🧵1/8 Lycamobile, the telecoms giant and Tory donor, has been convicted in France of an “elaborate money laundering system” that was first exposed by our i-team at @BuzzFeedNews. Former CEO Chris Tooley & another executive have been jailed for VAT fraud. lemonde.fr/economie/artic… 2/8 This verdict was a long time coming. Back in 2015, our team established over six weeks of surveillance that the company was employing three literal bagmen to deposit rucksacks stuffed with millions of pounds in cash at Post Offices all over London. buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/thi…

One of the more astonishing things about reporting the story of Dubai's fugitive princess, two of whom were forcibly abducted from the UK, was hearing officials speak baldly about the reasons for Britain's inaction. 1/4 newyorker.com/magazine/2023/… After Sheikha Bouchra was abducted from London, sources say she was locked up in a villa, drugged, and later killed. But British officials were apparently relieved to wash their hands of the situation. 2/4

My first piece for @NewYorker, on the royal women of Dubai who risked everything to flee the brutality of its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, while he publicly espoused gender equality. A story of mind-blowing courage and terrifying cruelty. newyorker.com/magazine/2023/… @NewYorker Sheikha Shamsa was the first to flee, escaping from her father's estate in Surrey in her late teens. She was caught, hustled back to Dubai, and imprisoned for years under heavy sedation.

Boris Berezovsky knew the Kremlin was trying to kill him in London, but he refused to lay low — or to stop trafficking teenage sex workers into the UK on his private jet. An exclusive excerpt of my new book, From Russia With Blood, published today. buzzfeednews.com/article/heidib… The book builds on an investigation by me and my incredible colleagues @TomBWarren, @JasonLeopold, @Richard_AHolmes, @alexcampbell & @jane__bradley — connecting the web of 15 suspected Russian assassinations we exposed in 2017 to a global campaign of Kremlin-sanctioned killing.

REVEALED: UK govt refused to assist a French investigation into suspected money laundering by telecoms giant Lycamobile – saying the company is the “biggest corporate donor to the Conservative party” & gives money to a trust founded by Prince Charles. buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/uk-… Jaw-dropping correspondence between UK officials & their French counterparts reveals the French wanted British authorities to raid Lyca's UK HQ last year as part of their investigation into money laundering and tax fraud by the company – but the government said no.