Gebakken lucht – Identifying Illicit Financial Flows of Oil and Gas Corporations from Africa through the Netherlands

‘Gebakken lucht’ is a Dutch expression that literally means “baked air”, proverbially referring to something that appears like quite something, while it is in fact nothing. Oil and gas corporations that delve valuable resources in Africa often have offices in the Netherlands or similar countries with large amounts of money flowing through and little to no real activity. These money flows without underlying substance can be seen as ‘gebakken lucht’ and are classified as illicit financial flows by UNCTAD. This article shows how one could monitor these immense but hidden illicit financial flows w... Mehr ...