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<\/p>\n Book cover of “Indulging Kleptocracy”
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Indulging Kleptocracy: British Service Providers, Postcommunist Elites, and the Enabling of Corruption<\/a><\/strong>, John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec, and Tom Mayne, Oxford University Press, 328 pp., $29.99, February 2025<\/p>\n This has been a popular topic in investigative nonfiction for some time now. In 2009, Mark Hollingsworth and Stewart Lansley published Londongrad: From Russia with Cash. In it, they describe how a \u201cgroup of buccaneering Russian oligarchs made colossal fortunes after the collapse of communism\u2014and many of them came to London to enjoy their new-found wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2020, Tom Burgis wrote Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World, which detailed London\u2019s path to becoming \u201cthe world\u2019s piggy bank for blood money.\u201d Two years later, Oliver Bullough explained in Butler to the World how the United Kingdom, despite its professed adherence to the rule of law, became a key player in frustrating global anti-corruption efforts.<\/p>\n Bullough is an expert on the matter, and wrote the foreword for Indulging Kleptocracy: British Service Providers, Postcommunist Elites, and the Enabling of Corruption<\/a>, which came out in the United States earlier this year. Far from walking on well-trodden ground, John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec, and Tom Mayne\u2019s book goes in for a closer look, choosing to focus on the people applying the grease to corruption\u2019s wheels.<\/p>\n A cardboard cutout of the prime minister wearing no clothes but a crown on his head and a sign below his waist stands in front of his office.<\/p>\n A cardboard cutout of Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wearing a sign that reads \u201cHenley & Partners Salesman of the Year\u201d stands outside the prime minister\u2019s office at Auberge de Castille in Valletta, Malta, on May 15, 2018. Darrin Zammit Lupi\/Reuters <\/p>\n We all know what the world\u2019s oldest profession is, Bullough opens, and we can assume that the pimp came second. The third is what our three academics decided to study: namely, \u201cthe sidekick, the minion, the crony, and the enabler who is prepared to hold a victim\u2019s arms back while the pimp punches them.\u201d These roles may come with \u201clittle glory,\u201d but they can be deeply lucrative.<\/p>\n Crucially, those who have chosen to go down that road to get rich quietly can remain hidden in the shadows. They may never reach the levels of wealth of their kleptocratic and oligarchic overlords, but they can go about their lives with little scrutiny and accountability.<\/p>\n After all, Bullough writes, \u201cWe talk about mafia dons, but not about their consigliere; we talk about corporate barons, but not about their lawyers; we talk about the grandly corrupt, but not about the people who manage their money.\u201d Indulging Kleptocracy seeks to change that.<\/p>\n The authors\u2019 chosen frame of reference is an interesting one. The book could have begun with, say, the fall of the Soviet Union, but it instead starts much earlier, in the 16th century, as a certain Martin Luther hammers some theses to the door of a cathedral. The Reformation was partly caused by pushback to the Catholic Church\u2019s increasing reliance on indulgences, which essentially allowed sinners to pay their way into heaven. Anything you\u2019d done on this earthly realm could be swiftly forgotten with the right investments or charitable contributions.<\/p>\n Similarly, modern indulgences seek to \u201cenrich the enablers, assuage the corrupt, and muddy the waters between right and wrong, truth and falsehood,\u201d the authors write. Essentially, in exchange for some money, today\u2019s wrong\u2019uns can receive social status in Western democracies. These indulgences are granted by estate agents, lawyers, accountants, and wealth managers, among other professionals. What these people have in common is that they \u201cfacilitate transactions between two or more parties, at least one of whom has a source of wealth which is illicit.\u201d<\/p>\n To study these enablers, the authors outline the different professional sectors that are \u201cworking to transform the world from one dominated by sovereign nation states \u2026 to one where public-private networks of elites dominate.\u201d According to them, the nine ways that kleptocrats and their cronies do this are by hiding money, listing companies, selling rights, purchasing properties, explaining wealth, selling status, making friends, tracking enemies, and silencing critics.<\/p>\n Were kleptocrats to succeed at all of these, they would be living the dream\u2014siphoning millions away from their country, only to be welcomed by the West with open arms and lead a life of largesse in a prosperous democracy, without having to worry about how to safeguard their wealth at home.<\/p>\n In practice, it is not easy for kleptocrats to tick all those boxes, but there are legions of professionals in Britain who are happy to help. Though the book can be quite achingly academic at times, especially for more casual readers, the examples it sets out are often hair-raising.<\/p>\n Take Henley & Partners, a U.K. company self-styled as the \u201cglobal leader in residence and citizenship by investment.\u201d Between 2006 and 2021, Henley, which now operates in more than 40 countries, helped the government of former British colony St. Kitts and Nevis issue up to 50,000<\/a> passports\u2014more than the country\u2019s recorded population. Between 2013 and 2020, the company ran a similar scheme with Malta, which helped 851 Russians<\/a> seeking citizenship. Henley performed due diligence checks on applicants but, crucially, was also paid a commission<\/a> for every individual they put forward. In Cyprus, Henley helped Jho Low, the alleged mastermind of the 1MBD fraud<\/a> in Malaysia, apply for citizenship. (Low also had a passport from St. Kitts and Nevis at the time.)<\/p>\n A man holds up a banner of a cartoon man holding bags of money with “1MBD” on his clothes.<\/p>\n A man holds a placard at an anti-kleptocracy rally in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, near Kuala Lumpur, on Oct. 14, 2017. Lai Seng Sin\/Reuters <\/p>\n The company has denied<\/a> that its programs have a \u201csystemic problem\u201d or that they are used for \u201cnefarious purposes.\u201d As Henley sees it, it is a private actor, and whatever states end up doing is ultimately the purview of government authorities.<\/p>\n Still, as the authors argue, it is important to track and understand companies such as Henley because they are \u201cnot merely responding to a \u2018need\u2019 that is out there \u2026 they are creating new demand in a market dominated by wealthy individuals from kleptocratic states.\u201d<\/p>\n Indulging Kleptocracy makes it clear that not all enablers are obvious or conscious ones. Still, the most amusing quotes in the book are from the people gleefully outing themselves as willing instead of gullible. Estate agent Benson Beard, for one, provides some light if acidic entertainment by telling a \u201cclient\u201d (in fact an undercover anti-corruption campaigner filming a Channel 4 documentary<\/a>), \u201cDon\u2019t talk to me about how [the money] comes here. \u2026 We have certain regulations within our industry where I don\u2019t need to know where things come from.\u201d<\/p>\n This quote offers a glimpse into the mindset of enablers and hints at why they have proliferated in Britain. One part of the answer lies in historical coincidence, whereby the Soviet Union was dismantled, with capital divided up between lucky elites, at the same time as the City of London continued to deregulate<\/a> further and further as a way to rebuild an economy that could no longer rely on industrial production. Essentially, the British state found itself in need of money and amenable to turning a blind eye to where it came from, just as Slavic and Central Asian countries were suddenly headed by people with piles of money and no stable place to guard their wealth.<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An illustration shows a golden Cybertruck blasting through a U.S. seal of an eagle holding arrows and laurel.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Is America a Kleptocracy? <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s how life could change for the rich, poor, and everyone in between.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The downtown district of Wilmington, Delaware, is seen on Aug. 19, 2016.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n How Delaware Became the World\u2019s Biggest Offshore Haven <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Kleptocrats, criminals, and con artists have all parked their illicit gains in the state.<\/p>\n On top of this, Britain still has close links to former dependencies from the colonial era, whose legal systems are often similar to those created in London. This has allowed capital to move relatively easily between the country and various corners of the world.<\/p>\n Many kleptocrats also know how to make the most of U.K. libel laws, which have \u201clong been concerned with protecting [reputation] as a thing of value.\u201d In Britain, claimants do not have to prove that a statement published about them is factually incorrect, but merely that it is defamatory and \u201cmay cause serious harm to reputation.\u201d This threshold is markedly lower than in other jurisdictions and has led to journalistic\u00a0self-censorship<\/a>\u00a0in reporting on kleptocrats.<\/p>\n This article is featured in the FP Weekend newsletter, a curation of our best book reviews, deep dives, and other reads that take a step back from the drumbeat of the news. Get the lineup directly every Saturday.\n <\/p>\n This article is featured in the FP Weekend newsletter, a curation of our best book reviews, deep dives, and other reads that take a step back from the drumbeat of the news. Get the lineup directly every Saturday.<\/p>\n \n Sign Up\n <\/p>\n By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Use<\/a> and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.<\/p>\n \n Enter your email<\/p>\n Sign Up\n <\/p>\n The authors are quick to point out that, though slow moving, the British state has been trying to close loopholes and monitor potential corruption more closely. It just can\u2019t do it as fast as Britain-based enablers manage to open others and circumvent laws in ever-imaginative ways. \u201cThe state is present at least by its absence in every indulgence we have explored,\u201d the authors write in the conclusion. \u201cIt no longer appears to effectively regulate the market. Therefore, it is the rationale of the market\u2014competition for private goods\u2014which triumphs over collective national action and the public good.\u201d<\/p>\n Another issue lies with the very nature of kleptocracy. As the book notes repeatedly, the spouses and relatives of post-Soviet rulers often gain immense wealth through means that do not exist in bona fide democracies, from ownership of state-backed companies to suspiciously well-timed purchases of shares. Consequently, it can be tough to establish that the money was obtained \u201cillegally\u201d back home.<\/p>\n This is why, the authors argue in the end, kleptocracy ought to be treated as \u201cserious and organized crime.\u201d Just as Italy changed its laws<\/a> in the 1980s so it could efficiently prosecute the mafia, Britain should \u201cassume that individuals linked with listed kleptocratic regimes benefited from this association, thus presuming that some of their assets were the proceeds of crime.\u201d This, in turn, would make it easier to find, fine, and prosecute their enablers on British soil, who would no longer be able to play dumb and pretend that they thought everything was in order.<\/p>\n Members of London’s National Crime Agency stand before a massive yacht called “Phi” at a dock.<\/p>\n A superyacht owned by a Russian businessman is detained in London on April 1, 2022, as part of the U.K. government\u2019s sanctions against Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine. The ship was registered to a company based in St. Kitts and Nevis and carried Maltese flags to hide its origins. National Crime Agency\/Cover Imag via Reuters Connect <\/p>\n How optimistic are the authors that things will change? Eh. Although they acknowledge that successive British governments have at least pretended to care about the threats of corruption and dirty cash flooding London\u2019s market, they have all been slow to act, perhaps because the money is actually needed.<\/p>\n Though few countries truly thrived in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, Britain\u2019s economic growth has been slower<\/a> than much of Europe\u2019s since then, and leaving the European Union did not lead<\/a> to the sunlit uplands once promised by Brexiteers. The years of Tory political chaos may now be over, but the relatively new Labour government is struggling to get the economy up and running again, even as the country returned<\/a> to growth in February.<\/p>\n \u201c[T]o indulge no more may be too big an ask,\u201d the authors conclude, diplomatically. \u201cJust to indulge a little less would be a victory.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2-Kleptocracy-Malta-Prime-Minister-Joseph-Muscat-Henley-and-Partners-Protest-Reuters-2018-RC1C328A6B.webp\")
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