| One morning, while photographing what he described as Ciudad de la Paz's "contrast of opulence and neglect," Reddy caught the attention of a security guard who accused him of being a thief. He was soon arrested by four Kalashnikov-wielding police officers and pulled into an unmarked red sedan.
The arrest triggered an hourslong ordeal, which Reddy spent waiting anxiously in a dingy police station with no cell reception. Eventually, with help from staff at his hotel, he was released to a flurry of text messages and missed calls from concerned family members, diplomatic officials, and colleagues.
Reflecting on the trip months later, Reddy had learned an important lesson: power in Equatorial Guinea could be wielded arbitrarily — as its mercurial deputy president, Teodorin, knew well.
"Hazards aside, on-the-ground reporting adds meaning and helps bring life to otherwise dry forensic investigations," he wrote. "And to truly comprehend the scale of the looting by the Equatorial Guinean elite, the lost opportunities, and the repercussions for ordinary people in this tiny, little-known and very closed-off country … I had to come here and witness it up close." Read more here.
'CRYPTO WEEK' IN US CONGRESS
The crypto industry celebrated as U.S. lawmakers advanced a cascade of bills to regulate digital currencies last week during what Republican lawmakers dubbed "Crypto Week." But financial transparency and consumer advocates are raising alarms that the proposed laws don't go far enough to stop cross-border dirty money flows.
CYPRUS GREENLIGHTS SANCTIONS UNIT
Cyprus' parliament has cleared the way for the creation of a dedicated sanctions implementation unit, a component of long-awaited reforms to the country's financial system spurred in part by ICIJ's Cyprus Confidential investigation.
EX-REAL MADRID MANAGER SENTENCED
A Madrid court sentenced Carlo Ancelotti, whose tax arrangements were revealed in the Pandora Papers, to a one-year suspended prison term and fined him over $450,000 for tax fraud while he was manager of Real Madrid football club in 2014.
Thanks for reading!
Joanna Robin
ICIJ's digital editor
P.S. If you've enjoyed our coverage, remember to tell your friends and family and share our work on social media. Send them an email now! | 
