White Collars, Dirty Hands: A podcast by OCCRP and La No Ficción
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) 14 episodes Mar 16, 2026
White Collars, Dirty Hands is an investigative series from OCCRP and La No Ficción about a secret recording made in Madrid in 2017. The tape captures a former Venezuelan oil ministry official, a lawyer, and financial advisers discussing how to move corruptly obtained cash without detection. Across five episodes, journalist Laura Weffer follows the money tied to a scheme that embezzled about $1.2 billion from Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA. The podcast also examines the human cost of the corruption, including Weffer’s own experience of exile and the wider crisis facing Venezuelans.
Episodes
Episode 5: Chao, Carmelo
Back in Miami, journalist Laura Weffer observes the ruins of a criminal empire and reflects on the intersection of global power and financial crime, as well as what the future holds for Venezuela.To learn more about organized crime and corruption, sign up for weekly updates about Venezuela and the rest of the world at occrp.org/newsletterThis podcast was originally produced in Spanish. Following r
Episode 4: Carmelo, Carmelo…
As the country’s oil money is being “cleaned by abroad,” back home, Venezuela is in flames. Tens of thousands of protesters opposing corruption, authoritarianism, and a widespread economic crisis in 2017 are met with bloodshed and repression.To learn more about organized crime and corruption, sign up now at occrp.org/newsletterThis podcast was originally produced in Spanish. Following recent event
Episode 3: There you are, Carmelo
A secret recording from a clandestine sting operation reveals the plans of financial experts enlisted to help Urdaneta bypass international banking controls to move the corrupt funds.To learn more about organized crime and corruption, sign up for weekly updates about Venezuela and the rest of the world at occrp.org/newsletterThis podcast was originally produced in Spanish. Following recent events
Episode 2: Carmelo, Where are you?
With reporting from Miami to Madrid, Venezuelan journalist Laura Weffer unpacks the mechanics of the corrupt loan schemes that allowed elites to siphon off more than a billion dollars from Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA.To learn more about organized crime and corruption, sign up for weekly updates about Venezuela and the rest of the world at occrp.org/newsletterThis podcast was originally pr
Episode 1: Hola, Carmelo
Exiled Venezuelan journalist Laura Weffer travels to Florida to look for Carmelo Urdaneta, a former oil ministry official at the center of the $1.2 billion “Money Flight” scandal.To learn more about organized crime and corruption, sign up for weekly updates about Venezuela and the rest of the world at occrp.org/newsletterThis podcast was originally produced in Spanish. Following recent events in V
Trailer: White Collars, Dirty Hands
Madrid, March 2017. A Swiss banker, an oil executive from PDVSA—Venezuela's state oil company—and three financial advisors meet to discuss business. They seek to move millions in corrupt funds without anyone noticing. But one of them is wearing a hidden microphone and records this conversation, in which a money laundering operation is structured, part of a scheme that diverted at least $600 millio
How Did Venezuela’s Oil Riches End up in Swiss Banks?
Repressed by Venezuela's government on one side. Muzzled by Swiss banking secrecy laws on the other. Yet against these odds, a team of reporters exposed how corrupt Venezuelan elites stashed stolen oil profits in Credit Suisse accounts.In this episode, Nick Wallis interviews OCCRP editor Nathan Jaccard and Armando.Info editor-in-chief Valentina Lares on how a leak of Credit Suisse customer data sp
Sanctioning an Oligarch is Not an Easy Task: Searching for Usmanov’s Millions
As Russian forces escalated their war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, Western governments scrambled to sanction oligarchs connected to Putin’s war machine. Yet the task is far from simple when Kremlin-connected tycoons hide their billions in offshore trusts and Swiss bank accounts — and even behind the names of their family members.In this episode, Nick Wallis talks with OCCRP editing duo M
Russian Meddling in Catalonia: A Playbook In Destabilization
A mysterious Russian offers Catalonia’s president $500 billion and 10,000 armed soldiers to make the break from Spain and create a cryptocurrency haven. This in the days running up to an historic vote to declare independence from Spain.In this episode, Nick Wallis talks with journalists Antonio Baquero, Marc Marginedas and Lorenzo Bagnoli on how they tracked down the man pro-independence leaders c
Exposing a Former Czech PM’s Offshore Finances
Pavla Holcová was greeted with an avalanche of threats when she woke up one morning. Her country’s former prime minister had publicly accused her of being a paid agent to undermine his re-election campaign.In this episode you’ll hear about the dangers OCCRP’s investigative journalists face when trying to get to the truth, the horrific abuse they face and how the OCCRP helps to protect them an
Bleeding Trees: Tracking Illegal Loggers in Namibia
John Grobler’s Namibian holiday led him on an unexpected journey tailing trucks and loggers to expose the interests behind illegal logging, a lucrative and illegal business making millions for Chinese companies and local elites.In this episode Nick Wallis traces OCCRP’s investigation into who is killing the last of Namibia’s protected rosewood trees. We also hear from OCCRP journalist Khadija Shar
The Beirut Blast
How do you begin to investigate the explosion that tore through the Lebanese capital city of Beirut, killing more than 200 people? In this episode Nick Wallis takes us back to August 2020, talking to Rana Sabbagh and Aubrey Belford about how OCCRP reporters activated the global network to unravel the opaque web of secrecy behind the cause of the explosion, scouring the globe from Russia
How Azerbaijan’s Ruling Family Launder Their Millions
How did an Azerbaijani boy end up owning a building in London’s Mayfair that housed a restaurant with two Michelin stars, an art gallery, and the Condé Nast headquarters?Hint: His father is the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev.When two of our top editors got hold of the Pandora Papers — a vast trove of leaked documents from offshore service providers — they knew it could provide key insights into
Trailer: Dirty Deeds
Welcome To Dirty Deeds: Tales of Global Crime & Corruption.Are you ready to venture into the shadows? Dirty Deeds unravels the hidden stories of the fraud and deceit behind some of the biggest international scandals in recent years, told by the investigative journalists who uncovered them.Every other week, we’ll bring you reporting from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCC
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