Covid-19

United States
Ex-oil trader for Moscow Niels Troost hires his defence team with diplomatic passport in hand

The US Justice Department was reviewing evidence in mid-June that allegedly showed that embattled oil trader Niels Troost gained the title of Liberia's ambassador-at-large in Switzerland thanks to President George Weah.

Spotlight | Colombia, UAE
Melissa Moncada, the Medellin businesswoman driving Tahnoon bin Zayed's Colombian affairs

In this, the first of our two-part series on entrepreneur Melissa Moncada, we examine how the associate of Tahnoon bin Zayed, brother to the UAE president, spy master and Abu Dhabi's lead financier, has been quietly guiding his affairs in Colombia.

China, Laos, United States
Sparks fly between China and West over Laos power production

In supporting the Laos state electricity provider, the World Bank is trying to loosen China's grip on the country's power grid. The move has given some sense of ease to Western diplomats worried about the level of debt Laos has accrued with China.

The Agencies' Gazette
Vietnam's MPS, Qassem Al Araji in Tehran, France's new South East Asia diplomat, FSB

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every week, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community from Hanoi to Paris, via Tehran and Moscow.

VietnamTo Lam wants to further condense public security hierarchy

Iraq/IranQassem Al Araji defuses Sulaymaniyah security issues before return to Tehran

France/Vietnam/RomaniaOlivier Brochet tipped to succeed ambassador Warnery in Hanoi

RussiaFSB's new technical director settles in

China, Thailand, United States
Thai defence firm ACEIS clarifies links with China to lure US

In a bid to build stronger ties with the US defence industry, Thai firm ACEIS has had to clarify any potential associations that could be made online between it and Chinese companies, especially strategic ones.

Vietnam
ASIADEV guides French firms in Vietnam

Consultancy firm ASIADEV uses its broad Franco-Vietnamese network to steer French companies wanting to do business in Vietnam, especially in the defence industry, in which Hanoi has been investing significantly in recent years.

The Corporate Intelligence Gazette
Aussie PI in Mauritius case, BPI's corporate intel platform, Mintz vs Kossoff, from Nardello to Merck, Barker takes over Minerva, Parker's Kyiv mission, Rud Pedersen in Ukraine

Appointments, financial results, new contracts: every Wednesday, we report on events both big and small that matter in the global corporate intelligence community. This week, we go to Sydney, New York, Paris, London, Kyiv, Largo and Copenhagen.

Sydney/New York The investigator chasing a ghost investor

Paris Public bank boosts export intelligence scope

New York Mintz still investigating Kossoff's downfall

New York Ex-Nardello CISO goes to Merck

London Former FTI Barker moves to intelligence with Strix Varia

Kyiv/Largo New Ukraine mission for US Army vet Parker

Kyiv/Copenhagen Danish lobbyist Rud Pedersen sets up shop in Ukraine

United States
Legal clash between a UK investigative firm, a disgruntled ex-executive, an angry client and her lover has movie-calibre twists

London-based Conflict International filed a lawsuit in New York in late March asking the court to dismiss complaints against the firm from a former executive and a wealthy client. Meanwhile, the client's former paramour - whom she allegedly hired CI to smear - is suing the trio for $1.

Germany, Poland, United Kingdom
Bearstone Global looks to expand from its Polish base into Western Europe

Bearstone Global, which is registered in Warsaw, is looking to expand progressively into Germany, as well as consolidating its presence in Poland, which has become much more strategically important since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Spotlight | Saudi Arabia, United States
Private investigators allegedly involved in trans woman's forced return to Saudi Arabia

Special Investigations Limited was hired by the family of Eden Knight, who has reportedly committed suicide. Its CEO Michael Pocalyko, a former Navy pilot with a background in intelligence, reportedly misled Knight, claiming his goal was to help her repair relations with her parents.

China
Western researchers, business leaders set for closed-door confabs with CCP at CASS and CDF

During two events scheduled for late March, European and American researchers and business leaders will meet in Beijing to discuss political and economic issues related to Xi Jinping's new term in office.

Central Asia, UAE
Seitnepesov connects Gulf shipping companies to Caspian oil players

Businessman Murat Seitnepesov, who has worked in Central Asia for many years, is partnering with Gulf port operators looking to establish themselves in the region.

Cambodia, China
Yunnan Construction group spearheads Chinese influence in Southeast Asia

Cambodia's new international airport is due to be finished next month. The facility has been built by a company from Yunnan, a Chinese province central to Beijing's strategy to grow its influence in Southeast Asia.

China
Xi Jinping invites foreign experts into closed-door meetings on China's challenges

The Chinese Communist Party is increasingly relying on small meetings with foreign participants to tackle the country's problems. It has launched a new LinkedIn recruitment campaign with the aim of building a database of foreign experts who can be called upon at short notice when needed.

Vietnam
Ministry of Public Security's latest drive for power lies behind political crisis

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc's forced resignation on 17 January following a secret meeting of the Communist Party of Vietnam's politburo comes amid a Covid-19 test kit scandal. The Ministry of Public Security, which prompted his departure, has been pushing for influence at every level of government.