NEW: Belgrade is littered with illegal buildings erected without permission. Many are unsafe and violate building codes.

But sources say it’s easy to get them “legalized" post facto by paying bribes to a Serbian government body. #PandoraPapers 🇷🇸 1/
occrp.org/en/the-pandora…
The "Secretariat for the Legalization of Buildings" was supposed to help Serbs who illegally built homes in the chaotic 1990s and 2000s.

Instead, it allegedly allowed illegal construction to flourish by opening a way to build first, get permission later — for a fee. 2/ Image
In May, OCCRP member center @KRIKrs reported how the Secretariat was allowing shoddy builders to pay to “legalize” their so-called “wild buildings.”

Several construction industry insiders accused Nemanja Stajić, who heads the agency, of presiding over this corrupt system. 3/ Image
Now, in the aftermath of the @krik story, Serbian prosecutors are investigating Stajić for alleged abuse of office. He appeared at the Palace of Justice in Belgrade today for questioning. 4/ Image
Alleged corruption at the Secretariat has taken its toll not only on the construction industry, but on Belgrade itself.

News of building collapses and construction accidents are commonplace in the Serbian capital. 5/
City residents complain about developers destroying neighborhoods with unregulated and seemingly haphazard construction.

“Belgrade has been disfigured,” said one expert. 6/
Reporters began digging into this story after uncovering #PandoraPapers documents from @ICIJorg showing that Stajić’s brother was also involved in the Serbian construction industry — through offshore companies registered in the British Virgin Islands. 7/ Image

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More from @OCCRP

Oct 6
NEW: Banking data leaked from inside Credit Suisse shows the girlfriend of a disgraced Taiwanese businessman, jailed for his role in a $700m embezzlement scheme, held millions in Swiss accounts that had remained secret until now. 1/ occrp.org/en/suisse-secr…
Actress Yen Ling-Ning opened the accounts just a few years after Taiawanese police first began investigating her romantic partner Sun Daocun over his involvement in siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars from an electrical wire and cable company founded by his father. 2/ ImageImage
At the time, she had already been publicly named as a proxy for Sun, and her role should have raised red flags at Credit Suisse, a Taiwanese regulatory official said. “The bank should have scrutinized these accounts and reported them for possible money laundering,” they added. 3/
Read 4 tweets
Sep 22
NEW: The #SuisseSecrets leak shows how powerful African political figures shared accounts at Credit Suisse worth many millions with executives at a Swiss investment fund at the heart of a massive bribery scandal. 1/
occrp.org/en/suisse-secr…
Addax Petroleum burst from obscurity in the late 1990s to take Nigeria’s oil industry by storm, landing one of the most lucrative deals the country had ever seen. 2/
Years later, French court proceedings revealed the firm had secured the contracts by bribing the Nigerian oil minister to the tune of US$5 million. 3/
Read 7 tweets
Sep 21
BREAKING: German authorities are raiding the Bavarian home of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, looking for evidence of alleged tax evasion and money laundering.

Our latest with @SZ, @NDR, and @WDR 1/

occrp.org/en/asset-track…
@SZ @ndr @WDR Over a hundred officers have descended on Rottach Egern, a small town on picturesque Lake Tegernsee, where Usmanov and one of his sisters own several homes — including this imposing villa — through convoluted offshore arrangements. 2/
@SZ @ndr @WDR The ultra-wealthy Usmanov has been known for his share of the Arsenal football club, his tech investments, and his charitable giving.

But in 2017, a widely-viewed investigation by Russian opposition leader Navalny alleged he gave a large property to then-PM Dmitry Medvedev.

3/
Read 8 tweets
Sep 20
NEW: One of Calabria's holiest Catholic celebrations has long been infiltrated by the ’Ndrangheta, Italy’s most powerful mafia group.

🇮🇹 @Irpinvestigates attended to document the crime group’s influence over this sacred gathering. 1/ occrp.org/en/ndrangheta/…
Every year, pilgrims walk to the sanctuary of Polsi, where the Virgin Mary is believed to have asked a shepherd to build a church dedicated to her more than 1,000 years ago.

But the Polsi event has also long been known as a meeting spot for the region's mafia. 2/
The ’Ndrangheta uses the Polsi sanctuary for ceremonies of its own. For example, in 2009, Domenico Oppedisano was "crowned" head of the group below a statue of the Madonna of the Mountain.

Now, a bust of a priest killed by the mafia sits in that spot. 3/
Read 7 tweets
Sep 7
THREAD: What was it like to be in Bucha during the Russian invasion?

A Telegram chat used by neighbors in the Kyiv suburb gives a glimpse of the day-to-day reality of living — and dying — under Russian occupation 🧵
cdn.occrp.org/projects/the-b…
2) This apartment building, known as Block 17, sits across the street from a glass factory that was commandeered by Russian soldiers.

Reporters obtained a Telegram chat used by the building’s residents to share prayers and critical information as violence raged outside. ImageImage
3) But they also shared memes, traded complaints, and even used the chat to search for a lost cat. Image
Read 9 tweets
Aug 30
BREAKING: Customs officers have raided a network of German companies suspected of selling precursors that could be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons to a Russian firm contracted by the FSB.

Our story below with @ndr, @WDR and @SZ 👇1/
occrp.org/en/daily/16706…
@ndr @WDR @SZ Documents related to the probe obtained by @ndr, @WDR and @SZ indicate one shipment may have included a chemical used to make Novichok, a nerve agent used in the attempted murders of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and Russian double agent Sergei Skripal. 2/
The key German company, Riol Chemie GmBH, made more than 30 shipments to Russia’s Chimmed Group over three years.

Chimmed Group was contracted in 2016 by the FSB, the Russian intelligence agency widely believed to have been behind both attacks. 3/
Read 7 tweets

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