In the days since the Wagner Group abandoned its march on Moscow on June 24th, speculation has grown about what will become of Russia’s notorious paramilitary company and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Amid reports of President Vladimir Putin poking around Wagner’s assets and troop deployments, and with the status and whereabouts of Mr Prigozhin himself cloaked in mystery, the future...
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) has published a report that presents strong indications that millions of US dollars’ worth of gold is being produced and smuggled out of South Sudan. Tarnished hope; Crime and corruption in South Sudan’s gold sector also outlines how gold is smuggled out of the country, often with the connivance of officials...
A Dubai-based Irish businessman has been placed on the US Treasury’s sanctions list as part of move to stop the flow of Russian money abroad. John Hanafin and his Huriya Private firm have been listed along several other individuals and companies used to help Russia evade sanctions. According to a Treasury statement yesterday “Hanafin facilitated...
“Dubai is much more free — in every way,” he said, sporting an intricately torn designer T-shirt at a cafe he just opened in the city, where his children are now in a British school. “We are independent of Russia,” he said. “This is very important.” A year into a historic onslaught of economic sanctions...
PASSION Java, a self-proclaimed prophet and close ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa has waded into the Gold Mafia scandal, telling Zimbabweans the alleged ongoing heists of their minerals do not matter. Java also claimed that Angel’s utterances were deliberate as he was part of a Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) investigation into Al Jazeera itself and...
One is a sanctioned businessman. Another is a convict. Two more are celebrities with ties to political power. What unites these disparate individuals? They are all Belarusian politically exposed persons listed as owning real estate in Dubai, a kingdom in the United Arab Emirates that has become a playground for the global rich. In May,...