Goldster Conversations: Purpose, Passion, Grit with Humphrey

When London journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown set up a small website highlighting environmental damage in Borneo, she didn’t expect to bring down a government. But she stumbled upon one of the great scoops of all time: a multi-billion dollar heist, on the orders of a prime minister, which – among other things – was splurged on a $250 million yacht, one of the world’s largest diamonds, a supermodel’s see-through grand piano – and a whole lot of Cristal champagne.

Driven by the purpose of doing the right thing, the passion for a story and the grit of a dogged reporter, Clare followed the trail through North America, the Middle East and Asia to expose theft on a massive scale from the Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund. The scandal has been described one of the world’s greatest acts of kleptocracy that brought down the Malaysian Prime Minister; rocked the global financial community; shone a spotlight on the off-shore finance industry and embarrassed some of the most famous figures in Hollywood, Las Vegas and New York. Clare continued her work despite Malaysia issuing an arrest warrant against her and requesting that INTERPOL place her on the international Red Notice list. She has deservedly won a string of awards with a book The Wolf Catcher that tells her remarkable story. She still runs The Sarawak Report, the original website focusing on corruption and malpractice against the rain forests and tribal people of Borneo. Join Clare with Humphrey Hawksley on Goldster Purpose, Passion and Grit at 12.00 November 21st 2023.