Inside the story that rocked Europe’s 'Golden Passport' program.

The European Union has launched infringement procedures following an explosive report from Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit. In a daring undercover operation, our team posed as representatives of a fictional, Chinese criminal looking to buy his way into Cyprus. What we discovered enraged citizens, forced powerful politicians to step down and left the government in Cyprus with no choice but to abolish its passport for investment scheme.

Inside the story that rocked Europe’s 'Golden Passport' program.The European Union has launched infringement procedures following an explosive report from Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit. In a daring undercover operation, our team posed as representatives of a fictional, Chinese criminal looking to buy his way into Cyprus. What we discovered enraged citizens, forced powerful politicians to step down and left the government in Cyprus with no choice but to abolish its passport for investment scheme.

International undercover operations. Informants. Hidden camera tape. It all comes together in Al Jazeera Investigates, where we take you inside the network's biggest stories.

International undercover operations. Informants. Hidden camera tape. It all comes together in Al Jazeera Investigates, where we take you inside the network's biggest stories.

Al Jazeera Investigates

Al Jazeera Investigates is a documentary podcast series created by the award-winning Al Jazeera Investigates team. The show takes the listener inside ground-breaking investigations that expose wrongdoing, affect policy, and hold power to account all over the world.

Host Kevin Hirten and the team provide extraordinary access to people and places that most journalists never reach – giving inside accounts of undercover operations and revealing secret recordings of clandestine meetings with corrupt leaders, con artists, and criminals.

Al Jazeera Investigates is a documentary podcast series created by the award-winning Al Jazeera Investigates team. The show takes the listener inside ground-breaking investigations that expose wrongdoing, affect policy, and hold power to account all over the world.
Host Kevin Hirten and the team provide extraordinary access to people and places that most journalists never reach &ndash; giving inside accounts of undercover operations and revealing secret recordings of clandestine meetings with corrupt leaders, con artists, and criminals.

Al Jazeera Investigates - Disco

The Cyprus Papers Undercover: The Aftermath 

Who knew a murder-for-hire would be so complicated? This remarkable, undercover conversation with an admitted member of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary organization from Northern Ireland, lays out the grizzly logistics of a contract killing. No detail is too small: the cost, the location, the weapons. There’s a cold calculus to it: each choice affects the odds of a clean kill and the attendant risks of being found out. This is true crime playing out in real time.

This episode was written and produced by Kevin Hirten with Simon Boazman and Craig Pennington who is also the audio editor. Additional editing by Manny Panaretos. Clean Cuts did the final sound mix. Rafi Mustafa is Manager of Investigative Programs for Al Jazeera English. And Mohammed Al-Hamadi is our Director of Programs.

Who knew a murder-for-hire would be so complicated? This remarkable, undercover conversation with an admitted member of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary organization from Northern Ireland, lays out the grizzly logistics of a contract killing. No detail is too small: the cost, the location, the weapons. There&rsquo;s a cold calculus to it: each choice affects the odds of a clean kill and the attendant risks of being found out. This is true crime playing out in real time.
This episode was written and produced by Kevin Hirten with Simon Boazman and Craig Pennington who is also the audio editor. Additional editing by Manny Panaretos. Clean Cuts did the final sound mix.&nbsp;Rafi Mustafa is Manager of Investigative Programs for Al Jazeera English. And Mohammed Al-Hamadi is our Director of Programs.

The Loch Ness Mobster | Ep. 3 – Crime as a Service

The historic connections between the UVF and right-wing politics is well documented.  Even so, it was shocking that the man who introduced us to Nessie, the violent paramilitary member prepared to arrange a murder, was the CEO of Turning Point UK, Jack Ross.  In this episode, Al Jazeera Investigates the dangerous links between right-wing activists stoking rage online and violent, far right criminal organizations. At a time when simply holding a sign supporting a proscribed organization is enough to send someone to prison, Turning Point UK has some explaining to do.  Why is its CEO playing middleman to a murder for hire plot with a man he himself called a “terrorist.”

This episode was written and produced by Kevin Hirten with Simon Boazman and Craig Pennington who is also the audio editor. Additional editing by Manny Panaretos.  Clean Cuts did the final sound mix. Rafi Mustafa is Manager of Investigative Programs for Al Jazeera English.  And Mohammed Al-Hamadi is our Director of Programs.

The historic connections between the UVF and right-wing politics is well documented.&nbsp; Even so, it was shocking that the man who introduced us to Nessie, the violent paramilitary member prepared to arrange a murder, was the CEO of Turning Point UK, Jack Ross.&nbsp; In this episode, Al Jazeera Investigates the dangerous links between right-wing activists stoking rage online and violent, far right criminal organizations. At a time when simply holding a sign supporting a proscribed organization is enough to send someone to prison, Turning Point UK has some explaining to do.&nbsp; Why is its CEO playing middleman to a murder for hire plot with a man he himself called a &ldquo;terrorist.&rdquo;
This episode was written and produced by Kevin Hirten with Simon Boazman and Craig Pennington who is also the audio editor. Additional editing by Manny Panaretos.&nbsp; Clean Cuts did the final sound mix. Rafi Mustafa is Manager of Investigative Programs for Al Jazeera English.&nbsp; And Mohammed Al-Hamadi is our Director of Programs.

The Loch Ness Mobster | Ep. 2 - Partners in Crime

It all starts with an undercover meeting about a murder for hire. An admitted member of a Northern Irish paramilitary group called the Ulster Volunteer Force, the UVF, says he can arrange to have a man killed. So, we travel to Belfast to track him down. In this episode, Al Jazeera Investigates the violent factional history of the UVF and how the organization has evolved and expanded since the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. What happens to paramilitary group when the fighting stops? They don’t go away, they adapt and in the case of the UVF, it has become a violent, international drug cartel willing to sell its services to the highest bidder.

This episode was written and produced by Kevin Hirten with Simon Boazman and Craig Pennington who is also the audio editor. Additional editing by Manny Panaretos. Clean Cuts did the final sound mix. Rafi Mustafa is Manager of Investigative Programs for Al Jazeera English.  And Mohammed Al-Hamadi is our Director of Programs.

It all starts with an undercover meeting about a murder for hire. An admitted member of a Northern Irish paramilitary group called the Ulster Volunteer Force, the UVF, says he can arrange to have a man killed. So, we travel to Belfast to track him down. In this episode, Al Jazeera Investigates the violent factional history of the UVF and how the organization has evolved and expanded since the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. What happens to paramilitary group when the fighting stops? They don&rsquo;t go away, they adapt and in the case of the UVF, it has become a violent, international drug cartel willing to sell its services to the highest bidder.
This episode was written and produced by Kevin Hirten with Simon Boazman and Craig Pennington who is also the audio editor. Additional editing by Manny Panaretos. Clean Cuts did the final sound mix.&nbsp;Rafi Mustafa is Manager of Investigative Programs for Al Jazeera English.&nbsp; And Mohammed Al-Hamadi is our Director of Programs.

The Cyprus Papers Undercover: The Aftermath

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