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Greetings From Amsterdam,
Yesterday, OCCRP and our partners published a major investigation simultaneously in five languages: English, Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek — a landmark in Central Asian journalism.
This week’s newsletter will explain what the reporting team uncovered, and why it matters for the region and the world. We also have some developments to share in the fight against corruption.
But first, a big thank you to everyone who attended our OCCRP Discussion about corruption in the Pacific. All OCCRP Accomplices will receive a recording of the event next week.
Now, for the latest in global corruption:
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Little is publicly known about this Uighur family who built a trading monopoly in Central Asia.
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In fact, the only major investigation into Khabibula Abdukadyr and his brothers was published by OCCRP and our partners in 2019, when we exposed how they built an alleged smuggling empire through bribery and political patronage.
A source was killed. A top customs official who facilitated the Abdukadyrs’ schemes pleaded guilty to corruption and was sanctioned by the United States.
But the Abdukadyrs themselves? Nothing.
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Our Murdered Source: Aierken Saimaiti, a self-confessed money launderer who worked for Khabibula Abdukadyr, gave reporters piles of bank documents that helped us expose his boss. Tragically, he was killed before the publication of our Plunder and Patronage series.
You can access the trove of documents here, which show how Saimaiti laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for Abdukadyr and his family.
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In fact, as our latest investigative series shows, they’ve been busy building a global business empire.
We found Abdukadyr companies in the U.S., Germany, and Turkey that received the laundered proceeds of their alleged smuggling empire.
Though we revealed the family’s activities years ago, these firms are still active. And now they’re making major investments, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on hotels, factories, mosques, residential skyscrapers, and much more.
Most of these assets are in Central Asia — the very countries that the Abdukadyrs are accused of exploiting.
You can browse through the Abdukadyr's assets here 👇
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Our investigative project, published yesterday, focuses on their influence in this region:
Story 1️⃣ The Abdukadyrs’ Global Fortune — Their trading monopoly, built on bribery and alleged smuggling, was exposed. Yet Khabibula Abdukadyr and his relatives are more powerful than ever, with new political alliances and projects worth billions around the world. >> Read the full story
Story 2️⃣ The Abdukadyrs’ Trading Monopoly and Ties With the Uzbek State — Since their relationship with a corrupt Kyrgyz customs official was brought to light, the Abdukadyr family has expanded its trading business to Uzbekistan.
In fact, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has welcomed the Abdukadyrs with open arms, allowing them to enter into joint projects with government agencies and members of his family. The alleged smugglers are even operating some of the country’s official customs terminals. >> Read the full story
Story 3️⃣ The Abdukadyrs Are Building Up the Tashkent Skyline — President Mirziyoyev promised reforms and transparency. But among the top “foreign investors” pouring money into his vision of a modern capital are the Abdukadyrs. >> Read the full story
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🇰🇬 🇺🇿 Why This Matters In Central Asia 🇰🇿 🇹🇯 The Abdukadyrs’ relationship with a corrupt Kyrgyz customs official, exposed by OCCRP and partners, sparked an outcry at home and abroad. Their trading monopoly has been marred with accusations of criminality. Their ally was convicted and sanctioned.
Yet the family is far from canceled.
In fact, our reporting shows that — despite promising to fight corruption — the leaders of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan appear to be more than willing to welcome those accused of enabling it.
🌐 Why This Matters for the World: Countries in the West have increasingly used sanctions and other tools to restrict corrupt and criminal actors from accessing their markets.
The United States sanctioned Raimbek Matraimov, the corrupt ex-customs official who worked with the Abdukadyrs. But they have yet to apply the same treatment to the Abdukadyrs themselves or even their U.S. companies.
Our reporting shows that U.S. banks were aware of “suspicious” transactions involving the Abdukadyrs’ money launderer as early as 2014, and filed reports on them with financial authorities. But the money continued to flow.
🤔 Our Data and Sources: In addition to speaking with dozens of sources — truck drivers, traders, company owners, and developers — reporters used documents obtained from several key sources for this investigation: The personal archives of the Abdukadyrs’ self-confessed money launderer, corporate and land registries, leaked U.S. Treasury records, and bank statements obtained through a subpoena after reporters were sued for libel.
🚩 A Landmark in Central Asian investigative journalism: OCCRP reported and co-published this series with RFE/RL’s Radio Ozodlik, Kloop, and Vlast in five languages at once: English, Russian, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, and Kazakh.
We wanted to ensure that everyone in Central Asia could access our reporting, not just Russian speakers.
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🇰🇬 Our Kyrgyz Partner: Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is under threat of closure after a court upheld a government request to shut down the station.
The Kyrgyz government targeted Azattyk after the media outlet shared a video about the Kyrgyz-Tajik border conflict in September 2022. In October 2022, the media outlet’s website was blocked.
Azattyk was a key partner in our award-winning #PlunderandPatronage investigative series. We stand by our Kyrgyz colleagues.
✍️ World Press Freedom Day Event at the United Nations: OCCRP Publisher Drew Sullivan will join a panel on press freedom to discuss Reporters Shield, a new initiative that defends media outlets and investigative reporting against SLAPPs and other vexatious lawsuits. Watch live on UNTV.
🗓️ May 2 at 4:30 pm EDT
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Join the fight against corruption.
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🇸🇾 Syria: The European Union sanctioned dozens of entities for supporting the regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, including four companies at the center of this OCCRP investigation, which uncovered how sanctioned Syrian phosphates ended up in European markets.
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🇺🇸 United States: The Federal Election Commission will no longer confirm or deny the existence of complaints about alleged violations of campaign finance law, eliminating a key source of information for journalists.
🇵🇪 Peru: The United States extradited Alejandro Toledo, Peru’s former president, to face trial for bribery-related charges involving the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
🇺🇸 United States: The governor of New Jersey signed a controversial campaign finance law that increases the limits for political contributions. It also removed rules regarding contributions from entities that applied for a government contract.
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MORE ORGANIZED CRIME NEWS
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🇰🇵 North Korea: A U.S. court charged a China-based representative of North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank for allegedly laundering cryptocurrency using Hong Kong-based front companies.
🇭🇹 Haiti: The U.N. said that insecurity in the country has reached “alarming levels” due to gang violence, which killed 70 people between April 14 and 19.
🇲🇽 Mexico: Authorities seized nearly nine tons of liquid methamphetamine hidden in tequila bottles that were to be exported.
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P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.
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