What is Corruption? Part 4 | Types of Corruption

Welcome to this lesson in corruption where we will briefly look at several types of corruption, also called typologies (classifications). There may be a few that are familiar and some that aren't, some overlap. While we loosely define corruption as "abuse of power for illicit gains' which can be applied to the examples below, it is more helpful to identify the typology and to call things what they are, to clearly understand the criminal actions and discover the source of the issue.

Bribery

What it is:

Bribery is when someone gives money, gifts, or favours to influence someone in power to do something they shouldn’t—or to get special treatment. Bribery is sometimes split into two types, offering or promising a payment/advantage; this is called active bribery, as it is the briber who is initiating the transaction. The opposite would be passive bribery, when someone has accepted or asked for payment. These activities are seen differently per the definitions or laws of a country.

Everyday Example:

You slip a $50 bill to a driving test officer so they pass you even though you failed your test.

In Real Life (IRL) Example:

In 2023, a major scandal hit Nigeria’s police recruitment process. Bribes were allegedly taken to fast-track candidates into the force, bypassing official exams and requirements.

Yes, we thought we'd try and AI x Ghibli image and it worked reasonably well - the money should be better concealed!

Embezzlement

What it is:

Embezzlement is when someone trusted with money or property (like a government worker or company employee) secretly steals it for personal use.

Everyday Example:

The treasurer of your local football club quietly transfers money from the club’s account to pay for their own vacation.

IRL Example:

In 2022, the mayor of a small town in the U.S. was charged with embezzling public funds meant for community housing projects and spending it on luxury cars and designer clothes.

Nepotism

What it is:

Nepotism is when someone in power gives jobs or advantages to their family — even if the family member is not qualified or suited to the role.

Everyday Example:

The mayor hires her cousin as the city planner even though he’s never studied urban planning.

News Example:

In 2024, Sri Lanka faced public protests after government ministers were accused of hiring unqualified relatives into high-paying state jobs, sparking outrage over widespread nepotism in public service.

That's her son, he's a detective at age 10...it's nepotism, get it!

Cronyism

What it is:

Cronyism is similar to nepotism, but instead of family, it’s about giving special treatment to friends or close allies—especially in business or politics.

Everyday Example:

A school principal hires her best friend's company to supply school lunches, even though another company had a better and cheaper offer.

IRL Examples:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government faced backlash for awarding PPE contracts to companies run by friends and donors of politicians, without open bidding processes.

In 2023, a major scandal broke in South Africa’s education department over allegations that top-performing students from rural schools were skipped for scholarships in favour of urban students with personal ties to officials.

Extortion

What it is:

Extortion is when someone forces you to give them money or something of value by threatening harm or abuse of power.

Everyday Example:

A traffic cop threatens to impound your car for a minor offence unless you “pay a little something to make it go away.”

IRL Examples:

In the Philippines, local police officers were investigated for extorting money from small business owners by threatening to shut them down for fake violations unless bribes were paid.

In January 2024, 70 current and former New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) employees were charged with bribery and extortion offenses, highlighting systemic corruption within the organization.

Kickbacks

What it is:

A kickback is a secret payment made to someone for helping close a deal or award a contract. It’s like bribery but often happens after the favour is done, under some laws or definitions it will count as bribery if there was the promise of a payment beforehand.

Everyday Example:

A construction company gives a government official 10% of the contract money in exchange for being chosen to build a school.

News Example:

In Brazil, the "Operation Car Wash" scandal (ongoing for years) revealed that oil company Petrobras paid kickbacks to politicians in exchange for inflated contracts.

The President might be reduced to a puppet in a captured state!

State Capture

What it is:

State capture is a systemic political corruption in which private individuals, large corporations, or interest groups control public policy, laws, and institutions to benefit themselves rather than the public. Instead of bribing officials for one-time favours (as in traditional corruption), state capture focuses on controlling the entire system: influencing how the "rules of the game" are created, not simply how they are played.

Everyday Example:

A super wealthy businessman funds an entire political campaign and, once the politician is in power, gets laws passed to benefit his businesses.

IRL Example:

South Africa’s Gupta family scandal is one of the most famous. The family was accused of influencing government appointments and contracts during Jacob Zuma’s presidency, shaping policy to benefit their businesses.

Influence Peddling

What it is:

The activity of leveraging one's contacts or influence in government to secure favours or preferential treatment for another person or organisation, typically in exchange for money. Also known as trading in influence.

Everyday Example:

A lobbyist offers money to a politician to sway their vote on legislation favourable to the lobbyist's client.​

IRL Example:

In December 2024, France's highest court upheld the conviction of former President Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling.

Patronage

What it is:

Patronage is when a person in power gives jobs, contracts, or benefits to supporters, usually in exchange for political loyalty or votes. It’s not always illegal, but it can become corrupt when it's used to buy influence or reward allies regardless of merit.

Everyday Example:

A newly elected mayor gives city contracts to businesses that helped fund their campaign, even if those businesses aren't the best for the job.

IRL Example:

In Argentina, patronage is deeply entrenched in politics. A 2023 investigative report by La Nación revealed that thousands of "ghost workers" (individuals paid public salaries without doing actual work) were employed in provincial governments—many of them as political rewards to supporters of ruling parties.

Money Laundering (Linked to Corruption)

What it is:

This is when people attempt to make the money they made from crime look legitimate — like putting it through fake companies or foreign bank accounts. Money laundering is intrinsically linked to corruption, as when the corrupt act involves illicit gain in the form of money/funding, then, the guilty party has to conceal the source of the money. Often that involves transferring money overseas or via a number of people or businesses to create distance between themselves and the funds and to make the money look legitimate.

Everyday Example:

A corrupt official buys luxury apartments in a foreign country to hide that the money came from bribes he took in his country.

IRL Example:

The Pandora Papers leak in 2021 showed how world leaders, politicians, and billionaires hid billions in offshore accounts and properties to launder illicit wealth.

He got a bribe, now he's cleaning/laundering the money by buying a condo out of town (via a foreign business bank account), it's money laundering!

If the above politician took the bribes and deposited them into his bank savings account and left it there, he could be easily found out during an investigation, so he moves the money abroad and then buys a condo. Then he rents the condo to a legit tenant; clean money flows in, a year later he sells it. The new money is from a property sale, with links to his bribes no longer obvious.

Final Thoughts

One thought is that we need to work on our AI prompts, but we'll get there. The next thought is that AI needs to work on its spelling. We have included examples from around the world, not just the developing countries or global south as it is sometimes called.

We captured the essence of the typologies in the above examples, obviously this is a basic introduction to a few ideas, and there are some of which overlap like patronage and cronyism. Or nepotism and cronyism which some might group into favouritism, often this grouping into a more familiar term or idea is a problem because it obscures the more accurate definition, and when that happens, the idea and correct usage of corruption is obscured. Many writers and editors want to be clear and use universally understood language, while nepotism is well known these days, it might suit a particular audience to not use the term and just describe the thing that happened. In line with this, they don't want to use a term and then explain it as well. This is why we think it's important to share the knowledge and break things down.

There will be future posts expanding on each item and we will continue to collaborate with AI to help us understand and combat corruption. If AI ruled, would it be corrupt? It depends if it overcame the biases in its programming and the data sets used to train it, in other words the world according to white males! Let's see how it goes!

Thanks for reading.