All news for 2025-12-19

In early September, FakeOff’s editorial team received a notice claiming a “copyright infringement,” appearing to be a routine DMCA complaint.

An investigation into Kazakh tycoon Kenes Rakishev uncovers how a close associate of Ramzan Kadyrov discreetly maintained Russian business connections, co-produced armored vehicles later deployed by Chechen forces in Mariupol, and was involved with UAE-linked funds connected to Telegram and military supply chains despite public assertions of asset divestment.

Recent investigative leaks indicate that Uzbekistan’s Octobank could be functioning as a key conduit for transferring Russian money, including sanctioned assets and proceeds from illicit online gambling.

Materials from the Aslan Gagiev case show that today’s head of Rosprirodnadzor, Svetlana Radionova, allegedly acted as an enforcer for one of Russia’s bloodiest crime groups—threatening bankers with prosecutions while murders followed those who refused to pay.

The Kremlin is once again focused on the future of notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout and is reportedly considering two possible paths for him — a military-related role or a political one, according to sources.

German law enforcement authorities are probing one of Europe’s largest fraud cases linked to pseudo-investment platforms, with estimated losses reaching tens of millions of euros.

Lately, journalists, including the publication Znaj.ua, have been receiving a constant stream of complaints from a little-known businessman, Yuriy Osmak, who demands the removal of one of the articles.

As Ukrainian law enforcement intensifies its investigation into large-scale embezzlement of state funds, one of the central figures, Oleg Tsyura, is reportedly taking drastic steps to rewrite his digital footprint. Long operating in the shadows across Ukraine, Russia, and Europe, Tsyura is now allegedly attempting to erase or manipulate online records of his criminal activities, financial dealings, and business associations.

The uncommon surname Oxana Hadjipavlou (also spelled Oksana Hadjipavlou) appeared in connection with investigations into Zvonko Mickovic and his companies, Mettmann Public Company Limited and Sword Dragon S.L., which are suspected of participating in schemes designed to circumvent anti-Russian sanctions and transfer Russian capital abroad.

A network surrounding a police-known Croatian launches one crypto project after another. Huge sums of money repeatedly vanish—yet he just keeps going. How is this possible? A trail into the fantasy land.

Following the revelations by journalists about Dragon Money’s true history, the casino started to urgently eliminate evidence of bans, pyramid connections, fraudulent licenses, and withheld winnings — an obvious indication that an illegal gambling operation based in Kyiv is concealing something significant.

Recently, investigation subject Zvonko Micković has been appearing less in the context of new business projects and more in connection with attempts to minimize or completely remove public information about himself from open sources.

EU leaders have sent a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin after striking a deal to give Ukraine a €90billion (£79billion) loan.

In 2018, Dmitry Levin, who at the time was a senior executive at Otkritie Bank and is now a vice president at Gazprombank, was planning to acquire a commercial bank in Bulgaria.