Tony Smith

YouTube video by Tony Smith Swansea nail bars - immigration raids

Fascinating day filming immigration raids on Vietnamese nail bars in Swansea. TV piece is here: youtu.be/nnxMTXQZhoY?...

YouTube video by BBC News How a model connects British tech and Russia’s war machine | BBC News

Full TV version of our report on sanction-busting tech exports to Russia here: youtu.be/xrt4weMxOUQ?...

The model, British tech and Russia's war machine £1.6m of British kit shipped to companies tied to Russian military despite sanctions, customs documents claim.

Full story with Angus Crawford now up online here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

NEW Investigation running across BBC News into how UK tech is finding its way to Moscow - we reveal alarming loopholes in the international sanctions regime.

The model, British tech and Russia's war machine £1.6m of British kit shipped to companies tied to Russian military despite sanctions, customs documents claim.

Full story with Angus Crawford now up online here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Rama Group has now been re-registered in the name of one Angelina Zhurenko – social media shows that she appears to be Valeria’s best friend. They’ve both travelled the world. Angelina has an online lingerie store based in Kazakhstan. Valeria occasionally models for her.

She says she hasn't broken any laws in Kyrgyzstan itself. That may be true but the UK, Europe and US have been asking Bishkek to tighten up its sanctions regime (David Cameron visited as Foreign Secretary earlier in the year).

Here are another couple of pictures from her social media.

Valeria is only a small part of a much wider trade. How did she get involved? We don't know. We wanted to ask her about it, but when we called, she simply said she no longer ran Rama Group. That's true - but we do know that she was the company's director when many of the sanctioned trades took place

The customs documents indicate that those infrared lenses eventually went to the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant, a US- and EU-sanctioned producer of optical systems for military and civil purposes.

Rama has done business with Katreid, which is known to have supplied electronic components to a US, EU, and UK-sanctioned lab that develops nuclear weapons. Katreid itself was added to the US sanctions list in August. ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actio...

Home C4ADS is a nonprofit organization with a mission to defeat the illicit networks that threaten global peace and security.

Rama Group has shipped to numerous sanctioned companies in Moscow. Thanks to C4ADS, a Washington, DC-based global security nonprofit – for crucial leads and tips along the way. c4ads.org

Russia’s Backdoor for Battlefield Goods From China: Central Asia Trade routes through the region are increasingly important to Moscow’s efforts to thwart Western sanctions.

Computer chips and semi-conductors are also hugely important to Russia's war effort. Details of how US manufacturers' tech is also going through Central Asia detailed here: www.wsj.com/world/russia...

So, we don't know what those lenses were or where they came from - but the customs documents describe high tech, expensive kit - purported to be British - destined for companies with known links to the Russian military.

The UK manufacturer said it had no knowledge of these shipments and had never sold to Russia or Kyrgyzstan. It didn't recognise the specs detailed in the customs documents.

And we uncovered customs documents that appear to show infrared lenses - apparently made by a company that worked on the Storm Shadow missile - also going through Bishkek. Ironic as that missile is fired into Russia from the Ukrainian side for the first time.

How did they get there? Well, we know at least some of them went through Rama Group, in Kyrgyzstan. Raspberry Pi says the company is doing everything it can to stop the trade.

Raspberry Pi takes fight to firms selling its devices into Russia The company has discovered that millions of dollars worth of its mini-computers, which can play a role in war, were sold into Russia last year despite sanctions

And that's what appears to be happening. British Raspberry Pi circuit boards (remember them - designed to teach kids coding) have been turning up inside Russian drones. www.thetimes.com/article/rasp...

We spoke to the EU's sanctions envoy, Irish diplomat David O’Sullivan. He said he didn't really mind if the odd Range Rover or Mercedes found its way to a Russian oligarch - but he really DOES mind if sanctioned tech was helping Russian forces on the battlefield.

Brand new luxury British and European cars are entering Russia despite being banned - here's how Sky News travels to the Caucasian state of Georgia where we uncover a complex but finely-honed system designed to get cars into Russia, despite their importation being banned under UK and EU sanctions...

It's no coincidence, of course, that UK and European trade with Kyrgyzstan has gone through the roof since Russian sanctions were introduced. Sky have done some great work on car exports. news.sky.com/story/brand-...

Customs documents seen by the BBC appear to show that Rama Group has bought British lenses, circuit boards and computer connectors worth millions of pounds - and shipped them through Kyrgyzstan to Russia. All would be classified as 'dual use' battlefield items.

One of them was set up by this woman - Valeria Baigaskina. She's a part-time model living in Belarus - but she was the first director of a company in Bishkek named Rama Group.

We've identified two companies in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, which appear to be channelling all manner of sanctioned goods to companies linked to the Russian military.

NEW Investigation running across BBC News into how UK tech is finding its way to Moscow - we reveal alarming loopholes in the international sanctions regime.

Beleaguered Cornwall charity to close its doors Manager Monique Collins said the last year has been 'the hardest of my life'

Filmed with this #Cornwall food bank last year - they do amazing work - big loss for the town www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwal...

YouTube video by BBC News Grieving parents appeal to sextortion criminals | BBC News

Video version of our #sextortion story here youtu.be/3u9qpAUYCOw?...

NEW - and first post here. Our story running today on the dangers of Sextortion. We’ve spoken at length to the parents of Murray Dowey who took his own life after being extorted by a criminal in Nigeria.

Stop Sextortion - bereaved parents' appeal to Nigerian criminals Murray Dowey, from Dunblane, was only 16 when he ended his life last year.

Today in Scotland Murray’s family will be at the launch of a new Crimestoppers campaign – to warn teenagers and parents of the dangers. Full story here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Men 'increasingly' targeted by sextortion Experts say that Ivory Coast in West Africa has become a hotspot for the scammers.

And it's not just Nigeria. We produced this story from Ivory Coast a few years back. www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-4...

'Sextortion guides' for sale on social media, BBC finds A BBC investigation has discovered guides for sale online that detail how to trick and blackmail victims.

It’s a growth industry in Nigeria. There are guides on how to blackmail. We’ve reported on that before. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... And, frighteningly, our sextorter said the gangs are now using AI to make their fake ‘girls’ even more realistic.