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8 Feb, 5 tweets, 3 min read
NEW: Luxembourg has been a haven for financial crime for decades.

Now, a corporate registry obtained by @LeMondefr, and shared with OCCRP, reveals how global elites used companies in the tiny nation to operate in the shadows.

This is #OpenLux (thread):
occrp.org/en/openlux/
2) Using a string of Luxembourg firms, we reveal how Indonesian billionaire Sukanto Tanoto 🇮🇩 secretly purchased the historic Ludwig complex in Munich 🇩🇪

The palm oil tycoon has been dubbed the top driver of deforestation in the world.
occrp.org/en/openlux/ind…
3) It turns out Luxembourg is a favored destination for oligarchs, tycoons, and royalty looking to snap up some of the continent’s most expensive real estate.

We put some of our most interesting findings into this interactive map.
occrp.org/en/openlux/lux…
4) These revelations — which there will be more of in the coming days — are based on a corporate registry that lists the “ultimate beneficial owners” of companies in Luxembourg.

Read this FAQ for more on this database
occrp.org/en/openlux/fre…
5) OCCRP and partners will publish more #OpenLux investigations throughout the week.

You can get the latest by subscribing to the OCCRP newsletter
mailchi.mp/occrp/subscrib…

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More from @OCCRP

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
9 Feb
NEW: Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić denies having any ties to Stanko Subotić, a businessman with links to a regional drug lord.

But now, OCCRP & @KRIKrs reveal that one of the president’s closest confidantes has done business with Subotić. #OpenLux 1/
occrp.org/en/openlux/ser…
The outsized role that Nikola Petrović, the president's "best man," plays in Serbia was noted by five US Congress members in 2015.

In a letter to then-VP Joe Biden, they expressed concern that a small group had "consolidated their influence" over key Serbian industries. 2/ Image
Petrović’s ties to Subotić flow through their respective companies in Luxembourg, an historically secretive jurisdiction.

Reporters found this connection using a corporate registry obtained by @lemonde. Here’s what they uncovered 👇 3/
Read 6 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
8 Feb
Luxembourg has made steps towards greater transparency. But it’s still a prime destination for dirty money worldwide.

Here's how the tiny nation became a center of corporate secrecy, who has benefited, and how our #OpenLux investigation pried it open. occrp.org/en/openlux/she…
2) Most "offshore" zones, like Panama or the British Virgin Islands, specialize in one particular facet of secretive financial services. But Luxembourg does it all, acting as "a kind of Swiss army knife" for elites around the world, economics professor @gabriel_zucman told OCCRP. Image
3) Corrupt officials, criminals, and shady businessmen from around the world have all taken advantage. So much Russian capital has found its way to Luxembourg — and back again — that the tiny European state is now one of the country’s biggest foreign "investors."
Read 8 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
27 Nov 20
NEW: Starting in 2008, a small U.S. airline was taken over by a group of Russian investors. Two were later convicted of running an organized crime ring out of Trump Tower.

But Monarch Air’s unusual past didn’t stop it winning U.S. gov’t contracts 🛩️

occrp.org/en/investigati… 1/
The two convicted investors, Anatoly Golubchik and Vadim Trincher, were sentenced to five years in jail in 2014 for running a “large-scale sports book” used to launder $100 million.

Golubchik was allegedly an "enforcer" for infamous Russian gang boss Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov. 2/
Today, the son of Trincher and Golubchik's business partner owns Monarch Air.

Despite these ties to organized crime, Monarch and another linked airline have won millions of $$$ in sensitive U.S. gov’t contracts -- including flying people in the witness protection program. 3/
Read 5 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
3 Nov 20
NEW: The son of a prominent Azerbaijani official lives in a luxurious London flat. But he didn’t buy this property, an obscure offshore company did.

This story raises serious questions about this deal that implicate a powerful Turkish businessman. 1/
occrp.org/en/investigati…
An Azerbaijani state water management company, led by Ahmad Ahmadzada, has awarded two lucrative contracts to construction firms owned by Mehmet Cengiz, one of Turkey’s richest people.

This investigation reveals another hidden connection between the two men. 2/
Months before Cengiz’s company signed a contract to build a massive dam in Azerbaijan, a London-based firm controlled by Cengiz made a $3m payment to the mysterious Vremax Properties.

It’s unclear what Vremax, which is based offshore, actually does. It has no website. 3/
Read 9 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
1 Nov 20
NEW: A Syrian-Ukrainian businessman with alleged links to organized crime paid ~$3m into an investment fund backed by Devon Archer, the longtime business partner of Hunter Biden (there is no evidence Biden was involved).

Our latest #FinCENFiles story👇 1/ occrp.org/en/the-fincen-…
Hares Youssef, who is allegedly linked to organized crime boss Semion Mogilevich and Syria’s Assad regime, invested $2.98m in late 2015 into mbloom, a tech startup fund in Hawaii that has since been shut down. 2/
The deal was facilitated by Archer, who has since been convicted in a separate fraud case. Youssef’s payments were flagged as suspicious at the time by bank compliance officers. 3/
Read 5 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
20 Sep 20
NEW: OCCRP is part of the #FinCENFiles, an investigation led by @ICIJorg and based on a leak obtained by @BuzzFeedNews that exposes how illicit money flows have fueled criminality worldwide.

See what we unearthed from the records 👇 1/
occrp.org/en/the-fincen-…
OCCRP’s initial investigations focus on Reza Zarrab, a Turkish money launderer who was arrested by the US for aiding in sanctions evasion.

In this story, we detail how Zarrab and his family used gold-for-cash schemes to funnel billions into Iran. 2/
occrp.org/en/the-fincen-…
The exact amount Zarrab made from money laundering may never be known, but much of his loot went towards big yachts and personal submarines.

In this story, reporters used social media posts and gov't records to chronicle his extravagant lifestyle. 3/
occrp.org/en/the-fincen-…
Read 6 tweets

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