🇵🇹 Golden Visas in Portugal: Last month, Portugal scrapped its controversial “golden visa” program, which allows wealthy foreigners to buy residency, to curb a spike in housing prices.
But the autonomous archipelago region of Madeira has refused to go along with the directive from Lisbon, citing the economic benefits that come with the quick injection of foreign capital.
Anti-corruption advocates have criticized golden visa schemes for allowing kleptocrats to hide their money in the West. Read more OCCRP reporting on these programs here.
🇨🇳 High-Profile Bribery Allegations in China: United States authorities charged Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency platform FTX, with bribing Chinese officials with $40 million worth of cryptocurrency to unfreeze his bank accounts.
The U.S. charges were made under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which criminalizes U.S. citizens and entities in engaging in bribery with foreign officials.
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