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THE OCCRP NETWORK
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🇮🇹 IrpiMedia: Our Italian member center reports on how Albanian crime groups have gained a foothold in Rome’s drug trade. ([link removed])
🇧🇬 Bird.Bg: Several journalists and pro-democracy activists in Bulgaria, including the founder of our Bulgarian member center, say that their Facebook accounts ([link removed]) are being repeatedly suspended on frivolous grounds.
* Bird.bg has begun to investigate ([link removed]) the third-party service that moderates Bulgarian-language Facebook posts.
🇳🇬 Premium Times: Our Nigerian member center reports that the central bank will sanction any bank ([link removed]) that hoards new currency notes issued as part of a controversial plan to replace high-value naira notes.
* The Premium Times has published multiple stories ([link removed]) about Nigeria’s central bank, including its governor, who reportedly left the country amid rumors that the state security service wanted to apprehend him on several charges, including terrorism financing.
🇿🇦 Mail & Guardian: Our South African member center reports on mounting litigation against Eskom ([link removed]) , the state-owned electricity company at the center of numerous corruption scandals related to the country’s energy shortage.
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** OCCRP HAS IMPACT
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🇽🇰 Kosovo: Kosovan prosecutors are investigating former ambassador ([link removed]) Akan Ismaili, who we revealed ([link removed]) had secret Swiss bank accounts worth millions of dollars.
🇵🇼 Palau: The Pacific Island nation is signing a new pact with the United States, which will gain more military rights in the country in exchange for substantial aid.
In a discussion with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ([link removed]) , Australian international affairs professor Graeme Smith cited our recent investigation ([link removed]) on Palau’s growing role as a pawn in the U.S.-China rivalry.
** THE CORRUPT PERSON OF THE YEAR
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🦹 The Growing Power of “Putin’s Chef” — Yevgeny Prigozhin, the winner of OCCRP’s 2022 Person of the Year in Organized Crime and Corruption award, has reportedly developed a rivalry with the Russian military ([link removed]) , which he says operates separately from his mercenary group in Ukraine.
Louise Shelley, one of the judges who selects the award,spoke with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ([link removed]) about the man known as “Putin’s Chef.”
** MORE CORRUPTION NEWS
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🇰🇿 Kazakhstan: "The era of Nazarbayev is officially over." Kazakhstan's long-time authoritarian ruler could face investigations after parliament scrapped a law protecting him from legal probes. ([link removed])
🇺🇸 United States: A former city councilmember in Los Angeles has admitted that he extorted at least $1.5 million in bribes ([link removed]) from real estate developers. The confession is part of a plea deal over racketeering and tax evasion charges.
** MORE ORGANIZED CRIME NEWS
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🇮🇹 Italy: After three decades of searching, Italian police arrested Matteo Messina Denaro, ([link removed]) the alleged "boss of all bosses" of the Sicilian mafia.
🇨🇴 Colombia: Two more men were arrested on suspicion of carrying out the high-profile murder ([link removed]) of Paraguayan anti-mafia prosecutor Marcelo Pecci while he was on his honeymoon.
** AWARDS
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#AllForJan: Investigative reporters in Central and Eastern Europe should apply for the Ján Kuciak Award, ([link removed]) named after our Slovak colleague who was killed five years ago.
P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.
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