Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co.’s Austrian subsidiary is challenging journalists’ efforts to obtain that information in a case likely to test the limits of the country’s freedom of information law, which was enacted in September 2025.

The dispute stems from a freedom-of-information campaign by outlets profil and Der Standard as part of the Cancer Calculus, a global investigative collaboration led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Reporters from the Austrian outlets found that Keytruda, developed and marketed by Merck, is the country’s largest hospital medication expense, with estimated payments based on its manufacturer’s listed price reaching 245 million euros in 2024 and more than 900 million euros from 2020 to 2024.

But confidentiality clauses between hospitals and Merck — known as MSD outside the U.S. — mean that even the federal health authority does not know the actual prices hospitals pay after negotiations.

While health authorities in several countries cited confidentiality protections to withhold pricing data during the Cancer Calculus reporting, so far it’s been the denials in Austria that have led to a court battle over transparency.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/senator-questions-merck-over-patent-strategy-for-blockbuster-cancer-drug-keytruda/

IMPACT Senator questions Merck over patent strategy for blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda Jul 02, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/merck-keytruda-cancer-drug-price/

OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/following-the-paper-trail-to-guatemala-to-uncover-what-records-cant-reveal-about-access-to-keytruda/

BEHIND THE SCENES Following the paper trail to Guatemala to uncover what records can’t reveal about access to Keytruda May 11, 2026

Recommended reading IMPACT Senator questions Merck over patent strategy for blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda Jul 02, 2026 OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026 BEHIND THE SCENES Following the paper trail to Guatemala to uncover what records can’t reveal about access to Keytruda May 11, 2026

Circle pitches its USDC token, a so-called stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, as the new face of finance. The $17-billion firm is the second largest stablecoin issuer and has touted partnerships with Visa, Mastercard and global banks, as well as its work with police to tackle sophisticated scams.

But some officials, who often rely on stablecoin issuers to fight illicit activity, have begun to raise alarms about instances of Circle denying law enforcement requests to freeze assets and allegedly refusing to help recover victim funds.

The tools that are at our disposal are not keeping up with the tools the criminals are using,

— Wisconsin prosecutor Thomas Binger

Frustrations boiled over recently in a county in southeastern Wisconsin, where state prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Circle, alleging the company refused to comply with a warrant ordering it to recover a scam victim’s stolen assets. Although the complaint lists a single misdemeanor count, it is highly unusual for a state prosecutor to level a criminal charge against a major financial firm like Circle, according to Karen Greenway, a former FBI agent and financial crime expert.

In a filing last week, Circle called the Wisconsin complaint meritless and said it should be dismissed. Circle maintains it did not have the technical capability to comply with the order and that prosecutors did not engage with the company’s attempt to find alternatives for compensating the victim. Circle also asserted that the Wisconsin court did not have jurisdiction to issue the order.

The case’s prosecutor, Thomas Binger, said that prosecutors are struggling against criminals who use cryptocurrency’s anonymity to move illicit funds beyond their reach.

“The tools that are at our disposal are not keeping up with the tools the criminals are using,” Binger said. “It’s made it very difficult to identify the perpetrator behind these transactions and bring them to justice.”

Criminals often use stablecoins to move stolen funds. In December, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Coin Laundry project revealed that the Huione Group, a financial conglomerate based in Cambodia, relied on the stablecoin issued by Tether to move at least $1.4 billion, including after the United States named Huione a money laundering organization. A spokesperson for Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, told ICIJ in an emailed statement at the time that the company “unequivocally condemns the illegal use of stablecoins and is fully committed to combating illicit activity.”

Racing against the blockchain

The Wisconsin case follows a letter prosecutors in New York State sent U.S. Senators in January expressing multiple frustrations with Circle. First, prosecutors said that Circle has denied law enforcement requests to freeze its USDC tokens without a court order.

Stablecoin transactions can take just seconds, far less time than obtaining a court order. Freezing funds means the suspected criminal can no longer move the crypto out of their digital wallet or convert those funds to cash. Getting companies like Circle to remotely freeze funds is a crucial first step in trying to get that money back to victims.

In a blog post from earlier this year, Circle said it freezes tokens only when compelled through a “lawful process”, a policy intended to protect users from “arbitrary or politically motivated interference.” This stands in contrast to Tether, which grants some requests from law enforcement even without a court order. Tether told ICIJ that it has “helped freeze about $4.7 billion in assets connected to illicit activity.”

Scott Simons, a police detective in Milwaukee County who consulted on the case that led to the criminal complaint against Circle, says he’s seen more than a dozen cases around the country in which Circle either declined a law enforcement request to freeze victim funds or where a court order to compel the company to freeze victim funds was obtained too late to stop fund flows.

A company that said it can’t comply

In their letter to Congress, New York prosecutors also asserted that Circle did not honor court orders seeking to return stolen funds to victims — the issue at the heart of the Wisconsin complaint.

Because Circle keeps interest-yielding assets on hand to back up its digital tokens, frozen assets can in fact be lucrative, according to the letter from New York officials.

“Circle’s motive for not assisting law enforcement becomes crystal clear: it is financially preferable to only freeze cryptocurrency deemed to have been stolen, but not return the underlying asset to law enforcement or any fraud victim, because Circle can continue to collect the interest through investment of the underlying funds,” the letter said. Circle currently has at least 119 million USDC tokens frozen, according to blockchain researcher Yury Serov.

The Wisconsin case dates back to around May of last year when a Walworth County resident identified only as “Victim #1” received an unsolicited text message from a person calling herself Lenora, according to court records. “Lenora” led the man to believe they were in a relationship and, touting her investment prowess, directed him to convert part of his savings to USDC and deposit it into a bogus investment platform.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/cryptocurrency-exchanges-binance-okx-money-laundering-crime/

CRYPTOCURRENCY Crypto giants moved billions linked to money launderers, drug traffickers and North Korean hackers Nov 17, 2025

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/amid-a-scam-crackdown-crypto-giants-keep-fueling-bitcoin-atms/

CRYPTOCURRENCY Amid a scam crackdown, crypto giants keep fueling bitcoin ATMs May 26, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/law-enforcement-banks-warn-of-money-laundering-gaps-in-major-us-crypto-bill/

CRYPTOCURRENCY Law enforcement, banks warn of money laundering gaps in major US crypto bill Jun 24, 2026

Recommended reading CRYPTOCURRENCY Crypto giants moved billions linked to money launderers, drug traffickers and North Korean hackers Nov 17, 2025 CRYPTOCURRENCY Amid a scam crackdown, crypto giants keep fueling bitcoin ATMs May 26, 2026 CRYPTOCURRENCY Law enforcement, banks warn of money laundering gaps in major US crypto bill Jun 24, 2026

After searching the offices of local firm Abigail and other locations, the Taipei City Investigation Office issued deferred prosecution orders against Li Hualun and Chen Mengsen for violating the personal data protection act and other crimes, according to a statement released by the bureau today.

The two obtained accounts for the messaging app LINE and leased them to Xiamen Empress Information Technology Co. Ltd., a firm allegedly linked to China’s cyber army, for about $161 per account. This enabled Chinese government-backed hackers to launch “social engineering attacks” against Taiwanese officials, as well as scholars and NGO workers, by impersonating journalists, the investigators found.

The suspects “acted under the direction of the Chinese Communist Party’s cyber army unit,” the bureau said.

A graphic from Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice shows how journalists were allegedly impersonated as part of a social engineering attack by Chinese actors. Image: Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau

The Taiwanese authorities’ operation follows an investigation by ICIJ and cybersecurity analysts at Toronto University’s Citizen Lab, which investigates digital threats against civil society. It identified suspicious emails by ICIJ impersonators and phony Chinese whistleblowers sent to ICIJ reporters as part of a sophisticated offensive strategy aimed at stealing private information from entities of interest to the Chinese government. The targets included Uyghur, Tibetan, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong diaspora activists, as well as journalists from ICIJ and elsewhere who report on activities related to these groups.

The attacks against the ICIJ network followed the 2025 publication of China Targets, which exposed Beijing’s tactics to silence dissidents overseas.

Citizen Lab found several errors in the suspicious emails, suggesting that the attackers may have been involved in a “high volume” of attacks and used artificial intelligence to automate them, identify targets and generate messages without much oversight.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-targets/fake-journalists-cyber-spies-china-targets-reporters/

TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION Phony whistleblowers, fake journalists and cyber spies: ICIJ network targeted after China Targets probe  Apr 27, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-targets/cyberattack-against-uyghur-rights-activists-shows-hallmarks-of-chinese-repression-tactics-researchers-say/

Digital repression Cyberattack against Uyghur rights activists shows hallmarks of Chinese repression tactics, researchers say Apr 28, 2025

https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-targets/china-transnational-repression-dissent-around-world/

OVERVIEW Inside China’s machinery of repression — and how it crushes dissent around the world Apr 28, 2025

Recommended reading TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION Phony whistleblowers, fake journalists and cyber spies: ICIJ network targeted after China Targets probe  Apr 27, 2026 Digital repression Cyberattack against Uyghur rights activists shows hallmarks of Chinese repression tactics, researchers say Apr 28, 2025 OVERVIEW Inside China’s machinery of repression — and how it crushes dissent around the world Apr 28, 2025

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, said that Merck and other drug companies often file excessive patents to extend their monopolies and keep more affordable versions of their pricey drugs out of reach. In a letter to Merck CEO Robert Davis, the lawmaker asked the company to detail patent actions connected to both the Keytruda intravenous version, which has been on the market for over a decade, and its new injectable version of the drug, which launched last year.

“I continue to have serious concerns about how Merck’s anti-competitive practices have boosted profits at the expense of patients,” Hassan wrote in her letter, sent this week. She added she has noted in previous years how “these kinds of patent gimmicks have allowed Merck to delay other companies from selling lower cost versions of this medication, all while raising the price of Keytruda in the U.S. year after year.”

Hassan cited a finding from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ recent Cancer Calculus investigation, which showed that Merck’s new injectable version of Keytruda “could help Merck generate billions of dollars and delay competition into the 2030s.”

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/merck-keytruda-cancer-drug-price/

OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/lowering-doses-of-cancer-drugs-could-slash-global-health-spending-by-30b-new-research-shows/

FOLLOW UP Lowering doses of cancer drugs could slash global health spending by $30B, new research shows Jun 11, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/keytruda-evergreening-patents-merck/

INTERACTIVE How Merck uses patents to help maintain Keytruda’s exorbitant price Apr 13, 2026

Recommended reading OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026 FOLLOW UP Lowering doses of cancer drugs could slash global health spending by $30B, new research shows Jun 11, 2026 INTERACTIVE How Merck uses patents to help maintain Keytruda’s exorbitant price Apr 13, 2026

Yorgen Fenech, the heir to a property empire, was arrested in 2019 by Malta’s armed forces on a yacht in connection with the car-bomb murder.

After years of delays due to legal challenges, he faces complicity and criminal association charges and is the last of seven men to face trial over the assassination that rocked the country. Fenech denies the charges.

The 2017 murder provoked outrage from journalists, civil society groups and governments around the world. Malta’s attorney general, Victor Buttigieg, has called for a life sentence for the murder charge and between 20 and 30 years for the criminal association charge.

Daphne Caruana Galizia’s husband, three sons and two sisters were in court for the commencement of the trial. Her son Matthew Caruana Galizia worked for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists from 2014 to 2018.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/it-is-still-dangerous-to-be-a-journalist-daphne-caruana-galizias-son-reflects-on-her-life-and-legacy/

PRESS FREEDOM ‘It is still dangerous to be a journalist’: Daphne Caruana Galizia’s son reflects on her life and legacy Jan 12, 2024

https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2022/10/two-brothers-convicted-of-murdering-daphne-caruana-galizia-sentenced-to-40-years-in-prison/

PRESS FREEDOM Two brothers convicted of murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia, sentenced to 40 years in prison Oct 16, 2022

https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/malta-responsible-for-assassination-of-journalist-daphne-caruana-galizia-inquiry-finds/

PRESS FREEDOM Malta responsible for assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, inquiry finds Jul 30, 2021

Recommended reading PRESS FREEDOM ‘It is still dangerous to be a journalist’: Daphne Caruana Galizia’s son reflects on her life and legacy Jan 12, 2024 PRESS FREEDOM Two brothers convicted of murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia, sentenced to 40 years in prison Oct 16, 2022 PRESS FREEDOM Malta responsible for assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, inquiry finds Jul 30, 2021

Known as the Clarity Act, the bill seeks to bring cryptocurrency under a single legal framework on the national level, ending years of the industry operating in gray areas. Crypto companies and President Donald Trump have heavily championed the bill. Defenders of the bill say that it fills a crucial regulatory vacuum and provides law enforcement with new tools to address crime. But critics argue it contains dangerous loopholes and prioritizes studies and pilot programs instead of holding all crypto services to stringent anti-money laundering standards.

This is largely window-dressing type regulation.

— Gary Kalman, executive director of Transparency International U.S.

In recent months, law enforcement groups including the National Sheriffs’ Association and the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys have sent letters to lawmakers voicing a common concern: They argue that the bill could create regulatory exemptions for certain decentralized and automated cryptocurrency services that criminals often rely on to obfuscate their fund flows.

Yesterday, four law enforcement groups representing police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors told the acting U.S. Attorney General that, despite discussions with senior officials across the Trump administration, their concern that the bill’s “broad exemptions could create gaps in oversight and accountability that sophisticated criminal actors may exploit” remains unresolved. The letter said its signatories represent more than 70,000 law enforcement professionals across the U.S.

“Criminal organizations increasingly utilize digital assets to facilitate and conceal unlawful activity, including narcotics trafficking, fraud, child exploitation, ransomware attacks, sanctions evasion, terrorism financing, organized retail crime, and other forms of transnational criminal activity,” the letter states, pointing to exemptions for some decentralized businesses. “Regulatory certainty should not come at the expense of accountability, transparency, victim protection, or public safety.”

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Key industry players disagree with these groups’ criticisms of the bill. The bill’s alleged loophole for decentralized services “does not exist,” Robin Cook, the director of U.S. Policy at the crypto giant Coinbase, told ICIJ in an interview. Cook points to a section 301 of the bill that he says will in fact bring most automated trading protocols under traditional anti-money laundering requirements.

“It is bringing new regulation at the federal level where there isn’t any today,” Cook told ICIJ. “That is not a deregulatory bill. The idea that somehow this is deregulatory is demonstrably false.”

The Coin Laundry, an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and 37 partner publications, found that criminals and other suspect actors commonly relied on decentralized trading protocols that can help make financial trails harder for law enforcement to trace.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/trump-administration-curbs-state-oversight-of-crypto-industry/

cryptocurrency Trump administration curbs state oversight of crypto industry May 15, 2026

https://www.icij.org/news/2025/07/landmark-cryptocurrency-legislation-passes-u-s-house-to-be-signed-into-law-by-president-trump/

CRYPTO Landmark cryptocurrency legislation passes US House, to be signed into law by President Trump Jul 18, 2025

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/cryptocurrency-exchanges-binance-okx-money-laundering-crime/

CRYPTOCURRENCY Crypto giants moved billions linked to money launderers, drug traffickers and North Korean hackers Nov 17, 2025

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The country’s Independent Anti-Corruption Authority alleges Anastasiades may have improperly tried to influence investigations into suspected payments to political parties and politicians, intervened in a Russian oligarch’s citizenship application, and may have used his office to stymie an anti-money laundering probe involving his former law firm.

Last week, the authority announced the criminal referrals to the attorney general in a sprawling 16,000-word statement summarizing its investigation into allegations made in “Kratos Mafia,” or “Mafia State,” a 2022 book by Makarios Drousiotis, a former Anastasiades aide turned investigative journalist.

The announcement includes a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of Drousiotis’ book, following the watchdog’s two-year investigation into those allegations that fell under its purview. The authority said it issued summons and interviewed key witnesses, including Drousiotis and Anastasiades himself, who “testified for many hours, spanning more than one day.”

The referrals to the attorney general were made as part of a confidential “final report” comprising more than 3,000 pages, along with other supporting documents. The authority cautioned that every person mentioned in the report carried a presumption of innocence and that “only a court of law is competent to determine a person’s guilt.” Anastasiades has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The Independent Anti-Corruption Authority was created in 2022 under pressure from the European Union and the U.S. to address longstanding concerns about public corruption in Cyprus and its rise to become a crucial financial hub for Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cyprus-confidential/cyprus-model-politics-tax-haven-russian-wealth/

EUROPE How Cyprus rose to become the beating heart of the Putin regime’s shadow financial system Nov 14, 2023

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cyprus-confidential/cyprus-russia-eu-secrecy-tax-haven/

OVERVIEW Cyprus ignores Russian atrocities, Western sanctions to shield vast wealth of Putin allies Nov 14, 2023

https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/global-investigation-tax-havens-offshore/

GLOBAL OVERVIEW Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak Oct 03, 2021

Recommended reading EUROPE How Cyprus rose to become the beating heart of the Putin regime’s shadow financial system Nov 14, 2023 OVERVIEW Cyprus ignores Russian atrocities, Western sanctions to shield vast wealth of Putin allies Nov 14, 2023 GLOBAL OVERVIEW Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak Oct 03, 2021

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the initial dosage of Keytruda in 2014 based on a patient’s body weight, at 2 milligrams per kilogram. But Merck & Co., the maker of the drug, later changed to a fixed dosage with the FDA’s approval. Now Merck recommends 200 mg every three weeks or 400 mg every six weeks, regardless of the patient’s weight.

The studies discussed last week at the ASCO conference in Chicago, however, indicate that patients are receiving more of Keytruda and similar cancer drugs than necessary, which dramatically pushes up consumer costs and corporate profits — and that smaller doses work just as well. One study estimated the savings at more than $30 billion annually.

We found that by lowering the dose, we can expand access by 50 to 60%.

— Kumar Prabhash, oncologist at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.

Merck disagrees with that finding, saying in a statement to ICIJ that the FDA-approved doses “are based upon wide-ranging preclinical data and extensive clinical evidence.”

Meanwhile, an official from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told ICIJ that the agency supports scaling back cancer treatments if evidence shows it is safe to do so. Emily G. Hilliard, the agency’s senior press secretary, said the FDA “will continue to work with oncologic drug developers to determine the appropriate dosages that are safe and effective for patients.”

“[The National Cancer Institute] supports efforts to de-escalate cancer therapies when the evidence shows that fewer drugs or lower doses can be administered safely and effectively,” Hilliard said in a statement. “Receiving less treatment while maintaining efficacy can improve a patient’s quality of life, lower costs, require fewer clinic visits, and, most importantly, reduce treatment-related toxicity. Our goal is to ensure patients receive the most effective treatment with the fewest possible side effects.”

The Cancer Calculus, an investigation by ICIJ and 47 media partners published in April, shows how Merck has kept the price of the lifesaving drug sky-high by building a fortress of patents to deter competition and through opaque pricing. In the U.S., for example, a 200 mg dose of Keytruda costs $12,000, according to an ICIJ analysis.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/merck-keytruda-cancer-drug-price/

OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/keytruda-evergreening-patents-merck/

INTERACTIVE How Merck uses patents to help maintain Keytruda’s exorbitant price Apr 13, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/mexico-seizes-suspicious-keytruda-in-raid-to-dismantle-counterfeit-medication-ring/

COUNTERFEITS Mexico seizes suspicious Keytruda in raid to dismantle counterfeit medication ring Jun 04, 2026

Recommended reading OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026 INTERACTIVE How Merck uses patents to help maintain Keytruda’s exorbitant price Apr 13, 2026 COUNTERFEITS Mexico seizes suspicious Keytruda in raid to dismantle counterfeit medication ring Jun 04, 2026

Editor’s note: Arnold Ventures has been a funder of ICIJ. Funders have no involvement in ICIJ’s editorial decisions.

Kennedy, a former CIA officer, was involved in the deal in 2009 and 2010 as head of an offshore corporation owned by her father. She was employed as a spy during those years, according to media reporting.

The documents show that as president of the British Virgin Islands-registered Helios Enterprises Limited, Kennedy was involved in an effort on behalf of her father, Hodson Thornber, to pressure a Moscow-based investment bank to fulfill a 2008 agreement to pay roughly $30 million for Helios’ shares in a large Ukrainian agricultural company. The Russian bank, Renaissance Capital, included former senior Russian intelligence officers in its top ranks.

Kennedy told ICIJ that she was appointed Helios’ president as she was preparing to leave government service, and in that position worked with her father to identify investments in consumer technology startups. She said that any involvement she had in the dispute with Renaissance Capital was “pro forma,” and that she “had no knowledge of or involvement in” the  dispute or the business project in general.

“I lived in the United States the entire time I worked for Helios and never worked on any deals related to the farm business or Ukraine,” she wrote. “I’ve never met any of the people involved, nor ever visited Ukraine.”

She is also the daughter-in-law of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and managed his 2024 presidential campaign. In one podcast appearance, he called her “the smartest person I’ve ever met.”

https://www.icij.org/news/2026/05/intelligence-official-amaryllis-fox-kennedy-a-gabbard-ally-leaves-two-jobs/

Politics Intelligence official Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, a Gabbard ally, leaves two jobs May 19, 2026

https://www.icij.org/news/2026/06/fidelity-opened-account-for-epstein-even-as-outrage-grew/

Epstein files Fidelity opened account for Epstein, even as outrage grew Jun 01, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/trump-administration-curbs-state-oversight-of-crypto-industry/

cryptocurrency Trump administration curbs state oversight of crypto industry May 15, 2026

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In November 2008, Renaissance Capital agreed to purchase Helios’ shares in UAFL for roughly $30 million in three installments in 2008 and 2009. The deal came during the global financial crisis, which impaired banks worldwide and plunged Renaissance into crisis.

As the crisis unfolded, Thornber began to pressure the investment bank to make good on its commitment to buy his shares. In January 2009, Kennedy, as president of Helios, wrote to Renaissance Capital to formally request Thornber’s appointment to UAFL’s board of directors, which was Helios’s prerogative under the shareholders agreement.

Thornber said in an interview that he did not remember being appointed to UAFL’s board. Helios was dissolved in May 2025, according to British Virgin Islands corporate records.

According to the documents, Thornber used his position as UAFL director to demand access to correspondence and financial transactions related to his dispute with Renaissance. When the bank took too long to provide access to certain records, he sent his lawyers unannounced to the BVI offices of the firm’s corporate services provider to inspect them.

In a bulletin released this week, the so-called Five Eyes alliance warned that Chinese intelligence officers were posing as recruiters on LinkedIn and other sites to target government and military personnel as well as journalists and academics who could have access to classified or privileged information. The Five Eyes include domestic security agencies from the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand

The officers build relationships with job candidates and may offer targets money in exchange for reports on topics of interest to the Chinese government, including defense and trade, according to the bulletin. Their goal is to “ultimately seek to acquire privileged military, political and economic intelligence that can provide China with a strategic and tactical advantage over the Five Eyes,” the bulletin said.

The warning echoes the experience of reporters with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, who were recently approached by these purported recruiters. After ICIJ published China Targets, an investigation into China’s transnational repression, the targets began receiving suspicious emails and messages on LinkedIn.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-targets/fake-journalists-cyber-spies-china-targets-reporters/

TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION Phony whistleblowers, fake journalists and cyber spies: ICIJ network targeted after China Targets probe  Apr 27, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-targets/cyberattack-against-uyghur-rights-activists-shows-hallmarks-of-chinese-repression-tactics-researchers-say/

Digital repression Cyberattack against Uyghur rights activists shows hallmarks of Chinese repression tactics, researchers say Apr 28, 2025

https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-targets/china-transnational-repression-dissent-around-world/

OVERVIEW Inside China’s machinery of repression — and how it crushes dissent around the world Apr 28, 2025

Recommended reading TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION Phony whistleblowers, fake journalists and cyber spies: ICIJ network targeted after China Targets probe  Apr 27, 2026 Digital repression Cyberattack against Uyghur rights activists shows hallmarks of Chinese repression tactics, researchers say Apr 28, 2025 OVERVIEW Inside China’s machinery of repression — and how it crushes dissent around the world Apr 28, 2025