Bribe, Swindle or Steal

Kevin G. Hall, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project's North America editor, reflects on how the Panama Papers have shaped investigative journalism over the past six years and the biggest challenges journalists face today. Podcast originally aired: April 26, 2023

Jared Bibler joins the podcast to discuss his lively book about the complete meltdown of Iceland's banking sector and, as a result, its economy. It was a brazen scheme equal in size to three Enrons and, although it happened in 2008, it remains a timely cautionary tale for the banking sector and regulators today. Podcast originally aired: April 12, 2023

Michael Forsythe, co-author of 'When McKinsey Comes to Town', discusses McKinsey's work in autocratic regimes, conflicts of interest, the disconnect between their stated values and practices, corruption in South Africa, and potential solutions to prevent misuse of consulting firm's talents.

Randall Eliason talks about extortion, conspiracy, cover-up crimes and plea bargains – topics covered in his excellent new 24 lecture course available through Great Courses. He also takes us through some examples from recent headlines. This episode originally aired on September 29, 2020.

Yana Gorokhovskaia of Freedom House joins the podcast to talk about transnational repression, the increasingly common abuse and intimidation by states of their citizens living abroad. Yana discusses Jamal Khashoggi, murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and Roman Protasevich, whose plane was forced to land in Belarus where he is still being held, but also refers to the hundreds of other cases that don’t make the news. Freedom House has released an excellent report on this problem that can be found at: https://freedomhouse.org/report/transnational-repression. This episode originally aired January 5, 2022.

Dr. Frank Badua, Associate Professor of Accounting and Business Law at Lamar University College of Business, describes the misconduct from the 1950s through the 1970s by a group of companies that led to widespread support for passage of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This episode originally aired February 5, 2020.

Federico Masera, a researcher at the University of New South Wales and the Resilient Democracy Lab, discusses his intriguing research on contagious dishonesty. The podcast explores the impact of corruption scandals on dishonest behavior and examines the generalization of dishonesty to larger crimes. The significance of researching corruption and the effects of corruption news is also discussed, along with the impact of unethical leadership on corporate conduct.

Nobel Peace Prize winning journalist Maria Ressa joins the podcast to talk about corruption, disinformation and how to stand up to a dictator. We at TRACE are thankful for all of the investigative journalists that work to uncover financial crime, often at considerable personal risk. This podcast was originally published on February 22, 2023.

For today’s podcast, we’re listening in on Pascale Dubois’ excellent and fast-paced review of the international anti-bribery landscape at the recent TRACE Forum in London.  Pascale is a leading international executive advisor and independent expert who has been involved with anti-corruption efforts for two decades, including as the World Bank’s VP of the Integrity Vice Presidency.

Jessica Tillipman, Associate Dean for Government Procurement Law at George Washington Law School, joins the podcast to give a fantastic, detailed and fast-paced overview of the latest Menendez corruption allegations, interspersed with gold bars, bundles of cash and a Mercedes convertible. In the process, Jessica takes us back to the overturning of Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s corruption conviction and what we should expect in its wake.