As we near the end of 2021, our analyst team decided to share with readers some of our favorite public-facing work for the year. The analyses — which cover East Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America — provide insight into how publicly available information can be leveraged to address a wide range of issues, from identifying Chinese military end users and tracing complex terror financing networks, to assessing PEP-related risk.
We’ve linked to the analyses below, with a comment from the team member who recommended it. As always, you can access our full library of resources on our website. We look forward to publishing more insightful analyses in 2022!
Tracing Illicit Gold From Colombia Through Global Supply Chains
“Money laundering through gold can be a difficult typology to break down because of the many parties and jurisdictions involved. Bjorn provides a clear-eyed analysis of how illicit gold can make its way into global supply chains and pulls in Sayari’s recently added trade data to make a compelling case for the use of public data in fighting money laundering through gold.”
— Ahmed Zuhairy, Senior Analyst (MENA)
The Tajideen Network: The Role of Familial Networks in Hezbollah Terror Financing
“This report is a great example of how public records and deep regional expertise can uncover high-risk networks. And it’s written beautifully!”
— Alex Bate, Senior Analyst (East Asia)
Illicit Fentanyl in Mexico & China
“This master class has applications for law enforcement, financial institutions, and multinational companies specializing in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. The presentation provides an overview of the recent changes in the transpacific illicit fentanyl supply chain, and dives into a recent case study involving an illicit fentanyl network based out of Sinaloa, Mexico to elucidate how various forms of public data can be leveraged to expose transnational narcotics trafficking networks. The question and answer session at the end of the webinar includes additional insights from Latam and East Asia analysts!”
— Melina Villavicencio, Analyst (Latin America)
Public Records Shed New Light on the Alleged Forced Bankruptcy of Serbia’s Termoelektro
“I really enjoyed reading this article for its clarity and the well-constructed narrative that tackles the complexity of Termoelektro’s alleged forced bankruptcy in a unique and skillful way. By leveraging a multitude of public sources across numerous jurisdictions, Chris provides a very compelling argument of the alleged embezzlement of Termoelektro’s principals while demonstrating the importance of relying on primary sources to conduct corporate-based investigations.”
— Alexi Fehlman, Analyst (Eurasia)
Leveraging Open Data and Graph Analytics To Mitigate PEP Risk In Brazil
“This report illustrates multiple analytical workflows that leverage integrated public datasets to map Brazilian PEP networks and risk at scale. It includes valuable context and case studies specific to Brazil but the methodological takeaways are globally relevant.”
— Phil Kittock, Program Director — Analytical Services
“This report clearly demonstrates the vast amount of publicly available information that exists in Brazil, and how overlapping various forms of public datasets — in this case corporate data and PEP data — can be useful in a variety of different risk-relevant workflows.”
— Robert Wren Gordon, Senior Analyst (Latin America and Eurasia)
Three Strategies to Identify Potential Chinese Military End Users
How to Identify Potential Chinese Military End Users Using Public Data
“I highly recommend both the report and master class to folks interested in how public data can be leveraged to identify potential Chinese Military End Users (MEUs). The report provides a succinct overview of three tips, along with examples, for identifying Chinese MEUs using Chinese official public records. The master class expands on the report and adds analytical insight by situating these strategies within China’s broader military industrial policy.”
— Bjorn Kjelstad, Senior Manager — Latin America Analysis