May 9, 2025

Hello John ,

This week, OCCRP’s environmental team coordinator will take you behind the scenes of a recent investigation, which showed that a major Indonesian nickel miner knew for a decade that the water around its operations was polluted with the “Erin Brockovich” chemical, chromium-6.

In Syria, the old patronage networks of the ousted Assad regime continue to be exposed: this week we look at how the deposed president’s brother exerted influence over the country’s football association, according to insiders.

A decade on from a scandal involving Serbia’s finance minister and former mayor of Belgrade Siniša Mali, our reporters have pieced together details of how his children’s private school tuition was funded.

The United States has strengthened sanctions against those it accuses of “undermining security and stability” in the south Caucasus nation of Georgia, as well as several members of the Myanmar junta-aligned militia at the center of the global cyber scam and trafficking crisis.

Here’s the latest in global crime and corruption: 

OCCRP Spotlight: Harita Investigation

Last week, we released our investigation into water pollution around an island nickel mine operated by Indonesian conglomerate Harita Group.

Leaked emails obtained by OCCRP, The Gecko Project and Deutsche Welle show senior executives were aware of deadly pollution as early as 2012, with internal tests showing chromium-6 levels breaching legal limits over the course of a decade.
 
OCCRP’s Environmental Team Coordinator Eli Moskowitz says it became clear early in the Harita investigation that the data would likely yield interesting material. A hacker group obtained a large cache of data from inside Harita Group through a ransomware attack, which was then made available to download by pro-transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets.

Reporters spent several months putting together evidence, figuring out the timeline and scrutinizing their own reporting to ensure they were being fair. What emerged was a picture of a company that clearly and consistently failed to comply with laws governing levels for chromium-6 in waters around the mine for over a decade. 

"The [Indonesian] government has taken steps to protect the nickel mining industry by making certain mining operations, including Harita’s mine on Obi island, a ‘National Strategic Project,’” Moskowitz told OCCRP Weekly.

"Indonesia now sources half of the world’s nickel and it's become one of its key sources of economic growth, especially given the surge in demand that has occurred due to the electric vehicle industry, which relies on nickel. The military has intervened to protect the industry in certain cases, as have police. On the ground, some reporters have faced surveillance — and potentially worse — for reporting in Obi island. It's very remote where they operate, so reporting on the ground was very difficult to execute." 

Repeated attempts to contact the Ministry of Environment met with no response, and so it was not possible to get absolute clarity on what testing data Harita gave the authorities. Harita Group and its subsidiaries didn't respond to questions from reporters. 

"Oftentimes when you, when you make these types of allegations, the company will respond, but I think [this is] a rare instance where we got such intimate access to what the company was aware of and when, [that it] made it difficult for them to reply ... I actually think it lends credence to how powerful our findings were," Moskowitz says.

Once the team started focusing on the issue of chromium-6, it became clear how strong the evidence was. In stories about corporate pollution, it's very unusual to be able to prove which senior executives knew what and when they knew it.  

"Despite repeated efforts to combat this problem, instructed by these executives, the fact that there were consistent breaches in legal limits year after year, and public denials, made us really feel confident we had a story here almost from the get-go," he said. "That was coupled with the fact that nobody from the company or the government seemed to have warned members of the community living around the mine who were drinking this contaminated and carcinogenic water every day. I think the findings speak for themselves."

The nature of the evidence provides a strong basis for the Indonesian authorities to take administrative, civil or even criminal action — if there is enough political will. 

“I think it lends itself to some sort of response from regulators," Moskowitz said. "We’ll have to see."

He says he hopes the investigation will help civil society actors advocate for accountability — and that it may prompt questions from international electric vehicle producers. Harita is currently undergoing an audit for IRMA certification, which is a precondition to gaining access to the European market.

“We may see that some companies indirectly sourcing nickel from Harita’s supply chain — such as electric vehicle manufacturers like Mercedes Benz, Tesla, BMW, and Volkswagen — might take extra precautions to make sure that that nickel ultimately making its way into its batteries is sourced ethically,” he said. While electric vehicles are an important part of efforts to decarbonize and move away from fossil fuels, companies need to make sure that raw materials they are sourcing aren't causing environmental and humanitarian harm. 

More OCCRP Reporting

The collapse of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024 brought to an end a patronage network that had long benefited insiders. Now, as the dust settles, details are beginning to emerge about the finer details of such arrangements.

In 2019, a little-known Damascus firm was granted a lucrative marketing contract. Now, insiders tell OCCRP that the influence of former president Bashar Al-Assad’s brother played no small part in cementing the deal. 
 
Read the full story →

A decade on, answers in Serbia school fee funding mystery

Former mayor of Belgrade and Serbia’s current finance minister Siniša Mali’s children attended an elite school where a year’s tuition far exceeded his official income. 
 
Now, a decade on from the original scandal, new evidence shows that the funds he insisted were paid by "friends" from abroad flowed to the school through offshore companies — one of which Mali owned.

Read the full story → 

US Sanctions Myanmar Militia Tied to Cyber-Scams, Trafficking

The United States Treasury Department has sanctioned the junta-aligned Karen National Army militia in Myanmar as part of an ongoing crackdown on cyber-scams operating out of the conflict-wracked country. 

According to Treasury estimates, U.S. citizens have lost $5.5 billion to scam operations run from Southeast Asia since 2022.  

Read the full story →

Friends Like These: US Bolsters Sanctions In Georgia 

U.S. lawmakers have passed the MEGOBARI Act, bringing stronger sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgia’s ruling dream party. 

The Georgian Dream government, which retained power in elections observers branded neither free nor fair last year, continues to face opprobrium from the West over the country’s shift into Russia’s orbit  and a crackdown on media and civil society.   

Read the full story → 

More OCCRP Reporting

• In Ukraine, authorities have arrested an alleged mastermind of a transcontinental trafficking scheme involving shipments of cocaine from Honduras to Kyiv.
   
• Two alleged traffickers have been arrested in Nigeria, including one accused of trafficking young Nigerian women to Italy for sexual exploitation and trapping them with fake debts.
   
• Italian authorities have arrested 12 people and seized over $10 million worth of assets as part of an investigation into fraudulent EU agricultural funding.
   
• Azerbaijan continues its crackdown on independent media, this week arresting two reporters with ties to foreign-funded outlets.
   
• Credit Suisse has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $511 million in a settlement for a U.S. tax evasion case.  

Cross-Border Journalism Training

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.

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

The deadline for applications is June 9. 

Find out more → 

OCCRP-partnered project nominated for Pulitzer
The Boston Globe has been nominated for a Pulitzer for its reporting on the financial mismanagement of a major hospital chain, as part of an investigation carried out in cooperation with OCCRP.