Ruben de Koning is a senior expert at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), where he works on corruption, organized crime and illicit financial flows in Central Africa and beyond. Previously, he served as finance and natural resources expert in UN Panels of Experts on the DRC, Mali and the CAR, and consulted for several investigative NGO’s and the OECD in between Panel mandates. His investigations and policy work have covered illicit trade in precious metals, diamonds, fuel, cigarettes, arms and narcotics. Earlier, Ruben was a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the Centre for International Forestry Research in Yaoundé, Cameroon.