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Evidencity's investigations into illicit networks, sanctions, forced labor, transparency and data. All of our articles generate datasets from which our team collects additional subjects for our Illicit Network Intelligence product.

September 23, 2026

How $580 Million Moved Through “Legitimate” Colombian Businesses

Nine registered businesses in Medellín, Envigado and Barranquilla spent years moving drug money before anyone noticed.

September 23, 2026

Evidencity Completes SOC 2® Type II Examination

Evidencity Completes SOC 2® Type II Examination for Its Risk and Transparency Platform

August 26, 2026

China Blacklists the Responsible Business Alliance

The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) certifies, through its Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), the tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold and battery-mineral smelters used across electronics, medical device and auto manufacturing supply chains. Global buyers rely on that certification to document forced-labor-free supply chains. On 5 August 2026, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) designated the RBA as a target of retaliatory countermeasures under Beijing's Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (AFSL).

August 19, 2026

Who owns A $200 billion crypto company?

Tether Holdings underpins the USDT stablecoin, which settles trades around the clock across global exchanges. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) estimates the company's own value at roughly USD200 billion, making it one of the most valuable private companies on earth. In early 2025 it relocated its base from the British Virgin Islands to El Salvador. But no one seems to know who owns the company.

August 14, 2026

How Iran's Oil Money Reached Dubai Through Shell Companies

On 7 August 2026, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated eleven companies and five individuals it says built and ran a currency network for Iran's regime.

August 7, 2026

How a tariff wrote ten forced labor laws in fifteen weeks

Evidencity updates its February 2026 Taxonomy of Transparency report with a closer look at Forced Labor in Developing Nations research.

July 31, 2026

Ghana recovered 39.4 tonnes of smuggled gold without tracing any of it to a mine

A Ghanaian government economic assessment credits the country's new gold board with pulling 39.4 tonnes of previously smuggled gold into formal export channels in 2025.

July 22, 2026

Zijin and Huayou's Serbia problem repeats in three more countries

New human rights data published on 22 July 2026 name Zijin Mining and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, alongside Tsingshan Group, among 10 Chinese firms that account for nearly two-thirds of all documented abuse allegations against Chinese-backed mineral projects worldwide since 2021.

July 13, 2026

Congo's cobalt quota system just showed its single point of failure

A customs-platform outage put USD1.1 billion in cobalt exports at risk in the country that supplies 70% of the world's cobalt. The failure was administrative, arriving six weeks after Evidencity flagged that every tonne of US cobalt still runs through a single foreign-controlled chokepoint.

July 9, 2026

We flagged a company in April 2025 that was Sanctioned June 2026

In April 2025, Evidencity's Project Tantalus dataset flagged a Rwandan mining company as a suspected handler of minerals smuggled out of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Fourteen months later, the US Treasury sanctioned it.

June 30, 2026

US order targets Serbian copper producer

A recent Withhold Release Order (WRO) against copper and copper products manufactured by Serbia Zijin Copper D.O.O. surfaced on a clean country risk screen, and no sanctions exposure. On 16 June 2026, US Customs and…

June 24, 2026

Evidencity And Sigma360 Partner to Advance FTO and Illicit Network SME Data Intelligence with Source-Level Risk Intelligence

Full integration of the two leading specialized datasets gives customers unmatched visibility into the risks that list-based screening misses, with source-level intelligence across 80+ jurisdictions available in the…

June 23, 2026

Killing Tren de Aragua’s founder barely moved its network

When a criminal network loses its most famous face, the map shows what was really holding it together On 12 June 2026, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that US Southern Command had carried out a “swift…

June 17, 2026

NGO Confirms Evidencity's Work After Year-Long Study

The audit got approved. The coltan kept moving In April 2025, Evidencity’s Illicit Network Intelligence (INI) mapped a network linking M23-controlled coltan mines in North Kivu, through Hong Kong traders, to Ulba…

June 3, 2026

Forced Labor Beyond Xinjiang

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has initiated dozens of investigations that extend import restrictions well beyond China. Meanwhile, three regulatory regimes tighten simultaneously. By…

May 27, 2026

Money Laundering Mechanisms that Defeat Screens

Free trade zones facilitate illicit networks that have moved money laundering from identities to infrastructure. We unpack three ways that money laundering is now more challenging to detect due to network architecture…

May 18, 2026

Before Arizona's cobalt refinery opens, every tonne of US cobalt still travels through China

The EGC–EVelution–Trafigura MOU sets out the first credible US–DRC cobalt corridor outside Chinese-controlled refining. The facility it depends on opens in 2029 at the earliest, and every tonne consumed before then…

May 11, 2026

Tales from the INI: Bananas and the Balkan Cartel

The Balkan cartel had exclusive loading rights in the president’s containers. Standard screening saw a banana company. Pull up a counterparty profile on Noboa Trading Co TCN SA and the results are unremarkable. A…

May 4, 2026

The EU is Going to Name Names

When forced labor investigations become public record, the tools that missed what investigators found become a liability, not a defense. By Evidencity | AI Assisted | 100% Human Verified The EU Forced Labor Regulation…

April 27, 2026

The Iran conflict is funding Russia’s war machine

Oil prices spiked $30 a barrel the day the bombs fell. For Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil, a windfall followed. For the regulators trying to stop Russian war revenue faced a familiar problem: the money is moving, and they…

April 20, 2026

The helium your chip supplier just bought may have come from Russia

Iranian strikes on Qatar’s gas terminals have knocked out a third of global helium supply. The scramble for alternatives is opening a sanctions exposure that big data-driven screening tools were never designed to…

April 15, 2026

Washington designated the traders, not the smelter

OFAC sanctioned the Rwanda Defence Force and the Hong Kong traders moving conflict tantalum out of eastern DRC. The mineral passed through both of them on its way to Ulba Metallurgical Plant, a Kazakh state asset, the…

April 13, 2026

China-EU Tug of War

Two regulatory forces are moving in opposite directions. Beijing is restricting how supply chain data can be collected. Brussels is raising the evidentiary standard for what that data must prove. Enterprise screening…

April 6, 2026

Your supplier's environmental audit was written by your supplier

Companies sourcing from Indonesia's nickel sector rely on sustainability disclosures written by the companies they are auditing. When the evidence of contamination lives in an internal email rather than a published…

March 30, 2026

Dyson and Rubicon Cases Reset the Rules

Within five weeks in early 2026, two legal developments dismantled the defenses that multinational companies have relied on for decades. On February 20, the US Ninth Circuit ruled that companies can face civil liability…

March 19, 2026

Your Palm Oil Supplier was just Replaced by a General

The world's largest palm oil trader has just been convicted of corruption by Indonesia's Supreme Court. The company it supplied its land to has no audit history, no certification, and no prior experience in palm oil.…

March 16, 2026

How Modern Slavery Survives a Court Ruling

Ecuador's Constitutional Court ordered Furukawa Plantaciones to pay $41 million for five decades of forced labour. Fifteen months later, a sister company is shipping the abaca, the victims are facing eviction, and the…

March 9, 2026

How Binance accounts moved USD1 Billion to Iranian Entities

When Binance's own investigators traced nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency flowing toward an IRGC-linked shadow banking corridor, they did everything right: they mapped the network, briefed senior leadership,…

March 4, 2026

Teeth Without Eyes: How Modern Slavery Laws Are Built to Miss What They’re Looking For

New Zealand’s bipartisan Modern Slavery Bill is the toughest supply chain law in the Anglosphere. It also illustrates why most modern slavery legislation is structurally incapable of finding what it claims to be looking…

February 20, 2026

What Happened When Switzerland Got Serious

An Oxford study maps how $88.6 billion in annual African capital flight pivoted from Western havens to Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong after post-2008 regulatory tightening. Tracing where the money went requires the…

February 16, 2026

How Congo's Gold Keeps Finding Its Way to Dubai

A new investigation reveals the UAE joint venture meant to clean up Congo's gold trade sourced from conflict zones, never published due diligence reports, and traced back to one of Abu Dhabi's most powerful figures.…

February 6, 2026

Venezuela's Laundered Billions

How professional launderers turned stolen PDVSA oil Into clean European assets. In 2017, a money launderer sat in a Madrid office and explained his business model into a hidden recording device. Hugo Gois was describing…

January 30, 2026

Data Stories: Peace Negotiations as Criminal Sanctuary

Once a month, Evidencity looks into its Illicit Network Intelligence data and pulls out a story that helps reveal how our data is different. On September 21, 2024, Alexander Farfan Suarez walked councilwoman Sandra…

January 19, 2026

Forced Labor on a Floating Squid Factory

How China's Squid Fleet Hides Labor Abuse in International Waters The Ghost at Mile 201 The Lu Rong Yuan Yu 956 disappeared from satellite tracking at 2:47 a.m. on March 12, 2025. One moment, the 60-meter squid jigger…

January 16, 2026

You Can't See One-Fifth of the World Supply of Tin

When the Indonesian government reformed a major tin mining operation, it replaced corruption with opacity, and military control over the source for one-fifth of the world's tin supply. In November 2025, Indonesian…

January 13, 2026

When Courts Fail to Enforce Forced Labor

Brazil's Labor Ministry defied a judicial order to expose corporate slavery—revealing how political power makes documented exploitation invisible to compliance teams Brazil's federal government missed a court-ordered…

January 8, 2026

Mining Slaves in Central African Republic Reveal a Billion dollar Smuggling Ring

A Chinese embassy warning has fingered what NGOs and media outlets have been reporting for years: a 60 billion gold smuggling network operates across Africa, and modern compliance frameworks are blind to it. In November…

January 6, 2026

The Relationships that bind the ELN to Venezuela

Business, politics, and the drug trade define how the Venezuelan government works directly with the ELN Evidencity’s work in illicit networks got off to an unexpected start this week with the recent news of Nicolas…

December 12, 2025

Forced Labor is not just a Global South Challenge

Finland reveals how forced labor lurks where we least expect it The community of folks working on the modern slavery problem often talk about China. When it’s not China, there’s often talk of abuses in the Global South.…

November 21, 2025

How criminal networks penetrate U.S. corporate systems: Why entity links matter

Recent investigations into Brazil’s most powerful criminal organisation, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) , reveal a glaring weakness in global anti–money laundering systems as even highly visible, publicly accused…

November 12, 2025

DRC’s cobalt quotas: A new test for transparency & traceability

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) holds a dominant position in the global cobalt market, supplying about 70 per cent of the world’s output. In 2025, the country’s efforts to tighten control over this critical…

November 5, 2025

Canada’s 2025 forced labor supply chain report: Key lessons for compliance & traceability

Canada has released its second annual report under the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act , covering the 2025 reporting cycle. The results provide an important barometer of corporate…

October 9, 2025

Mapping illicit power: The RSF’s corporate network in the UAE

The October 2025 investigation by The Sentry into Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) exposed a sophisticated business ecosystem that stretches from Darfur’s gold mines to company registers in Dubai. Far from being an…

October 2, 2025

Supply chain enforcement in 2025: Why the cost of non-compliance is rising fast

The past year has marked a turning point for corporate supply chain due diligence. Across the EU, UK, and US, regulators and courts are beginning to show that “light touch” expectations are over. Companies that fail to…

September 26, 2025

How sanctions lists work and their limits

Sanctions lists are one of the most common tools in compliance and due diligence. They flag people, companies, vessels, and states that governments or international bodies restrict. Checking names against these lists is…

September 16, 2025

Why evidence is the strongest asset to tackle business risk related to illicit flows

Illicit flows are not confined to shadowy corners of the global economy. They move through financial systems, supply chains, and markets every day, often hidden in plain sight. These flows — whether of money, minerals,…

September 9, 2025

How transnational crime & a military junta built a cyber-fraud engine in Myanmar

Since Myanmar’s 2021 coup, the Thai–Myanmar frontier has morphed into one of the world’s densest clusters of industrial-scale cyber-fraud “compounds.” Run largely by Chinese-linked transnational syndicates and shielded…

September 2, 2025

Africa’s Gas and LNG: a Mozambique case study

Europe’s gas portfolios have been rewired since 2022. The International Energy Agency expects Europe’s LNG imports to hit a record in 2025 as pipeline flows from Russia keep shrinking, cementing LNG’s role in…

August 26, 2025

Brazil’s tantalum test: Viable alternative or risky bet?

Brazil is increasingly touted as a cornerstone of the global critical minerals trade. Long known for iron ore and niobium, the country is now seeking to expand its role in supplying the minerals that power the energy…

August 19, 2025

How Russian companies circumvent sanctions through Turkey and the UAE

Russia remains under heavy sanctions from the U.S., EU, and other allies because of its invasion of Ukraine. These measures aim to cut Moscow off from the advanced technology and equipment it needs to sustain its…

August 14, 2025

OFAC sanctions hit key players in the tantalum trade

In April 2025, Evidencity's Project Tantalus identified East Rise Corporation, a Hong Kong–registered trader, within a global tantalum supply chain that connected a major Kazakh refiner to questionable mining and…

August 12, 2025

Indonesia’s gold mining mafia

In West Lombok’s Sekotong district and West Kalimantan’s Ketapang regency, recent investigations have exposed an industrial-scale, foreign-backed model of illegal gold mining that is infiltrating legitimate markets,…

August 5, 2025

Migrant workers & debt bondage in Malaysia’s EV battery supply chain

Malaysia has emerged as a hub for manufacturing key components of electric vehicle (EV) batteries – such as copper foils, battery separators, and other cell parts – serving major global battery makers. Yet, a…

July 29, 2025

Hidden links in the global steel supply chain

Steel is the backbone of modern infrastructure, but behind its strength lies a sad truth: the raw materials that feed the global steel industry are often extracted and processed in conditions that exploit the most…

July 22, 2025

Labor exploitation in EU agriculture: A persistent challenge

In July 2025, a French court in Châlons-en-Champagne delivered a landmark ruling in a case that drew attention far beyond the borders of France. Three employees of a labor-supply firm called Anavim were convicted of…

July 15, 2025

Tracing the threads: Forced labor in cotton supply chains

Forced labor in the cotton supply chain has emerged as a major compliance and reputational risk for global companies since 2020. Investigations and regulatory actions have exposed serious abuses in cotton cultivation,…

July 10, 2025

Announcing a strategic partnership with Southern Pulse

BARCELONA, SPAIN – July 15, 2025 Evidencity Forms Strategic Partnership with Southern Pulse to Accelerate Global Expansion of AI-Powered Research Solutions Strategic partnership brings two decades of Latin American…

July 8, 2025

China & Indonesia’s forced labor-stricken nickel parks

China is rapidly stockpiling nickel, seizing on low global prices to double its strategic reserves of the metal, which is critical for both stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries. According to a Financial Times…

July 1, 2025

A viral chocolate sensation with unseen costs - Part 2

The Dubai chocolate bar phenomenon inspired an international wave of imitators—brands and retailers alike eager to capitalize on the moment. But who supplies the cocoa behind these products, and under what conditions is…

June 24, 2025

Tracing Copper’s Human Risks: A Zambia Case Study

The copper wiring and components powering our modern world carry a hidden human cost. From the mines of Zambia and the DRC to processing plants in China’s Xinjiang region and even the locked-down mining sites of North…

June 17, 2025

A viral chocolate sensation with unseen costs - Part 1

What began as a local dessert in Dubai quickly spiraled into a global sensation. The Dubai chocolate bar, a pistachio- and knafeh-filled confection created by FIX Dessert Chocolatier, achieved viral fame across TikTok…

June 10, 2025

Child labor and illegal gold mining in Ghana

Ghana is Africa’s largest gold producer and has a substantial artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector alongside large-scale industrial mines. In Ghana’s ASM sector - locally called galamsey - child labor is a…

June 3, 2025

Factories of exploitation: forced labor in global manufacturing

Forced labor in manufacturing has become one of the most pressing human rights issues of the past decade. Around the world, tens of millions of people are trapped in factories, workshops, and worksites. The…

May 27, 2025

The Human Impact of Cobalt Sourcing

Human rights investigations estimate that at least 25,000 children work in cobalt mines across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The scale of modern slavery in the Congolese cobalt sector is devastating: in 2024,…

May 20, 2025

Forced labor abuses in Indonesia’s tuna fishing sector

Indonesia is the world’s largest tuna producer, responsible for over 17.5% of global catches. It is also a major exporter of canned and processed tuna, with markets in the US and EU, making labor risks in this sector…

May 13, 2025

Tracing Risk in Silicon Supply Chains

Silicon is used in semiconductors powering electronics and the solar panels driving the energy transition. Extracted from quartz and refined into high-purity forms, silicon is transformed into wafers used in everything…

May 6, 2025

Venezuela’s Prison Gang Turned Transnational Criminal Empire

Tren de Aragua (TDA) began as a violent extortion racket in Venezuela’s Tocorón prison and has since evolved into a sprawling transnational criminal empire with deep roots in human trafficking, extortion, and organised…

April 29, 2025

Project Tantalus: Mapping Global Tantalum Supply Chains back to the S&P 500

In March 2025, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group seized control of Walikale, a key mining town in Eastern Congo, tightening its grip on one of the most strategically important sources of coltan in the world . In April,…

December 3, 2024

US Sanctions Gazprombank Financial Network

The US has moved to nearly completely isolate the Russian financial system, forcing the global banking world to make a zero-sum choice. The US has moved to nearly completely isolate the Russian financial system, forcing…

November 8, 2024

Tamaulipas Illicit Network Index

One aspect of the cross-border activity often goes overlooked: the Cartel del Golfo and Cartel del Noreste control human and sex trafficking routes to the United States—often with the complicity of Mexican authorities.…

October 11, 2024

Leveraging Unique Datasets for Next Generation Compliance Programs

There are spaces where some of the world’s largest companies must operate shoulder to shoulder with bad actors, known and not. Nearly 20,000 sanctions have been levied against Russian assets since Putin and his…

October 1, 2024

Evidencity Announces Launch of TruthSeeker, a Revolutionary Open Source Research Platform

Annapolis, MARYLAND -- (October 1, 2024) – Evidencity , a tech-enabled service that helps you see what you cannot see about people and companies in emerging markets, announced the launch of TruthSeeker , a new SaaS…

July 16, 2024

The fragmented political landscape of the DRC

The DRC has a deeply fragmented political landscape characterized by numerous political parties and armed groups - a legacy of decades of conflict and colonization. This fragmentation is rooted in the country's ethnic…

July 11, 2024

Evidencity Welcomes Charles White as Senior Advisor

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES, July 11, 2024 Evidencity, a tech-enabled service that helps you see what you cannot see about people and companies in emerging markets, announces the appointment of Charles White as a…

April 23, 2024

Evidencity launches TruthExplorer

New service uses unique data and proprietary methodology to support ethical business conduct through customer and supplier transparency. “We support responsible business conduct through customer and supplier…

April 5, 2024

After 100 Days: Javier Milei's Closest Associates in Argentina's Government

Javier Milei is one of the most controversial politicians of the moment in Latin America. He is unapologetically decided on his policies and equally blunt in his diplomacy. After 100 days in government, it has become…

March 15, 2024

Human rights risks in the global gold mining industry

As the world is moving towards more awareness and desire for cleaner, fairer, and more transparent practices, global mining giants have been under increasing scrutiny in all industries – gold is no exception. The…

February 16, 2024

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's electoral controversies

On January 20, Félix Tshisekedi was sworn in as president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for a second term. Tshisekedi was re-elected with more than 70% of the vote, amid questions about the validity of…

December 11, 2023

Part two: The corporation behind Ecuador's new president

Daniel Noboa, the new president of Ecuador, whose profile was outlined in our previous article, is destined to inherit a controversial legacy from his father - a vast corporation with regulatory hurdles, legal battles…

November 11, 2023

Part one: The corporation behind Ecuador's new president

In Ecuador, a new political force has emerged in the form of president-elect Daniel Noboa. Although a recent entry to the country’s political arena, Noboa is no stranger to power or politics. Behind the man poised to…

October 7, 2023

Cambodia's new Hun clan heir

In recent years, Cambodia has grappled with significant concerns surrounding its political landscape, particularly in the areas of press freedom, civil society, and human rights. Independent media outlets faced…

September 15, 2023

Haiti's financial inclusion journey

Financial inclusion in Haiti has historically been limited, with a significant portion of the population lacking access to basic financial services. The devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 further…

September 1, 2023

Nickel industry expansion in Indonesia

The increasing need for electric vehicle batteries in the US and Europe has spiked nickel demand internationally. Evidencity previously tried to shed light on China’s influence in the EV sector and battery production…

August 18, 2023

EV batteries and China

In July 2023, US lawmakers sought to review a licensing deal between Ford Motor and Chinese battery supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL). The House Ways and Means Committee demanded a copy of the…

August 3, 2023

Child labor in Ecuador

Modern slavery, including child labor and human trafficking, is a significant issue in Latin America. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more than 8 million children between the ages of 5 and 17…

July 20, 2023

Environmental violations in Indonesia

The palm oil and timber industries are often entangled in environmental violation cases. Due to the widespread use of palm oil and timber in global supply chains, companies can be directly or indirectly exposed to…

June 22, 2023

Cobalt mining and modern slavery in Congo

As the world shifts towards cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions, cobalt has become a key component in supporting this transition. Cobalt is a critical raw material in the production of rechargeable lithium-ion…

June 8, 2023

Forced labor and the solar panel industry

Reports of forced labor against the Uyghur minority residing in China’s Xinjiang region have been emerging in international media raising concerns about the involvement of Western businesses in the perpetuation of human…

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