Thread by @acdatacollectiv

“Continents are plundered, criminal money is laundered, brutal wars are financed. All with the help of opaque company structures and the governments that host these structures.” 🎙️ @f_obermaier at launch of @KleptoCaucus. #KleptoMonth

The #PanamaPapers showed how offshore secrecy 🏝️ enables crime and corruption, but “there are countless other Mossack Fonsecas out there: financial service providers, consultancy firms and law firms helping crooks and criminals, autocrats and dictators hide their money.” 💸

“ “Corruption eats away at the foundations of democratic societies” @POTUS recently stated. And he was right. But this is not news: it is a fact known for decades. And yet not much has changed. Until recently.” @f_obermaier

“We of course would not be here if it weren’t for the courageous #whistleblowers like John Doe and most recently Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards – who we have to thank for the #FinCENFiles.”

(Edwards was recently sentenced to 6 months in prison for leaking #FinCENFiles docs to @JasonLeopold & @BuzzFeedNews.

Check out @SchoofsFeed’s new @nytopinion essay explaining why @POTUS should pardon her. nytimes.com/2021/06/10/opi… )

@JasonLeopold @BuzzFeedNews @SchoofsFeed @nytopinion @POTUS “What these #whistleblowers and our investigations have shown, is that as long as we rely on authorities and law enforcement alone, kleptocrats will have an easy play.”

This is why @dszakonyi @zoe_reiter & @F_obermaier teamed up to create @acdatacollective! 💪🕵️

“In the #PanamaPapers alone @ICIJorg found 1260 Mossack Fonseca-registered companies just in in #Nevada. In my opinion one of the countries most complicit in helping individuals hide illicit finances is the #USA.”

“@POTUS recently promised 🇺🇸 “will lead by example.. to fight #corruption. But this is a mission for the entire world.“ 🌍 These are strong and encouraging words – and he will be judged by the actions that follow.” - @f_obermaier