Experience

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  Bloomberg Industry Group

  • United States
  • Information Services
  • 700 & Above Employee

  • Senior Investigative Reporter

    • Jan 2022 - Present

  • Senior Investigative Reporter

    • Jan 2022 - Present

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  The Baltimore Sun

  • Baltimore, Maryland Area

  • Editor, Criminal Justice and Courts

    • May 2019 - Jan 2022
    • Baltimore, Maryland Area

    Editor overseeing Criminal Justice issues, state and federal court coverage

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  Spanish Filmmaker Manuel Martin Cuenca

  • Miami/Fort Lauderdale Area

  • Investigative Consultant, documentary "The Miramar Murders"

    • Nov 2017 - Jan 2022
    • Miami/Fort Lauderdale Area

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  Freelance Consultant

  • Trainer on projects in Kenya, Bangkok, Albania, Macedonia and Eastern Balkans

  • Consultant and freelance reporter for investigative journalism and media development

    • Mar 2009 - Jan 2022
    • Trainer on projects in Kenya, Bangkok, Albania, Macedonia and Eastern Balkans

    Adviser and consultant specializing in designing and implementing investigative journalism training, building strong independent media centers in developing countries, and editing and leading multi-national investigative projects. Among the consultancies:• Editor and advisor, Albanian Journalists for Justice, Tirana, Albania, July 2012-September 2014. Created Albania’s first independent investigative journalism center, and advised and trained reporters as part of an anti-corruption and rule of law project sponsored by USAID and Chemonics International. The center, which grew directly out of a two-week training and mentoring session, now numbers 30 professional journalists.• Designed and implemented a training on anti-money laundering and identifying public corruption in Nairobi for the Kenyan School of Monetary Studies, May, 2014* Created curriculum and training program in Pristina, Kosovo designed to improve quality of courts and criminal justice reporting in the country. • Co-authored a detailed guide to reporting on corruption in developing countries for the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Vienna Austria from 2012-2013. • Speaker and presenter for numerous international agencies, including the U.S. Justice Department AIPAC Conference Bangkok; Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Belgrade; European Commission, Brussels; European Union, multiple locations.

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  The Virginian-Pilot newspaper

  • Virginia Beach, Virginia

  • Reporter

    • Nov 2013 - Nov 2015
    • Virginia Beach, Virginia

    Staff writer with an emphasis on long-range investigative journalism, often involving government, politics and development interests. Awarded Outstanding Journalist of the Year by Virginia Press Association in 2015. Investigation into a local mayor's dual role as a bank president and leader of Virginia's largest city prompted a state conflict-of-interest investigation and led to several resignations of bank directors. The bank changed its conflict policies directly because of our story, and the mayor resigned from the bank. A special prosecutor filed five separate conflict of interests charges, and the mayor plead guilty as part of a plea bargain. A separate investigating showed that City Councilman voted to give $18 million in taxpayer money to a project that soon after hired his wife to lead its marketing team. That story led directly to an investigation by the FBI and a federal grand jury, which is ongoing.

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  Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project-OCCRP

  • Sarajevo, Belgrade

  • International Investigations Editor

    • Mar 2009 - Sep 2012
    • Sarajevo, Belgrade

    Editor and adviser at the USAID-funded project, responsible for guiding Eastern European reporters through every aspect of a story, including editing, translation and fact checking. In role as adviser in Belgrade to the Serbia Center for Investigative Reporting, helped write and secure grants, implement a sound management structure and hire and train local staff. Our investigation into drug money laundering operations was named the country's best investigative story in 2012. Other accomplishments: Mentored reporters on a series of stories showing that a development bank in Republic Srpska loaned tens of millions of dollars to friends, relatives and business associates of the prime minister and other officials, with no accountability. Reporters examined thousands of loan applications to show that the prime minister approved loans to offshore companies in violation of bank rules. • Developed and directed a project that tracked down tens of millions of dollars hidden in Belize and offshore corporations controlled by Serbian businessman Miroslav Miskovic. A team of reporters uncovered loans and transactions sent from fictitious companies in the Caribbean to Miskovic’s Universal Bank in Belgrade. The Serbian National Bank opened an investigation after publication, and forced several offshore companies to sell their stakes in Universal Bank as a direct result of the stories.• Edited and directed a series of investigative stories uncovering money laundering and corruption by some of Eastern Europe’s largest drug dealers and most powerful businessmen.

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  South Florida Sun-Sentinel

  • South Florida

  • Senior Reporter

    • Mar 1999 - Mar 2009
    • South Florida

    Senior reporter covered courts, major breaking news and investigations for the then-375,000 circulation daily. Reported on top national stories, including the disputed 2000 presidential recount, 9/11 hijackers’ final days of plotting in South Florida, the Elian Gonzales saga, public corruption trials, an Irish Republican Army gun running scheme and extensive coverage of hurricanes and ensuing construction fraud. Accomplishments:• A series of investigative stories documenting abuses at the Admiral House, a hospital for trouble teens. The center was shut down within weeks of publication.• Anchor and writer for dozens of Florida stories of import, including hurricanes, corruption and large-scale fraud. Investigations included waste, fraud and abuse in local and state governments, organized crime’s influence in South Florida and lapses at the Federal Aviation Administration.• Coverage of the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s gambling empire and spending habits. Stories over several years showed the tribe’s struggles with sudden wealth, and the legal and social challenges its members faced.

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  NA

  • NA

    • 1910 - 1912