NEW INVESTIGATION

Nine current and 18 former members of the Chicago Police Department have appeared on internal rosters of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government extremist group involved in the January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Reporters also found 12 others working in law enforcement elsewhere in the state of Illinois on these lists, which cover the period between 2009 and 2018. Some of the officers had been investigated internally for abusive incidents, including excessive force. 

This story was a joint effort between the Chicago public radio station WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times, and OCCRP. >> Read the full story

🌐 The Big Picture: This isn’t the first time we have found links between the Oath Keepers and members of law enforcement in the United States. Last year, we revealed that 300 people on an Oath Keepers roster had identified themselves as current or former members of the Department of Homeland Security, and agencies under its command. 

The Chicago Police Department and federal law enforcement do not currently forbid officers from belonging to extremist groups. But some advocates are urging policies that would explicitly ban such membership.

THE OCCRP NETWORK

🇮🇱 Shomrim: When a police station was damaged during fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, the Israeli real estate company Mivne Group claimed it “donated” a building as a replacement. Our Israeli partner reports that the firm actually rented the facility to the police for $57,000 a month, a price that does not even appear to be a discount.

🇺🇦 Kyiv Independent: Our Ukrainian member center reports on the country’s rapidly shrinking population since Russia’s invasion in 2022. The country needs to add an estimated 4.5 million workers over the next 10 years to revive the economy.

🇳🇬 Premium Times: Our Nigerian member center reports on how the government’s push towards a cashless economy is hurting rural areas that don’t have enough internet infrastructure to capitalize on the boom in e-payments.

🎧 OCCRP 'DIRTY DEEDS' PODCAST

🇨🇿 Exposing a Former Czech PM’s Offshore Finances: What is a journalist supposed to do when targeted by a powerful politician? 

That's what happened to our Czech colleague Pavla Holcová after she uncovered secret financial dealings involving the country's former prime minister, who falsely accused her of being a paid agent to undermine his re-election campaign.

Holcová shares her story in in Episode 4 of Dirty Deeds: Tales of Global Crime and Corruption. 

JOURNALISM NEWS

🛡️ Protect Your Newsroom with Reporters Shield: Spurious lawsuits are one of the biggest threats facing news organizations worldwide.

That’s why OCCRP helped launch Reporters Shield, a fund that offers legal assistance to media outlets to fight SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation), including pre-publication review for high-risk stories. Your newsroom can apply here.

OCCRP HAS IMPACT

🇲🇹 Malta: An appellate court in Malta confirmed a previous decision earlier this year to cancel healthcare contracts that were marred by corruption allegations investigated by OCCRP and partners. You can read our story here. 

FOLLOW THE MONEY NEWS

🇺🇸 United States: The Treasury Department has sanctioned a Gaza-based crypto company known as “Buy Cash” for allegedly helping fund Hamas and other terrorist groups. The sanctions were announced around the same time the Treasury proposed strict anti-money laundering rules on crypto “mixers,” platforms that provide additional anonymity to crypto transactions, claiming Hamas has benefited from them.

🇨🇭Switzerland: The attorney general said his office launched a probe into whether Hamas had received financing from Switzerland before the group attacked southern Israel from Gaza. The Swiss government has not officially designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, which means it's not banned from the Swiss banking system. 

🇨🇳 China: Hong Kong authorities are considering tightening regulations on “over-the-counter” cryptocurrency shops – the brick-and-mortar locations where people can exchange cash for crypto. The announcement came after some OTC shops were suspected of involvement in the scandal surrounding JPEX, a crypto platform accused of facilitating fraud. 

CORRUPTION NEWS

🇦🇱 Albania: Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha has been charged with corruption and money laundering in connection with a land deal in Albania's capital, Tirana.

🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina: The US Treasury Department has sanctioned the two adult children of Milorad Dodik, the leader of the country’s Serb-led region, for allegedly facilitating corruption. 

GLOBAL CRIME NEWS

🇪🇺 European Union: The bloc is moving towards banning products made with forced labor. The proposed law would compel companies operating in high-risk areas to demonstrate that their products are free from such exploitation.

🇲🇽 Mexico: The federal government has deployed 300 soldiers to the state of Guerrero, where criminal gangs have been vying for dominance for years, in response to the murder of 13 police officers.