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Greetings From Amsterdam,
December is nearly here, which means it’s time to prepare for two annual OCCRP traditions beloved by our long-time readers.
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Nominate Your Candidate for ‘Corrupt Person of the Year.’ Who do you think has done the most to advance corruption worldwide in 2023? Please submit thoughtful nominations here.
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Our ‘Year Ahead’ Webinar: Join OCCRP Co-Founders Drew Sullivan and Paul Radu in a live discussion with OCCRP Accomplices about new trends in the world of global crime and corruption. This year, the webinar will be led by our new editor in chief, Miranda Patrucic. Anyone who’s made a donation in the past year can join. Invitations will be sent to OCCRP Accomplices shortly.
Now, here’s this week’s newsletter:
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🇷🇺 Sanctioned Businessman Denied Financial Ties to Kremlin-Linked Oligarch Roman Abramovich — But Leaked Documents Say Otherwise
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Russian businessman Eugene Shvidler is fighting to overturn sanctions against him in a U.K. court. He argues that while he may be friends with sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, he hasn’t financially benefited from the relationship.
But leaked files from #CyprusConfidential tell a different story.
They show Shvidler received over $600 million in loans from Abramovich via offshore companies.
🌐 The Big Picture: Shvidler’s legal defense against the U.K. sanctions is a first of its kind. Experts say the precedent-setting challenge could, if successful, embolden other sanctioned Russian oligarchs to challenge the U.K. government and unfreeze assets worth billions of dollars.
>> Read the full story
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🇨🇦 The Man That Got Away: Iranian Fugitive Named in Canadian Espionage Case
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New details have surfaced about an Iranian man who fled Canada even though he was under police surveillance for his alleged role in a global money laundering network.
🌐 The Big Picture: Experts say this case is yet another example of Canada’s struggles to tackle transnational organized crime.
>> Read the full story
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Join the fight against corruption.
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🇱🇹 Lithuania: Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Stefanov has been indicted on charges of arms dealing and money laundering in a case that was opened after OCCRP revealed his ties to the regime of Equatorial Guinea in 2016.
🇷🇴 Romania: The leader of the Riviera Maya Gang, a group of ATM bandits who made most of their $1 billion+ loot from rigged cash machines in Mexico, is officially being prosecuted in his home country of Romania.
Florian Tudor, also known as “The Shark,” has been held since 2021 in Mexico, where his attorneys have so far been successful in preventing his extradition back to Europe. >> Read our full Riviera Maya Gang series here
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In Foreign Policy: Last month, OCCRP exposed how Central America’s largest development bank, CABEI, has financed projects that have led to environmental destruction or seen funds diverted for corrupt practices.
FP explains how our findings relate to U.S. foreign policy.
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🇨🇳 China: A group of police officers beat freelance Chinese journalist Sun Lin so badly in his home that he died hours later, Reporters Without Borders reports.
🇷🇺 Russia: A Moscow court extended the imprisonment of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained since March 2023 on spying accusations that have been denounced by press freedom groups around the world. The court did not provide details about its decision.
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THE OCCRP 'DIRTY DEEDS' PODCAST
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Sanctioning an Oligarch Is Not An Easy Task — Searching For Usmanov’s Millions:
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Sanctioning an Oligarch Is Not An Easy Task — Searching For Usmanov’s Millions: In our latest podcast episode, OCCRP Editors Miranda Patrucic and Ilya Lozovsky discuss how they uncovered the global fortune of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Learn how he concealed his wealth using secretive companies, business associates, and family members — including Swiss bank accounts in his sister’s name.
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🇦🇴 Angola: Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s first female billionaire and the daughter of Angola’s long-time leader, is fighting an effort to freeze 580 million pounds of her assets.
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🇲🇲 Myanmar: Recent territorial gains made by Myanmar rebels battling the country’s military junta have also aided neighboring China’s desire to crack down on telecom and online fraud networks that target Chinese citizens from within Myanmar.
Regional experts say that Chinese officials likely gave their blessing to a rebel group's operation that allowed them to take over towns near the China-Myanmar border, where many scam centers are located.
Roughly three weeks later, junta forces have responded by handing over 31,000 people to China accused of orchestrating similar fraud networks.
🇮🇹 Italy: Politicians and police officers were some of the 207 people convicted in Italy for connections to the 'Ndrangheta mafia in a so-called “maxi trial,” which was one of the largest trials ever against Italian organized crime.
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Brookings Institute: Editor in Chief Miranda Patrucic will be on a panel to speak about how fighting corruption can strengthen democracy and security.
🗓️ Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Register here
Offshore Alert Conference: Senior Investigator Tom Stocks will be on a panel discussing OCCRP's Suisse Secrets project and Deputy Editor in Chief for Investigations Pete Jones will be discussing Russian sanctions evasion.
🗓️ Monday and Tuesday, December 4 and 5, 2023
More info here
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P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.
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