Thread by @OCCRP

NEW: Tajikistan’s most prominent microlender, Imon International, was built to help women entrepreneurs and has done so for 20 years.

But Imon’s local founders have just endured a hostile takeover by its foreign investors — which include the EBRD. 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…

Imon was founded by two women in the wake of Tajikistan’s brutal civil war.

Their non-profit foundation was bought out by Vincenzo Trani, a well-connected Italian businessman who lives in Moscow. 2/ occrp.org/en/investigati…

His efforts to gain control were aided by Tajikistan’s National Bank, whose deputy head is the son-in-law of the country’s president.

The bid was helped by Imon’s other foreign shareholders, including the EBRD. The prestigious development bank even acquired a larger stake. 3/

Internal documents obtained by OCCRP show that even before the takeover, Imon had problems.

The institution took on suspicious clients who sent millions of dollars abroad through their accounts — with little oversight. 4/ occrp.org/en/investigati…

The largest such client was supposedly an importer of construction materials. But it owned no warehouse and was registered — just days before opening its accounts — in this residential building in Dushanbe. And nobody seemed to ask very many questions. 5/

It’s possible Imon’s questionable clients were intermediaries used by Tajik merchants to buy goods abroad — but it’s hard to say.

The int'l development banks and impact investors that ran Imon were overseeing an institution that couldn’t know for sure. 6/