Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) are people who hold a public function and as a result present higher risks of being involved in bribery or corruption. Offshore leaks have revealed repeatedly that PEPs use British finance and British offshore jurisdictions to launder their wealth, hide their wealth and re-invest it into the global financial system. London is the place where they buy property, where they take legal action against their critics and where they live when they fall from grace.
But what happens when a developing country fights back and attempts to get Britain to return the money that it claims has been stolen?
Watch Behind Closed Doors and find out.
Participants
Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi is a Pakistani politician and former cricketer who served as the 22nd prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidence motion. He is the founder and chairman of the PTI, one of the largest political parties in the country.
Rachel is chair of the Economic Crime Civil Society Organisations Steering Group and leads Transparency International’s UK Advocacy Team. She was the chair of the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition for six years and was a founding member of the UK Open Government Network steering group.
Fawad Chaudhry is a Pakistani politician who served as a Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting from April 2021 to April 2022 and a Federal Minister for Information & Technology from April 2019 to April 2021.
Mirza Shahzad Akbar is a Pakistani politician and barrister who served as Advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Interior and Accountability in the capacity of a Federal Minister in Cabinet, in office from August 2020 to 2022 .
Emin Huseynov is an Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist. He was the chairman of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety. To avoid politically motivated persecution and arrest he fled to the Swiss Embassy in Azerbaijan, where he lived in hiding for almost a year. Switzerland arranged for Emin Huseynov to flee Azerbaijan and live in Switzerland.
Arshad Sharif specializes in investigative journalism, he covers political events for national and international news organizations. He received the Pride of Performance award by the President of Pakistan for his contributions to journalism.
John-Allan Namu is an investigative journalist and the CEO of Africa Uncensored, an investigative and in-depth journalism production house in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to co-founding Africa Uncensored, he was the special projects editor at the Kenya Television Network.
Tom Stocks works at OCCRP as a senior investigator . He investigates cross-border money laundering networks and transnational corruption and he provides research, analytical and training support to OCCRP’s network of journalists with a focus on Eurasian countries.
Irfan Hashmi is a senior investigative journalist who is based in London and focusses on Pakistani politics. He has covered major events in the Pakistani politics and have worked for a number of mainstream news media networks.
Team
Michael Oswald is a documentary filmmaker, he takes inspiration from investigative documentaries, essaye films and surrealist films. His films explore the themes of secrecy and abuse of power, they aim to challenge dogma and encourage thinking. His previous work includes The Man Who Knew Too Much (2020), The Spider’s Web (2017), Princes of the Yen (2014) and 97% Owned (2012).
Murtaza is the co-producer and co-writer of this film. He has a keen interest in studying international politics and specially the role of the global political elite in financial secrecy and corruption.
Matt began his career as songwriter and guitarist in 00’s indie band The Rakes. His recent songwriting and composing credits include work for the BBC, Space X and Netflix..
Sean is an audio engineer and music producer based in the US. His main line of work involves recording, editing, and mixing music, but he also edits audiobooks, sound for film, and podcasts. He is especially interested in taking on projects that communicate anti-authoritarian values. He works out of www.firekeeperstudios.com in Boston.
Hina works as a researcher for a major television network in Pakistan. She seek out information on all kinds of political issues, and supply briefings based on their findings. She provided valuable support during the production of this film in Pakistan.
Simeon is an independent filmmaker based in the UK. He was an Executive Producer on the documentary The Spider’s Web Britain’s Second Empire, now on Netflix. He was also the editor for an online magazine the FilmGods. His interests revolve around contemporary societal and justice issues and he currently has a new feature documentary and podcast in production.