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Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
@OCCRP
Sep 1, 2020 • 11 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
NEW: Meet #GroupAmerica, one of the most pervasive and violent drug-trafficking gangs you’ve never heard of.

Some say its name stems from rumored ties between the gang's leaders and the US government — maybe even the CIA. 1/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
In the 1980s, a Serb took control of the Westies, a New York Irish-American gang that became Group America.

Decades later, police around the world are impressed by the gang's global scope — and stunned that it remains active. 2/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
Unlike the cartels that control the whole cocaine supply chain, Group America specializes in being the middleman between sellers in Europe and producers in South America — where the gang’s second-in-command may be in prison for life. 3/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
OCCRP journalist Pavla Holcová (@pafak) had to pose as a prostitute to interview this notorious gangster in Peruvian prison.

Read her first-hand account of the conversation. 4/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
As the founder and editor of @investigacecz, our Czech member center, Holcová also investigated Group America’s influence in Slovakia — a coveted EU jurisdiction for traffickers in part because of lax residency laws. 5/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
Group America has operations in several countries, but much of its money is invested in Serbia, the gang’s center of operations since the fall of Yugoslavia. 6/ occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
But Group America’s influence in Serbia extends beyond drug money investments.

Its members were linked to acts of terrorism and assassinations against reformist politicians after the ouster of Slobodan Milošević.

Story reported by @StevanOCCRP 7/ occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
As Group America’s second-in-command sits in Peruvian prison, its leader continues to live comfortably in Queens, NY despite a drug trafficking indictment that has languished since 2003.

Federal officials declined comment on the unusual case. 8/ Miljanić’s row house in Que...
Despite his criminal reputation in Europe, Group America's leader Mileta Miljanić lives in the open in New York and in Serbia.

Here he is with Serbia’s foreign minister during a 2016 televised event in Manhattan. 9/ Image
More than one senior police source has attributed Group America’s success to ties with security and intelligence agencies.

Our reporting indicates that the gang may indeed have an "in" with the U.S. government. 10/
From terrorism in Belgrade to cocaine-trafficking on four continents.

Use this timeline for a tick-tock into Group America’s decades-long history of organized crime, which starts in New York in the 1970s. 11/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…

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More from @OCCRP

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Mar 24
NEW: Fiji-based entrepreneur Zhao Fugang's promotion of China’s interests on the Pacific island isn’t any secret — he runs an official “service center” for Chinese citizens inside a hotel he owns — but Australian authorities say he is hiding something:

occrp.org/en/investigati…
Australian intel + police agencies say Zhao is more than a businessman or political operative.

They suspect he is a senior organized crime figure — and are pushing Fiji to move against him.

Fugang, who denies wrongdoing, has not been charged w/a crime. Image
Australia’s top criminal intelligence body took the extraordinary step of adding Zhao to its secret registry of top-priority targets in mid-2023, OCCRP & reporting partners @smh @theage @60Mins learned.

Zhao is the first political operative known to have been added to the list.
Read 11 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Mar 7
“Is this a prank?”
“What donation?”
“I work in a school, I barely survive.”

After journalists at our partner @CivilNetTV found unusual patterns in donation data reported by Armenia’s ruling party, they started calling listed donors to find the truth ⬇️
occrp.org/en/investigati…
Image
Half of the 31 donors reached for comment denied making contributions.

Others refused to answer or said they couldn’t remember if they gave or not. Image
Curiously, nearly all of the party’s donors that year were its own local council candidates.

And many of the listed contributions would have exceeded the donors' declared income and savings. Image
Read 6 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Feb 9
Multiple OCCRP investigations have revealed U.S. real estate purchases made by politically exposed individuals, often with cash ⤵️
In 2022 an @IllicitFlows report said U.S. real estate is the No. 1 destination for laundered dirty money.

At least $2.3 billion was laundered over the past five years through U.S. real estate, the report said.

occrp.org/en/daily/14991…
Last year, we investigated a powerful Bangladeshi politician, who once drove a cab in New York, and found that he owned properties in Queens worth $4M despite earning an official salary of $1,000 a month.

He paid cash for all the properties.

occrp.org/en/investigati…
Read 7 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Jan 22
NEW: Software giant SAP agreed to pay at least $220 million to settle bribery charges filed by the U.S. SEC after its investigations w/the Dept. of Justice.

SAP allegedly used third-party intermediaries to bribe government officials in 7 countries.

occrp.org/en/daily/18389…
The SEC said that an employee of SAP Azerbaijan, a subsidiary, gave gifts worth around $3,000 to employees at state-owned oil giant SOCAR to help ensure SAP was awarded a $1.6 million contract.
The same employee also submitted fake documentation indicating the deal with SOCAR closed in Feb. 2022.

In reality, the deal closed on May 12, 2022.

The employee could therefore collect a commission on the deal before being promoted to Managing Director.
Read 4 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Jan 17
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan continue their chilling campaign against independent journalists.

11 reporters from OCCRP partner TemirovLive remain in a 48-hour pre-trial detention today.

Their homes & offices were all searched Tuesday.

An update on the deleterious situation: 👇 Image
The @UNHumanRights Office of the High Commissioner expressed concern late Tuesday, noting that authorities in Kyrgyzstan searched the premises of several independent media outlets this week and detained at least 14 journalists.

ohchr.org/en/statements/…
@HRW leads multiple rights groups calling for Kyrgyz authorities to drop criminal cases of “war propaganda” & “calls to mass disorder” initiated against journalists from:

➡️@_24_kg
➡️@TemirovLive
➡️Ayt Ayt Dese
➡️Alga Media
➡️ Archa Media
➡️ @politklinika
hrw.org/news/2024/01/1…
Read 7 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Jan 16
‼️ Kyrgyz police have detained multiple current and former journalists from @TemirovLive, an OCCRP partner. They have also searched their apartments. The authorities speak of incitement to riots — an absurd claim. occrp.org/en/daily/18365…
Bolot Temirov and his colleagues have collaborated with OCCRP on several investigations. Some of the arrested journalists are currently working on more stories with us. They are independent professionals who serve the Kyrgyz public. Image
Temirov has been persecuted so consistently that we've done two full investigations on how the security services have gone after him. In one shocking case, agents spread illicitly obtained material about an employee in a form of blackmail. occrp.org/en/investigati…
Read 5 tweets

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