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  • Very Bad People

  • The Inside Story of the Fight Against the World’s Network of Corruption
  • By: Patrick Alley
  • Narrated by: Richard Burnip
  • Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (35 ratings)

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Very Bad People

By: Patrick Alley
Narrated by: Richard Burnip
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Publisher's Summary

Arms trafficking, offshore accounts and luxury property deals. Super-yachts, private jets and super-car collections. Blood diamonds, suspect oil deals, deforestation and murder. This is the world of Global Witness, the award-winning organisation dedicated to rooting out worldwide corruption. And this is co-founder Patrick Alley's revealing inside track on a breath-taking catalogue of modern super-crimes—and the 'shadow network' that enables them.

Very Bad People is about following the money, going undercover in the world's most dangerous places and bringing down the people behind the crimes. Case by case, we see maverick investigators pitched against warlords, grifters and super-villains who bear every resemblance to The Night Manager's Richard Roper. One dictator's son spent 700 million dollars in just four years on his luxury lifestyle.

As they unravel crooked deals of labyrinthine complexity, the team encounter well-known corporations whose operations are no less criminal than the Mafia. This network of lawyers, bankers and real estate agents help park dirty money in London, New York or in offshore accounts, safe from prying eyes.

Patrick Alley's book is a brilliant, authoritative and fearless investigation into the darkest workings of our world—and an inspiration to all of us who want to fight back.

©2022 Patrick Alley (P)2022 Octopus Publishing Group

What listeners say about Very Bad People

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a powerful expose' well balanced in delivery

good choice of narrator showing a sense of the authors emotion and passion and learning along the way. I will be buying the hard copy as well and sharing this book extensively.

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Mysteries uncovered

Thank you Patrick for taking the time and energy to complete this important piece of work.
It’s not easy to relive past events.
The book is very entertaining and has cleared up the reasons behind many bizarre aspects of modern society that previously confounded me.

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Breathtaking book brilliantly read .

Richard Burnip's reading of this book is perfectly suited to the timbre of this book.
The book is rivetting....tragic, horrifying, infuriating and occasionally very amusing..
Patrick Alley's quote of Anita Roddick's metaphor of ' a mosquito in a room ' will stay with me for a very long time and in fact has worked as an effective encouragement to seek a deeper understanding of the corruption that plagues this world.
Everyone must read this book.

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Amazing

Story well written but very confronting
Well read by narrator
Highly recommend this book
Scary to hear how bad and greedy some people are at the expense of others
Thank you for the insight

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An eye opener!!

Absolutely 'gobsmacking' research. Gosh when you think drug dealers are big time.... nothing compared to this scale. Without GW constantly investigating there will be just another to take the perpetrators place...thank you for standing up for the less fortunate people. We will never rid the world corruption unfortunately. I just cannot understand why so few people need that much wealth, when they could have it both... meaning the leaders and their people could benefit even if they wanted to be corrupt/wealthy. You just couldn't spend this amount of money in a life time. Why would you not want your country and all its people to benefit? I will be supporting your cause. Everyone's eyes should be open to this...thank you GW

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Extraordinary book

The work of Global Witness is very important and effective as stated in the volume. I applaud the dedicated people devoted to unveiling and explaining the corruption detailed in the book. If you are interested in world affairs, international money laundering, governmental corruption, and the like, this will informed the listeners and feed curiosity and thirst for more. Thank you author(s) for your courage. I highly recommend this audiobook.

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Such important work

This book has inspired me to shift the direction of my career - to be more savvy around information, activism and calling for transparency around all economics and political deals. Of course it does not SOLVE the corruption, and I appreciate the story covers also the frustration of not seeing those corporations punished in any way. I have so much respect for this work now, the dangers and pitfalls of it included.

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an overview of an NGO that has greatly influenced human rights worldwide

provides an excellent expose of the history, drivers and people involved in these grounds breaking legal and social events.

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