Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project

Finnish authorities detained this weekend three money laundering and tax fraud suspects and raided the premises of a Finnish company owned by a foreigner.

Influential Russian citizens including politicians and executives of state-owned companies received residence permits in Hungary through the country’s controversial residency bond program, according to a joint investigation by two OCCRP partners, Hungary’s Direkt36 and Russia’s Novaya Gazeta; and Hungarian news site 444.

At first glance, it appears an unlikely story thought up in a movie studio. In Russia, Aslan “Big Brother” Gagiyev is called the “No. 1 killer.” He was the architect of the “Family,”  an elite murder squad that killed dozens and included high-ranking law enforcement officials among its ranks. Novaya Gazeta reporter Roman Anin sat down with Gagiyev to hear his story.

Photo by Svetlana Vidanova, Novaya Gazeta.

In the lead up to the 2018 elections, states are planning to spend US$ 380 million from the federal government to secure voting systems and tighten cybersecurity following revelations that Russian hackers targeted electoral systems in 2016, the US Election Assistance Commission said on Tuesday.

Leaked documents reveal that Arron Banks, a wealthy businessman and the main donor behind the Leave.EU campaign in England, was offered a deal to join a lucrative business venture with a Russian gold mining company, the Guardian reported after obtaining the documents from the Dossier Center.

A Moscow court sent four people to prison for life and one for 20 years after they were found guilty of killing 17 people in roadside attacks around the capital over a period of two years, authorities said on Thursday.

Three Russian journalists were killed near the town of Sibut in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday, according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bill Browder, an American-born financier turned prominent human rights activist and Kremlin-critic, called on prosecutors in Estonia last week to investigate the country’s branch of Danske Bank for allegedly laundering billions in Russian money.

Two Ukrainian banks took part in a tax fraud scheme involving Russian government officials that defrauded Russian taxpayers of US$230 million, laundered them through various banks and fake companies and transferred them to the West, Ukraine’s Slidstvo.Info reported.

A Russian billionaire living in Greece has given hundreds of thousands of euros to Macedonian opponents of the country’s proposed name change. The recipients include football hooligans who have rioted in the capital.

Russian-Greek businessman Ivan Savvidi. (Credit: Alchetron)

Thermal imaging devices, such as night-vision goggles, are the eyes of a modern army. With their help, military operations can be undertaken even at night or in poor visibility.

Credit: Edin Pasovic / OCCRP

Two United States lawmakers called on President Trump’s administration to sanction Russian billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov and start an investigation into his corrupt business activities, Radio Free Europe reported Friday.

US authorities indicted a number of Russian and Syrian nationals on Tuesday for alleged money laundering and circumvention of US economic sanctions against Syria and Crimea through the use of front companies and falsified documents, the Justice Department announced.

Two journalists in Ukraine say they are on an alleged Russian hit-list but don’t intend to hide, Reuters reported Monday.

It’s known as “Venice outside Moscow.”

Located in the Odintsovo district about 20 kilometers from the busy rush of Russia’s capital, Millennium Park is a peaceful resort of luxurious dachas and opulent mansions, all interconnected by a network of man-made waterways and pedestrian paths. Many of Russia’s elite have made this village, advertised as resembling Europe, their home.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila arrive at Rostock-Laage for the 2007 G8 summit. Credit: Reuters / Stephen Hird

A Russian journalist who frequently criticised the Kremlin and was on Tuesday reported to have been killed, shocked the public when he appeared alive at a Wednesday press conference of the Ukrainian state security service.

Members of the UK Parliament called this week for tighter sanctions against Kremin-connected individuals and warned that the government is not shielding national security interests from Russian “kleptocrats and human rights abusers.”

A former sales manager for Bombardier Transportation, whose second instance corruption trail was to start in January, has emigrated back to Russia, news agency TT reported on Thursday.

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron indicated foul play might be why the U.K. lost the bid to host the FIFA 2018 World Cup to Russia,  The Independentreported.

A Russian investigative journalist who wrote about mercenaries in Syria has died following a suspicious fall from his fifth-floor balcony, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported Sunday.