This deserves *way* more attention than it’s getting

Reform’s former Wales leader admits he received corrupt payments in exchange for making statements in the European Parliament to promote Russia’s interests in #Ukraine.

Unit investigating £1.9bn of Covid loan fraud recovered only £7m Natis received £38m from taxpayers to pursue widespread abuse of pandemic business loans and had previously claimed it recovered £23m

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

The Boris Files. "Leak exposes how former leader has used publicly subsidised office to manage commercial interests."

Evening reading from the Guardian. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/seri...

From meeting with Peter Thiel to a £200,000 payment post visit to Nicolas Maduro from a "hedge fund..

“Meta says its own AI created inappropriate images, violating its policies”

Says it all.

The booming business of Trump’s deportation flights Companies are jostling for billions of dollars to fly immigrant detainees out of the US

ICE plans to 6x its current budget for immigrant transportation and deportations. The money offers a potential windfall for a few contractors and charter airlines — some with close ties to the Trump campaign. Yet the system is already under strain, with significant concerns for detainees' safety: 🧵

Israel has killed at least 20 people, including several journalists, in a double strike on Nasser Medical Complex, the largest health facility in southern Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave. on.ft.com/41X8Jsz

Insane lengths the government goes to to fight transparency. Great to have Lucas Amin @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @jennacorderoy.bsky.social fighting back.
The Cabinet Office refused, claiming disclosure could harm “the effective conduct of public affairs.” - Ridiculous.

📣 A huge development in the fight against #SLAPPs as news drops that the Solicitors Regulation Authority is taking disciplinary action against a partner from Carter-Ruck, after the libel law firm acted for OneCoin in threatening a victim of its giant Ponzi fraud with legal action:

⚖️ Today the Kazakh commodities giant ENRC is in the Court of Appeal looking to add $128m to the eye-watering damages they are pursuing against their former lawyers and the Serious Fraud Office, following a decade-long corruption probe into the miner’s operations that was dropped in 2023.

Lots of 👀 moments in this story www.opendemocracy.net/en/enough-br... "At least one organisation has received a cease and desist letter from a high-profile law firm acting on White and Allchurch’s behalf after it raised concerns about Enough’s approach."

Question: which law firm?

New: Inside Gaza’s 'death traps'. A US-backed scheme forces hungry Palestinians to trek kilometres for food aid. First-hand testimony, satellite imagery and verified video shed light on the dangerous journey from which many never return.

on.ft.com/4lKG6Go

Aletschgletscher

People who say there is no climate change need do some time travel and go skiing one day in 2025 and one day in 1985. Compare, then speak. Or not.

www.ft.com/content/e903...

The Machine Stops The neurologist Oliver Sacks on steam engines, smartphones, and fearing the future.

In a letter drawn from a posthumous collection of correspondence, published in 2019, the neurologist Oliver Sacks argued that society had no immunity to the seductions of digital life. “What we are seeing—and bringing on ourselves—resembles a neurological catastrophe on a gigantic scale,” he wrote.

DOJ Overruled Prosecutors in Deal for Trump-Linked Governor (1) Justice Department leadership ordered prosecutors about to start a major bribery trial to reach a more lenient deal with Puerto Rico’s former governor, who had endorsed President Donald Trump, and a b...

Extra sprinkle from Bloomberg on the Puerto Rico case involving former Tory donor Julio Herrera Velutini, a former FBI agent and the former governor of Puerto Rico news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and...: Justice Department leadership ordered prosecutors to reach a more lenient deal....

😬😬😬

Facebook is asking to use Meta AI on photos in your camera roll you haven't yet shared | TechCrunch Facebook is asking users for access to their phone's camera roll to automatically suggest AI-edited versions of their photos -- including ones that

Facebook is asking to use Meta AI on photos in your camera roll you haven’t yet shared: techcrunch.com/2025/06/27/f...

Briefing: How foreign or hostile actors could hijack the next General Election - Spotlight on Corruption The British electoral system is wide open to abuse from malign or foreign actors seeking to unfairly influence our politics as a result of major loopholes in

🆕 Loopholes in our existing election laws leave the next UK general election at serious risk from malign actors. The government must use the forthcoming Elections Bill to fill these gaps in our defences and safeguard our democracy. Read our latest briefing on the risks and potential solutions.

Crypto coin for Russian shadow payments moves $9bn The A7A5 token aims to facilitate financial flows disrupted after Ukraine war

New investigation from me for @cen4infores.bsky.social
and covered by the @financialtimes.com! Thread incoming shortly but in the meantime go read the FT's piece www.ft.com/content/1c71...

Cracking story 👇

A top Tory donor’s tangled web presence What’s pink, slimy, and loves Julio Herrera Velutini?

Re-upping my story from last year on the then-web presence of "Julio Herrera Velutini". Featuring funky AI, pink slime, people who don't exist...and a fun ending. www.ft.com/content/6172...

Tory donor to plead guilty over US political contributions Julio Herrera Velutini agreed to plea as part of deal to dismiss more serious charges related to alleged bribery

www.ft.com/content/f044... A former Conservative donor - Venezuelan-Italian banker Julio Herrera Velutini - is set to plead guilty to a misdemeanour charge relating to US political contributions to resolve a criminal case involving the former governor of Puerto Rico.

👏 Fantastic to see such strong cross-parliamentary support for an innovative way to secure desperately needed funding for the fight against economic crime in last week’s debate on the Crime & Policing Bill.
👇 @joepowell.bsky.social explains the “smart economics” of an Economic Crime Fighting Fund:

Always go beyond the enticing headline and check out what the lofty promises actually cost. Then weigh up the pros and cons. 👇

Exactly right. Garbage in garbage out.

Spot on. #FakeCompanies are still haunting Companies House

Lars Windhorst’s Tennor Holding declared bankrupt [FREE TO READ] Company that borrowed billions from investors collapses into insolvency over unpaid Dutch tax

Lars Windhorst’s Tennor Holding, which borrowed billions from investors and was once at the heart of the German financier’s business empire, has been declared bankrupt at the request of Dutch tax authorities

Full story w/ longtime fellow Lars chronicler @cynthiao.bsky.social here: on.ft.com/3HLyjcY

Oh, and BVI is now on FATF's gray list

www.moneylaundering.com/news/fatf-up...

#AML #MoneyLaundering #DirtyMoney

www.lesechos.fr/finance-marc...

2019: @bondhack.ft.com and I revealed asset manager H2O's outsized investments in illiquid bonds linked to flamboyant Lars Windhorst

2022: the French regulator imposed a record fine on H2O

2025: the highest admin court rejects H2O's appeal against the fine

Reform UK raised even less in new funding than headline figures suggest Low donations reflect leader Nigel Farage’s difficulty in capitalising on party’s political momentum and polling lead

ICYMI www.ft.com/content/bced... Why did Reform register 33 donations on the same day from the same donor?

We asked Reform. The answer shows that the party raised even less new money since Nick Candy became party treasurer in December 2025 than previously thought.

"We did not trade with them in the past, we are not trading with them now, and we will not trade with them. We are copper producers and don’t even know what we would have bought from them.”