OCCRP Investigations

The OCCRP Investigations category features in-depth reports on global corruption, organized crime, and financial misconduct. Explore groundbreaking investigations that expose hidden networks, illicit operations, and money laundering schemes across borders. Our reports, backed by trusted sources and rigorous journalism, aim to hold the powerful accountable and uncover the truth behind the world’s most complex criminal enterprises

Europe

Apr 11, 2023Sep 24, 2024

Member of Serbian President’s Inner Circle Partnered With Alleged Drug Trafficker

Over a decade ago, Dejan Stanimirović was the business partner of Nikola Petrović, widely known in Serbia as the “best man” of the president, Aleksandar Vučić. Then he turned up dead in the home of an alleged Colombian drug boss. European police officials told journalists he was known to them as a cocaine trafficker.

James Peterson

Russia

Feb 24, 2023Sep 25, 2024

One Year on From Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, How is the U.K.’s Fight Against Kleptocratic Wealth Faring?

OCCRP joined the Londongrad Kleptocracy Tour, organized by campaigners trying to get dirty money out of the U.K.’s capital, to ask what measures are still needed to fight kleptocracy and corruption.

Alex Johnson

Ukraine

Feb 17, 2023Sep 24, 2024

Figures Behind Eliminalia Also Run Surrogacy Businesses Accused of Baby Trafficking

Their companies are under investigation for arranging fictitious marriages, falsifying documents to smuggle babies out of Ukraine, and trading children for profit.

Alex Johnson

Russia

Feb 10, 2023Sep 24, 2024

This Luxembourg Businessman Got Europe's Corporate Registries Shut Down. But Whose Privacy Was He Protecting?

Why did a man who runs a private aircraft company become a central figure in rolling back corporate transparency across the continent? As it turns out, Patrick Hansen has secrets of his own — including multiple ties to wealthy Russian business figures.

Alex Johnson

Cyprus

Feb 03, 2023Sep 24, 2024

How a Russian Influence Group Infiltrated Cypriot Party Politics

A secretive Moscow group cultivated ties with Cypriot politicians and successfully pushed through a motion in Cyprus’s parliament calling for an end to EU sanctions against Russia. Russian-Cypriot businessman Dmitry Kozlov, who developed links with top politicians and even set up a political party in Cyprus, played a key role in these machinations.

Alex Johnson

Ukraine

Feb 03, 2023Sep 24, 2024

Kremlin-Linked Group Arranged Payments to European Politicians to Support Russia’s Annexation of Crimea

For years, a secret organization run from inside Russia’s parliament successfully interfered with European policies on occupied Ukraine. Leaked emails give a new overview of the operation and show how European Union politicians who helped push Moscow’s agenda were offered cash and perks.

Alex Johnson

Ukraine

Feb 03, 2023Sep 24, 2024

Italian Politicians and Big Business Bought into Russian Occupation of Crimea

Italian far-right politicians and businessmen accepted sponsored trips to Crimea arranged by a Russian influence group, effectively recognizing Moscow’s occupation of the Ukrainian region as legitimate.

Alex Johnson

Cyprus

Jan 30, 2023Sep 24, 2024

Credit Suisse Banked Abramovich Fortune Held in Secret Offshore Companies

Credit Suisse loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to Abramovich’s offshore companies, which used U.S. stocks as collateral, two new leaks reveal. The secretly-owned firms loaned each other massive sums that were mysteriously returned or written off, in what experts said could be a scheme to obscure the origin of the funds.

Alex Johnson

Russia

Jan 24, 2023Nov 16, 2024

FAQ: What’s a Proxy? Using Relatives, Shell Companies, and Other Stand-Ins to Hide Illicit Wealth

One of the most effective ways to hide your ownership of valuable assets is to get someone – or something – to stand in as your “proxy.” Bad actors make regular use of these representatives to stash illicit wealth and move it around the world.

Alex Johnson

Georgia

Jan 23, 2023Sep 24, 2024

Azerbaijani Strongman’s Business Partner Builds Property Empire in Georgia

Turkish businessman Emin Uchar has made a fortune in Nakhchivan, an autonomous Azerbaijani territory between Iran, Turkey, and Armenia. New documents and interviews provide evidence he previously acted as an agent for the family of autocrat Vasif Talibov, who ruled Nakhchivan for 27 years before resigning on December 21.

Alex Johnson