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Prime Time Crime
Greed and Corruption
JAKARTA
-
The series examines the political interests
underpinning the land rights and deforestation crisis in Indonesia.
(Asia
Sentinel)
LIMA - Peru's president
Pedro
Pablo Kuczynski
has offered his resignation after
secret video recordings entangled him in a new corruption scandal on the
eve of an impeachment vote.
Kuczynski is the first sitting
president in Latin America to be forced out due to links to the
Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht,
which has been at the centre of continent's biggest corruption scandal.
(Guardian UK)
MONTREAL - Police arrested Bassam Salman, 62, on fraud charges on June 21. He is suspected of orchestrating an elaborate fraud scheme and allegedly embezzling $9M in funds over 9 years. (Montreal Gazette)
PARIS -
A
French court handed down a 3-year suspended jail term to
Teodoro Obiang, the son of Equatorial
Guinea's leader after a landmark graft trial.
The 48-year-old, who was tried
in absentia, was also given a suspended fine of $35M by the Paris judges
who found him guilty of embezzlement, money laundering, corruption and
abuse of trust.
(AFP)
KINSHASA
-
Democratic Republic of the Congo President
Joseph Kabila and his family own stakes in more than 80 companies at
home and abroad that are likely worth 10s of millions of dollars, a
report by the
Congo Research Group
said.
(Reuters)
All the President's wealth
.pdf
DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the existing 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes will be withdrawn from the financial system overnight. New 500 and 2,000 rupee denomination notes will be issued to replace them. The 500 and 1,000 rupees notes are extremely common in India. (BBC) MORE: Banknotes abolished Chart Chaos at banks Canadians with worthless cash
BANJUL
-
Exiled Gambian ruler Yahya Jammeh stole millions of dollars in his final
weeks in power, plundering the state coffers and shipping out luxury
vehicles by cargo plane.
(AFP)
Yahya Jammeh
Cayman sources assert that more than $450M was
taken from the accounts of retired North American investors. Implicated
in the massive fraud are Sharon Lexa Lamb, Ryan Bateman, Derek Buntain,
and Fernando Moto Mendes, all of whom except Mendes are known to have
fled Grand Cayman.
(Caribbean news now)
SANTIAGO -
Jorge Insunza was appointed on May 11 as
part of a major Cabinet overhaul aimed at restoring confidence amid a
flurry of corruption scandals involving parties across the political
spectrum.
(EFE)
MALDIVES - A new documentary, Stealing Paradise, provides an unprecedented insight into how international corruption is carried out. (Jazeera) MORE: How do you launder $1.5B? Newspaper raided Abdulla Yameen
CALGARY - Colleen Fay Dhuga cashed approximately $1.2M in cheques between June 2008 and March 2014. In addition to the cheques, Dhuga is accused of making unauthorized purchases and cash withdrawals from corporate credit cards in her name. (CTV) MORE: Woman charged
HURON-KINLOSS
- Roswitha Wiggermann, 60, is facing a string of fraud-related charges
after police say a woman was bilked out of $1.2M of her life savings.
(London Free Press)
WINNIPEG - Police have charged Stacey McAlpine, 54, an ex-NHL agent with fraud alleging he bilked former Ottawa Senators Chris Phillips and Dany Heatley out of $12M. (CP)
BANGKOK - Former Thai Prime Minister
Yingluck
Shinawatra
OTTAWA - A young Canada was knitted into a nation by an explosion of late-19th century railroad-building. Railroad projects of the era generally followed a fairly simple formula: Someone would dream up a railway project, promoters would use crooked political influence to secure government largesse and a handful of guys in top hats would proceed to get very, very rich on public debt. (National Post)
MARKHAM -
Edward Gong
is now fighting accusations by
prosecutors in China that he played a key role in a massive pyramid
scheme that took in more than $350M.
(Globe & Mail)
TORONTO - The provincial government introduced measures this morning aimed at cooling Ontario's surging real estate and rental markets, with the goal of making housing 'fairer and more affordable.' (CBC) MORE: Changes explained
HUDSON - The former General Manager of Hudson is being sentenced after stealing more than $1M from the town. Louise Leger Villandre pleaded guilty in December 2015 to committing fraud, falsifying documents, and breaching the public trust. (CTV)
NEW YORK - The recovery of the items is the
result of a 4-year rigorous US federal investigation named 'Operation
Hidden Idol' which blew the lid off a multi-million dollar smuggling
racket involving notorious Indian antiquities smuggler
Subhash Kapoor.
(Asia Sentinel)
MANILA - The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plunder charge against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and ordered her freed immediately after nearly 5 years of hospital detention. (AP) PREVIOUS: Presidency of Arroyo Arroyo plunder case Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Revelations of tax-evasion and money-laundering networks on a global scale in the Panama Papers helped make the world appear more corrupt last year, according to watchdog Transparency Internationa. (Independent UK)
How the bribe scandal unfolded in Iraq
TI Corruption Perceptions Index
Corruption perception index 2016
Populist leaders add to corruption
Corruption translates to anger
Anti-corruption activists gather
RIO DE JANEIRO - A federal judge has sentenced Eike Batista to 30 years in prison for bribery and money laundering. Batista was found guilty of paying $16.5M in bribes to former Rio de Janeiro state Gov. Sergio Cabral to secure government contracts. (EFE)
Temer cuts reserve from 512 to 3 hectares
Chinese invest in Brazil's infrastructure projects
Temer abolishes Amazon reserve
President Temer charged with corruption
Tycoon freed to begin house arrest
Contracts by Odebrecht span the continent
Former finance minister sentenced
President replaces justice minister
150+
parliamentarians implicated in crimes
BUENOS AIRES - The third 24-hour general strike launched by Argentina's CGT labor federation took effect, with protesters paralyzing the nation's major cities, especially Buenos Aires, which remains without public transportation. (EFE)
VP charged with bribery
Bankruptcy
SAN JUAN - Puerto Rico's financial oversight board filed for a form of bankruptcy protection under last year's federal rescue law known as PROMESA, touching off the biggest bankruptcy in the history of the US municipal debt market.
Puerto Rican government-debt crisis
DURBAN - South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma, 75, faces 16 counts of corruption, racketeering, fraud and money laundering, which dogged his presidency and were reinstated in 2016. Mr Zuma, who was forced out of office in Feb, denies any wrongdoing. (BBC)
State of Capture .pdf
Report points to possible corruption
Former budget minister sentenced
PARIS - Former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac was sentenced to 4 years in prison, 2 of them suspended, for tax fraud and money laundering. (AFP)
SEOUL - A South Korean court jailed former
President Park Geun-hye for 24 years over a scandal that exposed webs of
corruption between political leaders and the country's conglomerates.
(Reuters)
HANGZHOU - More than a third of Hangzhou's population were reportedly 'convinced' to leave town as part of what Chinese state media called a massive exodus that saw cars forced off the roads and a 7-day public holiday declared. (Guardian UK)
SAN SALVADOR - Former Salvadoran President Elías Antonio Saca, along with 6 of his collaborators, went to a court hearing on Monday to face charges of embezzlement and laundering for allegedly diverting $298M dollars. Saca is the third Salvadoran ex-president to be prosecuted for illicit enrichment or diversion of public resources. (El Nuevo Diario)
Former president before the courts
CFB HALIFAX
- Former CFB Halifax civilian employees, Bry'n Ross, 61, and Wayne
Langille, 70, are accused of colluding to overcharge for expensive parts
for heating systems.
Dartmouth business owner Harold Dawson,
57, and his wife Kim Dawson, 54, face the same charges.
(CBC)
WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
has warned it will halt its $40B bailout programme to Ukraine unless the
conflict-torn eastern European country takes immediate action to tackle
corruption.
(Guardian UK)
VICTORIA - A commission panel found between June 2007 and Dec 2010 David Michael Michaels illegally advised clients to sell their stocks, bonds and mutual funds to purchase high-risk exempt market securities. The panel heard Michaels paid $2,000 to conduct weekly infomercials, entitled Creating Wealth on CFAX 1070 radio in Victoria, drawing about 20,000 listeners a week. (CTV)
LONDON, ON - A priest in has been charged with
fraud in the alleged theft of more than $500,000 meant for refugees.
Police say Amer Saka of the St. Joseph
Chaldean Catholic Church allegedly obtained the money from over 20
people under the guise of a sponsorship program to bring refugee
families into Canada.
(Toronto Star)
MORE:
Priest gambled away refugee aid
BERLIN - A survey of more than 20,000 people
in 16 Asian countries has found corruption among public officials
continues to be rife. An estimated 900M people were forced to pay a
bribe in the previous 12 months.
The Berlin-based
Transparency International carried out the
survey, which showed that the poor are the hardest hit by
corruption with some 38% of respondents saying they had to pay so-called
'tea money.'
(DW)
Graft case
JAKARTA
-
Indonesian politicians in President
Joko Widodo's
governing coalition have been caught up in a corruption scandal in which
officials allegedly pilfered more than $170M of government money.
Anti-corruption police allege that a
network of about 80 conspirators and several companies used the
introduction of a $440M electronic identity card system in 2011 and 2012
to steal more than a third of the funds.
BUCHAREST
-
Romanian
Prime Minister Victor Ponta has been charged with several counts of
corruption in a long-running investigation.
(BBC)
MORE:
Victor Ponta
TORONTO - Investigating Toronto's thriving fraudulent fortune-telling industry that uses spells, potions, sleight of hand and smooth sales patter to collect small fortunes from thousands of vulnerable victims. (Toronto Star)
SANAA
-
Yemeni ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh is
suspected of corruptly amassing as much as $60B.
(Reuters)
TABER
- Police received a complaint of fraud with respect
to the operations at the
Oilmen's Club.
(Global)
MORE:
Charged
LISBON - Portuguese police
have arrested former Socialist prime minister, Jose Socrates, and 3
other people in an investigation into suspected tax fraud, corruption
and money-laundering.
(AFP)
MORE:
Ex-PM arrested
WINDSOR - A jury has convicted Robert Couture, 52, a southern Ontario Catholic priest of embezzling more than $150,000 from his Tecumseh church to fund a lavish lifestyle that included fine food and Disney theme park trips. (CBC)
WINNIPEG - Leo McCaughan, the church's former financial administrator, faces charges. (CTV) MORE: Church administrator embezzled
MUNICH - A German court dropped the bribery
case against Bernie Ecclestone after the Formula 1 chief agreed to make
a $100M payment.
(AP)
MORE:
Bernie
Ecclestone
WASHINGTON - The 'Fat Leonard' corruption
investigation has expanded to include more than 60 admirals and hundreds
of other US Navy officers under scrutiny for their contacts with a
defense contractor in Asia who systematically bribed sailors with sex,
liquor and other temptations.
(Washington Post)
BELGRADE
- Police in Serbia have arrested about 80 people in the country's
biggest anti-corruption investigation.
One of those held is a former minister,
Slobodan Milosavljevic.
Former head of the government's
anti-corruption agency, Zorana Markovic, was also detained.
(BBC)
TEL AVIV - The ISA has been investigating Bezeq over possible fraud and financial reporting offences. Israeli media reported investigators were looking into allegations that Bezeq received benefits in return for enabling favorable media coverage of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reuters)
At the heart of corruption scandal
Wide reaching corruption probe
Major corruption investigation launched
PRISTINA - Police in Kosovo arrested 6 people as part of an investigation into an alleged land scam that cost the state $34M. Azem Syla, a prominent legislator from the ruling party, was the alleged leader of the fraud which is believed to have involved 40 people. (Reuters) MORE: Escaped Connections between politicians and hitman investigated EULEX - Kosovo
NEW YORK - On a quiet Friday morning in early
February, a series of instructions using authenticated
SWIFT codes was sent to the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York allegedly
from the Bangladesh central bank requesting the transfer of nearly $1B
from the country's FX reserves.
(Zero Hedge)
MORE:
2016
Bangladesh Bank heist
Bank heist partly foiled by spelling mistake
BANGKOK - Antonius Ceulen, who was charged in 2005 with racketeering, is in custody in Bangkok and facing extradition. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) MORE: Canadian arrested
BANGALORE - One of India's most colourful and controversial politicians, Jayaram Jayalalitha, has been sentenced to jail for 4 years on corruption charges in a case that has lasted for 18 years. (BBC)
YELLOWKNIFE -
Callidus Capital
Corporation, the Bay Street financing
company that loaned Deepak International the money to buy the factories,
filed a $5.9M lawsuit against the company, owner Deepak Kumar and his
wife.
(CBC)
OTTAWA - Father Joe LeClair, a diagnosed pathological gambler, pleaded guilty to defrauding Ottawa's Blessed Sacrament Church of the money over the course of five years. (CBC) MORE: Fraud charges Joe charged
VANCOUVER - In a notice of hearing, BCSC staff
allege that in the alleged scheme the respondents, led by BC resident
Thomas Arthur Williams and his Global Group of companies, raised about
$11.7M from 123 investors between February 2007 and April 2010.
(CTV) MORE:
MARKHAM - The retirees from Parry Sound are
equally upset that
Equity
Associates Inc, the Markham firm salesman
Mervyn Fried sold through, refused to compensate them for their
losses, even after the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments found
the company responsible.
(CBC)
Accused
ASC staff allege that between March 2007 and the end of June 2009 that Neil Chandran, Energy TV and Chandran Holding Media Inc. raised some $56M from at least 210 investors, most of whom were Alberta residents, for various television, video and web-based products. MORE: Ripoff report: Neil Chandran ASC accuses
PANAMA CITY - Panama's Supreme Court asked the
Electoral Commission to lift the immunity from prosecution that former
President Ricardo Martinelli enjoys as leader of his party so he can be
prosecuted for alleged acts of corruption during his 2009-2014
administration.
(EFE)
MORE:
$100M from
illegal visa trade
NEW ORLEANS - Former mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin has been jailed for 10 years after being found guilty of bribery and money laundering. (IBT) PREVIOUS: Ray Nagin Hurricane Katrina
VANCOUVER - A BC brother and sister committed
$60M in fraud in a far-reaching scheme stretching to Taiwan, China and
the Republic of Georgia, the
BC Securities Commission alleges.
(CP)
NAIROBI - Kenya's counterterrorism agency is working to stop another Westgate Mall-style terrorist attack on a shoestring budget: the Anti-Terror Police Unit in Nairobi has just $735 to spend this month. (AP) MORE: Kenyan member of parliament 11th Parliament of Kenya Members Corruption in Kenya
Billions in looted cash
ABUJA
- Nigerian officials say they have seized more than $10.3B in looted
cash and assets in the past year as part of an anti-corruption drive.
MADRID - Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato was handed a jail sentence of 4 years and 6 months Thursday for misusing funds when he was the boss of 2 Spanish banks. Spain's National Court said he had been found guilty of 'embezzlement' when he headed up Caja Madrid and Bankia, at a time when both groups were having difficulties. (AFP)
RIYADH - In Nov, the Saudi government locked up hundreds of influential businessmen in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton in what it called an anti-corruption campaign. Most have since been released but they are hardly free. Instead, this large sector of Saudi Arabia's movers and shakers are living in fear and uncertainty. (NY Times)
Saudi anti-corruption purge updates
Funding private Islamic schools
TASHKENT - Gulnara Karimova, the estranged daughter of Uzbekistan's strongman leader Islam Karimov, is facing fresh allegations of corruption after an investigation accused her of accepting more than $1B from telecoms companies. (Guardian UK)
LONDON - Altaf Hussain, the controversial leader of Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), has been arrested at his home in London. He in effect runs the Pakistani megacity by remote control from his home 4,000 miles away. (Guardian UK) MORE: MQM leader arrested
WASHINGTON - Nearly US$1 trillion floated out of the developing world in the form of illegal capital flight in 2011, according to a new report released this week by the Global Financial Integrity, with China remaining the champion. (Asia Sentinel) REPORT: Illicit financial flows from developing countries
HALIFAX - The delays and cost overruns plaguing the restoration of the Bluenose II stem from Nova Scotia's decision to hand the job to a government department that had little experience managing construction projects. (CP)
Cost of
steering double estimate
Documents show need for AG investigation
SASKATOON - Ron Fast, 71, pleaded guilty in November to theft over $5,000. He was handed a 7-year sentence and ordered to pay $16.7M in restitution. His car leasing company, Marathon Leasing, used a Ponzi scheme to avoid bankruptcy. (CTV)
TORONTO - Within a month of her abrupt departure, Golnaz Vakili would be named in a massive civil suit alleging she was a central figure in a sophisticated mortgage scheme investors believe could be worth as much as $17M. (Toronto Star)
MEXICO CITY - After the body of branch manager Maru Oropesa was found in a roadside ditch outside Mexico City in 2001, Scotiabank executives in Toronto sent bank investigators to Mexico. (CBC)
HALIFAX - St. Andrews United Church in Halifax
is missing at least $400,000. The accused is Tammy Marie James,
42, who is listed on the church website as the office administrator.
(CTV)
MORE:
Arraigned
OTTAWA - A Public Works employee stationed in the German city of Koblenz transferred $3.3M of government money into 3 personal bank accounts. (CP)
WATERLOO - Economy Lube has 12 shops across SW Ontario. The investigation uncovered a variety of problematic business practices. (CBC)
REGINA - The RCMP has launched a formal investigation into financial dealings at the International Performance Assessment Centre for the Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide. (CBC)
TORONTO - Ashish Deb, 47, a former senior manager of Metrolinx allegedly received secret commissions and breached the public’s trust while working at the company in 2006 and 2007, according to the OPP. (Toronto Star)
WINNIPEG - A Winnipeg man who immigrated to Canada from India and built his fortune in business here says he has now lost his wealth after his dealings with a local real estate broker, David Douglas. (CBC)
TORONTO - Marlon Gary Hibbert, his wife Verna, and Lorraine Bahlmann each face 38 charges of fraud over $5,000. (CTV)
Despite guidelines that recommend vaccinating dogs every 3 years, many veterinarians continue to push annual vaccinations. (CBC) MORE: Price differences shock
RIVERSIDE - Peter Pocklington, 71, had been sentenced to 6 months in jail, followed by 6 months of house arrest and 2 more years of probation. (CTV) Peter Pocklington
TORONTO - Police say they have charged 25 people after GTA financial institutions were bilked out of nearly $8M in a loan fraud scam. (CP24) MORE: Fraud arrests
TORONTO - Rowena Villanueva, 48,accused of bilking fellow Filipinos of more than $500,000 in a phony chiropractic clinic scam has pleaded guilty to 16 counts of fraud. (Toronto Star)
EDMONTON - Car and truck buyers need to be wary of salespeople who misrepresent optional products as mandatory fees, says the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council, which regulates vehicle sales in the province. (CBC)
SUDBURY - Leo Caron admitted to playing a role in the scheme that led to the theft of almost $24M from Atlas Copco over the course of three and a half years. (CBC) MORE: 'Magnitude of greed astounding'
OTTAWA - Muhammad Rashid was once a senior aide for the Palestinian Authority’s founding President, Yasser Arafat, and head of the Authority’s public investment company. (Globe & Mail) PREVIOUS: Former aide says Abbas worth $100M Aide sentenced in absentia PA issues arrest warrant
Fraudster impersonated Canadian
NEW YORK - Prosecutors allege Howard Leventhal, 56, of Long Grove, Ill., scammed Paragon Financial Group for $800,000 by claiming the Florida company could collect money he said Health Canada owed to his company, Neovision. (CP) MORE: FBI press release
TORONTO - Hari Venkatacharya was a man you could trust. A new-economy evangelist tailor-made for Toronto’s diverse business community, his admirers included a who’s who of Indo-Canadian business leaders. (Globe & Mail) PREVIOUS: Exec charged Lata Pada
MIAMI - Michael Kerry Deevy, a Canadian citizen, was sentenced to 5 years in prison in connection with a series of business opportunity fraud ventures based in Costa Rica. (LAHT) MORE: US v. Kerry Michael Deevy Canadian admits he is guilty
20 years
HALIFAX - A Halifax navy intelligence officer Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle was sentenced to 20 years in prison, plus a $120,000 fine, minus time served this afternoon for for selling secrets to Russia.
MANILA - Janet Lim Napoles, the Filipino-Chinese businesswoman at the center of the Philippines' massive P10 billion Pork Barrel scandal, handed over affidavits to a Blue Ribbon Senate committee implicating an astonishing 20 members of the Senate and 100 members of the House of Representatives. That is five sixths of the entire Senate and more than a third of the House of Representatives. (Asia Sentinel)
HANOVER - German prosecutors have said they filed corruption charges against former President Christian Wulff, over alleged favors that prompted his resignation last year. (DW) Christian Wulff
REGINA - Crown prosecutors allege James Besler bilked the CRA out of more than $200,000 by underreporting the executives' income and filing false financial statements. (CTV)
TORONTO - Police have arrested 4 people in what they are calling a 'sophisticated and complex' mortgage fraud investigation involving high-end properties in the city. The total value of the fraud is estimated at $17M. (CTV)
OTTAWA -
Canadians and their federal government would save money by raising
tenfold the amount consumers can spend on cross-border purchases
before having to pay taxes and tariffs, a new report says.
(CBC)
Tariff changes to widen price gap
South Dakota v Wayfair 17-494 .pdf
Canadians slow to bargain hunt
TORONTO - A Star investigation in September 2011 revealed that Manzoor Moorshed Khan, president of Channel Property Management, borrowed millions of dollars against condominium corporations in the Toronto area without their knowledge. (Toronto Star)
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has suspended a senior German Church leader dubbed the "bishop of bling" by the media over his alleged lavish spending. (BBC) MORE: 'Luxury bishop' temporarily expelled Pope suspends 'bling bishop' Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst
OTTAWA - Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal the country’s finance minister who was educated at Canadian universities, is facing allegations he stashed more than $1M away in overseas banks, including accounts in Canada. (Toronto Star)
OTTAWA - A blitz by Canada Revenue Agency auditors on an unfortunate group of waiters and waitresses in St. Catharines has exposed “very surprising” amounts of unreported tips and gratuities. (CP)
BELLEVILLE - Naheed Ali Ramji was sentenced in a Belleville court to 7 months behind bars for “unconscionable representation” and “unfair practice” under the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, and falsifying information under the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act. (Toronto Star)
TORONTO - In documents obtained by CBC News, the FBI alleges that Luba Kramrish was part of a conspiracy that falsified documents to claim financial support from a special fund created by the German government after the Second World War. (CBC) MORE: Holocaust survivor fraud
REGINA - A 71-year-old Regina woman is accused of theft and fraud in a case police say involves an estimated $1M in losses. The woman charged is the owner and operator of the payroll service company. (CBC)
TORONTO - Alanna Steinberg, a wheeler-dealer who boasts a network of “angel investors,” sat at Wendy’s restaurant expecting the $5,000 she demanded up front from her latest mark. (Toronto Star)
TORONTO - A senior government bank official was part of a conspiracy that saw $16M in loan money ripped off by a group of Toronto-area fraud artists. (Toronto Star)
BROSSARD - Benito Driss, 33, also known as Nassim Ben Driss, Driss Nassim and Nssim Benyamina, is accused of taking $1.5M from the establishment. (CTV)
TORONTO - A 28-year-old man is facing 33 charges alleging fraudulent applications for social services benefits in Toronto. Charges against Alex Kusi include 10 fraud counts, 4 counts of personation and 5 of identity fraud. (CP)
WATERLOO - Arlan Galbraith, 62, was the sole owner and shareholder in Pigeon King International. Police estimate about 1,000 people invested a total of $20M in the purchase of pigeons. (CTV) PREVIOUS: Pigeon King declared personally bankrupt
'There's something fundamentally wrong with the whole system'
TORONTO - A group representing dozens of lawn care companies trying to bring charges against Ontario's senior bureaucrats over the province's controversial pesticide ban is now calling for charges against 23 activists. (CP)
BORDEAUX - Thierry Tilly was sentenced to 8 years in prison for swindling three generations of an aristocratic family out of their fortune and turreted manor, after convincing them they were the targets of a Masonic plot. (AFP) MORE: 8 years Aristocrats and demons
ROME - Magistrates told Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe and former Infrastructure and Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi that they were being investigated for aggravated corruption. (Reuters) MORE: Corruption investigation
MONTREAL - Reverend Mwinda Lezoka, a Congolese native who has served as pastor for 20 years, allegedly borrowed or was donated money from at least 24 members of the Bethel Christian Community. (CTV)
NEW YORK - Federal prosecutors have charged a fundraiser in an alleged $292M pyramid scheme that spanned more than a decade, saying he used some of the proceeds to support election campaigns. In an indictment Iranian-born Hassan Nemazee is charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. (AP) MORE: Fund-raiser in $290M fraud
WINNIPEG - Four suspects were arrested between Mar. 11, and 13. Police believe, between 2004 and 2006 officers with the now defunct companies, Maple Leaf Distillers and Protos International in collusion with a former senior employee of a local financial institution devised a cheque kiting scheme to obtain unauthorized credit from the financial institution. (CTV)
DELHI - On the front cover of its new year issue India Today ran pictures of four men under the headline "2010 – year of the treasure hunters". Inside an editorial said bluntly: "One word dominated the national vocabulary [last year]: corruption." (Guardian UK)
Canada's navy plans to spend about $120M to upgrade 36 torpedoes, but they still won't work in its four submarines without further refits. The navy has MK-48 American torpedoes in stock, but the four British-built submarines aren't capable of firing them. Even after the weapons are converted, Canada would still have to spend millions more to refit the submarines to fire them. (CBC)
Canadian navy has wrong torpedoes for subs
TORONTO - The deal with prosecutors allowed Dr. Lorne Sokol to plead guilty to the lesser offence of contravening Ontario's Health Insurance Act, which carries a maximum fine of $25,000. (Toronto Star)
Toronto’s self-proclaimed dumpster rental king runs a sham company that is little more than a cellphone and website used to plunder homeowners’ credit cards with bogus charges. (Toronto Star)
NEWMARKET - Vladimor Loginov is alleged to be the architect behind about 520 forged Israeli passports over the last 10 years, many of which were sold to people who then used them to get car insurance and commit staged collisions. (CTV)
MONTEVIDEO - The former military ruler of Uruguay, Gregorio Alvarez, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder and human rights violations. (BBC) MORE: Former dictator condemned to 25 years Court deals blow to amnesty for Junta
The Australian-based Walk Free Foundation has released its first-ever Global Slavery Index - a ranking of 162 countries by their prevalence of modern slavery. (VOA)
VANCOUVER - Franco Orr, 50, who lied to immigration officials in order to bring the family nanny to Canada from Hong Kong, luring her with empty promises so she would care for his 3 children, should spend 18 months in prison. (CTV)
TAIPEI - Taiwan's former President Chen Shui-bian has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of corruption by a court in Taipei. (BBC)
Ex-president given life sentences
Cooking the books
VANCOUVER - Investigators with the Canada Revenue Agency allege InfoSpec Systems Inc. designed and sold electronic sales suppression software, commonly known as zappers, marketed under the name of Profitek.
VANCOUVER - Martin Wirick, 54, has also been ordered to pay $2M in restitution to the Law Society of BC, which has reimbursed victims of the fraud. More than $40M has been paid out to victims, including cases that aren't included in Wirick's guilty plea. (CTV)
Nigeria graft boss strikes again
ABUJA - Nigerian anti-corruption agents have issued an arrest warrant for an eighth former governor. Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State is accused of stealing more than $24M through three front companies. (BBC) PREVIOUS: Nigeria corruption tsar sidelined Nuhu Ribadu
NEWMARKET - In his financial heyday, strip club owner Riccardo DiGiuseppe drove a Ferrari and captained a 60-foot luxury yacht called My Way. DiGiuseppe, 61, heard himself sentenced in Newmarket court to a 6-year term in prison and ordered to pay a $2M fine. (Toronto Star)
Shipwreck, treasure, insider trading
WASHINGTON - The US Securities and Exchange Commission said that Ernesto Tapanes, 39, agreed to pay more than $216,000 to settle insider trading charges in the case involving the 18th century shipwreck, code-named Black Swan. (Reuters) MORE: Canadian guilty of insider trading
VANCOUVER - A commission panel ruled Brian Anderson perpetrated a fraud, made misrepresentations and distributed securities illegally under his Frontier Assets and Alpha Program investments. (Toronto Star)
WHITE PLAINS - Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik was sentenced to four years behind bars for eight felonies. (AP) Guilty plea Bernard Kerik indicted Bernard Kerik
TORONTO - Laws in Ontario may not be protecting workers from questionable business activities, Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips acknowledged. (Toronto Star)
Hsu charged with pyramid scheme
NEW YORK - Federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal complaint Thursday charging Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu with breaking campaign finance laws and creating a "massive" pyramid scheme. (MSNBC)
FBI reportedly examining investment
MANILA - True to form, Janice Del Rosario arrived back in the Philippines in designer clothes, sunglasses and a smile. She left minutes later in handcuffs for the same Manila-area jail where she had met her husband years earlier. (Toronto Star)
Cops prepare case vs. couple from Canada
TORONTO - Rogue career colleges that take advantage of students with false promises and fake degrees face a $250,000 fine and increased policing under tougher rules announced Wednesday by the province. (Toronto Star)
Government warned to keep eye on colleges
Ombud urges career college crackdown
They knew taxpayers had little chance of discovering their sleight of hand because spending estimates and year-end financial statements were presented in different - and incompatible - accounting terms. (Toronto Star)
Carbon tax, road tolls, election reform
World's longest spy scandal still glossed over
The so called PROMIS affair would never have happened if the software invented by an American computer specialist, Mr. William A. Hamilton, had been a technical failure. (Canadian Free Press)