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Greetings from Sarajevo,
It’s been a busy week for the OCCRP network. We’re continuing to publish new #SuisseSecrets stories and add more data into #RussianAssetTracker.
Don’t forget that we’re hosting a webinar today ([link removed]) that will focus on tracking the assets of Russian oligarchs and enablers of the Putin regime.
If you make a donation now ([link removed]) , you can still register for the event, which starts at 5 p.m. Central European Summer Time / 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. We can also send a recording of the webinar if you can't attend — just make sure to donate by end of day.
Now for the latest in global crime and corruption:
** NEW OCCRP REPORTING
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🇱🇹 The Gang That Enslaved Lithuanians in Ireland 🇮🇪 — Scores of Lithuanians were trafficked into Ireland and Northern Ireland under the illusion that good jobs would be waiting for them.
But when they arrived, they quickly realized that they were there to sell drugs. Those who refused were met with horrific violence.
The gang that enslaved these people is a Lithuanian-run outfit known as “The Russians.” Read the full story. ([link removed])
This was a collaborative effort with VICE World News and Siena.
***
🇺🇦 Saving Ukrainian Culture — Academic institutions and museums across Ukraine have been working to safeguard collections from Russian soldiers, whose government has denied the existence of a distinct Ukrainian identity.
OCCRP reports on the threat of looting and how volunteers are working together to protect art and artifacts that represent Ukrainian culture. Read the full story. ([link removed])
***
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan’s Secret Telecom King — If you want a mobile phone in Turkmenistan, you have to sign up with Altyn Asyr, a company with notoriously poor service.
We reveal that this monopoly is run by a relative of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who ceded the presidency of the country’s autocratic regime to his son last month. Read the full story ([link removed]) .
👣 A Path of Corruption
* State Support: Altyn Asyr’s poor service isn’t the result of a lack of investment. In 2011 and 2012, Berdimuhamedov authorized spending over $170 million to overhaul the state company’s communications infrastructure.
* Secret Stocks: Shortly after the investment was approved, Berdimuhamedov turned the state-owned Altyn Asyr into a closed joint-stock company that keeps its shareholders secret. Its top executive — the ruling family’s relative — was appointed in secret.
* Competition Banned: Altyn Asyr wasn’t always a monopoly. Russian tech giant MTS was Turkmenistan’s most popular mobile phone operator until the government kicked it out of the country in 2017.
🌐 The Big Picture: This investigation shows that, in addition to the Berdimuhamedov family’s airtight control of Turkmenistan’s political system, they also appear to have grabbed its mobile service market.
This was a collaborative effort with Turkmen.News and Gundogar.org
***
🇻🇪 Catering to Finance Bros in Venezuela — Credit Suisse banked some of the biggest hitters from Venezuela’s financial sector during this period, some of whom kept their accounts long after allegations of wrongdoing were leveled against them.
This Suisse Secrets investigation also shows that a former Credit Suisse employee played a role in developing arbitrage methods that would lay the foundation for the so-called permuta market, which contributed to the economic catastrophe currently engulfing the country. Read the full story. ([link removed])
What is Permuta? This complex system emerged around 2003 when Venezuela effectively banned Venezuelans from acquiring U.S. dollars unless they went through a government body that greatly overvalued the bolivar.
A parallel black market in dollars quickly sprang up. But so did an unusual third market, known as the permuta, or “swap” market, which took advantage of a loophole: While buying U.S. dollars on the free market was illegal, selling stocks and bonds abroad in exchange for dollars was not.
Venezuelans could go to brokerage houses, known as casas de bolsa, and buy government bonds in bolivars. Buying and selling stocks or bonds at different rates, a financial practice known as arbitrage, allowed brokers to earn astronomical sums.
🌐 The Big Picture: This isn’t the first investigation showing how Credit Suisse helped Venezuelan elites siphon money out of the country. One of our first Suisse Secrets stories ([link removed]) revealed how Venezuelans accused of looting the country's state oil company stashed their ill-gotten wealth in accounts with Credit Suisse.
** THE OCCRP NETWORK
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🇭🇺 Atlatszo: One of our Hungarian member centers obtained an official document showing that a government minister prepared a secret contract ([link removed]) with international consultancy firm Rothschild & Co. that may have been related to a controversial Russian-built nuclear power plant.
🇷🇸 CINS: One of our Serbian member centers published an interactive database ([link removed]) showing the financial activity of political parties. Some of the entries show potential corruption.
🇺🇦 Slidstvo.Info: Our Ukrainian member center reports that a MP from the ultra-nationalist Svoboda party proposed a law that could ban all activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine ([link removed]) and nationalize its property.
Join the fight against corruption.
SUPPORT OCCRP ([link removed])
** OCCRP HAS IMPACT
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🇱🇧 Lebanon’s Offshore Governor Targeted: Authorities in three European countries have frozen assets worth roughly $120 million ([link removed]) as part of an investigation into Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salame.
Several of the frozen properties correspond to those uncovered by this OCCRP investigation ([link removed]) published two years ago.
** OCCRP EVENTS
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🇮🇹 Perugia! Members of the OCCRP network will attend the Perugia International Journalism Festival, a major summit for journalism. Here are three of the panels our journalists will be speaking on:
* The New Organized Crime ([link removed]) with Pavla Holcova and Paul Radu
* Suisse Secrets: Lifting the veil of banking secrecy ([link removed]) with Cecilia Anesi, Frederik Obermaier, and Bastian Obermayer
* Global anti-corruption consortium: how non-traditional partnerships accelerate impact ([link removed]) with Camille Eiss, Frederik Obermaier, Maira Martini, and Drew Sullivan
* Follow the money: crypto edition ([link removed]) with Ana Poenariu, Jan Strozyk, and Hakan Tanriverdi
** MORE CORRUPTION NEWS
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Honduras to Extradite Ex-Pres: The Honduran Supreme Court approved the extradition of former President Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado ([link removed]) to the United States, where he could face a life sentence for drug trafficking and firearms charges.
Bolsonaro Charged: Brazilian prosecutorscharged President Jair Bolsonaro with illicit enrichment ([link removed]) in a case involving his former maid, who allegedly received a salary as a government employee.
** MORE ORGANIZED CRIME NEWS
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Wave of Violence in El Salvador: El Salvador has declared a state of emergency ([link removed]) to combat criminal groups after 73 homicides in just one weekend.
Guatemala Gang Sanctioned: The U.S. sanctioned seven suspected high-ranking members ([link removed]) of the Los Huistas, a prominent Guatemalan criminal gang, accusing them of global illicit drug trade and cooperation with Mexico’s Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels.
P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.
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