Daily Corruption News: 23 January 2013

Global: Griffiths to pay millions in African bribery case
The Globe and Mail

The energy company founded by the late Bay Street financier Brad Griffiths pleaded guilty to bribery charges Tuesday and agreed to pay a $10.35-million penalty – the largest fine the RCMP has garnered since establishing specialized teams to investigate foreign corruption.

Daily Corruption News: 22 January 2013

Global: Iraq oil-for-food trial opens in France
Reuters

The head of French oil giant Total and a former cabinet minister appeared in court on Tuesday on charges related to corruption in the United Nations oil-for-food programme in Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Daily Corruption News: January 21 2013

Spain: Spain ruling party orders internal corruption probe
Agence France-Presse

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy ordered Monday an internal investigation into the finances of his centre-right Popular Party which was shaken by allegations of under-the-table payments to party officials.

Daily Corruption News: January 18 2013

Russia: A Russian lawyer's death triggers a global money hunt
Bloomberg Businessweek

In 2009, a lawyer named Sergei Magnitsky died in a Moscow jail after uncovering the biggest known tax fraud in Russian history—a theft of $230 million from the national treasury.

Daily Corruption News: 17 January 2013

Global: Kallakis: how offshore secrecy in British Virgin Islands lends itself to fraud
The Guardian

The Achilleas Kallakis case is a graphic demonstration of the way in which the British Virgin Island's regime of offshore secrecy has served to facilitate fraud.

Daily Corruption News: 16 January 2013

Italy: Italy's Northern League offices raided in corruption inquiry
Reuters

Italian tax police have raided offices of the right-wing Northern League party, a close ally of former premier Silvio Berlusconi in coming elections, in an investigation into alleged corruption, a source close to the inquiry said on Wednesday.

Daily Corruption News: 15 January 2013

Pakistan: Pakistan supreme court orders arrest of prime minister on corruption charges
The Guardian

Pakistan's supreme court has ordered the arrest of the country's prime minister on corruption charges, heightening already extreme political uncertainty and fears the country's fragile democracy could be derailed.

Daily Corruption News: 14 January 2013

Austria: Strasser jailed for bribery in European parliament sting
Reuters

Former Austrian Interior Minister and European lawmaker Ernst Strasser was sentenced to four years in jail for bribery on Monday in a case that prosecutors said undermined trust in European and Austrian institutions.

Daily Corruption News: 11 January 2013

USA: FBI’s Washington office hones in on financial fraud cases
Bloomberg

The FBI’s Washington field office, long known for its work on terrorism and public corruption, has taken a central role in the U.S. probe of the manipulation of interest rates that has entangled banks around the world.

Daily Corruption News: 10 January 2013

Global: Foxconn in China bribery investigation
CNN

Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant famous for its production of Apple products, said Thursday that Chinese authorities were investigating allegations of bribery at the company.