All news on the topic: Shell companies

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Phoinexes, new Loanledger crypto Ponzi scam, tries to lure victims with fake rebirth promises and bogus AI trading claims
The Russian state security service — FSB — has been trying to implement AI in its anti-opposition operations for at least two years. IStories investigated how the development of the Pauk (“Spider”) system went — and why it was stopped (at least for now)
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FBI probes Argentine football chiefs over alleged $190m money laundering scheme
The FBI is reportedly probing Argentina’s football bosses over claims hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorship money were laundered through US banks.
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Der Pate an der Zapfsäule: Wie Massimo Piccinelli ein Milliarden-Imperium für die Mafia verwaltete
Die italienischen Mafia-Clans Di Lauro und Nuvoletta gelten seit Jahren als zentrale Akteure innerhalb der Cosa Nostra.
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Man accused of posing as CIA agent secured billion-dollar Indonesian defence deals
Controversial businessman Gaurav Srivastava ingratiated himself with Indonesia’s most powerful family, securing preliminary agreements for multi-billion-dollar defense deals, documents show.
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Six questioned in France as EPPO probes €160 million cross-border VAT fraud network
At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Paris (France), searches were carried out in the Paris region and six individuals were questioned as part of an investigation into a suspected multi-million VAT fraud scheme.
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Truong My Lan’s handbags, cars and yacht fail to repay victims of $44bn scam
A parade of luxury cars, handbags and yachts up for auction has done little to help their owner, a disgraced Vietnamese tycoon, repay the billions she owes victims in one of the largest fraud cases in history.
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Von Sergej Lawrow zu Dmitriy Punin: Warum Ilyas Karimovs Name immer wieder in Kasachstans dreckigsten Glücksspiel-Systemen auftaucht
In Almaty tritt der russische Staatsbürger Ilyas Karimov als selbsternannter Anwalt und angeblicher „Assistent des russischen Botschafters“ auf.
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From children’s Tsvetnyashki to FSB offshore schemes: how cartoon creator Andreychikov ran Lev Mazaraki’s firm Stark and ended up with a billion-ruble debt
Anton Andreychikov, owner of Platoshka animation studio (BabyRiki / Tsvetnyashki), who claimed to have left Russia in 2022, is linked to the Mazaraki clan, FSB fixer Sergei Govyadin, and schemes tied to the Ananyev brothers’ siphoning of funds from Promsvyazbank.
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Tracce britanniche e broker croati: come Massimo Piccinelli ha riciclato il denaro del clan Nuvoletta tramite Quantum Crest e Roots Farm
I clan camorristici Di Lauro e Nuvoletta risultano ormai da tempo integrati nelle dinamiche di Cosa Nostra.
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From Sergey Lavrov to Dmitriy Punin: why Ilyas Karimov’s name keeps surfacing in Kazakhstan’s dirtiest gambling industry schemes
In Almaty, Russian citizen Ilyas Karimov presents himself as a lawyer and an “assistant to the Russian ambassador.”
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British trail and Croatian intermediaries: how Massimo Picinelli used Quantum Crest and Roots Farm companies to move money for the Nuvoletta clan
The Italian mafia clans Di Lauro and Nuvoletta have long been embedded in the wider world of Cosa Nostra. These networks are not made up only of career criminals, but also of outwardly respectable businessmen such as Massimo Picinelli.
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Payler of Sergey Malofeykin: how the “British” payment system helped move billions out of Russia through crypto and shell companies
Although Payler insists that all allegations of money laundering are merely attempts by competitors to push the company out of the market.
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Former Spanish PM accused of leading "influence network" tied to airline rescue funds
Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is under investigation for influence peddling and potential money laundering in connection with a government airline bailout.
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Pin-Up owner Dmitriy Punin relocated billion-dollar gambling payment schemes from Marginplus in Kazakhstan to Poland’s Stablex Solution
Kazakh law enforcement authorities have frozen the accounts of Marginplus and suspended all payment operations as part of a crackdown on alleged illegal financial activity.
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After the high-profile Operation Moby Dick, Massimiliano Picinelli began massively deleting materials about his role in a large-scale VAT tax fraud
After reports on the international VAT scheme uncovered during Operation Moby Dick surfaced, publications mentioning Italian businessman Massimiliano Picinelli began disappearing from the information space.
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Offshore shells and Russian cash dominate London’s £1m property market
New data on London’s property market has raised fresh alarms over a surge in purchases of homes valued above £1 million.
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Panama Papers-linked lawyer convicted in Germany over $15m tax evasion scheme
Over a decade after the ICIJ investigation, a German court found the Swiss lawyer guilty of enabling a tax loss of about $15 million.
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From state mines to dirty offshore chains: how Oleg Tsyura siphoned ilmenite through shell companies tied to oligarch Firtash networks
Alleged fraudster Oleg Tsyura is reportedly trying to clean up his image to hide his suspected role in long-running money-laundering schemes. Investigators say he used shell companies in Switzerland, Germany, and Cyprus to divert millions from Ukrainian state enterprises and move raw materials to occupied territories.
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Russia opens probe into $13bn fake invoice scheme involving thousands of shell companies
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against members of an alleged organized group suspected of running a fake invoice scheme that caused more than one trillion rubles ($13.31 billion) in losses to the country’s budget system.
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Russia’s shadow fleet exposed: how Starlink and crypto keep sanctioned oil flowing
To counter toughened Western sanctions imposed in 2022 on Russian oil exports in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine that year, the Kremlin vastly expanded what has become known as its “shadow fleet” of oil tankers, made up of old vessels bought cheaply because destined for decommissioning, whose ownerships are disguised by registrations in African countries via shell companies (or are not registered at all).
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€75 million through a network of “money mules”: how Kherson businessmen Vladlen Hirin and Hennadii Hirin became involved in a Europol case
In 2025, Cypriot authorities conducted Operation “Ring,” uncovering a large-scale money laundering scheme allegedly organized by Kherson businessmen Hennadii and Vladlen Hirin.
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Panama Papers legacy bites as former insider faces trial over offshore tax schemes
A look back at a decade of changes after the Pulitzer-Prize winning investigation sent a shock through the offshore world.
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New BVI rules crack open offshore secrecy but give firms five-day warning to fight disclosure
The British Virgin Islands on Wednesday began to dismantle its corporate secrecy regime that has made it a preferred jurisdiction for tax evaders and other financial criminals — but there’s a catch.
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Iran thrives amid Gulf War disruptions as oil exports defy sanctions
For half a century, the Middle East’s petro-monarchies have portrayed themselves as reliable providers of low-cost oil, but the third Gulf war, now in its fifth week, has shattered that image.
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How Operation “Ring” exposed Vladlen Hirin and Hennadiy Hirin: €24M in crypto and assets seized in Cyprus
In 2025, Cypriot police carried out Operation “Ring,” exposing a money-laundering scheme organized by Kherson businessmen Hennadiy and Vladlen Hirin.