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Scam Empire Archives - AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism AmaBhungane is part of an international consortium of journalists who have gained access to a colossal leak of data from within one such operation, an astonishing and highly organised multinational syndicate simultaneously operating dozens of platforms around the world. Its tentacles spread from the

# Scam Empire
In collaboration with international partners, we exposed a vast Israel-based syndicate running dozens of fraudulent trading platforms worldwide — exploiting victims across borders with industrial-scale precision.

The #Laundry: City of Gold
Money laundering is the engine that powers organised crime, hiding in plain sight. Our series cuts through the secrecy and legal grey zones to reveal how dirty money is washed and laundered into legitimacy.

Two of our major investigations made the list: Scam Empire and The #Laundry: City of Gold.

Top five entries announced for AIJC’s 2025 African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award - AIJC

We’re proud to share that amaBhungane has been shortlisted among the top five entries for the AIJC 2025 African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award.

We are proud that the Information Regulator presented us with a certificate of recognition for “outstanding efforts in advancing access to information and promoting transparency and accountability.”

We firmly endorse Gwala’s sentiments and remain committed to fighting for real effective access to information to enable us to hold the powerful – in the public and private sectors – to account. We reject the culture of secrecy that’s so prevalent in our society and demand better,

Finally, Gwala said we must empower the next generation of digital natives to equip them “not just with access but with digital literacy, the ability to question, verify and act”. He called on us to “make transparency a living value, not just a legal provision”.

Fourth, we must rethink timelines for access because in the digital age waiting a month for information “undermines the very spirit of the law”, and we need to “embrace proactive disclosure and hold agencies accountable for unjustifiable secrecy”.

Second, we need real accessibility for ordinary citizens to navigate information. Third, we must protect the “integrity of information” and authenticity and public bodies “must not only release data, they must explain it, defend it and stand by it”.

Gwala stressed that “the tools of transparency must evolve or risk becoming obsolete” and that we must reimagine what access to information means in the digital age. First, we need a broader definition of “information” to include digital communications and algorithms.

Gwala added that “democracy thrives when the truth is accessible and secrecy when unchecked corrodes the public’s trust”, and warned that our world is very different to the world in which PAIA was adopted, with data, misinformation and algorithms shaping what we read and believe.

In an opening address, Mfana Gwala from @InforegulatorSA, highlighted that, 25 years ago, the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) had been “born out of bold vision to empower citizens, hold institutions accountable and nurture a culture of openness”

ADVOCACY: On 29 September, the @InforegulatorSA hosted an event to commemorate the International Day for Universal Access to Information, titled “Reflecting on 25 years of the Access to Information law and making it fit for purpose in the digital age”.

Gazprombank’s involvement with Mossel Bay Refinery officially finish and klaar The deal was murky and eyebrow-raising from the get-go, and appeared like the fix had been in, with technical specifications tailor-made for the sanctioned Russian bank. Any deal involving a major Russian financial institution raises suspicions of corruption.

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The DA has called for an inquest into the failed Gazprombank deal. PetroSA’s internal audit team has already produced a damning report on the tender, which was inexplicably labelled “Top Secret” and has never seen the light of day.

The deal that got PetroSA’s CEO suspended

Toxic deal #3: the EquaTheza deal was cancelled by new CEO Xolile Sizani – because they failed to deliver funding – before he was suspended and replaced by Magadla:

Own goal! PetroSA’s multi-billion rand offshore gas deal thwarted by unpaid soccer player

Toxic deal #2: Equator Holdings was liquidated for failing to pay a soccer player:

The R3.7bn Gazprombank deal was one of three toxic deals concluded by then-COO Sesakho Magadla, who is now PetroSA’s acting CEO.

Gazprombank won the tender after 19 out of 20 other bidders were eliminated for technical reasons. An internal audit investigation concluded that Gazprombank should have scored 40 points out of 100 and been eliminated:

Read: https://amabhungane.org/petrosas-deal-with-russia-implodes/

PetroSA’s deal with Russia implodes

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By Nov 2025, we will have spent R2.5bn dithering, largely because PetroSA relied on vague undertakings by Gazprombank that it would fund the project. The board had even warned PetroSA that the Russians were tough negotiators, which could delay the project:

PetroSA pushes for R3.7bn deal with Russia

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The gas-to-liquids refinery has been closed since Nov 2020 when it ran out of feedstock (gas / condensate). PetroSA is desperate to restart the refinery, partly because it’ll need to spend R10-BILLION on rehabilitation costs if the refinery is permanently closed.

What has our flirtation with Russia’s Gazprombank cost us?

Rough guess: R500m a year to keep the Mossel Bay refinery in care & maintenance. PetroSA issued RFP0001 in Jan 2022, it’ll likely be Jan 2026 before we issue
another tender which puts the cost at ±R2-BILLION.

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Bus company Intercape says that since 2021, it has handed over mountains of evidence to the police and reported 200 attacks and acts of intimidation against its bus drivers, allegedly by the taxi industry.

Despite this, no one has been convicted for the attacks.

Bus driver arrest deepens Intercape and taxi violence row

“Some of the crimes were reported to the SAPS as far back as 2021. The odds of the SAPS finding evidence implicating those involved now, more than four years later, are slim.” – Intercape

AmaB’s investigative journalist Azarrah Karrim will be speaking at the Annual ACFE Africa Conference along with News24’s Kyle Cowan and Sipho Masondo. They will be speaking about protecting sources while still retrieving the facts. Registration closes today, tickets online.

Update: High Court skewers police over failure to investigate attacks on Intercape buses as ‘organised crime’

In 2024, the Eastern Cape High Court ruled that police had failed to properly investigate ongoing attacks against Intercape buses as organised crime.

[https://amabhungane.org/update-high-court-skewers-police-over-failure-to-investigate-attacks-on-intercape-buses-as-organised-crime/]

Since 2021, Intercape reported nearly 200 incidents of attacks and intimidation against its buses. Police claim to be aware of only 76 cases: 14 were withdrawn and 33 closed as undetected.

Bus driver arrest deepens Intercape and taxi violence row

Read the story here: