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Hello John,
Spain’s Marbella has emerged as the stomping ground of choice for a coterie of male influencers and entrepreneurs linked to the so-called “manosphere,” a diffuse network of online communities characterized by rampant and casual misogyny, with the controversial Tate brothers at its core. Read on for this and more of the latest in global organized crime and corruption. |
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Sun, Cigars, and Sexism: How Spain's Marbella Became a Hotspot for 'Manosphere' Influencers |
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Marbella, on Spain’s Costa del Sol, has long been famed as a haunt for celebrities and oligarchs alike. Now, it has emerged as the stomping ground of choice for a coterie of influencers and entrepreneurs linked to the so-called “manosphere.” By examining social media posts and connections, business venture announcements, and attendees of public and private events, reporters found that the city has become a hub for “hyper-masculine” male influencers and self-described entrepreneurs, including some from the personal and professional circle of Andrew Tate, the self-described “king of masculinity,” and his brother Tristan. The British-American Tate brothers face criminal charges for human trafficking and rape in the U.K. and are being criminally investigated in Romania for trafficking and forming an organized crime group — allegations they strongly deny. Reporters looked at how Marbella has become a backdrop for the personal brands of several Tate-aligned influencers, who often wrap sexist narratives into self-improvement mantras. This network’s move into Marbella comes amid concern in Spain that misogyny has entered mainstream public discourse. Read the full story → |
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What Lies Beneath: Venezuelan Basketball’s Dark Revival |
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When the Venezuelan government set up a new basketball league several years ago, the stated goal was to revive the glory days of a sport beloved in the Latin American country. But critics say the new ‘Super League’ is little more than a playground for the regime of authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro and its allies — and that it is helping deflect attention away from human rights abuses through what is known as “sportswashing.” In one bleak and vivid example, some of the league’s games are being played on a court that sits several floors above jail cells holding more than 80 political prisoners in what rights groups say are horrific conditions. “On the upper floors they’re playing basketball, and in the basement people are being tortured,” Venezuelan sports journalist Cándido Pérez said. “I doubt such a thing exists anywhere else in the world.” Read the full story → |
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Money Laundering Probe of Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich to Continue After Court Ruling |
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| More than $7 billion in assets held under a trust benefiting sanctioned Russian businessman Roman Abramovich will remain frozen after a court in the English Channel island of Jersey rejected the oligarch’s bid to see a money laundering investigation dismissed. In September, we reported that Jersey authorities were investigating Abramovich over suspected money laundering, and looking into whether companies linked to him violated economic sanctions. Details of the investigation and associated legal proceedings had remained largely hidden until last week, when Jersey courts published more than a dozen judgments. The documents show that the probe appears to have begun around the time Abramovich was sanctioned by Jersey and the U.K. in March 2022, two weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The oligarch’s assets were moved to the island in 2021, several years after he and four close associates obtained “high value resident” status under a Jersey government scheme aimed at attracting “ultra high net worth individuals,” the judgments show. Abramovich has not been charged with any crime in Jersey. His lawyers said he denies involvement “in any criminal activity whatsoever” and that the decision to investigate him was “undertaken for political purposes and to bolster Jersey’s reputation in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.” In separate proceedings, a Jersey court ruled that there had been “deficiencies” in the government’s compliance with data subject access requests. Abramovich's lawyers accuse Jersey officials of bad faith and an unlawful breach of data protection laws for refusing to provide his personal data from the 2016-2020 period. Read the full story → |
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| | Albania Suspends Deputy PM in Probe Over Major Tender |
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Albania’s Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Belinda Balluku has been suspended and barred from leaving the country amid an investigation into her alleged abuse of major public tenders. According to prosecutors, Balluku and two subordinates allegedly steered multimillion-dollar tenders — including for a $219.2 million tunnel project — toward preselected winners in breach of procurement rules. Two of her subordinates have also been placed under house arrest, with prosecutors citing concerns about flight risks and evidence tampering. Balluku joined Prime Minister Edi Rama’s cabinet in 2019 and has long overseen one of the government’s largest portfolios. She is now the highest-ranking official charged by the country’s Special Anti-Corruption Prosecution, following investigations that have already unseated several senior figures. Read the full story → |
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How Sweeping Sanctions Missed a Business Partner of the Alleged Head of a Major Asian Crime Organization |
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Last month, the U.S. and U.K. announced coordinated sanctions targeting the “Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization,” a Cambodia-based network accused of running large-scale online investment scams. Among the 146 targets identified in the sanctions package was a Chinese national named Chen Xiao’er. However, this appears to be an earlier alias for a man who now goes by Wu An Ming, and who has been able to amass numerous properties and companies — including a central London mansion — under this second identity. Records viewed by OCCRP show that the now 43-year-old used the name Chen Xiao’er when he first obtained a passport from the Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in 2017. But by 2020, he had officially changed his name to Wu An Ming. Under his current identity, Wu An Ming holds about $45 million worth of property in the U.K., and controls a vast global portfolio of investments including companies and private jets. “The U.S. Treasury’s failure to list up-to-date names and nationalities for sanctioned entities does not give banking institutions a free pass to do business with him,” said Clif Burns, a lawyer in Washington D.C. with Crowell & Moring. “America’s sanctions regime is a strict liability scheme, meaning banks can be punished for even unwitting infractions.” Read the full story → |
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Libyan Businessman Who Ran for President Squandered Sovereign Wealth Fund’s Money, Government Audit Claims |
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In 2021, Libyan businessman Abdelhakim Baayo made headlines as the first person to register for the country’s first-ever presidential elections. At the time, he served as the head of Alhammra Company Spain S.L., a Spanish company owned by the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), Libya’s sovereign wealth fund. Alhammra had been set up in Spain in 2015, after sanctions imposed during the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi caused administrative difficulties for a predecessor company in Gibraltar. Its activities were diverse, and included cable procurement, as well as trade in consumer goods including milk and tuna. By the time he made his tilt at the presidency, Baayo had been accused by multiple Libyan official bodies of misappropriating Alhammra funds. Now, newly obtained leaked internal documents — including invoices, emails, and payment notifications — corroborate many of the key claims, including that he used company money to make the down payment on an apartment registered in his own name. Baayo told OCCRP that the allegations were false. Read the full story → |
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Dutch Prosecutors Seek 20-Year Sentence in Trafficking Case |
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Closing arguments were heard this week in the Netherlands’ largest-ever human trafficking case, with a 42-year-old Eritrean national facing up to 20 years in prison over an alleged smuggling ring targeting migrants in Libya between 2014 and 2018. The man, identified in court as Amanuel W., was arrested in Ethiopia in 2020 and sentenced to 18 years in prison in Addis Ababa. He was extradited to the Netherlands in late 2022 and charged with human trafficking, hostage-taking, extortion, assault, and sexual assault. On Wednesday his lawyers questioned the court’s jurisdiction, given the case concerned smuggling from Eritrea via Sudan to Libya, ending in Italy. However, the prosecution said there was a clear link to the Netherlands: residents of the country were extorted by the network, and forced to make cash transfers to ensure the release of their relatives. The court is set to issue its verdict next year on January 26. Read the full story → |
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Rip Off Britain features Scam Empire |
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OCCRP senior investigative reporter Tom Stocks appeared this week on BBC’s “Rip Off Britain” discussing “Scam Empire,” our investigation with more than 30 media partners that revealed how two scam call centers raked in roughly $275 million from would-be investors. |
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Raids by authorities in Bosnia have led to six arrests and the discovery of 50 migrants of various nationalities awaiting smuggling into neighboring Croatia.
Philippine authorities have vowed that further high-profile arrests are expected, after seven arrests in connection with corruption in government flood control projects which spark mass protests. A Bishkek court this week ordered the release of two former cameramen from independent media outlet Kloop, OCCRP’s member center in Kyrgyzstan.
A five-year investigation has led to the arrest of 24 members of an international cocaine-trafficking syndicate based in Albania and Italy.
Former Peruvian president Martín Vizcarra began serving a 14-year sentence for corruption this week.
South Korea has imposed sanctions on 132 entities and 15 people linked to to the Cambodia-based cyber-scam network known as the Prince Group.
Ukraine has imposed sanctions on 56 maritime vessels accused of exporting grain taken from Russian-occupied territories.
The U.K. House of Lords has suspended three peers over breaches of rules which prohibit members from offering parliamentary services for payment or reward.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced this week that it has dismantled a multimillion-euro VAT fraud evasion operation in Croatia, involving 78 million euros ($90.27 million) in unpaid tax.
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We’re currently hiring for the following remote roles: |
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Nominate an Anti-Crime and Corruption Hero |
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Every year since 2012, we have honored some of the world’s most dubious crime-enabling figures with our "Corrupt Person of the Year” award. |
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But in a global landscape increasingly dominated by audacious corruption, we’ve decided to pivot and start celebrating the people fighting for justice and accountability.
OCCRP is seeking nominations for Anti-Crime & Corruption Heroes, to honor those confronting organized crime and corruption head-on, from steadfast activists to threatened journalists and tireless transparency advocates. We're offering $1,000 to each of the winners, and will highlight their important work. We invite you to nominate those making a difference. Learn more and submit your nomination → |
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P.S. Thanks for reading! Got feedback? Simply reply to this email. |
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