Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial law from 1972 until 1981 and kept most of his martial law powers until he was deposed in 1986, branding his rule as "constitutional authoritarianism" under his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan. One of the most controversial leaders of the 20th century, Marcos's rule was infamous for its corruption, extravagance, and brutality.
Marcos in 1982
Ferdinand Marcos (right) with his family in the 1920s
Ferdinand Marcos being conferred with a Doctor Laws, honoris causa degree during the investiture of the first Filipino president of Central Philippine University, Rex D. Drilon, on April 21, 1967.
Ferdinand Marcos as a soldier in the 1940s
Kleptocracy, also referred to as thievocracy, is a government whose corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) use political power to expropriate the wealth of the people and land they govern, typically by embezzling or misappropriating government funds at the expense of the wider population. One feature of political-based socioeconomic thievery is that there is often no public announcement explaining or apologizing for misappropriations, nor any legal charges or punishment levied against the offenders.
Detail from Corrupt Legislation, painting by Elihu Vedder (1896)
Montenegro's president Milo Đukanović was listed among the twenty richest world leaders according to the British tabloid newspaper The Independent in May 2010, which described the source of his wealth as "mysterious".
Demonstration banner with text in Czech: "Demokracie místo kleptokracie" (Democracy instead of kleptocracy). Peace rally in Brno for Real Democracy NOW, Moravian Square [cs], Brno, Czech Republic.
Najib Razak, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, faced allegations of involvement in a large-scale financial scandal related to the state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)