This is an imaginary country.

On a street corner there is a deli. A policeman enters the shop. His task is, among other things, to check the scales. After a couple of innuendos, half sentences, and understanding looks, the policeman goes out with a couple of full shopping bags. He got them for free, and in exchange he did not check anything. The shopkeeper can go on selling the wrapping paper at the same price as the ham. Two floors up, in the same building, a lady is paying the plumber who has just repaired her faucet. “If you want an invoice it will be 120 euro, 90 without invoice, a little discount.” “No invoice, I don't need it; thanks for the discount.” A few steps away is the tax office. A distinguished gentleman is talking to an official about an alleged tax evasion. After a while, having understood that the other will not refuse, the gentleman slides an envelope full of money into his hands. They exchange a couple more words, shake hands, and say goodbye: the tax evasion has disappeared. A little further there is a bank. A client goes in; he is an account holder. He greets the teller, opens the briefcase he carries with him, and places a series of banknote bundles on the counter. The teller, alerted by the bank director, explains to him how to deposit them avoiding anti-money-laundering measures.

Two blocks away is the courts building (a license for building additional floors has been granted to the company that paid a substantial bribe). A lawyer and a judge are negotiating the outcome of a trial that involves powerful people. In the nearby prison another lawyer is talking to his client, boasting about his connections with the investigating magistrate who is handling the case. “You’re in deep trouble, but with an adequate gift to the judge, your freedom is guaranteed.” In his office, another lawyer receives sizable ‘expense funds’ without an invoice, tax-free. A couple of miles away, at the stadium, a football match is being played. The referee blows his whistle, awarding a highly doubtful penalty kick to the home team, from whose managers he had received, days earlier, a beautiful branded watch as a token of appreciation for his expertise.