Ethics Newsline®

Government Ethics Stories Cover Corruption, Crackdowns, and Graft

Jul 21st, 2008 • Posted in: News

Corruption issues top the news from several continents

VARIOUS DATELINES
Accusations of graft and vote-buying made headlines last week. Among them:

• The corruption probe of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert continued last week, with a U.S. financier testifying that he gave Olmert $150,000 in cash stuffed into envelopes, according to reports from the Voice of America and the Jerusalem Post. At issue is whether the money constituted legal campaign contributions, as Olmert claims, or whether the cash was used illegally for Olmert’s personal gain and to finance his lavish lifestyle when he was mayor of Jerusalem, as prosecutors claim.
• The European Union, which has been threatening for months to take away aid from Bulgaria if that nation does not clamp down on corruption, appears to be ready to carry through. EU officials have frozen a billion-dollar fund overseen by Bulgarian politicians whom the EU no longer trusts, reports the Economist. According to an unidentified diplomat cited in the piece, some of those funds may be withdrawn altogether unless Bulgaria can prove that EU funding is not being siphoned off by corrupt officials and organized crime.
• Indonesian authorities arrested a ember of Parliament last week on charges of taking bribes from developers. Forbes reports that Yusuf Emir Faishal is the sixth MP to be detained so far this year in a sweeping corruption crackdown. Indonesia is regarded widely as one of the world’s most corrupt nations and rates near the bottom of Transparency International’s Global Corruption Perceptions Index, notes Forbes.
• India’s government, priming for a crucial no-confidence vote, has been accused of widespread vote buying, according to a report from the Times of London. Jeremy Page, reporting from Delhi, writes: “In the run-up to Tuesday’s vote, Delhi has been gripped by a frenzy of mud-slinging, back-slapping, and deal-making as the Congress Party and its main rivals try to make up the numbers. An MP said this week that the Government was offering to pay as much as 250 million rupees ($5.9 million) for each vote in parliament.” According to Page’s dispatch, the government secured three votes by agreeing to name an airport for the father of a leader of a regional party, and is planning to free six jailed MPs for the vote, four of whom are convicted murderers.

Sources: Voice of America, July 18 — Economist, July 18 — Times of London, July 17 — Jerusalem Post, July 16 — Forbes, July 16.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 7 — Related Newsline story, June 30 — Related Newsline story, June 23 — Related Newsline story, June 16 — Related Newsline story, June 2.

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3 Responses »

1. Ethics Newsline® » News » India Rocked by Corruption Allegations on July 28th, 2008 at 8:43 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 21 — Related Newsline story, June 30 — Related Newsline story, June 23 [...]

2. Ethics Newsline® » News » Corruption in Government Focus of National, International Media on August 4th, 2008 at 6:31 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 21 — Related Newsline story, May 12 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 18 [...]

3. Ethics Newsline® » News » For First Time, Chinese Official Admits Shoddy School Construction May Have Contributed to Quake Deaths on September 8th, 2008 at 4:52 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 21 — Related Newsline story, July 14 — Related Newsline story, June 30 [...]

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