Inside the crime and corruption of the oil industry as bombshell documentary ‘Revealed: Bribe, Inc.’ exposes dark underbelly of one of the world’s biggest family-owned companies

It all started with a mysterious typewritten letter in the mail instructing a multi-award-winning investigative journalist to place a coded message in a French newspaper.

Nick McKenzie had no idea his response would lead him to one of the largest ever international bribery investigations into the oil industry.

He would uncover a trail of crime and corruption and expose one of the largest family businesses in the world: Unaoil.

His journey is archived in the new feature-length documentary ‘Revealed: Bribe Inc.’ which is now streaming on Stan.

McKenzie told Daily Mail Australia the explosive investigation has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood movie.

“I think it’s something that could be a great movie because it has the qualities,” he said.

McKenzie had just helped quash public allegations of bribery at Australian engineering giant Leighton Holdings (now CIMC) when he received the letter.

The message claimed to be from a former Unaoil employee known only as ‘Figaro’ asking him to place an advertisement, including his email address and the codeword ‘Monte Christo’, in the real estate section of the French newspaper Le Figaro.

Armed with 317,000 leaked files, McKenzie and Figaro delved into the shady business dealings of the secretive Ahsani family – Ata Ahsani and his sons Cyrus and Saman

“If you want to hear the world’s biggest corruption story, hide a secret code in a French newspaper,” McKenzie was told.

McKenzie said he followed the instructions and it was the start of his incredible journey.

“You wouldn’t believe it if you read it,” he said. “It remains the craziest way to ever be contacted.”

From the outside, the Ahsani family’s Monaco-based company, Unaoil, had a highly respected reputation, organizing glittering fundraisers and mingling with royals, politicians and politicians.

The family had created the illusion of being generous and above reproach and had long denied any involvement in corrupt activities.

“On the surface, the Ahsani family looked like wealthy philanthropists who had spent years doing business with royals, sheikhs and people to be respected and admired,” McKenzie said.

‘It was all a front. I think the more corrupt they became, the more they portrayed themselves as non-corrupt.

‘This charity they set up, and the way they moved through high society in Europe, and especially in Monaco, was all a front.

Nick McKenzie (pictured) said: ‘It was a really interesting journalistic experience, we spent 18 hours a day going through emails. The whole picture started to be painted.’

“And at the end of the day, they’re corporate gangsters.”

He said whistleblower Figaro had contacted him because “he had read that I had written about Leighton Holdings and its involvement in alleged corruption.”

“He thought, ‘Who’s going to pay attention to the hidden part of that story, which is the claim that the kickback payer who worked for Leighton Holdings was in fact Unaoil,'” McKenzie said.

This unleashed the greatest expose of bribery and corruption in modern history.

Delving into the business dealings of the secretive Ahsani family, and armed with 317,000 leaked files, McKenzie and Figaro discovered that Unaoil had paid millions of dollars in bribes to some of the largest companies in Europe, North America and Australia.

The documentary shows how McKenzie and Figaro tracked down the money trail and pursued the criminals in an extensive manhunt across the world, from Iraq to Monaco, Rome, London, Australia and the US.

According to the thousands of leaked emails, Unaoil operated a vast network of mysterious intermediaries with a hotline to ministers and oil officials in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Malaysia, Libya, Kazakhstan and Nigeria.

“Once the data started flowing and once we started document after document, and then a lot more data in hard drive form, it really opened up,” McKenzie said.

“It was a very interesting journalistic experience, we spent 18 hours a day going through emails.”

‘The whole picture started to be painted.’

“It was extremely exciting because you felt like you were cracking a code, and you felt like you were exposing real, major corruption.”

‘It remains the largest and most complicated investigation, because there were so many files, so many bribes paid in so many countries.

“I think the FBI ultimately said bribes were paid in as many as 27 countries,” McKenzie said.

The documentary even features a cameo from newly elected President Donald Trump.

The investigation ultimately involved the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, prompting a $12 million police investigation as authorities worked tirelessly to bring the Ahsani family to justice.

‘Revealed: Bribe, Inc.’ is the eleventh in Stan’s Revealed series and the fourth under McKenzie’s direction.

The winner of multiple Walkley awards had previously produced Ben Roberts-Smith: Truth On Trial, Trafficked and Amongst Us: Neo Nazi Australia for Stan.

On Tuesday evening, McKenzie won a further three Walkley Awards, including the coveted Gold Walkley, the highest honor for Australian journalism.

Revealed: Bribe, Inc. is now streaming on Stan.