Thread by @WillFitzgibbon

1/ @ICIJorg’s new investigation - #FinCENFiles - is our largest collaboration with journalists in Africa so far. There are new faces for us in Togo, Cameroon, The Gambia and beyond.

A thread with nearly all the African stories.

2/ We spend huge resources, time and energy being the best cross-border investigative news organization on the planet. Collaboration isn’t cheap or easy. This time around for #FinCENFiles we had support from @CENOZO_Afrique and @freepressunltd. cenozo.org/en/articles/24…

3/ Reporters in Africa dealt with threats from powerful people and the perils of the Coronavirus. Here’s a rundown of stories from each country!

#FinCENFiles isn’t only about your country. It’s about theirs, too.

4/ 🇧🇼Botswana’s diamonds are a key industry. It’s also shrouded in secrecy. @AlvinNtibinyane at @ink_cij reveals details about one of his country’s sacred cows. inkjournalism.org/2259/diamonds-…

5/ 🇳🇦The Palladino loan scandal in Guinea is one of the biggest corruption stories in recent African history. @Lasarus_A @TheNamibian exposes the connections of a Namibian airline to one of the scandal’s top protagonists. investigations.thenamibian.online/the-fincen-fil…

6/ 🇲🇼@GoldenMatonga in Malawi exposes more details on a controversial patrol boat deal under a former president.
mwnation.com/arms-deal-haun…

7/ 🇹🇿 A phantom company in Tanzania? @sibosiso couldn’t find physical or documentary trace of a company that seems to be owned by a plumber. It reportedly moved $620 million! jamiiforums.com/threads/phanto…

8/ 🇰🇪 Kenya is an economic giant. But it was a tiny reference to ivory @MukamiPurit found experts said was alarming. pigafirimbi.africauncensored.online/kenya-fincen-t…

"Big money is not carried in suitcases but through very respectable banks and other international financial institutions" - @alvinmosioma

9/ 🇨🇲🇨🇩 Former DRC vice-president Jean-Claude Bemba was convicted for witness tampering in a war crimes trial. @MusebaThe from Cameroon reveals more financial details in #FinCENFiles.

themusebaproject.org/a-la-une/fince…

10/ 🇹🇬 In Togo, a new @ICIJorg partner investigated a local company that did business with a Singaporean firm allegedly involved in a raft of dodgy deals. cenozo.org/en/articles/25…

11/ 🇳🇬 One of the biggest political names in #FinCENFiles was family of former Nigerian vice-president Atiku Abubakar. Dubai home, anyone? @Hazzanjustice
and @PremiumTimesng have more.

premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines…

12/ 🇬🇭 Ghana is rich in gold but many of its people are poor. @EmmanuelDogbevi found more than $100 million in gold transactions flagged as suspicious by banks. His report also includes one of my favorite #FinCENFiles story quotes

https://twitter.com/EmmanuelDogbevi/status/1307730116395532289

13/ 🇳🇪 Niger has been rocked this year by a procurement scandal. @moussa_aksar found one UK shell company in #FinCENFiles that appears in the Niger probe. He now has the scandal’s definitive report. levenementniger.com/niger-malversa…

14/ 🇧🇫 A former Burkina Faso singer is tied to an arms firm that dealt with Serbia in a hush-hush deal, @ssawadogo1 shows. This in a country beset by a deadly conflict
leconomistedufaso.bf/2020/09/21/tra…

Here’s one of the singer’s songs

Thanks to @KRIKrs for help!

15/ 🇬🇲Banks don’t always get it right. @LmnJahateh reveals how global banks in the US really had no idea what was going on in The Gambia.

@LmnJahateh reports. cenozo.org/en/articles/23…

16/ 🇱🇷 $11 million+ moved between a Liberian gold company whose owner was reportedly arrested last year while boarding a plane carrying gold bars and Kaloti, a Dubai dealer once suspected by US officials of money laundering. Alloycious David reports.

liberianobserver.com/news/from-libe…

17/ 🇧🇯 Benin emerged as an important country in #FinCENFiles.

A small gold company (that really didn’t want to talk to us!) was a central player in a US investigation into alleged money laundering and drug smuggling, @BanoutoBenin reveals. banouto.info/article/invest…

18/ 🇸🇳 Former Dakar mayor and IAAF chair, Lamine Diack, was jailed for corruption last week. @bayemomardieng in Senegal pored found 100 transactions flagged by banks as suspicious – but only after years of allegations of wrongdoing against Diack. impact.sn/La-connexion-P…

19/ These are just some of the #FinCENFiles stories from Africa. More to come from 🇨🇲🇨🇮🇳🇬🇲🇼

NONE would have been told if @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold and @a_cormier_ didn't have the grace and generosity to share documents with @ICIJorg.

20/ Also a huge thank you my @ICIJorg colleagues like @jecosic @SolineLedesert and Ash Guevara who joined me in Cotonou for a #FinCENFiles training (very discreet, of course!) and to colleagues like @amytheblue, @shirafu @KarrieKehoe and @agustin_ICIJ who ALWAYS help out.