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Axel Humlesjö is a Swedish journalist against which money laundering, the plumbing of offshore finance and the cancerous nature of dark money, continuously crash up against.
Axel was a part of the team that uncovered systematic money laundering activities with Swedbank in the Baltics. Part of the team behind the series - The Shadow War - which exposed Russian espionage activities in the Nordics and led to the expulsion of five Russian spies from Sweden. Many other stories as well, but of course co-author of his debut book, The Honey Trap which explores Swedbank's involvement in one of the world's largest money laundering scandals and details this extensive operation for how the Russian security service uses sparrows and other means to honey trap and acquire kompromat on a broad slew of people. Honey traps were used directly to illicit compromising material to infiltrate Swedbank.
This podcast goes into Axel’s views on the evolution of journalism in a globalised world, and the significant role that money plays in shaping political landscapes. He goes as far to say it is the single biggest societal issue facing Europe and how intertwined money laundering is with currying foreign influence.
This was recorded in person in Stockholm with Axel last December, it was the last interview I recorded before I left the country.
00:00 - Axel Humlesjö
01:30 - Journalism in a Globalised World
06:23 - The Impact of Money Laundering on Democracy
13:28 - The Influence of Russian Oligarchs
15:48 - The Structural Damage of Under Money
25:38 - The Iceberg of Financial Corruption
41:53 - The Impact of Money Laundering on Society
48:58 - The Kompromat Strategy: Honey Traps and Coercion
01:07:01 - The Future of Investigative Journalism
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