⚖️ Our first Crime & Corruption newsletter of 2026 is anything but quiet. This week: Trump’s capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro puts Europe in a bind over the rule of law; AI dominates talks at the UN anti-corruption conference in Doha; and Europe watches as Marine Le Pen’s appeal trial begins.

🪫 Fancy becoming a battery expert in a few clicks? InnoEnergy used EU taxpayer money to boast claims it trained over 100,000 people. But FTM found flawed figures, counting certificates not people, including failed or incomplete courses, and even children playing an educational Minecraft game.

A key EU project meant to wean Europe off Russian gas has been derailed. So has the corruption probe into it, exposing failures in Bulgaria and at EU level. At the heart of the case are corruption allegations, a sudden death, a smear campaign against the prosecutor, and her suspension.

Power prefers silence. We don’t. Our members make our investigations possible. Reaching 50,000 by December means more video reporting, a new disinformation series, cross-border investigations, and 1,000 gifted memberships to keep journalism accessible. Support FTM today: www.ftm.eu/powertoaccou...

New: Google has been hit by a European Union investigation over fears it may have abused its dominance by using its own artificial intelligence tools to squeeze out competition: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

💣 Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons firm, is implicated in a widening NATO corruption scandal. The military alliance’s procurement agency (NSPA) has suspended the company from bidding on new contracts. www.ftm.eu/articles/isr...

💥 NEW: Israel’s largest defence company, Elbit Systems, has been suspended by NATO’s procurement agency amid a major corruption probe. Belgian police are looking for an Elbit consultant suspected of corruption and criminal organisation www.ftm.eu/articles/isr...

new: Mogherini resigns as College of Europe rector amid fraud probe www.euractiv.com/news/mogheri...

📣 Ritter also convincingly won the council vote (82 votes v 54 for second candidate) and will be the next European Chief Prosecutor

🔥 After a confident show in this morning's hearing, MEPs want Andrés Ritter, the EPPO's current deputy chief prosecutor to take over from Laura Kövesi. EU countries will soon announce their preferred candidate. If that is Ritter, too, it's settled www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...

Former EU foreign chief and rector of the #collegeofeurope Federica Mogherini is in custody, reports @lechobe.bsky.social www.lecho.be/economie-pol...

👀 EU prosecutors are carrying out raids at the College of Europe in Bruges and the EEAS in Brussels as part of a probe into suspected fraud related to EU-funded training for junior diplomats. Three suspects were detained. www.eppo.europa.eu/en/media/new...

En Turquie, le journaliste Fatih Altaylion écope de 4 ans de prison pour avoir dénoncé le pouvoir autoritaire d'Erdogan ➡️ https://l.humanite.fr/dJ7

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲. In our latest FTM EU podcast, Alexander Fanta and Simon Van Dorpe break down how Google built its dominance, why Brussels struggles to rein it in, and what a potential breakup battle could look like. 🎧Listen below:

🔥 NATO procurement chief Stacy Cummings came under fire twice this year from top officials within her agency. They accuse her of not tackling corruption, favouritism and undue interference. Today, @ftm.eu publishes the documents, with @lalettre.bsky.social and @lesoir.be www.ftm.eu/articles/nat...

Seven years ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia couldn’t visit Washington. When he arrived at the White House Tuesday, he got F-35s stealth fighters, the world’s fastest chips and the central role in the remaking of the Middle East.

⚖️📬 In our new Crime & Corruption newsletter: Denmark revives EU anti-corruption talks, charges against Manfred Weber are dropped, the world moves toward a UN tax treaty, Zelensky faces scrutiny over Ukraine’s energy sector, and an OnlyFans creator is jailed with a hefty tax bill.

More than half of possible fraud cases the European Court of Auditors (ECA) transfers to EPPO/OLAF for further investigation relates to cohesion policy, ECA member Stef Blok says

‼️ EU prosecutors dropped a probe into EPP chief Manfred Weber and two of his aides. They were investigating whether EU money was used to pay national party staff, but said today: "there are no reasonable grounds to believe that a criminal offence has been committed" www.ftm.eu/articles/eu-...

How five years were reduced to twenty days 🫠. Nicolas Sarkozy will be released from prison, French media report. Despite his own 2012 campaign promise that "No one should be released from their sentence before having served at least two-thirds of it." www.lemonde.fr/societe/arti...

“𝗠𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲.” Albania is closer than ever to joining the EU – yet it’s also one of Europe’s most thriving drug hubs – run by mafia networks. What’s happening? And why does Brussels keep turning a blind eye? 🔗 Read why it matters across Europe: www.ftm.eu/articles/alb...

🔥 Ex-EU justice chief Didier Reynders charged with money laundering. @ftm.eu SCOOP with @lesoir.be @standaard.be and Le Vif www.ftm.eu/articles/rey...

Congratulations to Petr Klement on his appointment as Director-General of OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office @euantifraud.bsky.social !   🇪🇺 I look forward to working together for the protection of EU taxpayers’ money and strengthening the fight against fraud. ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

How Google won friends and influenced people - while slowly gobbling up a quarter of all ad revenue on the internet. Here's my look at two decades of Google’s ruthless tactics to secure its dominance. www.ftm.eu/articles/goo...

🎙️ A NATO corruption scandal rocked Europe – then the US quietly dropped charges against four suspects. In our new FTM podcast, Jesse Pinster and Simon Van Dorpe uncover why Washington backed off the crackdown. Listen to our latest episode here: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...

Who FUNDS Europe's THOUGHTS ⚡ www.ftm.eu/articles/a-t...

⚠️ At a time of exploding military expenditure, the NATO corruption scandal revealed this week by @ftm.eu, @lalettre.bsky.social, @lesoir.be and @knack.be highlights the need to strengthen procurement controls. Read our today's newsletter for the latest ⤵️ www.ftm.eu/articles/nat...

Yes!!! The @ftm.nl -lead team of 40+ European journalists won the 'Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism'. The award was given for this investigation www.ftm.eu/files/the-sh...

Don't miss tomorrow’s Crime & Corruption newsletter – we’ll be sharing fresh, unreported details about #Natogate: www.ftm.eu/newsletter-o...

‼️ In case you missed it ⤵️

💥 Corruption à l'OTAN : révélations sur les marchés truqués d'armement La Lettre s’est associé avec Le Soir Knack et Follow the Money pour enquêter sur le #NATOgate (article en accès libre) www.lalettre.fr/fr/entrepris...

Uitgerekend nu onze defensie-uitgaven explosief stijgen, wordt het NAVO-aankoopagentschap NSPA getroffen door liefst drie corruptieschandalen. Dat blijkt uit #NATOgate, een onderzoek van @knack.be @lalettre.bsky.social @ftm.eu @lesoir.be

💥 Here’s what you need to know about #Natogate, the corruption scandal that broke today, in 10 skeets #bagsofcash #ammunition #NSPA (link to full stories below)

⚖️ Collapsing cases, bribes, spies – 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 & 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, FTM data shows immunity waivers are falling while unresolved cases pile up. Why is Parliament growing more protective? 🔗 Read the latest newsletter on our website or app below: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

Wat bindt een Poolse oliebaron aan een Italiaanse activist die neonazi’s bestreed? Beiden ontliepen vervolging door de Europese politiek in te gaan. Vandaag beslist het parlement: blijft de bescherming staan of raken de politici hun get-out-of-jail-kaart kwijt? www.ftm.nl/artikelen/zo...

Impact EU antitrust announcement at 11:45 on #SAP share price. Looks like the company quickly recovered from a relatively small hit

🔥Breaking: EU Commission opens antitrust investigation into #SAP, Germany's largest (and Europe's second largest) company, for allegedly restricting competition in support services on its popular ERP software. Five years ago, I wrote this story for @politico.eu www.politico.eu/article/pres...

🔥Breaking: EU Commission opens antitrust investigation into #SAP, Germany's largest (and Europe's second largest) company, for allegedly restricting competition in support services on its popular ERP software. Five years ago, I wrote this story for @politico.eu www.politico.eu/article/pres...

Nicolas Sarkozy déclaré coupable d’association de malfaiteurs dans l’affaire du financement libyen de sa campagne pour l’élection présidentielle de 2007 www.mediapart.fr/journal/fran... Guéant et Hortefeux sont aussi déclarés coupables

Europe’s public bank rocked by conflicts of interest and favouritism - yet again.. Our Brussels newsletter is out! @simonvandorpe.bsky.social www.ftm.eu/articles/bur...

Many ask why the platform I work for is called Follow the Money. The answer lies in this iconic scene with the late #RobertRedford. It inspired our founders @arnevanderwal.bsky.social and Eric Smit to start @ftm.nl 15 years ago. ⏩ Jump to 2:30 if you're short on time

I was just accidentally added to a chat group of politicians but I was too honest and have already been removed. There goes my Pulitzer 😞

Indeed, nice words that are hard to rhyme with how Ursula von der Leyen runs the European Commission. The lack of self-criticism and the double standards are blinding

🔥 Laura Kövesi, the first European Chief Prosecutor, has locked horns with EU institutions and powerful political figures. Insiders question if her successor, whose appointment process is in full swing, will continue to crack the whip. ✅ Free to read today on @ftm.eu ⤵️ www.ftm.eu/articles/eu-...

Great, incisive profile of a figure who certainly has ruffled feathers in Brussels. Many great details. Don't miss it.

EU Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruța Kövesi has shone a spotlight not only on misconduct in member states, but also on influential figures in Brussels – including none other than Ursula von der Leyen. So with her mandate coming to an end, some fear that her replacement may be a safer political choice.

🔥 Laura Kövesi, the first European Chief Prosecutor, has locked horns with EU institutions and powerful political figures. Insiders question if her successor, whose appointment process is in full swing, will continue to crack the whip. ✅ Free to read today on @ftm.eu ⤵️ www.ftm.eu/articles/eu-...

@ftm.eu's crime and corruption newsletter is back after a revitalising summer break 🔥 Today: ✅ Belgium’s top prosecutor on corruption probes ✅ A tour of Europe of this summer's corruption news ✅ ING under criminal scrutiny in Didier Reynders probe Read it here ⤵️ www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

The former president of the European Commission still holds office at his old headquarters, where he regularly receives prominent guests. According to the Kazakh government, he also offered help as go-between. Jean-Claude Juncker himself denies this, claiming that he is “immune” to influence.

🧨 New revelation in the Pfizergate affair over Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen’s texts with the Pfizer CEO. The European Commission admitted to the New York Times this week that it lost the texts only after I made an official request for them. 🧵