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Cyprus Confidential
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Cyprus Confidential
Cyprus Confidential is a journalism project investigating financial services in Cyprus and their role in allowing avoidance of international sanctions, and implementation of Russian state goals. It is conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Paper Trail Media and 69 media partners including Distributed Denial of Secrets and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and more than 270 journalists in 55 countries and territories. Other media partners included Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, the Belarusian Investigative Center, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, CBC, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Le Monde, Politiken, Swedish Television (SVT), Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism, Ukraine's Slidstvo and The Washington Post.
The investigation suggests that "67 of the 105 Russian billionaires on the 2023 Forbes World’s Billionaires List used financial services firms on the island of Cyprus to hide their wealth and keep it out of reach from Western sanctions". The leaks include confidential information from financial services companies, mostly with connections to Cyprus, showing strong links with high-up figures in the Kremlin, some of whom have been sanctioned.
The investigation reveals how Russian oligarchs transferred large amounts of assets to Cyprus after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union imposed sanctions on more than 1,600 individuals and entities after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The investigation is based on 3.6 million leaked files from the mid-1990s to April 2022, and include confidential background checks, organizational charts, financial statements, bank account applications and emails. The leaks come from six Cyprus-based financial services providers and a Latvian firm that sells Cypriot corporate registry documents:
According to the ICIJ
The leaked records from Cypcodirect, ConnectedSky, i-Cyprus and Kallias & Associates were obtained by Paper Trail Media. Distributed Denial of Secrets obtained documents from Kallias & Associates, which were then shared with Paper Trail Media and ICIJ. DJC Accountants’ records were obtained by Distributed Denial of Secrets and shared by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
The investigation found more than 650 companies and trusts registered in Cyprus and more than 100 in other secrecy jurisdictions that were owned or controlled by Russians who have been sanctioned since 2014. The companies and trusts used to hide properties and other investments from oversight and included mother companies of Russian holdings and subsidiaries of Russian conglomerates including Evraz, which supplies the train rails used to transport arms and ammunition to Russian troops in Ukraine.
The investigation purports to show "how 67 of the 105 Russian billionaires on the 2023 Forbes World’s Billionaires List used financial services firms on the island of Cyprus to hide their wealth and keep it out of reach from Western sanctions". The leaks contain confidential information from financial services companies, mostly with connections to Cyprus, and show that country to have strong links with high-up figures in the Kremlin, some of whom have been sanctioned.
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Cyprus Confidential
Cyprus Confidential is a journalism project investigating financial services in Cyprus and their role in allowing avoidance of international sanctions, and implementation of Russian state goals. It is conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Paper Trail Media and 69 media partners including Distributed Denial of Secrets and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and more than 270 journalists in 55 countries and territories. Other media partners included Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, the Belarusian Investigative Center, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, CBC, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Le Monde, Politiken, Swedish Television (SVT), Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism, Ukraine's Slidstvo and The Washington Post.
The investigation suggests that "67 of the 105 Russian billionaires on the 2023 Forbes World’s Billionaires List used financial services firms on the island of Cyprus to hide their wealth and keep it out of reach from Western sanctions". The leaks include confidential information from financial services companies, mostly with connections to Cyprus, showing strong links with high-up figures in the Kremlin, some of whom have been sanctioned.
The investigation reveals how Russian oligarchs transferred large amounts of assets to Cyprus after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union imposed sanctions on more than 1,600 individuals and entities after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The investigation is based on 3.6 million leaked files from the mid-1990s to April 2022, and include confidential background checks, organizational charts, financial statements, bank account applications and emails. The leaks come from six Cyprus-based financial services providers and a Latvian firm that sells Cypriot corporate registry documents:
According to the ICIJ
The leaked records from Cypcodirect, ConnectedSky, i-Cyprus and Kallias & Associates were obtained by Paper Trail Media. Distributed Denial of Secrets obtained documents from Kallias & Associates, which were then shared with Paper Trail Media and ICIJ. DJC Accountants’ records were obtained by Distributed Denial of Secrets and shared by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
The investigation found more than 650 companies and trusts registered in Cyprus and more than 100 in other secrecy jurisdictions that were owned or controlled by Russians who have been sanctioned since 2014. The companies and trusts used to hide properties and other investments from oversight and included mother companies of Russian holdings and subsidiaries of Russian conglomerates including Evraz, which supplies the train rails used to transport arms and ammunition to Russian troops in Ukraine.
The investigation purports to show "how 67 of the 105 Russian billionaires on the 2023 Forbes World’s Billionaires List used financial services firms on the island of Cyprus to hide their wealth and keep it out of reach from Western sanctions". The leaks contain confidential information from financial services companies, mostly with connections to Cyprus, and show that country to have strong links with high-up figures in the Kremlin, some of whom have been sanctioned.