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Hello John,
A luxury property development is rising in the exclusive ski resort town of Krasnaya Polyana, near the Russian coastal city of Sochi. Delving into its finances, reporters have found all roads lead to Belarusian dictator Aleksander Lukashenko — and his “right-hand man,” Viktor Sheiman. Read on for this and more of the latest in global organized crime and corruption. |
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| | | Fit For A King? A Lavish Complex Is Being Built in Russia, and All Roads Lead to Lukashenko |
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Newly obtained documents reveal that the financiers of a luxury development near the Russian resort city of Sochi have ties to Viktor Sheiman, a Belarusian regime enforcer often described as dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s “right-hand man.” In the exclusive ski resort town of Krasnaya Polyana, construction is underway on a 2.3 billion ruble ($28 million) hotel and restaurant complex, which will boast VIP suites, swimming pools, both Russian and Turkish saunas, a movie theater, and other amenities. The development also prioritizes security: Documents show it will feature an anti-ram steel fence, six guard posts, thermal imagers, a drone-suppression system, and radioactive material detection technology. The site had belonged to the Belarusian government, which acquired it in 2009 in a land swap deal with Russia. In 2021, it was held by Belarus Sanatorium, a government institution. However, reporters obtained a secret directive from that year which showed Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko ordered the land to be sold to a recently-established Russian company called Komplex-Invest, owned — briefly, on paper — by 65-year-old pensioner Elena Borteva. The price was set at the land registry valuation price of 970 million rubles ($13 million) — far below market value. And in a follow-up directive, Lukashenko slashed the already-low price in half. Later, Borteva’s share in the company was reduced to one-tenth of one percent, with the remainder taken over by Belarusian company Regionalny Poryadok, headed by Viachaslau Vasilyeu, who worked as a “senior inspector” for regime-connected private security firm Gardservis — which is owned on paper by a longtime Sheiman associate. However, leaked internal memos show its managers reported directly to Sheiman. Almost every single loan tied to the Krasnaya Polyana complex that could be identified by reporters had a link to Lukashenko or Sheiman. Reporters were able to trace the origins of about $16 million out of a total $35 million in loans. Read the full story → |
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| | | For Sviatlana Yatskova, investigative journalist at the Belarusian Investigative Center, the Krasnaya Polyana story began with the name of a company in Hong Kong: “Ordinary, unremarkable, mentioned among many others in a set of documents that reached me by chance,” she told OCCRP Weekly.
“None of those papers were about property. When I checked Hong Kong’s corporate records, I found that for a period of time, the company was owned by a Belarusian man, unknown to the press and business circles.” But she and her colleagues found that this ordinary man was related to someone close to a powerful figure inside Belarus — a discovery that blew open their investigation. From there, they began to examine how the company earned money and where it went. Two parallel stories emerged: one about Belarusian-Chinese trade schemes, and another about construction in Sochi connected to people with ties to the Belarusian leadership. |
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| In Her Own Words
“The main difficulty was that almost nothing about such assets is ever meant to be public — information on high-level properties simply doesn’t appear in open sources. These are projects protected by design, built through layers of intermediaries and silent contractors. We had to piece the story together from fragments: documents shared by activists, financial records, and traces left in corporate filings. Every small clue had to be checked from multiple sides. We worked closely with investigative partners, who helped verify data and trace financial and ownership links across several jurisdictions. Collaboration was key to seeing the full picture. Verifying what we found on the ground was even harder. We managed to film the first footage of the actual residence. The site is under surveillance, and the people connected to it are not used to being observed. In such conditions, even confirming what you already know becomes an act of persistence. In the end, it wasn’t just about uncovering a property — it was about understanding how the system hides what it values most, and how, despite all of that, traces still remain. There was a moment when the story stopped being abstract. For weeks it was just data — numbers, registries, chains of ownership. Then we reached the location and saw what it all meant in reality. Walls, guards. That moment turned information into something tangible — a reminder that behind every document there are real people and real actions. It’s the moment when the story stopped being just data and became reality. Another thing that stayed with me was how many people contributed quietly — activists, researchers, those who shared fragments of data. Inside Belarus, stories like this cannot be published at all; even reading them can carry risk. Abroad, they add another layer to understanding how power in Belarus really operates — how loyalty is rewarded, how assets are hidden, how influence crosses borders. People will see it as proof that corruption in Belarus does not stop at the border: it travels, it invests, it hides — and it leaves traces. I hope the story helps others see what the network built around Lukashenko really looks like. He presents himself as someone fighting corruption, but our investigations show that he and his closest circle have built and sustained it. The same names keep appearing — in business deals, construction projects, and offshore records. Real journalism about Belarus still exists — often from exile, often under pressure — but it continues. Behind every story there’s quiet, careful work by people who don’t want the truth to disappear. We can’t change much right now, but we can keep a record. All of us work far from home, yet every story is still about it. Piece by piece, name by name, the truth about Belarus is still being preserved.” |
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| Our Stories Have ImpactVanuatu Central Bank Revokes Pacific Private Bank Int’l License
Vanuatu’s central bank has revoked the international license of Pacific Private Bank after it was allegedly used to extract tens of millions from cryptocurrency investors. The institution was the subject of an OCCRP and 15min investigation, which revealed how the founders of Lithuanian crypto-finance firm Bankera acquired and used the bank to siphon funds from an Initial Coin Offering, later using investor funds to buy up luxury property and take out loans for personal spending. Suspected German Scammer Arrested in Georgia
A German national linked to a Tbilisi-based scam call center was detained by Georgian authorities in mid-October, accused of commercial and organized fraud. He faces possible extradition to Germany. The arrest follows our Scam Empire investigation, published in March this year, which exposed the operation that defrauded thousands of people worldwide. |
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| | | EXCLUSIVE: Sanctioned Iranian Banker Owns 34-Million-Pound North London Mansion |
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| Ali Ansari, also known as Aliakbar Ansari, is a sanctioned Iranian tycoon accused by the U.K. government of funding Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Land registry records obtained by OCCRP show that the 56-year-old owns a 34-million-pound mansion in an upscale North London neighbourhood — a property previously not included in assessments of his portfolio. Last month, U.K. magazine Private Eye detailed 12 properties — purchased for 73 million pounds in 2013 — linked to Ansari or his Isle of Man-based Birch Ventures Limited. Read the full story → |
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| | Congolese NGOs Pursue Action Against US Company Awarded Lake Kivu Methane Concession |
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| Two Congolese civil society groups have launched a legal discovery action in the United States against a Texas-based oil and gas firm, which won the largest concession to extract methane from Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lake Kivu. The 2022 government-led auction of methane gas blocks in Lake Kivu was dogged by criticism about a lack of transparency, as well as concerns that a poorly-managed extraction process could pose a lethal threat to local residents. The filing alleges the controversial bidding process broke laws, and states that extraction posed “risk of catastrophic explosion that could expose the millions of people living on the shores of the lake to fatal gases.” Read the full story → |
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| | Ukraine Restricts Anti-Corruption Activist’s Movement |
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| Rights groups in Ukraine are speaking out about the “ongoing and escalating judicial harassment” of Anti-Corruption Action Center co-founder Vitaliy Shabunin, branding his case “politically motivated.” In July, the State Bureau of Investigation brought Shabunin before a Kyiv court on allegations of “evading military service” and “fraud,” covering a period when he was seconded to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP). Shabunin is a serving sergeant in the 43rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, and has been barred from leaving his unit’s deployment area except for duty. The court ordered him to surrender his foreign passport, and prohibited contact with NACP officials, including a former commander, and servicemen from his 2022 unit. “How long will this disgrace continue?” asked Tetiana Pechonchyk, a member of the supervisory board at Right to Protection, a leading Ukrainian human rights organization. The Shabunin case comes amid broader discord over Ukraine’s anti-corruption system, which has been the subject of international opprobrium and domestic protests in recent months. Read the full story → |
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| | | | OCCRP Member Center KRIK: Convicts and Criminals Among Serbian Gov’t Supporters Facing Off Against Protesters |
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| On November 1, tens of thousands gathered in the Serbian city of Novi Sad to mark the one-year anniversary of a train station canopy collapse that killed 16 people. The tragic incident was believed to be the result of shoddy construction — and of corruption. The episode sparked student-led protests, which escalated into mass demonstrations. The embattled Serbian government has drawn support from former convicts and suspected criminals, who confronted demonstrators and at times deployed physical violence. OCCRP’s Serbian member center, KRIK, has identified more than a dozen individuals who have been present at a pro-government encampment, or at protests, and who have previously been involved in criminal cases — either having been convicted of or investigated for serious crimes. One of those men was Đorđe Prelić, a football hooligan who was convicted for participating in the 2009 murder of French fan Brice Taton. He admitted he was present at a makeshift encampment outside the presidential building in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, where government supporters have gathered. The camp has become notoriously dangerous for anyone perceived to have anti-government views, and acts as a staging ground to launch counter-protests against anti-corruption demonstrations. "I hired myself. I went for patriotic reasons," Prelić said. "I would never take money for something like that, even if someone offered it to me. I have no knowledge that anyone goes there for money. I go because I love Serbia.” In an October 22 resolution, the European Parliament expressed grave concern about “multiple reports of individuals with criminal backgrounds being mobilised by the ruling party in counter-protest activities, attacking protesters with pyrotechnics, further escalating tensions, violence and polarisation in the country.” Read the full story → |
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| | | Europe’s Cocaine Supply Goes Underground |
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| With wholesale prices in the gutter across much of Europe, drug smugglers are attempting to manipulate supply, including through stockpiling drugs in underground bunkers.
OCCRP spoke with more than a dozen top law enforcement officers and drug experts across Europe and Latin America to piece together a picture of the evolving narcotics landscape in 2025. Read the full story → |
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| | | | Several Bosnian officials, including the former head of the local anti-corruption task force and a former lawmaker who taught at a private university, are among eight men accused of sexually exploiting two underage girls from an orphanage in Tuzla, in the country’s northeast.
Serbian prosecutors have reiterated their request for OCCRP member center KRIK to hand over the recording of a conversation between the director of Telekom Srbija and the incumbent United Group CEO. The pair were recorded discussing ways to undermine one of the country’s last independent broadcasters. Prosecutors are threatening KRIK with financial penalties for non-compliance.
The U.S. has sanctioned the Mexico-based Bhardwaj Human Trafficking Organization, a group it accuses of smuggling migrants from four continents into the U.S.
A major corruption trial got underway in Buenos Aires this week, in which former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and nearly 90 other defendants face charges of involvement in an alleged bribery network tied to public works contracts.
At least 16 people including journalists and social media users have been detained on incitement charges in Cambodia over comments made online about the government’s handling of the border conflict with Thailand in July and August this year, with three among them facing treason charges, which can attract prison sentences of up to 15 years.
The former Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders (who also served as the EU Commissioner for Justice) has been charged with money laundering, following a probe into almost one million euros of unexplained cash deposits in his bank account.
Polish authorities have announced a “very serious” breach of personal data after online loan platform SuperGrosz was hacked.
A cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering network spanning Cyprus, Spain, and Germany was dismantled this week, with nine suspects detained for their part in an operation that allegedly scammed hundreds of victims out of more than 600 million euros ($688.9 million).
The top global wildlife watchdog has recommended that India temporarily halt the import of endangered species, after uncovering irregularities in the acquisition of animals by the Vantara conservation facility, which is operated by the son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
Proceedings against French cement giant Lafarge began in Paris this week, with the company accused of “funding terrorism” through $5.9 million in 2013-14 “security payments” to armed groups in Syria — including the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and the al-Nusrah Front — to keep a local plant running.
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| | | Ever wondered how wildlife crimes happen in Europe?
OCCRP Netherlands Editor Ingrid Gercama recently spoke with the Incubator for Media Education and Development about wildlife trafficking and poaching in the Balkans, and how this intersects with organized crime, sharing insights from her previous freelance work on the illegal trade of animals, from quails to lion cubs.
Watch the interview → |
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