Financial Crime Weekly: Alleged Snowflake Hacker Arrested, Banned China Chip Shipments, Payday Advance Company Sued

Semiconductor Wafer Shipments To China 

The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed a civil penalty of $500,000 against GlobalFoundries Inc. GFS last Friday. The penalty is related to shipments of semiconductor wafers valued at approximately $17.1 million to SJ Semiconductor, a China-based company on the BIS Entity List. 

The BIS said GlobalFoundries voluntarily disclosed the shipments and cooperated with the investigation which led to the significantly reduced fine. 

"We want U.S. companies to be hypervigilant when sending semiconductor materials to Chinese parties," said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod. "And when, as here, that vigilance falls short and semiconductor materials have gone where they shouldn't, we want companies to make voluntary disclosures, remediate, and cooperate with us."

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FTC Sues Online Cash Advance Company Dave 

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that it is taking action against Dave, Inc. DAVE for allegedly using misleading marketing to deceive consumers, charging undisclosed fees and charging so-called "tips" without users' consent. 

"Dave lured in consumers living paycheck-to-paycheck with false claims of big-dollar advances, then reached into their pockets to give itself a so-called ‘tip,'" said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. 

"Whether the products are called cash advances, payday loans, or something else, the FTC will take action to protect consumers from unauthorized charges and deceptive claims," Levine added. 

The FTC said Dave reported receiving more than $149 million in revenue from these so-called "tips" alone from 2022 through the first half of 2024.

Alleged Snowflake Hacker Arrested

According to a Bloomberg report, the alleged hacker behind a string of cyberattacks involving as many as 165 customers of Snowflake Inc. SNOW has been arrested in Canada, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The cyberattacks hit many of Snowflake's major clients, including Santander Bank and Ticketmaster. The hacker claimed to have stolen hundreds of millions of customer records, and Australian authorities confirmed successful compromises of several companies using Snowflake. 

Alexander "Connor" Moucka was taken into custody on a provisional arrest warrant on Oct. 30 following a request from the US, according to Canada's Department of Justice. The exact charges against Moucka remain unknown. 

"As extradition requests are considered confidential state-to-state communications, we cannot comment further on this case," said Ian McLeod, spokesperson for Canada's Department of Justice, as reported by Bloomberg. 

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