The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) received around $47 million from the United States government between 2008 and 2024, with the US Agency for International Aid (USAID) being its biggest financial backer, according to French investigative platfrom Mediapart.
The Open Society Foundation (OSF), backed by George Soros, a major donor of the Democratic Party, was another prominent donor of OCCRP during the period. Not only that, the media investigation revealed that US always had the right to "veto" the senior staff at OCCRP.
In one of the emails sent by OCCRP head Drew Sullivan to his journalists last October, as quoted by the platform, he admitted that organisation's inability to do stories in the US in initial years due to funding compulsions. The details of the US government's financial involvement in supporting OCCRP were previously unknown.
The explosive revelations, surfacing towards the end of the Biden administration, have triggered a row in India, where OCCRP has been involved in coordinating several controversial media articles that questioned conduct of Indian government agencies and targeted billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.
In a July 2021 investigation, OCCRP claimed that India's Intelligence Bureau allegedly purchased Israeli spyware 'Pegasus' to spy on opposition politicians, journalists, and civil society members among others.
The accusations were denied in Parliament by then minister of Railways, lnformation and Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, who made it clear that the Indian government didn't indulge in "unauthorised surveillance". The allegations levelled by the US-funded NGO triggered a political firestorm in the country.
As part of the same investigation, the New York Times (NYT), one of OCCRP's partners, claimed in February 2022 that Prime Minister Modi personally finalised the deal to buy Pegasus during a 2017 meeting with PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. At the time, several western media outlets called it a "Watergate" moment for Modi.
Last August, OCCRP reported that supposedly "opaque" Mauritius funds were funnelled into Adani stocks, an illegal practice under Indian law. These claims surfaced months after the Hindenburg Report led to the biggest stock market crash in India. The Adani Group rejected OCCRP's claims, saying that they were orchestrated by interests linked to George Soros.
Last August, OCCRP reported that supposedly "opaque" Mauritius funds were funnelled into Adani stocks, an illegal practice under Indian law. These claims surfaced months after the Hindenburg Report led to the biggest stock market crash in India. The Adani Group rejected OCCRP's claims, saying that they were orchestrated by interests linked to George Soros.
However, opposition parties seized on the OCCRP-led investigation, questioning the links between Prime Minister Modi and Adani.
Not only in India, the OCCRP also played a key role in laying the groundwork for US President-elect Donald Trump's impeachment, with the organisation being cited four times in the first impeachment complaint, according to Drop Site.
Not only in India, the OCCRP also played a key role in laying the groundwork for US President-elect Donald Trump's impeachment, with the organisation being cited four times in the first impeachment complaint, according to Drop Site.