Aubrey Belford
@abelf.bsky.social
Investigative reporter / editor across the Asia-Pacific for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (occrp.org). Drugs/Bribes/Spies/Scams
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
Unless I’ve missed something—and pls update if so—major news orgs seem profoundly uninterested in the death toll from the Venezuela raid. Nowhere to be found on MSM home pages.
Local sources say 80 dead. Isn’t that worth pursuing, even if it’s just examining the credibility of the sourcing?
Local sources say 80 dead. Isn’t that worth pursuing, even if it’s just examining the credibility of the sourcing?
So we now appear to be up to at least 80 Venezuelans killed.
For an operation that anonymous admin officials said yesterday was"virtually flawless."
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
For an operation that anonymous admin officials said yesterday was"virtually flawless."
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
January 5, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Unless I’ve missed something—and pls update if so—major news orgs seem profoundly uninterested in the death toll from the Venezuela raid. Nowhere to be found on MSM home pages.
Local sources say 80 dead. Isn’t that worth pursuing, even if it’s just examining the credibility of the sourcing?
Local sources say 80 dead. Isn’t that worth pursuing, even if it’s just examining the credibility of the sourcing?
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
it's honestly an insult to Dick Cheney's months of intelligence and media manipulation for Trump to just do this. Nobody wants to work anymore.
January 4, 2026 at 4:48 AM
it's honestly an insult to Dick Cheney's months of intelligence and media manipulation for Trump to just do this. Nobody wants to work anymore.
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
Maduro has been captured by the U.S. according to Trump
January 3, 2026 at 9:25 AM
Maduro has been captured by the U.S. according to Trump
After years of letting Korean doomsday cult / slave labor org Grace Road thrive & turn into one of the country's biggest business conglomerates, Fiji is now under serious pressure from the U.S. to crack down or lose access to millions $ in aid
Latest from @occrp.org:
www.occrp.org/en/scoop/us-...
Latest from @occrp.org:
www.occrp.org/en/scoop/us-...
US Threatens to Cut Fiji Aid Over Impunity for Doomsday Cult
OCCRP has confirmed that US aid to Fiji is at risk unless the government takes urgent action against the Grace Road Group, a Korean cult accused of human trafficking and other crimes.
www.occrp.org
December 15, 2025 at 11:49 PM
After years of letting Korean doomsday cult / slave labor org Grace Road thrive & turn into one of the country's biggest business conglomerates, Fiji is now under serious pressure from the U.S. to crack down or lose access to millions $ in aid
Latest from @occrp.org:
www.occrp.org/en/scoop/us-...
Latest from @occrp.org:
www.occrp.org/en/scoop/us-...
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
Drawing for the Bondi Beach hero who risked his life to disarm one of antisemitic terrorist shooters in Australia.
According to 7NEWS Australia, the hero has been identified as Ahmad Al Ahmed, 43 year old father of 2 and Sydney resident.
According to 7NEWS Australia, the hero has been identified as Ahmad Al Ahmed, 43 year old father of 2 and Sydney resident.
December 14, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Drawing for the Bondi Beach hero who risked his life to disarm one of antisemitic terrorist shooters in Australia.
According to 7NEWS Australia, the hero has been identified as Ahmad Al Ahmed, 43 year old father of 2 and Sydney resident.
According to 7NEWS Australia, the hero has been identified as Ahmad Al Ahmed, 43 year old father of 2 and Sydney resident.
I try to have faith in humanity but then I find out that there are people in Australia who will walk right past the Kensington Prides and pay more money for an objectively inferior variety like the Calypso (AKA the Shephard avocado of mangoes)
December 12, 2025 at 9:02 AM
I try to have faith in humanity but then I find out that there are people in Australia who will walk right past the Kensington Prides and pay more money for an objectively inferior variety like the Calypso (AKA the Shephard avocado of mangoes)
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
What do you get when you combine a Pacific Island Ponzi cult with a whole bunch of Western conspiracy theorists?
Here's the story of the strangest online money making scheme you've never heard of, and the "sovereign citizens" who still think it will make them rich
www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
Here's the story of the strangest online money making scheme you've never heard of, and the "sovereign citizens" who still think it will make them rich
www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
Meet the South Pacific Ponzi King With a Bogus Bank — and a Global Fan Club
Fugitive Ponzi schemer Noah Musingku reigns over an armed “cargo cult” deep in the interior of one of the world’s most isolated islands. OCCRP went to investigate how he had attracted an international...
www.occrp.org
December 5, 2025 at 11:49 PM
What do you get when you combine a Pacific Island Ponzi cult with a whole bunch of Western conspiracy theorists?
Here's the story of the strangest online money making scheme you've never heard of, and the "sovereign citizens" who still think it will make them rich
www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
Here's the story of the strangest online money making scheme you've never heard of, and the "sovereign citizens" who still think it will make them rich
www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
NEW: OCCRP’s lead editor for the Pacific @abelf.bsky.social tells how Noah Musingku – once responsible for one of the region’s biggest financial frauds – reinvented himself as a divine monarch on the cusp of leading a self-proclaimed economic revolution www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
Meet the South Pacific Ponzi King With a Bogus Bank — and a Global Fan Club
Fugitive Ponzi schemer Noah Musingku reigns over an armed “cargo cult” deep in the interior of one of the world’s most isolated islands. OCCRP went to investigate how he had attracted an international...
www.occrp.org
December 6, 2025 at 1:25 PM
NEW: OCCRP’s lead editor for the Pacific @abelf.bsky.social tells how Noah Musingku – once responsible for one of the region’s biggest financial frauds – reinvented himself as a divine monarch on the cusp of leading a self-proclaimed economic revolution www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
What do you get when you combine a Pacific Island Ponzi cult with a whole bunch of Western conspiracy theorists?
Here's the story of the strangest online money making scheme you've never heard of, and the "sovereign citizens" who still think it will make them rich
www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
Here's the story of the strangest online money making scheme you've never heard of, and the "sovereign citizens" who still think it will make them rich
www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
Meet the South Pacific Ponzi King With a Bogus Bank — and a Global Fan Club
Fugitive Ponzi schemer Noah Musingku reigns over an armed “cargo cult” deep in the interior of one of the world’s most isolated islands. OCCRP went to investigate how he had attracted an international...
www.occrp.org
December 5, 2025 at 11:49 PM
What do you get when you combine a Pacific Island Ponzi cult with a whole bunch of Western conspiracy theorists?
Here's the story of the strangest online money making scheme you've never heard of, and the "sovereign citizens" who still think it will make them rich
www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
Here's the story of the strangest online money making scheme you've never heard of, and the "sovereign citizens" who still think it will make them rich
www.occrp.org/en/feature/m...
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
Pizzagate: If you replace the word “hot dog” with “little boy” and “pizza party” with “child sex orgy,” you will see the lengths these elites go to cover up their crimes.
Real elite emails: Send me nude pictures of those 8th graders we abused last weekend post-haste! I am the Ambassador to Turkey.
Real elite emails: Send me nude pictures of those 8th graders we abused last weekend post-haste! I am the Ambassador to Turkey.
November 12, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Pizzagate: If you replace the word “hot dog” with “little boy” and “pizza party” with “child sex orgy,” you will see the lengths these elites go to cover up their crimes.
Real elite emails: Send me nude pictures of those 8th graders we abused last weekend post-haste! I am the Ambassador to Turkey.
Real elite emails: Send me nude pictures of those 8th graders we abused last weekend post-haste! I am the Ambassador to Turkey.
Sad, I guess now Anna is going to have to do the podcast all by herself
Bjorn Andresen, a Swedish actor who as a teenager played an ailing composer’s object of unrequited desire in the 1971 film “Death in Venice,” but who resented being objectified by the film’s director who called him “the most beautiful boy in the world,” has died at 70.
Bjorn Andresen, Reluctant ‘Most Beautiful Boy,’ Dies at 70
At 15, he played the muse to an ailing composer in Luchino Visconti’s film “Death in Venice.” He later said he’d felt sexualized by the director.
nyti.ms
October 31, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Sad, I guess now Anna is going to have to do the podcast all by herself
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
I wrote about how "Grokipedia" is a new front on the war against reality itself. It's an attempt by the oligarchic class to seize the means of knowledge production itself and create a weaponized unreality.
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
Grokipedia and the Coup Against Reality Itself
Grokipedia, the copycat of Wikipedia launched by Elon Musk isn’t just a string of AI generated slop, it is a weapon. The launch of "grokipedia" is a calculated, strategic escalation by the billionaire...
www.thedissident.news
October 28, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I wrote about how "Grokipedia" is a new front on the war against reality itself. It's an attempt by the oligarchic class to seize the means of knowledge production itself and create a weaponized unreality.
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
"Harry" referenced here is v. likely Prabowo's billionaire brother, Hary Tanoesoedibjo.
Easiest way to think of it: Hary handles the business side for the family, Prabowo handles politics
If Prabowo is talking about Hary meeting Eric and Don Jr., then this is a conversation about doing business
Easiest way to think of it: Hary handles the business side for the family, Prabowo handles politics
If Prabowo is talking about Hary meeting Eric and Don Jr., then this is a conversation about doing business
Trump's conversation with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is caught on a hot mic. Hard to tell exactly what they are talking about, but Subianto asks Trump about meeting Eric Trump and Don Jr, who supposedly have nothing to do with government while they run the family business.
October 14, 2025 at 5:13 AM
"Harry" referenced here is v. likely Prabowo's billionaire brother, Hary Tanoesoedibjo.
Easiest way to think of it: Hary handles the business side for the family, Prabowo handles politics
If Prabowo is talking about Hary meeting Eric and Don Jr., then this is a conversation about doing business
Easiest way to think of it: Hary handles the business side for the family, Prabowo handles politics
If Prabowo is talking about Hary meeting Eric and Don Jr., then this is a conversation about doing business
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
In a digital world, talking to sensitive sources is nearly impossible without encryption. The EU’s #ChatControl plan is an attack on accountability journalism - and a gift to surveillance
We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...
signal.org
October 4, 2025 at 7:06 AM
In a digital world, talking to sensitive sources is nearly impossible without encryption. The EU’s #ChatControl plan is an attack on accountability journalism - and a gift to surveillance
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
This foreign policy re-alignment we've heard so much about
June 24, 2025 at 11:45 PM
This foreign policy re-alignment we've heard so much about
Both in Russia's invasion of Ukraine and in now the Israel/US war on Iran, military aggressors aren't even bothering to try to build consensus or justify what they're doing before they do it. Just pure force.
Looking back, it's pretty clear that the 2003 invasion of Iraq broke everything.
Looking back, it's pretty clear that the 2003 invasion of Iraq broke everything.
June 23, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Both in Russia's invasion of Ukraine and in now the Israel/US war on Iran, military aggressors aren't even bothering to try to build consensus or justify what they're doing before they do it. Just pure force.
Looking back, it's pretty clear that the 2003 invasion of Iraq broke everything.
Looking back, it's pretty clear that the 2003 invasion of Iraq broke everything.
NEW + WEIRD one from us @occrp.org
The U.S. government charged and imprisoned a Chinese scam artist who who tried to create a Pacific city-state next to a U.S. ballistic missile range... but mixed his name up with his twin (who was already in prison in China)
www.occrp.org/en/news/us-i...
The U.S. government charged and imprisoned a Chinese scam artist who who tried to create a Pacific city-state next to a U.S. ballistic missile range... but mixed his name up with his twin (who was already in prison in China)
www.occrp.org/en/news/us-i...
U.S. Imprisoned Head of Bogus UN Agency Using the Name of His Twin
The mix-up in the federal case against Cary Yan is the latest development in a bizarre global grifting odyssey first exposed in a 2023 OCCRP investigation.
www.occrp.org
June 18, 2025 at 3:45 AM
NEW + WEIRD one from us @occrp.org
The U.S. government charged and imprisoned a Chinese scam artist who who tried to create a Pacific city-state next to a U.S. ballistic missile range... but mixed his name up with his twin (who was already in prison in China)
www.occrp.org/en/news/us-i...
The U.S. government charged and imprisoned a Chinese scam artist who who tried to create a Pacific city-state next to a U.S. ballistic missile range... but mixed his name up with his twin (who was already in prison in China)
www.occrp.org/en/news/us-i...
Ryan wants to fall for this so badly
June 16, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Ryan wants to fall for this so badly
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
Breaking @propublica.org: Bukele of El Salvador has become one of Trump’s favorite authoritarians, and Trump touts him as a foe of MS-13. But a US investigation has found evidence he has colluded with the gang, even paying it for votes.
www.propublica.org/article/buke...
www.propublica.org/article/buke...
“Delay, Interfere, Undermine”
President Donald Trump has praised Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as a crime fighter, but new reporting based on interviews and documents reveals how senior Salvadoran officials have impeded a U.S....
www.propublica.org
June 12, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Breaking @propublica.org: Bukele of El Salvador has become one of Trump’s favorite authoritarians, and Trump touts him as a foe of MS-13. But a US investigation has found evidence he has colluded with the gang, even paying it for votes.
www.propublica.org/article/buke...
www.propublica.org/article/buke...
Telegram claims to be a secure "free speech" app
But reporting reveals its links to Russia's intelligence agencies
(Telegram's founder also visited Russia 50+ times while claiming to be in exile)
Translatable captions here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7pn...
But reporting reveals its links to Russia's intelligence agencies
(Telegram's founder also visited Russia 50+ times while claiming to be in exile)
Translatable captions here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7pn...
Как Telegram связан с ФСБ? Что это значит лично для вас? Расследование
YouTube video by Важные истории
www.youtube.com
June 10, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Telegram claims to be a secure "free speech" app
But reporting reveals its links to Russia's intelligence agencies
(Telegram's founder also visited Russia 50+ times while claiming to be in exile)
Translatable captions here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7pn...
But reporting reveals its links to Russia's intelligence agencies
(Telegram's founder also visited Russia 50+ times while claiming to be in exile)
Translatable captions here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7pn...
Russian exile reporters just revealed how the Telegram app is connected to Putin's FSB intelligence service
Makes a hell of a lot of sense
Russian-language link here: istories.media/stories/2025...
Makes a hell of a lot of sense
Russian-language link here: istories.media/stories/2025...
NEW: The Telegram messaging app has a reputation for security — but Important Stories found that its technical infrastructure is run by a man whose companies closely collaborate with Russian intelligence services.
Meet Vladimir Vedeneev 👇
Meet Vladimir Vedeneev 👇
June 10, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Russian exile reporters just revealed how the Telegram app is connected to Putin's FSB intelligence service
Makes a hell of a lot of sense
Russian-language link here: istories.media/stories/2025...
Makes a hell of a lot of sense
Russian-language link here: istories.media/stories/2025...
Check out @danmcgarry.bsky.social on the ABC about our @occrp.org story revealing Andrew Tate's "golden" Vanuatu passport
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Le...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Le...
How did alleged rapist Andrew Tate get Vanuatu's 'golden' passport? | The World | ABC NEWS
YouTube video by ABC News (Australia)
www.youtube.com
June 5, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Check out @danmcgarry.bsky.social on the ABC about our @occrp.org story revealing Andrew Tate's "golden" Vanuatu passport
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Le...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Le...
Remember late last year when @mediapart.fr @dropsitenews.com etc thought they had uncovered a *scandal* in the fact that investigative journalism outlets openly received U.S. grants? What a quaint idea
Now, we can see the full effect of the brutal Trump aid cuts their reporting helped make happen
Now, we can see the full effect of the brutal Trump aid cuts their reporting helped make happen
“Democracy would not be better off if OCCRP and USAID had never existed, and it is not better off because of ‘this investigation.’”
Mark Lee Hunter’s article critiques Mediapart's flawed attack on donor-supported investigative journalism.
Read more: the-investigative-mind.ghost.io/mediapart-ai...
Mark Lee Hunter’s article critiques Mediapart's flawed attack on donor-supported investigative journalism.
Read more: the-investigative-mind.ghost.io/mediapart-ai...
Mediapart aimed at investigative reporters. USAID took the hit.
* The leading French news outlet Mediapart’s “revelations” concerning the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project's "hidden" links to the U.S. government were published after eight years of s...
the-investigative-mind.ghost.io
June 3, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Remember late last year when @mediapart.fr @dropsitenews.com etc thought they had uncovered a *scandal* in the fact that investigative journalism outlets openly received U.S. grants? What a quaint idea
Now, we can see the full effect of the brutal Trump aid cuts their reporting helped make happen
Now, we can see the full effect of the brutal Trump aid cuts their reporting helped make happen
SCOOP from @occrp.org and friends: Andrew Tate got himself a passport from Vanuatu just after his 2022 arrest in Romania on charges including rape and human trafficking
www.occrp.org/en/news/excl...
www.occrp.org/en/news/excl...
EXCLUSIVE: Alleged Rapist Influencer Andrew Tate Got Vanuatu Passport Around Time of 2022 Arrest
The alleged sex trafficker and “king of toxic masculinity" was granted a golden passport by the South Pacific nation while under high-profile investigation in Romania. Tate now faces charges in the Un...
www.occrp.org
June 2, 2025 at 6:04 AM
SCOOP from @occrp.org and friends: Andrew Tate got himself a passport from Vanuatu just after his 2022 arrest in Romania on charges including rape and human trafficking
www.occrp.org/en/news/excl...
www.occrp.org/en/news/excl...