What happens when a criminal network floats free of its masters?

Good afternoon, folks. This is a question for everyone, because it's a question that just might be important to everyone.

Let us assume that favorite DU subjects Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, et al. are all in fact complicit in managing an enormous criminal empire. Like some http://www.crimelibrary.com/borgia/borgialucrezia.htm">great criminal empires of the past, this one expanded into all facets of government and private life. The criminals were so successful that to protect their interests they took over the whole of the most powerful nation on the planet.

But cracks are starting to appear in the facade. Perhaps most important, a primary protector and facilitator of the criminal operation, Tom DeLay, has been de-fanged and will soon be leaving office. Others are being watched. Still others who knew they were being watched must now know that they may not be able to act with impunity. Those who have shown themselves willing to step into DeLay's criminal clown shoes--like Roy Blunt--didn't last long. There are indications that the reptilian brain of Ignorant America may be stirring, finally reacting to impending death by a thousand cuts.

There is a possibility that very soon the GOP criminal empire will find itself with no central direction and no guarantee of protection from above. What will happen to that vast and highly active criminal network when it becomes "free floating," without the anchors of an ignorant public, government complicity and total political control? I think we may gain insight into that question by asking another question:

What are some other examples of criminal empires that have been exposed and destroyed, and how did those criminal empires eventually crumble and fall?

DU is a great place to ask, because DUers from all walks of life have insight into this question. We know corrupt state governments, other corrupt nations, criminal networks within the United States, and the former Soviet Union. Some of us have memories long enough to recall a day when the criminals did not run the show in America, at least not overtly. Some live in countries where such things may not have happened in modern times, and I'd like to hear about how corruption has been avoided in those places.

Please, if you can possibly give examples rather than just guess, do, and if you can't find or don't wish to offer links, please give me enough information so I can look your example up myself.

Thank you in advance for your input, and have a nice day.

Though cloaked in politics and nationalism, the driving force behind the Nazis was sheer, brutal power, the holding and exercising of it, for its own sake. The leaders of the party enriched themselves at the expense of the populace, and everywhere the Nazis took power, they looted the wealth and cultural treasures for themselves.

We can't forget that Hitler was just one man - behind him he had a criminal apparatus that looted all of Europe.

And still the criminal network survived in part to become an important part of South American politics.

Thanks for your help.