Bribe, Swindle Or Steal

Jim Campbell, author of “Madoff Talks” and featured in the recently released Netflix documentary, “Madoff:  Monster of Wall Street,” joins the podcast to talk about FTX.  Having studied both men, he compares what we know about Bankman-Fried and Madoff.

Michael Forsythe, co-author with Walt Bogdanich of “When McKinsey Comes to Town”, joins the podcast to talk about McKinsey’s work in support of autocratic regimes, its rampant conflicts of interest and the distance between its stated values and its work on the ground. 

Diana Henriques describes Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, discusses how difficult it is to uncover fraud by those who prey on the trust of others and addresses the simple, consistent controls that saved some investors from losses. Diana is featured in the new Netflix series MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat joins the podcast to discuss her book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, which examines 100 years of authoritarian rule. She describes the characteristics of a strongman and the strange virility cult surrounding these leaders before turning to the central role of corruption in the autocrat’s playbook. (This episode was originally published in November 2021.)

Reflecting on the year as it draws to a close, we note with great sadness the recent loss of sports journalist, author and inimitable soccer analyst, Grant Wahl. We’re replaying today our podcast with Grant from 2017.  He was generous with his time, happy to share his expertise and invariably good humored. He is missed.

As we near the end of the year, we asked nine experts in the field to provide us with their compliance predictions for 2023. Surprisingly, no prediction was duplicated.  We hope you enjoy these prognostications and we wish you all a wonderful holiday season and all the very best in the year ahead!

Dan Kahn, former Chief of the FCPA Unit, joins the podcast to discuss the September Monaco Memo now that the compliance community has had some time to debate it.  Dan discusses the good news, and some concerns, associated with cooperation credit, voluntary disclosure, recidivist companies, monitors and ongoing concerns about personal devices and ephemeral apps.

Casey Michel with the Hudson Institute's Kleptocracy Initiative joins the podcast for a very lively discussion about his book, American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World’s Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History. Casey discusses America’s role in the problem of global kleptocracy and shares some optimism about the path ahead. (This episode was originally published in 2021.)

Dr. Magnus Öhman of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) joins the podcast to discuss how corruption undermines free and fair elections. He discusses his recent publication: “Vote for Free: A Global Guide for Citizen Monitoring of Campaign Finance,” which provides an eight-step model for civil society organizations seeking to monitor campaign finance.

Mykola Murskyj with Razom for Ukraine joins the podcast to discuss the organization’s work in Ukraine, the anti-corruption climate there prior to the invasion and steps that can be taken now. Mykola also discusses the Enablers Act.

This week, we’re listening in on Alexandra Wrage’s recent keynote presentation at a Whistleblowers and Public Integrity conference hosted by the Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute (VACI).  She addresses the incredible personal price that whistleblowers pay when they’re driven to expose misconduct, explores how we can begin to shift the tone of the discussion around reporting and notes how difficult it is to uncover financial crime without whistleblowers.

As we approach the 2022 World Cup, we’re revisiting our 2018 episode with Ken Bensinger, who discusses his fascinating book, Red Card, and the decades of misconduct by FIFA eventually uncovered by the FBI. We play “violation bingo” as Ken describes the bribery, self-dealing, conflicts of interest and money laundering that were business as usual at FIFA.

As we approach the 2022 World Cup, we’re revisiting our 2017 episode with journalist Grant Wahl on how decades of FIFA corruption and self-dealing have undermined the world's favorite sport. (This episode was originally published in 2017.)

Speaking at the TRACE London Forum, Oliver Bullough, author of Butler to the World, discusses the UK’s role as an enabler of financial crime, efforts toward accountability, the balance between transparency and privacy, and the weaponization of lawsuits in British courts to silence journalists.

Investigative journalist Dorothee Myriam Kellou tells the story of the Lafarge plant in Syria that was ultimately taken over by ISIS

Paul Caruana Galizia, a journalist with Tortoise media, joins the podcast to talk about the work of his mother, Daphne, the growing danger she perceived as her investigations reached the highest circles of power in Malta, and now the criminal proceedings against the two men who killed her. Paul also discusses the Daphne Foundation and the incredible journalistic community that worked together, again, to prove that killing a journalist won’t kill their story.

This week, we hear from Leonid Volkov who spoke at the recent TRACE London Forum.  Leonid is Alexei Navalny’s Chief of Staff and Political Director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation.  He discusses the role of corruption in Putin’s Russia as well as the impact of sanctions and the toll that rampant corruption is taking on Russia.

This week, we’re listening in on our conversation with Bill Browder at the TRACE London Forum. Bill discusses his new book, Freezing Order, and his ongoing quest for accountability and justice following the abuse and murder of his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky.

Jonathan Drimmer of Paul Hastings describes how to create and sustain a culture of compliance.

Leonid Volkov joins the podcast to talk about Putin’s obsessive campaign against Navalny, who was first poisoned with Novichok and later imprisoned. Volkov also discusses the deep roots of corruption in Russia and how the west can support Russians determined to end the looting of their country.