@cynthiao.bsky.social
Financial Times reporter. Investigations. Following the dodgy money. Have a tip? Contact me at cynthia.omurchu@ft.com
Power, corruption & lies with Patrick Radden Keefe democracyforsale.substack.com/p/power-corr...
Power, corruption & lies with Patrick Radden Keefe
As crypto billionaire Ben Delo gives £36m to Reform, the acclaimed London Falling author tells us why he thinks Britain may not be far behind Trump’s America.
democracyforsale.substack.com
The Met Police has launched an inquiry into allegations that Reform UK broke electoral law. We welcome the investigation. But the govt must also use its elections bill to strengthen penalties for electoral finance offences. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
"Democracy for Sale will continue scrutinising money and influence in our politics, wherever we find it. "Reform can stop us going to their conference. But Farage and his friends can’t stop our journalism." New by me, on being banned by Reform democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ive-been-b...
I’ve been banned by Reform. But this isn’t really about me.
My press accreditation for Reform’s conference was revoked. This should concern us all.
democracyforsale.substack.com
This is awful news. 'Beyond outraged' - press freedom group slams Yorgen Fenech trial verdict. timesofmalta.com/article/beyo...
'Beyond outraged' - press freedom group slams Yorgen Fenech trial verdict
‘Full justice’ remains elusive almost nine years after Caruana Galizia assassination
timesofmalta.com
Our latest @financialtimes.com film looks at the rise of Palantir and the mounting scrutiny the company is facing on both sides of the Atlantic. @dangarrahan.bsky.social @joemillerjr.ft.com @cynthiao.bsky.social #palantir #nhs #technology #data www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ5X...
Palantir: profits, procurement and power | FT Film
YouTube video by Financial Times
youtube.com
It is deeply concerning when politicians seek to weaponise the issue of ethics and integrity to claim that legitimate investigations by established regulators are in fact illegitimate attempts to silence them.
The question for Nigel Farage now is whether it's less embarrassing to un-resign and claim that was an establishment stitchup, or to spend a month competing with a bin. Neither is exactly a *great* option. Neither solves his ongoing scandals. And it's a mess entirely of his own making.
Congress is getting ready to remove the requirement that shell companies register their real owners. The bill "will restore America’s status as the leading offshore haven"
Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 3mo agoRepublicans trying to make the world safe for kleptocracy newrepublic.com/article/2118...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j... “The demonstrations are huge because people are tired of this injustice. They’re tired of all the corruption. One of our slogans is ‘stop the dictatorship of dirty money’ because we’ve learned from experience that similar projects only ever benefit a wealthy few.”
‘We want a new Albania’: protests against Jared Kushner-backed resort turn anger on government
Opposition to plans for ‘small paradise’ island of Sazan becomes wave of dissent against establishment
theguardian.com
5 (!) years ago the FT cracked open funky invoices and dodgy lobbying. Today Greensill was banned from UK directorships. But where is the Serious Fraud Office with its probe into Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG and its financing arrangements with Greensill?? @bondhack.ft.com as.ft.com/r/59893149-7...
Lex Greensill banned from UK directorships for 9 years
Financier’s disqualification from Insolvency Service comes 5 years after Greensill Capital collapse
as.ft.com
3. ⏰ The Greensill scandal is a reminder of what happens when political access, weak oversight and private interests become too closely intertwined. It is alarming that so few of the recommendations made after the lobbying scandal it exposed have been implemented five years on.
Lobbying scorecard: what has happened to lobbying transparency under the new government? - Spotlight on Corruption
Today we are releasing a lobbying scorecard on where the new government has got to on lobbying transparency. While the previous government committed to
spotlightcorruption.org
This case should surely add to calls for companies themselves to face some responsibility and accountability where those they employ break post-employment rules about lobbying. @ethicsandintegrity.bsky.social @appgonacrt.bsky.social @cynthiao.bsky.social @direthoughts.com
An absolute pleasure to talk to @privateeyenews.bsky.social about Democracy for Sale's investigation into Labour Together hiring a PR firm to target journalists who were reporting on the undeclared political funding that powered Starmer's rise to power The Paul Foot awards really are the best
Private Eye Magazine@privateeyenews.bsky.social · 4mo agoThe Democracy for Sale newsletter uncovered how campaign group Labour Together had hired a PR firm to build dossiers on reputable journalists with the intent to discredit them.
🔴 Keir Starmer promised to crackdown on "Slapps" - abusive libel cases to silence journalists and critics Then Labour quietly dropped it We can reveal why: a three-year lobbying blitz by libel lawyers who've acted for Russian oligarchs, Epstein + more democracyforsale.substack.com/p/how-lawyer...
How lawyers to the super-rich strangled Labour's Slapp bill
Exclusive: A discreet lobbying campaign by lawyers who have acted for oligarchs and the super-rich told government that reforming England's libel laws was too difficult.
democracyforsale.substack.com
“The likelihood of PII appearing in AI training data is only increasing as public data ‘runs out’ and AI companies look for new sources of high-quality training data. This includes information from data brokers and people-search websites.”
AI chatbots are giving out people’s real phone numbers
People report that their personal contact info was surfaced by Google AI—and there’s apparently no easy way to prevent it.
technologyreview.com
The (data) plot thickens. “NHS England has granted external staff from companies including Palantir “unlimited access” to identifiable patient data while working on a part of its flagship data platform.” www.ft.com/content/8ce1...
NHS to grant Palantir contractors ‘unlimited access’ to patient data
Staff from consultancy firms drafted in to work on Federated Data Platform project set to benefit
ft.com
APCO Worldwide executive sought to ‘get rid’ of documents despite legal warning in dispute over controversial dossier on journalists commissioned by UK’s Labour Together. Listen to the audio ⤵️ Story by Miles Johnson
PR executive tried to ‘get rid’ of documents despite legal warning
Audio recordings reveal Tom Harper told contractor to destroy material about an investigation into journalists
as.ft.com
the water wars are picking up. One to bookmark.
Unofficial BBCNews (World) Bot@bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social · 5mo agoChad water well dispute escalates leaving at least 42 dead
Six lessons from history’s greatest financial crises - great read here from @robinwigglesworth.ft.com and Gillian Tett to kick off the FT’s Story of Money podcast www.ft.com/content/0bd7...
Six lessons from history’s greatest financial crises
The Babylonians had debt defaults. The S&L scandal led to 2008. What else does the past tell us?
ft.com
MPs advertising products on behalf of private companies, or being brand ambassadors, creates very real conflicts of interest. If the MPs code of conduct doesn't address this, then it's a major gap that needs to be addressed. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
CEO of bitcoin firm championed by Nigel Farage leaves company
Resignation announced of Jai Patel, whose liquidated crypto firm was relaunched as Stack BTC this year
theguardian.com
Great deep dive into how US law firm's entanglement with Jeffrey Epstein brought down its boss - led by the amazing @kayewiggins.ft.com www.ft.com/content/064e...
Apollo, Paul Weiss and Epstein: how a star client brought down a Big Law boss
Apollo’s Leon Black asked lawyer Brad Karp to settle a fee dispute with Jeffrey Epstein. It was the start of a years-long relationship
ft.com
A tax barrister sued me personally for £8m for libel after we linked him to a tax avoidance scheme. Today the High Court struck out the claim, granted summary judgment, and ruled it was a SLAPP. The judgment is highly critical.
St. Lucia signed contracts with investors, which could have potentially translated into tens of thousands of citizenships, including with a company linked to a Montenegro businessman who was shortly thereafter arrested on allegations that he was part of a tobacco smuggling ring. #DueDiligence
On that note, the UK home office just revoked visa-free access to St. Lucians citing a threat to border security posed by its Citizenship by Investment programme #CitizenshipByInvestment www.gov.uk/government/n...
On that note, the UK home office just revoked visa-free access to St. Lucians citing a threat to border security posed by its Citizenship by Investment programme #CitizenshipByInvestment www.gov.uk/government/n...
Over £370 million saved in crackdown on asylum claims by tourists
Almost £400 million has been saved in asylum accommodation and support costs after a crackdown on tourists abusing the UK’s immigration system.
gov.uk
Tens of thousands of "golden passports", a movie producer turned sleuth, and the Chinese-owned company building a jail in the Caribbean www.ft.com/content/7767... "The total number of citizenship by investment citizens likely surpasses the native population of St Kitts and Nevis".
It was great to work with Michela and the brilliant Behind the Money team this week to share our reporting on ICE. Find it in your podcast app below:
Michela Tindera@mtindera.ft.com · 7mo agoThis week on Behind the Money - the @financialtimes.com's @peter.andringa.me explains the months of reporting he's put into understanding: - who the private-sector businesses are that contract with US immigration agencies - and how much ($$) they are benefitting 🎧: podfollow.com/behind-the-m...
This post is the single best advert for the fact that proper local journalism matters. If Jim’s team hadn’t put the pieces together quickly, this wouldn’t have been stopped.
Jim Waterson@jim.londoncentric.media · 7mo agoAsif Aziz's Criterion Capital halts mass eviction after London Centric uncovered what was going on. Hundreds of Londoners now receiving bizarre door-to-door visits blaming misinformation and being asked to record videos saying they don't want to be evicted. www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...
Woken up to lots of unhappy messages about us keeping on this story Sorry but if a political org - run by a now Minister - hires private intel to smear journalists then takes these baseless smears to security services, I will investigate it. And keep investigating until accountability happens
Peter Geoghegan@petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 7mo ago🚨 Cabinet Office investigating Labour Together and Josh Simons over campaign to smear journalists But...ministers overseeing inquiry have received £150,000+ from Labour think tank Experts and MPs demand 'full independent investigation' New on D4S: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-g... 🧵
