Russians Accepted $27M in Bribes Between Jan. and Oct., Prosecutor Says

Corruption is Everywhere - and most definitely in Russia

Russia's annual corruption joke

By Sommer Brokaw

A Russian flag flies near the Kremlin tower in Moscow on March 16.

Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo

(UPI) -- The general prosecutor's office in Russia said Tuesday Moscow officials accepted $27 million in bribes over the first nine months of 2018.

Spokesman Alexander Kurennoy said Russian officials took the bribes between January and September, while aired by the office's new interactive video service Efir Tuesday.

Kurrennoy said bribery cases in Russia rose by 3 percent to nearly 10,200 this year -- including the giving and taking of bribes, and prosecutions for facilitating bribery increased by 16 percent.

The amount of the average bribe was $9,140, officials said.

Nearly 200 large-scale bribes amounted to $22.5 million, an average of $121,000.

Bribe-giving was most common in Moscow and the Krasnodar region over the nine months. Moscow and regions of Rostov, Moscow and Chelyabinsk also led in a rating for bribe taking over the same period.

Anti-corruption activists said the official figure of $27 million may be an underestimate, given the country's low ranking in transparency and high-ranking in corruption.

May be an underestimate? This is only what was caught! $27m is certainly but a small fraction of what actually occurs. 

Guns, Explosives, Submarines & Cocaine: US Charges Honduran President’s Brother

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in Honduras 

© Reuters / Jorge Cabrera

Tony Hernandez, a former Honduran congressman and brother of the country’s sitting president, has been convicted of drug smuggling, possession of firearms and connections to “deadly and dangerous” gangs from Mexico and Colombia.

The US attorney general and DEA announced Monday that Tony Hernandez has been charged with “conspiring to import cocaine”, possession of “machineguns and explosive devices” as well as lying to federal agents. He appeared in a Miami court after being arrested on November 23rd, and if found guilty is potentially facing life in prison.

Hernandez has a rap sheet that would make Tony Montana proud, using “machinegun toting security” to protect “multi-ton” cocaine shipments, bribing law enforcement in order to secure crucial information for facilitating narcotics shipments and soliciting bribes from large-scale drug dealers, according to the DoJ. Investigators even found packages of cocaine in drug laboratories in Mexico and Colombia that were hubristically stamped with the former lawmaker’s initials “TH”.

The indictment represents official US recognition that massive drug trafficking rings were presumably sanctioned at the highest levels of the Honduran government, including bribes paid to members of the National Congress of Honduras for protection and safe passage. The drugs were smuggled for over a decade, from 2004-2016, by air and by sea, allegedly pushed up through Guatemala and eventually into the United States. In a move the writers of Breaking Bad would probably call far-fetched, the DoJ’s public statement even says that “on at least one occasion” Hernandez used a submarine to transport the goods.

The statement also says that a recording exists of Hernandez giving a $50,000 kickback to a former member of the Honduran National Police to help force “Honduran government entities” to make payments to companies that launder money for a violent drug-trafficking gangs, which essentially amounts to Honduras having state subsidized drug-money laundering services.

Tony’s brother, the president of Honduras, who has ironically been trying to crack down on drug cartels, said that while being entitled to the presumption of innocence “no one is above the law.” So despite being the brother of the head of state, he will be given no advantages that an ordinary citizen would not have during a trial, Juan Orlando Hernandez stated.

Good luck with that, Juan. Any meaningful move to upset the drug cartels will get you killed. Maybe on order of your own brother.

Corruption is Everywhere - Japan, S. Korea, Malaysia, and Argentina

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.

Brazilian Court Upholds Conviction of Former President Lula da Silva

Corruption is Everywhere - Especially in Brazil

By Daniel Uria  

A Brazilian appeals court upheld a corruption conviction against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as he prepares to run in the country's upcoming presidential election. File Photo by Andrew Harrer/Pool/UPI | License Photo

UPI -- A Brazilian appeals court unanimously upheld a corruption conviction against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday.

The three-judge panel's decision to uphold the conviction could prevent the 72-year-old da Silva's candidacy in Brazil's upcoming election. The country's "clean record law" bars politicians whose convictions are upheld on appeal from running for office.

"There is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the ex-president was one of the actors, if not the principal actor, of an ample corruption scheme," said Joao Pedro Gebran Neto, one of the judges.

The court ruled against jailing Lula da Silva as he fights the conviction, but increased his sentence from 9 years to 12 years in prison.

"At a minimum, he was conscious and gave support to what happened," Neto said.

Lula Da Silva was convicted of receiving more than $1 million in bribes, including a newly refurbished beachfront apartment, as part of a corruption scandal known as "Operation Car Wash."

The former president can appeal the conviction to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court and the Supreme Federal Court and apply to an electoral tribunal for a special exemption to run for president if the appeal process extends through the election.

He delivered a message of defiance while speaking at a rally of his supporters in Porto Alegre, home of the Fourth Regional Federal Court of Appeals, on Tuesday.

"Only one thing is going to remove me from the streets of this country and that will be the day that I die," Lula da Silva said. "Until then, I will be fighting for a fairer society."

His Workers' Party backed up Lula da Silva in a statement and called on his supporters to take to the streets.

"If they think this story ends with today's decision they're sorely mistaken," the party said. "We won't give up in the face of this injustice."

Peru's President Kuczynski Refuses to Resign over Corruption Allegations

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in Peru

Lawmakers said they have documents that prove Kuczynski was paid $780,000 from Odebrecht while he was a government minister

By Susan McFarland 

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru looks on during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House. Lawmakers on Thursday have called for Kuczynski to step down for his connection with a corruption probe but he refused to resign, denying the allegations. Pool Photo by Olivier Douliery/UPI | License Photo

See also:
Peru's Ex-President Toledo Denies Taking $20M in Bribes

UPI -- Despite lawmakers calling President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to step down for his connection with a corruption probe, he refused to resign on Thursday.

Lawmakers said documents received from Brazil-based Odebrecht prove that before Kuczynski became president, from 2004 to 2007 the company paid $780,000 to a financial-consulting business set up by Kuczynski, the company's sole director.

Kuczynski denies any contact with Odebrecht and refutes claims that he received money from the company while he was a government minister. The president also said he would allow investigators to examine his bank accounts.

During a video statement Thursday, Kuczynski acknowledged owning the company, Westfield Capital, but said a business partner dealt with Odebrecht contracts during that time.

"I'm not going to abdicate my honor, my values or my responsibilities as president of all Peruvians," Kuczynski said. "I won't run. I won't hide. I have no reason to do so."

In a plea deal with the United States Justice Department last year, Odebrecht acknowledged it paid nearly $800 million in bribes to secure infrastructure contracts, including $29 million to Peru during 2005 to 2014. The company was fined $2.6 billion over its role in the scandal.

Lawmakers from the Popular Force party said Kuczynski should immediately step aside; the Broad Front party said Congress should force the president out.

Peru's Ex-President Toledo Denies Taking $20M in Bribes

Corruption in 3rd world countries is rampant, and arguably, not a lot better in developed countries. 

Cleaning up corruption, at least somewhat, is necessary if 3rd world countries are ever going to

emerge into the developed world.

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo allegedly took $20 million in bribes from the Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht. He denied the accusations following a raid conducted by Peru's Public Ministry on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Alejandro Toledo

By Andrew V. Pestano  

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo denied taking bribes as part of the Odebrecht corruption scandal after prosecutors searched his home.

Investigators raided Toledo's home in Camacho on Saturday as part of a Peruvian government effort to probe the extent Odebrecht's confessed bribery scheme influenced Peru's officials and businesses.

"Special prosecutor's team continues to work for more than five hours in raiding Alejandro Toledo's house in Camacho," Peru's Public Ministry said in a statement. "The documentation found in the house of ex-President Toledo will be evaluated by the Public Ministry."

Jorge Barata, Odebrecht's former executive director who is cooperating with authorities, accused Toledo of receiving $20 million in bribes from Odebrecht for a contract to build a highway between Brazil and Peru.

Politicians in several countries are accused of accepting bribes -- either personal bribes or bribes distributed to their political party -- in exchange for lucrative government contracts for Odebrecht and Braskem, another Brazilian firm.

Toledo dismissed the accusations as an unfair political attack against him.

"I express my deep concern about the politicization over the information of the cases handled by the Public Ministry," Toledo said in a statement. "I will appear before the court every time it is mentioned again, although I do not have supporters, comrades or ex-lawyers in the fiscal and judicial function."

Odebrecht in December agreed to pay at least $2.6 billion in criminal penalties over its role in the massive corruption scandal.

Brazilian Judge Heading Corruption Probe Dies in Suspicious Plane Crash

Teori Zavascki was leading Operation Carwash, a corruption probe 

that has already taken down several high-ranking government

officials and was expected to investigate several more

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki died in a plane crash Thursday night when the small plane he was in crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Foul play was immediately suspected by many because of Zavascki's role in the Operation Carwash corruption probe, which already has brought down several high-ranking officials in the Brazilian government. Photo by Fernando Bizerra Jr./European Pressphoto Agency

By Stephen Feller 

(UPI) -- A Brazilian Supreme Court justice was killed Thursday in a plane crash, with some in Brazil suggesting the crash was not an accident because of his leadership in a corruption probe that has already taken down several powerful politicians.

Justice Teori Zavascki was killed when the Beechcraft King Air C90 went down in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Brazil between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on Thursday night for unknown reasons.

Officials were still searching for much of the plane, but had pulled three bodies from wreckage and confirmed Zavascki was on the plane. With Zavascki on the plane was Carlos Alberto Filgueiras, owner of the Emiliano hotel chain, and the pilot, Osmar Rodrigues. News outlets also reported a woman died in the crash, but had not identified her.

Zavascki, appointed to the Court in 2012 by impeached former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff last year, was known for making bold moves against government corruption.

Acting President Michel Temer declared three days of national mourning to honor Zavascki as a "modest tribute to someone who has served the judiciary, the courts and the Brazilian people so well."

In Brazil, where the Supreme Court handles corruption cases involving government officials, Zavascki was leading Operation Carwash, an investigation into money laundering that involved the government-owned oil company Petrobras and the arrest of several high-ranking government officials.

Operation Carwash centered around billions of dollars in bribes paid to Petrobras for hiring specific construction firms at much higher rates than necessary. The probe already has led to the impeachment and arrest of Brazil's former speaker of the house Eduardo Cunha and led to Rousseff's impeachment. Temer and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (are also being investigated).

The investigation, involving at least 6.4 billion reais ($2.63 billion) in bribes for contracts with state-run enterprises, has led to the jailing of dozens of senior executives and threatens to batter the ruling coalition of President Michel Temer. Sydney Morning Herald

Recently, Zavascki was reviewing evidence from a $2.1 billion plea deal involving the construction company Odebrecht, which reportedly implicated dozens of Brazilian politicians as having been paid off -- fueling suspicion the plane crash was not just an accident.

Mr Zavascki's plane crashed into the sea in heavy rain. BBC

Lauro Koehler, who saw the crash, said the plane appeared to be making to sharp a turn just before it crashed, "but the plane kept curving, to the point that my wife screamed, 'It's going to crash!' Then the place dropped into the sea.

Sounds innocent enough. Where there is heavy rain there is often microburst winds which can flip a plane pretty quickly. It does, however, look awfully suspicious in its timing. It will be somewhat telling when we see who replaces Zavascki and how he/she conducts the investigation.

Roberto Veloso, president of the Association of Federal Judges, Marcio Anselmo, a federal investigator in the corruption probe, and Luciana Genro, leader of the Socialism and Liberty Party, all called for an immediate investigation into the crash. Genro noted it was suspicious that Temer, implicated in the probe already, will name Zavascki's replacement.

"This 'accident' needs to be thoroughly investigated," said Anselmo in a since-deleted Facebook post after Zavascki's death was confirmed.

Huge loss: Analysis by Daniel Gallas, BBC News, Rio de Janeiro

In Brazil's tumultuous times, where political divisions are running deep in virtually every institution, it is hard to find truly independent voices.

But Judge Teori Zavascki was arguably one such voice. The Petrobras investigation gained much credibility when he was appointed to oversee the case in the Supreme Court.

A few days from now, the court will start analysing the plea bargain deals struck with 77 executives from Odebrecht, a construction company that admitted corrupt deals with Petrobras.

This has the potential to be the most explosive moment in the long-running Petrobras case, as new revelations are expected to be made against top politicians.

Without Judge Zavascki at the helm of this process, Brazil's Supreme Court will have an extra challenge in convincing the public it can resist pressure from the powerful.

It just drives me crazy to think that billions of dollars are slipped under the table to already wealthy people when Brazil has hundreds of thousands of children who have to sell themselves to perverts in order to get enough money to keep from starvation. There will be a reckoning one day!

Ex-Guatemalan President, VP Among 70 Charged with Corruption

Corruption is rampant in 3rd world countries and many industrialized countries. It is a major contributor to poverty. I applaud Guatamalan

lawmakers for not allowing it to continue.

Prosecutors say that during one trip to the United States,

former Vice President Roxana Baldetti spent nearly

$30,000 in taxpayer money on clothing and shoes

By Doug G. Ware


Former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina shakes hands with President Barack Obama during a meeting at the White House in 2014. Molina and his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, were forced to resign last year amid a corruption scandal. On Thursday, they were also charged with misappropriating millions in government funds. File Photo by Alex Wong/Pool/UPI | License Photo

GUATEMALA CITY, June 17 (UPI) -- The former president and vice president of Guatemala have been charged, along with 68 others, with embezzlement, accused of stealing millions in government funds.

Disgraced former President Otto Perez Molina and his deputy, Roxana Baldetti, face numerous criminal counts in a scheme that investigators say misappropriated public money after the pair took office in 2012.

Prosecutor Julio Prado said the officials illegally used the money, in various ways, for personal benefit.

"That money was used to buy goods and services for you and Baldetti, including real estate and luxury vehicles, as well as $4.3 million in gifts," he told Molina, 65, in court Thursday.

They face charges of embezzlement and money-laundering, officials said.

Prado said the president and vice president went to great lengths to conceal their financial crimes -- including even setting up bogus "shell" companies to hide the cash.

Baldetti, 54, prosecutors say, received nearly $40 million in unlawful bribes in awarding government contracts. They say during one trip to South Florida, she spent nearly $30,000 in taxpayers' money on clothing and shoes.

The pair's spending first attracted attention in 2013 when a Guatemalan newspaper published investigative reports into Baldetti's unexplained wealth, which the paper reported had allowed her to buy several multimillion-dollar homes and even a private helicopter.

Molina and Baldetti, who formed Guatemala's neoliberal Patriotic Party, have denied the accusations. Dozens of other government and banking executives have also been charged in the investigation.

The president and vice president were forced to resign last year over an unrelated scandal involving an alleged customs corruption ring, called La Linea, in which government officials accepted graft from importers in exchange for discounted or waived tariffs.

Baldetti resigned in May 2015, and Molina in September after the Guatemalan Congress voted 132-0 to strip him of immunity from prosecution. Vice President Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre, who replaced Baldetti, served as interim president for the remainder of Molina's term, which ended in January.