Rolling Stone: Hamas Arms Maker and ‘Serial Fraudster’ Gets 70 Years in Prison for Torture This article was written by Government Accountability Project Investigator, Zack Kopplin, and was originally published here. IN A SECRET recording produced at trial, Ross Roggio, an international arms dealer and con artist from Pennsylvania, spat defiance towards the federal agents investigating [...]
They were money launderers, they were cryptos-cammers, sanctioned Russian oligarchs, fugitive criminals from all around the world.
Now that 2023 has ended we want to propose a virtual toast to the whistleblowers, everyday heroes and staff who made justice possible as we look back on last year.
By Juliana Schifferes Island nation Dominica’s Citizenship-by-Investment program is a “golden passport” program that allows international businessmen, politicians and sometimes criminals to buy their way into citizenship for the minimum fee of 100,000 dollars. Who are these new emigres—and why do they need a new passport? As revealed by Government Accountability Investigator Zack Kopplin, [...]
In the Caribbean island nation of Dominica, an intriguing problem emerges upon examining the Citizenship-by-Investment program. What should a nation-state do when, rather than expelling or imprisoning criminals, its bureaucracy permits them to enter their country? How can the state cope with the new burden?
Exposure and external pressure—Government Accountability Project’s specialty tools—may someday bring Dominica’s misguided revenue strategy to heel. Media and journalism organizations across the world are commenting on Dominica’s policy, naming issues, and making recommendations. Change is tenable.
OCCRP: Businessman Who Bought Dominica Passport and Funded U.K. Tories Now Under Investigation in India This article features Government Accountability Project's Investigation conducted by Zack Kopplin and was originally published here. Gursamarjit Singh made millions in marketing and real estate. In Dominica, he purchased a passport. In the U.K., he bought into the political [...]
Al-Lami is considered the most prominent holder of this nationality along with other Iraqi businessmen, but Al-Lami has a different story, as his cross-border relations extended from Iraq to Iran, Syria and then Lebanon, until a woman who claimed to be an employee of the Central Bank of Iraq described him, in a television interview, as "Qassem Soleimani financial" in Iraq.
The documentation suggests that an intermediary with a Dominica passport facilitated a shell company in Hong Kong to transfer funds from Iran to La Liga, potentially skirting financial regulations.
These methods of transferring money illustrate well how passports acquired in places like Dominica can be used to circumvent sanctions and make secret payments.