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Greetings from Sarajevo,

How far will the Kremlin go to splinter Europe? If the explosive Russian offer exposed in our new investigation was sincere, then the answer is 10,000 armed troops and half a trillion dollars. More below.

And a big thank you to everyone who joined our webinar on SLAPPs, vexatious lawsuits used to silence journalists — including those in the OCCRP network. You can get a recording of the virtual eventif you donate to OCCRP ([link removed]) before Monday.

Now, here’s the latest in global corruption:


** 🇪🇸 THE RUSSIAN OFFER 🇷🇺
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🔙 Let’s start with some backstory: In 2020, Spanish media reported on a secret meeting on the eve of Catalonia’s 2017 vote for independence between Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and a mysterious group of Russians.” There, it was reported that the Russians offered Puigdemont 10,000 armed troops to help the region break from Spain.

🕵️ What we revealed: In short, shocking new details about the Russian offer, how it was made — and by whom.

➡️ The Who: The Russians who visited Catalonia were led by Nikolai Sadovnikov, a former diplomat who reportedly claimed to have a direct line to Vladimir Putin. At least one Western intelligence agency called him “an actor of Russian parallel diplomacy.”

➡️ The How: Sadovnikov told Puigdemont that the Kremlin was willing to provide 10,000 armed troops and $500 billion to an independent Catalonia. In exchange, the Russian delegation requested that Catalonia pass legislation to become a global haven for cryptocurrency.
* Puigdemont reportedly “shit himself” at the offer. No promises were made.

➡️ The Ongoing Convo: The Catalan and Russian groups stayed in touch for months after the meeting. We obtained hundreds of text messages exchanged between Sadovnikov’s translator and аn associate of Puigdemont. Messages included:
* Talk of a potential meeting between Putin and Puigdemont.
* A photo of a deposit certificate at the Union Bank of Switzerland worth an astonishing $500 billion. Although the Russians appear to have used this to show the Catalans they were serious, experts told us it’s clearly a fake.

🌐 The Big Picture: It’s unclear if the $500 billion offer was serious. But the Russian effort to cultivate relationships with Catalonian separatists does show that Moscow was very serious about trying to foment division in Spain.

Kremlin-watchers have long warned that President Vladimir Putin believes undermining European unity is in Russia’s interest.


** 🇱🇧 THE SON OF LEBANON’S OFFSHORE GOVERNOR
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🔙 The backstory: The head of Lebanon’s central bank, Riad Salame, was long-rumored to have a fortune stashed overseas. Then in 2020, OCCRP published two investigations that uncovered his network of offshore companies, which invested in foreign assets worth nearly $100 million.

Later on, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein launched probes into Salame’s offshore wealth. Lebanese authorities charged him with illicit enrichment.

In both stories, we showed how Nady Salame, son of Riad, appeared to be connected to his father’s offshore wealth.

🕵️ What we revealed this week: Despite informal restrictions on withdrawals and exchanging Lebanese pounds for dollars, Nady Salame was able to send over $6.5 million abroad while most of his fellow citizens had their savings locked in the country. Nady was also able to convert large amounts of Lebanese pounds at the better official rate, as its street value collapsed. Read the full story. ([link removed])

🌐 The Big Picture: Riad Salame, who has led the central bank for nearly 30 years, has encouraged Lebanese citizens to bolster the economy by investing at home instead of sending money abroad. Meanwhile, our investigation reveals that Nady was moving his wealth to safety overseas.
Join the fight against corruption.
SUPPORT OCCRP ([link removed])


** THE OCCRP NETWORK
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🇷🇺 IStories: Our Russian partner told Fox News ([link removed]) that the Kremlin is offering veterans land in Eastern Ukraine to solidify its presence there.

🇮🇹 IRPIMedia: Our Italian member center reports that at least four commissioners ([link removed]) appointed by the government to oversee infrastructure projects are under investigation, some for serious crimes.

🇺🇦 Slidstvo.Info: Our Ukrainian member center is using open-source research to identify Ukrainians allegedly helping ([link removed]) Russian forces in the Donbas region.


** MORE OCCRP NEWS
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Foreign Policy — OCCRP Deputy Editor in Chief Miranda Patrucicjoins a panel hosted by FP ([link removed]) on the urgent need to protect journalists.

Awards! —One World Media shortlisted ([link removed]) our investigation into Nicaragua’s hidden deforestation crisis for its Environmental Impact prize. They also shortlisted OCCRP Senior Editor Miranda Patrucic for the International Journalism of the Year award!


** BIG TOBACCO
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Banning Menthol Smokes: The U.S. is preparing to ban menthol cigarettes, but as our story shows ([link removed]) , tobacco companies are adept at working around such restrictions. From The Conversation. ([link removed])

PMI Smoke-Free Push: OCCRP reporting has shown ([link removed]) that Philip Morris International is making a serious effort to shift its business towards “smoke free” products like IQOS as well as tobacco pouches. From Handelsblatt ([link removed]) .

Don’t forget tofill out our survey ([link removed]) if you’ve seen “smoke free” advertisements where you live.


** CORRUPTION NEWS
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Stealing Coke Secrets: A chemical engineer at Coca-Cola was sentenced to 14 years in prison on espionage and fraud charges ([link removed]) related to trade secrets she stole on behalf of the Chinese government.

Swiss Secrecy Prevails: A Swiss parliamentary commission decided ([link removed]) not to revise the controversial Article 47 of the country’s banking law, which criminalizes the disclosure of confidential banking information.

Czech Republic Eyes Magnitsky: The Czech Republic announced that it is consideringadopting its own version of the Magnitsky Act ([link removed]) , a U.S. law allowing the government to sanction individuals and businesses tied to human rights abuses.


** ORGANIZED CRIME NEWS
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Donkey Skins on Social Media: The sale of donkey skin, a key ingredient in many traditional Chinese medicines, is booming on social media forums ([link removed]) , which helps wildlife traffickers, according to experts.

Gulf Clan Leader Extradited: Violence erupted throughout Colombia after the government extradited ([link removed]) the head of the notorious drug trafficking organization “Clan del Golfo” to the United States, where he faces a life sentence.

Haitian Gang Leader Charged: The leader of Haiti’s“400 Mawozo gang” has been indicted ([link removed]) for his alleged role in the kidnapping of 16 American missionaries.
P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.

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