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http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2167133,00.html

Billions of dollars worth of bribes paid each year go into the pockets of
public officials in rich countries

"The implications the world has to understand is that government decisions
can be bought and sold," Jerome Glenn, head of the association's millennium
project and one of the report's authors said. "What happens if organised
crime decides that instead of buying and selling cocaine or heroin, it's
going to buy and sell government decisions? That's a threat to democracy."

Contrary to the stereotype of the banana republic, only a minority of the
political bribes paid each year goes to public officials in the developing
world. The report published this week finds "the vast majority of bribes are
paid to people in richer countries" where decision taking is "vulnerable to
vast amounts of money".