Every quarter, OCCRP journalists will answer questions from members of our Accomplice program about what they’ve been working on. Donate today to submit questions for the next Ask OCCRP, a quarterly Q&A series.

In a series of articles presented this week, the FinCEN Files crack open the usually secretive world of international bank regulation to show how the system works, and how it fails.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) condemns Ukrainian authorities’ ongoing harassment of our local member center Slidstvo.Info in its pursuit of a baseless, politically motivated pre-trial investigation.

Reports from OCCRP’s Global Network Illustrate New Threats in Face of COVID-19 — Citizens Suffer as a Result.

A joint team from OCCRP,  RFE/RL's Radio Azattyk, and OCCRP member center Kloop has received the 2019 Tom Renner Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)  for Plunder and Patronage in the Heart of Central Asia, a series of stories that expose a massive outflow of dark money from Kyrgyzstan.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has received the 2020 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, given to a select group of social entrepreneurs whose innovations have already had significant, proven impact on some of the world’s most pressing problems — and who are poised to scale that impact. The award includes a $1.5 million core support grant over the next three years.

OCCRP Annual Reports contain accomplishments and impact for the year, along with story highlights, supporters, and financial statements.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) condemns last week’s decision by Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs to pursue a baseless pre-trial investigation into our local member center, Slidstvo.Info. Issued in response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from the independent media outlet submitted late last year, this decision threatens the right of a free press to access information and inform citizens around the world.

Photo: Harm Joris ten Napel.

For almost two years, OCCRP has been embroiled in a costly and time-consuming lawsuit brought against Paul Radu, the organization's co-founder, in London by an Azerbaijani businessman and member of parliament, Javanshir Feyziyev. Feyziyev was mentioned in our investigative project on the Azerbaijani Laundromat, a money-laundering network and financial fraud vehicle that moved billions of dollars through shell companies around the world, in his capacity as the one-time director and owner of Avromed, a major pharmaceutical company.

OCCRP journalists and their legal team in London. (Credit: OCCRP)

A panel of eight experts in the field of organized crime, corruption and terrorism will select OCCRP’s 2019 Person of the Year.

OCCRP is accepting nominations for the 2019 Person of the Year in Organized Crime and Corruption. Please nominate the global figure you believe has earned the title of OCCRP’s “person of the year’’ based on their own corrupt behavior or their “contribution” to organized crime and corruption anywhere in the world this year.

We at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and our member centers were shocked by the brutal murder of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiance, Martina Kušnírová, on Feb. 21, 2018.

A tribute to Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová in Bratislava, Slovakia. (Credit: OCCRP)

AnOCCRP investigation into payments going from Ukrainian political Serhiy Lovochkin via former Trump campaign director Paul Manafor to senior European politicians should prompt creation of a formal  investigative unit,Transparency International (TI) said in a Wednesday statement.

An investigative story on Ukraine’s oligarchs that OCCRP published in partnership with the Ukrainian outletSlidstvo was shortlisted for a new media award - “Plumes libres pour la démocratie” - recently established by the Paris-based weeklyCourrier International.

The Cypriot government responded on Saturday to an OCCRP investigation from Aug. 14. Government Spokesman Prodromos Prodromou described the report as “libel” and said “it did not correspond to reality.” The story reported that a law firm established and co-owned at the time by Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades facilitated transactions with companies that are part of the Troika Laundromat, a secretive financial vehicle that has been used to carry out financial crimes.

Credit: Edint Pasovic

Libel is defined as inaccurate information that defames a person. But the report cannot constitute libel, as it relates only facts backed by documented evidence. We stand by our reporting.

The OCCRP story in question reports that:

(a) the law firm established by Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades in the 1970s, of which he was a co-owner until February 2013, and of which his two daughters are now shareholders 

(b) facilitated transactions carried out by Batherm Ventures Limited and Matias Co. Limited, with Delco Networks S.A. and Gotland Industrial Inc., companies that were major players in the Troika Laundromat,

(c) which, in turn, is known to be a Russian-controlled financial vehicle that has been used to carry out financial crimes, including money laundering, tax evasion, bribes, and concealment of assets, many for senior leaders of politics and business in Russia.

(d) Mr. Anastasiades was a partner in the firm at the time these transactions took place.

(e) All the above are facts documented in the story and past OCCRP reports.

As a professional news organization, OCCRP takes accuracy extremely seriously. As with all our investigations, this story went through a rigorous fact-checking process. If any facts reported in the story are found to be in error, OCCRP will make the necessary correction. No one has denied any of these facts, and all are supported with documents OCCRP obtained. 

Both Mr. Anastasiades and the law firm, including every single one of its shareholders, were offered an opportunity to comment on the findings of the investigation several weeks ahead of publication. None of them opted to do so. 

Bullet-filled bodies of nine people were found early Thursday morning hanging on a bridge decorated with avocado murals in Uruapan, Mexico, photos posted to Twitter showed. Next to the bodies, a white banner hung with a message threatening residents if they helped certain individuals they would end up like the victims on the bridge.

A Russian cellist and childhood friend of Vladimir Putin received at least $69 million from Troika Laundromat companies. He earned $11.6 million from cancellation fees for 16 consecutive stock deals.

In “Cement’s Dirty Business,” OCCRP journalists travel across Europe to show how Romania’s $750 million cement industry now runs largely on trash, sometimes smuggled in from foreign countries with little regard for health or safety.

Laundromats are complex systems for moving money that allow corrupt politicians, organized crime figures, and wealthy businessmen to secretly invest their ill-gotten millions, launder money, evade taxes, and fulfill other goals.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) enthusiastically welcomes a promising new partnership with Luminate, the global philanthropic organization focused on empowering people and institutions to work together to build just and fair societies. Luminate’s investment of up to $800,000 over two years comes at a pivotal time for OCCRP as we work to expand our investigative reporting globally and bolster our in-house tech tools and organizational capacity. This critical core support will help OCCRP to strengthen the platform of editorial, technical, legal, and security services we provide to our network of 45 member centers around the world and to advance our wider mission of building greater accountability by exposing the abuse of power at the expense of the people.

Photo: Luminate

“Funding for investigative reporting and its global development is vital to both journalism and democracy. We thank Luminate for their support and look forward to working together as we take the next step,” said OCCRP Editor-in-Chief Drew Sullivan. “Corrupt officials and the globalized criminal services industry have tens of billions of dollars at their disposal. Those working to turn the tables operate on much less. We must all be smarter, more committed, and more innovative in our efforts to make a difference and this kind of core support helps OCCRP to do that at a critical time.”

“Today’s world needs journalistic watchdogs that transcend borders to expose organized crime and corruption and to hold those in power to account,” said Nishant Lalwani, Director at Luminate. “OCCRP has proven to be especially effective at bringing analytical power to detecting corruption and crime patterns not easily visible to the human eye. We’re excited to see OCCRP grow as an organization capable of supporting an increasingly global network and independent media at a time of unrelenting threats.”

Formerly the Government & Citizen Engagement initiative at Omidyar Network, Luminate launched this month as a global philanthropic organization whose investees and grantees deliver impact in four critical and connected areas that underpin strong societies – Civic Empowerment, Data & Digital Rights, Financial Transparency and Independent Media. The focus of Luminate’s work on independent media is to support and defend a vibrant, free press that uncovers the truth and holds power to account.

Luminate was established in October 2018 by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay and is part of The Omidyar Group.

For more information please contact Stella Roque, Chief Communications Officer at stella@occrp.org