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Hello John,
Users of social media and messaging platform Telegram have long believed it offered a degree of security — and its Russian founder has positioned himself as a champion of user privacy.
However, a new investigation has revealed ties between a key Telegram infrastructure provider and Russian intelligence services.
A former governor of the Nigerian state Anambra shifted ownership of U.S. property holdings after his 2022 arrest on suspicion of misappropriating public funds, OCCRP reporters have found.
Earlier this week, two men were sentenced over the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in 2017 when a bomb detonated under the driver’s seat of her car. However, her family says much remains unresolved.
Plus, journalists from Iran working in exile are facing a fresh wave of intimidation as authorities come after their families.
Read on for the latest in global crime and corruption.
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In the aftermath of our recent ‘Dear Compatriots’ investigation, which exposed the work of a Russian foundation that funds legal support for spies and propaganda abroad, several European countries have launched official probes.
In the project, OCCRP and 29 media partners detailed how Pravfond has been used as a tool to advance Kremlin interests around the world — circumventing European sanctions in the process.
Find out more →
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Telegram, the FSB, and the Man in the Middle
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The technical infrastructure underpinning social network and messaging service Telegram is controlled by a man whose companies have collaborated with Russian intelligence services, a new investigation by OCCRP partner Important Stories has found.
Telegram has over a billion active users around the world, according to its founder Pavel Durov. Among the reasons for this success is its reputation for security — and Durov’s reputation as a freedom fighter.
But the investigation found a key vulnerability: thousands of Telegram IP addresses are assigned by a company that belongs to a Russian network engineer named Vladimir Vedeneev.
The company also maintains Telegram’s servers and owned a key router in a Telegram server room in Miami, according to a 2018 court case.
But Vedeneev’s other companies have a history of collaborating with Russia’s defense sector, the FSB security service, and other highly sensitive agencies.
The findings throw into question the platform’s privacy claims, long touted by founder Pavel Durov.
“Unlike some of our competitors, we don’t trade privacy for market share,” Durov wrote in April. “In its 12-year history, Telegram has never disclosed a single byte of private messages.”
Read the full story →
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OCCRP View:
"I've seen enough reports over the years about [Telegram’s] potential security holes and suspicious ties. And I know Durov is not a reliable narrator, as last year's IStories report about his frequent travel to Russia shows.
"I am surprised that one person has so much responsibility for Telegram's technical infrastructure, and that his companies have very sensitive security services as clients.
"A lot of people don't understand the vulnerabilities Telegram has had, so I hope this latest reporting will spread far and wide. People who have reason to fear the Russian government depend — with their lives — on being secure online.”
— OCCRP Senior Editor Ilya Lozovsky
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Bomb Suppliers in Daphne Caruana Galizia Murder Sentenced to Life in Prison
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Two men who supplied the bomb that killed Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 were sentenced to life in prison earlier this week.
Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were found guilty on all counts for complicity in her murder, participation in a criminal organization, illicit possession of explosives, and complicity in causing an explosion intended to kill.
The Caruana Galizia family welcomed the verdict, but stressed that much remains unresolved in the case, which has gripped Malta since the journalist's murder in October 2017, and led to a public outcry against corruption and organized crime that toppled Malta’s government in 2019.
“We hope that today’s sentences will be a step towards a safer world for journalists by signalling to potential killers that there are heavy penalties to pay when a journalist is murdered,” the family said in a statement after the sentencing.
Read the full story →
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Nigerian Ex-Governor Reshuffled Property After Arrest
The former governor of Nigeria’s Anambra State, Willie Obiano, and his wife, Ebelechukwu, shifted ownership of some of their U.S. property holdings after his 2022 arrest on suspicion of misappropriating public funds.
The ex-governor was arrested immediately after leaving office in 2022, as he was about to board a flight from Lagos to Houston.
Property records examined by OCCRP, the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF), and the Houston Chronicle show that between 2022 and 2024, Obiano and his wife sold two apartments in Texas and transferred ownership of four more to a family company in the U.S..The six apartments are worth about $1.8 million in total.
There is no indication that any of the U.S. properties were purchased with funds that Nigerian authorities allege were misappropriated. Obiano, who served as governor from 2014 to 2022, continues to deny the charges against him, which include embezzlement and money laundering.
Read the full story →
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How Scammers Cash In On AI-Generated Holocaust Victims
Social media content farmers have found a way to profit from Holocaust victims, cashing in on Meta’s monetization program.
Russian-language fact-checkers from Provereno (“Verified”) found more than a dozen Facebook pages publishing AI-generated images and fabricated stories of Holocaust victims.
Provereno estimated that one AI-generated Holocaust post from Meta-verified page “90's History” could have generated roughly $77 in revenue through Meta’s invitation-only “Performance Bonus” program, which rewards creators for engagement on public posts. It had 9,600 likes, 1,300 comments, and nearly 1,000 shares.
Meta did not respond to Provereno’s request for comment prior to publication. The Auschwitz Museum has denounced such content manipulation as “a profound act of disrespect to the memory of those who suffered and were murdered” at the Nazi death camp.
Read the full story →
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Iran Targets Families to Silence Journalists Abroad
Iranian journalists in exile are being subjected to a fresh wave of intimidation by the regime, with threats being made against their families inside Iran.
Among the targets are journalists working for international media outlets, including Voice of America’s Persian Service and the BBC.
Media workers and human rights advocates say family members of journalists returning from trips abroad have been detained, interrogated, and used to deliver threats or demands to their relatives.
Read the full story →
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Paraguay Says It Won’t Pay Cyber Ransom
The government of Paraguay says it won’t pay a ransom to cybercriminals threatening to expose citizens’ data.
A previously unknown group calling itself Brigada Cyber PMC posted a ransom note on the dark web late last month threatening a massive data breach if $7.4 million — one dollar for each citizen’s Personally Identifiable Information — is not paid today.
“The government never negotiates with these types of actors,” Gustavo Villate, Minister of Technology and Information, told OCCRP.
Read the full story →
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A new investigation has found that nearly 900 wounded Russian soldiers were secretly treated in hospitals in Belarus, contradicting claims from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that the country has maintained neutrality in the war in Ukraine.
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A Russian citizen living in New York has been charged with laundering more than $530 million through U.S.-based cryptocurrency companies, as well as lying to financial institutions about his ties to sanctioned Russian entities, facilitating payments to Russian banks, and helping to procure sensitive U.S.-made electronics for state nuclear firm Rosatom.
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In Italy, authorities have dismantled a sprawling criminal enterprise accused of profiting from the illegal entry of thousands of Bangladeshi migrants, in what officials described as a multi-million-euro scheme involving lawyers, consultants, and members of the Camorra mafia.
- Latvia is set to try the suspected leader of an international VAT fraud and money laundering ring, which targeted multiple EU countries and involved hundreds of companies, defrauding EU countries of some €297 million ($339.3 million).
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Free Investigative Training For Mid-Career Reporters
Join expert investigative journalists and researchers from OCCRP and Transcrime for a one-day intensive training, covering:
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Real-world case studies on financial crime, political corruption, and global trafficking
Spots for this Next-IJ Cross-Border Investigative Training Program are limited.
Apply for the session on July 18 now to sharpen your investigative edge.
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The Boston Globe Wins Scripps Howard Journalism Award
The Boston Globe, with contributions from OCCRP, has won the Scripps Howard Excellence in Business/Financial Reporting award for uncovering financial mismanagement and corporate neglect at hospital chain Steward Health Care.
A panel of veteran journalists and media leaders selected the winners from nearly 600 entries across 12 categories.
Read more →
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Aleph Pro: FAQ on the Future of OCCRP’s Investigative Data Platform
Aleph Pro is the next iteration of OCCRP’s Aleph investigative data platform, launching in October 2025. This FAQ explains what’s changing, what’s staying the same, and how the transition will affect Aleph users around the world.
Find out more →
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