Author's posts
Dec 05 2025
Credit Suisse Faces Swiss Charges for 2016 Mozambique Loan Scandal
Prosecutors say Credit Suisse allowed money laundering linked to Mozambique’s “tuna bonds” fraud. The fraud devastated the country’s economy in the 2010s. Prosecutors say a 2016 transfer of about $7.86 million should have triggered red flags. The bank failed to report it and later allowed most of the money to be moved to account, prosecutors …
Oct 29 2025
Hong Kong Customs Intercepts 150-tonne Shipment of Donkey Skins
Hong Kong Customs Service seized over 150 tonnes of donkey skins in a major operation intercepting two shipments. The shipments, intercepted on October 3 and October 7, also contained other smuggled goods, in total worth nearly $200 million. Donkey skin is used in so-called Ejiao, a traditional Chinese remedy made with the gelatin in donkey …
Oct 29 2025
Surgeon Barred in UK Suspended in Spain After OCCRP Revelations
Jorge Horacio Esbry was struck off in 2020 by the U.K.’s Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. Tribunal said he attempted to kiss a patient, made verbal sexual remarks and performed breast-implant surgery against her wishes. It banned him from practicing medicine in the UK. He has been suspended in Spain following revelations from a joint investigation …
Oct 29 2025
Kyrgyzstan Court Brands Independent Media ‘Extremist’ in Latest Press Freedom Crackdown
A Kyrgyz court has labeled three independent news outlets as “extremist’ organizations. The court also ordered a ban on their online activities. The ruling, issued at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, will be enforced by the Ministry of Digital Development. Both Temirov Live and Ait Ait Dese said they will appeal the ruling. It …
Oct 28 2025
Solomon Islands Water CEO Quits Amid Alleged Gov’t Pressure to Work With Troubled Indian Firm
Solomon Islands Water Authority, known as Solomon Water, initiated the plan to build the facility after heavy rains overwhelmed Honaira’s decrepit water treatment system in 2014. Heavy rains spread water-born diseases that killed over a dozen people, and struck thousands more with diarrheal disease. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) backed the initiative, but pressured Solomon …
Oct 24 2025
UK Sanctions Balkan Syndicates Linked to People Smuggling
The U.K. has imposed sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, on several Balkan-based crime figures and gangs. Among those targeted is the Krasniqi forgery network, a Kosovan group that operated a “sophisticated forgery lab producing fake documents” Also sanctioned is Nusret Seferović, alleged leader of a Croatian forgery ring that supplied Balkan gangs with …
Oct 24 2025
Malta Strips Citizenship From Russian Convicted of Money Laundering
Semen Kuksov, 25, was sentenced to more than five years’ imprisonment in February last year. He pleaded guilty to laundering more than 12 million British pounds (around $15 million) of criminally-obtained cash. He obtained Maltese citizenship in 2022 under the country’s controversial “citizenship-by-investment” program. Malta announced in its government gazette on October 21 that it …
Oct 21 2025
How the EU Mistakenly Sanctioned a Decoy Company When it Targeted a Business in Belarus
The European Union’s attempt to sanction Serbia’s Karić family over their ties to the authoritarian president of Belarus ultimately failed because it listed the wrong company details, according to an investigation. The family used their relationship with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to obtain real estate development and construction contracts worth more than $1 billion. When …
Oct 21 2025
Nigeria Deports 192 Foreign Cybercrime Suspects
Nigeria has deported 192 foreign nationals among the 759 suspects arrested during a December crackdown on a major cybercrime ring. The deportees were convicted of cyberterrorism, internet fraud, and related offenses. Those expelled included citizens of China, the Philippines, Tunisia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Timor-Leste. The EFCC said the network laundered illicit proceeds through Genting …
Oct 18 2025
Dutch Court Halts United Group Founder’s Board Challenge, Raising Press Freedom Concerns in Serbia
The case concerns accusations of a governance crisis within a company but at stake, some argue, is press freedom in Serbia. The case was filed after London-based BC Partners, the parent company of United Group B.V., dismissed United Group CEO Viktoria Boklag. A ruling could have helped determine the fate of the country’s last independent …