An investigation of the financial criminal practices of the elite in developing countries

Purpose - Contemporary literature has paid scholarly attention to financial criminal practice from a variety of competing perspectives. However, this paper seeks to encourage reflections on some questionable practices of the political and economic elite which increase their capital accumulation but harm citizens. Design/methodology/approach - Within a socio‐political framework, this study adopts the theories of the developmental state and globalisation in order to understand the relationship between social agency and society, and focuses on the institutional structures and the role of social actors. Findings - The paper used publicly available documents to construct case studies to provide some evidence of the strategies and tactics used by political elite to facilitate their capital accumulations. Evidence is provided to show that large sums of government revenue have been undermined by the financial criminal practices of the Nigerian political and economic elite (both local and international), which have enriched a few, but impoverished most, Nigerians. Practical implications - Financial criminal practices have played a major role in causing serious damage to the economic and social landscape of Nigeria, which in turn, has undermined social welfare and also investment in the public services, thereby eroding the quality of life and producing a decline in average life expectancy. As a consequence of recurring corrupt practices by the political and economic elites in Nigeria, there is a need for reform in order to curb the practice which has had and continues to have, a serious effect on Nigeria and its future development. Originality/value - Broader accounts of the impact of financial criminal practices on development in developing countries are relatively scarce. Previous studies have tended to individualise the problem.