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Opinion – Follow the money, that is dark money


Most reliable estimates internationally put the amount at $! trillion in the US alone. Experts say that fully one quarter of this is controlled by Vladimir Putin and those close to him.

According to an Atlantic Council report last fall, approximately $40 billion have found their way west each year since 1990. Private ownership in Russia does not have the protections that have been part of established democracies for generations. This spurs cautious and pro-active entrepreneurs, with corrupt government officials and outright shysters to place their legitimate earnings, ill-gotten and fraudulent gains into investments abroad, away from mother Russia.

With the implosion of communism, along with China’s sharp turn to capitalism, illegally gained fortunes from looted government coffers and bribes, that had always been hustled to secret locations around the world, was robustly magnified with the globalization of banking. By one estimate $1 trillion now leaves the world’s developing countries each year.

(Read more: Estonian Life No. 14 2021 paber- and PDF/digi)

Laas Leivat, Toronto


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