NEW INVESTIGATIONS

Controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother have made several bombastic claims about their lifestyle and wealth.

This week, the OCCRP network confirmed one of them...

...they did business with alleged members of a Romanian mafia group 🇷🇴

Andrew Tate casually said in a 2021 podcast that he partnered up with a couple of "brothers, mafia guys" in casinos based in Eastern Europe.

Documents obtained by OCCRP and our Romanian member center RISE Project show that the Tate brothers have had interests in at least six casinos with two alleged organized crime figures known as the Doroftei brothers.

🌐 The Big Picture: Romania’s struggles with governance and organized crime attracted Andrew Tate to the country. The American-born misogynist once said that he chose Romania as his home base in part because it’s a place where “corruption is accessible to everybody.” His recent arrest suggests the Eastern European country is less lawless than he thought. 

🤔 Our Data and Sources: This investigation drew on Romanian company records and prosecution documents as well as dozens of interviews.

>> Read the full story

CRYPTO REPORTING

OCCRP obtained a leaked report about security flaws in Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange that was robbed of $71 million in bitcoin. 

Here’s what the document reveals about how the unknown hacker stole over 119,000 bitcoins in just over three hours. We co-published this story with WIRED. 

Bitfinex’s owner, iFinex, commissioned Canadian consultancy firm Ledger Labs to look into the hack. They produced a report — a version of which was obtained by OCCRP — that found the following: 

• Two of three security keys were stored on the same device, allowing anyone hacking it to gain access to internal systems.

• With control of the two security keys, the hacker was able to obtain security tokens and raise the daily limit on the number of transactions to steal as much bitcoin as quickly as possible.

• The hack probably originated from Poland. 

🌐 The Big Picture: iFinex has not released Ledger Lab’s findings to the public despite the hack being one of biggest bitcoin thefts in history. 

One money laundering expert said the lack of a public report from Bitfinex "says more than any admission or denial… ever would."

Comment From Bitfinex: Bitfinex told OCCRP the Ledger Labs analysis was “incomplete” and “incorrect,” and that there was “evidence of negligence…on the part of other counterparties that led to the hack.” 

>> Read the full story

MORE OCCRP REPORTING

Belarusian cleaning tycoon Eduard Apsit is suspected of laundering tens of millions of euros through the notorious Latvian bank ABLV.

Latvian authorities noticed ABLV had moved millions of Apsit’s money as loans through offshore firms in what looked like a “laundromat” scheme.

The OCCRP network also discovered that Apsit’s holding company, Facilicom, licensed numerous companies that won state contracts by bidding against each other.


🌐 The Big Picture: Oligarchs and kleptocrats often rely on financial institutions in the European Union and U.S. to clean their money. ABLV was one of the biggest offenders, its unscrupulous business practices appearing at the center of our #TroikaLaundromat and #PandoraPapers investigations. This story shows that, years after it was shut down, the bank’s hidden financial dealings are still coming to the surface.

>> Read the full story

Little is known about the size of Venezuela’s murky gold trade. Two investigations into smuggling schemes show how the metal was trafficked into Brazil, destined for the U.S., India, and the United Arab Emirates.

>> Read the full story

THE OCCRP NETWORK

🇳🇬 Premium Times: Our Nigerian member center reports on outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari’s unfulfilled promises to fight corruption.

🇱🇧 Daraj: Our Lebanese partner reports on an ongoing debate over whether aid to Syrian refugees in the country should be disbursed in U.S. dollars. 

OCCRP HAS IMPACT

🇱🇹 Lithuania: Lithuanian authorities submitted evidence to prosecutors against nine companies that had been at the center of an OCCRP investigation.

Reporters showed how the firms violated EU sanctions by falsely presenting Russian and Belarusian timber products as having originated in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

MORE JOURNALISM NEWS

Novaya Gazeta Europe is helping to spearhead a project called “Kidmapping” that will track down the thousands of Ukrainian children who have been forcibly deported to Russia.

Pegasus spyware was found on the phones of Armenian journalists, human rights activists, and other public figures. 

MORE CORRUPTION NEWS

French prosecutors indicted a former vice-president of global soccer body FIFA for "passive corruption" in relation to bribery allegations involving Qatar’s bid for the 2022 World Cup.

The United Nations Security Council encouraged Iraq’s new government to follow through on plans to combat corruption in a resolution that backs the country’s fight against terrorist groups.

MORE ORGANIZED CRIME NEWS

Cryptocurrency is now the preferred method of payment for organized crime groups involved in the fentanyl trade, according to a report by Chainalysis.

Peruvian police seized more than 57 kilograms of cocaine in packages labeled with Nazi symbols. The shipment was on its way to Europe.