💸Kleptocracy #14 | Beginning of the end for "Londongrad"?
Welcome to Kleptocracy, the Substack on how corruption is reshaping global politics and security. Keep scrolling for all the latest news, research and analysis from around the world!
💸NEW FROM KI
🏆Making a Killing was awarded Best Anticorruption Podcast Episode of 2021 by the Center for International Private Enterprise, for a discussion with Jodi Vittori on how anticorruption failures doomed the US mission in Afghanistan.
🎧Listen to the latest: #35 Ed Lucas on Fortifying Britain’s Democracy Against Kleptocracy
Paul Massaro talks to one of the world’s foremost kleptocracy experts about Britain’s outsized role in laundering the world’s ill-gotten gains, particularly from China and Russia.
And catch up with other recent episodes below:
#34 Deterring Putin | Former US Treasury Assistant Secretary Marshall Billingslea joins Nate Sibley to explore what leverage America can use to prevent further aggression against Ukraine.
#33 Defending Ukraine and Punishing Putin | Peter Rough joins Paul Massaro and Nate Sibley to discuss Russian aggression against Ukraine and the role of strategic corruption in undermining Germany’s response.
#32 China’s Serial Censorship | Paul Massaro talks to Dr. Andreas Fulda about how the CCP leverages its market to silence academics and other critics.
🗞️NEWS
US and UK threaten sanctions for Moscow elite if Russia invades Ukraine | Planned legislation will give the UK new targeting powers. | Reuters
As markets crash and war fears grow, Russia’s business elite suffers in silence | Moscow Times
“We are wealthy and have a lot to lose. A lot of us have second homes in Europe, we have residency permits in the West, so we are heavily invested in this…”
UK faces calls to tackle ‘dirty money’ as it targets Kremlin-linked oligarchs | Financial Times
“It has taken the brink of war in Europe for the government to think about sweeping out the Augean stable of dirty Russian money in London, when it could have done this previously via sanctions, unexplained wealth orders or other measures.” Tom Keatinge, Royal United Services Institute
British MPs call for single agency to fight fraud and economic crime | UK ministers were criticized again for delaying key legislation. | Financial Times
Russia pouring millions into foreign influence and lobbying targeting the US amid escalating Ukraine conflict | Open Secrets
Chinese documentary prompts rare criticism of Xi’s corruption crackdown | Many viewers felt that punishments are not harsh enough, but also questioned whether the CCP’s governance model might be to blame. | Financial Times
China tightens anti-money laundering rules for financial firms | Beijing is extending AML beyond traditional banks to wealth management firms. Beyond fighting crime, this will enable authorities to gather even more evidence against wealthy entrepreneurs and critics. | Reuters
Macau arrests second money laundering boss on money laundering charges | China has been clamping down on VIP punters in the world’s largest gaming market | Bloomberg
UK’s National Crime Agency seizes $7.5 million from Azerbaijan Laundromat | Bloomberg
BP turned blind eye to corruption in Azerbaijan gas project | Two state companies were set to siphon off $1.7 billion from Shah Deniz 2, which feeds the Southern Gas Corridor to Europe. | OCCRP
Kazakhstan promises to smash smuggling rings on Chinese border | Eurasia Net
Demand for rosewood fosters corruption across West Africa | OCCRP
How criminals take advantage of Venezuela's food aid system | Scammers are selling desperate people non-existent food packages in the corrupt CLAP program’s latest scandal. | Insight Crime
Court says Credit Suisse faces $45.5 million claim in money-laundering case | Reuters
NFT money laundering is a small but growing sector, says Chainalysis report | The Verge
📖RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
Deploying the democratic arsenal against kleptocracy | Dan Twining and Eguiar Lizundia, National Interest
“If authoritarians appear to be winning, it is at least in part is because Western nations have let them... It is time to level the playing field so that democratic forces have a fair shot.”
Britain has become addicted to dirty money | Ed Lucas, The Times
“In a bleak landscape, Britain stands out. We are bolstering our military presence in Estonia, sending arms to Ukraine and stiffening soggy European spines… Behind the bombast is another, uglier story, in which Britain stands out not for its mettle in resisting the Russian regime but for aiding and abetting it.”
London’s status as a playground for Kremlin-linked oligarchs undermines Britain’s tough-on-Russia stance | Adam Taylor, Washington Post
Countering Threats Posed by the Chinese Government Inside the US | A speech by FBI Director Christopher Wray highlighted China’s staggering theft of information and technology, criminal tactics to pursue critics within US borders, and use of strategic corruption to co-opt rising US politicians. | FBI
Corruption Perceptions Index 2021 | The flagship global corruption ranking is back, revealing how populations worldwide view public sector graft in their countries. | Transparency International
Xi Jinping is watching his back | His rhetoric has taken a paranoid turn—and holing himself up in Beijing hasn’t helped. | Craig Singleton, Foreign Policy
“The evolving nature of Xi’s ostensible anti-corruption push also reveals a party seemingly at odds with itself… a number of other high-level officials, some of whom had been handpicked by Xi, were also [recently] removed from their posts for egregious corruption-related infractions… These developments raise more questions than answers.”
Indonesia an unlikely standout in the fight against corruption | In a rather forgettable year for anti-corruption efforts in Asia, Joko Widodo’s government is an unlikely standout. | William Pesek, Nikkei Asia
Fixing loopholes in the US anti-money laundering whistleblower scheme | Stephen M. Kohn, Reuters
The corruption obsession is a convenient distraction | Gabriella Cook Francis & Christopher Sabatini, World Politics Review