The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) in Washington DC leverages public data to uncover illicit activities linked to global security threats and human rights abuses. As our guest Savanna Slaughter explains, her team focuses on natural resource security, wildlife crimes, and national security concerns. In Myanmar, they have been investigating the junta's military funding and illicit financial flows, including crony financing.

However, sourcing data poses significant challenges, especially in Myanmar, where corporate activities are often shrouded in secrecy. C4ADS relies on public data, leaks, and informants to decipher complex networks. The team also utilizes digitized data and extensive cross-referencing with social media to construct clearer profiles of their subjects.

Investigating illicit financial operations involves tracing shell companies and obscured transactions, often requiring a mix of diligent research, data analysis, and sometimes luck or insights from criminal probes. Slaughter mentions the constant emergence of shell companies exacerbates their work, making their task akin to playing “Whack-A-Mole.”

“Moving forward with this is going to require a lot more innovation,” Slaughter says in closing, “in terms of identifying companies of interest, perhaps working to develop some screening lists, or building out directors of interest and combining corporate data in a new way to form screening lists for shell companies and things like that.”