Latvia became the sixth country in the world and the final of the three Baltic countries to pass a version of the Magnitsky law on Thursday. Its parliament voted to impose travel restrictions to 49 Russian citizens who were involved with to the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky or other human rights abuses.

One of the biggest Latvian banks has announced it will appeal last week’s French court ruling by which it has to pay €80 million (US$ 91 million) - almost the equivalent of its 2016 net profit - for being involved in a vast tax avoidance and money laundering scheme, media reported.

A Latvian-based consultant, who has managed the offshores of Russian politicians, has met with at least two high-ranking officials of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen to discuss her party’s options for a Russian loan, media said Tuesday.

The OCCRP is partnering up with the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga) Center for Media Studies to present the Journalism for Future Challenges program again this year. 

We are looking for early career journalists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, or Ukraine who are looking to expand their investigative reporting skills, with a focus on organized crime and corruption, as well as to expand their professional network.

A series of investigative reports by OCCRP has led to regulators in Ukraine and Latvia taking steps to rein in the use of Baltic banks to launder the proceeds of corruption.

 Baltic International Bank (BIB) (Photo by OCCRP)

Documents leaked to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) from Latvian banks appear to offer instructions to clients on how to use fake offshore companies associated with the bank to launder money or evade taxes.

The OCCRP is partnering up with the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga) Center for Media Studies to present the Journalism for Future Challenges program again this year.

Latvia’s financial regulator has fined the Baltic International Bank (BIB) € 1.1 million (US$ 1.2 million) due to repeated violations of laws regarding money laundering, terrorist financing and customer due diligence, a news release by the regulator said today.

The Latvian Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) said Thursday that the European Central Bank (ECB) has revoked Trasta Komercbanka’s license effective immediately.

Latvia-based OCCRP partner Re:Baltica has published a series of investigations on right-wing propaganda and misinformation about  Latvian media which reporters found originated from Russia.

The Latvian Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) said on Friday that it would set “operational restrictions” on Trasta Komercbanka barring the bank from carrying out debit transactions in any currency, including through online banking, ATMs, and by cash to customers for any amount in excess of € 100,000 (US$ 108,000).  

Vitaly Mansky, a Russian documentary director,  knows exactly when he decided to establish a sanctuary outside of the Russian Federation. It was the spring of 2014, and Mansky was in Spain for a film festival, watching the news in his hotel room.

Police investigators in the UK have launched an inquiry into the involvement of 19 British shell companies in a US$20 billion money-laundering operation.