Author Archives: Matei
The travel visa cash cow
One of the professional highlights of 2020: an investigation I wrote based on whistleblower testimony and other exclusive information, exposing how VFS, the company hired by the British government to process all of the visa applications from people coming into … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Tagged Home Office, investigative journalism, travel visa, Vdash, VFS, VFS Global
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High streets and low roads
Two stories which in hindsight are the highlights of my past six months at POLITICO: Money laundering on the high street looks at how cash transfer and foreign exchange shops in London have become a haven for drugs money and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged construction workers, gangmasters, money laundering, money service business, organized crime, worker exploitation
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One year at POLITICO
It is one year today since I joined POLITICO Europe as finance reporter covering (mainly) the U.K. Much of the time I type blurbs in the newsletter or short alerts about financial regulations and the occasional fine or penalty issued … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged finance journalism, journalism, politico europe, politico pro
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The old lady and the pitbull
I met the loveliest old lady yesterday who, seemingly unaware it had been illegal since 1991, told me she recently had a “110 pound pitbull who used to sleep in my bed when I let him. The dog was sweet … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Lootin’ with Putin: my (small) contribution to a special report in Private Eye
It was a privilege to make a small contribution to this six-page special report in Private Eye magazine, exposing the UK firms without which the malignant post-Soviet oligarchy would have been unable to gain the power it has today. Featured … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Tagged enablers, looting, money laundering, oligarchs, private eye magazine
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Deutsche Bank’s ‘undocumented’ deal with rogue bank to keep dirty money flowing
After the S&P Global Market Intelligence news service published my three-part series into rogue Cypriot bank FBME’s activities, we received more confidential documents from sources keen to expose the depth of the abuses that took place at this firm. And … Continue reading
My new (and first) novel
If you would like to know more about my new novel, Country Gumption, which is also unpublished and my first, please click here.
Posted in Prose
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FBME Cyprus: the global criminal’s bank of choice
S&P Global Market Intelligence, the financial newswire where I work as a reporter, recently published my investigative series into FBME, the now closed rogue Cypriot bank linked to the Russian mafia, Syrian war crimes, fraud, money laundering, corrupt offshore finance … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Tagged chemical weapons, cyprus, eastern ghouta attack, fadi saab, farid saab, fbme, fraud, hermitage capital, khan shaikhoun, michael saab, michel saab, money laundering, organised crime, rogue bank, russia, saab brothers, sarin gas, sergey magnitsky, ssrc, syria, war crimes
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The Wapping Mole discovers likely Romanian prostitution ring
The Wapping Mole, a lively blog running journalistic investigations and general interest news about the Wapping neighbourhood of Tower Hamlets, London, has discovered what appears to be a Romanian sex trafficking gang operating on the quaint cobblestoned streets it patrols. … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Tagged human trafficking, london, love wapping, modern slavery, romanian gangs, sex trafficking, tower hamlets, wapping, wapping mole
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Moldova’s other choice
Maia Sandu could be living proof that Moldovans don’t necessarily have to choose between handing their lives over to either oligarchs or communists. Much has changed for the better in Moldova in recent months — there is a new governor … Continue reading
