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July 4, 2025
Hello John,
This week, we take you inside a cozy restaurant in the Czech Republic that serves up more than just hearty Georgian food and drink. Reporters found the eatery has also lent its address to multiple figures linked to the Russian criminal underworld.

Read on for more about the Pirosmani restaurant, new impact from our investigative series Dear Compatriots ([link removed]) , corruption in Russia’s defense ministry, and more.


** New Investigation
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** Georgian Restaurateur in Czech Republic Linked to Russian Underworld Figures and Kremlin-Backed Foundation
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With just four tables, the Pirosmani Georgian restaurant in the Czech city of Karlovy Vary provides its patrons with an intimate dining experience — and other services, it seems.

OCCRP reporters found the restaurant has also served as an address for three companies owned by people allegedly tied to the Russian criminal underworld, according to court records and media reports.

One of them is a self-described vor v zakone, or “thief in law” — a term used to describe members of a high-level criminal caste that emerged from the Soviet gulags.

The restaurant’s walls are plastered with pictures of its Georgian proprietor Asmat Shanava posing with public figures, including a former Czech president. However, for the non-paying customer, she can prove elusive.

Shanava refused to answer reporters' questions about these companies, as well as our other finding: that she appears to have helped skirt EU sanctions by facilitating the transfer of money from a Kremlin-back foundation to lawyers in a high-profile Czech court case.

Pravfond, a sanctioned Russian foundation that has been the subject of our ongoing investigative series Dear Compatriots ([link removed]) , was looking to provide financial assistance to Alexander Franchetti, a man sentenced in absentia by a Czech court last year over his role in forming a pro-Russian militia in Ukraine in 2014.

In one leaked email from 2022, Franchetti told Pravfond’s executive director that Shanava had “practically agreed to… [having] the money transferred to her in rubles and she’ll pay it out in the Czech Republic.”

The following July, an email from Pravfond’s director stated that “the grant money was received into the bank account of A. Shanava.”

Read the full story → ([link removed])
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** More OCCRP Reporting
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** Australia Sanctions Kremlin-Linked Pravfond Over Propaganda and Influence Operations Overseas
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Australia has slapped new sanctions on Pravfond, the Russian state-backed legal aid fund that OCCRP and partners recently exposed ([link removed]) for funding spies, propaganda, and generally furthering Kremlin interests overseas.

The sanctions follow the release of a joint investigation by OCCRP and ABC Investigations, which revealed that Pravfond had funded legal expenses for Simeon Boikov ([link removed]) , a Sydney-based pro-Kremlin activist known as the “Aussie Cossack.”

Boikov has taken refuge in the Russian consulate in Sydney after injuring an elderly Ukrainian man in 2022, for which he was later convicted of physical assault.

While Australian authorities did not explicitly link the sanctions to the Boikov case, a foreign affairs spokesperson said Pravfond “has been identified as supporting individuals and entities attempting to influence public opinion abroad, including in relation to Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.”

In response, a Russian embassy spokesperson in Australia called the sanctions “Russophobia” and said Pravfond had been the “target of a deluge of slander and outright disinformation.”

Read the full story → ([link removed]) [link removed]


** Former Russian Defense Figure Sentenced In Crackdown
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A former senior Russian defense official has been sentenced to over 13 years in jail for embezzling millions in state funds and laundering billions through the now-defunct Interkommerts Bank, highlighting corruption in the heart of the country’s military establishment.

The sentencing for Timur Ivanov, a longtime deputy defense minister responsible for military construction and logistics, appears to be part of a broader anti-corruption drive inside Russia’s Defense Ministry as its war with Ukraine grinds on.

His conviction follows the arrest of several other high-ranking officials in recent months, including another senior figure detained ([link removed]) in May in connection with a bribery scandal involving more than 100 million rubles.

In addition to prison time, Ivanov was fined 100 million rubles ($1.1 million), and was stripped of real estate and luxury vehicles, as well as banned from holding public office for four years after his release. His legal team say they plan to appeal the verdict.

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** U.S. Targets Mexican Banks Aiding Fentanyl Cartels
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The U.S. Treasury has designated three Mexico-based financial institutions for allegedly playing a “longstanding and vital role” in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of cartels and facilitating payments for the procurement of precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl.

The sanctions ([link removed]) , which mark the first actions taken under the newly-minted FEND Off Fentanyl Act, target CIBanco, Intercam Banco, and Vector Casa de Bolsa, and prohibit U.S. financial institutions from processing certain transactions involving the firms.

The move comes as part of a broader crackdown ([link removed]) in the U.S. that began with an executive order issued by President Trump in January 2025 designating several Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

Read the full story → ([link removed])

📞 We want to hear from you!

We’d love to know why you read OCCRP and how you use our reporting. Your feedback helps us improve. Schedule a 15-minute call ([link removed]) with us ([link removed]) .


** News Briefs
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* Australia’s national carrier Qantas announced this week ([link removed]) that personal data from around 6 million of its customers, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth, had been exposed in a major cyberattack.
* The U.S. and U.K. have sanctioned a Russian tech firm ([link removed]) linked to cyberattacks and the darknet fentanyl trade.
* Watchdog group Transparency International is calling for the EU ([link removed]) to take action on unifying anti-corruption measures across the bloc, as Denmark takes up the EU presidency.
* The leader of Ecuador’s Los Choneros gang — long considered the country’s most wanted fugitive — is set to be extradited to the United States ([link removed]) after being captured 18 months after his escape from prison.
* Organized crime groups are increasingly using major European ports to traffic large quantities of illicit drugs, a new report warns ([link removed]) , echoing trends highlighted by our 2023 Narcofiles investigation ([link removed]) .


** OCCRP Documentary
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When a British short-seller targeted US firm Steward Healthcare ([link removed]) , the company launched a “spare no expenses” mission to spy on him and others it deems enemies.
In a new documentary, our reporters take you into the cloak-and-daggers world of business intelligence.
Watch the film → ([link removed])


** What's On
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Miranda Patrucic at DW Global Media Forum
OCCRP Editor in Chief Miranda Patrucic ([link removed]) will speak at DW’s Global Media Forum on July 7 in Bonn, Germany.

She'll join a panel exploring the future of independent media and donor support amid disinformation, USAID funding cuts, and growing hostility toward journalists.

Learn more here → ([link removed])

Free Investigative Training For Mid-Career Reporters
Deadline Tomorrow

Join expert investigative journalists and researchers fromOCCRP ([link removed]) andTranscrime ([link removed]) for a one-day intensive training ([link removed]) , covering:
* Advanced tools and techniques for data-driven investigations
* Cross-border collaboration strategies
* 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 ([link removed]) now to sharpen your investigative edge.

Join the ARIJ 18th Annual Forum
OCCRP regional partner Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) will host the ARIJ 18th Annual Forum on December 5-7 in Jordan and online.

This year’s theme, “Rise to Challenge,” calls on independent journalists to confront growing political pressure, shrinking funding, and disruptive technologies.

With panels, workshops, and spaces for collaboration, the forum is a key event for bolstering resilient, ethical reporting in the Arab world and beyond. Register to attend in person or virtually.

Register to attend ([link removed]) in person or virtually.
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