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Greetings from Sarajevo,
We just co-published a historic interview with the anonymous whistleblower behind the Panama Papers, one of the world’s largest investigations into illicit money flows.
In the Q&A, the whistleblower shares views on a wide array of issues, including the rise of authoritarianism, the ongoing threat of corporate crime, and why the Biden administration should pardon Edward Snowden.
But first, we want to thank members of our Accomplice program for joining this week’s webinar with Russian journalist Roman Anin. Your questions were fantastic, and helped guide a lively discussion about the current state of Russian journalism as well as how to best support independent media in repressive countries.
If you make a donation now, we can send you a recording of the webinar upon request.
Now, here’s the latest in crime and corruption:
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🗣 The Whistleblower Speaks: In 2015, a whistleblower known as “John Doe” leaked more than 2.6 terabytes of corporate data to two reporters at the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer.
The trove of documents, originating from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, provided the basis for one of the biggest collaborative journalism projects in history, known as the Panama Papers. It exposed the secret wealth of political elites — including heads of state — around the world.
John Doe has only spoken out publicly once before, in the form of a manifesto published four weeks after the Panama Papers emerged — until now.
Today, Obermaier and Obermayer, who now work for Der Spiegel, have published an interview with the whistleblower. OCCRP is also running the Q&A, alongside media partners around the world who worked on the Panama Papers. >>Read the full interview here.
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🇷🇺 Abramovich and the Russian War Machine: Despite denials, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s companies have supplied materials for the Russian military for more than a decade, including to factories that produce explosives and tanks.
Using procurement data, OCCRP found that subsidiaries of Evraz, the U.K.-registered steelmaking company owned by the billionaire businessman and former owner of Chelsea FC, have directly and indirectly supplied the country’s armed forces. >>Read the full story.
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Join the fight against corruption.
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🇭🇺 Atlatszo: Residents of the Hungarian town of Göd have complained of water pollution for years that may be related to a nearby Samsung battery factory.
Our member center requested data about the water quality there, but the local authority appealed the decision, citing the factory as a “priority investment” for the national economy.
🇧🇷 Revista Piaui: Our Brazilian partner is tracking social media users who post disinformation that targets left-wing governments in South America.
🇧🇬 Bird.Bg: After our Bulgarian member center reported on a business deal between a Russian oligarch’s investment fund and the Bulgarian government, the state said it would terminate the 1-billion-euro agreement.
🇰🇬 Kloop: Kyrgyz police questioned an editor from our member center after a former opposition lawmaker quoted their reporting in a Facebook post. The episode raises further questions about eroding press freedom in the Central Asian country.
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THE KILLING OF A JOURNALIST
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🇨🇿 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival — OCCRP’s documentary “The Killing of a Journalist” recently had its European premiere in the Czech Republic, where the film and the tearful parents of murdered journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírová received a standing ovation in the crowded theater.
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ANNIVERSARY OF AN INVESTIGATION
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#PegasusProject: This past Monday was the one-year anniversary of the Pegasus Project, which exposed mass abuse of military-grade spyware developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group.
Since the project was published in July 2021, NSO has been banned in several countries, including in the United States, where American companies are now prohibited from doing business with the spyware firm.
This month, Apple also unveiled a new set of security features that can protect iPhone users from malicious cyberattacks, including Pegasus spyware.
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Arrest in Murder of Dutch Journalist: Spanish police arrested a suspect in the murder of Peter R. de Vries, a prominent Dutch crime journalist who was shot on the streets of Amsterdam in broad daylight last year.
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Beirut Blast Lawsuit: Victims of Beirut’s deadly 2020 port explosion have filed a $250 million lawsuit in Texas, accusing a U.K.-based company of negligent behavior that led to the blast that killed more than 230 people.
The lawsuit cites OCCRP’s investigation into the opaque corporate structures that enabled the people and companies that brought the explosive material to Beirut.
Passport Scheme Charges: Four people in Cyprus, including the former head of the Cypriot parliament, were charged with corruption after being caught helping an undercover reporter posing as a convicted criminal obtain a passport through the country’s “golden visa” program.
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P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.
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