World Economic Forum

The Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) calls itself the “International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation” and says it strives to uphold “the highest standards of governance.” Every year in Davos, Switzerland, the WEF hosts a heavily publicized meeting of global political and business leaders.

On Jan. 20, 2011, the WEF received 19,440 Swiss francs (US$20,817) from Quantus Division Ltd., a British Virgin Islands company at the heart of the Troika Laundromat. That January, Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt were among the high-profile attendees of the annual meeting, as was Russian businessman and transparency advocate Ruben Vardanyan, who was chairman of Troika Dialog at the time.

In a statement, the WEF said the payment was for Vardanya’s participation in that year’s event.

“The Forum has implemented the necessary due dilligence process to make sure it is compliant with the law in a sustainable way,” the organization said.