Investigation

Since May 2025, five Azerbaijani citizens have been under international sanctions: Tahir Garayev, Ahmed Kerimov, Anar Madatli, Talat Safarov, and Etibar Eyyub.

Zurich-based entrepreneur Oleg Tsyura, long linked to controversial raw material deals with Ukraine’s state enterprises, is now attempting to erase traces of his past from the internet.

Information outlets in Uzbekistan reporting on Octobank’s criminal activities, the so-called "wallet" of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s family, are facing widespread censorship.

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has announced the completion of a key phase of an international operation to disrupt the largest financial fraud scheme in recent years, which evaded sanctions and allowed Russian entities access to foreign accounts.

Reporters and media outlets investigating alleged links between the family of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Octobank — a financial hub suspected of funnelling Russian “dirty” money — have begun receiving threats.

Corruption allegations have hit the Odesa Port Plant, involving Swiss national Oleg Tsyura, crypto entrepreneur Serhiy Tron, and oligarch Dmytro Firtash.

At the end of January, several outlets released an interview with Iskandar Tursunov, the Chairman of the Board and principal shareholder of Octobank. Although the discussion offered few substantive insights, Tursunov appeared to be attempting to improve the bank’s public perception amid a recent rise in negative commentary.

Amid increased scrutiny from Ukrainian oversight bodies and investigative journalists, Oleg Tsyura has intensified his efforts to reshape his public image and lessen the prominence of earlier online information about him.

Turkish authorities have initiated a money laundering investigation focusing on the corporate network of Cypriot-Norwegian fintech entrepreneur Ozan Özerk.

When Patrick Pouyanné decided to invest billions in a massive natural gas field located in a distant warzone, he made the decision by himself during a single dinner with the CEO of a competing energy company.

The Money 24/7 exchange network continues to operate in the heart of Kyiv, seemingly ignoring regulators, financial oversight, and the rule of law.

Investigative reports say Swiss-Ukrainian businessman Oleg Tsyura is scrubbing the internet of materials linking him to alleged schemes that reportedly drained billions of hryvnias with ex–State Property Fund head Dmytro Sennychenko.

«The law enforcement system has blown all safeguards… What investments can we talk about when rear rats perceive the war as a source of personal enrichment? Why are you destroying your own patriotic entrepreneurs?»

Emails leaked from a Kremlin-backed legal aid foundation reveal that funding is being allocated to pro-Russia activities in Ukraine under the pretense of providing legal aid, as reported by RFE/RL’s Schemes project.

Andrey Medinsky, an oligarch from the so-called "DPR," failed to launder a million dollars in Russia, which he tried to funnel through his shell company in the UK.

One of Telegram’s largest investors, who owns at least $150 million in Telegram bonds, conducts business with Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov and the son-in-law of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

What stands out in Ovik Mkrtchyan’s story is not the money channels he built, but how he survived the power shift and seamlessly repositioned himself within the Mirziyoyev clan — unlike most linked to Karimov’s circle.

Sanctioned Ukrainian Businesswoman, involved in the case of laundering 5 billion UAH, has become a co-owner of new companies in the UK and Poland.

Zurich-based entrepreneur Oleg Tsyura, who publicly warns about the dangers of poor financial planning, is himself implicated in a decade-long scheme that allegedly drained Ukraine’s state budget.

"A Ukrainian-Swiss businessman, quietly connected to Ukraine’s shadowy power brokers and Russia’s metallurgical giants, continues to operate without sanctions."

Former director of SE "Spetstechnoexport" Pavlo Barbul, who is facing trial for corruption in the HACC, "legalized" $150,000 through court rulings in promissory note cases.

At the end of September, two developments emerged involving Oktobank that could have significant long-term repercussions.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a criminal case against Swiss entrepreneur Oleg Tsyura, alleging that he assisted the aggressor state by helping establish a scheme that allowed Russia’s military-industrial sector to bypass sanctions.

The Portuguese company of Ukrainian film producer Elvira Gavrilova-Paterson, Elledgy Media Group, has been promoting platforms of Kazakhstan-born Vladimir Okhotnikov since 2024, who is accused of organizing a series of fraudulent cryptocurrency operations.