Dirty Deeds: Tales of Global Crime & Corruption

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)•shows.acast.com

Are you ready to venture into the shadows? Dirty Deeds unravels the hidden stories of the fraud and deceit behind some of the biggest international scandals in recent years, told by the investigative journalists who uncovered them.

We’ll bring you reporting from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a worldwide network of journalists who cross borders and bad guys to shine a bright light on some of the world’s most dangerous criminal networks. We’ll travel the globe from the oil fields of Venezuela to the rosewood forests of Namibia to the steppes of Central Asia. And don’t forget the posh London real estate where much of the dirty cash ends up. These are the inside stories of how the powerful, unscrupulous, and well-connected can acquire unimaginable wealth — and of what it takes to expose them.

Dirty Deeds is a Little Gem production for OCCRP. The host is Nick Wallis. The producer is Lindsay Riley at Rethink Audio, with research from Phoebe Adler-Ryan and Riham Moussa.

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Episodes

How Did Venezuela’s Oil Riches End up in Swiss Banks?

Repressed by Venezuela's government on one side. Muzzled by Swiss banking secrecy laws on the other. Yet against these odds, a team of reporters exposed how corrupt Venezuelan elites stashed stolen oil profits in Credit Suisse accounts. In this episode, Nick Wallis interviews OCCRP editor Nathan Jaccard and Armando.Info editor-in-chief Valentina Lares on how a leak of Credit Suisse customer data sparked a global investigation revealing how oil officials convicted of corruption stashed their mill...

Dec 05, 2023•40 min•Ep. 7

Sanctioning an Oligarch is Not an Easy Task: Searching for Usmanov’s Millions

As Russian forces escalated their war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, Western governments scrambled to sanction oligarchs connected to Putin’s war machine. Yet the task is far from simple when Kremlin-connected tycoons hide their billions in offshore trusts and Swiss bank accounts — and even behind the names of their family members. In this episode, Nick Wallis talks with OCCRP editing duo Miranda Patrucic and Ilya Lozovsky, discussing how billionaire Alisher Usmanov concealed his fortune...

Nov 21, 2023•38 min•Ep. 6

Russian Meddling in Catalonia: A Playbook In Destabilization

A mysterious Russian offers Catalonia’s president $500 billion and 10,000 armed soldiers to make the break from Spain and create a cryptocurrency haven. This in the days running up to an historic vote to declare independence from Spain. In this episode, Nick Wallis talks with journalists Antonio Baquero, Marc Marginedas and Lorenzo Bagnoli on how they tracked down the man pro-independence leaders called “Putin’s envoy” across Spain, Italy, and Russia — unveiling his past as a Russian diplomat wi...

Nov 10, 2023•40 min•Ep. 5

Exposing a Former Czech PM’s Offshore Finances

Pavla Holcová was greeted with an avalanche of threats when she woke up one morning. Her country’s former prime minister had publicly accused her of being a paid agent to undermine his re-election campaign. In this episode you’ll hear about the dangers OCCRP’s investigative journalists face when trying to get to the truth, the horrific abuse they face and how the OCCRP helps to protect them and their sources. Host Nick Wallis talks with Pavla and fellow OCCRP editor Pete Jones about how an inves...

Oct 24, 2023•34 min•Ep. 4

Bleeding Trees: Tracking Illegal Loggers in Namibia

John Grobler’s Namibian holiday led him on an unexpected journey tailing trucks and loggers to expose the interests behind illegal logging, a lucrative and illegal business making millions for Chinese companies and local elites. In this episode Nick Wallis traces OCCRP’s investigation into who is killing the last of Namibia’s protected rosewood trees. We also hear from OCCRP journalist Khadija Sharife on how the tragic destruction of these prized forests fits into the wider looting of Africa’s n...

Oct 10, 2023•33 min•Ep. 3

The Beirut Blast

How do you begin to investigate the explosion that tore through the Lebanese capital city of Beirut, killing more than 200 people? In this episode Nick Wallis takes us back to August 2020, talking to Rana Sabbagh and Aubrey Belford about how OCCRP reporters activated the global network to unravel the opaque web of secrecy behind the cause of the explosion, scouring the globe from Russia to Mozambique to track down the true owner of the deadly cargo that triggered the devastating blast in Lebanon...

Sep 26, 2023•39 min•Ep. 2

How Azerbaijan’s Ruling Family Launder Their Millions

How did an Azerbaijani boy end up owning a building in London’s Mayfair that housed a restaurant with two Michelin stars, an art gallery, and the Condé Nast headquarters? Hint: His father is the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev. When two of our top editors got hold of the Pandora Papers — a vast trove of leaked documents from offshore service providers — they knew it could provide key insights into how some of the most corrupt people in the world, including rulers of entire countries, hide thei...

Sep 12, 2023•38 min•Ep. 1

Trailer

Welcome To Dirty Deeds: Tales of Global Crime & Corruption. Are you ready to venture into the shadows? Dirty Deeds unravels the hidden stories of the fraud and deceit behind some of the biggest international scandals in recent years, told by the investigative journalists who uncovered them. Every other week, we’ll bring you reporting from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a worldwide network of journalists who cross borders and bad guys to shine a bright light on ...

Aug 31, 2023•51 sec

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