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“If it does not [enact a strategy to tackle the corruption that has eroded large parts of Mexico’s local and federal police forces], Mexico will simply go from having a corrupt and badly equipped police force, to a corrupt and well-equipped police force."
Jorge Chabat, a Mexican national security analyst and drug expert, on a new US $1.4 billion anti-drug campaign labelled ‘Merida Initiative’.
International Herald Tribune; Mexico; 25 October 2007.
“A corrupt leader is a disgrace to him/herself and cannot be a leader.”
President Umar Yar'Adua of Nigeria, 2007
All Africa; Nigeria; 12 October 2007
"Resolutely punishing and effectively preventing corruption bears on popular support for the party and on its very survival, and is therefore a major political task the party must attend to at all times."
Chinese President Hu Jintao, address to the 17th National Congress
South China Morning Post; Hong Kong; 18 October 2007
“Our file on British intelligence services' activities is huge. We know their strengths and weaknesses. Since the times of Queen Elizabeth I, British intelligence has operated on the principle that the end justifies the means. Their main methods of recruitment are money, bribery, blackmail and immunity from prosecution."
Nikolai Patrushev, director of the Federal Security Service, the successor to the KGB, on foreign spies in Russia.
The Guardian; UK; 12 October 2007
"German companies do not want to make these problems public, so there seems to be no problem… Many believe that they are immune to white collar crime, [e]specially medium-sized companies are a little naive."
Professor Kai Bussmann from the University of Halle, on recent corruption allegations and investigations in Germany, noting that more than Euro €6 billion is lost annually by German companies due to corruption.
DW-RADIO; Germany; 20 October 2007.
"We need to improve the legislative framework, we must work with society to reduce tolerance of corruption, from small bribes on the road to big commercial corruption."
President Vladimir Putin of Russia, during his annual televised question and answer phone-in with the public on 11 October 2007
Reuters; Global; 18 October 2007.
"This is going to go down nice, or it's going to go down nasty…If they back me into a corner, I'm going to be very aggressive … I'm not going away."
Robert Cerasoli, a former inspector general for the state of Massachusetts who has a long résumé of fighting waste and corruption, on his new job as Inspector General of New Orleans in charge of preventing corruption in the city. The FBI's New Orleans office has tracked a 452 percent jump in corruption indictments during the past five years.
USA Today; USA; 19 October 2007
“In my mind I said, ‘look, if the tenders were not advertised, how did the companies that bid for these contracts get to find out that these jobs were up for grabs?’”
Sanni Saleh-Minjidir, Member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives and a member of the team that investigated a controversially awarded housing contract for personal use, worth US $5 million, for House Speaker Patricia Etteh.
Voice of America; Nigeria; 17 October 2007
"The Bush administration is hiding the truth while seeking hundreds of billions of dollars and placing our troops in danger. And we cannot allow this to happen."
Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on the Justice Department’s orders not to release information on corruption in Iraq.
Associated Press; U.S.A; 16 October 2007