Kleptopia: A story worthy of an HBO series

Author: Tom Burgis

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was written by an investigative journalist and tells an intricate and far-reaching story about corruption, criminals, dirty money and how they’re linked into power structures throughout the world.

The author traces the struggles of a banker trying to hold is employer to account for their efforts to help high net worth individuals hide their money from tax authorities, an oligarch who fell on the wrong side of power-brokers in Central Asia, as well as kelptocrats who are intent on exploiting conflict and natural resources all over the world.

This book showcases how London in particular is a nexus for these kleptocrats and their dirty money.

While I think this book was incredibly well researched and the events and people this book describes are very relevant and important to understanding kleptocracy and how it impacts the world, the stories the author was trying to tell felt a bit muddled. To be fair, he’s trying to unpick and describe an incredibly complex set of characters and events, but I’m not sure if that execution hit for me.

If you’re looking for a book about corruption and dirty money and some really incredible true stories, I would recommend this. But as a more accessible introduction to the mechanisms that operate in these shadowy, corrupt places, I’d also recommend Moneyland by Oliver Bullough.