Scam Empire, An OCCRP Investigation Including Amphora Media, Nominated For European Press Prize

Scam Empire, a collaborative investigation by Swedish Television (SVT), OCCRP and 30+ international media partners, including Amphora Media, has been nominated for a European Press Prize.

The investigation, published in March 2025, exposed the inner workings of two massive investment fraud networks operating out of call centres in Israel, Eastern Europe, and Georgia. Amphora Media’s contribution focused on Malta’s role in the scheme, revealing how Maltese-registered companies, OpenPayd, were key in transferring funds extracted from victims.

Drawing on an unprecedented leak of nearly two terabytes of data — thousands of hours of recorded calls, screen recordings, and internal spreadsheets — the reporting team documented how at least 32,000 people across the globe were deceived into handing over approximately €230 million in fraudulent “investments.”

More recently, two Turkish companies owned by Ozan Özerk, the founder of OpenPayd, were under investigation for facilitating the laundering of criminal assets.  This company is not under investigation in Türkiye.

Cristian Lupșa, Chair of the Preparatory Committee of the European Press Prize, said: “What stood out again this year is the quality of journalism being produced across Europe, in newsrooms large and small, often under pressure and with limited resources. The range of entries reflects something important: all stories have a place here, from large cross-border collaborations to deeply reported local pieces that matter enormously to the communities they serve. What these stories show, collectively, is that journalism still holds space for complexity, for context, and for human experience. It remains a source of understanding, accountability, and, in many ways, hope.”

You can read the full investigation here.