Spotlight 7: Power & Crime - Dangerous Liaisons
How do political, economic and criminal power intertwine?
Hi! Welcome back to the seventh issue of Spotlight, a fortnightly collection of news, articles, and events about organised crime and corruption curated by Firm UK.
Every two weeks a collective of experts, academics, and volunteers will select a few relevant articles and/or events that will help you to understand our society under the hood.
If you follow us, you might have noticed we have come back from the summer break with a Spotlight’s special issue published last Friday: our co-founder and editor Barbara L. L. Maimone translated into English a long-read by IrpiMedia.
We want to follow that path by suggesting four good readings that show how strong the relationship between political power, economic power, and criminal power is.
Starting with another good piece by IrpiMedia, you discover how E-money giant Paysafe is not so safe after all: investigations have, in fact, unveiled two Italian Mafia organisations (the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta and the Sicilian Cosa Nostra) used two of its most famous brands, Skrill and Neteller, to launder money from their illicit activities.
The second article digs deeper into the involvement of Malta’s most powerful businessman Yorgen Fenech in Daphne’s assassination and highlights the key moments of the investigation.
Our third selected piece will take you into the world’s most famous secret society: Freemasonry could be a starting point to understand the importance of secrecy in criminal organisations such as the KKK and Cosa Nostra.
Last but not least, we share with you the FinCEN files uncovering suspicious activities of some of the most respected banks around the globe.
We hope you enjoy Spotlight. And if you like it, please share it with your network and invite them to subscribe.
Thank you!
Paysafe is not so safe
In this article by IrpiMedia’s Matteo Civilini, the journalist outlines how illicit affairs of ‘Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra were among many of the processed transactions by two giants of the digital payment world: Skrill and Neteller. In a very good investigation following how money flow, it’s highlighted how difficult could be to enforce regulations. The piece also tracks some of the details of the investigation into complex criminal enterprises involved in money laundering.
“Skrill and Neteller are two of the leading digital payments providers in the so-called e-wallet industry. They allow clients to deposit money on an online account, which can be used to make transfers or pay selected merchants with only an email and a password. Their core market is online gambling, an industry traditionally shunned by banks due to the higher risk it carries.”
Was Daphne killed for her investigations?
Three years after the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta following the explosion of a bomb under the driver’s seat of her car, justice remains uncertain. This Guardian’s long-read summarises the inquiries into Daphne’s assassination which led to the (late) resignation of former Malta’s Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat. Muscat was, in fact, very close with one of the most powerful business families of the island: a member of which, Yorgen Fenech, was charged with planning and financing the killing of the journalist in 2017.
“Over three generations, the Fenechs have ridden the waves of new money rolling into Malta. Monaco-style tax breaks and no-questions-asked banking services are transforming the country into a millionaire’s paradise. If the Mediterranean has an equal to the Trump dynasty, then the Fenechs are contenders for that crown.”
The article is based on open pre-trial hearings and interviews with those close to the case. It is being published as part of The Daphne Project, an international reporting collaboration that includes Italy’s Irpi, The Guardian, The Times of Malta, and many others.
The world of the Freemasons
In this Time’s article, History Professor John Dickie takes the reader into the top-secret world of Freemasonry, the globe’s most famous secret society. Its secrecy offers a striking lesson to understand the relationship between power and brotherhood.
“If you had a secret, then organizing yourself like the Freemasons seemed a good way to keep it. Groups as varied as the Ku Klux Klan (to conceal the identity of white supremacist terrorists), the Sicilian mafia (crime), and the Mormon Church (bigamy) all incorporated the furtive strands of the Masonic DNA”.
This article puts under scrutiny the secrecy of the Freemasons and argues that behind the rituals and the protocols of the society, their secrecy is multifaceted and as such, it can be manipulated also for deviant purposes.
The FinCEN files
In September 2020, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with 109 media partners published the results of a 16-month international investigation known as the FinCEN Files. The investigation was based on secret documents detailing suspicious activity reports in banks across the globe. FinCEN analysts described the U.K. as a “higher risk” country for money laundering.
“A trade group representing firms that specialize in corporate secrecy has been lobbying the British government to give its members a central role in efforts to counter the country’s reputation as a leading provider of front companies to organized crime groups, corrupt regimes and other criminals.”
In order to unpack this controversial proposal, the ICIJ’s article unpacks some of the findings of the FinCEN files in the UK and the difficult balance to introduce controls for companies in the UK, without affecting the effectiveness of the UK’s business.
Events and webinars
We would also like to suggest the following event for a deeper understanding of the topics covered in this issue of Spotlight:
[Tuesday, 10th November 2020 4 pm GMT] Legitimising a Protection Racket: Mexico’s Security Crisis
This webinar will explore the allegations that, in recent times, Mexico has become a “Mafia State”, one in which the interest of organised crime and the one of the State become increasingly hard to separate and to distinguish. As part of a series of events organised by The Extra-Legal Governance Institute (ExLegi), this online event will see the participation of the author of the research, Drp Rolando Ochoa: Lecturer at the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at the Macquarie University, Sydney.
If you have any questions or feedback, please write to us!