Welcome back!
In between investigations, our team of reporters and data experts are always working behind the scenes to make collaborations happen, and help journalists make use of data from our previous investigations.
This week, one of our Israeli partners, Simona Weinglass, used the Panama Papers for a report calling into question claims made on behalf of Israeli lawyer Moshe Strugano in relation to offshore companies. A source reportedly said Strugano’s law firm “merely introduces clients to third-party companies” to open offshore accounts. However, Weinglass wrote in The Times of Israel that Panama Papers documents describe Strugano as a “client” of the Israeli branch of Mossack Fonseca.
Meanwhile, our partners in the Netherlands used files from our Bribery Division investigation to reveal the Dutch trusts that played a crucial role in Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht's massive global bribery operation. They report tens of millions of dollars flowed through the European nation.
Now, here are ICIJ stories for the week!
Tech giant Apple and its home country, Ireland, had a $14.8 billion win last week. The European Commission had ordered Apple to pay Ireland back-taxes after ruling in 2016 that the company’s tax deal with the country was illegal. The pair appealed the decision, and last week Europe’s second-highest court said the commission was “wrong” to say the iPhone-maker had been given “selective economic advantage."
The decision infuriated those wanting to crack down on tax avoidance by global companies, and European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is expected to fight the ruling. Want some more background? Read our Paradise Papers story on Apple’s use of Ireland and offshore.
Were there breaches of national or EU law exposed in Luanda Leaks? And were the actions taken by financial supervisors appropriate? These are the questions European lawmakers want answered by the European Banking Authority in the wake of our latest investigation. European lawmakers also asked individual member states to investigate details exposed by Luanda Leaks. The calls came as European Parliament voted to endorse an action plan to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Luc Caregari knows what he likes, and it isn’t the latest Jeffrey Epstein documentary on Netflix. He also knows what it’s like to be a reporter in a country with just 626,000 people that limits access to documents until they are 100 years old. We spoke with him for this month’s Meet the Investigators podcast, and asked him about source protection, his latest investigation and how things have changed in the secretive European nation.
Until next week!
Amy Wilson-Chapman
ICIJ’s community engagement editor
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