Kleptocracy

{{short description|Form of government}} {{distinguish|text=Mafia state, a state entangled with organized crime syndicates}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} [[File:Corrupt-Legislation-Vedder-Highsmith-detail-1.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.2|Detail from ''Corrupt Legislation'', painting by Elihu Vedder (1896)]] {{Political corruption sidebar}} {{Forms of government}} '''Kleptocracy''' ({{IPA|en|klɛpˈtɒkrəsɪ}}) is a form of government in which those in power use their position to steal or exploit national resources for personal gain.<ref name="oed2"/><ref name=dictionary>{{cite web |title=kleptocracy |date=n.d. |work=Dictionary.com Unabridged |access-date=November 1, 2016 |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/kleptocracy |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112033255/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/kleptocracy|url-status=live}}</ref>

The word is attested in English from at least 1819, while its modern sense dates from the 1870s.

==Etymology== The term is formed from the Greek ''klepto-'' ("theft") and the suffix ''-cracy'' ("form of government", from French ''-cratie'', ultimately from Greek ''-kratia'').<ref name="oed.com">{{cite web |title=kleptocracy, n. meanings, etymology and more |website=Oxford English Dictionary |date=December 1, 2024 |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/kleptocracy_n |access-date=April 29, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240826035344/https://www.oed.com/dictionary/kleptocracy_n |archive-date=August 26, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of KLEPTOCRACY |website=Merriam-Webster |date=April 17, 2026 |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kleptocracy |access-date=April 29, 2026}}</ref> The Oxford English Dictionary defines kleptocracy as "A ruling body or order of thieves. Also, government by thieves; a nation ruled by this kind of government."<ref name="oed2">{{cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=2 |year=1989 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |entry=kleptocracy |title-link=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> It cites the earliest usage from an 1819 essay by Leigh Hunt on picaresque fiction.<ref name="oed2"/><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Hunt|first=Leigh|author-link=Leigh Hunt|title=Thieves, Ancient and Modern|magazine=The Indicator|date=December 29, 1819}}</ref> The term was later adopted in its familiar sense by civil service reform advocates in the United States.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Macdonough|first=Augustus R.|author-link=Augustus R. Macdonough|title=Civil Service Reform|magazine=Harper's Monthly|volume=40|number=238|date=March 1870|quote=the kleptocracy that tramples our great cities under its satyr hoofs|pages=556}}</ref>

==Characteristics== Kleptocratic rulers often treat their country's treasury as a source of personal wealth, spending funds on luxury goods and extravagances as they see fit. Many kleptocratic rulers secretly transfer public funds into hidden personal accounts in foreign countries to provide for themselves if removed from power.<ref name=divideandrule>{{cite journal | last1=Acemoglu | first1=Daron | last2=Verdier | first2=Thierry | last3=Robinson | first3=James A. | title=Kleptocracy and Divide-and-Rule: A Model of Personal Rule | journal=Journal of the European Economic Association | publisher=Oxford University Press | volume=2 | issue=2–3 | date=May 1, 2004 | issn=1542-4766 | doi=10.1162/154247604323067916 | pages=162–192 | doi-broken-date=September 1, 2025 | ssrn=476093 | s2cid=7846928 | url=https://economics.mit.edu/files/4462 |type= Paper presented as the Marshall Lecture at the European Economic Association's annual meetings in Stockholm, August 24, 2003 | access-date=November 15, 2017 | archive-date=May 24, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524035024/https://economics.mit.edu/files/4462 | url-status=dead | hdl=1721.1/63819 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>

According to L. K. Samuels, one reason governmental bodies subscribe to theft-prone policies is to lay the groundwork for the socialization of labor and property, thus permitting kleptocrats to make a populace "subservient to an institutionalized authority".<ref>Samuels, L. K. (2019) ''Killing History: The False Left-Right Political Spectrum''. Freeland Press. p. 484.{{isbn?|date = May 2026}}</ref> Journalist Paul Greenberg, in writing in 1989 against the idea of the United States sending substantial foreign aid to Poland, argued that the country was emerging from "40 years of a Communist thievocracy that has obliterated not only economic progress but also the idea of a modern economy".<ref>Greenberg, Paul (November 12, 1989). "Invasion: Here Come the Debtors". Congressional Record: Extensions of Remarks, p. 31757, as reported in the ''Washington Times'', November 20, 1989.</ref>

== Financial system == Contemporary studies have identified 21st-century kleptocracy as a global financial system based on money laundering, which "depends on the services of the world's largest banks and expert financial professionals".<ref>{{cite book |last=Sharman |first=J. C. |date=2017 |title=The Despot's Guide to Wealth Management: On the International Campaign against Grand Corruption |location=Ithaca, New York|publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9781501705519 |page=1}}</ref> The International Monetary Fund has suggested it could be a consensus of estimates, that money laundering made up 2–5 percent of the global economy in 1998.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cooley |first1=Alexander |last2=Sharman |first2=J. C. |date=September 2017 |title=Transnational Corruption and the Globalized Individual |journal=Perspectives on Politics |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=732–753 |doi=10.1017/S1537592717000937 |hdl=10072/386929 |s2cid=148724584 |issn=1537-5927|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/january-2018|title=January 2018|publisher=Journal of Democracy|access-date=July 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926114440/https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/january-2018|archive-date=September 26, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=February 10, 1998 |url=https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sp021098 |title=Money Laundering: the Importance of International Countermeasures |first=Michel |last=Camdessus |publisher=IMF |access-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-date=May 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523200844/https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sp021098 |url-status=live }}</ref> Kleptocrats engage in money laundering to obscure the corrupt origins of their wealth and safeguard it from domestic threats such as economic instability and predatory kleptocratic rivals. They are then able to secure this wealth in assets and investments within more stable jurisdictions, where it can then be stored for personal use, returned to the country of origin to support the kleptocrat's domestic activities, or deployed elsewhere to protect and project the regime's interests overseas.<ref>{{Cite journal |first1=Christopher |last1=Walker |first2=Melissa |last2=Aten |date=January 15, 2018 |url=https://www.ned.org/the-rise-of-kleptocracy-a-challenge-for-democracy-by-christopher-walker-and-melissa-aten-in-the-journal-of-democracy/ |title=The Rise of Kleptocracy: A Challenge for Democracy |journal=Journal of Democracy |publisher=National Endowment for Democracy |volume=29 |number=1 |pages=20–24 |access-date=July 19, 2018 |doi=10.1353/jod.2018.0001 |s2cid=201780159 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=May 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503142246/https://www.ned.org/the-rise-of-kleptocracy-a-challenge-for-democracy-by-christopher-walker-and-melissa-aten-in-the-journal-of-democracy/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Kleptocrats abuse the freedoms found in Western countries by transferring funds out of a kleptocracy and into Western jurisdictions for money laundering and asset security. Since 2011, more than $1 trillion has left developing countries annually in illicit financial outflows. A 2016 study found that $12 trillion had been siphoned out of developing economies.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/08/offshore-finance-emerging-countries-russia-david-cameron-summit |title=Offshore finance: more than $12tn siphoned out of emerging countries |last=Stewart |first=Heather |date=May 8, 2016 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref> Western professional services providers are often taken advantage of by exploiting legal and financial loopholes in the West to facilitate transnational money laundering.<ref>{{Cite news |first1=Alex |last1=Cooley |first2=Jason |last2=Sharman |date=November 14, 2017 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/11/14/theres-a-dirty-little-secret-behind-western-condescension-toward-foreign-kleptocrats/ |title=Analysis {{!}} How today's despots and kleptocrats hide their stolen wealth |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-date=March 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328100535/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/11/14/theres-a-dirty-little-secret-behind-western-condescension-toward-foreign-kleptocrats/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |first=Carl |last=Gershman |date=June 30, 2016 |url=http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/unholy-alliance-kleptocratic-authoritarians-and-their-western-enablers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702145025/http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/unholy-alliance-kleptocratic-authoritarians-and-their-western-enablers|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 2, 2016|title=Unholy Alliance: Kleptocratic Authoritarians and their Western Enablers|publisher=World Affairs |access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref> The kleptocratic financial system typically comprises four steps according to one opinion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/money-laundering/laundrycycle.html|title=The Money-Laundering Cycle|publisher=United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime|access-date=July 19, 2018|archive-date=November 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103192532/https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/money-laundering/laundrycycle.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

#First, kleptocrats or those operating on their behalf create anonymous shell companies to conceal the origins and ownership of the funds. Multiple interlocking networks of anonymous shell companies may be created and nominee directors appointed to further conceal the kleptocrat as the ultimate beneficial owner of the funds.<ref>{{cite web|first=Jodi|last=Vittori|date=September 7, 2017|url=https://www.cfr.org/report/how-anonymous-shell-companies-finance-insurgents-criminals-and-dictators|title=How Anonymous Shell Companies Finance Insurgents, Criminals, and Dictators|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=July 19, 2018|archive-date=July 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719233313/https://www.cfr.org/report/how-anonymous-shell-companies-finance-insurgents-criminals-and-dictators|url-status=live}}</ref> #Second, kleptocrats violate Western laws when they illegally transfer funds into the Western financial system. #Third, financial transactions conducted by the kleptocrat in a Western country complete the integration of the funds. Once a kleptocrat has purchased an asset this can then be resold, providing a defensible albeit illegal origin of the funds. This is known as money laundering and is illegal throughout the Western world. Research has shown that the purchase of luxury real estate is a particularly favored method, especially by Chinese and Russian kleptocrats.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Philip |last=Bump |date=January 4, 2018 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/01/04/how-money-laundering-works-in-real-estate/ |title=Analysis {{!}} How money laundering works in real estate |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-date=August 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812211842/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/01/04/how-money-laundering-works-in-real-estate/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/shell-company-towers-of-secrecy-real-estate|title=Towers of Secrecy: Piercing the Shell Companies|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=July 19, 2018|type=Collection of 9 articles from 2015 and 2016|archive-date=November 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112153546/https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/shell-company-towers-of-secrecy-real-estate|url-status=live}}</ref> #Fourth, according to a British newspaper,{{which|reason=WP:V|date=March 2025}} kleptocrats may use their illegally laundered funds to engage in reputation laundering, hiring public relations firms to present a positive public image and lawyers to suppress journalistic scrutiny of their political connections and the origins of their wealth.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/05/reputation-laundering-is-lucrative-business-for-london-pr-firms|title='Reputation laundering' is lucrative business for London PR firms|last=Sweney|first=Mark|date=September 5, 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=July 19, 2018|archive-date=November 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119063620/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/05/reputation-laundering-is-lucrative-business-for-london-pr-firms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/article/rise-kleptocracy-laundering-cash-whitewashing-reputations|title=The Rise of Kleptocracy: Laundering Cash, Whitewashing Reputations|journal=Journal of Democracy|access-date=July 19, 2018|archive-date=September 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926115156/https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/article/rise-kleptocracy-laundering-cash-whitewashing-reputations|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a 2011 forensic study of grand corruption cases, the World Bank found the United States was the leading victim of illegal incorporation of entities involved in money laundering schemes.<ref name="star.worldbank.org">{{cite web |date=October 24, 2011 |url=https://star.worldbank.org/publication/puppet-masters |title=The Puppet Masters |publisher=Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, The World Bank |access-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-date=November 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121013656/https://star.worldbank.org/publication/puppet-masters |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Department of the Treasury estimates that $300 billion is laundered annually in the United States in violation of US law.<ref>{{cite news |first=Chuck |last=Grassley |date=March 16, 2018 |url=https://qz.com/1230037/the-peculiarities-of-us-financial-system-make-it-ideal-for-money-laundering/ |title=The peculiarities of the US financial system make it ideal for money laundering |work=Quartz |access-date=July 19, 2018 |author-link=Chuck Grassley |archive-date=November 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117072448/https://qz.com/1230037/the-peculiarities-of-us-financial-system-make-it-ideal-for-money-laundering/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

This kleptocratic financial system flourishes in the United States by illegally abusing the United States' liberal economic structure for two reasons.

#First, the United States does not have a beneficial ownership registry, and kleptocrats take advantage of this privacy benefit.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thefactcoalition.org/fact-sheet-anonymous-shell-companies-august-2017|title=FACT Sheet: Anonymous Shell Companies|date=August 16, 2017|publisher=FACT Coalition|access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref> #Second, kleptocrats take advantage of incorporation agents, lawyers, and realtors to unknowingly launder their money.

[[File:Milo Đukanović at the Enthronement of Naruhito (1).jpg|thumb|upright|Montenegro's president Milo Đukanović was listed among the twenty richest world leaders according to ''The Independent'' in May 2010, which described the source of his wealth as "mysterious".<ref>{{cite news|last=David|first=Usborne|title=Rich and powerful: Obama and the global super-elite|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/rich-and-powerful-obama-and-the-global-super-elite-1976403.html|access-date=October 19, 2016|newspaper=The Independent|date=May 19, 2010|archive-date=May 14, 2022|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/rich-and-powerful-obama-and-the-global-super-elite-1976403.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.occrp.org/personoftheyear/2015/ |publisher=Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project |title=Milo Djukanovic |date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624110436/https://www.occrp.org/personoftheyear/2015/ |archive-date=June 24, 2016}}</ref>]]

As of 2016, there are only around 1,200 money laundering convictions per year in the United States and money launderers face a less than five percent chance of conviction.<ref name="fatf-gafi.org">{{cite web |date=December 2016 |url=http://www.fatf-gafi.org/countries/u-z/unitedstates/documents/mer-united-states-2016.html |title=United States' measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing |publisher=Financial Action Task Force |access-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719233621/http://www.fatf-gafi.org/countries/u-z/unitedstates/documents/mer-united-states-2016.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Raymond W. Baker estimates that law enforcement fails in 99.9% of cases to detect money laundering by kleptocrats and other financial criminals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thefactcoalition.org/countering-international-money-laundering|title=Countering International Money Laundering|date=August 23, 2017|work=FACT Coalition|access-date=July 19, 2018|archive-date=December 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224220523/https://thefactcoalition.org/countering-international-money-laundering|url-status=live}}</ref>

Other Western jurisdictions favoured by kleptocrats include South Africa, the United Kingdom, and British dependencies, especially the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, and Jersey.<ref>{{cite web |first=Murray |last=Worthy |date=April 29, 2008 |url=https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/missing-bigger-picture-russian-money-uks-tax-havens/|title=Missing the bigger picture? Russian money in the UK's tax havens |work=Global Witness|access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/introduction/fsi-2018-results |title=Financial Secrecy Index – 2018 Results |publisher=Tax Justice Network |access-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-date=March 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331040220/https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/introduction/fsi-2018-results |url-status=live }}</ref> Jurisdictions connected to the European Union that are particularly favoured by kleptocrats include Cyprus, the Netherlands, and the Netherlands Antilles.{{update inline|reason=Netherlands Antilles no longer exists|date=March 2025}}<ref>{{Cite news |first=Andrew |last=Rettman |date=October 27, 2017 |url=https://euobserver.com/justice/139688 |title=Cyprus defends reputation on Russia money laundering |work=EUobserver |access-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-date=May 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512211437/https://euobserver.com/justice/139688 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://nltimes.nl/2017/03/21/dutch-banks-accused-aiding-russian-money-laundering-scheme|title=Dutch banks accused of aiding Russian money laundering scheme|date=March 21, 2017|work= NL Times |access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Pacifické shromáždění v Brně za Skutečnou Demokracii TEĎ (03).jpg|thumb|Demonstration banner with text in {{langx|cs|Demokracie místo kleptokracie}} ("Democracy instead of kleptocracy"); peace rally in Brno for Real Democracy NOW, {{Interlanguage link|Moravian Square|cs|Moravské náměstí (Brno)}}, Brno, Czech Republic]]

==Political and corporate kleptomania== Other forms of a thievery society that can induce a "culture of systematic fraud" have been described as "political and corporate kleptomania".<ref>{{cite book |first=Wazir Johan |last=Karim |year=2020 |title=The Global Nexus: Political Economies, Connectivity, and the Social Sciences |location=London and Hackensack, New Jersey |publisher=World Scientific Publishing |pages=170–171}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> In this case, the plunder and looting enriches not only high government officials, but a narrow class of plutocrats, who usually represent wealthy individuals and families who have amassed great assets through the usage of political favoritism, special interest legislation, monopolies, special tax breaks, state intervention, subsidies or outright graft.{{cn|date=April 2026}} This type of economic system of political spoils is sometimes referred to as crony capitalism.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/686474/|doi = 10.1086/686474|title = Crony Capitalism|year = 2015|last1 = Rubin|first1 = Paul H.|journal = Supreme Court Economic Review|volume = 23|pages = 105–120|s2cid = 225085891|url-access = subscription|archive-date = April 18, 2021|access-date = April 24, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210418083719/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/686474|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2016/05/05/comparing-crony-capitalism-around-the-world |title=Comparing crony capitalism around the world: The Economist's crony-capitalism index |magazine=The Economist |date=May 5, 2016}}</ref>

==Effects== The effects of a kleptocratic regime or government on a nation are typically adverse in regards to the welfare of the state's economy, political affairs, and civil rights. Kleptocratic governance typically ruins prospects of foreign investment and drastically weakens the domestic market and cross-border trade. As kleptocracies often embezzle money from their citizens by misusing funds derived from tax payments, or engage heavily in money laundering schemes, they tend to heavily degrade the quality of life for citizens.<ref>{{cite book | title = Bureaucratic-authoritarianism and the Forest Sector in Latin America | first= George M. | last= Guess | publisher = Office for Public Sector Studies, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LptjAAAAMAAJ&q=kleptocracy+degrades+quality+of+life | date = 1984 | page = 5 | access-date = February 12, 2018 }}</ref>

In addition, the money that kleptocrats steal is diverted from funds earmarked for public amenities such as the building of hospitals, schools, roads, parks – having further adverse effects on the quality of life of citizens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2008/06/20080601225742srenod6.734866e-02.html|title=Combating Kleptocracy|date=December 6, 2006|publisher=Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. State Department|access-date=November 15, 2016|archive-date=November 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116015638/http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2008/06/20080601225742srenod6.734866e-02.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The informal oligarchy that results from a kleptocratic elite subverts democracy (or any other political format).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/scp/2006/70236.htm |title=National Strategy Against High-Level Corruption: Coordinating International Efforts to Combat Kleptocracy |publisher=United States Department of State Bureau Public Affairs |access-date=August 8, 2008  |archive-date=November 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117114315/https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/scp/2006/70236.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Examples== [[File:President_Suharto,_1993.jpg|thumb|Suharto, the former President of Indonesia, was reported to have stolen over $15 billion during his presidency.]]

In early 2004, the German anti-corruption NGO Transparency International released a list of ten self-enriching leaders in the two decades previous to the report. Transparency International acknowledged that they were "not necessarily the 10 most corrupt leaders" and noted that "very little is known about the amounts actually embezzled".<ref name="Global Corruption Report">{{Cite book|url=https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2004_GCR_PoliticalCorruption_EN.pdf|title=Global Corruption Report 2004|publisher=Pluto Press in association with Transparency International|year=2004|isbn=074532231X|editor-last=Hodess|editor-first=Robin|location=Sterling, VA|page=13|editor-last2=Inowlocki|editor-first2=Tania|editor-last3=Rodriguez|editor-first3=Diana|editor-last4=Wolfe|editor-first4=Toby|archive-date=May 13, 2022|access-date=September 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513102432/https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2004_GCR_PoliticalCorruption_EN.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In descending order of amount allegedly stolen (converted to United States dollars), they were:

# Former Indonesian President Suharto ($15 billion to $35 billion) # Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos ($5 billion to $10 billion) # Former Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko ($5 billion) # Former Nigerian Head of State Sani Abacha ($2 billion to $5 billion) # Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević ($1 billion) # Former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier ($300 million to $800 million) # Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori ($600 million) # Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko ($114 million to $200 million) # Former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Alemán ($100 million) # Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada ($78 million to $80 million)

The political system in Russia has been described as a Mafia state where president Vladimir Putin serves as the "head of the clan".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?|last=Dawisha|first=Karen|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2014|isbn=978-1476795195}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-russia-mafia-kleptocracy |title=WikiLeaks cables condemn Russia as 'mafia state' |author=Luke Harding |date=January 1, 2010 |access-date=November 16, 2022 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505141053/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-russia-mafia-kleptocracy |url-status=live }}</ref>

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had $731 million in his personal bank accounts when his ruling party alliance Barisan Nasional lost the 14th election to opposition party Pakatan Harapan led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, in part because of allegations of participating in the 1MDB scandal.<ref>{{cite news |last=Paddock |first=Richard |date=July 22, 2016 |title=Justice Dept. Rejects Account of How Malaysia's Leader Acquired Millions |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/world/asia/malaysia-1mdb-najib-razak.html |accessdate= |archive-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619113022/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/world/asia/malaysia-1mdb-najib-razak.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Paddock |first=Richard |date=June 14, 2018 |title=Mahathir Mohamad, Leading Malaysia Again at 92, Is on a Mission |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/world/asia/malaysia-mahathir-mohamad.html |newspaper=New York Times |accessdate=}}</ref>

Azerbaijan has been described as a kleptocracy for its use of oil revenue to enrich an oligarch class, including that of the ruling Aliyev dynasty.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Crude Intentions: How Oil Corruption Contaminates the World |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/37428/chapter-abstract/331518088?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=January 23, 2024 |work=Oxford Academic |page=132 |quote=During the price boom, Azerbaijan’s annual oil revenues rose from $5.5 billion in 2007 to $23 billion in 2011. Fueled by these riches, Aliyev used government contracts, loans, and other channels to enrich his allies and build a robust and pervasive kleptocracy. These money flows did relatively little to develop the country’s nonoil economy, and after the boom the country faced a major recession as a result.Years before his sons began shopping for jets, Heydarov worked as the head of Azerbaijan’s customs agency, where—according to US diplomats— he built his influence and benefited President Aliyev through such means as creating import monopolies for certain products and allocating them to business people loyal to the regime. |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123050448/https://academic.oup.com/book/37428/chapter-abstract/331518088?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rankin |first=Jennifer |date=February 1, 2017 |title=Council of Europe urged to investigate Azerbaijan bribery allegations |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/feb/01/council-of-europe-urged-investigate-azerbaijan-bribery-allegations |access-date=January 24, 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |quote=The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace) has been accused of turning a blind eye to corruption, after allegations that a former senior member was paid €2.39m (£2.06m) to engineer votes to protect the kleptocratic regime of Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev.}}</ref> Azerbaijan's leader Ilham Aliyev and his wife Mehriban Aliyeva were described as the "embodiment of nepotism and kleptocracy" in Azerbaijan.<ref>{{cite news |title='I Accuse' – Azerbaijan corruption exposed |url=https://www.demdigest.org/accuse-azerbaijan-corruption-exposed/ |work=National Endowment for Democracy |date=May 14, 2018}}</ref>

In 2010, ''The Washington Times'' estimated that HDZ elites in Croatia led by former prime minister Ivo Sanader had "stolen or siphoned off" about 1 billion USD.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kuhner |first=Jeffrey T. |date=September 20, 2010 |title=KUHNER: A modern mafia state |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/30/a-modern-mafia-state/ |work=Washington Times |archive-date=June 1, 2025 |access-date=November 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250601023114/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/30/a-modern-mafia-state/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The 2015–2016 protests in Moldova had been organised by a grass-roots citizens' movement, ''Dignity and Truth'', as a response to the disappearance of $1 billion from the Moldovan banks in 2014.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34244341 Moldova anger grows over banking scandal], BBC News (September 14, 2015)</ref> Former Prime Minister Vlad Filat was arrested on October 15, 2015, for involvement in the bank fraud scandal.<ref>{{cite web|last=Tanas |first=Alexander |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-moldova-protests-filat-idUSKCN0S91BY20151015 |title=Moldova detains former PM in parliament over $1 billion fraud |publisher=Reuters |date=October 15, 2015 |accessdate=February 5, 2016}}</ref>

In 2016 the Enough Project issued a report claiming that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is run as a violent kleptocracy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=Enough |date=2016-10-27 |title=New Study Shows Congo is Run as Violent Kleptocracy |url=https://enoughproject.org/press-releases/new-study-shows-congo-run-violent-kleptocracy |access-date=2025-10-11 |website=The Enough Project |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Narcokleptocracy== A '''narcokleptocracy''' is a society in which criminals involved in the trade of narcotics have undue influence on the governance of a state. For instance, the term was used to describe the regime of Manuel Noriega in Panama in a report prepared by a subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations chaired by Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations|author2=Committee on Foreign Relations |author3=United States Senate|chapter=Panama|title=Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: A Report|series=S. Prt.|volume=100–165|chapter-url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB113/north06.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007161802/http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB113/north06.pdf|archive-date=October 7, 2016|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|date=December 1988|publication-date=1989|page=83|oclc=19806126}}</ref>

In 2020, the United States charged the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro with drug trafficking, as well as many officials and head figures of his administration.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/nyregion/venezuela-president-drug-trafficking-nicolas-maduro.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326144009/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/nyregion/venezuela-president-drug-trafficking-nicolas-maduro.html |archive-date=March 26, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title = Venezuelan Leader Maduro is Charged in the U.S. With Drug Trafficking|newspaper = The New York Times|date = March 26, 2020|last1 = Rashbaum|first1 = William K.|last2 = Weiser|first2 = Benjamin|last3 = Benner|first3 = Katie}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nicol-s-maduro-moros-and-14-current-and-former-venezuelan-officials-charged-narco-terrorism|title = Nicolás Maduro Moros and 14 Current and Former Venezuelan Officials Charged with Narco-Terrorism, Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Criminal Charges|date = March 26, 2020|access-date = July 17, 2021|archive-date = March 26, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200326173311/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nicol-s-maduro-moros-and-14-current-and-former-venezuelan-officials-charged-narco-terrorism|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/nicolas-maduro-us-indictment-venezuela-drug-trafficking-leaders|title = US indicts Nicolás Maduro and other top Venezuelan leaders for drug trafficking|publisher= TheGuardian.com|newspaper=The Guardian|date = March 26, 2020}}</ref>

==See also== * {{annotated link|State capture}} * {{annotated link|Elite capture}} * {{annotated link|Failed state}} * {{annotated link|Banana republic}} * Group of States Against Corruption * International Anti-Corruption Academy * International Anti-Corruption Day * {{annotated link|Kakistocracy}} * {{annotated link|Kleptocracy Tour}} * {{annotated link|Kleptopia}} * {{annotated link|Panama Papers}} * Paradise Papers * {{annotated link|Political corruption}} * United Nations Convention against Corruption

==References== '''Notes''' {{Reflist}}

'''Further reading''' * {{cite encyclopedia |last= Machan|first= Tibor |author-link=Tibor R. Machan |editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |chapter= Kleptocracy |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC |year=2008 |publisher= Sage; Cato Institute |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |doi= 10.4135/9781412965811.n163|isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages=272–273 |s2cid= 241369017 |url-access= subscription }}

Category:Political corruption Category:Pejorative terms for forms of government Category:Wealth concentration Category:Oligarchy