Blog
26 Apr 2011
Upcoming Kazakh Elections Marred by Bad Laws
The upcoming Kazakh national elections (Apr. 3rd) are not very likely to be rated free or fair due to a number of laws restricting press freedom and ability to run for office. This should not come as a surprise, however, as the Central Asian country has never held an election deemed to be free and […]
26 Apr 2011
Corruption Rose Last Year Says Kosovo’s Anti-Corruption Agency
Corruption rose last year says Kovoso’s
26 Apr 2011
Indian Spiritual Leader Denounces Corrupt Indian Government
Swami Ramdev criticized the state of Indian democracy at a recent meeting set up by the Goa Chamber of Commerce, claiming that Indian democracy is rife with corruption at all levels. Swami Ramdev’s main complain was what he called the misuse of the Land Acquisition Act, saying that “(the) Land Acquisition Act is being misused. […]
26 Apr 2011
Former Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Arrested for Corruption
Hari Sabarno is the second former Indonesian minister to be arrested this week, evidence that the Indonesian government’s promises to crackdown on corruption should be taken seriously. Mr. Sabarno was the former Home Affairs Minister between 2001 and 2005, is being tried for signing the procurement orders for regional fire trucks, which he denies. He […]
26 Apr 2011
Contest: Severin/out
The Alliance for Clean Romania (ACR) launched a contest for the best sketch of the monument commemorating Adrian Severin, author of the realkoruption doctrine and victim of a anti-European, anti-Romanian and anti-Severin conspiracy. Starting today ACR will publish the drawings or models from the readers. An international jury will select the best, which will be […] 26 Apr 2011
Germany Paid for Uzbek Military Base While Sanctions Were Ongoing
While the EU had placed sanctions on Uzbekistan for the 2005 massacre in Andijon, the German government continued to lease a military base in the country, one of the most oppressive regimes in the world, according to Paul Schäfer of The Left Party (Die Linke). Between 2005 and 2009, the German government paid a total […]
26 Apr 2011
Embezzlement Case Against Bulgarian Businessman Begins
The fraud and embezzlement case against Bulgarian bussinessman, Hristo Kovachki, began in a Sofia courtroom today. Kovachki is charged with embezzling 16.7 m leva ($12.03 m) from value-added tax (VAT) refunds. Kovachki, whose business interests run the gamut from banking and insurance to mining and energy, is accused of selling hardware equipment to his own […]
26 Apr 2011
Spanish Mep Caught Favoring Pretty Lobbyist As Part of Sunday Times Scandal
Another MEP has been caught up in the scandal surrounding several MEPs after a
26 Apr 2011
Croatian Businessman Arrested for Suspected Corruption
Bojan Milković, CEO of
26 Apr 2011
Former Afghan Minister Arrested for Corruption
Enayatullah Qasimi, the former Transport Minister of Afghanistan, was arrested recently for suspicion of corruption in two separate cases dating back to 2004. When combined, the two cases against Mr. Qasimi total around $12m. The first of the corruption cases against the former minister are connected to the purchase of six airplanes. While no details […]
26 Apr 2011
Adrian Severin Resigns from Social Democratic Party
While still resisting pressure to resign from his European Parliament (EP) post, MEP (Romania) Adrian Severin has resigned from the Social Democratic Party. Victor Ponta, the party leader, had threatened Mr. Severin with being expelled from the party if he did not resign himself. As mentioned last week, Mr. Severin was caught by journalists from […] 26 Apr 2011
Customs Officials Arrested in Romania for Corruption
19 customs officials were sentenced to prison for four years in Romania on Monday after being convicted of over 8,000 acts of corruption at a Bucharest airport between December 2005 and September 2006. The officials can still appeal their conviction. For the original story from SETimes.com, please click
26 Apr 2011
Serbian Celebrity Charged With Embezzlement
Serbian prosecutors charged Serbian diva Svetlana Ceca Raznatovic with embezzlement. She is accused of misappropriating millions of euros from the sale of football players from Obilic to foreign football clubs. She is also accused of possessing illegal firearms found at her home. The investigation against Ms. Raznatovic concerning the charges of embezzlement began in April […]
26 Apr 2011
Haitian Elections Marred by Fraud
Up to 14 percent of the ballots for the second round run-off between popular singer Michel Martelly and former first lady Mirlande Manigat may have been tampered with, according to the election commission’s figures. Over 1,500 tally sheets were put aside while awaiting a final decision on their validity because they were “visibly fraudulent”, according […]
26 Apr 2011
Mep Calls for the End of Side Jobs for Meps
Monica Macovei, an MEP from Romania and a leading anti-corruption campaigner, has called for an end of MEPs holding additional jobs alongside their MEP duties. While MEPs must list any paid positions, Ms. Macovei argues that this not enough, citing the ongoing scandal involving 3 MEPs, including Adrian Severin, also from Romania. In a telephone […]
26 Apr 2011
U.K. Bribery Act Will Take Effect in July
The U.K. Bribery Act, which was delayed multiple times, will go into effect starting in July of this year. The Act is the first change to the U.K.’s bribery laws in more than a century and is intended to tighten the U.K.’s regulatory framework. The Act is rather broad, extending to any company that has […] 18 Apr 2011
Kyrgyz Government to Open Investigation over Alleged Corruption in Megacom
Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva, successor to the deposed Kurmanbek Bakayev, has decided to create a special investigation team to research alleged financial misdeeds at the country’s largest communications services provider, Megacom. MegaCom, whose majority shareholder is the Russian firm Eventis Telecom, is currently being run be Telecom’s representative Andrei Silich, who fled Kyrgyzstan in January […]
18 Apr 2011
Indian Pm Denies Government Bought Parliamentary Votes
Another Wikileaks-based scandal errupted in India, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh denying that his government bribed lawmakers in a vote-of-confidence in 2008. The scandal over cash-for-votes is just one more problem that the Indian PM must deal with, as other scandals concerning graft over licenses for telecom companies and apartments for war-widows going to lawmakers […]
18 Apr 2011
Protesters in Zagreb Call for the Government to Resign
Several thousand people protested the current government in the Croatian capital of Zagreb on Saturday, demanding that the government, headed by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), hold early elections rather than by the end of the year, as promised. The protests started on February 22nd, and, as seems to be the common thread in social […] 18 Apr 2011
Kurdish Leader Calls for Reforms in Kurdistan
Massud Barzani, the regional President of the autonomous region of Kurdistan in Iraq, called for various reforms today after protests against nepotism, corruption, and the stranglehold that the two main parties have over Kurdish politics. Barzani asked for the creation of an integrity commission in order to check corruption and nepotism in public life as […]
18 Apr 2011
Jamaican Religious Leader Urges Stand Against Government Corruption
Reverend Courtney Richards railed against the government’s Manatt-Dudus Commission of Enquiry and the close relationship between Prime Minister Golding and the alleged drug dealer, Christopher Dudus Coke. While Rev. Richards warned that people throughout the country were wary of the results of the Commission because, as he said it, politicians’ answers only seemed to confirm […]
18 Apr 2011
World Bank Releases Report on Crime and Security in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
The World Bank Group recently made a 2010 report by Mohammad Amin public that surveys Eastern European and Central Asian business on the costs of security and crime. Corruption, on average, is estimated to cost about 0.1% of yearly revenue for those businesses surveyed in the report. One of the more interesting findings in the […] 18 Apr 2011
Students Payed Thousands to Have Their Language Entrance Exams Scores Altered
3 foreign students admitted to paying an undisclosed person thousands of dollars in order to change their English-language test scores in order to gain residency permits in Australia. The students admitted to paying a bribe while testifying before the Western Australian Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC). Harinder Jit, an Indian national, stated that he had […]
18 Apr 2011
Ex-Minister Jailed in Indonesia for Corruption
A former Indonesian Minister, Bachtiar Chamsya, was sentenced to 20 months in jail and fined Rp 50 million (S$7,600) for corruption today. The former Social Affairs Minister was convicted of illegally appointing suppliers of imported cattle, sewing machines, and sarongs intended for the victims of natural disasters, bypassing the tender process, according to the court […] 31 Mar 2011