I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 402 
To promote international efforts in combating corruption, kleptocracy, and 
illicit finance by foreign officials and other foreign persons, including 
through a new anti-corruption action fund, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 21, 2021 
Mr. KEATING (for himself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To promote international efforts in combating corruption, 
kleptocracy, and illicit finance by foreign officials and 
other foreign persons, including through a new anti- 
corruption action fund, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLES.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Countering Russian and Other Overseas Kleptocracy 
Act’’ or the ‘‘CROOK Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short titles; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Statement of policy. 
Sec. 5. Anti-Corruption Action Fund. 
Sec. 6. Interagency Anti-Corruption Task Force. 
Sec. 7. Designation of embassy anti-corruption points of contact. 
Sec. 8. Reporting requirements. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Authoritarian leaders in foreign countries 
abuse their power to steal assets from state institu-
tions, enrich themselves at the expense of their coun-
tries’ economic development, and use corruption as 
a strategic tool both to solidify their grip on power 
and to undermine democratic institutions abroad. 
(2) Global corruption harms the competitiveness 
of United States businesses, weakens democratic 
governance, 
feeds 
terrorist 
recruitment 
and 
transnational organized crime, enables drug smug-
gling and human trafficking, and stymies economic 
growth. 
(3) Illicit financial flows often penetrate coun-
tries through what appear to be legitimate financial 
transactions, as kleptocrats launder money, use shell 
companies, amass offshore wealth, and participate in 
a global shadow economy. 
(4) The Government of the Russian Federation 
is a leading model of this type of kleptocratic sys-
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tem, using state-sanctioned corruption to both erode 
democratic governance from within and discredit de-
mocracy abroad, thereby strengthening the authori-
tarian rule of Vladimir Putin. 
(5) Corrupt individuals and entities in the Rus-
sian Federation, often with the backing and encour-
agement of political leadership, use stolen money— 
(A) to purchase key assets in other coun-
tries, often with a goal of attaining monopolistic 
control of a sector; 
(B) to gain access to and influence the 
policies of other countries; and 
(C) to advance Russian interests in other 
countries, particularly those that undermine 
confidence and trust in democratic systems. 
(6) Systemic corruption in the People’s Repub-
lic of China, often tied to, directed by, or backed by 
the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and 
the Chinese Government is used— 
(A) to provide unfair advantage to certain 
People’s Republic of China economic entities; 
(B) to increase other countries’ economic 
dependence on the People’s Republic of China 
to secure greater deference to the People’s Re-
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public of China’s diplomatic and strategic goals; 
and 
(C) to exploit corruption in foreign govern-
ments and among other political elites to enable 
People’s Republic of China state-backed firms 
to pursue predatory and exploitative economic 
practices. 
(7) Thwarting these tactics by Russian, Chi-
nese, and other kleptocratic actors requires the 
international community to strengthen democratic 
governance and the rule of law. International co-
operation in combating corruption and illicit finance 
is vital to such efforts, especially by empowering re-
formers in foreign countries during historic political 
openings for the establishment of the rule of law in 
those countries. 
(8) Technical assistance programs that combat 
corruption and strengthen the rule of law, including 
through assistance provided by the Department of 
State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law 
Enforcement Affairs and the United States Agency 
for International Development, and through pro-
grams like the Department of Justice’s Office of 
Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and 
Training and the International Criminal Investiga-
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tive Training Assistance Program, can have lasting 
and significant impacts for both foreign and United 
States interests. 
(9) There currently exist numerous inter-
national 
instruments 
to 
combat 
corruption, 
kleptocracy, and illicit finance, including— 
(A) the Inter-American Convention against 
Corruption of the Organization of American 
States, done at Caracas March 29, 1996; 
(B) the Convention on Combating Bribery 
of Foreign Public Officials in International 
Business Transactions of the Organisation of 
Economic Co-operation and Development, done 
at Paris December 21, 1997 (commonly re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Anti-Bribery Convention’’); 
(C) the United Nations Convention against 
Transnational Organized Crime, done at New 
York November 15, 2000; 
(D) the United Nations Convention against 
Corruption, done at New York October 31, 
2003; 
(E) Recommendation of the Council for 
Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public 
Officials in International Business Trans-
actions, adopted November 26, 2009; and 
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(F) recommendations of the Financial Ac-
tion Task Force comprising the International 
Standards on Combating Money Laundering 
and the Financing of Terrorism and Prolifera-
tion. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate; 
(B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 
(C) the Committee on Finance of the Sen-
ate; 
(D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
Senate; 
(E) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives; 
(F) the Committee on Financial Services 
of the House of Representatives; 
(G) the Committee on Ways and Means of 
the House of Representatives; and 
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