year, says report

Money Laundering
At least £325bn worth of dirty money is flowing through the UK every year, according to research that is causing concern about funding for state investigators and the government’s push into crypto assets. The figure is equivalent to more than 10% of UK GDP and includes illicit funds linked to financial crime, money laundering, corruption, illegal trade and tax dodging, according to the report by the Finance Innovation Lab charity. Including the UK’s crown dependencies and overseas territories, such as Jersey and the Cayman Islands, the figure jumps to more than £788bn annually. The research is believed to be the…

Eurojust supports Joint Italy–Albania operation dismantling organised crime network behind murder, drug trafficking and money laundering

Organised Crime
With the active assistance of Eurojust, the authorities in Italy and Albania have dealt a major blow to organised crime groups (OCGs) involved in large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering. During a joint action day that took place on 26 May 2026 in Italy and Albania, 12 suspects were arrested and summonses were issued against three individuals. The investigations are linked to a high-profile murder committed in May last year. Eurojust supported cooperation between the Italian and Albanian authorities by facilitating the establishment of a joint investigation team (JIT). This marks the fifth JIT supported by Eurojust between the Public…

New Council of Europe treaty to strengthen criminal asset recovery

Asset Seizure
The Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the 46 Council of Europe member states have adopted an additional protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on laundering, search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from crime and on the financing of terrorism (the “Warsaw Convention”) during their annual Committee of Ministers session today. The new treaty modernises the legal and institutional frameworks for asset recovery, in response to increasingly sophisticated, transnational and technologically advanced criminal networks. It enhances the authorities’ capacities to monitor and suspend suspicious transactions and to confiscate assets, including crypto-assets, obtained through criminal conduct. Europe tools up to…

‘Dodgy’ shops handling criminal cash targeted by new specialist unit

Organised Crime
“Dodgy” retail outlets such as vape stores, barbers, mini-marts and sweet shops suspected of being used to launder £1bn of criminal money will be targeted by a new specialist unit, the government has said. A £20m National Crime Agency cell will run and coordinate investigations and raids into UK businesses suspected of acting as fronts for gangsters, the Home Office said. The NCA and police forces in Greater Manchester, the West ­Midlands, Kent and Essex will recruit 75 officers to boost the effort. Labour vowed to crack down on “dodgy” outlets such as US candy shops in its general election…