Author's posts
Oct 18 2025
Italy’s Mafia Uses TikTok to Rebrand and Reach Followers
Italian mafia is using TikTok to glamorize criminal life, recruit followers, and experiment with new forms of money laundering. Researchers found striking similarities between Italian and Mexican criminal strategies, including the use of music, luxury imagery, emojis, and viral trends to attract followers and build identities. The authors describe a parallel “communicative ecosystem” where the …
Oct 17 2025
Corruption and Political Crisis Driving South Sudan’s Violence, Watchdog and UN Warn
South Sudan’s leaders are looting public resources, an investigative group says. The Sentry warns that systemic corruption is driving violence and political breakdown. The group echoes a United Nations’ warning that corruption and political paralysis are pushing South Sudan to the brink of another war. The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said …
Oct 17 2025
Ukraine Sends $7M Customs Fraud Case to Court
Ukrainian anti-corruption prosecutors have sent to court a large-scale criminal case against officials of the Chernivtsi Customs Office. Officials are accused of running a “grey import’ scheme that cost the state nearly 290 million hryvnias (about $7 million) Investigators allege the group manipulated import duties through fraudulent declarations, allowing high-value goods to enter Ukraine at …
Oct 17 2025
Romanian Gov’t Provides Free Space to Ministry Branch After Reporters Reveal $17K Monthly Rent
A local arm of Romania’s Ministry of Investments and European Projects is expected to move offices. The move should save the government 720,000 euros ($836,330) from 2026 through 2029, the remaining four years on the five-year lease. The offices will now be housed in a government-owned building for free. The decision came just over a …
Oct 17 2025
Can Ripple’s XRP Smash Through $5 in 2025? We Asked 3 AI Models
Ripple is the third-largest digital asset by market cap. It rose from under $0.6 this time last year to a new all-time high of $3.65 in July 2025. The question is whether it has given its all this year, or it still has some fuel in the tank for another rally, this time to and …
Oct 16 2025
Health Officials Call For Action Over Banned Doctors Still Practicing in Europe
Regulators in several European countries have also confirmed they are investigating individual physicians. Reporters identified more than 100 doctors across Europe and elsewhere who have had their licenses revoked in at least one jurisdiction, but are currently licensed in another. Norway has re-opened investigations into 12 doctors after receiving questions from reporters. “This is serious. …
Oct 16 2025
U.S., U.K. Launch Largest-Ever Crackdown on Southeast Asian Cybercrime Networks
U.S., U.K. impose sanctions on 146 individuals and entities tied to Cambodia-based Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network cut the Huione Group off from the U.S. financial system. “The rapid rise of transnational fraud has cost American citizens billions of dollars, with life savings wiped out in minutes,” says Treasury Secretary …
Oct 15 2025
Jail Chief Linked to Ivanishvili Aide’s Beating Found Dead in Tbilisi
Giorgi Bachiashvili was a former aide to billionaire and Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili. He reportedly fell out with him over a cryptocurrency deal. Authorities detained him in 2023 before releasing him on bail. He fled the country beginning of 2025, violating his bail conditions. While abroad, he vowed to expose his ex-aide’s alleged …
Oct 15 2025
Anti-Corruption Protests in Morocco Enter Their 10th Night
Youth-led protests in Morocco against government mismanagement and corruption show no sign of slowing. Since September 27, demonstrators across the country have rallied for fairer distribution of resources and an end to corruption. Protesters have called for the Moroccan prime minister’s resignation and accused the government of spending billions on infrastructure for the 2030 World …
Oct 13 2025
European Democrats Mock Hungary’s Victor Orbán Over ‘Safari’ Protest at Family Estate
The European Democrats, a centrist political group in Brussels, mocked Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Anti-corruption protesters dressed as zebras outside a lavish estate tied to his family went viral. Nearly a thousand people joined the so-called “safari tour’ over the weekend. “Zebras in Budapest? With Orbán, anything goes,” the European Democrats wrote on . …