American Kleptocracy

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A remarkable debut by a leading young reporter on financial corruption, this work offers an explosive investigation into how the United States built the largest illicit offshore finance system in history. For years, the U.S. has served as the greatest offshore haven, attracting vast amounts of illicit finance linked to corrupt regimes and extremist networks. Surprisingly, it is not the Caribbean islands or traditional financial secrecy havens like Switzerland or Panama that dominate this landscape, but the U.S., which paradoxically claims to be a moral leader against corruption. The transformation into a global offshoring hub is complete, characterized by anonymous shell companies and legal constructs like “perpetual trusts,” alongside public relations and lobbying efforts that obscure the origins of dirty money. While Donald Trump epitomized this descent, the trajectory has been decades in the making. The investigation reveals how states like Delaware and Nevada perfected anonymous shell companies, how post-9/11 reforms inadvertently facilitated a surge of illicit finance into the U.S., and how foreign despots and oligarchs have infiltrated American industries and communities. It also examines the role of Nazi-era lobbyists in creating an industry that whitewashes transnational criminals, the infiltration of dirty money into American universities and cultural institutions, and the ongoing efforts to restore the U.S.'s lega