When Britain’s Dark State is Opened up: The Epstein Taboo Politically-connected lobbying is dangerous and high risk. Ask Peter Mandelson, ask Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, ask Tony Blair.Lobbying is a dirty game which has mushroomed under neo-conservative regimes, including recent Labour governments . The power of the lobbyist is enhanced by the …
UK needs to toughen up PoCA, other law to tackle criminal kleptocratic wealth -report Published 16-Jan-2026 by Nick Kochan Regulatory Intelligence News The Proceeds of Crime Act (PocA) 2002 needs to be strengthened to allow law enforcement to pursue and seize assets obtained through political patronage and systemic corruption, a report said. Efforts …
How the life of a winemaker was turned upside down in a split second. Elias Maalouf was squishing his grapes when a bomb fell. His life has been turned upside down. Now, he says, “people should invest in peace”. ‘War is stupid’. Bombs had just landed on a neighbouring …
Just as three Bulgarians are suspected of spying for Russia by UK authorities, Bulgaria needs to look into itself and ask whether it could be at risk of failing to police sanctions against those connected to the Russian state, now a pariah following the invasion of Ukraine. Bulgaria now needs …
Bent lawyer who claimed God was on his side Stephen David Jones was a good guy. A god-fearing, bespectacled fellow with bounds of British eccentricity that endeared aristocrats and big American investors to take up legal services with his firm – a tax consultancy called Jirehouse, which he operated from …
Ukraine War The following is the text of a talk by Nick Kochan, given on 24 February 2023 to the Henry Jackson Society, London, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other speakers at the meeting were Bill Browder, the businessman and noted …
New pressure on Bulgarian Mafia as One Coin fugitive named by FBI The FBI’s list of most wanted fugitives has just received a new criminal entry. This is Ruzha Ignatova, the founder of the catastrophic One Coin, a crypto whose demise long preceeded the collapse of Bit Coin. The One …
Money and Egos in the world’s greatest sport The finances and running of Formula One is almost as exciting as the sport on the ground. We may not be looking at winning flags and crashing cars, but we are looking at massive egos of owners, managers and financiers who collide …
Russia was a week into its War on Ukraine and internal repression on media was intensifying. The staff of Dozhd, Russia’s independent TV station, were having a crisis meeting on 1 March at their Moscow offices when a member of their security staff ran in, interrupting the meeting. He told …
The man behind Salad Money has a colourful past Alan Campbell is a complex entrepreneur whose many hats sit uncomfortably on the same head. He is best known as the promoter of the activist organisation Debt Hacker, which he set up in 2018 to assist consumers of payday loan companies. …
