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Corruption in the news
| Corruption stories of note in the news this month: |
Putin "pokes" at UK cash-for-honours scandal
By Jennifer Williams
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| Addressing the issue of corruption at a G8 press conference, President Putin remarked that he would be interested in hearing Mr. Blair’s experience, "including how it applies to Lord Levy". According to the Moscow Times, the reference to the ongoing UK "cash for honours" scandal was "a friendly poke". In the UK, the Daily Mail saw it differently, its headline reading "Putin Twists Knife". |
The scandal, in which Mr Blair’s personal Middle East Envoy and chief party fundraiser Michael Levy was arrested in connection with the alleged selling of peerages, has attracted extensive press coverage around the world, and prompted speculation that Mr Blair could himself be questioned.
The Kuwait News Agency reports that John Austin, chair of the cross-party parliamentary group for Euro-Arab co-operation, has said that Levy "should be sacked as Middle East Envoy". The BBC believes the arrest comes as "no surprise" to those who have followed the story since it originated in March, when questions over Labour party funding first hit the headlines. Levy, who is often referred to in the British media as "Lord Cashpoint", thanks to his knack for eliciting donations, was later released without charge.
Group of Eight statement on high level corruption
By Raluca Batanoiu
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| On 16 July 2006, the representatives of the Group of Eight (G8) nations released a statement confirming their renewed commitment to fighting high level corruption. Transparency International’s response to the statement was mixed, insisting that actions, rather than words, were what counted. |
AllAfrica.com reported TI’s criticisms, but also stated that the civil society organisation leading the global fight against corruption felt the G8 statement pointed "to a maturing understanding of corruption and numbered days for impunity of public officials". Meanwhile the Russian news agency Novosti indicated that the G8 leaders had called on "presidents of international development banks to prepare a strategy for the fight against corruption by September 2006".
Acknowledging the G8 agreement, the White House released a detailed proposal for a new corruption strategy on 10 August. The policy was described by the Washington Post as "a new global campaign … to combat kleptocracy, or rampant government corruption," also quoting President Bush’s accompanying remarks: "Kleptocracy is an obstacle to democratic progress, undermines faith in government institutions, and steals prosperity from the people".
Volkswagen under investigation for corruption... again
By Raluca Batanoiu
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| Two employees and a retired manager of the automaker Volkswagen (VW) AG have been taken into investigative custody on suspicions of corruption, writes the Deutsche Presse Agentur. Prosecutors suspect the French supplier Faurencia SA of paying bribes of up to US $1 million a year since 1998 to purchasing managers at VW, according to the Associated Press. |
Spokespersons for both companies told Reuters they were aware of the allegations and were cooperating with the investigation, but declined further comment.
Investigating whether VW managers and council members received illegal privileges, German news magazine Der Spiegel reports that a search of the employees’ apartments uncovered US $88,600 in cash hidden in a utility room. Deutsche Welle notes that the probe “follows an investigation last year into managers that had created fake companies to defraud authorities and enrich themselves while spending company money on personal travel, jewels, alcohol and sex”.