Ex-Malaysian PM Najib Razak charged with money laundering
By Daniel Uria
(UPI) -- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged with three counts of money laundering Wednesday in relation over alleged links to multibillion-dollar state fund scandal.
Razak didn't enter a plea to the three new charges under the anti-money-laundering act, which are related to SRC International, a former subsidiary of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state development fund, the South China Morning Post reported.
Each of the new charges carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail and a fine.
On Dec. 26, 2014 Razak received two transfers of $6.6 million and $1.2 million to two different accounts at AmIslamic Bank Bhd, the first two charges allege. The third charge alleges he received an additional $2.4 million from illegal activities on Feb. 10, 2015, Bloomberg reported.
Razak was arrested by anti-corruption officials on July 3 and charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of power.
He pleaded not guilty to the first set of charges, which each carry a maximum 20-year jail sentence.
Razak set up the 1MDB fund in 2009 to assist in transforming Kuala Lumpur into a financial hub and boost the economy through strategic investments, but it missed payments for $11 billion it owed to banks and bondholders in early 2015.
Billions of dollars are missing from the 1MDB fund, which was set up by the former prime minister and since losing re-election in May he has been under investigation and banned from leaving Malaysia.
Argentina's former VP sentenced to nearly 6 years for corruption
By Ray Downs
Former Argentinian Vice President Amado Boudou attends his trial at the tribunals of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Tuesday before he was found guilty and sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison. Photo by David Fernandez/EPA-EFE
(UPI) -- Former Argentinian Vice President Amado Boudou was found guilty on corruption charges Tuesday and sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison.
Boudou's arrest was ordered immediately and he also was fined 90,000 Argentinian pesos -- about $3,300.
The former vice president, who served during the administration of former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner between 2011 and 2015, maintained his innocence and said he was a victim of political persecution by current President Mauricio Macri.
"This trial has been strange from the beginning, in that the responsibility of proof was inverted. I have had to prove I didn't know someone, prove I didn't attend a meeting," Boudou said, according to the Buenos Aires Times.
Prosecutors said Boudou lifted a bankruptcy declaration against Ciccone Calcografica, a money-printing company, in 2010, when he was Argentina's economic minister. In exchange for lifting that declaration, Boudou received a piece of the company, prosecutors said.
The trial ends a four-year saga for Boudou, who was charged in June 2014, becoming the country's first sitting vice president to face criminal charges.
But more convictions could be coming for former officials in the Fernandez administration in another corruption case. Last week, Argentinian newspaper La Nacion published a series of documents that allegedly detail bribes and payoffs to various officials, including Fernandez, who prosecutors plan to speak with this week.
Japanese medical school changed scores to limit admittance of women and to get bribes
By Danielle Haynes
(UPI) -- A medical school in Japan admitted Tuesday it altered the results of entrance exams to limit the number of women admitted to the university.
Officials at the Tokyo Medical University offered an apology after an internal investigation revealed the manipulated results starting in 2006.
The probe found that the school subtracted points for female applicants while padding the scores for men. School officials did so out of the belief that women would discontinue their medical careers or take long periods of absence if they got married or had children, Kyodo News reported.
The practice was "nothing but discrimination against women," one of the lawyers involved in the investigation said.
The probe found that former Chairman Masahiko Usui and former President Mamoru Suzuki each accepted bribes from the parents of students whose scores had been increased.
University officials said the school would no longer manipulate entrance exam scores and offered to accept potential students whose original scores would have earned them a spot.
"We sincerely apologize for the serious wrongdoing involving entrance exams that has caused concern and trouble for many people and betrayed the public's trust," said Tetsuo Yukioka, the school's managing director, who said he was not involved in the altering of scores.
"I suspect that there was a lack of sensitivity to the rules of modern society, in which women should not be treated differently because of their gender," he added.
Ex-South Korea president 'thankless' after accepting bribes
By Elizabeth Shim
Former President Lee Myung-bak has denied recent charges of bribery and embezzlement, and was recently hospitalized. File Photo by Yonhap
(UPI) -- Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak "showed no gratitude" after accepting bribes of millions of dollars, according to a wealthy local banker who reportedly provided proof of graft.
Lee Pal-sung, the former chairman of Woori Financial Group in Seoul, released his personal memos to South Korea prosecutors that provide details of his meetings with the former president, the Segye Ilbo reported Tuesday.
According to his memos, Lee Pal-sung had delivered a total of $2.7 million in bribes to Lee Myung-bak and his inner circle.
Lee Myung-bak has been accused of accepting more than $2 million in cash from the Woori Group chairman from 2007 to 2011, through relatives and a son-in-law. Lee Pal-sung was hoping to curry favors with the newly elected president.
"Met with MB [Lee Myung-bak]. He said things are moving in a positive direction for me; [to be nominated] head of the Financial Supervisory Commission, president of the Korea Development Bank, or a member of the National Assembly," Lee Pal-sung wrote in a memo dating to Feb. 23, 2008.
But in a memo dating March 28, 2008, Lee Pal-sung had turned against the former president. "I am frustrated because of the possibility of having to end my relationship with Lee, and starting life over. I gave him [$2.7 million]. His clique is all unscrupulous human beings. They do not even say thank you."
KBS reported Tuesday the banker also complained the ex-president himself did not express gratitude for the money.
Lee Pal-sung has 41 pages of memos regarding his meetings with Lee Myung-bak from January to May 2008.
The former president has denied recent charges of bribery and embezzlement, and was recently hospitalized.
So, if he had only said 'thank-you', he might have gotten away with his corruption.
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