Corrupt foreign leaders and officials had an Achilles’ heel—they relied on the U.S. financial system to transfer cash and had a penchant for acquiring real estate in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. The Justice Department set up the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative in 2010 to coordinate the work of FBI investigators and prosecutors to seize the U.S. and global assets of corrupt foreign officials. If those kleptocrats were no longer in power, Washington would transfer the proceeds back to the countries. In 2014, the Justice Department oversaw the seizure of more than $480 million in
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