On Thursday (August 24), media reports suggested that the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is planning a shakedown of India’s financial markets, following the footsteps of US-based short seller ‘Hindenburg Research’.
According to media reports, OCCRP is planning an exposé on an unidentified corporate house in India over the investment of ‘overseas funds’. Citing sources, one such report stated, “The identity of the corporate house wasn’t immediately known but agencies are said to be keeping a tight vigil on the capital market.”
Founded in 2006, OCCRP claims to have a network of journalists across 6 continents who specialise in reporting on organised crime and corruption.
Sources Say | George Soros-backed OCCRP said to be planning another 'expose' on certain corp houses in India; here are the details👇#GeorgeSoros #OCCRP #expose pic.twitter.com/cee9YOa1sv
— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) August 24, 2023
While it might seem like an independent, non-partisan organisation, OCCRP is funded by the likes of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF), the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation.
This becomes evident from the website of the organisation, where the names of more than a dozen ‘institutional donors’ are listed under the heading ‘Who Support our Work.’ OCCRP said in a note, “We are incredibly grateful to the following institutional donors that make our work possible.”
It has now come to light that the OSF gave a grant of $8,00,000 (~ ₹6.61 crores) to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project for ‘strengthening’ the organisation’s cross-border reporting and increasing the wider impact.
Opindia also found the 2019 annual report [pdf] of OCCRP, which made it clear that the funds provided by George Soros’ Open Society Foundations were being used for establishing ties of the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium (GACC) to civil society across various countries.
Page 24 of the report stated, “In the next year, the GACC will go farther to advance legal action and build ties with civil society partners at the global and local levels, growing its reach and impact. We are grateful to our partners who have supported this unique partnership: the governments of Argentina, Australia, Denmark, Norway, and the United States and the Open Society Foundations“
This is in line with the textbook approach adopted by George Soros and his Open Society Foundations to influence civil society and ‘distort’ public perspectives across different nations.
George Soros and his anti-India agenda
India has been fighting a ‘perception war’ on all fronts since the start of 2023. On February 16 this year, George Soros exploited the Adani-Hindenburg controversy and launched a scathing attack on the Indian government.
He claimed, “Modi and business tycoon Adani are close allies. Their fate is intertwined…Adani Enterprises tried to raise funds in the stock market, but it failed. Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards.”
Soros accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of crony capitalism. “Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in parliament,” he added.
The Hungarian-American billionaire also said that the ‘shakedown’ caused to the Indian markets due to the Hindenburg Research report will result in ‘much needed institutional reforms’ and ‘democratic revival’.
George Soros and his vicious ecosystem of NGOs, activists and journalists had been trying to prove PM Modi as an ‘electoral autocrat’ who needed to be ousted for the ‘greater good’ of this country. And it has been a work in progress for a long time.
The Hungarian-American billionaire has also tried to use international institutions, which are funded by him, including Freedom House and V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute to tarnish the image of India at a global level.
In January 2020, the American billionaire committed $1 billion to start a global university to “fight nationalists” and climate change, calling them twin challenges that threaten the survival of our civilisation.
OCCRP also funded by Ford
Besides the Open Society Foundations, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project also receives funding from the Ford Foundation.
In 2015, the Government of Gujarat, while investigating Teesta Setalvad’s embezzlement case, came across funding by the Ford Foundation to her entities. It was found that her trust had violated FCRA norms.
Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Limited, with which Teesta is associated, received $ 2.9 lakh from the Ford Foundation as a grant to “address communalism, caste-based discrimination in India, including media strategies”.
Later, a letter was issued by the Gujarat Police, following which the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) expressed its intention to probe the activities of the Ford Foundation. This probably set off a chain of events, most of which happened in the background and were later revealed by Wikileaks.
Ford Foundation claimed that it was embroiled in a controversy over its funding to Sabrang Trusts managed by Teesta Setalvad. The letter titled Ford Foundation in India: Notes to John Podesta dated May 26, 2015, also mentioned their funding to Arvind Kejriwal’s NGO before he got into politics as a possible reason for the Government’s action.
This was confirmed by none other than one of the leading luminaries of the Indian left-wing firmament, Ms Arundhati Roy. In an interview with Sagarika Ghose, Roy talked about one of the articles that she wrote for The Hindu in which she alleged that the NGOs of Kejriwal and Sisodia had received over $400,000 from the Ford Foundation in three years.
Roy claimed that the group of ten people who were the top ‘management’ of the movement had well-funded NGOs. She said that three core members of the team had won the Magsaysay Award which is also funded by the Ford Foundation.
As interesting as it might sound, NDTV news anchor Ravish Kumar also coincidentally received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2019. Last year, whistle-blower emails quoted by Christopher Brunet on his Substack ‘KarlStack’ revealed that The Ford Foundation is a cesspool of intolerant and bigoted left-wing extremists.
Hindenburg Research report and possible strategy of OCCRP
On January 24 this year, a US-based short seller named Hindenburg Research published a 32,000-word report, accusing the Adani Group of stock manipulation and use of tax havens. The contentious report led to a fall of over $100 billion in the market cap of the Indian conglomerate.
The Adani Group trashed the report as a ‘malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations’. Later, it published a 413-page response and pointed out how the US-based investment research firm sought to benefit from its damning report.
“This is rife with conflict of interest and intended only to create a false market in securities to enable Hindenburg, an admitted short seller, to book massive financial gain through wrongful means at the cost of countless investors,” the Indian conglomerate had said back then.
So Adani has just released a 413 page statement in response to Hindenburg allegations pic.twitter.com/uV2U1KreT8
— Chandra R. Srikanth (@chandrarsrikant) January 29, 2023
Nonetheless, the Hindenburg Research report caused a temporary shakedown of the Adani group and wiped out $100 billion of wealth from the Indian stock market. While the share price of Adani Enterprises has recovered considerably, it is still below the price level before the report was out.
Citing sources, several media organisations have reported about the possibility of ‘Hindenburg 2.0’. They have expressed anticipation of a similar contentious report by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), targeting Indian business houses.
A cursory glance at the ‘India’ page of the organisation reveals the organisation’s fixation with the BBC documentary on PM Narendra Modi, which was nefariously designed to shield Islamists involved in the Godhra carnage and present the Indian Prime Minister as a ‘demagogue’ (despite the clean chit by Supreme Court-appointed SIT).
The organisation was also seen fearmongering about the State of democracy in India and reiterating propaganda of dubious fact-checkers of Alt News about news agency, ANI.
Given that the anti-India antecedents of OCCRP are clear, one can anticipate attempts at similar shakedown of India’s financial markets by the George Soros-funded organisation.
South Asian Editor of OCCRP wrote extensively for NewsClick
During our research, Opindia found that the South Asian (Regional) Editor of OCCRP, Anand Mangnale, was a partnerships and strategy consultant at the contentious left-propaganda outlet NewsClick
As per the information posted on the website of OCCRP, he has been working with the organisation since 2021. “Anand has worked on several investigations exposing corporate and government corruption, abuse of power, and government misinformation and fake news campaigns,” the profile bio read.
“Anand was a partnerships and strategy consultant with online news platform Newsclick.in, focusing on exposing corporate fraud and corruption.” it further added.
We also found that Anand Mangnale wrote 15 articles for NewsClick between August 2017 and March 2020. A closer inspection of his Twitter profile reveals his political and ideological inclination, besides his propensity to fearmonger about India and its democracy.
In one tweet, he was shielding Islamists who unleashed mayhem in Nuh district (Mewat region) of Haryana and attempted to portray the Hindu community as the aggressors.
What’s happening in the country isn’t random. Its part of a grand plan.
— Anand Mangnale (@FightAnand) August 2, 2023
It is state sponsored violence against Muslims & your & my silence is complicity in these times.
We are silently supporting this Genocidal act. #Nuh #Gurgaon #AttackOnMuslims pic.twitter.com/r1GELxmX7s
He was also seen labelling terrorists as ‘tribals’ in the State of Manipur and dubbing their neutralisation as a ‘State-sponsored massacre’ of the tribal community.
40 “Terrorists” shot dead by #Manipur Police.
— Anand Mangnale (@FightAnand) May 29, 2023
What happened in Manipur, the violence against Tribals is exactly what happened in #Gujarat. It was ‘State Sponsored Massacre’. @NBirenSingh has learned from @narendramodi
1/n pic.twitter.com/CJAeFL1JEq
Anand Mangnale, who works for the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), was also seen going on a tirade against the new Parliament building. “It actually represents apathy & insensitivity of the Modi Regime, not #Democracy,” he lamented.
#Family is a cause for #corruption.
— Anand Mangnale (@FightAnand) May 28, 2023
It need not be financial. It can be #ethical & #moral
This new parliament actually represents apathy & insensitivity of the Modi Regime, not #Democracy
P.S. this isn’t a value judgement. He needs to safeguard his son from a corrupt state. 🤷🏽♀️ https://t.co/wkyy9JfZYc
NewsClick is financed by Chinese Communist Party supporter
On August 5 this year, The New York Times published a detailed article, revealing the ties of an American businessman with the Chinese government and his financial support to an Indian leftist propaganda outlet named NewsClick.
According to the US-based newspaper, a millionaire named Neville Roy Singham is funding several news publications across the world (including India) to peddle Chinese propaganda.
“What is less known, and is hidden amid a tangle of nonprofit groups and shell companies, is that Mr. Singham works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide,” the article stated.
The New York Times pointed out that Singham has been successful in disseminating Chinese government talking points under the pretext of ‘progressive advocacy’ in countries such as India, Brazil, South Africa and the United States.
Neville Roy Singham, who holds strong ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is at the forefront of China’s smokeless war.
In its article, The New York Times stated, “Under the rule of Xi Jinping, China has expanded state media operations, teamed up with overseas outlets and cultivated foreign influencers. The goal is to disguise propaganda as independent content.”
It further added, “The result is a seemingly organic bloom of far-left groups that echo Chinese government talking points, echo one another, and are echoed in turn by the Chinese state media.”
During its investigation, the American newspaper found that Neville Roy Singham had financed an India-based leftist propaganda outlet named NewsClick. It noted that the news outlet had repeated the talking points of the CCP in the past.
“In New Delhi, corporate filings show, Mr. Singham’s network financed a news site, NewsClick, that sprinkled its coverage with Chinese government talking points. “China’s history continues to inspire the working classes,” one video said,” noted The New York Times.
In July 2021, the ED informed that the investigation into the money laundering case against ‘NewsClick’ had revealed that the promoters of the media outlet received nearly ₹38 crores from entities, that might be associated with the Communist Party of China.
We now have mail transcripts, which suggest that NewsClick owner Prabir Purkayastha was instructed to praise China’s handling of Covid-19.
Conclusion
NewsClick has been under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate since 2021. The revelations by The New York Times have rattled the left-liberal ecosystem, with many finding excuses to defend the left propagandist outlet.
We now know that the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has a regional Editor, who worked with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) funded NewsClick.
With media reports now suggesting a possible ‘expose’ by OCCRP targeting an Indian corporate house, the Chinese funding angle cannot be ruled out.
