Corruption is Everywhere > Thousands arrested, 174 killed in Bangladesh chaos; Another $85 mn recovered from Malaysia's phenomenol 1MDB fraud

 

Thousands of protesters arrested in Bangladesh

amid deadly unrest

More than 2,500 people have been arrested in Bangladesh amid ongoing violence triggered by protests over employment quotas, according to an AFP tally on Tuesday. At least 174 people, including several police officers, have died in the unrest, which led to a curfew, military deployment and a nationwide internet blackout.

Issued on: 23/07/2024 - 12:12

Modified: 23/07/2024 - 12:13

3 min

By:NEWS WIRES

The number of arrests in days of violence in Bangladesh passed the 2,500 mark in an AFP tally on Tuesday, after protests over employment quotas sparked widespread unrest.

At least 174 people have died, including several police officers, according to a separate AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals.

What began as demonstrations against politicised admission quotas for sought-after government jobs snowballed last week into some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's tenure.

A curfew was imposed and soldiers deployed across the South Asian country, and a nationwide internet blackout drastically restricted the flow of information, upending daily life for many.

On Sunday, the Supreme Court pared back the number of reserved jobs for specific groups, including the descendants of "freedom fighters" from Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

The student group leading the demonstrations suspended its protests Monday for 48 hours, with its leader saying they had not wanted reform "at the expense of so much blood".

The restrictions remained in place Tuesday after the army chief said the situation had been brought "under control".

There was a heavy military presence in Dhaka, with bunkers set up at some intersections and key roads blocked with barbed wire.

But more people were on the streets, as were hundreds of rickshaws.

"I did not drive rickshaws the first few days of curfew, But today I didn't have any choice," rickshaw driver Hanif told AFP. 

"If I don't do it, my family will go hungry."

The head of Students Against Discrimination, the main group organising the protests, told AFP in his hospital room Monday that he feared for his life after being abducted and beaten, and the group said Tuesday at least four of its leaders were missing, asking authorities to "return" them by the evening.

'Killed at random'

The authorities' response to the protests has been widely criticised, with Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus urging "world leaders and the United Nations to do everything within their powers to end the violence" in a statement.

The respected 83-year-old economist is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank but earned the enmity of Hasina, who has accused him of "sucking blood" from the poor.

"Young people are being killed at random every day," Yunus told AFP. "Hospitals do not reveal the number of wounded and dead." 

Diplomats in Dhaka also questioned the government's actions, with US Ambassador Peter Haas telling the foreign minister he had shown a one-sided video at a briefing to diplomats.

Government officials have repeatedly blamed the protesters and opposition for the unrest.

More than 1,200 people detained over the course of the violence – nearly half the 2,580 total – were held in Dhaka and its rural and industrial areas, according to police officials who spoke to AFP.

Almost 600 were arrested in Chittagong and its rural areas, with hundreds more detentions tallied in multiple districts across the country.

'Sheikh Hasina never flees' 

With around 18 million young people in Bangladesh out of work, according to government figures, the June reintroduction of the quota scheme – halted since 2018 – deeply upset graduates facing an acute jobs crisis.

With protests mounting across the country, the Supreme Court on Sunday curtailed the number of reserved jobs from 56 percent of all positions to seven percent, mostly for the children and grandchildren of "freedom fighters" from the 1971 war.

While 93 percent of jobs will be awarded on merit, the decision fell short of protesters' demands to scrap the "freedom fighter" category altogether.

Late Monday, Hasina's spokesman told AFP the prime minister had approved a government order putting the Supreme Court's judgement into effect. 

Critics say the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists to Hasina's ruling Awami League.

Hasina, 76, has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

Her government is also accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including by the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

(AFP)

U.S. recovers cash, artwork in $85M

1MDB civil forfeiture

By Mike Heuer

The superyacht Equanimity arrives at Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia, on Aug. 7, 2018, and is among many assets seized from suspected 1MDB embezzler Low Taek Jho in recent years. Photo by Ahmad Yusni/EPA-EFE

July 23 (UPI) -- The Department of Justice recovered nearly $85 million in cash and artwork allegedly paid for with money embezzled from 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Federal prosecutors also recovered diamond jewelry and artwork by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Diane Arbus and Jean-Michel Basquiat, it announced Tuesday.

The works of art and jewelry were allegedly possessed by Low Taek Jho, who also goes by Jho Low, and his co-conspirators after embezzling billions from 1MDB, which is Malaysia's sovereign investment fund.

Low and his co-conspirators are accused of embezzling more than $4.5 billion from 1MDB from 2009 through 2015.

1MDB former general counsel "Jasmine" Loo Ai Swan agreed to help the Department of Justice recover artwork by Picasso and money from a Swiss bank account.

The Department of Justice also obtained civil forfeiture orders on assets allegedly obtained by Low using embezzled funds, including the aforementioned diamond jewelry and works of art.

Instead of using 1MDB funds for their intended purpose of promoting economic development in Malaysia through direct foreign investment and global partnerships, the Department of Justice says Low and Loo conspired to embezzle the money.

Instead of improving the well-being of Malaysian people, the Department of Justice alleged the pair and others conspired to engage in international bribery and money laundering to promote their own well-being at the expense of the Malaysian people.

Loo agreed to surrender a Picasso work of art and $1.8 million in cash. The agreement still leaves Loo liable for potential criminal charges.

Low also agreed to forfeit the many works of art he allegedly bought using embezzled funds from 1MDB.

In June, he agreed to a $100 million asset forfeiture.

The combined assets forfeited by Loo and Low amount to about $85 million.

The asset forfeiture was done through the U.S. District Court for Central California.

The Department of Justice previously secured a combined total of about $1.4 billion in assets and returned them to Malaysia.

The assets were associated with the international embezzlement, money laundering and bribery scheme in which Loo, Low and others allegedly participated.

Low also is charged with conspiracy to launder billions embezzled from 1MDB and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by allegedly bribing Malaysian and Emirati officials.

Now the question is, how much and to whom? And were the recipient(s) aware of it? Of course they were, or what would be the point?

The additional criminal charges against Low are filed in the U.S. District Court of Eastern New York.

Corruption is Everywhere > $100mn Recovered from Malaysia's phenomenal 1MDB slush fund

 

DOJ recovers $100 million civil forfeiture in Malaysia's 1MDB scheme

By Doug Cunningham

The Department of Justice said Wednesday it reached an agreement with Low Taek Jho for the largest-ever $100 (mn) civil forfeiture in a multi-billion dollar 1MDB Malaysia embezzlement and money laundering scheme. Prime Minister of Malaysia Mohammed Najib Razak (pictured, 2013) went to prison for his part in the scheme in August 2022. Low still faces criminal charges in New York. File Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI | License Photo

June 26 (UPI) -- The Department of Justice said Wednesday an agreement was reached in the alleged embezzlement of $4.5 billion from Malaysia's sovereign investment fund known as 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.

The agreement is with Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, members of his family and trust entities Low established. It includes a civil forfeiture of more than $100 million.

The DOJ said that, prior to this agreement, more than $1.4 billion in assets associated with the scheme was returned to Malaysia.

"The Low Parties have also agreed to cooperate in the transfer to Malaysia of certain other assets located in Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Singapore that are linked to 1MDB funds," the DOJ said in a statement. "Under the agreement, the department will coordinate with foreign partners to facilitate the liquidation and return of these assets to Malaysia."

The DOJ, citing the civil forfeiture complaints, said, "From 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates, including Low, through a criminal conspiracy involving international money laundering and bribery."

Civil forfeiture actions under the agreement include a Paris luxury apartment, as well as art in Switzerland by Andy Warhol and Claude Monet, which Low bought for roughly $35 million.

Approximately $67 million in real property and bank accounts cash in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore is also being forfeited.

In addition to the civil forfeiture, DOJ said Low faces criminal charges for "allegedly conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB and for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by allegedly paying bribes to various Malaysian and Emirati officials, and in the District of Columbia for allegedly conspiring to make and conceal foreign and conduit campaign contributions during the United States presidential election in 2012."

So, to which Presidential candidate did these concealed contributions go? Hmmmm?

Ex-Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak went to prison in August 2022 after a top court affirmed his sentence for stealing billions from the 1MDB fund. He set up the fund after taking office in 2009.

Goldman Sachs and its Malaysian subsidiary agreed to pay $2.9 billion in October 2020 after admitting to bribery as part of the 1MDB scandal.

In April 2023, U.S. hip-hop group the Fugees founding member Pras Michel was convicted of being involved in a multi-million-dollar conspiracy aimed at influencing the White House under two administrations and for working as an agent for China that was allegedly part of the huge scheme run by Low.

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly at Goldman Sachs

..

Hong Kong slaps Goldman Sachs with record fine over looting

of Malaysia’s state fund

22 Oct 2020 14:54

© Reuters / Brendan McDermid

Goldman Sachs (Asia) has been fined $350 million by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for its role in a multibillion-dollar scandal that involved top Malaysian officials, including its former prime minister.

The fine is the highest ever imposed by the Hong Kong markets’ watchdog. The SFC said on Thursday that the regional unit of the US investment bank was fined due to “serious lapses and deficiencies in its management supervisory, risk, compliance and anti-money-laundering controls that contributed to the misappropriation of $2.6 billion” from three bond offerings in 2012 and 2013 that raised $6.5 billion for 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The SFC added that Goldman Sachs (Asia) in Hong Kong had significant involvement in the origination, approval, execution and sales process of the three 1MDB bond offerings.

According to the commission, the Wall Street bank received $581.5 million in fees from 1MDB, inclusive of $567 million in commission from the three bond sales. Its Hong Kong unit alone collected $210 million, or 37 percent of the total fees from the debt sales, the largest chunk among various Goldman Sachs entities.

“This enforcement action is the result of a rigorous, independent investigation conducted by the SFC into whether Goldman Sachs (Asia)’s involvement with 1MDB in 2012 and 2013 contravened the standards expected of firms under Hong Kong regulations,” said Ashley Alder, the SFC’s chief executive.

“The penalty in this case – assessed solely in accordance with Hong Kong’s own fining framework – reflects our findings that Goldman Sachs (Asia) failed to deal properly with numerous suspicious circumstances surrounding the 1MDB bond offerings. These failures led to multiple, serious breaches of the rules which set out the high standards of behavior expected of all firms supervised by the SFC,” Alder added.

Last year, the SFC banned former Goldman Sachs (Asia) partner Tim Leissner from working as a securities and financial adviser in the city for life, in relation to the 1MDB corruption scandal. Leissner pleaded guilty in August 2018 to criminal charges brought against him by the US Department of Justice for money laundering and corruption.

1MDB was set up in 2009 by Najib Razak, then-prime minister of Malaysia, who was sentenced to 12 years in jail after being convicted on all charges related to the fund. Goldman Sachs was the main banker for the fund and helped it to raise $6.5 billion through bond sales. However, much of the funds were misappropriated during the process by government officials and two Goldman bankers, while the bank was accused of covering up the looting of the nation’s state fund. 

Superyacht Equanimity - purchased with funds pilfered from 1MDB

The money siphoned off from state coffers was used to buy everything from artwork and jewelry to real estate and a superyacht. Some of the cash helped to finance the movie, ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ which earned actor Leonardo DiCaprio a Golden Globe for his performance as a stock-market scammer.

In September, Malaysia dropped criminal charges against Goldman Sachs after the bank agreed to pay $4 billion in compensation. However, that did not prevent the Wall Street bank from facing prosecution linked to the 1MDB saga in other countries.

Search this blog for 1MDB for more background on this story.

Corruption is Everywhere - According to Malaysia, Even in Goldman Sachs

Malaysia charges 17 current & ex-Goldman Sachs bosses with looting of country's wealth fund

FILE PHOTO: The Goldman Sachs stall on the New York Stock Exchange © Reuters / Brendan McDermid

Malaysia has extended pressure on Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs, filing criminal charges against 17 current and former directors of the bank’s subsidiaries over alleged involvement in the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

Goldman Sachs has been under scrutiny for its role in helping to arrange $6.5 billion through bond offerings for Malaysian state fund, the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The fund is at the center of one of the biggest financial scandals of all time, and is now being investigated for money laundering.

In the filings issued on Friday, Malaysian Attorney General Tommy Thomas said the executives mentioned in the document should be held responsible for the US bank’s role in the scheme. The prosecution wants to seek custodial sentences and criminal fines for the accused, “given the severity of the scheme to defraud and fraudulent misappropriation of billions in bond proceeds, the lengthy period over which the offenses were planned and executed.”

Each charge carries a maximum jail term of 10 years and a penalty of at least 1 million ringgit ($239,000), according to Reuters.

The list includes 17 people who were in charge of three Goldman Sachs subsidiaries between May 2012 and March 2013, during which the alleged fraud took place, according to the attorney general. Richard Gnodde, who leads the bank’s international business in London, as well as Canadian business executive Michael Evans, a former Goldman Sachs Asia chief who is currently the president of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, were among those charged on Friday. British banker Michael Sherwood, former vice chairman of the Wall Street firm, is also on the list.

The latest case adds to last year’s accusations, when Malaysian authorities filed charges against three Goldman Sachs units and two ex-employees. Kuala Lumpur is seeking $7.5 billion in compensation from the bank.

The US investment bank has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, claiming it fell victim to the previous corrupt Malaysian government. Commenting on the latest accusations, Goldman Sachs said the charges were misdirected and promised to “vigorously” contest them.

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in Malaysia Where Superyachts Go for Half Price

Former Malaysia PM pleads 'not guilty' in 1MDB corruption trial

By Clyde Hughes

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak (L) leaves the Kuala Lumpur High Court, Malaysia Wednesday.
Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA-EFE

(UPI) -- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of corruption at his trial in Kuala Lumpur.

Prosecutors have charged Razak with criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering in connection with $14 million from SRC International, a former unit of the state-run 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.

Razak answered the charges in an appearance Wednesday.

Authorities in Malaysia and the United States believe $731 million of the money was funneled to Razak's private bank accounts. The amount is a small part of what prosecutors actually think Razak, 65, actually received. The former leader has denied wrongdoing throughout his prosecution, saying the charges are politically motivated.

"Evidence will establish that the personal checks were issued for, among others, payment for renovation works carried out at [Razak's] residence at Jalan Langgak Duta and residence in Pekan, Pahang and ... component political parties," Malaysian Attorney General Tommy Thomas said in court Wednesday.

Thomas argued that Razak wielded "near-absolute power" during his time as prime minister, between 2009 and 2018, and the former leader believed he was above the law.

Malaysian financier Jho Low, who's believed to be the mastermind behind the 1MDB case, faces charges in Malaysia and the United States. He is believed to be living in China, beyond the reach of U.S. and Malaysian authorities.

Malaysians voted Razak out of office last year in favor of rival Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Authorities in Malaysia have also filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs in the case, arguing it helped 1MDB raise more than $6 billion from investors through what they say were false and misleading statements. The U.S. investment firm has worked to distance itself from the case and has apologized for the role of a former partner who pleaded guilty to charges related to the scandal.

Superyacht linked to Malaysia’s state fund looting scandal

sold for $126 million

A superyacht purchased with money pilfered from the Malaysian state fund 1MDB has been sold to casino operator Genting Malaysia Berhad.

The 91.5-meter luxury yacht Equanimity was bought on Wednesday, according to Malaysia’s Attorney General Tommy Thomas as cited by the Star newspaper.

The price offered by Genting was the best it had received since the yacht was put up for sale last year, he said. Genting will pay for it by end of the month.

Equanimity © AFP / Sonny Tumbelaka

“This judicial sale at USD$126 million (RM514.14 million), is historic, by any measure,” said Thomas. The deal “records a high-water mark for our judicial system in ensuring that market value is secured for a vessel sold through the processes of Court, without any discount.”

He added that “It is even more commendable that this is achieved in a very sophisticated high-end superyacht sale, where the pool of buyers is extremely small.”

Equanimity was among assets allegedly bought by Malaysia’s fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and his associates with money stolen from the fund. It was allegedly purchased for $250 million and was outfitted with a helipad, swimming pool, movie theatre, spa and sauna.

The US has filed forfeiture lawsuits against $1.7 billion of assets that were allegedly acquired with money embezzled from 1MDB, including a $1.29 million heart-shaped diamond and a $3.8 million diamond pendant that Low gave to Australian model Miranda Kerr. A $3.2 million Picasso painting was gifted by Low to actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Both celebrities have since handed the gifts over to US authorities.

Low, who has repeatedly maintained his innocence, faces charges including money laundering in Malaysia. He has been charged in absentia amid suspicions that he is hiding out in China.

The scandal with the Malaysian state fund has been making headlines for years and is being investigated in at least six countries. It involves high-ranking Malaysian officials including former Prime Minister Najib Razak who have been accused of helping to loot billions from the fund.

Malaysia also wants $7.5 billion in reparations from Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs, which it accuses of covering up the looting of the nation’s state fund. Malaysia filed criminal charges against the US bank and two of its key bankers, accusing them of misappropriating money, bribing officials and giving false statements when helping to arrange bond sales for 1MDB. The bank has denied the allegations, claiming it fell victim of the previous corrupt Malaysian government.

Goldman Sachs Faces Criminal Charges in Malaysia for Helping Billions Vanish from State Fund

Corruption is Everywhere - in Malaysia, in Goldman Sachs, apparently

FILE PHOTO: A Goldman Sachs sign at the New York Stock Exchange © Reuters / Lucas Jackson

Malaysia filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs and two ex-bankers over the multi-billion dollar looting of state fund, 1MDB. The US bank denies the accusation, claiming it was deceived by the previous Malaysian government.

The subsidiaries of the Wall Street banking giant and its former key employees, ex-chairman of Goldman’s South East Asia, Tim Leissner, and ex-managing director, Roger Ng, are accused of giving false statements when helping to arrange bonds for 1MDB, Malaysia’s Attorney General Tommy Thomas announced on Monday.

Malaysia says the accused wanted to misappropriate $2.7 billion from $6.5 billion in bonds, issued by 1MDB and underwritten by Goldman Sachs, in three separate offerings between 2012 and 2013.

Malaysia also filed charges against former employee of 1MDB Jasmine Loo Ai Swan and local financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, who maintains his innocence. The prosecution believes the duo conspired with Leissner and Ng to bribe officials in order to procure the selection, involvement and participation of Goldman Sachs in these bond issuances.

Now Kuala Lumpur is seeking to take back the misappropriated $2.7 billion from Goldman Sachs as well as $600 million in fees received by the bank. The prosecution is demanding fines and up to 10 years behind bars for each of the accused. The fines may amount to at least 1 million ringgit ($240,000), according to the charge sheets, seen by Reuters.

Billions of dollars from the Malaysian fund were reportedly used to buy everything from Beverly hills mansions, yachts and a private jet to artworks among other things in a fraud that allegedly involved former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

As Malaysia brought the charges, the bank hit back, claiming that it was the victim of deceptive Malaysian officials. The long-running scandal has already rocked the bank’s shares this year, which dropped more than 30 percent.

“Certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to Goldman Sachs, outside counsel and others about the use of proceeds from these transactions,” Goldman said in a statement cited by media. It added that the charges have no effect on its “ability to conduct our current business globally.”

Analysts warn that the scandal is just the tip of the iceberg of the bank’s “criminal” deeds. Despite being investigated in several countries, including in the US, no matter the crimes, Goldman chiefs will never go to jail as they are too close to both sides of the US political aisle, Jack Rasmus, professor of political economy at St. Mary's College told RT. He also warned that the bank is driving the world to the next financial crisis.

“They just haven’t been caught in the other places,” Rasmus said in an interview to RT. “We’re on the verge of another financial crisis that will make the last one pale in comparison and Goldman Sachs and businesses like them are at the center of the cause of this.”

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.