kleptocracy

Global Britain: The world’s laundromat of choice

Whatever the scandal, whoever the crook, as long as there’s money involved, there’s always a British angle. Britain is where kleptocrats love to put their money, where they come to manage their reputations, and to arrange their affairs. A succession of governments has failed to take this seriously enough, focussing instead on the need to […]

Kleptoscope – What are Trump and Covid doing to the fight against corruption?

In this latest “Kleptoscope, journalist Oliver Bullough is joined by some of the world’s leading experts in the politics and mechanics of corruption, to discuss how the twin threats of Trump and COVID-19 are undermining years of progress, and what we can do about it.

Kleptoscope 2020: How to solve Britain’s Russia problem?

One of the murkiest mysteries of December’s general election campaign was the contents of the report on Russian interference in British democracy that Boris Johnson decided to suppress. Speculation was rife about its contents and, right now, we still don’t know what they were. So what is Britain’s Russia problem? And how do we solve it? Kleptoscope returns to discuss these important questions, which will be at the top of the in-tray for our government through Brexit and beyond.

Kleptoscope 12: Libel proceedings, A Very British Censorship

When parliament changed the law on defamation in 2013, it thought it had solved the problem of libel tourism. It hadn’t, it merely moved it underground.

  Watch the video stream of Kleptoscope 12

Kleptoscope: London’s Dirty Money

“Three quarters of money looted in Russia comes to the UK.” The audience sat in stunned silence. Roman Borisovich continued, “there is an army of UK bankers, accountants, lawyers, trustees, and other professionals assisting Russian corruption.”

Kleptoscope: London’s Dirty Money

For the first event in a new series investigating corruption and dirty money in London – its origins, its launderers, and how it gets spent – we will be hearing three groundbreaking stories focusing on the former Soviet Union. We will discuss how Russian kleptocrats have used the services of the British capital to retain and launder their money; how London’s property market has become a piggy bank for the world’s corrupt elite; and how ex-Soviet businessmen have covertly funded MPs and parliamentary groups, gaining preferential treatment as a result.