Corruption stories of note in the news this month:

• Philips accused of bribing German retailers
• United Nations official calls for closer monitoring of development funds
• Head of Bolivian state oil company in corruption investigation

by Jennifer Williams

The Dutch electronics manufacturer Philips has recently been accused by a Hamburg prosecutor of bribing retailers for more store space. The story first appeared in the Financial Times Deutschland, and was quickly picked up by the international media. The website MSNBC carried the story that more than 100 former employees were being investigated for offering “watches and business suits worth up to €2500” to purchasing officers at German retail chains, including Saturn and Media Markt.

MSNBC quoted the prosecutor, Rüdiger Bagger, as saying, “there is clear evidence of people offering these sort of bribes”, and Peter von Bloomberg of TI Germany, who stated, “This shows a low awareness among the retail staff about corruption.”

Reuters reported a comment from Philips Deutschland spokesman Klaus Petri: “The authorities are not blaming Philips; they are investigating individuals, all of whom are former employees,” he said. “The investigated business practices are totally against Philips’ principles.” Reuters also noted that at the time of the alleged offences, between 2000 and 2002, the current CEO of the Danish brewer Royal Unibrew, Poul Moeller, was in charge of German appliances business for Philips. Reuters could not confirm if he was a suspect in the case.

The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine carried an in-depth article, quoting an unnamed German corruption expert who noted that the case cannot be considered a scandal, because a scandal is something beyond the norm. “Corruption,” he remarked, “is something very usual in Germany.”

By Jennifer Williams

Stuart C Gilman, head of the UN Global Programme against Corruption, told the Associated Press that development funds are “not as closely guarded as we’d like”. Gilman urged the international community not to let aid fall into the wrong hands.

Gulf News reported that Gilman felt the international community “should be more proactive about making sure that aid did not end up on the black market”. The paper’s website also noted his remarks on the importance of the UN Convention against Corruption: “Right now, with the new convention, we’ve got a window of four or five years for it to be effective.”

The Jakarta Post highlighted Gilman’s recent visit to Indonesia. According to the paper, Gilman said the local Indonesian anti-corruption agency, the KPK, “recognised that there is a ‘vulnerability’ in the region and was considering sending a team to asses the situation”. The paper also reported his concerns that a lot of the aid destined for post-tsunami Aceh was “going to the local level where controls are minimal”.

by Raluca Batanoiu

Nationalisation of Bolivia’s gas and oil resources is proving complicated, with a contradictory picture of current troubles emerging in the international media. The president of Bolivia’s state oil company has been replaced by President Evo Morales after only a few months in the job, as opposition MPs vote to open a corruption investigation.

Reuters reported that Jorge Alvarado, head of state company YFPB, stood accused by Energy Minister Andres Soliz of fraud, “over a barter deal to exchange crude oil for diesel with Brazilian company Iberamericana at a price well under market value”.

MSNBC noted that “Bolivia’s energy regulator accused him of signing an illegal contract in June”, and so Alvarado “bowed to pressure to step down”.

Yet despite the allegation, President Morales was quoted by MSNBC as insisting the oil chief had “committed no act of corruption nor harm to the state”.

Alvarado, meanwhile, was quoted in the Houston Chronicle as claiming the accusations are “an attack of the oligarchy and the reactionary right wing” aimed at halting the nationalisation process.

Alvarado was a key figure in May’s oil nationalization, according to Yahoo! News. “The corruption scandal has tarnished the nationalisation drive by Morales, who took office pledging to … stamp out graft,” it reported.