Uncovering a Kazakh oligarch’s Spanish idyll
A reporter and photographers visited Timur Kulibayev’s sprawling Mediterranean coast estate as part of the “Caspian Cabals” project and discovered plush villas, high security and ambivalent neighbors. Surrounded by intense scents of pine, thyme and the sea, Gianluca and I carefully wend our way down a narrow forest path that leads to Cala Morisca,…
January 22, 2025
A reporter and photographers visited Timur Kulibayev’s sprawling Mediterranean coast estate as part of the “Caspian Cabals” project and discovered plush villas, high security and ambivalent neighbors. Surrounded by intense scents of pine, thyme and the sea, Gianluca and I carefully wend our way down a narrow forest path that leads to Cala Morisca,…
January 22, 2025
Opaque offshore transactions at London-based Kazphosphate
An MP and a campaigner call for authorities to investigate anonymous loans to the UK firm, which until last year controlled a top chemicals and mining company in Kazakhstan. LONDON Amid all the hard talk about the urgency of stopping dark money from entering the UK from countries with a history of high-level corruption,…
May 12, 2023
An MP and a campaigner call for authorities to investigate anonymous loans to the UK firm, which until last year controlled a top chemicals and mining company in Kazakhstan. LONDON Amid all the hard talk about the urgency of stopping dark money from entering the UK from countries with a history of high-level corruption,…
May 12, 2023
Kazakhstan: Anti-corruption Sanctions
Kazakhstan: Anti-corruption Sanctions Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—(Scott Mann.) 17:02:00 Dame Margaret Hodge (Barking) (Lab) I thank Mr Speaker for granting this debate and the Minister for joining us. I also thank a host of civil society experts who have helped me—too many to name—but I give special…
February 3, 2022
Kazakhstan: Anti-corruption Sanctions Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—(Scott Mann.) 17:02:00 Dame Margaret Hodge (Barking) (Lab) I thank Mr Speaker for granting this debate and the Minister for joining us. I also thank a host of civil society experts who have helped me—too many to name—but I give special…
February 3, 2022
Kazakhstan must replace the management of KazakhMys
The recent tragedy at Kazakhmys’ Zhomart mine in the Zhanaarka district of Kazakhstan’s Ulytau Region, which claimed the lives of seven workers, has led to a wave of criticism of the company’s owners in the media, in Kazakhstan’s Parliament, and civil society. People are furious that Kazakhmys, Kazakhstan’s most profitable corporation, mining copper, gold…
February 21, 2025
The recent tragedy at Kazakhmys’ Zhomart mine in the Zhanaarka district of Kazakhstan’s Ulytau Region, which claimed the lives of seven workers, has led to a wave of criticism of the company’s owners in the media, in Kazakhstan’s Parliament, and civil society. People are furious that Kazakhmys, Kazakhstan’s most profitable corporation, mining copper, gold…
February 21, 2025
Aigul Nuriyeva is first on Margaret Hodge’s list; will she finally be sanctioned?
Not only citizens of Russia and Ukraine have chosen the United Kingdom as a safe haven for themselves and their often illicit wealth. A significant portion of assets with no legal origin has been brought in from Kazakhstan by representatives of its corrupt government and business elites. The long rule of Nursultan Nazarbayev,…
January 12, 2025
Not only citizens of Russia and Ukraine have chosen the United Kingdom as a safe haven for themselves and their often illicit wealth. A significant portion of assets with no legal origin has been brought in from Kazakhstan by representatives of its corrupt government and business elites. The long rule of Nursultan Nazarbayev,…
January 12, 2025
The ENABLERS Act Blocked by US Senate
On December 7, 2022, the US Senate voted not to include the Establishing New Authorities for Businesses Laundering and Enabling Risks to Security (ENABLERS) Act in the 2023 defense budget. Initially introduced by a group of bipartisan lawmakers following the release of the Pandora Papers, the ENABLERS Act had been…
August 22, 2024
On December 7, 2022, the US Senate voted not to include the Establishing New Authorities for Businesses Laundering and Enabling Risks to Security (ENABLERS) Act in the 2023 defense budget. Initially introduced by a group of bipartisan lawmakers following the release of the Pandora Papers, the ENABLERS Act had been…
August 22, 2024
New Anti-Corruption Champion and NCA funding as campaign against corruption steps up
Baroness Margaret Hodge announced as UK’s new Anti-Corruption Champion as National Crime Agency receives new funding and sanctions imposed on illicit gold trade - Baroness Hodge of Barking appointed UK Anti-Corruption Champion after decades of campaigning against corruption and illicit finance. - Foreign Secretary announces new £36 million support for National Crime Agency’s work…
December 9, 2024
Baroness Margaret Hodge announced as UK’s new Anti-Corruption Champion as National Crime Agency receives new funding and sanctions imposed on illicit gold trade - Baroness Hodge of Barking appointed UK Anti-Corruption Champion after decades of campaigning against corruption and illicit finance. - Foreign Secretary announces new £36 million support for National Crime Agency’s work…
December 9, 2024
Revealed: The Luxury Properties, Superyacht and Private Jet of Shukhrat Ibragimov and the Ibragimov Family
When the Kazakh mining oligarch Alijan Ibragimov died in 2021, he left his family a fortune worth over $3 billion. For the first time, we can reveal some of the luxury properties and assets that the family owns outside Kazakhstan. This includes luxury mansions estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, race…
October 3, 2024
When the Kazakh mining oligarch Alijan Ibragimov died in 2021, he left his family a fortune worth over $3 billion. For the first time, we can reveal some of the luxury properties and assets that the family owns outside Kazakhstan. This includes luxury mansions estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, race…
October 3, 2024
Central Asia’s Crucial Role in Russia’s Evasion of Sanctions in Report 2024 – 2025
The “Russia’s Sanctions Evasion Report 2024 – 2025” examines how Russia has adapted its strategies to evade international sanctions through various partnerships, particularly with nations in Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkey, and China. The report outlines key findings, recommendations, and a detailed analysis of sanctions’ impact, responses, and methods employed by Russia to circumvent…
March 13, 2025
The “Russia’s Sanctions Evasion Report 2024 – 2025” examines how Russia has adapted its strategies to evade international sanctions through various partnerships, particularly with nations in Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkey, and China. The report outlines key findings, recommendations, and a detailed analysis of sanctions’ impact, responses, and methods employed by Russia to circumvent…
March 13, 2025
UK, France and Switzerland Focus on Enforcement With New Anti-Corruption Taskforce
On 20 March 2025, enforcement authorities in the UK, France and Switzerland announced the creation of the International Anti-Corruption Prosecutorial Taskforce. The taskforce is comprised of: - The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). - France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (Parquet National Financier, or PNF). - The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG).…
March 24, 2025
On 20 March 2025, enforcement authorities in the UK, France and Switzerland announced the creation of the International Anti-Corruption Prosecutorial Taskforce. The taskforce is comprised of: - The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). - France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (Parquet National Financier, or PNF). - The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG).…
March 24, 2025
Blair pictured with Kazakh dictator’s right-hand man
Former Labour leader met the now-jailed Karim Massimov in 2012 while acting as an advisor for his country’s government Tony Blair pictured with Karim Massimov, Kazakhstan’s former prime minister and a close aide to the country’s autocratic ruler, in 2012 Smiling for the camera, Sir Tony Blair has every right to be pleased with…
May 2, 2025
Former Labour leader met the now-jailed Karim Massimov in 2012 while acting as an advisor for his country’s government Tony Blair pictured with Karim Massimov, Kazakhstan’s former prime minister and a close aide to the country’s autocratic ruler, in 2012 Smiling for the camera, Sir Tony Blair has every right to be pleased with…
May 2, 2025
New report: NAPOLEON COMPLEX The Corruption of Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov
In Kazakhstan in early January 2022, 227 people were tragically killed when popular demonstrations over gas prices turned into violent riots. Over a year later a former prime minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, was jailed for treason for his apparent role in the unrest. His imprisonment marked an incredible fall from grace for one…
May 2, 2025
In Kazakhstan in early January 2022, 227 people were tragically killed when popular demonstrations over gas prices turned into violent riots. Over a year later a former prime minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, was jailed for treason for his apparent role in the unrest. His imprisonment marked an incredible fall from grace for one…
May 2, 2025
Journalist targeted by Russian spy ring said ordeal was ‘deeply detabilising’
A journalist targeted by a Russian spy ring operating out of a rundown UK guesthouse has said the surveillance on him was “terrifying, disorientating and deeply destabilising”. Bellingcat investigative journalist Christo Grozev submitted a victim impact statement to the court in which he said the “damage” caused by the Bulgarian nationals involved in the…
May 9, 2025
A journalist targeted by a Russian spy ring operating out of a rundown UK guesthouse has said the surveillance on him was “terrifying, disorientating and deeply destabilising”. Bellingcat investigative journalist Christo Grozev submitted a victim impact statement to the court in which he said the “damage” caused by the Bulgarian nationals involved in the…
May 9, 2025
The Internet Coup
A Technical Analysis on How a Chinese Company is Exporting The Great Firewall to Autocratic Regimes Over the past two decades, the Chinese government has been steadily refining their model of internet control using surveillance and censorship technologies domestically while promoting this approach to other nations under the banner of “digital sovereignty”. Through the…
September 9, 2025
A Technical Analysis on How a Chinese Company is Exporting The Great Firewall to Autocratic Regimes Over the past two decades, the Chinese government has been steadily refining their model of internet control using surveillance and censorship technologies domestically while promoting this approach to other nations under the banner of “digital sovereignty”. Through the…
September 9, 2025
European Parliament pledges to tackle transnational repression against human rights defenders
A parliamentary report identified China and other authoritarian regimes as harassing and attacking dissidents abroad, echoing findings from ICIJ’s China Targets. The European Parliament has adopted a resolution urging member states to confront efforts by authoritarian regimes to coerce, control or silence political opponents and dissidents living in Europe. “Human rights defenders are a…
November 14, 2025
A parliamentary report identified China and other authoritarian regimes as harassing and attacking dissidents abroad, echoing findings from ICIJ’s China Targets. The European Parliament has adopted a resolution urging member states to confront efforts by authoritarian regimes to coerce, control or silence political opponents and dissidents living in Europe. “Human rights defenders are a…
November 14, 2025
How Maksat Duisenov ‘set up’ all political refugees
It appears that German judicial authorities are close to extraditing former Transport Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan Maksat Duisenov to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Kazakhstan. After a month of proceedings, not only did they find no evidence that Duisenov was being politically persecuted in his homeland, but they also began to wonder…
November 15, 2025
It appears that German judicial authorities are close to extraditing former Transport Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan Maksat Duisenov to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Kazakhstan. After a month of proceedings, not only did they find no evidence that Duisenov was being politically persecuted in his homeland, but they also began to wonder…
November 15, 2025
Plundering the Endowment: How a U.S.-Anchored Charity Became a Vehicle for Global Corruption
------------- A Vision for Education, Undone by Insiders In 2019, Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools sought to safeguard their future with a U.S.-based endowment. The structure, designed by former Deputy Prime Minister Yerbol Orynbayev, was meant to insulate funding from political interference. Anchored in Nevada through the New Generation Foundation (NGF), the…
November 20, 2025
------------- A Vision for Education, Undone by Insiders In 2019, Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools sought to safeguard their future with a U.S.-based endowment. The structure, designed by former Deputy Prime Minister Yerbol Orynbayev, was meant to insulate funding from political interference. Anchored in Nevada through the New Generation Foundation (NGF), the…
November 20, 2025
Two peers face suspension from House of Lords
Two peers are set to be suspended from the House of Lords for breaching rules, including providing parliamentary services in return for “payment or reward”. Former Army chief Lord Richard Dannatt and businessman Lord David Evans of Watford face suspensions of four and five months respectively. The House of Lords’ standards watchdog launched separate…
November 24, 2025
Two peers are set to be suspended from the House of Lords for breaching rules, including providing parliamentary services in return for “payment or reward”. Former Army chief Lord Richard Dannatt and businessman Lord David Evans of Watford face suspensions of four and five months respectively. The House of Lords’ standards watchdog launched separate…
November 24, 2025