Tuesday Reitano - Criminal Contagion: How Mafias, Gangsters and Scammers Profit from a Pandemic

Once again, Reitano and Shaw are ahead of the pack. While criminals were initially wrong-footed by Covid-19, within weeks they readjusted their strategies to profit from the unprecedented government funds entering the economy. Criminal Contagion explains what has been happening in the world of organized crime, what we must do about it and what will happen if we dont. Clear, pithy and satisfyingly comprehensive, it should be read by everyone concerned about the consequential threats we will face post-pandemic. A gem of a book.

Misha Glenny, author of McMafia: Seriously Organised Crime

While the world has reeled under the impact of Covid-19, organized criminals have thrived. This meticulously researched book shows clearly and convincingly how and why criminality boomed. A call for concerted and serious action against a contagion just as serious as coronavirus.

Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How to Take It Back

A timely book that rigorously assesses how criminals are taking advantage of the pandemic to boost illicit businesses. A must-read and an indispensable reference for policy-makers, analysts and academics.

Moiss Nam, Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and author of Illicit and The End of Power

A brilliant tour dhorizon of how local and global criminal organizations have responded, and in many cases thrived, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, refactoring deviant supply chains and backfilling services where governments have failed. Reitano and Shaws reporting is riveting.

Nils Gilman, Vice President of Programs, Berggruen Institute, and author of Deviant Globalization: Black Market Economy in the 21st Century

Its a truism that of all entrepreneurs, criminals are the fastest to spot new opportunities. This timely, readable and thoroughly shocking book demonstrates how even a global pandemic can be good for (criminal) business.

Mark Galeotti, author of The Vory: Russias Super Mafia

Criminal Contagion is a tour de force, combining meticulous research with a global perspective, and highlighting how the pandemic created novel opportunities for expanding illicit markets and enriching criminal organizations. Congratulations to the authors on this timely and important book.

Phil Williams, Professor of International Security, University of Pittsburgh

Not all have suffered from Covid-19. This well-illustrated analysis explains that criminals, by exploiting human vulnerability, have been major beneficiaries of the pandemic. Critical reading for those seeking to understand and address the diverse and costly human consequences of Covid-19.

Louise Shelley, University Professor, George Mason University, and Director, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center

An engaging analysis of organized crime, corruption, and the political economy in the face of the global pandemic. The multiple impacts and lessons moving forward make this a compelling read.

Jay Albanese, Professor in the Wilder School of Government & Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University, and author of Organized Crime: From the Mob to Transnational Organized Crime

Covid-19 has transformed not only the world, but also the underworld. Reitano and Shaw are the perfect guides for this vivid and eye-opening journey through a global criminal landscape reshaped by pandemic and response. A tour de force.

James Cockayne, author of Hidden Power: The Strategic Logic of Organised Crime

This timely book shows how criminals have exploited the disruption of the pandemic. While packed with up-to-date facts, it is also accessible and engaging. The lessons drawn here go beyond just Covid-19, with broader implications for understanding the dynamics of criminal networks.

Richard Wortley, Professor of Crime Science, University College London

TUESDAY REITANO
MARK SHAW

How Mafias, Gangsters and Scammers Profit from a Pandemic

HURST & COMPANY, LONDON

First published in the United Kingdom in 2021 by

C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.,

83 Torbay Road, London NW6 7DT

Tuesday Reitano and Mark Shaw, 2021

All rights reserved.

Printed in Scotland

Distributed in the United States, Canada and Latin America by
Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016,
United States of America.

The right of Tuesday Reitano and Mark Shaw to be identified as the authors of this publication is asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

A Cataloguing-in-Publication data record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 9781787384460

This book is printed using paper from registered sustainable and managed sources.

www.hurstpublishers.com

To our families
And in memory of Eitan Silkoff (19912020)