Bangladesh, May 25 -- In a tale as improbable as it is audacious, Douglas Edelman, a California-born entrepreneur who once owned a bar in Kyrgyzstan, rose to become a central figure in one of the largest tax evasion cases in US history. His trajectory – from pouring German beer and serving caviar burgers in Bishkek to raking in over $7 billion in Pentagon fuel contracts – offers a searing indictment of the opaque systems that enabled one man to build a global empire behind a wall of shell companies, secrecy, and lies.

On May 21, in a Washington courtroom, Edelman pleaded guilty to 10 counts from a 30-count indictment, including conspiracy and making false statements to US authorities. His plea marks the dramatic culmination o...