Investigations

In 2016, Lebanon was given a $55 million World Bank loan to clean up the Litani River and lake Qaraoun. Five years later only a fraction of the money has been spent, the river and lake remain an open sewer and cancer rates have skyrocketed. Will the people of the Bekaa Valley ever see the rest of the money, and enjoy clean water? 

The loan is, unusually, absent from both the Danish and Lebanese databases – raising initial suspicion. When asked about this discrepancy, EKF claimed that the absence was a result of “human error”.

This investigation is the result of the collaboration between Daraj and its Danish partner, DanWatch.

Rebecca Rykes’ murder put the spotlight on Uber for all the wrong reasons, while the Uber Files show how the giant firm lobbied hard to force its way into Lebanon. Many people claim the firm still does not meet rules and regulations. Yet Uber denies it operates outside the law.

This article sheds a light on some of the dubious honorary consuls through whom Syria, despite the regime of international sanctions, managed to maintain a window to the world

Despite having one of the Mediterranean region’s most advanced treatment plants, the project has yet to fulfill its intended objectives, while Tripoli’s residents continue to wait for slight improvements in their living conditions.

The only Saudi concern in the current talks with Syria seems to halt the influx of Captagon. Yet, observers note that a Syrian concession would be difficult to uphold for Damascus, as producing and selling drugs is virtually the regime’s only source of income.

This article tells the fascinating life story of Hassan Daqqou, the 32 year old Syrian-Lebanese national who emerged from the depths of poverty, selling watches on the streets of Beirut, to become the kingpin of Lebanon’s Captagon trade, backed by the Assad regime and its allies. involvement in a series of terrorist bombings in the Belgian capital in 2016. Sentences will be issued next September a...

This sanitation project is among the priority projects within the European Union’s “Horizon 2020” initiative, aimed at cleaning up the Mediterranean Sea. While the project initially aimed to cover the latest water treatment methods, the station currently only performs primary treatment. Why is that? Because, now, 20 years since the project began in 2003, the station has still not received the requ...

Buying foreign passports is not a new phenomenon in Iraq; it is widespread among influential Iraqis in Iraq and in the Kurdistan region as well. However, this project reveals some new Iraqi names who have found safe havens in Dominica.

Through the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program, Dominica has provided a safe haven for many influential individuals from the Arab world, including those suspected of unlawful activities, those involved in crime, or those on the US sanctions list for various charges. While Yemeni elites benefit from these investments in Dominica, the Yemeni population grapples with one of the world’s most sign...

Al Lami is considered one of the most prominent individuals to have obtained Dominican citizenship, alongside other Iraqi businessmen. However, Al Lami has a unique story that involves cross-border connections extending from Iraq to Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. He has been closely associated with the Iranian regime and has been dubbed “the king of forgery” within Iraqi financial circles.

Sharaf al-Din Al Yaqoubi, an expert in hydrocarbons and one of the contributors to the analytical study, “Insights into Hydrocarbon Contracts in Tunisia,” explains the regulating authority’s leniency towards petroleum companies regarding their non-compliance or delays in commitments by stating: “Tunisia no longer attracts large petroleum companies, and the companies exploiting exploration licenses...

For the first time, the Cyprus Confidential project reveals financial transactions carried out by Salim Sfeir, the Head of the Association of Banks in Lebanon and the Chairman of Bank of Beirut (BoB), in Cyprus. These transactions raise questions about his suitability to negotiate the future of Lebanon’s recovery plan on behalf of the banking sector.

The “Dubai Unlocked” investigative reports reveal that US sanctions have not prevented prominent figures connected to the Syrian regime from acquiring and investing in the small emirate, raising questions about the perks enjoyed by regime insiders there. The project’s documents contain details of properties owned by Syrians from the financial and familial circle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad...

In the context of the “Dubai Unlocked” project, which was carried out in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), our investigation into Dubai real estate data and documents revealed properties belonging to individuals associated with Hezbollah and listed on US sanctions lists. This raises many questions about the UAE’s due diligence process and Dubai author...

Major Western European oil companies such as BP (British Petroleum), Italy’s Eni (Agenzia Nazionale Idrocarburi), TotalEnergies, and Shell are among the top ten polluters in Africa and the Middle East due to their gas flaring practices. These companies are responsible for releasing toxins into the air, polluting the environment, and harming public health. This was revealed by the investigation tit...

This investigation examines the total gas flaring in the countries of Qatar and the Sultanate of Oman. It is part of a series of investigative reports within the cross-border “Burning Skies” project on gas flaring, led by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), in cooperation with the Environmental Investigative Forum (EIF) and several media platforms, including Daraj.

Despite Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) adopting a voluntary policy to prevent routine gas flaring twenty years ago, the policy has not been effectively enforced, as revealed by the project data.

This investigation is part of a series of investigative reports within the cross-border “Burning Skies” project on gas flaring, led by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), in cooperation with the Environmental Investigative Forum (EIF) and several media platforms, including Daraj.

The full name of Kamel Abu Ali was listed in the Dominica Official Gazette, which includes individuals who obtained Dominican citizenship either by paying $200,000 if their family consists of four people (as in the case of Abu Ali), or through investing the same amount in its lands.

The project reveals that around 7,700 people have purchased Dominican citizenship, which enables them to travel worldwide without a visa. This list includes a diverse group of politicians, suspicious or criminal businessmen, and lawbreakers.