For almost a decade, corrupt politicians and wealthy businessmen have purchased European passports using dirty money. In January, the European Commission finally delivered its response. But rather than urging action, many of its toughest demands were withdrawn.
The flag of Cyprus, reimagined for the island country’s new investor citizens. Photo: Edin Pasovic / OCCRP
Read more: Strongest Measures Axed in EU Golden Visa Report
Prosecutors say an organized crime group tied to Liviu Dragnea, Romania’s most powerful politician, set up a cross-border fraud scheme that deprived the Romanian state of more than €1 million over a two-year period.
Read more: Romania ‘Snowball’ Scam Deprives Government of Over €1 Million in VAT Revenues
In collaboration with Danwatch, a Danish investigative research center, OCCRP looked into an EU program that provided surveillance gear, patrol vehicles, and other equipment to Belarusian and Ukrainian authorities with the goal of strengthening the two countries’ border on the eastern edge of Europe.
Read more: Euros to the East
Macedonia’s right-wing former ruling party, VMRO-DPMNE, stands accused of a litany of crimes, including illegally purchasing dozens of properties all over the country. OCCRP’s local member center, IRL Macedonia, has the list.
Read more: Macedonian Prosecutor Implicates Former Political Leaders in Money Laundering, Extortion, Illicit...
A tug-of-war over a Russian citizen detained in Greece sheds light on a global struggle over policing the multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency sector.
Read more: US and Russia Spar Over Accused Crypto-Launderer
Venezuela's economy is in ruins, but there are still fortunes to be made. One of these — estimated to be worth $100 million — is that of a man named Carlos Luis Aguilera Borjas. And he's not just a businessman. For years Aguilera served the country's revolutionary leader, Hugo Chavez, as a bodyguard, later rising to lead its security agency. How did he make his money after leaving the socialist government?
Read more: The Chavez Man and His Millions
Russia’s former minister of industry acquired stakes in golf courses worth many millions. The properties were once owned by people associated with a major pipe manufacturer that would have fallen under his purview as minister.
Viktor Khristenko, formerly Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade. (Photo: Kremlin.ru)
Read more: Former Russian Minister Acquired Golf Courses Worth Millions
A €230 billion money laundering scandal put Danske Bank ahead of a record 22 other contenders to win the 2019 Corrupt Actor of the Year award from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
Read more: Bank That Enabled Money Laundering Wins OCCRP’s Top Crime Prize
Yevgeny Prigozhin ran the infamous St. Petersburg “troll farm” and other pro-Putin media operations. One of his operatives came clean to reporters, sharing some of the dirty work he and his team did for the oligarch — including murder. Then he vanished.
Yevgeny Prigozhin (Mikhail Metzel/TASS via Getty Images)
Read more: Operative for “Putin’s Chef” Shares Secrets, Vanishes — Then Reappears and Retracts
Lithuania’s Vladimir Romanov absconded to Russia more than four years ago, leaving investigators grasping to recoup millions they believe he stole from Ukio Bankas. They’re still chasing the money today.
The London property at the heart of a dispute involving Lithuania’s Vladimir Romanov. (Credit: Edin Pasovic/OCCRP)
Read more: The Wayward Millions of Lithuania’s Runaway Banker
