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Kleptocracy tour

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Full article adapted from Wikipedia revision 1356513701 by Wikipedia contributors. Text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Formatting has been adapted; article text and references are retained. Snapshot imported 2026-09-25.
Tour of urban properties used for money-laundering by corrupt governments

Kleptocracy tour refers to tours of cities where financial flows[1] from kleptocracies are being used to purchase residential property as a means of money-laundering.[2]

The concept was founded by anti-corruption campaigners, started in London in February, 2016 and was modelled on the 'Beverly Hills-type tours of the homes of the stars'.[3] The first tour focussed on properties owned by Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh klepto-oligarchs[4] congruent with the founders original area of expertise and awareness. The tour garnered widespread press coverage and sparked strong interest in subsequent tours in London and abroad.[5][6][7]

The tours began in early February 2016,[8] after the campaign for a public registry documenting the ultimate beneficial owners of London's offshore companies was rejected.[9] They are organised by the campaign group ClampK which highlights both the local economic distortions [10] caused by these capital inflows and the implicit corruption implied by facilitating this money-laundering by foreign kleptocrats. The tour is planned for expansion in Miami and New York City.[9]

In 2018, British author Oliver Bullough acted as a kleptocacy tour guide in London and detailed his experience in the book Moneyland: Why Thieves And Crooks Now Rule The World And How To Take It Back.[11][12]

See also

References

  1. ^ Jamie McGeever (10 March 2015). "UK draws billions in unrecorded inflows, much from Russia". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Private Eye Magazine | Official Site - the UK's number one best-selling news and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop".
  3. ^ Henry Williams (9 February 2016). "Move over Royal Family. London's oligarchs are the new tourist attraction". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  4. ^ Sally Hayden (5 February 2016). "On Board the Russian Dissidents' 'Kleptocracy' Bus". Vice News. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  5. ^ "Russians in London: Government in exile". The Economist. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  6. ^ Luke Harding (5 February 2016). "Mega-rich homes tour puts spotlight on London's oligarchs". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  7. ^ "London's newest sightseeing tour shows homes of Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs". Ukraine Today. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  8. ^ David Brown (5 February 2016). "On the trail of suspicious money: it's the 'kleptocracy tour' of London". The Times. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  9. ^ a b Linda Kinstler (26 March 2016). "London's Latest Tourist Attraction: Russian Oligarchs". Fortune. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  10. ^ Roman Borisovich (2 March 2016). "'Kleptocracy tours' expose state failure to stop dirty money buying up London". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  11. ^ Adams, Tim (2018-09-09). "Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How to Take It Back – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-05-28.
  12. ^ Bullough, Oliver (2018). Moneyland : why thieves and crooks now rule the world and how to take it back. London: Allen. p. 47. ISBN 9781781257937.


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