Review: ‘Black Money’

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First the stipulation that “Black Money,” a Frontline look at international bribery, is first-class journalism: high-minded, fact-filled and balanced, with some eye-catching visuals.

How could it be anything but stellar given the presence of correspondent Lowell Bergman, one of the top investigative journalists in the nation, if not the world?

Now the problem: It’s dull and seems to be obsessing on an ethical problem that pales when compared with the real-world consequences of the banking industry scandals that have plunged the world into recession.

At the heart of “Black Money” is an $80-billion arms deal between the British-based company BAE Systems and the government of Saudi Arabia that officially began in the 1980s.

As British journalist David Leigh has reported in delicious detail, BAE allegedly slipped a bundle of money to a member of the Saudi royal family to support a super-lush lifestyle. Leigh’s scoops were only the beginning.

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