Thread by @WillFitzgibbon

We reporters searched court records, media archives and other sources in dozens of languages to find 500+ past and current honorary consuls accused of wrongdoing. Many had abused their diplomatic status.

The result: #shadowdiplomats @ICIJorg @propublica

icij.org/investigations…

The idea started with my #pandorapapers reporting partner, @debbiecenziper.

We soon asked reporters to join us. Many had also noticed sporadic scandals involving honorary consuls.

But we wanted to know: how often was the abuse of the honorary consul system happening?

The answer? No one knows.

So we stepped in, immersing ourselves in arcane rules of international law and building a database of alleged wrongdoing by honorary consuls from Nepal to Bolivia.

If data doesn't exist, build it yourself! Luckily, we had @delreuter to help.

We noticed how in March, for the first time, the U.S. Treasury called out someone's honorary consul status in sanctioning him for allegedly financing Hezbollah.

home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel…

Working with @dianamoukalled @B_Strunz and others, we gathered more details.

Today's #shadowdiplomats story is the start of series that exposes the exploitation of the under-regulated system of honorary consuls.

More stories to come.

If you have information you think we should know about an honorary consul, please get in touch.