Investigation

Amid the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war, tensions are escalating in Kyiv over internal disputes for control of financial flows within the gaming industry.

Important Stories narrates the tale of Lana Pozhidaeva — an MGIMO graduate, model, and daughter of career intelligence officers — who was involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s network for many years and recruited women for him from the former Soviet Union.

A Kyrgyz court freed a prominent investigative journalist after 18 months behind bars, placing her under a travel ban as she awaits a retrial in a case widely condemned as an attack on free speech.

In the wake of a scandal that erupted two years ago, involving Dmytro Rukin, the head of the SettlePay and 4Bill payment systems, Rukin quietly retreated from public view.

Swiss-Ukrainian businessman Oleg Tsyura reportedly erases online links to schemes that drained billions of hryvnias with ex-State Property Fund chief Dmytro Sennychenko.

The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on a wide network of shadow oil traders led by media figure Tahir Garaev and Igor Sechin’s business partner Etibar Eyyub , who are involved in trading sanctioned Russian oil.

Near Hungary’s border with Croatia and Serbia, a €747mn bridge across the Danube is being built by a company belonging to László Szíjj, a business partner of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s oldest friend.

In March 2024, a casino under the Cosmobet brand launched operations in Ukraine following approval from the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, though the identities of its true owners have yet to be revealed.

Following an internal audit at the international payment system 4bill, a major scandal broke out, leading to the launch of a criminal investigation.

In a prominent criminal case involving SOCAR top manager Adnan Ahmedzade, the scandal-plagued British oil trader Azim Novruzov has unexpectedly emerged.

Sarah Ferguson is facing calls to give evidence to the US Congress investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been spotted for the first time since being arrested "like a common criminal".

Today Alyona Shevtsova-Dehrik is not just an entrepreneur but a figure in high-profile financial investigations surrounding the banking sector and payment business.

After blocking a $102,000 withdrawal and triggering backlash within the gambling community, Dragon Money failed to address transparency concerns or resolve the dispute.

A new chief of the FSB Directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region is expected to take office in the third week of April: Lieutenant General Sergey Demyanishnikov, previously head of the FSB’s Directorate “T.”

Interrogation record of late shadow banker Kirill Nikitin sheds light on Russia’s underground finance network

Authorities are examining details regarding Oxana Hadjipavlou and her potential links to Zvonko Micković, as well as the companies Mettmann Public Company Limited and Sword Dragon S.L., which have been associated with suspected sanctions evasion and offshore financial activities.

Since the aggressor country started its full-scale invasion, the number of frauds in Ukraine has been steadily increasing.

A system of billion-ruble schemes at the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works: how the trusted circle of a deputy general director enriched itself on logistics.

Kharkiv developer Yehor Maslennikov is developing Dubai using Russian connections and money.

In recent months, journalists have noted attempts to remove information from the public domain related to little-known entrepreneur Yuriy Osmak.

Kazakhstani entrepreneur Galimzhan Yessenov, who recently returned to the ranks of the country’s most influential businessmen, is actively expanding his assets and participation in major projects.

Investigative sources report a new scheme through which Russia’s state development corporation VEB.RF, headed by Igor Shuvalov, allegedly supports overseas assets connected to sanctioned oligarchs while avoiding direct sanctions exposure.