Previous Investigations

A cross-border investigation exposes the flaws of the systems designed to combat forest destruction. The investigation shows how companies use the results of flawed audits to advertise products and operations as compliant with environmental standards, labor laws and human rights. ››› 

A secretive  firm offers to rig elections, spread lies and destroy livelihoods for money. Notorious mercenaries sell propaganda campaigns to despots. Undercover reporters document revelations on shaky videos, courageous female reporters continue to investigate despite being threatened and insulted. ››› 

In theory, honorary consuls are meant to foster ties between countries. But in practice criminals and others accused of exploiting the position have infiltrated their ranks. Among them:  terror financiers, murderers, arms traffickers and drug runners.  ››› 

A joint venture of the German company Wintershall Dea delivers gas condensate to Gazprom. The  Russian state-owned corporation in turn provides aviation fuel to military bases believed to be behind highly critized air strikes on civilians in Ukraine. ››› 

Over the course of several years, Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova made numerous trips to Bavaria together with an entourage of - likely armed -  bodyguards. Our reporting revealed: The German authorities knew nothing of the excursions.  ››› 

Leaked files and photos from Xinjiang internment camps contradict China's official statements regarding the discrimination of the Uyghurs. Published during the visit of UN Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, the revelations sparked an international debate. ››› 

A historic leak of Swiss banking records reveals that Credit Suise catered to criminals, dictators and political actors with outsized wealth. At the same time, Switzerland's draconian banking secrecy laws silence journalists, who way want to expose wrongdoing. ›››

After an anonymous whistleblower leaked more than 11,5 million financial records to them, Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier teamed up with more than 400 journalists to expose a system that enables crime, corruption and wrongdoing. ›››

A team of journalists uncovered a complex money-laundering operation and slush fund of the Azerbaijani regime, which directed payments to European politicians.  The investigation showed that Danske Bank turned a blind eye to transactions that should have raised red flags. ›››

After the brutal killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017, journalists from 15 countries worked together to complete and publish investigations by Daphne Caruana Galizia. In the end, the murder plot could be traced back to the highest ranks of Maltese politics. ›››

The revelation about a secretly filmed video showing the leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party FPÖ promising government contracts to the alleged niece of Russian oligarch prompted snap elections and a parlamentarian inquiry commission in Austria. ››› 

After two U.N. investigators are murdered during a mission in the Congo, the government blames rebels in the killing. But leaked documents underscore suspicion that the intelligence service and the military may have been behind the crime. ››› 

A leak of more than 50.000 phone records shows how the surveillance technology of the Israeli company NSO Group has been systematically abused for years. Journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, politicians and several heads of state have been selected as targets. ›››

Highly classified government documents reveal China's extrajudicial internment and compulsary indoctrination of Muslims. The investigation exposed China's mass surveillance system that is used to control routine behaviour and to isolate Xinjiang from the rest of the world. ›››