Documents obtained by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) show that the Macedonian deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs also serves as the director of an active Cyprus-based company – breaching the law on conflict of interest.

Anti-corruption prosecutors have indicted Romania's Prince Paul Philippe, accusing him of involvement in an illegal restitution case in which he illicitly acquired land through colluding with a local businessman and a number of associates to bribe decision makers.

Once a chief of staff for former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula), Jose Dirceu was sentenced to 23 years in prison as part of the corruption scandal surrounding the  oil company Petrobras, international media reported.

According to the recent Europol-Interpol Report on Migrant Smuggling Networks, more than 90 percent of migrants entering the European Union (EU) are facilitated by third parties, predominantly by members of criminal groups, and the trend is expected to increase in the future due to “control measures taken by countries along the migratory routes.”

Unaoil, a Monaco-based oil-services company, denied allegations posed by Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post that it was at the center of a multi-billion dollar bribery scheme and claimed it was the victim of extortion.

Svetozar Marovic, who served as president of the joint state of Serbia and Montenegro until the two countries split, was released from custody Tuesday after he signed a plea bargain with prosecutors who accused him of involvement in a number of corruption cases that defrauded the local budget of Budva of millions of dollars in recent years.

Journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be able to appeal her imprisonment decision in a Supreme Court of Azerbaijan hearing on May 25, according to Trend News Agency. This is the final appeal in the Azerbaijani Court system. If she is unsuccessful the next step would be to take the case to the European courts.

Following a major crackdown on an international drug trafficking group in Greece on May 9, the Albanian opposition Democratic Party (DP) has accused the interior minister of protecting the alleged leader of the group, whom Greek media has dubbed the “Escobar of the Balkans.” “Escobar” is, according to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), a former regional director of transport services who served as part of the Transport Ministry until last week.

A Ukrainian cybercriminal was one of the first to be convicted in what has been called the largest known computer hacking and securities fraud scheme, a news release from the US Department of Justice said.

A Bulgarian court ordered five members of a group prosecutors suspect of loansharking, blackmailing, racketeering, property fraud, trafficking and harboring illegal immigrants, into pretrial detention Sunday. Their leader is allegedly a prominent member of the Bulgarian Euroroma party.