Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World

by Tom Burgis

Overview

A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year • An Economist Book of the Year

Now With a New Afterword

“A must-read for anyone wanting to better understand what has already happened here in America and what lies ahead if Trump is reelected in November…. A magisterial account of the money and violence behind the world’s most powerful dictatorships.” –Washington Post

In this shocking, meticulously reported work of narrative nonfiction, an award-winning investigative journalist exposes “capitalism’s monster”—global kleptocracy—and reveals how it is corrupting the world around us.

They are everywhere, the thieves and their people. Masters of secrecy. Until now we have detected their presence only by what they leave behind. A body in a burned-out Audi. Workers riddled with bullets in the Kazakh Desert. A rigged election in Zimbabwe. A British banker silenced and humiliated for trying to expose the truth about the City of London.

They have amassed more money than most countries. But what they are really stealing is power.

In this real-life thriller packed with jaw-dropping revelations, award-winning investigative journalist Tom Burgis weaves together four stories that reveal a terrifying global web of corruption: the troublemaker from Basingstoke who stumbles on the secrets of a Swiss bank, the ex-Soviet billionaire constructing a private empire, the righteous Canadian lawyer with a mysterious client, and the Brooklyn crook protected by the CIA.

Glimpses of this shadowy world have emerged over the years. In Kleptopia, Burgis connects the dots. He follows the dirty money that is flooding the global economy, emboldening dictators, and poisoning democracies. From the Kremlin to Beijing, Harare to Riyadh, Paris to the White House, the trail shows something even more sinister: the thieves are uniting. And the human cost will be great.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062883667
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	503,616
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Tom Burgis is an investigations correspondent at the Financial Times. He has reported from more than forty countries, won major journalism awards in the US and Asia and been shortlisted for eight others, including twice at the British Press Awards. His critically acclaimed book The Looting Machine, about the modern plundering of Africa, won an Overseas Press Club of America award.

Table of Contents

A Note on Truth xi

Cast of Characters xiii

Part I Crisis

1 The Thief - Kensington, January 2008 3

2 A Feast - Whitehall, February 2008 8

3 Tunnels - Cheapside, February 2008 25

4 The Dual State - Moscow, February 2008 30

5 Silhouette - Cheapside, July 2008 44

6 Mr Billy - Harare, September 2008 48

7 Shutdown - Cheapside, September 2008 58

8 The Fallen Oligarch - Astana, January 2009 60

9 Top Secret - London, April 2009 70

10 Paying Your Dues - Pretoria, September 2009 72

11 The Informant - Brooklyn, October 2009 74

12 The Real - London, May 2010 88

Part II Chrysalis

13 Beginnings - London, December 2010 93

14 Big Yellow - Finchley, February 2011 103

15 Watchdogs - London, March 2011 118

16 The Savarona - London, May 2011 121

17 Off the Books - Rudny, May 2011 128

18 God's Kingdom - St Paul's, October 2011 136

19 Fear - Zhanaozen, December 2011 140

20 Stability - Cambridge, July 2012 154

21 Too Big to Jail - London, September 2012 170

22 Sasha and Seva - St James's, March 2013 172

23 The Loving Cup - Canary Wharf, February 2013 185

24 The Presumption of Regularity - Rome, May 2013 189

25 A Legit Shithole - Cincinnati, August 2013 198

26 Risk Appetite - Canary Wharf, August 2013 207

27 Doubles - Old Billingsgate, February 2014 209

28 The System - Canary Wharf, June 2014 214

Part III Metamorphosis

29 Conquest - Eastern Ukraine, August 2014 221

30 Privacy - Kensington, September 2014 228

31 The Bridge - Moscow, February 2015 233

32 His Footprints Are Not Found - Colchester, September 2015 239

33 Winners - Manhattan, November 2016 244

34 Saint or Sinner - Paris, December 2016 251

35 The Future - Colchester, December 2016 271

36 The Man With No Past - Washington, January 2017 274

37 It's Over - Kensington, June 2017 288

38 The Story You Choose to Tell - Montreal, August 2017 291

39 Alternative Facts - London, March 2019 299

40 Quid Pro Quo - Washington, July 2019 310

41 Normal Business - Worldwide, 2020 327

Afterword 341

Notes 345

Acknowledgements 431

Index 433

Editorial Reviews

Kleptopia is a powerful, appalling, and stunningly-reported expose of the global corruption that runs like an underground river from the world's darkest and dirtiest dictatorships through some of the planet's richest banks and governments. It reads like fiction, but unfortunately is all too true: Burgis names names, and follows the money, right into the Trump White House, among other high places. His narrative shows how dark money has grown from a national problem into an international scourge.” 

Jane Mayer

A meticulously reported piece of investigative journalism … written in the style of a fast-paced thriller. . . . A page-turner that lifts the lid on the murky world in which power is turned into money and money into power.

The Times (London)

Depicts an unsavory coalition of corrupt strongmen, artful criminals, and rapacious élites who, abetted by a network of accountants, lawyers, and other professional facilitators, have managed to pillage money on a grand scale and hide it abroad….The monetization of public office, Burgis believes, is no longer an aberration but often the very “purpose of seeking that office.” The techniques of financial obfuscation have grown so sophisticated that theft is easy, and, for the thief who hires the right advisers, impunity is all but assured.

New Yorker

Compelling. . . .  The many strands in this complex global story are elegantly woven together and delivered in a form that makes the technicalities of finance accessible to the non-expert. . . . Kleptopia illuminates the legalised secrecy around the hubs of big money and how integral dirty money is to political power.

Financial Times

Read Kleptopia now. There is no time to lose. Read it now to understand that the struggle between dirty money and clean money has been won by dirty money. Tom Burgis demonstrates that money does indeed stink — and shows in Kleptopia how to follow its scent.” 

Roberto Saviano

Simultaneously clear, elegant and engaging, Kleptopia pulls together several seemingly disparate strands in an assured, daring piece of story-telling. In the process, Tom Burgis reveals exactly how in the last thirty years organized crime and financial capitalism have fused to create a force of such power that no government or leader is free from the pressure it is able to apply. This is Jane Mayer's Dark Money on a global scale. When you pick this book up, you won't be able to put it down.” 

Misha Glenny

Burgis is a strong storyteller. We can visualize diamonds smuggled in a toothpaste tube for Swiss banking clients. We see a lawyer taking SIM cards with important contacts from her oligarch client and concealing them in a candy wrapper as he fled one snowy night on a private plane. . . .  Meticulously reported. . . . A must-read for anyone wanting to better understand what has already happened here in America. ”

Washington Post

Burgis’s study of dark global realities casts a wide net, from Washington to Moscow, Kazakhstan and the Congo . . .  [Burgis is] an impressive investigator. . . .  A ghastly and very important story.

The Guardian

Corruption on a grand scale is fantastically complicated and tough to write about… Kleptopia does the job brilliantly. Burgis spins his tale of global corruption from the ground up, [beginning] with a hero straight out of a John le Carré novel…Kleptopia is wonderfully if grimly entertaining.” 

The Economist

"It is hard to write about international corruption in an accessible and colourful way, while retaining an urgent sense of moral condemnation. This book beautifully captures both the murkiness and turpitude involved. Its ultimate theme—the intersection of politics and personal enrichment—is one of the most important stories of the age."

Economist Best Books of the Year citation

Burgis is a strong storyteller. We can visualize diamonds smuggled in a toothpaste tube for Swiss banking clients. We see a lawyer taking SIM cards with important contacts from her oligarch client and concealing them in a candy wrapper as he fled one snowy night on a private plane. . . .  Meticulously reported. . . . A must-read for anyone wanting to better understand what has already happened here in America. ”

Washington Post

Depicts an unsavory coalition of corrupt strongmen, artful criminals, and rapacious élites who, abetted by a network of accountants, lawyers, and other professional facilitators, have managed to pillage money on a grand scale and hide it abroad….The monetization of public office, Burgis believes, is no longer an aberration but often the very “purpose of seeking that office.” The techniques of financial obfuscation have grown so sophisticated that theft is easy, and, for the thief who hires the right advisers, impunity is all but assured.

New Yorker

Compelling. . . .  The many strands in this complex global story are elegantly woven together and delivered in a form that makes the technicalities of finance accessible to the non-expert. . . . Kleptopia illuminates the legalised secrecy around the hubs of big money and how integral dirty money is to political power.

Financial Times

Burgis is a strong storyteller. We can visualize diamonds smuggled in a toothpaste tube for Swiss banking clients. We see a lawyer taking SIM cards with important contacts from her oligarch client and concealing them in a candy wrapper as he fled one snowy night on a private plane. . . .  Meticulously reported. . . . A must-read for anyone wanting to better understand what has already happened here in America. ”
— Washington Post

“Simultaneously clear, elegant and engaging, Kleptopia pulls together several seemingly disparate strands in an assured, daring piece of story-telling. In the process, Tom Burgis reveals exactly how in the last thirty years organized crime and financial capitalism have fused to create a force of such power that no government or leader is free from the pressure it is able to apply. This is Jane Mayer's Dark Money on a global scale. When you pick this book up, you won't be able to put it down.” 
— Misha Glenny, author of McMafia

“Compelling. . . .  The many strands in this complex global story are elegantly woven together and delivered in a form that makes the technicalities of finance accessible to the non-expert. . . . Kleptopia illuminates the legalised secrecy around the hubs of big money and how integral dirty money is to political power.” — Financial Times

"It is hard to write about international corruption in an accessible and colourful way, while retaining an urgent sense of moral condemnation. This book beautifully captures both the murkiness and turpitude involved. Its ultimate theme—the intersection of politics and personal enrichment—is one of the most important stories of the age." — Economist Best Books of the Year citation

“A meticulously reported piece of investigative journalism … written in the style of a fast-paced thriller. . . . A page-turner that lifts the lid on the murky world in which power is turned into money and money into power.” — The Times (London)

“Corruption on a grand scale is fantastically complicated and tough to write about… Kleptopia does the job brilliantly. Burgis spins his tale of global corruption from the ground up, [beginning] with a hero straight out of a John le Carré novel…Kleptopia is wonderfully if grimly entertaining.”  — The Economist

“Depicts an unsavory coalition of corrupt strongmen, artful criminals, and rapacious élites who, abetted by a network of accountants, lawyers, and other professional facilitators, have managed to pillage money on a grand scale and hide it abroad….The monetization of public office, Burgis believes, is no longer an aberration but often the very “purpose of seeking that office.” The techniques of financial obfuscation have grown so sophisticated that theft is easy, and, for the thief who hires the right advisers, impunity is all but assured.” — New Yorker

“Burgis’s study of dark global realities casts a wide net, from Washington to Moscow, Kazakhstan and the Congo . . .  [Burgis is] an impressive investigator. . . .  A ghastly and very important story.” — The Guardian

“Kleptopia is a powerful, appalling, and stunningly-reported expose of the global corruption that runs like an underground river from the world's darkest and dirtiest dictatorships through some of the planet's richest banks and governments. It reads like fiction, but unfortunately is all too true: Burgis names names, and follows the money, right into the Trump White House, among other high places. His narrative shows how dark money has grown from a national problem into an international scourge.”  — Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money

“Read Kleptopia now. There is no time to lose. Read it now to understand that the struggle between dirty money and clean money has been won by dirty money. Tom Burgis demonstrates that money does indeed stink — and shows in Kleptopia how to follow its scent.”  — Roberto Saviano, author of Gomorrah

“Impressively researched and disturbing.”  — Times Literary Supplement (London)

From the Publisher

Impressively researched and disturbing.” 

Times Literary Supplement (London)

Tom Burgis has long been revealing global financial corruption through his reporting for the FT. Now in his landmark book Kleptopia he lays bare what we need to know, and act upon. Trump, Russia, China, New York, London and so much more. This book arms us to understand the massive undermining of the world’s financial systems. Burgis provides us with the terrifying evidence.  Read it and act!” 

Jon Snow