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[link removed]'s%20%22Person%20of%20the%20Year%22%20Award%20in%20Organized%20Crime%20and%20Corruption: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.occrp.org%2Fen%2Fpoy%2F2022%2F Tweet ([link removed]'s%20%22Person%20of%20the%20Year%22%20Award%20in%20Organized%20Crime%20and%20Corruption: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.occrp.org%2Fen%2Fpoy%2F2022%2F)

Dear OCCRP Reader,

Today, we announced the winner of OCCRP’s 2022 “Person of the Year” in Organized Crime and Corruption award — Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin ([link removed]) .

Since 2012, an expert panel of judges have given this dubious honor ([link removed]) to those who have done the most to bolster corruption and the political collusion that often accompanies it.

Prigozhin oversees the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization backed by the Russian armed forces that arose in the wake of Russia’s initial attack on Ukraine in 2014. Wagner Group fighters have become notorious for the trail of blood they left in conflict zones across the world. In their brutal defense of the Assad regime in Syria, Prigozhin’s mercenaries cemented their reputation as Putin’s dark enforcers, carrying out missions the Russian army will not conduct openly — or cannot do at all.

Many of OCCRP’s previous “people of the year” were leaders of nations ([link removed]) — Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko was last year’s choice, and previous winners have included former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro — but Prigozhin has never held any kind of official position.

Louise Shelley, one of this year’s judges and an expert on illicit financial flows at George Mason University, had this to say: “Prigozhin represents a new type of winner. Not a national leader, but a corrupt individual capable of instigating terrorism and massive human rights violations in diverse conflicts around the world.”

Award finalists this year include the European Court of Justice ([link removed]) , for its recent ruling that shut down public access to company ownership data — a key tool for exposing corruption and financial crimes like money laundering. President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega were also finalists.

Thank you for reading OCCRP.
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