The Center for Public Integrity

From all outward appearances, Boris Avramovich Goldstein is a model immigrant, a successful businessman in the San Francisco Bay area, where he lives in a $1.2 million home and where he founded a variety of firms.

TEL AVIV, Israel, December 1, 1999 — This article was originally published in Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper on December 1, 1999. It is reprinted here with permission.

Liechtenstein residents are amazed at what dubious financial transactions can be found in the their tiny country, if one only looks closely enough. A special investigator had seven suspect financiers arrested, including one politician. Even the president of the national judiciary is under suspicion of misuse of power.

HAMBURG, Germany, November 8, 1999 — Whoever wishes to hide funds from the grips of tax authorities will find willing assistants in the Principality of Liechtenstein. Bank managers assert that they are working within legal means, but the files of the Bundesnachrichtendienst [German intelligence] present a differing version of the story: Mafia organizations, drug cartels, and major Russian criminals are virtually invited to do business in the diminutive country.

With 6 billion people on the planet and 270 million living in the United States, who can blame anyone for thinking that one person can’t make a difference? But don’t believe it for a second.

BATAM ISLAND, Indonesia, April 13, 1999 — "Why should I continue this night business life if he is really the mastermind of the pirates?" Ayu Nani Sabri demanded, plopping her size-three figure into an old sofa inside a dimly lit karaoke bar in Batam.

LAHORE, Pakistan, August 5, 1999 — Two decades of fighting have destroyed Afghanistan's normal economy. In its place has grown a criminal economy based on drugs and smuggling, which has proven so lucrative for Afghanistan's warlords that they have little incentive to try to restore legitimate agriculture or industry.

LAHORE, Pakistan, August 5, 1999 — Since the failed peace talks, the Taliban have been massing their forces along a wide east-west arc 20 kilometres north of Kabul. They are launching what they hope will be a final offensive against the Northern Alliance, the last force standing between them and complete control of Afghanistan.

LAHORE, Pakistan — As the Taliban launch a new offensive against opposition forces, the threat which this Islamic regime poses to regional stability has gone unnoticed. Terrorists fighting the governments of virtually every Central Asian power find shelter with the Taliban. An equally dangerous by-product is the criminal economy supported by the Taliban, which spreads weapons and drugs throughout the region.

MANILA, Philippines — When [Executive Director] Bill Luz asked me to address the Makati Business Club two weeks ago, I asked him why he wanted someone so small and so puny to speak for the press. After all, we are supposed to be a powerful institution - loud, bold, fearless, beholden to no one. I am sure you expected someone more formidable. Instead you have me, just another weary and scarred veteran wandering shell-shocked amid the minefields of journalism.