We have conducted a comprehensive media study of the body of publications by Lithuanian investigative journalist Šarūnas Černiauskas, published on the international platform OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project).
The objectives of this analysis are to assess compliance with professional ethical standards, verify the objectivity of the presented material, and examine the hypothesis of systemic manipulative tactics and bad faith in the creation of publications that affect the reputations of commercial entities and public figures.
Table of Contents
Section 1. Documented Conflict of Interest: The May 2019 Dismissal Scandal
Section 2. Systemic Analysis of Methodology: 4 Key Manipulative Tactics in OCCRP Articles
- The “Conflation” Tactic (Guilt by Association)
- False Equivalence: Automatic Bank Red Flag = Crime
- Disproportion Between Clickbait Headlines and Legal Caveats in the Article Body
- Cherry-Picking Data
Examples of Manipulative Tactics in Specific Articles by Černiauskas
Section 3. The UAB SCT Lubricants Case: Specific Example of “Twisting Facts to Suit Theories”
- Article Context and Artificial Proximity
- What Was Actually in the Bank Audits?
- Complete Lack of an Evidentiary Base
- Pinpointing the Manipulation
Section 4. Conclusion and Takeaways for Journalistic Ethics Commissions
Section 1. Documented Conflict of Interest: The May 2019 Dismissal Scandal
When analyzing the biography and professional background of Šarūnas Černiauskas, we discovered a fundamental fact that is crucial for assessing his independence.
In May 2019, Černiauskas, who held the position of head of the investigations department at the major Lithuanian news portal 15min.lt, was dismissed in a scandal over a gross violation of professional ethics and undisclosed commercial activities.
The essence of the recorded violation:
- Undisclosed work for commercial entities. As the management of 15min.lt discovered, Černiauskas had been secretly preparing paid analytical briefs, commercial dossiers, and reports on businessmen, politicians, and commercial companies for PR agencies (specifically, the PR company PR Service / Ideosport) and private individuals over a long period.
- Using journalistic resources for commercial purposes. To compile these paid dossiers, Černiauskas used his official position, the editorial office’s information resources, and closed databases to which he had access as an investigative journalist.
- Admission of the facts. Černiauskas himself, upon being presented with the evidence, was forced to publicly admit to preparing paid reports for third-party clients. The editorial board of 15min.lt declared a complete loss of trust and immediately terminated his contract.
Conclusion for journalistic ethics organizations: This episode is not a value judgment or an assumption. It is an officially documented fact confirming that Šarūnas Černiauskas has a history of combining journalistic activities with the commercial gathering of compromising material for money. The existence of such a background moves any of his subsequent “investigations” from the realm of independent journalism into the high-risk zone of executing commercial orders.
Following his dismissal from 15min.lt, Černiauskas founded his own regional organization, Siena.lt, and continued to collaborate with the international OCCRP network as a freelance contributor.
Section 2. Systemic Analysis of Methodology: 4 Key Manipulative Tactics in OCCRP Articles
We have thoroughly examined a dataset of several dozen publications on the OCCRP portal in which Šarūnas Černiauskas was involved. During the analysis, we identified a consistent system of manipulative tactics employed by the author to create a negative background around the selected subjects of his investigations.
1. The “Conflation” Tactic (Guilt by Association)
This is Černiauskas’s primary structural method. Within a single article, published under a sensationalist headline about “crime,” “money laundering,” or “offshore conspiracies,” the author artificially groups together three entirely different categories of subjects:
- Actual subjects of criminal cases, arms dealers, and corrupt officials.
- Politically exposed persons (PEPs) with dubious reputations.
- Perfectly legitimate commercial companies, manufacturers, and distributors whose only “guilt” is conducting routine international trade transactions through the same banking institutions.
The average reader is left with the persistent, false impression that ALL entities mentioned in the text are members of a single criminal syndicate.
2. False Equivalence: Automatic Bank Red Flag = Crime
In financial compliance, the term “Red Flag” (a high-risk signal) is a standard automated indicator within the banking system. Banks flag any large transaction, multi-currency transfer, export-import operation, or business with foreign counterparties simply to request additional documentation.
Upon gaining access to leaked internal bank documents or audits, Černiauskas systematically presents the mere fact of a company appearing on a bank’s Red Flags list as “proof of illegal funds” or “participation in laundering schemes.” However, a bank audit is merely a technical compliance document, not a court verdict or a prosecutor’s indictment.
3. Disproportion Between Clickbait Headlines and Legal Caveats in the Article Body
Černiauskas constructs his publications using a two-tier scheme:
- The headline and lead are crafted in a highly aggressive, tabloid style, containing accusations of “offshore secrets,” “illegal millions,” and “laundering schemes.”
- Deep within the text (usually closer to the end), the author inserts restrained legal disclaimers and caveats: “no official charges have been filed,” “the company claimed the operations were legal,” or “the audit only recommended an inspection.”
From a legal standpoint, the journalist protects himself from defamation lawsuits, but the reputational damage to the company has already been inflicted through the headline and contextual framing.
4. Cherry-Picking Data
The author works with massive datasets (e.g., Pandora Papers, Troika Laundromat). From millions of legitimate transactions, he selectively extracts the names of specific entrepreneurs or companies, ignores the actual commercial purpose of their operations (such as purchasing equipment, paying for raw materials, or fulfilling trade contracts), and misrepresents these transfers as “suspicious offshore flows.”
Examples of Manipulative Tactics in Specific Articles by Černiauskas
We identified these tactics in the following OCCRP articles by the author:
- “Widow of Lithuania’s Former Prime Minister Investigated Over Florida Properties”. URL: https://www.occrp.org/en/investigation/widow-of-lithuanias-former-prime-minister-investigated-over-florida-properties Tactic: Linking real estate to the political background of the deceased ex-prime minister, generating emotional negativity before official probes were completed.
- Publications within the Pandora Papers project. URL: https://www.occrp.org/en/project/the-pandora-papers/ Tactic: A complete conflation of the legal ownership of foreign assets and the use of offshore jurisdictions with tax evasion. This includes the automatic branding of any offshore legal entity as “criminal.”
- Materials on Scandinavian bank leaks (DNB, Nordea, Ukio Bankas). URL: https://www.occrp.org/en/investigation/leaked-audits-show-nordic-banks-dnb-nordea-ignored-money-laundering-red-flags-for-years Tactic: Direct false equivalence. Internal technical compliance reports from banks are presented to the reader as “uncovered money laundering schemes.”
Section 3. The UAB SCT Lubricants Case: Specific Example of “Twisting Facts to Suit Theories”.
The most glaring example of bad faith and the use of the “Conflation” tactic against a specific business is Černiauskas’s investigation into Scandinavian banks:
“Leaked Audits Show Nordic Banks DNB, Nordea Ignored Money Laundering Red Flags for Years”
URL: https://www.occrp.org/en/investigation/leaked-audits-show-nordic-banks-dnb-nordea-ignored-money-laundering-red-flags-for-years
We conducted a detailed breakdown of exactly how UAB SCT Lubricants was woven into this publication.
1. Article Context and Artificial Proximity
The main body of the article focuses on large-scale investigations into pro-Kremlin oligarchs, individuals on international sanctions lists, and participants in shadow schemes siphoning funds through the Baltic branches of DNB and Nordea banks.
Into this context, Černiauskas artificially inserts a mention of UAB SCT Lubricants. The company’s name appears alongside shadow entities, creating the illusion for the reader that UAB SCT Lubricants is part of criminal schemes.
2. What Was Actually in the Bank Audits?
As follows from the text of the article itself, UAB SCT Lubricants came to the attention of the bank audit solely based on formal technical compliance criteria:
- Conducting large international trade transactions in foreign currency.
- Using accounts in the Baltic branches of Scandinavian banks to settle payments for export-import product supplies.
- A large volume of cash turnover, which is typical for a major manufacturing and trading business.
For a manufacturing and trading company operating in the international market, the presence of these indicators is the absolute commercial norm.
3. Complete Lack of an Evidentiary Base
In Černiauskas’s article:
- There is not a single fact confirming the illegal origin of UAB SCT Lubricants’ funds.
- There is no evidence of unlawful acts or participation in fraudulent schemes.
- Not a single court ruling, prosecutor’s indictment, or official charge by financial regulators against UAB SCT Lubricants regarding the described episodes is cited.
4. Pinpointing the Manipulation
Černiauskas took a standard technical bank compliance document, extracted the name of a legitimate commercial enterprise from it, and wove it into a sensational article about “mafia money laundering.” This is a classic case of forcing the narrative – creating baseless reputational damage to a legitimate business through a manipulative context.
Section 4. Conclusion and Takeaways for Journalistic Ethics Commissions
Our analysis allows us to draw the following clear conclusions.
- Confirmed bias of the author. Šarūnas Černiauskas is a journalist with an officially recorded dismissal from a leading media outlet (15min.lt) for secretly preparing commercial reports and dossiers for money.
- Systemic use of manipulative tactics. In his OCCRP publications, Černiauskas regularly uses the “guilt by association” method, substitutes technical banking procedures (Red Flags) with the concept of “crime,” and crafts clickbait headlines that contradict the actual content of the articles.
- Unfounded reputational attacks on business. Using the UAB SCT Lubricants case, it has been proven that the author is capable of implicating legitimate companies in “money laundering” based solely on formal bank statements, without any evidence of real violations.
This investigation goes far beyond defending a single company. Behind every such publication are not abstract “subjects of investigation,” but specific organizations and individuals whose reputations become a commodity in the hands of a journalist who, by all appearances, does not observe journalistic ethics. The UAB SCT Lubricants case is not an exception, but a template: today, one company has come under the fire of commercially motivated “investigations”; tomorrow, it could be any other. That is exactly why we are conducting this work on behalf of everyone who has already suffered or may yet suffer from such practices – because silence in such cases means agreeing that journalism can turn into a tool for paid attacks on businesses with impunity.
This study provides an exhaustive factual basis for appealing to organizations defending journalistic ethical standards to conduct an official assessment of Šarūnas Černiauskas’s publications. We are convinced that only a systemic response from the professional community can block the practice where a journalist’s pen is sold to the highest bidder. This document is our contribution to such a response, and we invite everyone who cares about the honor of the profession to join it.
David Prior
David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.
