Biggest corruption scandals in history

While not a single scandal, the Panama Papers revealed the global scale of financial corruption and illicit financial flows. This massive leak exposed how politicians, billionaires, and celebrities used offshore companies to hide wealth and evade taxes.

This case was, at the time, the largest foreign bribery case in history, involving widespread and systematic payments across ten countries. It resulted in historic fines and highlighted corporate bribery as a core business model.

This is considered one of the world's biggest corruption schemes, involving the alleged embezzlement of over US$4 billion from Malaysia's state-owned development fund. It implicated high-level government officials and led to international money laundering investigations.

This complex scheme represents one of the largest money laundering operations in history, channeling at least US$26 billion out of Russia. It highlighted the complicity of financial institutions in facilitating illicit financial flows on a grand scale.

This is a prominent example of grand corruption by a head of state, with billions of dollars siphoned from a developing nation. The extent of his corruption was only fully revealed after his death, leading to international efforts to recover the stolen funds.

This recent and significant FCPA settlement demonstrates the ongoing global nature of corporate bribery in the commodities sector. Glencore pled guilty to paying over $100 million in bribes across multiple countries to secure oil contracts and avoid audits.

This case resulted in one of the largest penalties enforced by the U.S. government for corrupt payments to foreign officials. Goldman Sachs settled charges for paying over $1 billion in bribes related to the 1MDB scandal.

This is one of the largest corporate bribery settlements in history, highlighting widespread corruption in the aerospace industry. Airbus agreed to pay a record $4 billion in fines for using a global network of agents for corrupt transactions.

This is a recent and significant case of high-level corruption in a developing country, involving the theft of approximately $200 million from $2 billion in loans. It led to the conviction of Mozambique's former Finance Minister in January 2025.

This is a very recent conviction of a major commodities trader for foreign bribery, demonstrating ongoing efforts to combat corruption in international business. Trafigura and its former CEO were found guilty of making over $5 million in payments for oil contracts.

This is a highly current and ongoing high-profile public corruption case involving a sitting U.S. Senator. It highlights concerns about foreign influence and political integrity at the highest levels of government.

Described as one of the biggest public corruption cases in Ohio's history, this investigation demonstrates significant state-level political corruption. It involved the arrest of the Ohio House Speaker and co-conspirators in a $60 million racketeering and bribery scheme.

This case highlights significant corruption within the pharmaceutical industry and the substantial financial penalties for such illicit activities. The Swiss-based company Novartis paid $1.3 billion in a settlement for kickbacks, bribery, and price-fixing.

This case demonstrates ongoing international efforts to prosecute individuals and companies for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in global business dealings. It involved a multi-year, multi-million-dollar bribery and money laundering scheme.