NEW INVESTIGATIONS

🇿🇦 Insights Into the Lion Bone Trade 🦁 Did you know that South Africa has the world’s only commercial lion-farming industry?

Thousands of big cats are raised in captive breeding facilities, often in horrendous conditions. Most are slaughtered for their bones, a key ingredient in traditional Chinese medicines, which are believed — without scientific evidence — to have healing properties and promote virility.

In this investigation, OCCRP followed the trail of the lion bone industry, from the horrors of the breeding facilities all the way to one of the world's most notorious wildlife trafficking groups.
>> Read the full story

🌐 The Big Picture: While the lion bone trade was legal in South Africa until a 2019 moratorium, many of the companies buying the bones can be linked to a Laotian wildlife trafficking cartel that also trades in endangered species like rhinos and elephants. Experts say the legal trade in animal parts allows these groups to thrive.

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🇳🇪 Shady Nigerien Arms Dealer Strikes Again 🇸🇳 Aboubakar Hima is an arms dealer accused of skimming hundreds of millions of dollars from inflated deals in his home country of Niger. He’s also wanted in Nigeria for fraudulent arms deals there. 

Now, OCCRP and Haaretz have found that Hima might be up to his old tricks in Senegal.
>> Read the full story.

🌐 The Big Picture: Hima himself has had millions of dollars seized by U.S. and South African authorities over illicit arms deals. He’s also wanted in Nigeria for his alleged role in fraudulent arms deals with the government.

After all of these scandals, how did Hima manage to insert himself in yet another major weapons contract?

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🇸🇾 UN Funds Assad-Linked Firms in Syria — A recent study analyzed just how much United Nations procurement money has gone to human rights abusers or Syrians connected to the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Researchers found that the U.N. has paid tens of millions of dollars to Syrian companies owned by or linked to such figures.
>> Read the full story.

THE OCCRP NETWORK

🇷🇺 IStories: Our Russian member center reported on relatives of prisoners of war in Ukraine, who are left to track down the whereabouts of their loved ones on their own, often relying on Ukrainian media and government sources for information. 

🇺🇦 Slidstvo.Info: Our Ukrainian member center made a video about the Russian invasion of Kamianka village in the Kharkiv region. The entire village was reportedly razed; several bodies were found in a basement.  

🇱🇰 Watchdog: Our Sri Lankan partner published an in-depth explainer about the country’s complex and unprecedented economic crisis. 

🇳🇦 The Namibian: Our Namibian member center reported that the whistleblower behind the country’s #Fishrot scandal received a serious death threat, according to unnamed intelligence sources. 

• Not familiar with Fishrot? A consortium of journalists exposed how an Icelandic fishing company bribed Namibian officials for access to the country’s waters. 

🇷🇴 Context.ro: Our Romanian member center interviewed the head of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the agency tasked with investigating fraud and abuse against the EU budget. Some highlights of the interview include:

• The EPPO is strategizing how it will investigate acquisitions of COVID-19 vaccines. 

• The EU loses roughly 60 billion euros to VAT fraud every year.

PRESS FREEDOM NEWS

Kyrgyz Media Partner Blocked! Kyrgyzstani authorities have blocked the website of Radio Azattyk, the local branch of Radio Liberty, after it aired a video about the border conflict with Tajikistan. 

Radio Azattyk and OCCRP worked together on the award-winning Plunder and Patronage investigation, which was based on documents provided by a source who was then murdered. 

Two of Daphne’s Killer Convicted: The European Parliament paid tribute to Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia nearly a week after two men were convicted for carrying out her assassination. 

MORE CORRUPTION NEWS

Uproar Over Kyrgyzstan Land Swap: Kyrgyz authorities detained people protesting against a land swap with Uzbekistan, in which Kyrgyzstan lost a man-made reservoir. About 300 people marched in Bishkek to advocate for their release. 

Myanmar Blacklisted: The Financial Action Task Force has placed Myanmar on its list of high-risk jurisdictions for money laundering and terrorism financing.

The intergovernmental body's so-called blacklist makes it more difficult for companies and individuals to move money into and out of the country.

MORE ORGANIZED CRIME NEWS

Lafarge’s ISIS Dealings: The world’s largest cement manufacturer, Lafarge, pleaded guilty in a U.S. court for conspiracy to finance terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State.

The French company paid armed factions in exchange for protection and preferential treatment for its Syria-based operations.

Life Sentence For Ivory Possession: In an historic ruling, Uganda sentenced a man to life in prison for illegal possession of two pieces of ivory. The sentence was made possible by Uganda’s 2019 Wildlife Act, which increased punishments for crimes against wildlife.

EVENTS

Latin American Conference of Investigative Journalism: OCCRP Editors Eduardo Goulart and Romina Colman will showcase OCCRP Aleph, our suite of data tools, in Rio de Janeiro.

DOC NYC: Our documentary “The Killing of a Journalist” will screen at the largest documentary festival in the U.S. on Nov. 12 & 14 at Cinépolis Chelsea and streaming inside the U.S. Tickets here.

Anti-SLAPP Conference: OCCRP Co-Founder Paul Radu will discuss threats against press freedom through the lens of our Azerbaijani Laundromat investigation, which exposed a $2.9-billion money laundering scheme. 

Radu was sued by one of the subjects of the investigation in a court in the U.K., a prime destination for “libel tourism” due to its plaintiff-friendly defamation laws. Register here.