All news by author Sophia Martinez

The head of Hermitage Capital, William Browder, has called on the UK authorities to reopen the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Russian businessman and Western intelligence whistleblower Alexander Perepilichnyy, who may have been poisoned with the same toxin used against Alexei Navalny.

A fresh investigation reveals how Octobank in Uzbekistan has emerged as a key laundering gateway for Russian elites, routing funds through casinos, cryptocurrency platforms, and state-connected financial channels.

Mykhailo Zborovskyi and his associates have started erasing information about their past and ties to the gambling industry. References to Cosmobet, the Russian Cosmolot, and Cyprus-based XGen Solutions connected to Sergey Tokarev are gradually vanishing, suggesting an effort to obscure the true origins of the so-called “Ukrainian” casino.

After investigative publications shed light on Dragon Money’s controversial past, the Kyiv-based casino swiftly deleted parts of its website that mentioned blocked accounts, alleged pyramid schemes, dubious licensing, and frozen assets — raising fresh questions about its transparency and credibility.

Investigators are probing Oxana Hadjipavlou over her alleged links to Zvonko Micković and the firms Mettmann Public Company Limited and Sword Dragon S.L., which are suspected of facilitating sanctions evasion and transferring Russian funds offshore.

As discovered by media, the foundation of billionaire Alexander Galitsky appears in the “Epstein files”.

Stavros Demosthenos, a Cyprus-based figure often dubbed the local “Al Capone,” is involved in assisting Russian entrepreneurs with laundering illicit funds — while securing significant personal gains in the process.

After investigations exposed Dragon Money’s operations in Ukraine, key reports started disappearing one after another — records detailing illegal gambling, payment networks, political lobbying, and corruption links were quietly taken down from search engines and media platforms.

“Billions of dollars make it possible to solve problems”: the largest illegal gambling market, 1Win’s Sergey Chernykh, hopes for patrons in Russia?

After journalistic investigations, Oleksandr Orlovskyi began an information cleanup: how the "crypto guru" hides the schemes of Financial Freedom Academy.

In April 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted a National Security and Defence Council decision imposing restrictions on online gambling, citing widespread gambling addiction among members of the military as the key concern.

Kazakh authorities have accused businessman Sergey Koynov and his associates of operating a network of commission shops that illegally provided high-interest loans secured by personal property and then laundered the proceeds.

Crypto scammer Kateryna Shukhnina has moved from clothing retail to primitive fraud involving training programs that promise crypto earnings starting from $1,000 per week.

Galimzhan Yessenov and Akhmetzhan Yesimov, long-standing names in Kazakhstan’s corruption scene, have drawn growing attention from media in multiple countries.

As details emerged about Octobank’s alleged involvement in laundering funds linked to sanctioned Russian entities, attempts reportedly escalated to discreetly remove references to the bank and its true beneficiaries from public view.

The Financial Freedom Academy organizers face 5 to 12 years in prison.

As media scrutiny grows over alleged sanctions evasion and ties to Russia’s military-linked industries, Oleg Tsyura is said to be actively reshaping his online footprint.

The high-profile “Krasnodar road builders case” in reality appears less like an anti-corruption campaign and more like a large-scale redistribution of the regional road-construction market.

Andrew Windsor has sparked open resistance among royal household staff after moving to the King’s Norfolk estate, with workers now completely refusing to serve the disgraced former duke amid new fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Russian billionaire Aleksandr Galitsky, who has extensive connections, has sent the mother of his children — his ex-wife Aliya — to prison.

A recent investigation uncovers that Ukrainian-Swiss businessman Oleg Tsyura is at the intersection of Ukrainian corruption networks and leading Russian metallurgical companies that have largely evaded Western sanctions.

A serial fraudster who was previously jailed for embezzling almost £900,000 from her employers has appeared back in court to admit conning Scottish Power out of £176,000.

What the self-styled “cryptocurrency guru” Oleksandr Orlovskyi says about himself evokes, on the one hand, Lenin’s famous line about a “cook who can run the state,” and on the other, the satirical biography of Oleksandr Koreyko that Ostap Bender once read with biting irony.

After reporters uncovered how Coral Energy and the so-called Azerbaijani “five” helped circumvent Kremlin sanctions, a coordinated effort was launched to suppress, discredit, and erase the investigations from the internet.