Morning Wire is The Investigative Journal’s daily digest of government, court and international developments drawn from primary records. This edition covers official releases and dockets published since Tuesday, October 13, and reflects only what those records state. Unless noted, the matters below involve allegations, agency findings or pending litigation, not final adjudications.
Government
Treasury announces more than $1.2 billion in penalties against Bank of America
The Treasury Department announced on Tuesday a package of enforcement actions against Bank of America totaling more than $1.21 billion for alleged anti-money laundering and sanctions failures. Treasury described it as the third-largest penalty in its history and the largest ever imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed $1.2 billion, the OCC a $750 million civil money penalty, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) an $11.6 million settlement, according to the release.
Per Treasury’s account, the bank admitted in the FinCEN consent order that it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act, including by failing to maintain a compliant anti-money laundering program, to conduct correspondent-account due diligence on foreign financial institutions, and to file suspicious activity reports. Treasury says the bank did not timely report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions, over $1 billion of which involved national security and other priority risks, including Chinese money laundering networks and illicit finance along the southwest border. The release does not state whether the bank admitted wrongdoing in the OCC or OFAC matters; the OFAC settlement resolves “potential” civil liability for 475 apparent violations, which the agency classified as non-egregious.
The consent order requires a third-party lookback to identify and report missed suspicious activity, along with independent reviews of monitoring and due diligence. Bank of America has not been quoted in the Treasury release; this publication will note any response from the bank when one is available.
Justice Department details actions against North Korean remote IT worker schemes
The Justice Department announced coordinated actions on Tuesday targeting schemes in which North Korean workers allegedly obtained remote jobs at U.S. companies under false identities. An indictment out of the Northern District of Ohio charges 14 people, according to the FBI, with counts including wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft; two U.S. nationals have been arrested and ten China-based defendants are named. Prosecutors allege the conduct ran from 2019 to about July 2025, affected more than 70 U.S. employers across Ohio, 16 other states and the District of Columbia, and generated roughly $3 million in revenue for the workers.
A parallel effort, Operation Lonestar Roundup, involved searches in late September of more than 40 suspected “laptop farm” residences in Texas and the seizure of about 187 devices, per the release. The department says revenue is believed to have flowed to sanctioned North Korean entities. The FBI also issued a public service announcement with mitigation guidance for employers. The department states that all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
CVS agrees to pay $315 million to resolve opioid dispensing claims
CVS agreed to pay $315 million to resolve allegations under the Controlled Substances Act and the False Claims Act, the Justice Department said on Tuesday. The government alleged that between October 2013 and December 2025 CVS pharmacies filled controlled-substance prescriptions lacking a legitimate medical purpose and billed federal health programs for them. The matter began as a whistleblower suit, United States ex rel. Estright v. CVS Health Corp., in the District of Rhode Island, in which the United States intervened.
The settlement includes a Drug Enforcement Administration memorandum of agreement requiring a reporting hotline and proactive monitoring of dispensing patterns. According to the department, CVS did not admit liability and there has been no determination of liability. The whistleblower’s share of the recovery has not been determined.
Treasury and IRS propose Premium Tax Credit eligibility rules; Bessent outlines IMF and World Bank agenda
On Wednesday, Treasury and the IRS released proposed regulations implementing changes to the Premium Tax Credit. Beginning in 2027, the proposal would limit eligibility to U.S. citizens, nationals and certain lawfully present noncitizens and add verification steps for advance payments. The release does not state a comment period; the proposed rules are listed on the Federal Register’s public inspection site under document 2026-21056, and parallel HHS rules are expected.
Separately, Secretary Scott Bessent used the annual IMF and World Bank meetings to call for the IMF to examine non-market policies and exchange rates in its work on global imbalances, for the World Bank to refocus on poverty reduction and phase out lending to long-graduated countries, and for both institutions to hold administrative budgets flat in real terms.
Courts
FCC election-advertising dispute returns to the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court’s docket in FCC v. Brown (No. 26A476) shows that Chief Justice Roberts on October 8 stayed a Fourth Circuit judgment issued a day earlier, pending further order. The respondents, captioned as Sherrod Brown and others, filed their opposition on October 10, and the FCC replied on October 11. Whether the full Court acts, and on what timeline, has not appeared on the docket as of this writing.
According to the Solicitor General’s stay application, a divided Fourth Circuit panel granted mandamus on October 7 directing the FCC to rule by noon on October 9 on an application for review of a March 2026 Media Bureau notice on the lowest-unit-charge rate for political ads. The government argues the Communications Act sets no deadline, that the timing is reasonable, and that courts should avoid disturbing election rules this close to the November 3 election. The application reports that Judge Wilkinson dissented. This follows the Court’s September 4 order in NRCC v. Brown, which stayed an earlier Fourth Circuit ruling over a jurisdictional question, with Justice Jackson noting she would have denied the stay.
Justices hear Salazar v. Paramount Global
The Court’s October hearing list shows Salazar v. Paramount Global (No. 25-459), on certiorari from the Sixth Circuit, was set for argument Wednesday, October 14. It is the only argument listed for the rest of the October sitting after Beaird v. United States on October 13. The questions presented were not reviewed for this briefing, and no decision has issued; a ruling would typically come months from now.
Federal complaint filed in alleged recording-device case at OpenAI
A federal complaint unsealed Tuesday alleges that Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national employed as an OpenAI engineer since July 2025, installed a hidden audio recording device in an executive conference room in San Francisco, according to the Justice Department’s release. The complaint alleges a second device was found in his unattended bag on October 5, and that he was arrested October 9. He is charged with using a device to intercept oral communications, which carries a maximum of five years. These are allegations in a complaint; he is presumed innocent, and the release does not describe a plea or defense position.
International
IPC warns of famine risk in Darfur and Kordofan
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has warned of a “deteriorating humanitarian situation” across greater Darfur and Kordofan, with areas at risk of famine between October 2026 and January 2027, according to an Associated Press report published Monday. The IPC said nearly 19.5 million people, over 40% of Sudan’s population, faced high acute food insecurity in May. El Niño-linked drought has damaged crops across more than half of the country, the report states. The United Nations separately reported on Monday that drought and war are pushing both regions toward famine.
The AP reports that the war, which began in April 2023, has killed at least 150,000 people according to the monitor ACLED, with about 13 million displaced. The IPC cautioned that without a quick, significant increase in aid, food insecurity and malnutrition will likely intensify.
“Joint Disruption Week” targets West African scam networks
The Justice Department reported results of a coordinated operation the week of October 6, hosted by the UK’s National Crime Agency, that it called the first focused specifically on West Africa. Authorities made 28 arrests, 19 in Ghana and nine in Nigeria, and private partners removed more than 3.7 million accounts, pages and groups, per the department. Officials also reported identifying 117 trafficking victims in Ghana and more than $11 million in potentially freezable funds.
Treasury sanctions network tied to Cartel del Noreste
OFAC designated four individuals and 11 entities on Tuesday linked to Cartel del Noreste, which the State Department designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2025. Treasury says the network spans quarter horse racing, construction, trucking, and oil and gas in northeastern Mexico. Under the designations, assets under U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and OFAC says it coordinated with Mexico’s financial intelligence unit. Designated persons may petition for removal through OFAC’s process.
Worth Watching
The Supreme Court could act at any time on the FCC’s stay application in No. 26A476, with the November 3 election and an FCC comment period on a related broadcaster application, which the government says runs through October 19, shaping the timeline. Watch the docket for an order or noted dissents. Comment deadlines for the Treasury and IRS Premium Tax Credit proposal should appear in the Federal Register when it is published. In the Alfozan matter, watch the court docket for a detention or preliminary hearing. On the humanitarian front, any new IPC or UN statements on Sudan, and the outcome of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Thailand, will indicate how donor attention shifts.
Right of reply: The Investigative Journal invites responses from any person or entity named above and will update this report accordingly. Featured image: U.S. Supreme Court building, west facade, by UpstateNYer via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.