Author – By: Jake Bernstein
The true story of the Panama Papers Investigation from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who broke the case, now a film starring Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman
Now a major motion picture.
The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Bernstein takes us inside the world revealed by the Panama Papers, illicit money, political corruption, and fraud on a global scale.
A hidden circulatory system flows beneath the surface of global finance, carrying trillions of dollars from drug trafficking, tax evasion, bribery, and other illegal enterprises. This network masks the identities of the individuals who benefit, aided by bankers, lawyers, and auditors who get paid to look the other way.
In The Laundromat, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Jake Bernstein explores this shadow economy and how it evolved, drawing on millions of leaked documents from the files of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca – a trove now known as the Panama Papers – as well as other journalistic and government investigations. Bernstein shows how shell companies operate, how they allow the superwealthy and celebrities to escape taxes, and how they provide cover for illicit activities on a massive scale by crime bosses and corrupt politicians across the globe.
The Laundromat offers a disturbing and sobering view of how the world really works and raises critical questions about financial and legal institutions we may once have trusted.
About the Author
Jake Bernstein was a senior reporter on the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists team that broke the Panama Papers story. In 2017, the project won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. Bernstein earned his first Pulitzer Prize in 2011 for National Reporting, for coverage of the financial crisis. He has written for The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Guardian, ProPublica, and Vice, and has appeared on the BBC, NBC, CNN, PBS, and NPR. He was the editor of The Texas Observer and is the coauthor of Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency.
Industry Reviews
“[Bernstein] concentrates on telling the stories of those who broke the law, evaded taxes, circumvented international sanctions, hid assets, cheated partners, or ‘normalized’ fortunes made through crime and corruption.” * Washington Post *
“A searching look at the tangled, deeply buried financial network exposed by the publication of the so-called Panama Papers . . . Bernstein does first-rate work in providing a map to a scandal that has yet to unfold completely.” * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *