Pilatus: A Private Bank for Azerbaijan’s Ruling Elite

Over the last three years, two top families in Azerbaijan’s ruling elite used dozens of secret accounts in Malta’s private Pilatus Bank to transfer cash into Europe and funnel millions of dollars into investments in luxury property, hotels, and businesses.

The flag of Pilatus Bank flies from its offices in Whitehall Mansions in Ta’ Xbiex, Malta. Photo (c): REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

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A weekend in Rome with Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali

Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali is living a life of luxury, flying business class and staying in sumptuous hotels. How he can afford it on his official salary is anyone’s guess.

Sinisa Mali, the current (and likely future) mayor of Belgrade, appears to have had a lucrative time in office. Photo by OCCRP. Some rights reserved.

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Murdered Maltese Journalist was Investigating Island’s Golden Visas

Before she was killed, Daphne Caruana Galizia was investigating Malta's citizenship for sale program. A new report shows the deep connections between profits from the passports and profits from the politicians.

A banner in the fields outside Bidnija, where investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered six months ago. Photo (c): Dan Kitwood

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Death of Journalist Still Echoes in Malta

The assassination six months ago of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia sent shockwaves around the world.

A tribute to Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, murdered six months ago. Photo (c): Dan Kitwood

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The Daphne Project

Six months ago, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was brutally killed by a car bomb just meters from her home. The investigation into her killing is ongoing, but there is little doubt that she was murdered because of her work. With a brazen, unapologetic and uncompromising style, she denounced corruption, nepotism, clientelism, and all kinds of criminal behaviors in her tiny EU member state.

The Forbidden Stories, OCCRP

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Novichok Has Already Killed

Sergei Skripal, the former Russian military intelligence agent who was poisoned in Britain, was not the first victim of the deadly toxin. Is it still out there?

The name “Novichok” is now widely-known after the poisoning of Sergey Skripal in Salisbury. It turns out that a substance from this group of chemicals was used to murder a banker in 1995. Could some of it have fallen into the hands of criminals? Photo by: Edin Pasovic / OCCRP

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OCCRP, Slidstvo.Info Win the 2017 IRE Medal

OCCRP and Slidstvo.Info have won the 2017 Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Medal, the “highest honor IRE can bestow for investigative reporting”, for their work on the investigative documentary Killing Pavel.

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Ukrainian Businessmen Linked to Russian “Front Man” for Equatorial Guinea’s Ruling Obiang Family

An alleged Russian “front man” for Equatorial Guinea’s kleptocratic ruling Obiang family counts two notable Ukrainian businessmen among his associates: One is a former security official who was once imprisoned for smuggling missiles to Iran; the other is an arms dealer with business interests throughout Ukraine’s civilian airports.

An Antonov 32-B plane, now in Equatorial Guinea colors, photographed in December 2012 at Kyiv’s Zhulyany airport. The plane was obtained for the country by Avia Star, a Panamanian company owned by Ukrainian businessman Roman Chelnokov. (Photo: Artem Batuzak)

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Armenian Weightlifters Used Russian Lab to Cheat on Olympic Drug Tests

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the Russian government has denied again and again that it ran a huge performance-enhancing doping operation for its Olympic athletes.

Tigran V. Martirosyan (right) returns home after competing in the World Weightlifting Championship in France in 2011. (Photo: PHOTOLURE / Vahram Baghdasaryan)

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Vice President of Serbian Parliament has “Car Mafia” P.I. as Business Associate

The story begins with a stolen car. It ends -- according to a new investigation by KRIK, an OCCRP partner -- with a connection to Vladimir Marinkovic, a senior legislator and vice president of the Serbian National Assembly.

KRIK reporter Dragana Peco speaks with V.B., a victim of the “stolen car ‘finders,’” who did not want his identity revealed for fear of retribution. (Photo: KRIK)

Read more: Vice President of Serbian Parliament has “Car Mafia” P.I. as Business Associate