Investigations

Offshore companies owned by the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon have quietly invested in overseas assets worth nearly US$100 million in recent years, even as he has encouraged others to invest in his economically devastated country.

Created by an Israeli firm, approved by the Israeli Knesset and sold under supervision of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Pegasus software helped suppress freedom of expression and allowed for sexual blackmail of journalists and activists alike. How does that sound for “the only democracy in the Middle East?”

Morocco has spent the most money utilizing the Israeli NSO spyware. More than ten thousand numbers were tapped, including many journalists and activists’s phones who are now in prison.

Some 10,000 phone numbers were targeted by the UAE with the help of the Israeli firm NSO Journalists, activists and dissidents feature on the astonishing long list of Abu Dhabi targets. Follow our special investigation into the Pegasus leaks

Will there be a day, when we feel less compelled to look over our shoulder – or at our phones – with fear and suspicion? Is it really possible we will feel safe at home again?

Despite the strong alliance between the two countries, especially after President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi assumed the presidency in 2014, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia follows a policy of mistrust of allies and enemies alike.

The UAE is imposing itself as a strong competitor to the Kingdom, and if the UAE has indeed taken the decision to eavesdrop on the Hadi government’s ministers by itself and without the knowledge of the Kingdom, this indicates a great division between the two countries…

Saudi and Emirati intelligence agencies used Israel’s Pegasus spyware to massively monitor Iraqi ministers, MPs, ambassadors, journalists, activists and even clerics.

Regardless of the reasons that prompted Saudi Arabia to target and wiretap the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, there is no legal or moral justification for what the Kingdom has done to its allies.

Leaked Pegasus data show how the phones of Latifa, Haya and people close to them were targeted following their daring escapes from Dubai. While Haya resides in Britain where she fights for custody over her children, very little known is about Latifa after she was forcibly brought back to Dubai

Moroccan journalist Hajar Raissouni tells how the kingdom wiretapped her phone, launched a defamation campaign and imprisoned her. “They told me things about me no one could know unless they read my diary moment by moment.”

The Pandora Papers come to increase the suspicions surrounding not only BDL’s governer, but the political system associated with him for more than three decades, which, despite all the suspicions surrounding him, seems to adhere to his remaining in office.

Lebanese banker and notorious big game hunter Marwan Kheireddine suggested for the banking sector to run the state. But what does he know about the crisis? Having a string of foreign and offshore companies, he bought a yacht and New York penthouse, while the Lebanese lost everything. 

A batch of leaked documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists shows that longtime ruler King Abdullah II secretly owns 14 luxury homes in the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the Pandora Papers, the name of the advisor to the President of the Lebanese Republic, Amal Abu Amal Zaid, is associated with the co-founder and director of “Agon Holding S.A.”, a company that was registered in the Virgin Islands on June 1, 2007.

Why did al-Khanjar partner with the Salfiti family to register their companies in the British Virgin Islands, instead of the countries in which they do business?

Tax evasion and hiding wealth through offshore companies is not something much talked about in Mauritania, but the Pandora Papers show it appears to be a well-established practice for many businessmen.

Two businessmen under US sanctions for allegedly supporting Hezbollah appeared in the Pandora Papers., which triggers that most complex and ambiguous of questions: the one related to Hezbollah’s finances… 

This investigation reveals once again that the Israeli company NSO continues to use Pegasus to spy on Palestinian activists and human rights defenders for the Israeli government.

“The UAE promotes its image as the global financial center and indispensable ally of the West, but at the same time it has turned into a secret haven and an open door for money laundering, gold smuggling, and other crimes.”

Following the shocking revelations by the Pegasus Project, the US authorities have blacklisted NSO Group, while a US appeals court rejected its claim that it enjoys immunity as a “foreign agent.” This means tech giant WhatsApp can continue its case against the Israeli spyware firm  

Leaked documents reveal how Syrian businessman Samir Hassan continues to operate in the British Virgin Islands, despite being placed under European sanctions. 

We traveled to Iraq to see the reality on the ground behind the leaked Ericsson documents. We returned with our bags filled with tales on tax evasion, labor exploitation, ISIS funding and people suffering.  

Documents from an internal Ericsson investigation show how the Swedish telecom giant used layers upon layers of subcontracting companies in order to evade taxes including social security fees.

The absolute star in the Ericsson documents is former Alfa Chairman and CEO Marwan Hayek, who created a triangle of interests: Alfa, Quality Telecom Services (QTS), owned by his wife, and Ericsson, where his brother-in-law worked in a good position.