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NEW INVESTIGATIONS
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🇲🇹 Inside Malta’s Massive Healthcare Controversy

A company entrusted with a 2.1-billion-euro contract to improve hospitals in Malta spent hundreds of thousands of euros on personal and luxury items, financial documents show.

The Muscat Connection: Our reporting also led to former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the winner of OCCRP’s 2019 Corrupt Person of the Year Award ([link removed]) . The scandal-ridden former politician received 60,000 euros just after he left office in January 2020 from two Swiss firms that have links to the hospital concessionaires at the center of our investigation.

Maltese authorities are investigating Muscat's finances in a corruption probe linked to the hospital contract.

🌐 The Big Picture: Maltese citizens are demanding the government force the firms involved to return the money they received after allegedly only making “superficial” improvements to the hospitals they were supposed to renovate. This investigation shows how these companies spent their money after receiving Maltese public funds.

>> Read the full story ([link removed])
🇧🇫 A Bribe Allegedly Offered On Behalf of Marlboro’s Man in West Africa

OCCRP journalists obtained a secret recording of a bribe offered by Safy Mokoko Sow, an alleged associate of Apollinaire Compaoré, one of Burkina Faso’s richest men.

Who is Apollinaire Compaoré? The Burkinabè tycoon has made a fortune distributing major tobacco brands like Marlboro and American Legend. He’s also made millions from smuggling cigarettes through the lawless deserts of Mali, Niger, and Libya. You can read more about his smuggling enterprise in this 2021 OCCRP investigation. ([link removed])

Mokoko Sow, a self-described fixer, offered a bribe of 100 million West African francs ($180,000) to stop Malian officials from seizing Compaoré’s shipments of cigarettes. The offer was not accepted, but two tobacco industry sources told OCCRP they were aware of the bribery attempt.

🌐 The Big Picture: The illegal tobacco trade in the Sahel has an estimated value of $600-800 million a year. Tobacco smugglers often give armed groups –– including terrorists –– a cut in exchange for protecting their convoys.

>> Read Full story ([link removed])
🇵🇬 The Papua New Guinean Scandal Exposed by OCCRP Grows Larger

In March, OCCRP and partners published an investigation that sparked outrage in Papua New Guinea. We revealed questionable payments between Don Matheson, an influential Australian businessman, and officials at PNG Ports, the state-owned company at the heart of the scandal we uncovered.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape instructed a key minister, William Duma, to look into Matheson and PNG Ports after our investigation was published.

Marape also claimed to barely know Don Matheson. Now, OCCRP, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Inside PNG ([link removed]) have revealed evidence that Marape and Matheson appear to have made high-level introductions for each other.

Apparent Undisclosed Ties PM Marape apparently introduced Matheson to Duma, the same minister he tasked to lead the PNG government’s internal review of the scandal.

Official letters, available for download in the investigaiton, show Duma went on to help Matheson pitch for lucrative contracts to develop state-owned land. It’s unclear if Matheson got the deal, but he has given interviews implying that he did.

🌐 The Big Picture: This week’s investigation reveals what appear to be undisclosed ties between Matheson and the highest levels of the PNG government. The findings raise questions about the integrity of the government’s review into the Australian consultant.

Meanwhile, PNG police have revealed that they’ve opened an international criminal investigation into the affair. Australian police and Interpol are helping out.

>> Read the full story ([link removed])


** THE OCCRP NETWORK
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🇷🇺 IStories: In Russia, May 9 is when the country honors its war veterans. Since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia has had to compensate at least 50,000 more soldiers returning home. Our Russian member center reports ([link removed]) on how the state funds veteran services, and whether it can manage the upcoming spike in demand.

🇱🇧 Daraj: Our Lebanese partner reports on Syria’s booming trade in Captagon, an amphetamine that’s increasingly popular in the Middle East. This story reports that Saudi Arabia ([link removed]) and other Arab states are in diplomatic talks with the Syrian regime that appear to be focused on halting the spread of Captagon.

🇲🇰 IRLMacedonia: Our Macedonian member center’s documentary “Bad Blood” is a finalist for a Global Shining Light Award ([link removed]) . This prestigious prize from the Global Investigative Journalism Network honors watchdog journalism projects in developing countries that are produced under threat, or in dangerous conditions.

Haven’t seen ‘Bad Blood?’ This must-see documentary ([link removed]) exposes a hospital in North Macedonia that allegedly offered experimental treatment to patients without their consent, while advertising questionable medical credentials.
Join the fight against corruption.
SUPPORT OCCRP ([link removed])


** OCCRP HAS IMPACT
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➡️ Lebanon's Offshore Governor: French prosecutors issued an international arrest warrant ([link removed]) for Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salame after he failed to attend his trial on Tuesday for money laundering and embezzlement.

Who is Riad Salame? Many heralded the former Merrill Lynch executive as a potential savior for the Lebanese economy when he took over as head of the central bank in the early 1990s. Now, he is widely blamed for the country’s economic crisis. Learn more about one of the world’s longest serving central bankers. ([link removed])

In 2020, OCCRP and Daraj published two investigations ([link removed]) into the controversial banker’s offshore wealth. Both investigations have been cited in other European cases against Salame.

➡️ Azerbaijani Laundromat: Prominent U.K. Conservative Party donor Javad Marandi received $230 million in suspicious offshore funds ([link removed]) , according to documents filed by the National Crime Agency.

The money came from offshore firms funded by the Azerbaijani Laundromat ([link removed]) , a vast money laundering system exposed by OCCRP in 2017.

Marandi’s transactions came to light as investigators were looking into his business partner. He himself is not charged with any crimes, and has denied any wrongdoing.


** MORE CORRUPTION NEWS
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Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy lost his appeal against corruption charges this week, but he may be able to serve his sentence at home ([link removed]) , wearing a monitoring device.

Indonesia’s communication and information technology minister was arrested as part of a corruption case ([link removed]) that deprived the state of roughly $500 million. He is the third government minister in the administration of President Joko Widodo to be accused of graft.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, an anticipated presidential hopeful, signed a bill into law thatexempts records related to his travel ([link removed]) from the state’s public disclosure law.


** MORE ORGANIZED CRIME NEWS
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A prominent local official in Sarajevo was one of several people arrested ([link removed]) in a crackdown on suspected drug trafficking and corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Serbian officials announced that they had apprehendedthe leaders of one of the Balkans’ largest drug trafficking groups ([link removed]) . While authorities did not name the criminal organization, local media outlets have speculated that it might be the notorious “Pink Panther” group.


** EVENTS
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IPI World Congress & Media Innovation Festival: OCCRP Ukraine reporter Elena Loginova will discuss our scrollytelling Bucha feature ([link removed]) in a session about using new formats to connect with readers.

🗓️ May 25-26 in Vienna and online.

Other sessions from the OCCRP network:
* John Allan-Namu from Africa Uncensored about what’s next for journalism
* Roman Anin from IStories about journalists in exile
* Rawan Daman from ARIJ about big ideas in journalism
* Musikilu Mojeed from Premium Times about cybercrime laws
* Olga Rudenko from Kyiv Independent about reporting resilience
* Zoltán Sipos from Átlátszó Erdély about disruption in local news

>>Get Tickets Here<< ([link removed])
P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.

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