Bringing graph technologies to data analysis : the case of Azerbaijan in the Offshore Leaks

SAS founded in 2013 in Paris | http://linkurio.us | @linkurious

WHAT IS A GRAPH?

Father Of

Father Of

Siblings

This is a graph

WHAT IS A GRAPH : NODES AND RELATIONSHIPS

Father Of

Father Of

Siblings

A graph is a set of nodes linked by relationships

This is a node

This is a relationship

People, objects, movies, restaurants, music

Antennas, servers, phones, people

Supplier, roads, warehouses, products

Graphs can be used to model many domains

DIFFERENT DOMAINS WHERE GRAPHS ARE IMPORTANT

Supply chains Social networks Communications

But why can graphs help data analysts?

GRAPHS AND DATA ANALYSIS

Working with complex, highly connected data?

Looking for hidden connections in large datasets?

Constantly jumping from document to document and feeling lost?

PAIN POINTS OF DATA ANALYSIS

THE OFFSHORE LEAKS

The Offshore Leaks shine a light never seen before on the offshore banking system

Records of financial institutions made public in 2012 by the ICIJ. Potential evidence for money laundering, tax evasion, corruption. The dataset contains information about the secret assets and

relationships of banks, government officials in China or Russia and some of the wealthiest persons in the world .

Country of origin of the offshore accounts found in the ICIJ dataset

A VERY COMPLEX DATASET

250k nodes, 500k edges and 1.2 million properties. Imagine trying to make sense of it...

How the Cook Islands help criminals keep their money

safe. Read more

The President family’s wealth

Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev suspicious ties link to

corruption. Read more

How Chinese elite hides its wealth in offshore centers

around the world. Read more

Some of the Offshore Leaks stories already made public

INTERESTING STORIES BURIED IN THE DATA

The Chinese elite’s secrets

Sea, sun and secrecy

Graphs can help make sense of complex and highly connected data

GRAPH TECHNOLOGIES ARE PERFECT TO ANALYSE THE OFFSHORE LEAKS

We are going to focus on Azerbaijan and use Neo4j + Linkurious to investigate the President’s

foreign assets

DIVING IN THE AZERBAIJANI WORLD

DATA MODEL FOR THE OFFSHORE LEAKS DATASET

What data* are we dealing with?

PersonOleg

CompanyTreasure ltd.

CompanyGood Advice Inc

AddressBahamas

PersonJohn

Fam

ily

PersonSam

Uses_address

Uses_address

Is_linked_to

Directo

r

Is_linked_to

Shareh

older

Is_linked_to

Shareholder

AddressDubai

Is_linked_toMaster client

Is_linked_toRecors & Register

Is_linked_to

Directo

r

Uses_address Uses_add

ress

Uses_address

AddressRussia

CompanyHide & Seek

*Information about the family ties are not in the ICIJ dataset but are public for the Azerbaijani President

FIRST QUESTION : OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS OF PRESIDENT ALIEYEV

Does President Aliyev have an offshore account?

President Aliyev Offshore accounts

FIRST QUESTION : OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS OF PRESIDENT ALIEYEV

A simple Cypher query for Neo4j

MATCH (president)-[r]->(offshoreaccount:Company)

WHERE president.first_name = 'Ilham'

RETURN offshoreaccount.name as company, offshoreaccount.form as form, offshoreaccount.incorporation as incorporation, offshoreaccount.status as status, r.date as date, r.role as role

FIRST QUESTION : OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS OF PRESIDENT ALIEYEV

Ilham Alieyev has one inactive offshore account

company form incorporation status date role

Rosamund International Ltd

Standard International Company

08/11/2002 Inactive 14/01/2003 Shareholder

Rosamund International Ltd

Standard International Company

08/11/2002 Inactive 14/01/2003 Director

SECOND QUESTION : OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS OF PRESIDENT ALIEYEV’S FAMILY

Does President Aliyev’s family have offshore accounts?

President Aliyev Offshore accountsThe President’s family

SECOND QUESTION : OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS OF PRESIDENT ALIEYEV’S FAMILY

One * and we search all potential connections

MATCH (president)-[r*]->(offshoreaccount:Company)

WHERE president.first_name = 'Ilham'

RETURN offshoreaccount.name as company, offshoreaccount.form as form, offshoreaccount.incorporation as incorporation, offshoreaccount.status as status

Ilham Alieyev’s family have 4 active accounts

SECOND QUESTION : OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS OF PRESIDENT ALIEYEV’S FAMILY

company form incorporation status

Harvard Management Limited

Standard International Company

07/11/2008 Active

LaBelleza Holdings Limited Business Company Limited by Shares

07/11/2008 Active

Arbor Investments Limited Business Company Limited by Shares

07/11/2008 Active

Crovelent Holdings LTD. Business Company Limited by Shares

29/03/2007 Active

Rosamund International Ltd

Standard International Company

08/11/2002 Inactive

What is happening here?

WHAT IS HAPPENING

Ilham Alieyev controls through his family a set of offshore companies

IS ILHAM ALIEYEV BUILDING A FINANCIAL NETWORK TO HIDE HIS ASSETS?

Abdolbari Gozal and his brother Hassan have been awarded more than $4.5bn in constructions contracts in Azerbaijan.

According to the ICIJ journalists, these accounts could be used to collect funds from two

successful businessmen

FROM OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS TO AZERBAIJANI CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS

THIRD QUESTION : WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PRESIDENT ALIEYEV AND THE GOZAL BROTHERS

Are President Aliyev and Abdolbari Gozal connected?

President Aliyev Abdolbari Gozal

MATCH (Ilham:Person {first_name:'Ilham'}),(Abdolbari:Person {first_name:'Abdolbari'}), p = shortestPath((Ilham)-[*]-(Abdolbari))

RETURN p

THIRD QUESTION : WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PRESIDENT ALIEYEV AND THE GOZAL BROTHERS

Graph database make it trivial to find the shortest path between two items

President Ilham Alieyev and Abdolbari Gozal are linked through Arbor Investments Limited

THIRD QUESTION : WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PRESIDENT ALIEYEV AND THE GOZAL BROTHERS

Linkurious is compatible with Neo4j. It’s the best solution to query intelligently graph

data.

The Linkurious interface allows a simple et visual

search experience. No need to be a graph expert to

understand a graph.

Communicate and share the results of your investigation.

Securely.

Find the information hidden in your graph

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF LINKURIOUS

The power of Neo4j

Visual exploration

Work on graphs as a team

DEMO

Go to linkurio.us to try it!

TECHNOLOGY

Cloud ready and open-source based

CONCLUSION

Contact us to discuss your projects at contact@linkurio.us

Article on Azerbaijan

- the article : http://linkurio.us/analysing-the-offshore-leaks-with-graphs/

- the dataset : https://www.dropbox.com/s/d9ceb427xzrcpza/Azerbaijan%20Offshore%20Leaks.zip

Other resources

- original article on the Alieyev case : http://www.icij.org/offshore/offshore-companies-provide-link-between-corporate-mogul-and-azerbaijans-president

- graph gist on Neo4j and the Offshore Leaks : http://gist.neo4j.org/?8724726

SOME ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO CONSIDER