NEW: Our latest from the #PandoraPapers reveals the role of Russian and Indian businessmen in a massive corruption scheme that cost the Maldives close to $80 million. 1/ occrp.org/en/the-pandora…
OCCRP reported in 2018 how top officials in the Maldives accepted bribes to illegally lease dozens of islands for tourism development. 2/
Many recipients of the leases remained anonymous due to their use of offshore corporate holdings. 3/
But documents from the #PandoraPapers now implicate an ex-Putin aide, a Russian oligarch with alleged ties to organized crime, and members of an Indian business dynasty. 4/
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NEW: OCCRP and partners have uncovered shell companies in Luxembourg and Panama that may have allowed Venezuelans accused of corruption to acquire luxury Caribbean real estate. #OpenLux 1/ occrp.org/en/openlux/tra…
2) Prosecutors in Andorra charged dozens with receiving money plundered from Venezuela’s state oil company in 2018, including:
➡️ Ex-deputy Venezuelan electricity minister Javier Alvarado Ochoa (below)
➡️ His romantic partner Cecirée Casanova
➡️ José Luis Zabala, a middleman
3) Using corporate records from the #OpenLux project, reporters found ties between this trio and luxury real estate in Latin America, including this Cartagena hotel where rooms go for $272 a night.
Kloop has also been blocked from uploading any new videos, preventing the site from reaching a large portion of its audience in the crucial post-election period. 2/
.@YouTube has provided no explanation, communicating only through automated messages that stated, bizarrely, that the election monitoring video contained "harassment and bullying." 3/
NEW: Leaked data shows Belarusian oligarch Aliaksei Aleksin gave Alexander Lukashenko’s security services vehicles worth ~$1.7m.
These gifts came shortly after the strongman gave Aleksin near monopolistic control over the country’s tobacco industry. 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…
2) The oligarch even donated a few recreational vehicles to Lukashenko's security team, including:
➡️ A 2018 BCC Vintage
➡️ Two Maybach 62S
➡️ A 1958 Chevrolet Impala
➡️ A vintage 1969 Jawa 350 motorcycle
➡️ A 2015 Spyder F3SM6 three-wheeler
3) Lukashenko has been seen riding in vehicles that closely resemble those donated by Aleksin, including a vintage 1967 GAZ-69, a classic Soviet car that he used to give a personal tour of his hometown to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
OCCRP and @rapplerdotcom recently exposed ties btw Michael Yang, a close ally of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and a growing COVID-19 procurement scandal.
Now, revelations show Yang is suspected of having run a meth network. Here's what we know 👇 occrp.org/en/investigati…
2) In August, we uncovered that Taiwanese businessmen with close ties to Michael Yang were behind Pharmally Pharmaceuticals, an obscure firm that received the Philippines' largest contracts — by far — for COVID-19 PPE. Yang was a key financier in the deal. rappler.com/newsbreak/inve…
3) The investigation has sparked a political furore in the Philippines.
The Senate issued two arrest warrants for Yang, who was also recently placed on an immigration watchlist.
NEW: As Huawei inked a major deal to overhaul Serbia's telecom infrastructure, the Chinese tech giant paid large sums to an offshore firm linked to a former executive at Serbia’s state-owned telecommunications company, the #PandoraPapers reveal. 1/7
Telekom Srbija began purchasing Huawei equipment during Igor Jecl's tenure at the state-owned company.
He left in 2008. But with @KRIKrs, we reveal that his dealings with Huawei did not end there. He appears to have received over $1.4 million from the Chinese multinational. 2/7
@KRIKrs This all happened offshore, through Rofly Investments Ltd 🇻🇬, which was carefully set up to obscure its ownership. #PandoraPapers documents show the shell company received over 650,000 euros from Huawei.
Rofly began transferring money and real estate to Jecl. 3/7
2) How do dictators like those in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan launder their reputations?
“If everybody knew how these countries actually operated, they would be worldwide pariahs.”
— @DrewOCCRP in #TheCaviarConnection.
3) #TheCaviarConnection features investigative journalist @Khadija_Ismayil who defied pressure to launch an investigation into Azerbaijan's ruling elites.