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Welcome back!

As with so many events this year, the annual investigative journalism film festival Double Exposure has gone virtual. The good news? You don’t have to be in Washington, D.C. to enjoy the stories. The even better news? You can use ICIJDX20 to get 10% off passes! 

COMPLAINTS BURIED

More than 27,000 women are taking Bayer to court in connection with its contraceptive implant Essure. The manufacturer failed to report thousands of complaints of injuries to the United States Food and Drug Administration, according to experts acting on behalf of the women. An analysis of 5,000 complaints found that 24% should have been reported, yet just 5.5% were filed. 

Bayer disputes the findings and says the analysis underpinning the case is flawed. But, the company failed to get the case dismissed and it will now go to trial. Implant Files, our 2018 investigation, revealed that of more than 16,000 complaints filed about Essure between 2008 and 2010 – only 183 were reported to the FDA.

ARTFUL DODGERS

Arkady and Boris Rotenberg have made appearances in several of our investigations, including the Panama Papers. Now a bipartisan report from the United States Senate says the pair, and companies linked to them moved $91 million through the U.S.financial system – even after the sanctions that were supposed to stop companies doing business with them. The brothers bought and sold multimillion-dollar works of art, taking advantage of the high-end industry, which isn’t regulated by anti-money-laundering rules. Lawmakers wanted reform of the secretive, high-end art market that is known for operating under a “veil of secrecy.” 

PROPAGANDA BLITZ

The Chinese government responded to the China Cables, our 2019 investigation into the mass internment and indoctrination of Uighurs, by taking to social media and state-controlled news outlets to justify the camps. A new report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project says officials have used social media in an attempt to sway public opinion about the camps, and hosted foreign reporters and diplomats in a bid to show the camps are voluntary “vocational training” centers. Project manager Nicole Morgret said: “The Chinese government has gone from silence to promoting its policies as a model, with dangerous implications for human rights worldwide.”

PICKPOCKETS

United States prosecutors want “significant” jail time for the first two people to plead guilty to crimes connected with the Panama Papers. “Every tax fraud is theft from the pockets of every tax paying citizen of this nation,” prosecutors said.  Harald Joachim von der Goltz and his accountant Richard Gaffey pleaded guilty to financial crimes earlier this year. It’s estimated von der Goltz evaded paying more than $3.4 million in taxes, while Gaffey “used his special training and skill as an accountant” to help several clients evade taxes. 

Until next week!

Amy Wilson-Chapman

ICIJ’s community engagement editor

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Paradise Papers trust company fined $793,000 for ‘serious breaches’

Paradise Papers trust company fined $793,000 for ‘serious breaches’

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