News from ICIJ May 11, 2022

 


DONATE
Welcome back!

Thirty-six years after ousting his father, Filipinos have elected Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as president.

Marcos is the namesake son of the Philippines' former dictator, a kleptocrat whose two decades in power were marked by the torture, murder, and jailing of thousands of citizens without due process. The family is accused of stealing billions from the country’s central bank.

Before the election, we talked to 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and ICIJ member Maria Ressa, a pioneering Filipino journalist who’s no stranger to the new regime in a new episode of the Meet the Investigators podcast.

Ressa feels the election is part of a global ‘tipping point’ for journalism and democracy.

The technology-focused news outlet she founded, Rappler, has exposed Marcos’ disinformation network since 2019. Social media and disinformation is a topic Rappler has investigated throughout the rule of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, whose government targeted Ressa and Rappler in numerous legal actions.

“The reality is that I would still go to jail for the rest of my life. In less than two years, I had to post bail 10 times,” Ressa tells ICIJ”s Scilla Alecci. “In a strange way, I have president Duterte to thank for really forcing me to draw my own lines. How far will I go to defend the truth? Well, I learned that I would go pretty far.”

In a wide-ranging conversation, Ressa discusses her career, how her team copes with threats, the importance of ICIJ’s work, her advice for aspiring journalists and more.

“We want to look back a decade from now and know that we did everything we could, that we did the best we could for our profession, for our country,” Ressa says. “Don’t let naysayers get you down. This is an incredible time of creativity, of imagination. You must create what journalism is going to become.”

DIRTY MONEY GATEKEEPERS
A key watchdog group credits the Pandora Papers for exposing the scale of global money laundering, and rebukes European governments’ weak defenses against financial crime.

SUPERYACHT SEIZED
Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov — whose links to massive secret money transfers were exposed in a recent ICIJ investigation — violated sanctions in funding a luxury ship that unexpectedly sailed into Fijian waters last month, U.S. officials say.

DRUG WAR MURDERS
A new Europol port connects widespread violence to cocaine wars involving the sanctioned Irish family gang, whose connections to companies and enablers in Dubai and Panama were revealed in recent ICIJ investigations.

Thanks for reading!

Asraa Mustufa

ICIJ's digital editor

P.S. If you’d like to read and hear more behind-the-scenes stories from ICIJ’s team and members, like the Meet the Investigators podcast with Maria Ressa, please consider joining our Insiders community by making a donation to ICIJ. Insiders receive exclusive emails — like our Meet the Investigators podcast — first, as well as invitations to exclusive events, access to chat with our reporters, and other benefits through the year.
 

Offshore Leaks Database
ICIJ publishes final batch of Pandora Papers data on more than 9,000 offshore entities
Offshore Leaks Database
The inside story of how the Offshore Leaks Database became a go-to resource
Pisky, Ukraine
In Ukraine, investigative journalists are now covering the carnage and chaos of war
Roman Anin
Podcast: How one Russian reporter approaches journalism in the age of Putin
front pages
Russia-focused stories from ICIJ’s Pandora Papers partners and more
Pandora Papers
Pandora Papers investigation receives National Headliner Award, other honors
Kinahan drug cartel
How a ruthless Irish gang found a home away from home in Dubai and an enemy in the White House
John Morrissey
Kinahan drug cartel enforcer owned a website that named and shamed criminal “rats”
US Capitol
Lawmakers in US push to uncover riches shielded by state secrecy laws
Sri Lanka
Engulfed by economic collapse and mass protests, Sri Lanka’s Pandora Papers probe stalled
Ericsson
Swedish anti-corruption agency launches probe into suspicious Ericsson payments in Iraq
FinCEN hearing
As US pledges renewed fight against dirty money, FinCEN chief says funding shortfalls have caused delays
Yachts
Who helps Russian oligarchs secretly buy jets, yachts and other luxury playthings?
Alexei Mordashov
The oligarch’s accountants: How PwC helped an oligarch grow his offshore empire
Suleiman Kerimov
An oligarch’s nephew, a tattoo artist and $700 million in secret transfers traced to a Putin ally
Herman Gref
Russian bankers shuffled personal wealth offshore long before latest sanctions
Wyoming
The gatekeepers who help open America to oligarchs and scammers
Vladimir Putin
ICIJ’s guide to Russian wealth hidden offshore
Ericsson List
Leak exposes Ericsson’s secret dealings with ISIS amid Iraq corruption spree
Ericsson List video
Watch: Ericsson’s secret deals in Iraq and beyond
READ MORE NEWS

STAY CONNECTED WITH ICIJ

ICIJ on Facebook
ICIJ on Twitter
Instagram
ICIJ on LinkedIn
Reddit

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists | 1710 Rhode Island Ave NW, 11th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20036

Comments