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November 22, 2024

Greetings From Amsterdam,

Today we’re taking OCCRP Weekly readers behind the scenes of an investigation into how well-meaning environmental efforts in Europe went very wrong. We’ll also probe some suspicious — and generous — gifts in Georgia; how two Canadian banks overlooked charges of money laundering and handed out mortgages to alleged organized crime figures; and more.


** New Investigations
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** How Europe’s Secondhand Clothes Are Trashing Romania
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The growth of “fast fashion” drove up clothing consumption across the European Union by some 20 percent between 2003 and 2018. In response, the bloc launched ambitious efforts to encourage reuse. Donation bins have popped up in cities across Europe.

But what happens next to these donated clothes is often very murky.

While nearly 40 percent of the EU’s used clothing is collected for reuse or recycling, little is making its way into new wardrobes. Instead, dirty, stained, and moldy clothing is being dumped in poor countries like Ghana ([link removed]) , Kenya ([link removed]) , and Chile ([link removed]) — and now within the EU as well.

Reporters at OCCRP and member newsroom RISE Romania documented the expansion of “waste colonialism” into Romania ([link removed]) , where thousands of tons of clothes are imported every week. There, mounds of unsorted and filthy clothing cover fields and choke rivers.

Over the past four years, environmental and consumer protection authorities have filed 14 legal complaints against 11 Romanian firms importing unsorted textile waste and improperly discarding most of it. Data and documents reviewed by RISE also show that almost every month between 2021 and 2023, border police stopped trucks shuttling illegal textile waste. Most came from within the EU, likely to avoid the high cost of disposal elsewhere.

Some of the culprits are the very firms that claim to be contributing to environmental protection and reuse.

Read the full story ([link removed])


** Behind The Scenes:
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OCCRP investigative reporter Andrei Ciurcanu, who is also the director of our Romanian member center RISE Romania, often finds the first thread of a story through field reporting: meeting people and cultivating sources who have inside knowledge of an issue. How does he figure out who to meet? Sometimes, it’s as simple as following the news.

“The textile thing came out of my own personal curiosity,” he said. “It’s just madness. Each and every day on the daily news you were seeing a truck that was stopped with a lot of clothing or a lot of secondhand products. And I was like, ‘How much garbage can this country receive?’ Because we already have our own garbage.”

He kept reading about the issue, imagining that someone would write an analysis about how textile dumping in Romania worked, but it never came — so he decided to research it himself.

Ciurcanu started by casting a wide net, reading whatever documents and legislation he could get his hands on to map out the institutions and authorities involved in regulating the import of used textiles. Over several months, he built a database of the companies involved. Finally, he went out into the field to see if the numbers were telling a true story.

It was worse than he’d thought.

On the ground, he saw waterways clogged with clothes and abandoned buildings piled to the ceiling with textiles. The putrid smell of damp plastic and old leather was everywhere. The surrounding poverty was stark: Some villagers sifted through piles for clothes to wear and others used the refuse as fodder for fires.

It’s important for investigative reporters to do this sort of field work, even when investigations can be done largely from the office, Ciurcanu said.

“Meet with the victim and see what’s happening,” he said. “And when I say ‘victim,’ it doesn’t have to be a person… It’s either you or the sea or the river or the soil or the animals — just name it.”
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** Well-Connected Private Investor Scoops Up Hydropower Rights in Georgia
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Georgian businessman and former state official Koka Kokolashvili had no track record in renewable energy. In fact, he had previously worked in oil and gas.

That changed in January 2023, when two companies were handed to him at no cost ([link removed]) . Months later, they secured secretive government contracts to develop at least 25 hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) in the country’s east and west, OCCRP and its Georgia-based partner Studio Monitori found. The Georgian government has guaranteed that it will buy electricity produced by some of the plants for a set price for 15 years after they launch.

Kokolashvili is not a well-known figure in Georgia but he does have powerful family connections — his sister is married to a cousin and close confidant of Georgia’s most influential figure and informal leader Bidzina Ivanishvili. Kokolashvili denied these connections played any part in the hydropower deals. A spokesperson for Ivanishvili said that he did not know Kokolashvili and was not familiar with the HPPs he was developing.

The mysterious agreements could turn out to be lucrative, as much of Georgia’s domestic electricity supply comes from hydropower. With its rich network of rivers, the European Union has eyed it as a potential supplier to the region.

But there’s little information on how or why Kokolashvili’s two companies, Imer Energy Capital and NC Group, were chosen to build the upcoming plants. That’s because many of the HPP development agreements with the two firms were made during a three-year period when full government contract declarations — required by law — were paused.

It’s also unclear how and why the companies were handed off to Kokolashvili: He claims he took them over once he became interested in this work, since they were already registered but “not operational.”


** Read the full story ([link removed])
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** OCCRP Scoops
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** Georgian Mayor’s Family Is Behind Secretive Hotel Project in Picturesque Mountain Town
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At a mysterious construction site in the mountainous Georgian municipality of Lentekhi, there are no safety signs. No permits are posted. No signs reveal the company behind the project. But when reporters from our member center iFact dug into it, it turned out to be a business owned by the mayor’s wife ([link removed]) .

Since public officials in Georgia are prohibited from managing companies, Mayor Gia Oniani of Lentekhi handed his shares in his family business to his wife. But when an undercover reporter from iFact called him, posing as a client, Oniani openly described how he was still involved in the company.

“Look, this company is basically a family business, you could say. My family is involved — my son works there, my spouse too.”

“Right now, I’m focusing on another job, but this company is something I’ve built myself, something I’ve grown. So, I provide the initial recommendations and instructions, and then my family manages things from there, so to speak.”

Georgia’s anti-corruption laws prohibit public officials from holding any position in a business, working in a company or doing paid work outside official duties.

But experts say it’s common for newly elected officials to hand ownership of their businesses to close relatives while staying involved behind the scenes.

Watch the undercover call and read the full story ([link removed])


** Major Canadian Banks TD and RBC Hold Mortgages for Alleged Toronto Mafia Boss
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Charges for organized crime and money laundering didn’t stop Angelo Figliomeni from maintaining mortgages with two major Canadian banks ([link removed]) , both of which were already fighting steep fines for failing to monitor suspicious financial transactions.

Figliomeni, who moved to Canada in the early 2000s from Calabria in Italy’s south, has made headlines in his adopted country for being an alleged leader of a faction of the ‘Ndrangheta, a major global crime group dealing in drug trafficking, extortion, and murder.

Property records show that Toronto Dominion Bank, known as TD Bank, and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) each signed two mortgages with Figliomeni in the 2010s, and maintained them even as he battled charges in what Toronto-area police dubbed “the biggest mafia takedown” in their history.

The charges were stayed after defense lawyers argued police had illegally listened to calls between the accused ‘Ndrangheta members and their lawyers. The case never made it to trial.

TD and RBC, meanwhile, continued financing the mortgages.

Both banks have since faced steep fines by North American regulators for failing to properly monitor suspicious financial transactions. In TD’s case, the U.S. Justice Department said it failed to monitor $18.3 trillion in customer activity over a decade and allowed more than $670 million to be laundered. It was fined $3 billion — the biggest yet under the U.S. Banking Secrecy Act.

Experts say Figliomeni’s mortgages are an example of financing that should have never been approved — let alone maintained to date.

Read the full story ([link removed])
Plus see how the alleged mafia boss worked closely with Toronto real estate developers ([link removed]) to build a sprawling property empire.


** More Crime and Corruption News
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In Kyrgyzstan, the former deputy head of customs service, Rayimbek Matraimov, repaid $200 million to the state budget in exchange for being released to house arrest as he awaits trial for hooliganism, money laundering, and liberty deprivation ([link removed]) . Matraimov, who had been in custody since March, is barred from leaving the country.

This is the second time Matraimov has paid millions to get out of jail. In 2019, OCCRP and its partners published a series of investigations ([link removed]) revealing how he used his political connections to funnel $700 million abroad. The revelations sparked mass protests ([link removed]) in Kyrgyzstan, with the public demanding his arrest.

In 2020, he was detained on suspicion of embezzling millions of dollars in public funds — but was released after paying $24.5 million to the state budget.

At this month’s United Nations climate conference in Azerbaijan, Zimbabwe’s delegation featured two Belarusian businessmen who have faced allegations of dubious activities in Africa ([link removed]) . OCCRP reported that Aleksandr Zingman and Oleg Vodchits represented Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife in Baku.

The duo made headlines in African media in 2021 after being detained for 12 days in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zingman’s Dubai-based company, Aftrade DMCC, specified that the reason for the incident was arms dealing allegations, which Zingman strongly denied.

Previous reporting by OCCRP, drawing on the Pandora Papers leak, also found that Zingman co-owned a Zimbabwean gold mining venture, Zim Goldfields, with the son of a senior Belarusian official. Zim Goldfields has been accused of unsustainable riverbed mining. (Zingman has denied involvement in the company.)

Environmental campaigners said they were surprised and concerned at the two men’s presence in the delegation to COP29, where countries that have signed the U.N.’s Convention on Climate Change negotiated new carbon emissions targets with the goal of halting global warming.


** OCCRP Campaigns and Recognition
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Our “Don’t Let Them Kill the Story” campaign launched this week to raise funds to strengthen safety and security for journalists in our global network. Reporters face escalating threats, including harassment, surveillance, and government crackdowns. Funds will bolster security measures, ensuring investigative journalists can report freely and hold power to account. Donate today to support press freedom ([link removed]) .

We’re also making our annual call for nominations for the Corrupt Person of the Year! For over a decade, OCCRP has used this award to spotlight individuals who have done the most to advance organized crime and corruption around the world. Submit your nomination today ([link removed]) .

Last week, OCCRP brought in a number of EPPY Awards ([link removed]) honoring excellence in digital journalism. Wins include NarcoFiles: The New Criminal Order ([link removed]) for Best Investigative Feature (Judges wrote: “Outstanding subject matter. Best visuals and design. Excellent storytelling. Best use of multiple media sources. Compelling.”) and Dubai Unlocked ([link removed]) for Best Use of Data/Infographics (Judges said our project stood out “for its interactive elements and comprehensive database, offering readers a more engaging and informative experience”). Our #FreeKyrgyz11 ([link removed]) social media campaign, which highlighted the plight of Kyrgyz journalists arrested for their work, won Best Use of Social Media and Best Community Service Project.

Until next week.

P.S. Thanks for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply to this email with feedback, thoughts, or questions.

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