Editing Kleptocracy (section)

==Examples==
[[File:President_Suharto,_1993.jpg|thumb|[[Suharto]], the former [[President of Indonesia]], was reported to have stolen over $15 billion during his presidency.]]

In early 2004, the German anti-corruption [[non-governmental organization|NGO]] [[Transparency International]] released a list of ten self-enriching leaders in the two decades previous to the report. Transparency International acknowledged that they were "not necessarily the 10 most corrupt leaders" and noted that "very little is known about the amounts actually embezzled".<ref name="Global Corruption Report">{{Cite book|url=https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2004_GCR_PoliticalCorruption_EN.pdf|title=Global Corruption Report 2004|publisher=[[Pluto Press]] in association with Transparency International|year=2004|isbn=074532231X|editor-last=Hodess|editor-first=Robin|location=Sterling, VA|page=13|editor-last2=Inowlocki|editor-first2=Tania|editor-last3=Rodriguez|editor-first3=Diana|editor-last4=Wolfe|editor-first4=Toby}}</ref>

In descending order of amount allegedly stolen (converted to [[United States dollar]]s), they were:

<!-- this list is based on the 2004 report (above), if you want to add entries with appropriate citations, this is not the place -->
# Former [[Indonesia]]n [[President of Indonesia|President]] [[Suharto]] ($15 billion to $35 billion)
# Former [[Philippines|Philippine]] [[President of the Philippines|President]] [[Ferdinand Marcos]] ($5 billion to $10 billion)
# Former [[Zaire|Zairian]] [[President of Zaire|President]] [[Mobutu Sese Seko]] ($5 billion)
# Former [[Nigeria]]n [[President of Nigeria|Head of State]] [[Sani Abacha]] ($2 billion to $5 billion)
# Former [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] [[President of Serbia and Montenegro|President]] [[Slobodan Milošević]] ($1 billion)
# Former [[Haiti]]an [[President of Haiti|President]] [[Jean-Claude Duvalier]] ($300 million to $800 million)
# Former [[Peru]]vian [[List of Presidents of Peru|President]] [[Alberto Fujimori]] ($600 million)
# Former [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] [[Prime Minister of Ukraine|Prime Minister]] [[Pavlo Lazarenko]] ($114 million to $200 million)
# Former [[Nicaragua]]n [[President of Nicaragua|President]] [[Arnoldo Alemán]] ($100 million)
# Former [[Philippines|Philippine]] [[President of Philippines|President]] [[Joseph Estrada]] ($78 million to $80 million)

The [[Politics of Russia|political system in Russia]] has been described as a [[Mafia state]] where president [[Vladimir Putin]] serves as the "head of the clan".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?|last=Dawisha|first=Karen|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year=2014|isbn=978-1476795195}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-russia-mafia-kleptocracy |title=WikiLeaks cables condemn Russia as 'mafia state' |author=Luke Harding |date=2010-01-01 |access-date=2022-11-16 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

Former [[Malaysian Prime Minister]] [[Najib Razak]] had $731&nbsp;million in his personal bank accounts when his ruling party alliance [[Barisan Nasional]] lost the 14th election to opposition party [[Pakatan Harapan]] led by former Prime Minister [[Mahathir Mohamad]], in part because of allegations of participating in the [[1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal|1MDB scandal]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Paddock |first=Richard |date=2016-07-22 |title=Justice Dept. Rejects Account of How Malaysia's Leader Acquired Millions |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/world/asia/malaysia-1mdb-najib-razak.html |accessdate=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Paddock |first=Richard |date=2018-06-14 |title=Mahathir Mohamad, Leading Malaysia Again at 92, Is on a Mission |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/world/asia/malaysia-mahathir-mohamad.html |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |accessdate=}}</ref>

Azerbaijan has been described as a kleptocracy for its use of oil revenue to enrich an oligarch class, including that of the ruling Aliyev dynasty.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Crude Intentions: How Oil Corruption Contaminates the World |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/37428/chapter-abstract/331518088?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2024-01-23 |work=[[Oxford Academic]] |page=132 |quote=During the price boom, Azerbaijan’s annual oil revenues rose from $5.5 billion in 2007 to $23 billion in 2011. Fueled by these riches, Aliyev used government contracts, loans, and other channels to enrich his allies and build a robust and pervasive kleptocracy. These money flows did relatively little to develop the country’s nonoil economy, and after the boom the country faced a major recession as a result.Years before his sons began shopping for jets, Heydarov worked as the head of Azerbaijan’s customs agency, where—according to US diplomats— he built his influence and benefited President Aliyev through such means as creating import monopolies for certain products and allocating them to business people loyal to the regime.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rankin |first=Jennifer |date=2017-02-01 |title=Council of Europe urged to investigate Azerbaijan bribery allegations |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/feb/01/council-of-europe-urged-investigate-azerbaijan-bribery-allegations |access-date=2024-01-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |quote=The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace) has been accused of turning a blind eye to corruption, after allegations that a former senior member was paid €2.39m (£2.06m) to engineer votes to protect the kleptocratic regime of Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev.}}</ref>

In 2010, ''[[The Washington Times]]'' estimated that [[Croatian Democratic Union|HDZ]] elites in [[Croatia]] led by former prime minister [[Ivo Sanader]] had "stolen or siphoned off" about 1 billion USD.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kuhner |first=Jeffrey T. |date=20 September 2010 |title=KUHNER: A modern mafia state |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/30/a-modern-mafia-state/ |work=Washington Times}}</ref>