Episode 50

Hidden in Plain Sight: How Kleptocrats Exploit U.S. Financial Systems

The shadowy finances that fueled the 9/11 terrorist attacks cut a somber scar into America.

Despite the anti-money laundering initiatives woven in the Patriot Act, that wound continues to fester, according to Casey Michel, who suggests U.S. federal and state systems make America a cooperative collaborator in the money laundering schemes of kleptocrats.

Casey, author of American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World's Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History and Director of the Combating American Kleptocracy Program at the Human Rights Foundation, joins host Matt Adams for the show’s landmark 50th episode.

Matt and Casey start their discussion focused on how corrupt foreign leaders launder the wealth expropriated from their home countries in the traditional offshore outlets. They then explain how those kleptocrats have legally infiltrated America — from small towns in the Midwest to oceanfront urban metropolises — with shell companies promising revitalization and development but often leaving dilapidated buildings and distressed communities instead.

What legal and legislative measures are required to challenge these actions? Matt and Casey explore all that and more in this insightful episode