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Editors' Picks: Favorite Stories from 2020.
With the holidays behind us, our staff from around the world were asked to nominate some of their favorites out of the 100+ investigations we published last year.
A thread
With the holidays behind us, our staff from around the world were asked to nominate some of their favorites out of the 100+ investigations we published last year.
A thread
2/ Coordinating Editor @JelterMeers nominates our series on corruption and coronavirus.
In times of crisis, criminals and corrupt officials often find ways to grab money meant to help suffering people.
We’ve been watching. https://www.occrp.org/en/coronavirus/
In times of crisis, criminals and corrupt officials often find ways to grab money meant to help suffering people.
We’ve been watching. https://www.occrp.org/en/coronavirus/
3/ One story from this series revealed that medical masks and protective equipment sold across Europe were manufactured by Uighur workers in China who were part of a controversial "labor transfer" program that experts say is coercive and prone to abuses. https://www.occrp.org/en/coronavirus/chinas-oppressed-uighurs-made-covid-19-protection-sold-throughout-europe
4/ We also published an interactive feature on European COVID-19 spending. We tracked over 37,000 tenders and contracts totaling $25 billion and found widely varying prices, a lack of transparency, and other problems. https://www.occrp.org/en/coronavirus/europes-covid-19-spending-spree-unmasked
5/ We also looked into how European coronavirus spending got this way. This explainer shows how the scramble to buy COVID-19 supplies as quickly as possible led to a lack of transparency and skipped anti-corruption measures. https://www.occrp.org/en/coronavirus/in-europes-scramble-to-buy-COVID-19-supplies-anti-corruption-measures-fall-away
6/ OCCRP's Co-Founder @IDashboard nominates 2 investigations we published with @FbdnStories about the murder of a fearless Mexican journalist.
This story explains why the (sexist and senseless) official explanation for her death doesn't hold water. https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/unanswered-questions-haunt-case-of-mexican-journalists-murder
This story explains why the (sexist and senseless) official explanation for her death doesn't hold water. https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/unanswered-questions-haunt-case-of-mexican-journalists-murder
7/ This accompanying story showcases the ties between Los Zetas — the fearsome gang the murdered Regina Martínez was investigating — and the Mexican consul in Barcelona.
Connections between criminals and officials are our specialty. https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/the-cartels-consul-in-barcelona
Connections between criminals and officials are our specialty. https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/the-cartels-consul-in-barcelona
8/ Our Latin American editor, @NJaccard, chose our documentary about the #RivieraMayaGang, which is estimated to have stolen about $1 billion from compromised ATMs across Mexico. We show who they are and how they did it.
9/ Nathan — apparently an organized crime fiend — also highlights our series on the #GroupAmerica gang. They’re accused of dismembering enemies with chainsaws, assassinating gov’t officials, and having ties with spy agencies. And selling lots of cocaine. https://www.occrp.org/en/group-america/
10/ Senior investigator @TREStocks points to our deep dive into the corporate & financial intrigue behind the derelict ship responsible for the devastating ammonium nitrate explosion in Beirut. We’ve never done a major investigation this fast. https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/a-hidden-tycoon-african-explosives-and-a-loan-from-a-notorious-bank-questionable-connections-surround-beirut-explosion-shipment
11/ Deputy Editor-in-Chief @MirandaOCCRP nominates a major investigation from our Russian member center about Putin’s son-in-law. The data used here is an investigative reporter's dream — and @istories_media did it justice. https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/love-offshores-and-administrative-resources-how-marrying-putins-daughter-gave-kirill-shamalov-a-world-of-opportunity
12/ Since it uncovers "one of the most difficult things a crime reporter can uncover — bribery, kickbacks, and insider deals," @MirandaOCCRP also nominates this series about Semlex, a Belgian company that worked with some of Africa's most ruthless regimes. https://www.occrp.org/en/biometric-bribery-semlex/
13/ @MirandaOCCRP also wanted to give a shout-out to #BlowingUnsmoke, our series showing how tobacco lobbyists have pushed IQOS as a safer (and more profitable) alternative to cigarettes through deceptive means. https://www.occrp.org/en/loosetobacco/blowing-unsmoke/
14/ Deputy Editor-in-Chief @Julia_Wallace picks #FraudFactory, a series about a network of inventive — and cruel — internet scammers who fleeced their victims of millions. https://www.occrp.org/en/fraud-factory/
15/ Thanks to a whistleblower and hidden camera footage, plus a group of partners across Europe, we were able to trace the anatomy of a cross-border boiler room scam and delve into the lives of its victims and the personalities of its perpetrators.
16/ @Julia_Wallace also liked this story about how the son of an Azeri official acquired a luxury London apartment — and what this may have had to do with a Turkish tycoon close to Erdogan and his massive dam project in Azerbaijan. https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/luxury-london-residence-of-azerbaijan-officials-son-purchased-with-mysterious-payment-to-shell-company
17/ This, @Julia_Wallace says, is "like the Mozart of OCCRP stories. Classic and calm, not flashy, but meticulously reported, and solving a mystery that had been hanging out there since the Panama Papers. It’s rare, and very cool, to see the path of a bribe laid out like this."
18/ Core editor @CarolineHenshaw loved Revolution to Riches, which uses a cache of Venezuelan documents to show how over 1/3 of the army’s top brass are pursuing private businesses — and cashing in on their public positions. https://www.occrp.org/en/revolution-to-riches/
19/ "It’s incredibly rare to get this kind of data from Venezuela," Caroline says. This story, for example, shows how the family of the head of the military built a web of companies worth millions. https://www.occrp.org/en/revolution-to-riches/the-general-and-his-corporate-labyrinth
20/ Investigative editor @KZalan nominates a story that used plane documents and flight data to expose how private contractors, hidden behind secretive LLCs, have become executors and benefactors of the U.S. "war on terror" in East Africa. https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/private-us-contractors-part-of-kill-chain-in-anti-terrorist-operations
21/ Reporters tracked US-registered planes at a tiny U.S. base in Kenya, contracted to do target surveillance in Somalia. They also confirmed that civilian contractors now operate armed drones that carry out the lethal airstrikes.
22/ Senior editor @ichbinilya picked Kočner’s World, a story that shows how Slovak businessman Marian Kočner — accused of ordering the murder of a young investigative journalist — used his wealth and connections to influence the country’s judicial system. https://www.occrp.org/en/a-journalists-undying-legacy/kocners-world
23/ Also from @ichbinilya is The Matraimov Kingdom, a series that follows up on 2019’s award-winning #PlunderandPatronage to show how Kyrgyzstan’s secretive Matraimov family used their wealth & power to prosper in one of the world’s poorest countries. https://www.occrp.org/en/the-matraimov-kingdom/
24/ Last but not least from core editor @jaredferrie is the Balkan Cocaine Wars, a series that tells the inside story of a vicious war between two Montenegrin cocaine clans that left bodies scattered across Europe. https://www.occrp.org/en/balkan-cocaine-wars/
25/ And if you can, donate to OCCRP so we can continue to hold the powerful to account.
In the fight for a fairer and better governed world, there’s no bigger bang for your buck than investigative journalism. https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=occrp&campaign=7011U000000EcJRQA0
In the fight for a fairer and better governed world, there’s no bigger bang for your buck than investigative journalism. https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=occrp&campaign=7011U000000EcJRQA0
