From Hamilton to Singapore, Belarus and beyond. Welcome to Hamilton Confidential, the Worldclear podcast

Hamilton Confidential is a podcast about Worldclear Ltd, based on leaked documents from the New Zealand financial services provider.

Obtained by Interest.co.nz and shared with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Lithuania's 15min.lt, the Belarusian Investigative Center, and Sweden's Expressen, the leak shows Worldclear processing money transfers for a colorful global clientele over a five year period.

With a staff of no more than a dozen people, one internal document claims Worldclear had "grown to process about $500 million in payment values per year."

Worldclear was found by Department of Internal Affairs supervisors to have failed to comply with several anti-money laundering requirements. And two minority Worldclear shareholders had convictions for financial crimes overseas, with one having an Interpol red notice out in his name for an unserved jail sentence in Panama for money laundering.

There is no evidence that Worldclear or its staff knowingly facilitated financial crimes. David Hillary, Worldclear's founder and managing director, denied any wrongdoing by himself or the firm, saying neither had ever; “knowingly or recklessly facilitated criminal offending, acted for the purpose of assisting any person to commit an offence, or designed or operated services for the purpose of concealing the source, destination, or beneficial connection of illicit funds.”

The podcast is hosted by Gareth Vaughan and Emanuel Stoakes, and produced by Erica Wood. Here are the first four episodes in the series.

Episode 1, What was Worldclear and what did it do?
An overview of what Worldclear was, how it operated, who its customers and owners were, and why the story matters for New Zealand.

Episode 2, Richard Whitham; from Hamilton to Changi prison.
Featuring an interview with Richard Whitham, who worked for Worldclear as a banking relationships establishment project officer, and subsequently spent more than two years in Singapore's Changi prison. Whitham was the key source of the leak.

Episode 3; International customers; Michael Wilson, Guenther Klar & Odebrecht Overseas Ltd.
Featuring a customer wanted by the FBI who chartered a private jet and fled Canada for Vietnam, along with his wife, mother, and three dogs. A British citizen who was later convicted in Denmark of defrauding Danish tax authorities. And a Bahamas company whose Brazilian parent company had pleaded guilty in the US to involvement in a multi-billion dollar bribery scandal.

Episode 4; The Belarus & Lithuanian connection.
A discussion with Belarusian and Lithuanian journalists who worked on the investigation, looking at why the Worldclear leak is of interest in their countries, and what it's like to be a Belarusian investigative journalist working from exile.

Separate text stories published as part of the investigation can be found here.

Interest.co.nz is grateful for funding support from the Brian Gaynor Business Journalism Initiative, and readers that support interest.co.nz, for helping bring this project to fruition.