Making a Killing

Former US Treasury Assistant Secretary and FATF President Marshall Billingslea joins Nate Sibley to discuss the need for American leadership in responding to evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

How did China sustain meteoric economic growth amid vast corruption? Yuen Yuen Ang joins Nate Sibley to explore what powers China's crony capitalism, the impact of Xi's anti-graft campaign, and why it's time to rethink our approach to measuring corruption.

Authoritarian regimes spend significant sums trying to influence politics within the US and other democracies. Anna Massoglia of Open Secrets joins host Paul Massaro to discuss closing US lobbying loopholes.

What role has corruption played in shaping Russia and Ukraine's diverging paths in recent decades? Thomas Firestone, a former DOJ lawyer posted in Russia who now works on corruption and national security cases, joins Paul and Nate to discuss.

Casey, Paul and Nate discuss whether targeting Russian oligarchs can help deter Putin's escalating aggression against Ukraine, and whether it is time for financial warfare to become a NATO operational domain.

Paul Massaro talks to Edward Lucas about the outsized role of Britain in laundering the world's ill-gotten gains, particularly from China and Russia, and enabling kleptocracy. They discuss what this means for democracy in Britain and globally and how Britain can fight back.

As the White House warns of an “imminent” attack on Ukraine, former US Treasury Assistant Secretary Marshall Billingslea joins Nate Sibley to explore what options America and its allies still possess to deter Putin from further escalation. They also consider lessons for a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Hudson senior fellow Peter Rough joins Paul Massaro and Nate Sibley to discuss US policy options for deterring further Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as the role of strategic corruption in undermining Europe's response.

Paul Massaro talks to Dr. Andreas Fulda about how the CCP leverages its market to silence academics and other critics. The two discuss the case study of Germany, which has been particularly vulnerable to the CCP's extraterritorial censorship.

Paul talks to Russian opposition politician and economist Vladimir Milov about Putin's troop build-up on the border of Ukraine and how that links back to the corruption that underpins the Kremlin system.

The new US Strategy on Countering Corruption was released hours before the Summit for Democracy and promises to rewrite the rulebook on global anticorruption efforts. Josh Rudolph of the German Marshall Fund joins Casey, Nate and Paul to discuss what's in it.

Casey talks to Nate and Paul about his debut book, which chronicles the rise of US financial secrecy through the colorful stories of two famous kleptocrats—and explains why the US must lead global efforts against transnational corruption. American Kleptocracy is published November 23, 2021 and available to preorder now: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250274526/americankleptocracy

Casey, Nate and Paul discuss the kleptocrats at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), the role of bribery in driving environmental abuses, and how green sanctions and law enforcement can punish the worst of the world's polluters.

Casey speaks with Lakshmi Kumar, policy director at Global Financial Integrity, about the damaging - and deadly - consequences of money laundering in American real estate.

- How U.S. Sanctions Take a Hidden Toll on Russian Oligarchs (Washington Post)- Biden Might Stop a Sanctions Revolution (Foreign Policy)- The Treasury 2021 Sanctions Review (US Treasury Department)

Casey, Nate and Paul discuss the biggest stories emerging from Azerbaijan, Chile, Czech Republic, Pakistan and elsewhere, amid calls for heightened scrutiny of the professional enablers of transnational corruption—including many American lawyers.

Miranda Patrucic, a senior Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project journalist who worked on the Pandora Papers, explains how she followed the money as part of the biggest journalism investigation in history. Paul Massaro reveals the reaction from the US Congress: an ENABLERs Act to tackle professional facilitators of transnational corruption.

Casey, Paul and Nate discuss why Hunter Biden's plan to auction his artwork to anonymous bidders engages serious money laundering risks, what Meng Wanzhou's release tells us about China's globalized kleptocracy, and the latest on anti-corruption reforms in Washington, DC.

Matt Schrader and Paul Massaro discuss the nature of corruption in the Chinese Communist Party and how that corruption underpins its rule in the country. They also discuss how the CCP's corrupt practices are exported abroad and how western enablers and enterprise become intertwined with the CCP in way deleterious to democracy.

Paul, Casey and Nate discuss Germany's problematic relationship with authoritarian capital, how money laundering gutted Vancouver's real estate market, US missteps in Afghanistan, and major legislation from the US Congress. Paul & Casey's Foreign Policy piece: https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/13/americas-money-lost-the-afghan-war/

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the US transformed its capacity to wage financial warfare against terrorists, kleptocrats and other dangerous adversaries. Hudson senior fellow David Asher, who played a leading role in that effort, joins Nate and Casey to discuss lessons for contemporary efforts against transnational corruption.

Beijing has poured trillions of dollars into infrastructure development throughout the world since launching the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. But as CSIS scholar Jonathan Hillman tells Nate Sibley, these investments too often involve opaque deals, corrupt practices, and exploitative political influence.

Jodi Vittori, a military veteran and leading expert on corruption and national security, joins Paul, Casey and Nate to discuss how failure to tackle pervasive graft fatally undermined the US mission over two decades, where stolen funds ended up, and what lessons can be drawn for future operations.

Amid the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, former US Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea joins Nate Sibley to discuss how the Taliban funded its 20-year campaign, what kind of economy it will oversee, and what the US and its allies should do to keep its malign activities in check.

Casey, Nate and Paul discuss corruption in international sports on the heel of the Olympics; how more than $2.3 billion was laundered through U.S. real estate in the past five years; Hungary's descent into crony capitalism; and the legacy of anti-corruption champion Senator Carl Levin.

Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at RUSI, joins Casey and Nate to discuss how the UK can elevate its fight against corruption—and whether Boris will join Biden in treating kleptocracy as a national security threat.

With host Nate Sibley out this week, Casey & Paul invite Ben Schmitt to join the show to discuss, in-depth, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and how its management and implications are benefitting corrupt government officials. The trio details how the project demonstrates the growing trend of corruption, or “Schröderization,” of democratic officials involved with Russian and Chinese interests. (“Schröderization” refers to Gerhard Schröder, former Chancellor of Germany, and his direct involvement with the push for the original Nord Stream pipeline and subsequent work as a Putin crony and involvement in the second iteration of the strategic corruption project)

Paul Massaro, Casey Michel and Nate Sibley discuss corruption in Cuba and Georgia and how Western governments can engage populations suffering under kleptocratic regimes, as well as promising developments in Moldova. Making a Killing has made the move to weekly episodes! Subscribe and share the show with a friend.

Paul Massaro, Casey Michel and Nate Sibley discuss corruption in Cuba and Georgia and how Western governments can engage populations suffering under kleptocratic regimes, as well as promising developments in Moldova.

Co-host Casey Michel interviews John Heathershaw, associate professor of international relations at the University of Exeter, about the widespread use of “reputation laundering” by kleptocrats. Just as dirty money must be laundered and cleaned, kleptocrats are working to launder their dirty reputations, often by giving large sums of money to U.S. and U.K. universities. Read John's report: https://www.ned.org/reputation-laundering-in-the-university-sector-of-open-societies-working-paper/

Paul Massaro, Casey Michel and Nate Sibley discuss what happens when kleptocrats go passport shopping for so-called “Golden Visas,” how US universities launder criminal reputations, Hong Kong's lurch to autocracy, and the Central American leader turning his country into a crypto-haven powered by volcanoes.

Leonid Volkov, chief of staff to Alexei Navalny, discusses the struggle against authoritarian kleptocracy in Russia. Paul, Nate and Casey break down President Biden's historic memo establishing fighting corruption as a core US national security interest. Learn more at: https://www.hudson.org/

Josh Rudolph and Abigail Bellows join Nate Sibley to explore how diplomacy, foreign development aid and financial policy can be leveraged against kleptocracy. Casey Michel and Paul Massaro discuss the hijacking of an airliner by Belarus' kleptocratic dictator.

Paul Massaro, Casey Michel and Nate Sibley discuss Rudy Giuliani's alleged foreign entanglements, London libel lawyers, and returning stolen assets to Venezuela. Paul explains how the U.S. can speed up support for anti-corruption measures in vulnerable countries caught between democracy and dictatorship.

Bill Browder and Maria Snegovaya join Nate Sibley to discuss Alexei Navalny and corruption in Russia. Paul Massaro and Casey Michel look at shell companies and money laundering in Canada.

Matthew Caruana Galizia, director of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, talks to Nate Sibley about his mother's legacy of exposing elite corruption in Malta. Paul Massaro and Casey Michel discuss Alexei Navalny, golden visas, and Hong Kong shell companies.

Mary Butler, Chief of the International Unit at the US Department of Justice's Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, talks to Nate Sibley about seizing and returning stolen assets. Paul Massaro and Casey Michel discuss coordinating sanctions against human rights abuses and corruption in China, and the central role of lawyers in facilitating transnational corruption.

Daria Kaleniuk, Executive Director of the Anticorruption Action Center in Kyiv, joins Nate Sibley to discuss Russia's strategic corruption and prospects for reform in Ukraine. Casey Michel and Paul Massaro explain US sanctions against Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky and Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler.

Marshall Billingslea, a former senior US Treasury official and Financial Action Task Force president, joins Nate Sibley for a round-the-world tour of corruption and what democracies can do to fight back. Paul Massaro and Casey Michel discuss sanctions over the Navalny protests, Nord Stream 2, and Georgia's democratic backsliding.

Every year, trillions of dollars are siphoned out of the developing world and laundered through tax havens into Western financial centers. Nate Sibley, Casey Michel and Paul Massaro discuss how authoritarian kleptocracy became a pervasive threat to prosperity and security - and what democracies can do to fight back.

Host Nate Sibley welcomes you to "Making a Killing," a new podcast from the Hudson Institute's Kleptocracy Initiative.