Kleptopia Paperback – 8 July 2021

Phenomenal book

Jusy started reading the book. The sentence structure is a bit 😳 for my taste. The simple thing is told in a very loopy and fancy way. The author has a flair for words and it shows. The content reads like a real novel and it is scary to think how the rich and the powerful live a parallel and powerfully endowed life among us mortals without any accountability. Still reading it...

Great book . Must read . Period

My humble view i maybe wrongI felt book was not well structuredI learned many new things but i could not develop a flow because the stories were getting interchanged after every chapterIt should have been AAABBBCCC but it was ABCABCABC hence i could not develop speed and was forgetting thingsDetails were nice but could have been written in a better way

Having read his earlier book on Africa, I picked up this book and was expecting it to be a good one. I was not disappointed. The book reads like a thriller, except that everything is real life. It gives you an inside look at how criminals and corrupt leaders and businessmen make and launder money. From the privatized mines and factories of the former soviet union to rigged elections in Africa to a shady corporation listed in London, the book will show how all this is linked. A must read.

I have been naive all my life. And chances are so have you. The way the world functions is very different from the way I have always imagined it has functioned. The way power is built and hapless citizens of nations, living their lives with blinders on is a shock to the system, the moment one learns about it. Putin, Trump, Tony Blair, Shell, HSBC, China all the biggest names, institutions and countries in the world are ripped open in this expose. Everyone human needs to read this book.

Every man lives his real, most interesting life under cover of secrecyAnton Chekhov, The Lady with The DogAn alternative way of depicting this book is that ruthless thieves rule us. I am confident I am correct in stating that kleptocratic states are becoming increasingly common.I gained two extra terms. The first is ‘kleptocracy’. In a kleptocratic state, the ruler uses political authority to peddle the country’s resources for personal profit.The second, is ‘kakistocracy’. I learned this word while researching kleptocracy. This a state or society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens. If you throw in the word autocracy, you will have a state ruled by one person who concentrates all power in himself/herself.The secret of a great fortune with no apparent cause is a crime that has been forgotten because it was done properlyHonore de Balzac, Old GoriotTom Burgis has composed a work about kleptocracies. He has not mentioned kakistocracies, which is a pity. If you analyse this word seriously, you recognize that it is (at one level) related to kleptocratic states. I would state that kleptocracies, kakistocracies and autocracies are linked.The writing is lively. There were occasions I had to warn myself that this is not a crime tale. Tom Burgis has depicted two kleptocratic situations—Africa and Kazakhstan/Ukraine.Evidently, kleptocratic states are not new. In my considered view, we can characterize the escapades of people like Cecil Rhodes and King Leopold in the 19th century as kleptocratic behavior.What is distinct between those times and our current days? Cecil Rhodes and King Leopold were not populists. Many of today’s corrupt leaders are populists. Populism usually rises when resentment and discontent sweep through society. There are many reasons for this, and this is not the place to plunge into this problem. However, Germany after World War I was ready for populism, as was India in 2012-2014. These are conditions in which a populist is most comfortable. He can manipulate the situation, present himself as a guardian angel, and then expels the established order. Yet, a populist creates an order that is worse than the one he supplanted.Political power becomes concentrated in the grip of a few, and kleptocracy rules. A kleptocrat is ruthless. Tom Burgis has painted a highly authentic picture of this ruthlessness in the two cases that he presented in his book.They did not have to knock too hard.’ The London bankers’ and lawyers’ private pursuits matched those of the oligarchs and their retinues. ‘The finest of the finest prostitutes. Any drug you want. Different batches of girls. Limitless money. Limitless.’from Kleptopia. Tom BurgisThere is another contrast between the 19th century and our years. This is the international scale of the operation. Social media, and the internet has made both—propaganda and cash transfer—much simpler. I don’t know if international banks took a piece of the action in the 19th century, but they do now. The book is a dismal tale of corruption, avarice, cynicism and outright hypocrisy.Nigel of Basingstoke tried to put himself inside a BSI client’s mind. ‘Why would I come to London to set up anaccount in Switzerland in the name of a Cayman Islands entity with directors in Panama? Now, it makesabsolutely no sense unless there is something quite underhand going on.’from Kleptopia. Tom BurgisTom Burgis presents us with two narratives. One is that of Nigel Wilkins of Basingstoke who tried, through his career, to piece together evidence against the corruption.The other is the account of fraud in Ukraine/Kazakhstan and Africa. This is a tale of greed, cruelty and dictatorial power. The kleptocrats think nothing of torturing protestors and labelling them as anti-national. Neither do they think twice about celebrating ostentatiously while their citizens are infected with Ebola and die gruesome deaths.In his last chapter, Tom gives us with a list of countries controlled by kleptocrats. The USA should thank itself that Donald Trump has been voted out of power. If not, it would have gone the way of the other countries. I am startled that he did not mention India. However, the situation in India may be distinctive in its own manner.Nigel Wilkins died without being able to pursue justice to its bitter end.Tom has weaved a compelling narrative of selfishness, corruption and exploitation of powerThere is one deficiency in the book. The analysis is not deep enough. Earlier in this review, I mentioned kakistocracies and autocracies because I believe they are related.Does democracy exist, except in name? Tom Burgis could have thrown some wisdom into these topics and the interdependences between them.Putting this quibble aside, it is an exceptional book. We ought to be frightened. Most of us lead our lives in complacent bubbles of blissful ignorance.Thieves rule us, and we vote them into power again and again.This is an exceptional book—about racketeers and dupes.

Jaw dropping book in financial crime … interesting characters from Boris Johnson , Putin , Trump and many others ! You will know that there is a different world which is laundering billions under different garbs.Recommended… I completed the book in three days ..