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July 31, 2026
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A warm welcome to our new readers from Crédit Mutuel, the Council of Europe, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Thanks for joining this community.

This week, reporters tracked down a fugitive U.S. healthcare fraud mastermind, and found him living large in Russia.


** New Investigations
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** The Alleged Mastermind of a $2 Billion U.S. Telemedicine Scam Is Enjoying the Luxury Life in Russia
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Los Angeles-born Brian Sutton, 34, is wanted by the authorities for allegedly masterminding one of the largest-ever fraud schemes in the U.S. — and is living freely in Russia.

Between 2015 and 2022, a criminal group used dozens of “mutant pharmacies” across the U.S. to bill medical insurance companies a staggering $2 billion for fraudulent prescriptions, collecting over $758 million in the process. Vast sums were laundered through offshore accounts, with profits reinvested in the operation or distributed among the scheme’s architects.

Reporters from OCCRP’s Russian member center, Important Stories, tracked down Sutton, the alleged leader of the group, and found that he is living a life of unabashed luxury in a country in the grips of war and dictatorship.

Among his assets are an elite villa near Moscow, a fleet of luxury cars, and a stake in an MMA club tied to a member of Russian parliament whose family is considered close to Chechen strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

“The American justice system will be unable to reach Sutton in Russia,” former director of the local chapter of Transparency International Ilya Shumanov told OCCRP.

“There is no extradition treaty between the U.S. and Russia, and cooperation between law enforcement agencies remains exclusively in the area of ​​counterterrorism … The chance of his extradition to the United States is zero.”

Read the full story → ([link removed] )


** Pentagon Fuel Subcontractor Owned by Alleged Front for U.S.-Blacklisted Brothers
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A Cypriot firm became a subcontractor on a deal to supply fuel to the U.S. military. Eight months later, a U.S. Treasury official accused its owner of being a front for the Rahmes, who were sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged corruption in Lebanon’s energy sector.

Contracts, court documents, public records, and corporate filings show multiple business connections between the sanctioned Rahme brothers and Ibrahim Zaouk, the owner of the Pentagon subcontractor.

The findings raise questions over whether the U.S. government indirectly paid a company that was secretly benefiting the Rahmes.

In August 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded a $2.7 million contract to Swiss-based Rhomax International to supply fuel to the U.S. consulate in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Documents filed with the U.S. government show Rhomax subcontracted storage and distribution of the fuel to Tavrons Ltd, Zaouk’s oil logistics company.

Separately, just eight months later, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a Dubai company owned by Zaouk, ZR Energy DMCC, for its alleged role in a Lebanese fuel scandal linked to damage to power plants and electricity outages.

At a press conference announcing the sanctions, a Treasury official said that, despite being owned on paper by a “business associate” — a reference to Zaouk — the company was really controlled by Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme.

A lawyer for Zaouk denied he had ever acted as a “front man” for the Rahmes. The Rahmes’ lawyer said the U.S. sanctions were based on false information and denied any ties to the subcontractor Tavrons.

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** OCCRP Has Impact
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** Lithuania Reviews Belarusian Businessman After Report
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The country’s State Security Department will reassess whether Andrei Shimanovich poses a threat to national security.

This comes after an investigation from OCCRP and our Belarusian partner Buro revealed that apps developed by Shimanovich’s Lithuanian firm appear to have been developed and maintained in Belarus — and some sent user data to companies in Belarus and Russia.

The Migration Department requested the review and told OCCRP that the National Cyber Security Center and Criminal Police Bureau have been asked to examine apps linked to Shimanovich, including an assessment of their code, security vulnerabilities, and potential for malicious use.

“After receiving all necessary information from other state institutions, the Migration Department will decide on the legal status in Lithuania of the foreigner named in the publication,” the department said.

Shimanovich has held a Lithuanian temporary residence permit as a startup founder since 2023.

Read the full story → ([link removed])

The joint Buro and OCCRP investigation ([link removed]) revealed that mobile applications from Shimanovich’s Lithuanian app developer company Appvillis used code apparently developed by Mobyrix, his Belarus-based developer.

Technical analysis indicated ([link removed]) that some of the apps sent data to companies in Belarus and Russia, raising concerns for users, including exiled Belarusian activists.

The apps include Nicegram (with 50 million-plus downloads), and eSIM Plus (over one million downloads). Their listed developer is Shimanovich’s Lithuanian company Appvillis, but investigators found code and other technical links connecting the products to Mobyrix.


** Press Freedom
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** Azerbaijan Jails 9 Journalists and Activists for up to 15 Years
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The crackdown deals a further blow to the country’s remaining independent press.

The sentences were handed down to figures associated with governance think tank Democratic Initiatives Institute, the pro-democracy Third Republic Platform, and Toplum TV, a channel known for its independent investigative reporting on political corruption.

All nine defendants were convicted on charges of currency smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, and organized crime involving the alleged misuse of foreign funding. The court ordered them to forfeit personal assets and barred them from holding some professional positions for two and a half years.

The defendants rejected the allegations, saying the state had fabricated the charges to destroy independent journalism.

Anthony Bellanger, general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, described the verdict as “pure and simple government repression and intimidation.”

Over two dozen media organizations have been targeted by Azerbaijani authorities over the past three years, including prominent investigative outlets like Meydan TV, Abzas Media, and Kanal 13.

Since late last year, 12 journalists linked to Meydan TV, OCCRP’s Azerbaijan member center, have been on trial for a range of alleged financial crimes ([link removed]) , which carry potential prison sentences of up to 12 years.

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** More OCCRP Reporting
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** UK Freezes $30 million in London Properties Owned by a Man Under Investigation in Singapore Money Laundering Case
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Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has frozen over a dozen luxury apartments owned by Xu Haika, a Chinese national who has also acquired Cambodian and Vanuatu citizenship, and who has been identified as a suspect in a $2.3 billion Singapore money laundering case.

Land registry records shared with OCCRP by Transparency International UK show that the NCA issued freeze orders on Xu Haika’s property portfolio in early June.

OCCRP first reported ([link removed]) on Xu Haika’s U.K. real estate in November 2025.

He stands accused by Singaporean authorities of involvement in a large-scale operation that laundered the proceeds of illegal gambling and cyber scams. He fled the city after law enforcement raids saw 10 people arrested and $2.3 billion worth of assets seized. All those arrested were reportedly from China but had acquired various passports.

While Xu Haika has not been criminally charged in the U.K., the NCA freezing order was granted under legislation that allows law enforcement to target property suspected of being derived from unlawful conduct.

Xu Haika did not reply to questions sent to an accounting firm that registered his U.K. companies.

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** Head of FinCEN Leaving to Join Citibank as Global Head of Sanctions
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Andrea Gacki has served as director of FinCEN since 2023. She’s the second top anti-money laundering regulator in the last five years to leave and join Citibank.

She will become Citigroup’s global head of sanctions on October 1, and will join the bank’s independent risk management leadership team, according to an internal announcement shared with OCCRP.

Her jump to the private sector was shared with Citi employees after markets closed on Thursday by Tom Anderson, the bank’s chief compliance officer.

Gacki has served as head of FinCEN since September 2023. Prior to that she was the director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. government sanctions on both individuals and corporate entities.

Gacki and Treasury officials declined to comment on the move, which came less than a week after she endured a bipartisan grilling by members of the House Financial Services Committee.

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** Cousin of Georgian Security Chief Gets 12 Years for Call Center Bribes
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Andria Liluashvili was sentenced to 12 years in prison in a secretive closed-court hearing for facilitating bribery and laundering millions of dollars on behalf of a network of fraudulent call centers.

Liluashvili’s sentencing is part of a high-stakes corruption scandal that has reached into the upper echelons of the country’s security apparatus. The verdict marks a dramatic turn in a broader government crackdown on transnational call center fraud.

Between 2021 and 2022, the former security chief, Grigol Liluashvili, allegedly received a total of $1.365 million in monthly kickbacks funneled through his cousin in exchange for shielding scam call center operations from law enforcement.

The court ordered a massive asset seizure, including 70 properties valued at approximately 35 million Georgian lari (about $13 million), 17 vehicles, 125 luxury items including fine art and high-end jewelry, and numerous bank accounts used to conceal and transfer illicit funds in Georgia and abroad.

The court proceedings were shrouded in secrecy, and defense lawyers were required to sign strict non-disclosure agreements under threat of criminal prosecution and up to a year in prison.

Lana Tsertsvadze, the defense attorney representing Andria Liluashvili, forcefully rejected the verdict, claiming that the gag order had been used to shield the case from public scrutiny and adding that “there is absolutely no evidence that any form of bribery or patronage took place.”

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** Owner of Company Spearheading Kyrgyzstan’s Planned ‘Eco-City’ Had Business Links with Official’s Son
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Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has long championed Asman, a planned multibillion-dollar “eco-city” on the pristine shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, as the crown jewel of his national development strategy.

Kyrgyz company RedStone Group is spearheading the project, and corporate registry records show the company is owned by Chinese national Tu Yunfei, who previously co-owned a company with the son of the head of Kyrgyzstan’s National Investment Agency — a state entity involved in the development.

Officials have presented the ambitious infrastructure project as a symbol of a modern Kyrgyzstan.

After earlier talks with potential investors from France, South Korea, and India fizzled out, the Kyrgyz government relaunched the project in November 2025 and announced RedStone’s involvement. However, an August 2025 draft investment agreement obtained by reporters shows RedStone, incorporated in Kyrgyzstan in July 2024, had already been selected before the announcement.

The draft agreement shows that RedStone pledged a $20 billion investment in the eco-city — a sum that is close to Kyrgyzstan’s entire 2025 gross domestic product — and that it would in turn receive the rights to utilize 4,015 hectares of land for 49 years.

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** OCCRP Video
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** How One Survivor Escaped Cambodia’s Scam Factories
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What happens inside Cambodia's scam industry? Journalist Vicheika Kann spoke with a survivor who escaped a scam factory after a friend deceived her and "sold" her into a compound for $7,000.

Learn more about the techniques she was forced to use to scam people in the US, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore — and how the scam industry is constantly evolving.


** News Briefs
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* Montenegro sentenced ([link removed]) Radoje Zvicer, the head of the notorious Kavač clan, to serve 40 years in prison for aggravated murder and other charges. While the Podgorica Higher Court’s official statement referred to the defendants using only initials, Montenegrin news outlets identified Zvicer and 10 co-defendants by their full names.
* Ukraine’s anti-corruption crackdown continues ([link removed]) , with a former executive at the state nuclear operator set to face trial on charges of demanding more than $147,000 in kickbacks from private contractors.
* Polish prosecutors are seeking ([link removed] ) the temporary arrest and extradition of former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro from the U.S. to face criminal charges over the alleged abuse of power and mismanagement of public funds.
* U.S. authorities have sanctioned ([link removed]) four individuals and nine entities tied to Iranian financier Babak Morteza Zanjani, in a crackdown on a global network allegedly used to evade sanctions and move funds for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The news follows an OCCRP investigation ([link removed]) early this year into an apparent front for the notorious Iranian financier.
* Four foreign nationals and five companies have been charged ([link removed]) in Georgia with operating a transnational money-laundering scheme that funneled 21.5 million Georgian lari ($8.2 million) in illicit proceeds through the country’s financial system.
* A foreign national who owned laboratories in the U.S. has been extradited ([link removed]) from the Middle East after three years on the lam, and will face charges in the U.S. over his alleged role in a nationwide scheme to bill Medicare $547 million for medically unnecessary cancer tests.
* The mayor of a small town in southern France was placed ([link removed]) under police protection after receiving bullets in his mailbox, which authorities say is part of a string of violent incidents — including the torching of a social media influencer’s car — linked to Marseille's “DZ Mafia.”
* Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been charged ([link removed]) with aiding terrorist activity and placed on an international wanted list by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), which alleges Durov’s platform has failed to take action on channels, chats, and bots allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence services and designated terrorist or extremist organizations.
* A specialist British law enforcement team, The Merseyside Organized Crime Partnership, has put ([link removed]) 108 organized crime figures behind bars for a combined total of 851 years and seized drugs worth up to $93.6 million since 2021, the National Crime Agency (NCA) announced. Those convicted included members of a cocaine delivery service that advertised to about 9,000 contacts in Liverpool, according to the announcement.
* French prosecutors have requested ([link removed]) that more than 20 individuals and corporate entities — including BNP Paribas, family members of former Gabonese President Omar Bongo, and the wife of President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso — stand trial at the Paris Criminal Court for alleged offenses including embezzlement.
* The EU has imposed ([link removed]) a new round of sanctions targeting individuals and entities linked to multibillion-dollar Cambodian conglomerate Prince Holding Group — including its chair Chen Zhi, as well as a Myanmar militia — over alleged involvement in large-scale cyber-scam operations built on human trafficking. A Prince Group spokesperson previously told OCCRP the conglomerate is “innocent of the wild and unfounded accusations made by the U.S government, parroted in jurisdictions around the world.”



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