Category: Corruption

‘Disgraceful breach of trust’: how PwC, one of the world’s biggest accountancy firms, became mired in a tax scandal

Corruption
PricewaterhouseCoopers used government secrets to help clients in Australia and the US avoid tax – a scandal that has forced resignations and threatens contracts worth hundreds of millions In the depths of winter 2015, an Australian tax specialist adopted the language of a spy. “For your eyes only,” he wrote, while emailing government secrets to colleagues who would later use them to help clients and make millions of dollars. Nearly eight years later, that email and dozens more like it have engulfed PwC in a scandal that has forced resignations, possible criminal and corruption investigations, invited furious rebuke and accusations…

Publication of the ABC Guidance

Bribery, Corruption, Law, Regulation & Guidance, Wolfsberg
Today the Wolfsberg Group is publishing its updated Anti-Bribery and Corruption Compliance Programme Guidance. This document updates the 2017 version and it is designed to promote a culture of ethical business practices and compliance with ABC legal and regulatory requirements. The Guidance is a risk-based approach for the adequate development and implementation of compliance programmes to prevent, detect, and report acts of Bribery and Corruption and identifies areas of elevated risk. While no ABC compliance programme can prevent or protect against Bribery and Corruption risks completely, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution, this guidance can help the industry mitigate Bribery…

Venezuela Cracks Down on Corruption at State-Owned Petroleum Company

Corruption
Venezuela’s chief prosecutor has said that his office has requested the police to search 142 locations nationwide and arrest 67 people in an anti-corruption operation that is targeting businessmen and officials at the state-owned petroleum company, PDVSA. The suspects are believed to have run parallel oil operations. Attorney General Tarek William Saab tweeted these numbers on Sunday, making it clear that more arrests should be expected after authorities apprehended 51 individuals last week. According to investigators, the suspects used their positions to carry out illegal parallel oil operations where crude oil was sold to individuals and companies, but the payments…

More than 1000 artifacts in Metropolitan Museum of Art catalog linked to alleged looting and trafficking figures

Corruption
In the village of Bungmati, Nepal, above an ancient spring, stand two stone shrines and a temple. One of those shrines has a large hole where a statue of Shreedhar Vishnu, the Hindu protector god, used to be. Carved by master artisans nearly a thousand years ago, the sandstone god was flanked by the Hindu goddess Laxmi and the winged demigod Garuda and is considered a protective figure. For many years members of the local community carefully tended and worshipped the idol. “When women started their labor pain, our elders used to come to put mustard oil on the statue…

Swiss regulator investigates 12 banks in Lebanese central banker corruption case

Bribery, Corruption, Regulation
ZURICH (Reuters) -Switzerland’s financial regulator has investigated 12 banks and launched enforcement proceedings against two of them in relation to corruption charges against longtime central banker Riad Salameh, it said on Monday. Lebanese authorities charged Salameh, his brother Raja and one of his assistants on Thursday with money laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment after months of delay in the high-profile case. The Salameh brothers have denied wrongdoing throughout the process. The governor insisted on his innocence to Reuters last Thursday, saying the charges were “not an indictment” and pledged to abide by judicial procedures. The charges are the product of…

Handbook of good practices in the fight against corruption

Bribery, Corruption
The goal of this Handbook is to map a variety of anti-corruption practices in EU Member States (MS) that have proved to be useful in solving problems related to corruption, and which can inspire similar initiatives elsewhere. For this purpose, one good anti-corruption practice either established or innovative, with positive impact aspirations in each EU Member State was selected, and clustered into eight types of anti-corruption approaches. The Handbook is structured along these identified types. Each chapter consists of a theoretical part about the respective type of anti-corruption approach and is illustrated by corresponding case studies. To ensure transferability, analysis…

More MEPs could lose immunity in corruption probe, president says

Bribery, Corruption
The EU says it will launch proceedings to remove parliamentary immunity from two MEPs implicated in an ongoing corruption scandal. Parliamentary President Roberta Metsola said she had taken the move after a request from Belgian police. But her statement did not name the MEPs involved. The scandal erupted last month after one MEP and three others were arrested on charges of corruption and money-laundering. While authorities have not named the country behind the bribery network, numerous EU sources have accused Qatar of running the operation. But the Gulf state has strenuously denied any claims of misconduct as unfair and “gravely…

Former L.A. Council Member Jose Huizar Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case

Corruption, Prosecutions
Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar pleaded guilty Friday to charges of racketeering and tax evasion, admitting that he extorted at least $1.5 million in bribes from real estate developers. Under a plea agreement filed Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles, Huizar acknowledged that sweeping corruption allegations that he has denied for years were true. “Are you pleading guilty because you’re in fact guilty?” Judge John F. Walter asked Huizar in court Friday morning. “Yes, your honor,” Huizar responded. Huizar’s unexpected capitulation caps a brutal downfall for a man who was born into poverty on a Mexican ranch,…

The European Union’s Qatar Bribery Scandal

Bribery, Corruption
The European Union is embroiled in a scandal involving alleged influence peddling through a European Parliament vice president, literal bags of cash, a nonprofit organization called Fight Impunity, and a “Gulf State” widely reported to be Qatar, host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Nothing less than “Europe’s credibility is at stake” in the EU’s response, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said. Here’s what you need to know: Who was allegedly bribed to do what?Belgian police raided at least 20 sites across Brussels between Dec. 9 and Dec. 13, including inside European Parliament offices, arresting six people and seizing more…

France’s Safran to pay $17.2 million to settle China Bribery in US probe

Bribery, Corruption
(Reuters) – French jet engine maker Safran SA will pay about $17.2 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over bribes its subsidiaries allegedly paid in China, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement made public on Friday. The Paris-based aerospace supplier will be required to turn over profits from “corruptly obtained” and retained contracts by its U.S.-based subsidiary, Monogram Systems, the DoJ said. Monogram and Safran’s German unit, Evac GmbH, allegedly paid bribes to obtain “lucrative” train lavatory contracts with the Chinese government. Safran did not immediately respond to Reuters request for a…

Biggest Bribery Fines of 2022

Bribery, Corruption, Prosecutions, Regulatory Fines
Key bribery fines & settlements in 2022 Glencore – $1bn settlementFirstEnergy – $180m settlementTenaris – $78m settlementStericycle – $84m settlementK.T. Corporation – $6.3m settlementKPMG – £3.4m fineBoulting Group – £500k fineTritec and Electron – £70k fine each Whilst companies face multi-million settlement penalties, the consequences for individuals can include jail time. Biggest bribery fines in 2022 in detail The SFO’s investigation revealed that Glencore paid over $28m (£22.2m) in bribes through its employees and agents in exchange for preferential access to oil, including larger cargoes, more valuable oil grades, and preferred delivery dates. The firm gave the go-ahead for these…

Trace Releases 2022 Bribery Risk Matrix

Bribery, Corruption
ANNAPOLIS, MD, U.S.—15 November 2022—TRACE, a non-profit international business association dedicated to anti-bribery, compliance and good governance, has released the 2022 Bribery Risk Matrix, which measures business bribery risk in 194 jurisdictions. According to this year’s data, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, Syria and Venezuela present the highest commercial bribery risk, while Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark present the lowest. Other notable findings: The United States ranked 16th and scored 19 out of 100. The enforcement environment hasn’t improved since a slump during the Trump administration, and the free press environment continues to decline.Ukraine ranked 103rd and scored…

U.K. No Longer an Active Enforcer of Foreign Bribery as Global Enforcement Hits Historic Low

Bribery, Corruption
Britain has lost its place among the top enforcers of foreign bribery laws in new research published today by Transparency International. Exporting Corruption 2022, which ranks the world’s biggest exporters on how well they investigate and sanction companies for paying bribes abroad, sees the UK relegated from the ‘active’ enforcers group to join Germany, France, and others deemed to be only ‘moderate’ enforcers. Foreign bribery wreaks havoc in countries around the world, illicitly channelling public money into private profits and buying undue influence over government decision-making for major multinationals. This is the first time the UK has fallen out of…

Auditors Expose 9,800 Ghost Workers in Zambian Government Ministries

Corruption, Fraud
The audit of government payroll by Zambia’s Office of the Auditor General published this week reveals a series of grave misuse of public money including that in 2017-2021, ministries paid more than US$45 million in regular salaries to 9,800 apparently non-existent individuals. “As of July 31, the institutions had not accounted for the officers in that they were not known,” said the audit. “They are names included on a payroll who for one reason or another do not exist,” Laura Miti, Executive Director of Alliance for Community Action, Zambia’s public accountability NGO, told OCCRP. “It could be that they have…

U.K. at Risk of Joining Global Anti Corruption Partnership ‘List of Shame’

Bribery, Corruption
The Government has been warned it is on the brink of joining three other countries on a “list of shame” for repeatedly failing to meet the requirements set out by a global anti-corruption body co-founded by the UK. The Government was informed it has for the third time in a row fallen short of minimum requirements in its action plan to boost transparency, as set out as a condition of membership by the Open Government Partnership (OPG). In a letter to the Cabinet Office dated August 2, seen by PA news agency, OPG chief executive Sanjay Pradhan said the Government…

Lee Jae-yong: Why South Korea just pardoned the Samsung ‘prince’

Corruption
Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong – convicted of bribery and embezzlement in 2017 – has been granted a special presidential pardon.One of South Korea’s most powerful white collar criminals, Lee was twice imprisoned for bribing a former president. South Korea’s government justified the move, saying the de-facto leader of the country’s biggest company was needed back at the helm to spearhead economic recovery post-pandemic. This marks another swing in a struggle over how the country is run that has raged since mass protests took over Seoul six years ago and ousted a president from office.Lee’s crimes were directly tied up in…

The Nigerian gas deal, the Irish impresario and the £8bn ruling amid claims of bribery

Corruption
It has been described as one of the most extraordinary cases ever to come before the high court, involving an Irish impresario, an alleged $50,000 bribe stuffed into a bag and potentially one of the biggest payouts in legal history. The saga of two Irish businessmen, Michael Quinn and Brendan Cahill, who promised to revolutionise Nigeria’s energy sector, will be at the centre of a high court trial early next year. It is claimed the two men’s hopes of a 20-year project to provide plentiful supplies of electricity for the country were dashed when Nigeria failed to build the required…

Mining firm Glencore pleads guilty to UK bribery charges

Bribery, Corruption
A British subsidiary of the mining firm Glencore has pleaded guilty in a UK court to corruption offences for the second time in the last two months. It was accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to secure access to crude oil in several African countries. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) found that bribes occurred from 2012 to 2016. It found that bribes of over $28m (£22.8m) were paid via the Swiss-based firm’s employees and agents. The bribery charges stated that the firm’s aim was for officials to “perform their functions improperly, or reward them for so doing, by…

Deutsche Bank investors can sue in U.S. over Epstein and Russian oligarch ties

Corruption, Money Laundering
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. judge on Monday said shareholders can sue Deutsche Bank AG for allegedly hiding shortfalls in its internal controls while doing business with risky, ultra-rich clients like the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Russian oligarchs. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said shareholders may try to prove in their proposed class action that the German bank was aware its know-your-customer and anti-money laundering controls were ineffective, and that its share price fell as the truth became known. In a 30-page decision, Rakoff said the complaint described specific processes that Deutsche Bank knowingly undermined through an…

Justice Department Secures Forfeiture of Property Purchased with $3.5 Million in Alleged Corruption Proceeds Linked to Ex-President of The Gambia

Corruption, DoJ, Prosecutions
The Department of Justice, pursuant to a court-ordered default judgment and final order of forfeiture entered on May 24, has secured the forfeiture of a Potomac, Maryland, property acquired with approximately $3.5 million in alleged corruption proceeds by the former President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia, through a trust set up by his wife, Zineb Jammeh. The judgment is the result of a civil forfeiture complaint filed by the United States in July 2020 seeking the forfeiture of the Maryland property. As alleged in the complaint, Yahya Jammeh corruptly obtained millions of dollars through the misappropriation of stolen public funds…

EU Considers Blacklisting UAE After ‘Dubai Uncovered’ Leaks

Corruption, Sanctions
Following revelations of how criminals, sanctioned Russian oligarchs, and corrupt officials are big property investors in Dubai, European Parliament members have suggested that the United Arab Emirates should be blacklisted in the same manner as North Korea, Burkina Faso and Iran. Last week, OCCRP and investigative journalists from 20 other outlets uncovered how Russian politicians, sanctioned oligarchs, and criminals have poured their ill-gotten gains into luxury properties in Dubai. The ‘Dubai Uncovered’ investigation, based on a 2020 leak by the Center For Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) into the emirate’s housing market, has drawn calls from EU politicians for tougher anti-money…

Britain Must Do More to Tackle Corruption in Politics and Finance, Lawmaker Says

Corruption, Regulation
Britain has lost its moral compass and must act to tackle “dirty money” and protect the integrity of its democracy, a senior opposition lawmaker said in a report published on Monday by King’s College London. Margaret Hodge, a Labour lawmaker for 28 years and former head of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, said a culture of deregulation and light-touch enforcement had allowed financial malpractice to flourish and this was seeping in to politics. “Unacceptable behaviour is in danger of becoming commonplace,” Hodge, who chairs a cross-party parliamentary group on anticorruption and responsible tax, said in the report for the Policy Institute.…

Navalny’s Foundation Lists Putin’s 6,000 Bribe Takers and Warmongers

Bribery, Corruption
In another act of defiance against the Kremlin, the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) published Tuesday a list of over 6,000 bribe takers and warmongers who it says enabled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Founded by Russian activist Alexei Navalny, FBK is a non-profit organization that investigates acts of corruption by high-ranking Russian government officials. Leonid Volkov, FBK’s Chief of Staff, posted on Twitter that the publication unmasks “The ones who started the war. Those who helped Putin usurp power. Those who financed the war. The ones who stole,” and “those who repressed the dissenters” against the Kremlin. Over…

Sanctioned Russian Oligarchs Linked to £800m Worth of U.K. Property

Bribery, Corruption
A dozen sanctioned Russians are linked to an estimated £800m worth of property in the UK, analysis by the BBC reveals. Multi-million pound country manors in the south of England and luxury flats in London’s most expensive areas are among the homes which have been snapped up by figures linked to Vladimir Putin. Some of the individuals deny ownership of the mansions, which may mean they are beyond the reach of the sanctions. To get to the bottom of who owns what, we carried out a detailed trawl of leaked offshore documents, the Land Registry and court papers – as…

How Procurement at Coca-Cola Enterprises Unearthed a £1.5m Bribery Scam

Bribery, Corruption, Prosecutions
An investigation initiated by the procurement team at Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) led to the discovery of a nine-year contracts-for-bribes scam. Noel Corry – who was on £62,500 in his role as electrical and automation manager at CCE – took bribes of £1.5m in exchange for confidential information to help favoured bidders win contracts, Southwark Crown Court was told. Corry has pleaded guilty to five counts of corruption and was due to be sentenced yesterday (13 April). He ensured large volumes of work at CCE went to Boulting Group Limited (now known as WABGS), Tritec Systems Limited, and Electron Systems…

Ex-Goldman Banker Convicted of Bribery, Money Laundering Conspiracy Charges in 1MDB Case

Bribery, Corruption, Prosecutions
NEW YORK, April 8(Reuters) – Former Goldman Sachs (GS.N) banker Roger Ng was convicted by a U.S. jury on Friday of corruption charges related to his role in helping loot hundreds of millions of dollars from Malaysia’s 1MDB development fund. The charges stemmed from one of the biggest financial scandals in history. Prosecutors charged Ng, Goldman’s former top investment banker for Malaysia, for conspiring to violate an anti-corruption law and launder money. They said he helped his former boss Tim Leissner embezzle money from the fund, launder the proceeds and bribe officials to win business for Goldman. Ng, 49, had…

Jordanian Businessman, the King’s Uncle, Sentenced for Corruption

Corruption, Prosecutions
A Jordanian businessman related to the royal family was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 years of hard labor and fined 191 million Jordanian dinars (US$269 million) for corruption and abuse of office, the country’s Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement. The charges against Walid Al-Kurdi, married to Jordan’s King Abdullah II’s aunt Princess Basma Bint Talal, relate to his work as head of the state-owned mining company Jordan Phosphate Mines (JPMC). As its former CEO and chairman for six years, Al-Kurdi abused his position and engaged in corruption in relation to six investment contracts in the Shidiya mine…

Money Laundered Millions Seized in Jersey to be Sent to Kenya

Corruption, Money Laundering
Millions of pounds that was seized in Jersey from money laundering is being returned to Kenya in a world first. The £3million was confiscated in 2016 following the conviction of Jersey-registered company Windward Trading Ltd. for money laundering offences. The money originated in Kenya, and was being fed through the Jersey company. Despite the 2016 conviction of the company, two individuals from Kenya linked to the company are still awaiting trial. Now, Jersey has agreed to send the money back after Her Majesty’s Attorney General for Jersey signed an Asset Recovery Agreement (ARA) with the Kenyan government. The money will…

Kazakh Ex-Dictator Used U.K. Company to Protect Empire

Corruption
Kazakhstan’s former dictator used the UK to help safeguard a multibillion-dollar business empire built during his three-decade rule, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Telegraph can reveal. Foundations controlled by Nursultan Nazarbayev, a notorious autocrat who was in office until 2019, controlled $7.8bn in assets via Jusan Technologies. One of the company’s subsidiaries, a Kazakh bank, received a multi-billion dollar state bailout and went on to hand a dividend to its parent. It is registered in the UK, where it has just one employee. Documents from October 2021 showed Jusan Technologies at the centre of a sprawling corporate operation…

DOJ Promises Robust Anti-Bribery Enforcement Despite Dip in Cases

Bribery, Corruption
A senior Justice Department official cautions against reading too much into a decline in the number of corporate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases A senior DOJ official said the department has a robust pipeline of cases and he would expect some significant resolutions in the next year. The U.S. Justice Department’s enforcement of a key antibribery law appeared to ebb last year, with prosecutors levying fines against only three companies for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. However, a senior Justice Department official is seeking to dispel the notion that prosecutors have taken their foot off the pedal. “I…

Will 2022 be a Year of Action on Illicit Finance?

Bribery, Corruption, Fraud, Money Laundering
The US Strategy on Countering Corruption promises a step change in its response to illicit finance. Can the UK government step up too? There was a time in the not so distant past when the UK was genuinely a leader in the global response to illicit finance. Yes, the country has been a magnet for dirty money and its beneficiaries for decades as a result of policy decisions (for example, investor visas) and neglect (such as underinvestment in the policing response, the national Financial Intelligence Unit and suspicious activity reporting system). But awareness of the challenges posed by illicit finance…

How the Kazakh Elite Put its Wealth Into U.K. Property

Corruption, Money Laundering, Unexplained Wealth Orders
Ministers face claims they have allowed the ruling elite of Kazakhstan to secretly invest vast chunks of the country’s wealth in the London property market after failing to introduce promised new transparency laws. Former prime minister David Cameron pledged at an anti-corruption summit in London in 2016 that the UK would end the secret offshore ownership of property. More than five years later, a proposed register of foreign owners of UK property has still not been introduced. The uprisings in Kazakhstan last week reflected widespread anger at former president Nursultan Nazarbayev’s three decades of rule and the vast fortunes amassed…

The $30m Embezzlement Scandal Behind Ukraine’s Winter Olympics Hopes

Corruption
Plans to build a new ski resort in Ukraine’s protected Carpathian Mountains lead back to an alleged corruption scheme tied to oligarch Serhiy Lovochkin. Key Findings Between 2012 and 2014, the head of a newly created state agency, Vladyslav Kaskiv, allegedly worked with accomplices to steal $30 million from the Ukrainian state and embezzled it through a network of offshore companies Part of the money was used to buy land in the Carpathian mountains, where Kaskiv knew the government planned to build a winter sports venue. The company that owned the land was secretly controlled by powerful Ukrainian politicians Serhiy…

State of Corruption in South Africa

Corruption
How deep corruption stretches into the South African government was revealed last week, after South Africa’s Judicial Commission dropped the first of its three-part report into state capture in the African nation. Deep is the answer. “Approximately 1,438 persons and entities were implicated by evidence led before the Commission,” read the nearly 900 page report produced by the commission that was set up almost four years ago to examine the extent of corruption within the South African State. One of the focal points it assessed were the connections between former South African President Jacob Zuma and the powerful Gupta Family,…

As U.S. Sanctions Loomed, a Tycoon Mopped Up Zimbabwe’s Scarce Dollars

Corruption, Sanctions
As Zimbabweans faced the economic consequences of a crashing currency, well-connected businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei skirted the rules to convert government-backed securities into scarce U.S. dollars —which he used to acquire shares in a lucrative platinum mine. Key Findings Even after Zimbabwe cut off its citizens from accessing U.S. dollars in mid-2019, the central bank governor allowed Tagwirei’s company to cash out large portions of a treasury bill he held before it matured, and unlawfully convert them into tens of millions of U.S. dollars. Documents indicate Tagwirei’s staff repeatedly used treasury bills as a source of U.S. dollars — which were…

The U.S. Releases its First-Ever Strategy on Countering Corruption

Corruption, Regulation
Corruption is a cancer within the body of societies—a disease that eats at public trust and the ability of governments to deliver for their citizens. The deleterious effects of corruption impact nearly all aspects of society. It exacerbates social, political, and economic inequality and polarisation; impedes the ability of states to respond to public health crises or to deliver quality education; degrades the business environment and economic opportunity; drives conflict; and undermines faith in government. Those that abuse positions of power for private gain steal not just material wealth, but human dignity and welfare. Recognising corruption’s ability to corrode democracy,…

Cryptocurrency – Cardiff Terrorist Khuram Iqbal Jailed Over Trading

Corruption, Regulation
A convicted terrorist has been jailed for 16 months over his cryptocurrency trading on the dark web. Khuram Iqbal, 29, from Cardiff, was originally jailed in 2014 for three years and three months for disseminating terrorist publications and possessing terrorist information. He was released on licence in May 2015 but recalled to jail in 2016. Iqbal breached a 10-year notification order by failing to tell police about two cryptocurrency accounts. He pleaded guilty to four breaches between July 2019 and August this year and appeared at the Old Bailey to be sentenced by Mr Justice Sweeney. The defendant had originally…

U.S. Designates Serbian, Salvadoran Gangs with Political Ties

Bribery, Corruption, Sanctions
The U.S. authorities announced Wednesday they have targeted 16 individuals and 24 entities suspected of corruption and serious human rights abuses. The ruling freezes U.S. property and money connected to those people and entities. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took the actions “pursuant to Executive Order 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act,” according to the U.S. Treasury Department’s statement. “All property and interests in property of the persons above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to…

Trail of Venezuela’s Stolen Billions Leads to Carribbean Luxury Properties

Bribery, Corruption, Money Laundering
Key Findings A Venezuelan under investigation for laundering stolen oil money acquired a lucrative stake in a luxury hotel in Colombia through a company registered in Luxembourg. He and another woman under investigation, the girlfriend of former Venezuelan energy official Javier Alvarado Ochoa, sat on the board of directors of the company that owns the hotel. Three senior executives at an energy consultancy that received a $23 million contract from Venezuelan state power company Corpolec, which was led by Alvarado, also had stakes in the hotel. A Venezuelan expert in anti-money laundering said the setup was “unusual” and should be…

Pandora Papers Unveil Ex-Putin Aide, Indian Businessmen Behind Maldives Island Scandal Deals

Bribery, Corruption
A former deputy chief of staff for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, as well as a wealthy Russian businessman with reputed organized crime ties, were secretly involved in the illegal leasing of a lagoon for tourist developments in the Maldives, newly leaked documents show. The documents reveal that a venture fund found to have been financed by Evgeny Novitsky — reputed to be a member or associate of Russia’s Solntsevo crime group — and run by former Putin aide Kirill Androsov was behind a 2015 deal to obtain the rights to develop a resort in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation. Novitsky…