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September 26, 2025
Hello John,
As Moldova prepares to head to the polls for a critical parliamentary election this Sunday, Russian influence operations are in full swing.

Investigations by independent Moldovan outlets have revealed the Kremlin’s destabilizing methods, which include recruiting protesters, spreading pro-Russian messages, and sowing anti-European sentiment.

Read on for this and more of the latest in global organized crime and corruption.

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** Eyes On: Moldova
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** ‘We Play on People’s Fears’: Inner Workings of Russian Influence Operations in Moldova Revealed
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This Sunday, Moldova will head to the polls in a high-stakes parliamentary election — one president Maia Sandu has described as the “most consequential” in the country’s history — amid major concerns about Kremlin-backed influence campaigns.

“Its outcome will decide whether we consolidate as a stable democracy … or whether Russia destabilizes us, pulls us away from Europe,” Sandu said in a recent address ([link removed]) .

Investigations by independent Moldovan outlets Ziarul de Gardă ([link removed]) , CU CENS ([link removed]) , and Rise Moldova ([link removed]) — all members of the OCCRP network — have exposed the tradecraft behind Russia’s influence apparatus.

In addition to showing how activists are recruited to take part in street protests, amplify pro-Russian content online and agitate against European integration, their reporting demonstrates how these initiatives are funded.

“These journalistic investigations have been a great sign of Moldova’s resilience and have also revealed some of Russia’s limitations,” Paula Erizanu, a Moldovan journalist and writer, told OCCRP.

Read the full story → ([link removed])
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** OCCRP Exclusive
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** Ex-Autocrat's Son Buys Back Hotel Sold Amid Upheaval
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The son of Vasif Talibov, the former autocratic ruler of Azerbaijan’s autonomous enclave of Nakhchivan, has quietly re-purchased a hotel and another property on Georgia’s Black Sea coast that he sold off during a 2023 crackdown on his father’s regime.

The Divan Suites hotel in Batumi, which has been renamed London 1889, was re-acquired by Rza Talibov for $8.6 million in May, according to a publicly-available share purchase document.

Rza had sold the property in January 2023, three weeks after his father stepped down as Nakhchivan’s ruler amid pressure from the central government in Baku.

Responding to questions from OCCRP via email, Rza said the recent purchase of the hotel — and a separate seaside property slated to host an 11-storey residential development — was funded with loans from Georgian and Azerbaijani banks.

He added that the 2023 sale and subsequent repurchase was a strategy for “divesting assets and investment into other potential targets.”

The Talibov family accumulated substantial wealth during the patriarch’s almost three decades as ruler of Nakhchivan, which ended with his abrupt resignation in December 2022.

The government in Baku never explicitly explained the motivations behind its crackdown on Talibov’s administration, but a statement ([link removed]) at the time said Nakhchivan’s new administrator would be instructed to “fight against corruption.”

A 2022 OCCRP investigation revealed that Rza and his brother Seymur received over $20 million in suspicious wire transfers from shell companies. The firms were part of the Azerbaijani ([link removed]) and Troika Laundromats ([link removed]) , two massive money laundering systems uncovered by OCCRP.

Aside from his investment activities, the 43-year old Rza works as a senior immigration official in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** More OCCRP Reporting
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** Adaptagon: Mobile Drug Labs Survive After Assad’s Fall
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Despite efforts by Syria’s new government to crackdown on the production of Captagon, the synthetic amphetamine-type stimulant that boomed under Bashar al-Assad, there are signs that remnants of the trade still exist.

In June, Syria’s interior minister proclaimed on state television that there is no longer “any factory that produces Captagon in Syria.”

However, that claim has been undermined by a string of high-profile seizures of both Captagon pills and precursor materials, raising questions about whether the illicit industry has really been wiped out, or has just gone deeper underground.

According to experts, small, nimble mobile laboratories continue to operate in Syria — particularly in the country’s south, where the transitional government’s authority remains contested.

Captagon is particularly popular ([link removed]) in the Middle East, especially in Gulf states like Saudi Arabia.

In 2021, experts estimated the Captagon trade’s annual potential street value to be at least $5.7 billion.

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** Five-Year Sentence For Former French President Sarkozy
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This week, a Paris court sentenced former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison for conspiring to secure $58.6 million from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for his presidential campaign in exchange for diplomatic favors.

Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, was also fined 100,000 euros and barred from running for public office for five years.

The former president was acquitted on other charges including passive corruption and illegal campaign financing, as the court ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove he ultimately used the alleged Libyan funds in his 2007 campaign.

Two of Sarkozy’s associates, both former ministers, were found guilty of criminal association.

The sentencing “clearly demonstrates that those involved in financial and corrupt schemes can be punished,” Sandra Cossart, director of anti-corruption group Sherpa, told OCCRP.

Sherpa originally filed a lawsuit against Sarkozy in 2013 after media reports about a leaked Libyan intelligence memo referenced a 50 million euro funding deal.

Sarkozy dismissed the document as a forgery — a claim the court supported this week, ruling that the memo could indeed have been fabricated.

The 70-year-old, who denied the charges, is expected to appeal the verdict, which he called a “scandalous injustice,” The Guardian reported ([link removed]) .
Read the full story → ([link removed])


** One Dead, Hundreds Arrested in Manila Protests
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Tens of thousands converged on central Manila last weekend to protest “ghost” flood-control projects, in which politicians are alleged to have stolen millions of dollars earmarked for infrastructure works.

The protests follow a recent Filipino Senate investigation ([link removed]) into alleged “anomalies” in 9,855 flood control projects valued at more than $9.5 billion.

The projects were said to have been carried out between July 2022 and May 2025, the first three years of President Bongbong Marcos’ term.

Over the weekend, Philippine authorities arrested 224 people, including at least 48 minors, claiming the protests turned “very violent.”

The Department of Health said ([link removed]) one unidentified person died from a stab wound and was among 48 people taken to a medical center. Of those injured, 46 were protesters and two were police officers.

Greenpeace Philippines estimates that as much as $19.12 billion of the government’s climate-tagged spending may have been lost to corruption since 2023, including $9.8 billion in 2025 alone.

“Corruption and greed are undermining the ability of millions of Filipinos to survive in the face of climate change” the group said in a statement ([link removed]) on the protests.

Read the full story → ([link removed])


** Kyiv Judge Accused of Illicit Enrichment, While Ukraine Rail Operator Investigated for Embezzlement
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Amid a renewed push to tackle graft in Ukraine, a Kyiv judge has been accused of illicit enrichment and anti-corruption authorities have completed an investigation into embezzlement at state rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia.

The moves are part of Ukraine’s effort to curb corruption and show Brussels that even while fighting for survival, it can uphold the rule of law and deserves a place in the European Union.

Read the full story → ([link removed])

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** News Briefs
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* Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been released under a presidential pardon ([link removed]) after 12 years in and out of prison, following international and domestic pressure.
* At least six journalists and media workers have been detained in Ethiopia since early August ([link removed]) , with press freedom groups warning of a shrinking space for independent reporting ahead of 2026 elections.
* Europol’s Victim Identification Task Force identified 51 child victims of sexual abuse during a special operation analyzing online material, the agency announced ([link removed]) this week.
* Five suspects have been arrested ([link removed]) in a European cross-border operation targeting an online cryptocurrency investment scam that allegedly defrauded victims of at least 100 million euros.
* A Czech company and its leadership have been convicted of defrauding the European Union ([link removed]) of about 220,000 euros in subsidies for a dust-reduction project.

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