Bribe, Swindle or Steal

Alex Crutcher with the Al Jazeera Investigative Unit discusses the sale of "golden passports" to wealthy criminals and high risk individuals. The team pursued the story in the wake of a major data leak and their reporting has resulted in the cancellation of the program and several high level resignations in the Cypriot government.

Daphne Caruana Galizia, reporter and anti-corruption activist, was murdered near her home in Malta by a car bomb on 16 October 2017. Today, we're reposting our conversation with her lawyer to mark the third anniversary of her death. It's a timely reminder of the risks that investigative reporters take all over the world to provide us with insight into high-level corruption and the violence the powerful brazenly employ to shield themselves.

Dan Alexander, author and senior editor at Forbes, discusses his book about Trump's business deals with foreign entities, including one very strange deal with the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar.

Randall Eliason talks about extortion, conspiracy, cover-up crimes and plea bargains – topics covered in his excellent new 24-lecture course available through Great Courses. He also takes us through some examples from recent headlines.

David Shimer discusses his fascinating and timely new book, which includes a sweeping review of covert interference with elections by both Russia and the US over the last century. He discusses what we know about Russian interference in the 2016 election and what we need to know about their much greater capacity to interfere this November.

Pedro Pizano and Jeffrey Smith, with the McCain Institute and Vanguard Africa respectively, discuss the reputation laundering that musicians, actors and athletes facilitate when they agree to perform for dictators and kleptocrats. They also describe how these same artists can use their platforms for good instead and show support for the citizens living under brutal regimes.

Penelope Kyritsis, Assistant Director of Research at the Worker Rights Consortium, discusses the detention of China's Uighur Moslem minority, in internment camps. Uighurs have been compelled to work in these camps, primarily in Xinjiang. But they are now also separated from their families and relocated to factories across China, making it difficult for companies to undertake meaningful due diligence on forced labor in their Chinese supply chains.

Amee Sandhu, founder and CEO of Lex Integra in Toronto, discusses Canada's history with anti-bribery efforts, some recent developments and where things stand today.

Hilary Mossberg, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry, discusses the relatively new trend of African kleptocrats and war criminals laundering money through real estate in African cities, rather than some of the more traditional choices like London, Miami and New York.

Ian Urbina joins us to talk about his latest project on the lawless seas. Ian has uncovered and documented a stunning story of criminality: illegal shipping, sanctions violations, devastated squid stocks and the 500 "ghost boats" that have washed up on Japanese shores with the crew dead or missing. Visit Outlaw Ocean for more detail and to follow Ian's ongoing reporting.

Sandy Garossino of the National Observer discusses the Canadian government's latest misstep with the award of a massive pandemic-related contract to an ill-equipped charity with ties to key decision-makers.

Lisa Rice, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance, provides some historical context for discriminatory housing practices, describes how uneven progress has been and, most importantly, the extraordinary and lasting impact it has. Where we live shapes almost every aspect of our lives: education, wealth accumulation – even life expectancy.

Bradley Hope of the Wall Street Journal describes his team's in-depth and on-going research into Malaysia's 1MDB scandal- and where Leonardo DiCaprio fits in.

New York Times reporter Ian Urbina discusses his excellent but grim series about crime and impunity on the high seas.

A 22-year veteran of Treasury and consultant to the Dept. of Justice, John Madinger sheds light on some of the money laundering schemes he has uncovered and why the Breaking Bad car wash scheme probably wouldn't have worked.

Peter Humphrey and his wife were well-respected compliance professionals active in China when they were arrested, tried and imprisoned for two years.

Shaul Shalvi, a professor of behavioral ethics, describes how people convince themselves that their misconduct is OK.

Nima Elbagir and Raja Razek of CNN go undercover in Libya to expose a hellish, thriving slave trade. Their CNN story

Danielle Brian, Executive Director of the Project on Government Oversight—POGO—provides a brief and lively description of the history of US Inspectors General (IGs), their importance in ensuring government accountability and the recent worrying spate of terminations.

Paul Radu, co-founder and executive director of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), describes his team's work in uncovering an international team of cash machine skimmers that ultimately skimmed hundreds of millions of dollars, largely from tourist hot spots.

TRACE's Director of Compliance Resources, Illya Antonenko, looks back at the CCI case from 2009. Although a relatively small FCPA resolution financially, there are a number of interesting issues, including a corrupt corporate culture and reaching commercial bribery via the Travel Act.

Tess Davis, Executive Director of the Antiquities Coalition, describes how criminals use art and antiquities for corruption, to launder money and to fund terrorism. She also discusses the current legal state of play and how the public can be part of the solution.

Abigail Bellows with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace describes how a $5 million surcharge could be levied on FCPA enforcement actions and then deployed quickly to support incipient anti-corruption efforts worldwide. This would address, in part, concerns that the victims of corruption rarely benefit from the substantial sums involved in settlements.

Omar Zuniga of Mexico City's Creel law firm discusses the tax provisions there that are making companies nervous and prompting a scramble to vet vendors against black lists.

Barnard College professor Alex Cooley and Wiley partner Kevin Muhlendorf discuss telecommunications scandals and the risk of corruption in 5G telecom implementation. They are the authors of chapters on these two subjects in TRACE's new book Corrosive: Corruption and its Consequences.

Kara Brockmeyer, a partner in Debevoise & Plimpton's Washington office and former Chief of the SEC's FCPA Unit, discusses some changes she's observed in the implementation of compliance programs with much of the world in lockdown. She also describes the pace of investigations now that DOJ and SEC lawyers are working remotely and she wraps up with a few predictions about what we might see in this field post-pandemic.

Darshak Dholakia, a partner in Dechert's Washington office, provides a timely overview of the current Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) approach to foreign investment in the US, comparable laws of other countries and how scrutiny of healthcare and biotechnology sectors may increase in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bill Steinman--of Steinman & Rodgers--takes us back to 2014 and the Eleventh Circuit's very fact-specific analysis of what constitutes a "foreign official" under the FCPA.

Melissa Duffy, a partner at Dechert LLP focused on international trade matters, provides an excellent review of the current status of the movement of goods into and out of the United States by air, land and sea. Melissa also addresses relevant tariffs, including recent exemptions, and restrictions by other countries on the export of their own critical medical supplies and equipment. Melissa wraps up with some very practical strategies for companies on managing the movement of goods in these uncertain times.

Jeff Clark—a partner with Willkie, Farr & Gallagher—discusses the novel aspects of the 2016 Och-Ziff bribery case, including the claim for restitution under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act.

Jessica Tillipman of George Washington Law School covers the highlights and key points from the Siemens bribery case of 2008. It was a startling case at the time and divided the international enforcement landscape into the world before and after Siemens.

Former Crown Prosecutor and current investigative journalist, Sandy Garossino, walks us back through the early days of Vancouver's money-laundering scandal: how the problem was uncovered, the violence associated with infiltration by organized crime, what has been done to remedy the problem to date and what still remains to be done.

Randall Eliason, law professor and former Assistant US Attorney, provides an excellent account of the days leading up to the recent sentencing of political operative Roger Stone. The Department of Justice's unprecedented interference in--and reversal of--its prosecutorial team's recommendation led to the resignation from the case of all four prosecutors. Over 2000 former DOJ officials have called on Attorney General Barr to resign in the wake of his interference in the case.

Aisling O'Shea of Sullivan & Cromwell describes the Airbus settlement that resulted in penalties totaling almost $4 billion and involved resolutions with U.S., UK and French authorities.

Investigative reporter Scilla Alecci of the ICIJ describes the excellent work that team did, using more than 715,000 leaked documents, to untangle the vast and often opaque business empire of Isabel dos Santos, Africa's richest woman and daughter of the former president of Angola.

Dr. Frank Badua, Associate Professor of Accounting and Business Law at Lamar University College of Business, describes the misconduct from the 1950s through the 1970s by a group of companies that led to widespread support for passage of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Jeff Clark, a partner with Willkie Farr & Gallagher and well-known to TRACE members, provides an excellent summary of US foreign anti-bribery activity in 2019.

Emmanuel Farhat of the AFA discusses Sapin II and his organization's role in vetting the implementation of the corporate compliance programs that the law mandates.

C4ADS Senior Analysts Stella Cooper and Cecile Neumeister discuss their fantastic report on the little known problem of illegal logging in South Sudan and the environmental, social, financial and security implications. Read the report here.

With the compliance professionals showing increased interest in behavioral ethics and asking not just how employees and others engage in misconduct, but also why, we're re-posting this podcast with Shaul Shalvi on his research into what motivates criminals.

This podcast has become a bit of a holiday tradition on the podcast. Peter Hellman describes Rudy Kurniawan's audacious scheme to defraud wine collectors in his excellent book, "In Vino Duplicitas: The Rise and Fall of a Wine Forger Extraordinaire."

Bill Steinman, senior partner at boutique compliance firm Steinman & Rodgers, walks us through some continuing trends—and a few surprises--from 2019.

Olivier Catherine, Group General Counsel of Sonepar in Paris, describes in detail the company's experience as the first to complete an audit by the French Anticorruption Agency (AFA), from the initial letter launching the review through the Sanctions Committee's dismissal of all claims.

Kevin Chapla, a Civil Affairs Officer with the US Army, discusses the work his team has done with foreign governments and civilian populations to reduce the poaching and trafficking of wildlife in Central Africa.

We're reposting a popular podcast during the American Thanksgiving holiday. We want to keep the fascinating Theranos story, still to be updated with Elizabeth Holmes' fraud trial set for August 2020, in front of our listeners.

Paul Lavery of McCann FitzGerald in Dublin discusses the conflict between the GDPR's emphasis on privacy and the requirement under anti-bribery laws that companies undertake reputational due diligence on their business partners. There is a direct and as yet unreconciled conflict between privacy and transparency.

Nicola Bonucci, Director of Legal Affairs at the OECD, describes successes and failures of the anti-bribery convention as well as some of the challenges still ahead.

Priyanka Goswami of Quad Law, TRACE's partner firm in New Delhi, provides a great overview of the compliance landscape in India, together with a lot of very practical advice for companies operating there.

Sam Eversman with KsaUsaLegal in Riyadh talks about current anti-bribery efforts in Saudi Arabia, recently relaxed restrictions for women travelers and what, if anything, we can take away from the 2017 incarceration of the Saudi elite at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.