Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)

1 month ago | occrp.org | Daniel Balint-Kurti

Controversial mining magnate Beny Steinmetz, who has been facing legal troubles in multiple countries, has lost his appeal against a corruption conviction in Switzerland, the country’s supreme court announced on Friday. The ruling means Steinmetz has exhausted all means of overturning a three-year sentence - half in jail, and half suspended - in Switzerland. He was convicted for having bribed the wife of a West African president to obtain one of the world’s richest deposits of iron ore.

1 month ago | occrp.org | Graeme McNaughton |Brian Fitzpatrick

As the Kremlin massed troops on Ukraine’s border in early 2022, and the threat of sanctions grew, wealthy Russians began flying crates of cash home — with help from Raiffeisen Bank International, Brink’s and Bank of America. Trade data reviewed by OCCRP and Paper Trail Media shows that the three global institutions moved more than $12 billion worth of foreign currency to Russia just before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

1 month ago | occrp.org | Aubrey Belford

A pair of China-born scammers convicted of bribing officials via a fake United Nations agency have had their Marshall Islands passports revoked while outside the country, potentially leaving them stranded in permanent limbo abroad. Cary Yan and Gina Zhou spent over a week stuck in the transit area of Manila’s international airport earlier this month after authorities in Palau — and then in the Philippines — refused them entry.

1 month ago | occrp.org | Aubrey Belford

A French-Polish man whose rise through the world of international arms dealing was previously exposed by OCCRP has been indicted in the United States over an alleged fraud and extortion scheme, court documents show. Pierre Konrad Dadak, 48, was indicted by a grand jury in New York’s Southern District for an alleged scheme in 2021 and 2022 that saw him impersonate an unnamed luxury goods retailer, tricking customers to send him money into a bank account that he opened using a stolen identity.

1 month ago | occrp.org | Selma Mhaoud |Sana Sbouai

The U.K. today began enforcing key parts of the Online Safety Act, which aims to prevent fraud and other offences by requiring websites and apps to quickly remove illegal material or face hefty fines. Aside from “fraud and financial offences,” the legislation targets a variety of online crimes including human trafficking and child sexual abuse. The Act covers more than 100,000 platforms — including Facebook, X and Google — which were given time to assess the issue before enforcement began.