NEW: Belarus has given away land worth $1 billion to construction companies owned by an influential Serbian family, who have churned huge revenues while squeezing out local competition. 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…
The companies are owned by members of the Karić family, who have forged ties with Belarusian strongman President Alexander Lukashenko. One of the companies listed Lukashenko’s daughter-in-law as a deputy director. 2/
Just days before the parent company Dana Holdings was sanctioned for its ties to Lukashenko, the ownership structure changed. 3/
The Karić construction companies that have at least 11 projects around Minsk, and hold $1 billion worth of land that they received for free, are now owned by UAE-based Enterprise Developments Holding Limited. 4/
Since they're no longer owned by Dana Holdings, the Karić companies are now able to skirt EU sanctions and continue to cash in on their connections to Lukashenko. 5/
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Soon after marrying Putin’s daughter, Kirill Shamalov spent an astonishing $100 to acquire a share in Sibur, Russia’s largest petrochemical company, that was worth $380 million.
NEW: The Syrian government has been raising money to rebuild its war-stricken cities through a "reconstruction tax" that has taken in billions of Syrian pounds since 2013.
2/ Documents reviewed by OCCRP, @SIRAJ_SYRIA, and @FinUncovered suggest the vast majority of the 386 Syrian pounds raised by the Assad regime through the tax were swallowed up by government ministries.
3/ The public was led to believe these funds would be used to help citizens rebuild their homes, but documents suggest less than 10% went to them. The head of the task force that monitors reconstruction efforts suggests the tax is being used to bail out governmental finances.
NEW: An oil deal helped catapult Todd Kozel, co-founder of Gulf Keystone, to a new level of wealth, leading to a life of private jets, fine wines, and strippers.
But a bitter divorce brought him tumbling back to earth and exposed a kickback deal. 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…
The US-Iraq war changed the fortune of Gulf Keystone after it signed a deal with Kurdistan to develop its “oil field of dreams.” On the very same day, it inked a deal to give a Kurdistan politician potentially huge kickbacks, in return for “government relations services.” 2/
Kozel’s lavish lifestyle came back to haunt him. His wife divorced him after his affair with a Lithuanian model. The court case revealed his excesses and led to charges including money laundering. 3/
NEW: Dangerously polluting oil is being used to heat hospitals, schools, and public institutions across North Macedonia 🇲🇰
Our investigation into this threat to public health and the companies that profited from it. 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…
Early in 2019 a video of black smoke billowing out of a Skopje maternity hospital surfaced on social media.
People in North Macedonia, which has grappled with air pollution for decades, were shocked. We decided to see what caused these foul-smelling plumes 👇 2/
Contracts showed this hospital, and many other public buildings, were burning heavy fuel oil in their heating systems.
All had bought it from Evrotim — a North Macedonian company with no logo, website, or office, but with ties to a powerful politician and businessman. 3/
NEW: Amid widespread food shortages, Turkmenistan’s president handed a lucrative food import contract to a firm that, we reveal, is controlled by his nephew.
This is the first documented evidence tying the young man’s wealth to his uncle. 💸 🇹🇲 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…
Turkmenistan's food crisis began in 2016, when Russia abruptly stopped buying its natural gas.
To alleviate the shortages, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov ordered the gov’t to contract 7 foreign firms to import food. Several of them raise questions. 2/
The largest contract, worth $25.7m, went to Greatcom Trade LLP.
Though the firm is based in the U.K., its ultimate beneficial owner is Hajymyrat Rejepov, the president’s nephew. 3/
Criminals and corrupt officials from around the world love to park their ill-gotten gains in the West. It’s one of the main ways the global financial system enables wrongdoing.
This explainer provides a snapshot of how the UK’s 'unexplained wealth orders' — a major investigative tool against illicit foreign wealth — have functioned since their introduction 3 years ago.