A story walk-through with Ana Poenariu and Andrei Ciurcanu, investigative reporters with RISE Project (Romania). Moderated by ICFJ Director of Community Engagement Stella Roque. This event was organized in partnership with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

Bribery, dubious political connections, millions of faulty masks, and a black-market trade run by dealers with ties to organized crime are just some of the stories reporters from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and RISE Project have brought to light during the course of the pandemic. Where public records or procurement data weren't available, reporters went undercover to expose the schemes, discovering counterfeit safety certificates for PPE, criminal dealers and dodgy contracts. We talk to the reporters of RISE Romania to walk through two of their most impactful stories, how they got their leads and what reporters who want to do similar work should know about going undercover and reporting on organized crime.

Ana Poenariu started working as a local photojournalist in 2007 and her photos were published in the national media, Reuters and AFP. In 2014 she became an investigative reporter for Digi 24 Television and one year later she joined RISE Project. Poenariu has worked on several stories related to European funds, real estate assets owned by politically exposed persons and was part of several cross-border investigations. She was part of the team that received the Global Shining Light Award (Citation of Excellence) in 2019 for The Azerbaijani Laundromat and received several national grants and prizes.

Andrei Ciurcanu has been an active member with RISE Project since 2012 and an investigative reporter with the Organized Crime. He has covered topics like human and drug trafficking, land grabbing and environmental organized crime groups. He is one of the few Romanian journalists who investigated organ trafficking in Romania with cross-border connections.

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