Bribe, Swindle or Steal

Danielle Cannata, Senior Counsel, International Trade at SABIC, talks about some of the challenges, surprises and successes arising out of doing business in Saudi Arabia.

We’re not posting a new podcast next week. Our fantastic editor, Brad Shoemaker of Creative Zombie Studios, is getting married this weekend and is busy with more important things! Instead, we’re reposting Brad’s favorite TRACE podcast: "The Death of Sergei Magnitsky". We’ll be back next week with an interview from Riyadh.

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.

Jonathan Turner, Vice President, Ethics & Compliance, at Smith & Nephew in Memphis, discusses the admissions scandal that has rattled several top-tier U.S. universities and ties some of the lessons learned back to the work of compliance professionals.

Author Jim Rossi discusses the widespread, relatively low-dollar cons he uncovered in his book “Cleantech Con Artists” set in Las Vegas.

On today’s podcast, we speak with Merritt Smith of TRACE. Merritt has expertise in data science and public policy and the intersection of the two fields. We talk about how AI can support anti-bribery compliance and risk assessments, but also whether the advantages of AI have been overstated and underdelivered.

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

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.

Bob Mackin, a multimedia journalist based in Vancouver, discusses the extradition case involving Meng Wanzhou of Huawei, the proposed new beneficial ownership registry for real estate in British Columbia and the occasionally shady influence of Chinese money in Canada.