Russian oil companies routinely evaded regulatory measures and instead illegally dumped toxic waste from oil drilling in “sludge barns,” which can cause untold environmental pollution in arctic waterways, according to an investigation by Radio Free Europe’s Russian Service (RFE/RL). 

The Italian mafia is no longer just a violent gang running local rackets and smuggling drugs, but has mastered complex financial operations that can impact the country’s economy, experts said following a massive bust of money laundering operations run by several Italian mafia groups. 

Israeli police detained 30 people suspected of participating in a fraud scheme that saw hundreds of oil companies being fraudulently registered in the names of the suspects who then took bank loans and issued fictitious tax invoices, pocketing the money.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission, in a 200-page memo, outlined measures intended to increase transparency of payments made by US companies to foreign governments that are used to secure contracts in the oil, natural gas, or mining sectors, but some argue that it will not go far enough. 

Sub-Saharan Africa’s third largest oil producer, the Republic of the Congo’s state-owned oil company, Société nationale des pétroles du Congo (SNPC) is carrying billions of dollars in debt, according to a Global Witness report released on Monday.

Lithuanian authorities said on Friday that Roman Ruzhechko, who is suspected of causing billions in losses for contaminating one of the largest Russian oil pipelines earlier this year, has been detained in Vilnius and has asked for political asylum,Reuters reported.

At least two people were killed and dozens were injured as anti-corruption protesters numbering in the thousands surged through the streets of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince this week, the Associated Press reported.

Venezuela’s assembly banned Nicolas Maduro’s petro cryptocurrency Tuesday, declaring it an attempt to illegally mortgage the country’s oil reserves in a time of financial crisis, reports Reuters.

Venezuelan authorities detained five directors from state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) for allegedly embezzling US$ 200 million of company money, EFE News reported on Thursday.

Nigeria’s former oil minister was charged with money-laundering Wednesday after allegedly bribing election officials 264 million naira (US$ 1.3 million) to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 elections.

Authorities charged on Thursday a former executive at the Singapore branch of the BP oil company with taking US$ 3.95 million in bribes.

Nigeria’s anti-graft agency filed corruption charges on Thursday against oil giants Shell, Eni and nine others for paying US$ 801 million to Nigerian businessmen and politicians in exchange for an oil prospecting license.

Unaoil, a Monaco-based oil-services company, denied allegations posed by Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post that it was at the center of a multi-billion dollar bribery scheme and claimed it was the victim of extortion.

Fairfax Media and the Huffington Post have revealed a link between the Panama Papers and their joint investigation into a bribe-and-corruption scandal centering on the Monaco-based company Unaoil.

Joining the war of words escalating between Turkey and Russia, the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) deny that the satellite images Russian defense officials displayed at a briefing in Moscow last week showed Islamic State (IS) militants selling oil to Turkey.

The Kremlin has revealed satellite images that it claims prove Turkey traded oil with Islamic State (IS) militants at a defense briefing, reports BBC World News.

Zsolt Hernádi, chairman-CEO of Hungarian oil and gas group MOL, could still face trial for bribery in Croatia according to Hungarian investigative site Atlatszo, an OCCRP partner.

Valentin Nalyvaychenko. Pic: SzczurekkUkraine’s security chief will discuss the topic of graft in the oil industry at a special parliamentary committee meeting in the wake of a suspicious fire at an oil facility that killed five people.