.png)
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.
.png)
At the 2025 TRACE Annapolis Forum, Nicola Bonucci, Associate Professor at Paris Cité and former General Counsel of the OECD, reflects on 25 years of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and the evolving challenges of global enforcement. From uncertainties around FCPA guidance, political influence, and uneven implementation, to questions about the U.S.'s continued leadership in anti-bribery efforts, Nicola highlights the risks companies face in an increasingly unpredictable landscape—where cross-border investigations, bribe solicitation, and public scrutiny are on the rise.
This episode was originally published on 24 September 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.
Episode resources:
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.
Episode resources:
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.'
Episode resources:
Subscribe to receive email alerts of new episodes straight to your inbox!
