OCCRP Newsletter 10/14/2022

 

NEW INVESTIGATIONS 🇰🇿 Kazakh Leader Paid for Oliver Stone Film About Himself — Once known for directing classic American films like “Platoon” and “JFK,” Oliver Stone has more recently appeared in several widely-panned documentaries about authoritarian leaders. Among them is “Qazaq,” a film about Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled Kazakhstan for nearly 30 years. As it turns out, a Kazakh charitable foundation controlled by Nazarbayev paid at least $5 million for the production.  👀 Foundations Everywhere: This story highlights just one example of how Nazarbayev’s “charitable” foundations were used. In a previous investigation, OCCRP and Vlast.kz revealed that the strongman’s foundations controlled at least $8 billion in assets — including luxury hotels, banks, and warehouses — which are hard to square with their charitable missions. Our member center, Vlast.kz, obtained confirmation that the money was channeled through a state cinema organization. This conflict of interest was never revealed, with both Stone and the film’s director refusing to discuss its financing. >> Read the full story. 🌐 The Big Picture: Oliver Stone’s documentaries have been criticized for presenting autocrats and their allies through an uncritical lens. The film “Ukraine on Fire,” which presents a pro-Russian take on the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, also featured Stone and had the same director as the Kazakh film, Igor Lopatonok.   ************************************** 🇲🇽 Scientist-Turned-Spy’s Ties to Mexican Gov’t — Mexican scientist Héctor Cabrera-Fuentes was convicted in June for helping Russia spy on the United States. Before that, the scientist was involved in talks with the Mexican government, which hoped he could drum up Asian financing for an ambitious railway project, known as the Trans-Isthmus Corridor.  If completed, the railway could challenge the Panama Canal and potentially disrupt American hegemony in the region. >> Read the full story.   **************************************   🇹🇭 Warrant for Thai Senator Canceled –– OCCRP and Thai media outlet Prachatai revealed that an arrest warrant for a Thai senator was quickly and mysteriously retracted last week.  Upakit Pachariyangkun, who was appointed to the Senate by the Thai military, has been implicated in a case of alleged drug trafficking and money laundering. Upakit’s son-in-law and former business partner, a Myanmar tycoon and arms dealer,  have been arrested in connection to the operation, which allegedly operated from a casino in the Golden Triangle. The case is being seen as a test for Thailand’s law enforcement and justice systems, with concerns that powerful people will try to interfere. >> Read the full story. Join the fight against corruption. SUPPORT OCCRP OCCRP HAS IMPACT 🇧🇾 Action After Belarus Investigation  — Belarusian authorities shut down a medical clinic after an investigation by the Belarusian Investigative Center, an OCCRP member center. Journalists revealed that the clinic’s owners had ties to oligarchs who have been sanctioned for acting in the interests of the corrupt regime of President Aleksandr Lukashenko. One owner even traveled by private jet with Lukashenko’s daughter-in-law to the United Arab Emirates, where the Belarusian president was meeting with government officials. Merci Clinic also appeared to receive preferential treatment from the state. Other medical facilities halted surgeries to implant prosthetic joints after Lukashenko accused doctors of corruption. But Merci continued to provide the procedures –– at a much higher price. >> Read the full story here. THE OCCRP NETWORK 🇧🇬 Bird.Bg: Reporters Without Borders and Atanas Tchobanov, the founder of our Bulgarian member center, have filed a complaint in France against an intelligence firm that collected personal data about Tchobanov without his knowledge. Tchobanov has faced numerous threats over the years, including a serious recent death threat. 🇷🇺 IStories: Our Russian member center spoke with an anonymous source in the FSB, Russia’s intelligence agency, that said roughly 90,000 Russians have been “irretrievably lost” in the Ukraine war — either because they were killed, are missing, or were injured and unable to return to military service. In comparison, the most recent figures from the Russian Defense Ministry, announced in September, reported just 5,937 deaths in the conflict. 🇭🇺 Atlatszo: Our Hungarian member center’s platform for tips and leaks, MagyarLeaks, now accepts submissions via Signal and WhatsApp.  🇨🇿 Investigace.cz: The founder of our Czech member center discussed her Pandora Papers investigations, which exposed the secret wealth of the Czech Republic’s previous president, in a podcast by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.  MORE CORRUPTION NEWS Mexico has sold hand grenades and tactical equipment to drug cartels, a major leak from the Mexican government reveals.  Human Rights Watch has urged the Bangladeshi government to stop targeting the political opposition ahead of general elections. The watchdog cited several arrests and raids against members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. MORE ORGANIZED CRIME NEWS Enforcement of foriegn bribery laws has dropped to an all time low amongst the world’s largest exporters, with the United States and Switzerland being the only exceptions, according to Transparency International. A Mexican lawyer who worked with the Sinaloa Cartel was sentenced in the United States to 15 years in prison for aiding in money laundering activities.  OCCRP EVENTS Anti-SLAPP Conference: OCCRP Member Center Coordinator Gordana Miladinović will speak about how to support journalists battling SLAPPs — vexatious lawsuits aimed at silencing critical voices. Oct. 20 at 8:30 a.m. in Strasbourg, France, and live-streamed. >> Register here. African Investigative Journalism Conference: OCCRP Africa Editors Beauregard Tromp and Chikezie Omeje will lead a session on our Suisse Secrets project. Oct. 31 @ 4:30 p.m. OCCRP’s Khadija Sharife and Erin Klazar will discuss their investigations into environmental crime. Nov. 1 @ 10:10 a.m. >> Register here. P.S. 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