Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
We are a network of journalists exposing crime and corruption so the public can hold power to account.
Our journalism has so far helped return $10+ billion to the public sphere and led to 700+ arrests, indictments, and sentences.
- U.S. delivery platforms like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash are systematically misclassifying gig workers as independent contractors, enabling their exploitation and denying them basic workers’ protections, a @hrw.org report said
- Nigerian authorities rescued 78 sex trafficking victims from the Ivory Coast after an online activist exposed how women and girls were tricked into traveling there for work — only to be coerced into sex work.
- A Russian spy ring of six Bulgarian nationals used covert devices like drones, disguised vehicles, and children’s toys rigged with hidden recording devices to spy on targets across the U.K. and Europe, a U.K. court found.
- EXCLUSIVE: A tanker ship just sanctioned by the U.K. for shipping oil on Russia’s behalf is owned by the Azerbaijani government, corporate docs show. @zakavkaza of @FPRI said the move is a “clear warning shot” for the Aliyev government. www.occrp.org/en/news/excl...
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View full threadA report by @globalwitness.org reported that the STAR refinery was processing large quantities of Russian crude oil. It is also exporting an increasing amount of natural gas to the EU — after the EU agreed to double imports from Azerbaijan to reduce dependency on Russian energy.
- The Zangazur was one of nearly 100 vessels in Russia’s “shadow fleet” sanctioned by the U.K. on May 9. Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused the vessels and companies involved of bankrolling Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- The Zangazur is owned by the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company, owned by Azerbaijan’s state. (Caspian Shipping did not respond to OCCRP.) It has traveled 11 times to the Russian port of Primorsk over the past year, as well as six times to a port near Azerbaijan’s STAR refinery.
- ⏰ Tomorrow: webinar on toxic supply chains with investigative journalists & community members. Don't forget to register!
- One of the world’s largest nickel suppliers knew for years that its operations on Obi Island in Indonesia were polluting water with chromium-6. Hear from investigative journalists & community members. 📅 May 14 at 8:30 a.m. ET 🔗 Register: bit.ly/toxic-supply-chains
- Julius Maada Bio became Sierra Leone’s President in 2018, declaring the fight against corruption a priority. Since then, his wife Fatima and her relatives have scooped up a string of properties in Gambia. A new OCCRP investigation in collaboration with @thetimes.com 👉 www.occrp.org/en/investiga...
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View full threadThe properties include a $500,000 villa that was purchased in Fatima Bio’s mother’s name, a four-story apartment building, luxury seaside condos, and more.
- A review of the family’s tax records, employment history, asset ownership, and other publicly available information did not reveal evidence of the kind of wealth needed to buy and develop such real estate. Read the full investigation by @occrp.org and @thetimes.com www.occrp.org/en/investiga...
- Between 2020 and 2024, Fatima Bio, her mother, and two half-brothers have spent at least $2.1 million on 10 real estate deals in Gambia, a country where the first lady used to live.
- Greece is facing a media freedom crisis due to government surveillance, political interference, and lawsuits, a new Human Rights Watch report warns. Seven journalists interviewed for the report said they had been targeted by surveillance tactics.
- Nigerian authorities arrested two international fugitives: Felix Omoregie, a convicted human trafficking ringleader wanted in Belgium, and Okwudili Ezeje, the alleged leader of a Dubai armed robbery gang.
- Julius Maada Bio became Sierra Leone’s President in 2018, declaring the fight against corruption a top priority. Since then, his wife Fatima and her relatives have scooped up a string of luxury properties in Gambia. A new @occrp.org investigation 👇 www.occrp.org/en/investiga...
- An Italian fraud ring allegedly forged documents in order to unlawfully receive more than 12.5 million euros in EU funding meant for farmers, authorities said.
- 🌎🌍🌏WEEKLY UPDATE🌏🌍🌎 Here's this week's round-the-world roundup of OCCRP's biggest stories and scoops 👇
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View full threadPricey Private School Tuition for Serbian Official’s Children Was Paid Through Offshore Companies www.occrp.org/en/investiga...
- Azerbaijan Widens Media Crackdown with Two Arrests www.occrp.org/en/news/azer...
- Syrian Football Association Was Pressured to Hand Deal to Relative of Former President’s Brother, Insiders Say www.occrp.org/en/scoop/syr...
- Serbia’s finance minister sent his children to a private school whose tuition cost roughly 5x his salary at the time. We followed the money, and this is what we found:
- The U.S. FBI arrested two alleged ringleaders of the “764” online child predator network which targets children via platforms like Roblox, Discord, and other social media.
- 🚨 Lithuania's Financial Crime Investigation Service has launched a probe into crypto startup Bankera following an OCCRP and 15min investigation www.occrp.org/en/news/lith...
- The inquiry centers on evidence suggesting that Bankera’s co-founders used a portion of the funds raised in the ICO to finance luxury real estate purchases through a Vanuatu-based bank they secretly acquired
- Azerbaijani authorities arrested two independent journalists amid an escalating crackdown on media and civil society, Mikroskop Media reports. Police arrested Voice of America reporter Ulviyya Ali and Yoldash Media founder Ahmad Mammadli.
- EXCLUSIVE: A Chinese mine manager convicted in a shooting case in Papua New Guinea previously served a prison sentence in China for a series of violent crimes in Ghana, legal records show. Li Dezhang fired a pistol at another Chinese citizen in April. www.occrp.org/en/news/excl...
- Chinese court records posted online show that Li served over three years in prison after his 2020 arrest in Ghana and repatriation to China. Li had used violent threats to extort a casino investor, as well as kidnapping and assaulting another man who owed him a debt.
- Li’s lawyer in Papua New Guinea had told the court that Li had no criminal record. He told OCCRP that he had “no idea” of Li’s previous crimes. Li has been working in PNG as manager of Guangcai Mining Ltd, which operates three unlicensed gold mines facing local complaints.
- One of the world’s largest nickel suppliers knew for years that its operations on Obi Island in Indonesia were polluting water with chromium-6. Hear from investigative journalists & community members. 📅 May 14 at 8:30 a.m. ET 🔗 Register: bit.ly/toxic-supply-chains
- In 2016, Belgrade’s then-mayor Siniša Mali told a court that friends he “met abroad” had paid for his three children to attend an expensive private school. Now OCCRP and @KRIKrs reveal the true source: three offshore companies, one owned by Mali himself.
- “Whoever does not follow the instructions will lose his head.” These orders weren’t about war, regime survival, or espionage. They were about football. New investigation by SIRAJ, OCCRP and @darajapress.bsky.social #Syria www.occrp.org/en/scoop/syr...
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View full threadA former SFA president said the Afkar deal was signed after the association received “instructions” from the Fourth Division’s office, adding that if he had refused he “would have been sent to Saydnaya,” referring to a notorious prison.
- Jadaan did not reply to requests for comment. Afkar’s executive director at the time denied that the deal was awarded under pressure. Read the full story here www.occrp.org/en/scoop/syr...
- Behind the scenes, the influence of former President Bashar Al-Assad’s brother Maher was instrumental to landing the deal for Afkar, three people involved in the deal told OCCRP’s partner, SIRAJ
- Afkar was majority-owned by Fares Al-Jadaan, Maher Al-Assad’s nephew by marriage, company registry documents show. Former SFA top managers confirmed to OCCRP that Jadaan’s family ties to Maher Al-Assad were the reason the contract was awarded.
- In 2019 Syria’s national football association (SFA) handed a marketing deal to a Damascus start-up, Afkar Co, that had no website and little digital or media footprint.
- The deal, awarded without a tender, gave the company exclusive advertising and marketing rights to all domestic Syrian competitions, the country’s national and Olympic teams and other championships. Plus an unusually large 35% cut of the marketing revenues.
- U.S. authorities could sanction members of the Georgian government who pose a threat to the country’s stability, security, and democracy, according to a new bill passed by lawmakers. The Megobari Act will now be debated in the U.S. Senate.
- Credit Suisse Services will pay more than $500 million in penalties to settle a U.S. criminal case accusing the Swiss bank of helping wealthy American clients evade taxes. The bank pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud tax authorities by concealing assets.
- 🎶I get by with a little help from my friends🎶 In 2016, the mayor of Belgrade told a court that friends from abroad paid his children’s pricey school fees. But we found they were paid by three offshore companies — including one he owned.
- @bostonglobe.com project, with contributions from OCCRP, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for its coverage of financial mismanagement at Steward Health Care and its impact on patients and their families www.pulitzer.org/finalists/22... @pulitzercenter.bsky.social
- Our partners at @thegeckoproject.org released a YouTube video on our investigation into a major supplier to the electric vehicle battery industry: youtu.be/QGOPi2AmYBc?... The company knew for over a decade that its nickel operations in Indonesia were polluting water with a carcinogenic chemical
- Ukrainian authorities arrested the alleged leader of a global drug trafficking ring smuggling cocaine from Honduras to Ukraine via Panama — making nearly $200,000 a month in profit. The operation allegedly hid cocaine within the walls of cardboard boxes.
- Children fleeing violence and hardship through Mexico’s border cities are facing “alarming levels of violence, family separation, and uncertainty”, according to a new report by Save the Children and @planglobal.bsky.social
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View full threadThis is not the first time Mali has been found to lead a lifestyle that does not tally with his official income. OCCRP and KRIK have previously revealed his ownership of two dozen apartments on Bulgaria’s coast. www.occrp.org/en/project/t...
- Back in 2018 we also exposed how a weekend trip he took to Rome cost seven times his monthly salary: www.occrp.org/en/investiga...
- Less is known about the third company, Avant Trade Technical Ltd, which is registered in Cyprus and whose ultimate ownership is hidden. Mali did not respond to requests for comment.
- Over the years, Serbia’s state institutions have launched several separate probes into Mali’s suspicious wealth. But they have never made it to court. As Finance Minister, Mali now controls Serbia’s anti-money laundering force, which had previously scrutinized him.
- The bulk of the money — some $150,000, between 2010 and 2015 — came from a British Virgin Islands company that Mali owned himself: Alessio Investment. The flow stopped in 2015, shortly after KRIK first revealed Mali’s connection to it.
- Another BVI company, Evon Invest & Trade Corp, provided some $60,000 in 2016-2017. It belongs to a Serbian businessman who told reporters his firm was used as an intermediary, leaving the true source of the funds anonymous.
