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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has reportedly disbanded the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) anti-corruption task force, redirecting seized funds to build detention centers in Texas and Guantanamo Bay, according to Project Brazen.
In an email to DOJ employees, Bondi announced the immediate shutdown of the Kleptocracy Initiative, the KleptoCapture Task Force, and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. She framed the decision as part of implementing former President Donald Trump’s executive order on designating cartels and other organizations as foreign terrorist groups.
Previously, funds seized through these initiatives were returned to victim countries. However, Project Brazen has reported that the Trump administration now plans to use the multi-billion-dollar forfeiture fund—including $1.4 billion recovered in the 1MDB scandal—to construct domestic detention centers.
The abrupt dissolution of the task force has created uncertainty within the DOJ, leaving ongoing cases in limbo. A DOJ veteran, speaking to the Latin Times, warned, “This effectively neuters the entire anti-corruption apparatus of the United States government.”
The Kleptocracy Initiative was established in 2010 to track down assets linked to international corruption. It has pursued individuals such as Russian oligarchs, Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, and the families of former South Korean president Chun Doo Hwan. One of its most significant achievements came in 2016 when it seized over $1 billion in assets that U.S. prosecutors alleged were purchased with misappropriated 1MDB funds. The seizure was the largest of its kind by the U.S., with former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions describing the 1MDB case as “kleptocracy at its worst.”
The DOJ has been instrumental in prosecuting financial crimes involving the U.S. dollar or the American financial system. The closure of these initiatives has raised concerns that it may embolden corrupt foreign leaders and facilitate the movement of illicit funds, which had been increasingly scrutinized by U.S. authorities in recent years.
Transparency International U.S. Executive Director Gary Kalman issued a statement condemning the move, arguing that the elimination of the KleptoCapture Task Force and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative will “significantly diminish the U.S.’s ability to counter transnational corruption.”
“These anti-kleptocracy initiatives have been instrumental in U.S. efforts to enforce and ensure effective impacts of our sanctions, for example,” Kalman stated. “They have led to the identification, freezing, and seizing of billions of dollars controlled by supporters of America’s adversaries. In particular, the effectiveness of new and more comprehensive sanctions on Iran will rely on the ability of the Justice Department and other partners to counter financial secrecy and track the illicit finances that are moved around the world.”
He urged Attorney General Bondi to reconsider the decision, emphasizing the importance of reinstating both initiatives.
By fLEXI tEAM
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