BRIBE, SWINDLE
OR STEAL

PODCAST

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Join host Alexandra Addison, President & Founder of TRACE, on Bribe, Swindle or Steal as she explores the world of financial crime—corruption, fraud, money laundering and sanctions—and what motivates people to break the law, how wrongdoers cover their tracks and what can be done to put a stop to the looting through interviews with experts in the field.

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October 28, 2020

The 2020 Election: An Anti-Corruption and Compliance Perspective

Today's podcast is an edited version of a recent George Washington University Law School webinar reviewing the Trump Administration's impact on anti-corruption efforts and forecasting the likely impact of either a second Trump or a Biden Administration in January.

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October 21, 2020

Buying EU Citizenship: The Cyprus Papers

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.

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October 14, 2020

Murder in Malta

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.

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October 7, 2020

"White House Inc.: How Donald Trump Turned the Presidency Into a Business"

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.

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September 30, 2020

"White Collar Criminal Law Explained"

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.

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September 23, 2020

"Rigged: America, Russia and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference"

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.

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September 16, 2020

Serenading Despots

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.

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September 9, 2020

Uighur Forced Labor in Chinese Factories

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.

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September 2, 2020

Compliance in Canada

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.

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August 26, 2020

Laundering Looted Funds through African Real Estate

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.

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August 19, 2020

The World's Largest Illegal Fishing Fleet

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.

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August 12, 2020

Canada's WE Charity Scandal

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.

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August 5, 2020

Rigging the Rules: Unfair Housing Practices

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.

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July 29, 2020

1MDB

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.

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July 22, 2020

Primer on Money Laundering

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.

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July 22, 2020

The Outlaw Ocean

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

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July 8, 2020

Imprisoned in China

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

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June 24, 2020

Slave auctions in Libya in 2017

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

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June 17, 2020

Inspectors General at Risk

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.

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June 10, 2020

An International ATM Skimming Scheme

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.

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June 3, 2020

The Travel Act and Other Angles from the Control Components Inc. Case

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.

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May 27, 2020

Art and Antiquities in the Criminal Arsenal

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.

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May 20, 2020

The CROOK Act: Tackling Demand-Side Bribery

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.

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May 13, 2020

Mexico Raises the Stakes for Companies Using False Invoices

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.

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May 6, 2020

Commercial Intermediaries Are Not the (Only) Problem

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