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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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At the 2025 TRACE Forum, Kirk Foster, Assistant General Counsel and Director of Compliance at HII Mission Technologies, explores how organizations can use Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) alongside compliance to proactively address emerging risks. By leveraging ERM, Kirk discusses how companies can make data-driven decisions, increase efficiency, reduce redundancy, and support business growth.
This episode was originally published on 22 October 2025.
Tom Burgis, investigations correspondent at the Financial Times and author of "Kleptopia", discusses the increasingly disturbing influence that kleptocrats exert internationally, who enables them and the flaws in our efforts to contain them.
The golden passports and visas industry boomed during the pandemic and attracted the attention of policymakers. This week, we're reposting our interview with Oliver Bullough, author of "Moneyland", on this shady industry and how it operates.
John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter discusses the working paper he co-authored for the National Endowment for Democracy: "Paying for a World Class Affiliation: Reputation Laundering in the University Sector of Open Societies." He shows how vulnerable universities are to abuse by kleptocrats seeking to shape the conversation, often quite subtly, about their governments and their legacies.
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Omar Alshogre, refugee, political activist with the Syrian Emergency Task Force, and first year Georgetown University student, shares the wrenching story of his three years as a political prisoner in the worst of Syria's prisons. He discusses the role that extortion plays there, simultaneously delegitimizing the regime further and propping it up financially.
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Josh Rudolph at the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund discusses how we should approach corruption and kleptocracy from a policy perspective and why Treasury needs to 'get with the program.'
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Hayley Smith with the Los Angeles Times, discusses the story she broke about the sale of phony COVID-19 vaccination cards out of the Old Corner Saloon in California.
Amy McDougal of CLEAResources discusses the rapidly shifting cannabis landscape and how to prepare for the many employment and compliance issues it raises.
Renee Dudley of ProPublica discusses her fascinating research into the unsettling world of ransomware: how it works, the role that "recovery services" play and where the ransom money ends up.
Ike Sorkin, lawyer to both Madoff and Belfort, talks us through their criminal financial schemes and how regulatory safeguards failed.
Oliver Bullough, Tom Burgis and Sarah Chayes, authors of three of the best books on global corruption, gather for a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival for a fascinating discussion about how the corrupt operate, often with impunity, and what can be done to slow the pace of looting.
Josh Kirschenbaum is a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy and formerly served as acting director of the Office of Special Measures at Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). He joins the podcast to discuss investment funds and the gaping loophole they create through which vast sums of money can move with no accountability.
Ariel Meyerstein, Senior Vice President, Sustainability & ESG at Citi, shares his insight into human rights, climate change and social justice challenges and the new momentum propelling ESG in the private sector.
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