Investigation · Part 3 of 5
The ministry that paid itself
Records obtained by knowless show a four-year pattern of contracts routed through companies the ministry quietly owned.
By A. Okonkwo, R. Mehta · · 12 min
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Investigations
Money · The paper trail
The shell companies that vanished overnight
Twelve firms shared one mailbox and one accountant. Within a week of our questions, all twelve were dissolved.
By R. Mehta · · 9 min
Power · Influence
Inside the group that wrote the bill
A 40-page draft circulated by a trade body appears, clause for clause, in the law that passed. We compared the two.
By J. Park · · 11 min
Climate · Following the trail
A pipeline’s paper trail, mapped
Permits said the route avoided protected wetlands. The survey coordinates, plotted, say it runs straight through them.
By A. Okonkwo · · 14 min
Surveillance · The contract
Who bought the facial-recognition contract
A €9M contract for live facial recognition was signed without a public tender. The buyer’s name was left blank.
By R. Mehta, J. Park · · 10 min
Surveillance · Inside the code
The SDK reading messages for the state
A software kit bundled into popular apps quietly forwarded message metadata. A leaked copy shows what it collected.
By A. Okonkwo · · 11 min
Climate · Follow the offsets
How a green fund financed what it opposed
A fund marketed as climate-positive held stakes in the projects it was set up to offset. The holdings are public.
By J. Park · · 13 min