💸 Kleptocracy #8 | How corruption is reshaping global politics
The latest global news, research and analysis
Hello and welcome to Kleptocracy, the newsletter from Hudson Institute on how corruption is reshaping global politics and security. Keep scrolling for all the latest global news, research and analysis!
Best,
Nate
💸 NEW FROM KI
🎧 Making a Killing #26: Rethinking Sanctions | Casey and Paul discuss the US Treasury Department’s recent sanctions review, raids on sanctioned Russian oligarchs, and why targeted sanctions remain the best tools for targeting kleptocrats – as well as their networks. | Hudson Institute
💬 Discussion: Human Rights Promotion in a Free and Open Indo-Pacific | KI’s Marshall Billingslea and other distinguished speakers balance the need to confront China’s growing influence against working with non-democratic regional partners engaged in corruption and human rights abuses. | Hudson Institute
🗞️NEWS
US indicts five alleged associates of Alex Saab over Venezuela bribery scheme | The charges relate to the CLAP corruption scheme, whereby Maduro cronies bribed regime officials to obtain overinflated contracts for the supply of urgently needed food and medicine. A $10,000,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of Alvaro Pulido Vargas. | US Department of Justice, US Department of State
Alex Saab will plead not guilty to laundering $350 million | Maduro’s financial fixer will be arraigned in a US courtroom on Monday. The plea doesn’t preclude a later deal with prosecutors, however. | Reuters
BVI inquiry hears claims of systemic corruption and jury intimidation | More than 50 public hearings, and voluminous written evidence, have revealed a dark underside to the infamous tax haven after the UK set up a commission to explore misgovernance allegations. | The Guardian
Uncovering the 1980s money laundering that may have caused Miami condo collapse | A recent investigation exposed how cartel funds washed through Champlain South, with potentially devastating consequences decades later. | USA Today
Halkbank can be prosecuted over Iran sanction violations | The Turkish bank had tried to claim sovereign immunity over charges it laundered more than $1 billion through the US financial system. | Reuters
US sanctions three Lebanese for corruption | Two tycoons are accused of skimming off major public contracts, while a member of parliament illicitly transferred $120 million overseas and called on officials to shoot protestors. | US Department of the Treasury
How corruption ruined Lebanon | The deadly port blast, the triple-digit inflation, the energy shortages — Lebanon’s many crises have a shared root: misrule by a self-dealing elite. | New York Times
Feds seize $12 million allegedly from US-UAE “Shadow Exchange” scheme | Some of the money, laundered using UAE shell companies, is alleged to have been used to purchase armored vehicles for Detroit drugs gangs. | Detroit Free Press
Rwandan president's son buys $6.9 million Los Angeles mansion | 40 percent of Rwandans live below the poverty line, but evidently not this 31 year old entrepreneur. | Dirt
Huawei had secret offshore contracts with men linked to Serbian state telecom company | A former executive received more than $1 million through a BVI company in a deal experts say raises serious corruption red flags. | OCCRP
Former head of Chinese weapons giant to face corruption charges | Yin Jiaxu is the second Norinco senior executive to fall from grace in Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive. | South China Morning Post
Top US news organizations run Huawei puff pieces | The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Reuters, and Politico all published news-style pieces commissioned by the state-controlled Chinese telecom giant. | Washington Free Beacon
Beijing urges Evergrande boss to pay debts using his own wealth | Bloomberg
North Korean officials trade meal coupons on black market | The trade in passes for high-end Pyongyang restaurants is reportedly driving up prices | Radio Free Asia
US anti-money laundering job postings double since Panama Papers | Axios
Mass use of stablecoins could boost illicit finance | The FATF warning comes amid surging popularity during the pandemic. | Reuters
UK imposes economic crime levy | The measure will affect businesses under anti-money laundering regulations, aiming to raise £100 million per year. | HM Revenue & Customs
📖 INSIGHTS | Research & Analysis
Blank Check: How Weak Multilateral Lending Standards Enable and Strengthen Kleptocracy | Elsa Peraldi, NED Power 3.0
“Despite the country’s evident lack of checks or transparency, the IMF’s emergency assistance for Equatorial Guinea provides for no meaningful accountability mechanism.”
How some Florida condos could sink Sassou Nguesso’s succession plan | Brett Carter, African Arguments
“While several of Sassou Nguesso’s children, nieces, and nephews have been indicted, investigators may well target the president’s son and presumptive heir Denis Christel… The Florida revelations may also inform the US Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into [Christel], which may well go to trial in 2022. This attention seriously complicates Sassou Nguesso’s succession plan.”
Central America and the Crisis of Corruption | Eric Farnsworth, Univision
“By broadening its policy focus, Washington has a significant opportunity to shift incentives to address corruption more effectively.”