Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Filthy Rich

CNBC will air an hour-long documentary Thursday night (9:00 p.m. ET/PT) entitled "Filthy Rich."  The network describes the program as an "original documentary reported by award-winning Senior Correspondent Scott Cohn and the CNBC Investigations Inc. team. They follow the money around the globe to Dubai, London, Paris and the United States, which is fast becoming a place for the Filthy Rich to hide their wealth."

Teodoro Obiang will be among the corrupt rulers of oil-rich states profiled in the documentary.  Scott Cohn was in Malibu to conduct interviews and film Teodorin Obiang's $30 million mansion back in September and, as late as last month, I received emails from a CNBC producer looking for some additional information about the estate.  The program will include an interview with Lanny Breuer, the assistant attorney general who leads the Justice Department's anti-kleptocracy initative that, in October, filed an in rem suit seeking to seize the Malibu mansion plus another $40 million worth of assets acquired by Teodorin Obiang through corruption.