Reportercast

A podcast episode recorded in Kyiv on October 17 on the sidelines of a conference on the human rights abuses in Ukraine and Syria, organised by SUN (The Syria Ukraine Network), an NGO based in the US. Andrii Mikheiev is an international law expert with the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, a Kyiv-based NGO. He tells host Matei Rosca about the struggle Ukraine is facing in recovering its material losses from Russia, the inadequacies of international law and the UN system in dealing with a war of aggression and with claims for reparations and war crimes prosecutions, and he paints a picture of the way forward which could be taken as campaigners and Western politicians work together to find solutions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Middleton is a financial adviser specialised in regulation and he has taken up the cause of Northern Irish business owners who accuse Ulster Bank (a subsidiary of NatWest group) of fraud, which the bank denies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abigail Bishop is Amazon's "Head of External Relations, Scams Prevention" and her job is to campaign to educate Amazon's customers about scams being run against them around the world. These scams are of multiple types and growing increasingly sophisticated, with Bishop citing low reporting rates as an additional issue. She also spoke about how Amazon investigates other types of fraud such as counterfeiting, and its collaboration with law enforcement in different countries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ex-BBC reporter and ex-Ukrainian finance ministry official Valeriya Melnichuk, who currently advises the Ukrainian government on a campaign to exclude Russia from the global financial sector, talks to host Matei Rosca about her work, past projects, and plans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special one-year anniversary edition of our website and podcast, we dive deep into terrorism financing with field expert Yair Samban, who is currently a specialist consultant at Pegasystems, an IT company, and a former officer with Israeli military intelligence, tasked with analysing money flows to detect potential terrorists. Samban also wrote a book on the subject with co-authors Alex Mintz and Tyson Chatagnier, available from all major stores. In the recording, he gives us his life story, including a tragic event which set him on the path of hunting terrorists, and explains what authorities and the industry could do better to detect money used by these organisations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Investigative academics Philip Newall and Maira Andrade tell host Matei Rosca all about the intricacies of crypto gambling, a new type of gambling which has been found to pose risks both for consumers and the integrity of the financial system. They also discuss more broadly the latest regulations proposed by the UK government for gambling (not including crypto gambling) as well as their own background and plans for the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A great honour to have Dan Neidle, tax expert and founder of the Tax Policy Associates think tank (https://www.taxpolicy.org.uk/), discussing the scandal around top Tory figure Nadhim Zahawi's tax affairs, which he made a major contribution to uncovering, as well as lawyerly shenanigans, libel threats and general views on how the UK should go about taxes. This was the last episode of the first season as Reportercast goes on a break to prepare for the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The researcher behind the Hunter Biden allegations sits down on Zoom with host Matei Rosca to discuss the entire saga, the censorship allegations as well as the controversies surrounding his own side's political objectives and biases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Valeria Hontareva, the former central bank governor of Ukraine (2014-2017), and now a world-famous expert on finance reforms, banking governance and monetary policy, discusses her biography, why she decided to give up a comfortable life as one of Ukraine’s top investment bankers, why she decided to refuse to yield under pressure to do less reform, what lessons can Western policymakers learn, how to carry out a successful financing of Ukraine’s reconstruction, and how to stay resilient in the face of what increasingly appears to be an imminent global financial and economic crisis. She also gives details of her life under constant threat from crooked bankers as she closed or nationalised Ukraine's dirty banks, including PrivatBank, the country's largest at the time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode of Reportercast, Alexandru Flenchea, a former negotiator for Moldova's government on the issue of Russia-occupied separatist Transnistria, and former advisor to the US embassy in Moldova, joins host Matei Rosca to discuss little-known Transnistria's role in the Ukraine invasion. Flenchea, who also runs a Transnistria-focused NGO in Moldova called Initiative 4 Peace, explains the basics of life and politics under the obscure, kleptocratic and urecognised regime of Tiraspol, as well as any options the West might have to deter the regime from continuing on a trend of repression of dissent and criticism of Russia's invasion. Moreover, Flenchea delves into the tragic case of Victor Plescanov, a dissident from Tiraspol unjustly sentenced in September to three years in prison for displaying a Ukraine flag and criticising the Kremlin and their stooges in Transnistria. Flenchea analyses the importance of illicit financial flows into Transnistria as the key lifeline for the regime, alongside direct subsidies, and a military and intelligence presence of Russia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bradley Birkenfeld reminisces about his earth-shattering disclosure against Swiss banking giant UBS and his initial struggle to get the US authorities to pay attention. He also explains the importance of whistleblowers to current efforts to stop the Russian invasion in Ukraine and enforce sanctions. More broadly he calls for Europe to implement US-style whistleblower rewards in order to clean up its corporate sector. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The guest for this edition is Tom Spiller, a top lawyer specialised in the UK cryptocurrency industry and general international commercial litigation, and a Conservative Party activist. Spiller is discreet but very well-connected in the finance industry, the law, and, obviously, Wesminster power circles – so we were privileged to have him. He delves into cryptocurrency regulations, the debate around the industry's utility for society, and, of course, Tory politics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Edward Lucas has a unique background as the child of a family that campaigned against communism, and then a foreign correspondent in Eastern Europe during the collapse of this system. He has since been writing prolifically about dirty money, intelligence, security and geopolitics, and campaigning against kleptocracy and the moral relativism it breeds in the West, years before it was brought to the forefront of the news due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He makes a trenchant analysis of the war, its implications and the required policy choices for NATO, the UK and its Western partners if Putin is to be stopped. He also shares some special thoughts about Romania, a country he knows well, and as a bonus, a series of comments about a famous (or infamous) line in John le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Edward Lucas is currently campaigning for election to the House of Commons in the British Parliament. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our first episode, our guest is Jamison Firestone, a legendary lawyer and campaigner among Russia-watchers. He discusses his experience of living in Moscow in the 90s, then being driven out after his friend and colleague Sergei Magnitsky was killed for discovering a massive state-enabled corruption scheme. Jamison played a top role in the ensuing global Magnistky campaign to bring sanctions against Russia for human rights abuse and corruption, and is now helping Alexei Navalny in his own drive to bring democracy to Russia. He also shared his views on Russia's war in Ukraine, illicit financial flows that enabled it and the West's attitude to dirty money more broadly. Bonus: Jamison also shares a few memories of Moscow's surprisingly liberal gay scene before oppressive laws were brought in under Vladimir Putin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.