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April 11, 2025
Hello John
,

This week, a new leak takes us inside Switzerland’s famously secretive financial sector.

According to leaked correspondence obtained by reporters, Swiss regulators have sounded the alarm over a range of practices at the Geneva-headquartered private bank Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo. In particular, the regulators noted a “certain carelessness” when it came to vetting clients for money laundering risks — including those linked to corrupt and autocratic regimes.

The reporting appears to have struck a nerve: On Monday, Reyl’s lawyers confirmed they had filed a complaint under Article 47 of the Swiss Banking Act, a draconian law that criminalizes disclosing information about bank customers. Yet we decided to publish our findings anyway, because we believe they are in the public interest.

In other news, Switzerland’s top court upheld a corruption conviction for Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz, while France moved forward with seizing a villa that belongs to a fugitive former Moldovan politician with a fake Mexican passport.

Meanwhile, Thailand has arrested a woman accused of helping a prominent doctor run a $440-million investment scam that raised funds for non-existent medical centers.

Read on for the latest in crime and corruption.


** Investigation: Leaks reveal anti-money laundering probe into Swiss bank Reyl
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Swiss authorities insist the country’s famously secretive financial system has robust anti-money laundering laws. However, the evidence tells a different story.

Swiss authorities insist the country’s famously opaque banking system has robust anti-money laundering laws. However, the evidence tells a different story.

Leaked correspondence obtained by OCCRP and Le Monde offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at concerns flagged by the Swiss financial regulator, known as FINMA.

The letters show that FINMA has investigated the private bank Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo for “weaknesses in the area of money laundering,” and raised questions over the bank’s handling of high-risk accounts. These accounts belonged to:
* A former Russian minister
* The son-in-law of the late Uzbek strongmen Islam Karimov
* A Swiss asset manager who handled offshore firms tied to the children of Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev
* The former romantic partner and daughter of the head of a publicly-owned Russian sewage company

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When reached for comment by OCCRP, Reyl said it has “strengthened its compliance and anti-money laundering frameworks” and has carefully reviewed and “where deemed appropriate, terminated” relationships with higher-risk clients.

On Monday, the bank also confirmed it had filed “a complaint against unknown persons with the Swiss authorities” under Article 47 of the Banking Act in response to our reporting. The secrecy law bars disclosing any information about bank customers, and has been used to intimidate whistleblowers and journalists.

"One of the greatest deficits in press freedom in Switzerland is and remains Article 47 of the Banking Act,” Reporters Sans Frontières Switzerland General Secretary Denis Masmejan said ([link removed]) this week, calling the situation “absolutely unacceptable”.

The chilling effect is real. In a story published this week by Swiss-German newspaper Tages-Anzeiger (TA) ([link removed]) , investigative journalists — including many involved in the OCCRP-led Suisse Secrets ([link removed]) project published in 2022 — explain why they now consider it too risky to set foot on Swiss soil.

"Writing about bank information in Switzerland is a crime," Cecilia Anesi, the director of the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI), a longtime OCCRP partner, told TA. "So we were advised not to visit Switzerland."

Read the full story ([link removed])


** We Investigate Corruption. Swiss Law Calls That a Crime.
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Read an opinion piece from our reporters ([link removed]) explaining the effects Article 47 has had on journalism.


** More OCCRP Reporting
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A court has ordered the seizure of Vladimir Plahotniuc's villa in Sciez, France. (Credit: OCCRP)


** France Seizes Assets of Moldovan Fugitive
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French authorities are set to seize ([link removed]) a villa on Lake Geneva that belongs to the fugitive Moldovan politician Vladimir Plahotniuc, according to a court order.

The seizure is part of a wider effort by Moldovan authorities to track down the assets of the billionaire, whom prosecutors accuse of involvement in a billion-dollar banking fraud dubbed “the Theft of the Century ([link removed]) .”

Plahotniuc, the former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova, fled Moldova amid political turmoil in June 2019. An Interpol Red Notice states that he holds Romanian, Moldovan, Russian, and Mexican passports, but OCCRP reporters discovered that his Mexican document is fraudulent.

Read the full story ([link removed]) →


** Pardon For Jailed Journalist
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Kyrgyzstan released investigative journalist Azamat Ishenbekov from prison this week following a presidential pardon. Ishenbekov had been sentenced to five years earlier this year for allegedly inciting unrest through social media posts.

He is one of four journalists from Temirov Live, an investigative media outlet and OCCRP reporting partner, who were convicted in January 2024 in a case ([link removed]) rights groups have condemned as a blatant attack on press freedom.

Read the full story ([link removed]) →


** Mining Magnate Hits Dead End On Appeal
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Last Friday, a Swiss court shot down an appeal from mining magnate Beny Steinmetz to overturn his conviction for bribery. Steinmetz, whose career we have tracked ([link removed]) closely, was convicted for having bribed the wife of a West African president to obtain one of the world’s richest deposits of iron.

The ruling (http://) means he has now exhausted all legal avenues in Switzerland. However, Agence France-Presse reports that Steinmetz’s lawyers plan to challenge the ruling at the European Court of Human Rights and claim the case demonstrates the “politicization of the Swiss judicial system.”

Steinmetz was sentenced to three years, with half to be served in jail and the other half as a suspended sentence.

Read the full story ([link removed]) →
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** News In Brief
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* Authorities in Spain, France, and Italy have arrested ([link removed]) 29 people from a criminal network that allegedly earned over 5 million euros by trafficking illegal pesticides.

* More than 200 Filipinos have been repatriated ([link removed]) from scam compounds inside Myanmar, where they were lured by fake job offers. The victims described regular beatings and abuse at the scam centers, where they were trapped and forced to work.

* A Kazakh woman accused of stealing over $440,000 by hijacking victims’ bank accounts is set to be extradited ([link removed]) from Kyrgyzstan. She is suspected of orchestrating a group that posed as legitimate bank clients requesting to change the phone numbers linked to their bank accounts, effectively bypassing two-factor authentication security systems.

* Iraqi forces busted ([link removed]) a shipment of 400,000 tablets of Captagon on the border with Syria as part of their crackdown on smuggling of the amphetamine-type stimulant.


** Recommended Reading
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** It Takes a Network to Fight a Network
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OCCRP Publisher Drew Sullivan spoke with the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University about the power of collaboration to uncover crime and corruption.

See the Q&A ([link removed]) →


** Coming Soon
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OCCRP’s flagship Aleph data platform has undergone a major overhaul, with a new and improved version set to launch in October 2025.

Created by OCCRP nearly a decade ago, Aleph is a powerful tool that helps 24,000+ users track assets, uncover corporate ownership, and analyze financial transactions using government records, leaked archives, and open data. It contains more than 4.5 billion records and enables the OCCRP network to collaborate on vast data investigations.

“Aleph is more than a platform — it’s critical infrastructure for investigative reporting,” said OCCRP Chief Product Officer Mark Nightingale. “Its open-source roots have fueled collaborations across borders and organizations — and this next level of innovation will foster even more cooperation and impact.”

“The new platform will enable journalists, activists, and investigators to find more leads and better serve the public interest,” OCCRP Aleph Lead Ezana Ceman said.

Help OCCRP shape what’s next, as we rebuild Aleph for the long haul. Test new features. Share feedback. Build with us. To get involved, contact Aleph Lead Ezana Ceman at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

Find out more ([link removed]) →

Cross-Border Journalism Training Opportunity

Are you a journalist working in Europe? The Next-Level Data and Tools for Investigative Journalism (Next-IJ) initiative empowers journalists with cutting-edge tools, advanced data analysis capabilities, and the enhanced collaborative networks necessary to investigate complex crimes effectively.

An upcoming Next-IJ investigative training program, led by OCCRP and Transcrime, will be held on June 26th. This one-day session is designed for mid-level journalists and will provide a deep dive into the latest tools, techniques, and cross-border strategies used by leading investigative reporters.

Deadline for applications is June 9.

Find out more here ([link removed]) →

P.S. Thanks for reading OCCRP Weekly! Reply to let us know what you think.

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