NEW: The Sandesara brothers, from one of India’s most ostentatiously wealthy families, have been on the run since 2017. Our latest investigation shows how they’ve evaded justice with the help of high-ranking officials in Albania and Nigeria. 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…
Once a staple of the Indian tabloids for their lavish spending, brothers Chetan and Nitin Sandesara fled the country after being accused of stealing and laundering more than $700 million through their businesses. 2/
They soon found friends elsewhere.

The brothers and two other family members were swiftly granted Albanian citizenship after pledging to invest over $33m in construction projects alongside their local partner — investments that are now being investigated for money laundering. 3/
Judges in Albania and Nigeria, where the Sandesaras also have citizenship, have rebuffed India’s attempts to extradite them, arguing they are being persecuted for their political and religious affiliations.

A prominent Indian lawyer called the argument "laughable." 4/
Documents obtained by OCCRP show Indian state companies have also continued to buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil sourced from the Sandesaras’ Nigerian firm after the family went on the run. 5/

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @OCCRP

3 Jun
🏆 AWARD: Our Russian member center @istories_media won the @EuroPressPrize‘s Investigative Reporting Award!

Our colleagues were selected for their bombshell investigation into Vladimir Putin's former son-in-law. #europeanpressprize2021
2021.europeanpressprize.com
Last year, @istories_media gained access to thousands of emails from the ex-husband of Vladimir Putin’s daughter.

They show the fantastic wealth, power, and sweetheart deals that come with access to Russia’s first family.

Read the story in English:
occrp.org/en/investigati…
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.

Read our thread about this deal for more 👇
Read 5 tweets
25 May
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/
Read 5 tweets
24 May
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.

But where is the money really going? 🇸🇾 1/
occrp.org/en/37-ccblog/c…
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.
Read 6 tweets
22 May
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/
Read 4 tweets
21 May
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/
Read 8 tweets
13 May
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/
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(