Gotham City (website)

Gotham City is a French-speaking Swiss investigative news website sourcing information through a judicial watch and specializing in white-collar crime (fraud, corruption, money laundering).

Gotham City
Type of site
News website
Founded2017
Country of originSwitzerland
Founder(s)Marie Maurisse and François Pilet
EditorMarie Maurisse
François Pilet
Coline Emmel
Federico Franchini
Karine Pfenniger
URLgothamcity.ch

Gotham City focuses on white-collar crime cases related to the Swiss financial industry. The court reporters obtain information through open data requests from courts in Switzerland, France and abroad. The articles give as often as possible access to original court documents obtained from official sources. Gotham City is an independent, readership-funded, advertising-free, subscription-only media outlet.

History

Gotham City was founded in 2017 by investigative journalists Marie Maurisse and François Pilet.[1][2][3][4] The editorial staff also includes Coline Emmel, Federico Franchini and Karine Pfenniger.

In June 2019, Gotham City revealed that SICPA, a Swiss company that provides security inks for currencies and sensitive documents, is subject to criminal proceedings by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland for acts of corruption in Brazil.[5] In August 2019, Gotham City published a second article stating that the federal investigation against SICPA involves suspicions of corruption in fourteen countries.[6] In June 2021, Gotham City revealed that the federal investigation against Sicpa was extended to Philippe Amon, Sicpa's owner.[7]

Gotham City revealed in August 2020 that the public prosecutor's office of the Canton Geneva had frozen $900 million belonging to Carlos Manuel de São Vicente,[8] the husband of Irene Alexandra da Silva Neto, daughter of Angola's first president, António Agostinho Neto. The ruling indicates that the public prosecutor's office of the Canton Geneva opened criminal proceedings for money laundering against Carlos Manuel de São Vicente in December 2018. Carlos Vicente is suspected of embezzling funds from his Angolan insurance company AAA Seguros SA. The latter was responsible for covering risks related to the oil activities of the Angolan national company Sonangol.[9][10] These revelations sparked outcry in Angola.[11]

In June 2021, Gotham City revealed that the US embassy in Bern requested the extradition of Vladislav Klyushin, who was arrested in canton Valais and was being held in the town of Sion in southern Switzerland.[12][13]

In 2022, the website published a judgement from the Administrative Chamber of the Geneva Court that ordered billionaire Pierre Castel to pay 415 million francs in back taxes.[14]

References
  1. "Des médias indociles encore en quête d'un modèle alternatif". Le Temps. April 4, 2018 – via www.letemps.ch.
  2. "Médias voisins - Gotham City - Radio". Play RTS.
  3. ""Often overlooked": the media startups to watch in 2021". March 11, 2021 – via www.sifted.eu.
  4. "Journalisten vor Gericht – Reiche wollen sie zum Schweigen bringen". April 1, 2021 – via www.tagesanzeiger.ch.
  5. "Sicpa sous enquête du MPC pour soupçons de corruption". June 13, 2019 – via www.rts.ch.
  6. "L'enquête anticorruption sur Sicpa vise plusieurs pays". Tribune de Genève – via www.tdg.ch.
  7. "Presse: l'enquête du MPC visant Sicpa élargie au directeur général". June 14, 2021 – via www.zonebourse.com.
  8. "La justice suisse gèle 900 millions de dollars d'un homme d'affaires angolais". Le Monde.fr. September 1, 2020 – via www.lemonde.fr.
  9. "Switzerland freezes Angolan tycoon's $900 million fortune". August 28, 2020 – via www.icij.org.
  10. Zhdannikov, Noah Browning, Dmitry (September 2, 2020). "Switzerland froze $900 mln from Angolan businessman - documents". Reuters – via www.reuters.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. "Angola "não pode fazer vista grossa" aos milhões de São Vicente". August 31, 2020 – via www.voaportugues.com.
  12. "Kremlin-linked businessman held in Switzerland". June 9, 2021 – via www.swissinfo.ch.
  13. "Back to Massachusetts Businessman responsible for Kremlin's media-monitoring system is now jailed in Switzerland and awaiting extradition to U.S." June 10, 2021 – via www.meduza.io.
  14. "He called himself Jesus: Geneva court upholds fine for Pierre Castel". BRAUWELT. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
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