{
  "id": 4165722,
  "title": "How to Claw Back Wealth From Toppled Autocrats",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/29/how-to-claw-back-wealth-from-toppled-autocrats",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-29T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Atlantic",
    "slug": "the-atlantic",
    "url": "https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/08/reclaim-wealth-trump-corruption/688435/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The United States has long shown reluctance to learn from the experiences of other nations when it comes to democratic principles. However, Nigeria, Peru, and the Philippines offer valuable lessons in reclaiming stolen or swindled wealth from former authoritarian rulers. Such efforts can bring justice and bolster democratic institutions for the long term. Yet, the process is fraught with challenges and risks.\n\nThe Trump era has mirrored the instability often seen in post-Soviet or postcolonial regimes. Trump has enriched himself and his family through unprecedented abuse of power, a situation unlike any other in the United States or most democratic nations. Only Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, who faced prison time, is comparable. Despite facing little risk of imprisonment, Trump enjoys substantial criminal immunity from the U.S. Supreme Court, should he remain in office until 2029. Nonetheless, he remains vulnerable to civil liability for bribery, extortion, insider trading, and market manipulation.\n\nPeru's Alberto Fujimori provides an instructive example. Elected in 1990, he initially stabilized the country and subdued an insurgency, but his regime saw widespread human rights abuses, including warrantless arrests and extrajudicial killings. He also orchestrated a scheme to siphon off hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign accounts. After facing allegations of corruption and fleeing in 2000, Peru established a special prosecutor's office and collaborated with other countries to recover about $200 million of misappropriated wealth, primarily held in the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, the U.S., and Luxembourg.\n\nFujimori's daughter, Keiko, has capitalized on her father's notoriety, founding a political party based on themes of vengeance and redemption. She ran for president in 2011, 2016, and 2021, narrowly losing each time, but won in 2022. While Peru's democratic institutions have grown stronger over the past two decades, the question remains whether they can prevent Keiko from repeating her father's mistakes.\n\nThe Philippines' Ferdinand Marcos also amassed vast wealth through corruption during his 20-year rule. Post-dictatorship, the country's elected leader, Corazon Aquino, initiated a commission to recover these stolen assets, returning $5 billion as of 2022. However, Marcos's son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was elected president in 2022, and the PCGG's operations have since ceased. His administration has faced allegations of corruption, including kickbacks and dubious contracts.\n\nNigeria presents the most ambitious case of asset recovery. During Sani Abacha's five-year dictatorship from 1993 to 1998, he is believed to have pilfered approximately $4 billion, stashing it in foreign accounts. In 1999, Nigeria transitioned to an elected government, which later formed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in 2002 to reclaim these funds. With assistance from the Swiss government and the U.S., Nigeria recovered about $1.5 billion from Abacha's heirs.\n\nIn summary, while the U.S. has yet to fully embrace the lessons from these nations, the examples from Peru, the Philippines, and Nigeria demonstrate that reclaiming stolen wealth can both bring justice and help strengthen democratic institutions, provided the process is handled with care and vigilance.",
  "summary": "Cleaning up after a corrupt regime comes with serious risks.",
  "key_points": [
    "U.S. has shown reluctance to learn from Nigeria, Peru, Philippines in reclaiming stolen wealth",
    "Trump's wealth accumulation mirrors instability seen in post-Soviet, postcolonial regimes",
    "Peru recovered $200M from Alberto Fujimori's misappropriated funds after his 2000 exile"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}