Person of the Year

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There’s only one prize whose winners include foul-mouthed Filipino leader Rodrigo Duterte, authoritarian Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and cigarette-smuggling, gangster-loving Montenegrin Premier Milo Djukanovic.

It’s OCCRP’s “Person of the Year” award, which since 2012 has singled out those who do the most to wreak havoc around the world through organized crime and corruption.

With this honor, OCCRP aims to promote accountability by shining a light on those judged to have done the most to bolster corruption and the political collusion that often accompanies it.

After a first round of nominations from journalists and members of the public, a group of judges with expertise in organized crime and corruption selects a winner and finalists.

Read more about this year’s winner, and past laureates, below.

2023
María Consuelo Porras
María Consuelo Porras, Guatemala’s Attorney General, has been a key instrument in derailing democracy, working to keep the corrupt government in power by overseeing efforts to prevent president elect Bernardo Arévalo from assuming office, and brutally persecuting honest prosecutors, journalists, and activists.
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2022
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch and mercenary leader, has become perhaps the most conspicuous avatar of everything that is darkest about his motherland in his fusion of crooked money and brutal violence, his sneering cynicism, and his impunity in the face of even Russian law.
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2021
Aleksandr Lukashenko
Belarusian President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, Europe’s brutal last dictator, has been named 2021’s Person of the Year in recognition of all he has done to advance organized criminal activity and corruption.
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2020
Jair Bolsonaro
Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil, has been named the OCCRP’s 2020 Person of the Year for his role in promoting organized crime and corruption.
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2019
Joseph Muscat
Prime Minister of Malta directly responsible for increase in criminality and lack of prosecutions in Malta during his term.
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2018
Danske Bank
Largest bank in Denmark, enabler of large-scale money laundering through branch in Estonia.
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2017
Rodrigo Duterte
President of the Philippines, responsible for more than 1,000 extrajudical killings, endorsing vigilantism and systematic violations of human rights.
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2016
Nicolás Maduro
Venezuela's ”Lord of Misrule,” whose corrupt and oppressive reign is so rife with mismanagement that citizens of his oil-rich nation are literally starving and begging for medicine.
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2015
Milo Djukanovic
Montenegrin president with a long history of befriending organized crime figures, involving himself in corrupt practices, and bribing voters.
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2014
Vladimir Putin
Russian President who turned his country into a major money-laundering center; enabled organized crime in Crimea and in the Donbass region of
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2013
Romanian Parliament
The European legislative body that did the most in 2013 to advance corruption — by making it legal.
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2012
Ilham Aliyev
Azerbaijani leader whose family grabbed large shares of the country's most lucrative industries, including telecoms, minerals, and construction, often through government deals.
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