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Mercenaries channeled funds through Malta, UAE for planned Libya attack

The 20 private military contractors (PMCs) who were evacuated from war-torn Libya aboard two Malta-leased RHIBs and to Valletta, were aviation experts getting ready to operate assault helicopters, MaltaToday has learnt. A full list of names in this newspaper’s possession clearly shows the men who arrived at the Valletta seaport on the Manta-1 rigid… Read More

Papua New Guinea police arrest former PM Peter O’Neill over alleged corruption

Papua New Guinea police have arrested former prime minister Peter O’Neill over the alleged purchase of generators from Israel without parliamentary approval. O’Neill was arrested on Saturday at the main airport of Port Moresby, PNG’s capital, after returning from Australia, and brought in for questioning, assistant crimes commissioner Hodges… Read More

St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship scheme gets a lift from coronavirus pandemic

If you have been dreaming of getting away from the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, you can — provided you have some cash in hand. For the starting sum of $150,000, you can buy your citizenship of the pristine Caribbean islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis. With their pure… Read More

21st May 2020

Trump administration slaps sanctions on Iran’s interior minister

The United States continues to turn the screws on Iran with its “maximum pressure” campaign, announcing another round of sanctions on Wednesday – this time targeting Iran’s interior minister as well as senior law enforcement officials, over allegations of grave human rights violations. The US Treasury is accusing Iranian Interior… Read More

20th May 2020

U.S. Sanctions Chinese Company, Alleges Ties to Iran’s Mahan Air

The U.S. imposed sanctions on a Chinese logistics company that it says acted as a sales representative for blacklisted Iranian airline Mahan Air. The sanctions on Shanghai Saint Logistics Ltd., which has offices in Shanghai and Beijing, are part of ongoing efforts by Washington to shut down an airline… Read More

20th May 2020

Impoverished Jordan holds $3bn of foreign aid in offshore accounts

Jordan has come first in a list of countries that appear to have siphoned huge amounts of foreign aid into offshore bank accounts. The resource-poor Middle Eastern country, which is hosting about two million Syrian refugees, received £2.13 billion in foreign aid in 2018-19 including £110 million from Britain,… Read More

19th May 2020

Fraud Factory Firms Traced to Penniless Proxies

By Mattias Carlsson, Holger Roonemaa, Oliver Kund and Hannes Munzinger, OCCRP, 18 May 2020 OCCRP — Rita is almost 13,000 euros in debt and was convicted of shoplifting a bottle of gin. Ricardo is unemployed and has been arrested several times for drug possession and driving without a license. His mother,… Read More

19th May 2020

Lebanese Central Bank official charged in currency probe

AP — A Lebanese prosecutor on Monday charged a senior central bank official with manipulation of the exchange rate and money laundering as part of an ongoing probe amid the country’s financial turmoil. The move reflects a growing clash between the central bank and the government at a critical time,… Read More

19th May 2020

U.S. Charges Iranian Company and Executives With Sanctions Violations

The U.S. charged an Iranian online financial services company and two of its senior executives with violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, U.S. prosecutors said. Seyed Sajjad Shahidian, Vahid Vali and the company, Payment24, were criminally charged with conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S., money laundering, identity theft and wire… Read More

14th May 2020

U.S. envoy threatens to trigger return of U.N. sanctions on Iran

The United States publicly threatened on Wednesday to trigger a return of all United Nations sanctions on Iran if the U.N. Security Council does not extend an arms embargo on Tehran that is due to expire in October under the Iran nuclear deal. U.S. special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook,… Read More

14th May 2020

Out-of-Favor Saudi Prince Bought Cypriot Passport

By Sara Farolfi, OCCRP, 13 May 2020 OCCRP — A senior member of the Saudi royal family and government adviser arranged citizenship for himself and six family members through Cyprus’ controversial “Golden Visa” program, according to a document obtained by OCCRP. Prince Saud bin Abdulmohsen bin Abdulaziz Al Saud applied… Read More

12th May 2020

Falcon Private Bank signals wind down with client transfer talks

Falcon Private Bank signalled its winding down on Monday, as the Swiss wealth manager involved in Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal said it was in advanced talks to transfer clients to another Swiss bank and exit private banking activities. “We have concluded that, especially in the current environment, the controlled cessation of… Read More

11th May 2020

Maduro to Tap Sanctioned Dealmaker to Ship Gold to Iran

An indicted financier accused by the U.S. of developing Venezuela’s gold-for-food trade with Turkey is helping orchestrate a similar swap with Iran involving gold for gasoline products, according to seven people familiar with the matter. Alex Nain Saab Moran, a Colombian whom U.S. authorities consider one of the most… Read More

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Ex-Coutts Banker on Trial Over $700 Million Transfer From 1MDB to Jho Low

Mercenaries channeled funds through Malta, UAE for planned Libya attack

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