In Georgia, an Opposition MP Voted With the Ruling Party. Then His Family Won Two Land Disputes.
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In an important vote for new members of a top judicial body, five opposition politicians joined forces with Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, to elect pro-government candidates. Just two days later, companies linked to one of these politicians received favorable rulings in long-running land disputes.
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💡 Key Findings
- Dilar Khabuliani, a former judo champion, was one of the opposition MPs who broke ranks in the vote last year, strengthening the ruling party’s control over the judiciary.
- A city council governed by Georgian Dream gave favorable decisions to two sports-related companies owned by Khabuliani’s family members just two days after the vote. The MP told reporters the timing was a “coincidence.”
- The two companies are nominally owned by Khabuliani’s young son and nephew, but there is evidence that Khabuliani himself is closely involved in both of them.
- Both companies submitted proposals to resolve long-running land disputes to the government in the months leading up to the crucial vote. Khabuliani admitted to reporters that he helped draft one of the proposals.
>> Read the full story
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Alleged Italian Mobsters Grew Powerful in Toronto. Experts Say Canadian Law Can’t Stop Them.
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Earlier this month, we revealed how a faction of the ’Ndrangheta, which is believed to be Italy’s most powerful mafia group, allegedly infiltrated two of Canada’s largest banks to launder their money.
The suspects at the center of the scheme — including the alleged kingpin — were never convicted. Authorities were even ordered to return the $27 million worth of assets that they had seized from them.
In the second story in our series on the ’Ndrangheta in Canada, OCCRP reveals just how powerful this Toronto-based faction of the crime group has become. From his base in the Greater Toronto Area, an alleged ‘Ndrangheta leader is thought to have influence over his clan back home in Siderno — a power dynamic that Italian authorities have described as unprecedented.
>> Read the full story
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🇲🇹 Malta Mulls Revoking ‘Golden Passport’: Malta is considering revoking the passport of the son of a Russian former oil executive after the young man was convicted in the United Kingdom on money laundering charges.
The 24-year-old began cleaning cash for an organized crime group soon after obtaining EU citizenship through Malta's controversial “golden passport” program, records seen by OCCRP show. Under Maltese law, passports can be revoked if an applicant is sentenced to a jail term of one year or longer within seven years of becoming a citizen.
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Malta isn’t the only one selling passports: Several other countries have citizenship-by-investment programs, which critics say enable corrupt actors to hide illicit funds in Western markets.
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🇹🇿 Elephant Hunting in Tanzania: Kenya banned elephant hunting in 1977 but it remains legal in neighboring Tanzania, where a permit to shoot an elephant costs $10,000 to $20,000.
Kenya and Tanzania reportedly agreed to enact a temporary hunting ban along their border in 1995 until they decided how to best manage hunting. But recent killings of elephants along the border indicate this informal ban may be over.
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INFORMATION RESTRICTION NEWS
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🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan Blocks TikTok: Kyrgyz authorities have blocked access to the popular social media platform as part of the government’s crackdown on independent news sources.
The move came after Kyrgyzstan’s president signed a law in 2023 aimed at “protecting children from harmful information.” Human rights organizations criticized the legislation back then, pointing out that it could be used as a tool for censorship.
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Part of a Wider Crackdown: TikTok’s blacklisting comes amidst escalating restrictions on civil society and independent journalists, including those in the OCCRP network.
- ‘Foreign Agent’ Law: The government adopted a law pioneered by Russia, which implemented onerous reporting requirements on civil society and media outlets that receive 20 percent or more of their funding from abroad. The legislation has had a chilling effect on dissent and independent journalism in the country.
- Mass Arrests: Eleven of our colleagues were arrested after their outlet,Temirov Live, published a video investigation about the secret wealth of the family of a powerful security official. Seven of them remain behind bars.
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It Takes a Network to Fight a Network.
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🇰🇷 More Crypto Woes in South Korea: The exchange Crypto.com announced it would postpone its debut in South Korea after local media reported that financial regulators were investigating the exchange over alleged money laundering concerns.
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South Korea Loves Crypto: Despite strict government restrictions on crypto trading, The Block reports that one-tenth of South Korean residents invest in cryptocurrencies.
This surge in demand is happening even though major tokens, including bitcoin, are priced at a higher markup on Korean exchanges compared to global competitors, a phenomenon that some traders call the “kimchi premium.”
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Crypto.com is trying to enter the lucrative South Korean market through a Korean exchange it acquired called OkBit, which has the license needed to trade fiat currency for cryptocurrency.
The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, has faced similar issues. In 2023, Binance acquired a majority stake in another local exchange, Gopax, which also has the coveted exchange license. But South Korean authorities postponed approving the acquisition, reportedly over legal concerns abroad. Binance said it plans to reduce its share in Gopax in part to overcome these regulatory issues.
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🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Police detained 22 people, including high-ranking police officers –– suspected of being linked to an international drug cartel led by a man known as the “European Escobar.”
🇺🇦 Ukraine: The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said it is investigating the agricultural minister for his alleged involvement in a scheme to illegally acquire state-owned land worth $7.4 million.
Upheaval in the agriculture ministry could have implications for the Ukrainian and global economy, as the country remains a major exporter of grain despite supply chain disruptions caused by the war with Russia.
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The International Journalism Festival in Perugia: OCCRP journalists spoke earlier this month at several sessions in the Italian city of Perugia, where one of Europe’s biggest media conferences is held every year. You can watch recordings of their discussions here, including:
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P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.
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