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Greed and Corruption Follow the Money and you find special interest groups |
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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)
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 - Four Toronto residents have been charged with fraud involving small business loans totalling more than $1.4M. (CP)
Pamela Murphy first became fascinated with fraud and the people that commit it when she was hired as an auditor for the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). (Financial Post)
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)
MOSCOW - Russian police uncovered 35,000 cases of corruption in the first nine months of this year, including alleged crimes by 4 deputy governors and 5 regional ministers. (Bloomberg)
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
WINNIPEG - A Winnipeg woman who cheated her employer of $230,000 has been sentenced to 16 months in jail. Linda Cousins, 48, previously pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $5,000. (QMI) |
OTTAWA - Emmanuel Feuerwerker, 60, and Lise Pouliot, 69, filed bogus physiotherapy claims over a three-year period beginning in 2002. (QMI)
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) MORE: Cops bust fraud ring Fraud bust
CALGARY - A 74-year-old man has been sentenced to six years in prison for a fraudulent investment scheme that bilked investors out of $37.5M. (PostMedia) MORE: 6 years for $40M scam
CAMPBELLTON - Yvon Doiron, 63, of Paquetville appeared in Campbellton provincial court to face four counts of fraud. (CTV)
TAIWAN - Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui has been charged with embezzling $7.79M of state funds. His successor, Chen Shui-bian, is serving a 17-year sentence for bribery. (BBC)
Former accountant pleads guilty REGINA - Crown prosecutors allege James Besler bilked the Canada Revenue Agency out of more than $200,000 by underreporting the executives' income and filing false financial statements. (CTV)
OTTAWA - CBC’s efforts to hide information from the public include a manual with instructions on destroying records. (QMI)
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, while allegedly being promised guaranteed financial returns. (CTV) PREVIOUS: Pigeon King declared personally bankrupt |
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COLD LAKE - The pastor of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Bonnyville, Alta., area is charged along with two others in a million-dollar scheme police allege exploited foreign nationals brought from Poland and the Ukraine to Canada for work. (QMI) PREVIOUS: Relieved of duties Priest charged with immigration fraud |
OTTAWA - A mother and daughter who worked at an Ottawa nursing home are expected in court to face charges of fraud against residents of the seniors facility. In total, the two women are accused of stealing more than $340,000 from 18 residents at the home. (CBC) MORE: Retirement home residents bilked |
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WikiLeaks suspends publication LONDON - WikiLeaks said in a statement Monday that it would stop publishing for the moment in order to focus on making money. (AP) WikiLeaks stops to take on banks |
Swedish Judicial v Julian Assange Perimeter security agreement crucial |
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What US Congress things of Canada Emails reveal dirty-tricks campaign US Bank plan to destroy WikiLeaks Best way to rob a bank in Africa Nigeria pressured UK to drop charges 'You can run, but you can't hide' |
Cables outline Olympic threats Telegraph: WikiLeaks cable files |
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Assanges Swedish sex crimes file CIA responds to WikiLeaks with WTF Focus on free expression in WikiLeaks US may seek extradition of Assange Swedish 'rape' laws central to the story |
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Ex-IRA wants WikiLeaks designated WikiLeaks threatening security Canada's 'inferiority complex' Location matters up in the cloud Berlusconi profited from relationship |
Warning about bank leak a mistake Chinese official doesn't believe figures US knocks WikiLeaks off the net US to prevent future data disclosures Subpoena .pdf |
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YARMOUTH - An RCMP mortgage fraud investigation in southwestern Nova Scotia has resulted in charges against 11 people. Police say 10 of the people face a total of 146 fraud-related charges while one is accused of obstructing police. Investigators estimate the total value of the fraud is more than $6M. (CBC) |
$3.9 mortgage fraud nets 42 months Calgary ripe for real estate fraud Storm swirls around mortgage lawsuit 'Straw buyer' seduced into scheme |
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Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said there could be a number of factors that contribute to the "stickiness" of prices despite currency fluctuations. Among those factors are higher taxes, retail labour costs that are about 20% higher in Canada, a smaller population, higher transportation costs and economies of scale . (CP) |
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'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 environment minister and senior bureaucrats over the province's controversial pesticide ban is now calling for charges against 23 activists. (CP) |
More than 1,700 private offshore bank accounts belonging to Canadians. The Canadians on the list are part of a larger group that includes about 80,000 accounts belonging to HSBC Private Bank clients held in Geneva, according to whistleblower Herve Falciani. (CBC) MORE: Probe reveals Swiss accounts |
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Once the world's fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea has shrunk by 90% since the rivers that feed it were largely diverted in a Soviet project to boost cotton production in the arid region. (AP) |
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) PREVIOUS: Pastor pursued |
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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: HSBC falls foul of fundraiser 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) MORE: Cheque kiting scheme |
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DELHI - It is an image that has become wearily familiar to Indians in recent days. 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) |
2010: The year of treasure hunters
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OTTAWA - Canada is the only G7 country that continually provides "little or no enforcement" of an international accord aimed at stifling bribery of public officials in global business dealings, according to a report by TI. (PostMedia) TI Progress Report on Enforcement of the OECD Convention .pdf |
Government guts anti-corruption law If our leaders were corrupt would we know it? Global Corruption Barometer 2010 Canadians can't afford their wealthy Fixing the Revolving Door between Government and Business .pdf |
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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 Submarine refit wildly over budget Jets just the start of spending boom
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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) |
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Alleged bribe under investigation IQALUIT - RCMP confirm they are investigating an allegation that a city councillor was offered a bribe in connection to a development permit recently granted for a new medical boarding home. (CBC) |
TORONTO - Kerry Wong, 44, is charged with two counts of extortion for allegedly trying to get $1,400 from Yanhui Lu and her husband, Hong Hai Kang, on July 25, 2007. (Toronto Star) |
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NEW YORK - US prosecutors charged Guatemala's fugitive former president, Alfonso Portillo, with laundering millions of dollars he embezzled while in office. (AFP) MORE: Portillo arrested |
PARIS - Former French president Jacques Chirac has been indicted on embezzlement charges. (AFP) MORE: New corruption allegations Trial ordered Court action against Chirac |
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TORONTO - CN alleges Scott Holmes, a former track supervisor, directed maintenance and construction work to companies he secretly owned, sometimes using the ID numbers of other employees to approve payments, including billings for work never done. (Sun Media) |
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 |
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NEW YORK - Peter W. Galbraith 58, a former US ambassador who recently quit as deputy head of the UN mission in Kabul, struck a potentially lucrative oil deal in Iraqi Kurdistan which could reportedly earn him $100M. (Times online) |
PARIS - Veteran French Polynesia leader Gaston Flosse, an ally of former president Jacques Chirac, was questioned in a graft probe in Tahiti as police searched his home and party headquarters. (AFP) |
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The PricewaterhouseCoopers 2009 Global Economic Crime Survey includes a measure of the percentage of respondents from various territories who reported suffering some type of fraud. (FAIR) |
Progress report on the anti-bribery convention |
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LONDON - Fears of widespread fraud on the mortgage books of Britain's high street lenders emerged after Chelsea building society admitted that it had uncovered fraud of up to £41M. (Guardian UK) MORE: How lenders have been caught out |
CALGARY - The fire that started in the basement suite of the house on Jan. 26 claimed the lives of Tiffany Cox, 19, Jonathan St. Pierre, 19, and Colleen Mantei, 23. (Herald) PREVIOUS: Family presses for criminal charges Delay of care cited Public Health charges |
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WASHINGTON - An international jewellery executive and a former American diplomat who was based in Toronto pleaded guilty yesterday to trading gemstone rings, trips with exotic dancers and other gifts in exchange for expedited work visas. (AP) MORE: Former US diplomat in Toronto pleads guilty |
VANCOUVER - Gloria and Faustino Chingkoe, who own a million-dollar Richmond house, three expensive condos and have three daughters educated at Crofton House private school, face a host of charges in the Philippines, including "plunder," falsification of documents and tax evasion. (Vancouver Province) |
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War-torn nations remain the world's most corrupt, Transparency International (TI) has said. Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia are the lowest-ranked countries in TI's annual global survey. They were all at the bottom of the list last year as well. New Zealand was the least corrupt, with last year's winner Denmark as runner-up and Singapore third. (BBC) |
Canada has more political corruption Anti-political corruption conference ends |
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VANCOUVER - The chief executive officer of a Vancouver-based junior mining company that is closely associated with Vancouver mining magnate Frank Giustra has been accused by the Thai government of plundering millions of dollars from the now-defunct Bangkok Bank of Commerce. (Vancouver Sun) MORE: Bank president gets another 20 years Rakesh Saxena |
VANCOUVER - A formerly respected and prominent investment broker and longtime West Vancouver resident may face federal jail time for operating a classic Ponzi scheme over a two-year period. In January, Brian Bassett pleaded guilty to running an investment scam between 2002 and 2004, while a top executive with Dundee Securities Corporation. (North Shore News) |
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OTTAWA - Criminal charges have been laid against 14 individuals and seven companies accused of rigging bids to obtain Government of Canada contracts for information technology services, the Competition Bureau announced. (Ottawa Citizen) |
CALGARY - The author of a self-help book on how to dig yourself out of debt and credit trouble has pleaded guilty to fraud. Douglas Idugboe pleaded guilty to fraud, obtain credit, and three counts of uttering forged documents. (CTV) MORE: Guilty plead to fraud and forgery |
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TORONTO - Sethuraj "Babji" Mokada, 46, a Newmarket man is wanted for allegedly stealing nearly $2 million from the bank he worked at. (Toronto Star) MORE: Employee and $2M disappear |
CALGARY - A 68-year-old Calgary man who bilked 35 investors out of $615,000 he claimed was destined for education programs will do jail time. James Norbert Hester, 68, was sentenced to a three-year prison term. (Calgary Herald) |
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PARIS - The French chapter of Transparency International (TI), the non-governmental group Sherpa and a Gabonese citizen took joint action against Presidents Omar Bongo Ondimba, Denis Sassou Nguesso and Teodoro Obiang, and several of their associates, they said in a joint statement. (AFP) RELATED: Corruption charges for MPs 'What on earth is going on?' |
VANCOUVER - An American lawyer believed to be the brains behind a bogus tax-shelter scheme that bilked millions of dollars from the US government has been traced to Vancouver. David L. Smith, 52, of San Francisco, is charged with conspiracy to defraud the government and tax evasion on $18.4 million in personal income. (Vancouver Province) |
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Document falsifiers give evidence PARIS - Jean-Louis Gregorin, former vice-president of EADS and IT expert Imad Lahoud, the two men accused of faking the Clearstream list of clients to include Nicolas Sarkozy's name, give evidence Wednesday in what has been described as France's 'trial of the decade'. (AFP) |
Hollywood plot that has backfired on everybody |
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OECD - Seventeen countries led by France and Germany decided on Tuesday to draw up a new blacklist of tax havens which could include Switzerland, in a first step toward rewriting the rules of global finance. (AFP) |
Lawsuit leads to family's arrest WINDSOR - A Windsor woman accused of stealing her aged husband's winning lottery ticket was arrested by the Ontario Provincial Police Wednesday along with her daughter who claimed the $3.5-million prize. (Windsor Star) |
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Agency charges nannies huge fees VANCOUVER - A-Pro Caregivers and Nannies is one of the biggest caregiver agencies in Vancouver. (CBC) |
Federal agencies fail to protect |
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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) MORE: Ex-president and wife given life sentences Ex-president on trial Chen's detention extended Ex-Taiwan leader in graft trial Alleged money laundering |
CALGARY - The owner of an illegal rooming house in which two tenants died in a fire has been charged with 29 fire code violations and faces fines of up to $435,000. At a pre-arranged meeting Saturday, Calgary fire inspectors served Tan Yeng Li with multiple charges stemming from the July 31 northwest blaze. (Calgary Herald) |
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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) |
Massive fraud law society on hook for $50m |
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SASKATOON - A Saskatoon judge sentenced Bruce David Cameron to two years less a day - the maximum sentence for a provincial jail - after he pleaded guilty to defrauding the Wheatland Regional Library. (CBC) MORE: Librarian to serve jail time |
Woman stole 'because she could' CALGARY - Penny Marcy Myslichuk, who worked for Bennett Jones, also told forensic psychologist Patrick Baillie in a pre-sentence report that she misappropriated the money in trust account funds from Bennett Jones "because she could," said prosecutor Susan Mulligan. (Calgary Herald) |
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TORONTO - Canada has been very, very good to Imtazur Nasser Rahman. Fresh from a second bankruptcy - leaving his creditors on the hook for $114,000 - he zips around the GTA doing business in a $125,000 Porsche Cayenne Turbo. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: Canada's 'slave trade' |
BANGKOK -The wife of the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been convicted of tax evasion in a major blow to the family's business and political interests. Potjaman Shinawatra, 51, was sentenced to three years imprisonment by a court in Bangkok. (Telegraph UK) MORE: Potjaman guilty |
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CALGARY - The builder of a northwest condo complex whose "systematic failure" in construction led to a $10-million repair bill likely won't face any lawsuits related to the building. (Calgary Herald) |
VICTORIA - Graeme Bryson, 44, of Victoria, appeared in BC Provincial Court in Victoria, pleading guilty to fraud over $5,000 for nine illegal wire transfers between June 2005 and March 2007. (CanWest) |
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EDMONTON - In a statement of claim filed July 2, Canadian Western Bank claims Debra Anne Chapin, her husband and a handful of others rigged up a scheme to filch money from a wealthy customer and get a line of credit in the customer's name. (Edmonton Journal) |
JERUSALEM - Israeli legal authorities indicted former prime minister Ehud Olmert on corruption charges, the first criminal indictment ever filed against a current or past Israeli prime minister. (AP) MORE: Indictment served in 3 cases Cash stuffed envelopes Olmert announces exit |
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CALGARY - A former Calgary Transit worker has admitted stealing more than $375,000 from the city over seven years by palming coins off a conveyor belt, stashing the money in his locker and packing it into a knapsack before he left work each day. David John Hamilton, 56, pleaded guilty Thursday in provincial court to theft over $5,000. (Calgary Herald) |
TOKYO - Almost 450 government bureaucrats in Japan have admitted receiving cash or other gifts and favours from taxi drivers used for official journeys. It has been dubbed the "pub taxi scandal" because often cooler boxes with cold beers were provided in the back of cabs for the bureaucrats. (BBC) PREVIOUS: Life in the limo lane for Ottawa's driven |
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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 Sun) |
CRA warning against tax software |
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ORLANDO - A federal judge sent Lou Pearlman off to prison for 25 years Wednesday, then offered him what he called the "keys'' to his jail cell. For every $1-million Pearlman recovers for the investors he scammed, he'll get a month trimmed off his sentence. (Tampa Bay Times) MORE: Pearlman sentenced to 25 years $300M Ponzi scheme |
MISSISSAUGA - A 41-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an Internet fraud involving a phoney hockey school and league, scamming as much as $100,000 from international junior hockey players, Peel regional police say. (CanWest) MORE: Ex-owner of Junior A team arrested Former Derbys owner out on bail |
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CALGARY - Lindsey Elizabeth Alexander, 54, wrote 107 cheques to either herself or MasterCard during the first half of 2004, defrauding Centaur Import Motors of $512,200, including penalties and interest paid by the owners to the Canada Revenue Agency. (Calgary Herald) |
OTTAWA - Canada is laden so thick with business taxes it requires the average major company 11 employees working full-time, year-round simply to comply with them, says a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers. (CanWest) REPORT: Total tax contribution survey |
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VANCOUVER - A Vancouver physiotherapist is facing a charge of defrauding ICBC of thousands of dollars after an investigation alleged she was billing the insurance company, as well as WorkSafe BC, for patient treatments she never performed. (Vancouver Sun) RELATED: Owner pleads guilty |
PARIS - Gilbertte Van Erpe, 67, was arrested last week in Nice after nearly two years on the run. Police allege she made between C$21.7M and C$25.66M by persuading 5,000 Chileans and 25,000 Peruvians to invest savings into what they believed was miraculous "cheese paste." (Star News) |
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VANCOUVER - Five of six downtown Vancouver hotels bought by the BC government for low-rental housing were bought from one man, developer Robert Wilson, who made a profit of $10 million on the sales in less than two years. (Vancouver Province) RELATED: Rat hotel faces hefty fines |
CALGARY - A Kelowna, BC, man stands accused of swindling almost $100,000 from people through a phoney online auction of vintage cars. (Calgary Herald) MORE: Car scam used Calgary bank Vintage-car fraud Vintage car scam |
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MIAMI - AEY, Inc., the weapons company headed by 22-year-old Efraim E. Diveroli, had their $300 million weapons contract suspended by the federal government on Friday. (Trans World News) PREVIOUS: Afghans sent obsolete ammunition |
CALGARY - Penny Marcy Myslichuk, who handled accounts for wills and estates, dependent adults, family trusts and a large mixed account for Bennett Jones, pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of forgery. (Calgary Herald) |
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TORONTO - A few years ago Lushan Lu subdivided his large Scarborough home into an illegal rooming house, creating 18 bedrooms and eight bathrooms. (Toronto Star) |
MONTREAL - The judge didn't buy Josie Cioffi's story that she was under her co-accused's spell when she defrauded her employer of $4.3 million. (Montreal Gazette) |
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MONTREAL - The company that owns Quebec's four horse racing tracks has been placed under bankruptcy protection, resulting in the immediate closure of the Hippodrome de Montreal, formerly known as Blue Bonnets Raceway. In 2005, the racetracks were sold by the province to Attractions Hippiques, owned by Senator Paul Massicotte. (CBC) PREVIOUS: Racetracks misspent public money |
NEWMARKET - In his financial heyday, strip club owner Riccardo DiGiuseppe drove a Ferrari and captained a 60-foot luxury yacht called My Way. Yesterday, DiGiuseppe, 61, heard himself sentenced in Newmarket court to a six-year term in prison and ordered to pay a $2 million fine, at the conclusion of one of the Greater Toronto Area's longest and most complicated tax evasion prosecutions. (Toronto Star) |
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KATHMANDU - "I am just a doctor, not a kidney dealer," Amit Kumar told reporters as he was brought to Kathmandu after being arrested Thursday in the southern Nepalese town of Chitwan. (CBC) MORE: Kumar denies role in harvesting ring 'Dr. Horror' nabbed |
Developer leaves buyers in limbo KELOWNA - The Willows condominium development in the Okanagan town of Lake Country is in receivership, leaving about 78 purchasers in limbo. The condos were being built by Divergent Environments, a Victoria-based company. (CBC) |
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MOSCOW - Former Russian minister Yevgeny Adamov has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for abusing his office and embezzling more than $30m. (BBC) MORE: Adamov sentenced |
TORONTO - A senior executive at Maple Leafs' parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment has resigned and five other employees have been fired after the company learned of ticket irregularities. (Toronto Star) |
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EDMONTON - Lax security at Alberta's privatized registries has produced an embarrassing export trade in fraudulent drivers' licences that is threatening highway safety across the country. (Edmonton Journal) |
VANCOUVER - A group of former high school buddies has been ordered to pay $510,000 to the Insurance Corporation of BC for staging a series of crashes as part of an insurance fraud scheme. (Vancouver Sun) |
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SAN LUIS OBISPO - A transplant surgeon could face up to eight years in jail after being charged with trying to hasten the death of a patient. (Telegraph UK) |
TORONTO - Walter Garrick, 37, is facing 16 charges of theft and fraud after he was arrested on Thursday by Toronto police fraud investigators. (Toronto Star) |
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The risks of indicting a despot Let's pretend, for a moment, that you are the Sudanese president, Omar al-Beshir, sitting in Khartoum and likely to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity from the International Criminal Court for the last five years of bloodshed in Darfur. |
Sudan's dictator started young |
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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 |
Forces find illegal driftnet fishing COMOX - A multinational operation on the high seas involving a Canadian Forces Aircraft from CFB Comox has turned up photographic evidence of 10 vessels involved in driftnet fishing, a practice banned by the United Nations. (Victoria Times Colonist) MORE: High seas stake-out |
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VICTORIA - The Oak Bay Marine Group's former vice-president of finance has been charged with theft and fraud after more than half a million dollars was diverted from the company's bank accounts. Graeme Bryson, 43, of Victoria, has been charged with theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000. (Victoria Times Colonist) |
WHITE PLAINS - Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik was sentenced to four years behind bars Thursday for eight felonies. (AP) |
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It was supposed to be a stress-free investment for Florence and Jim Langford. After all, the retired Saskatchewan couple was only looking for a little extra income to supplement their retirement savings. It all started when Florence decided to take an investment course with a company called Whitney Canada. (W-Five) |
Shipwreck, treasure, insider trading WASHINGTON - The US Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday 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 |
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OTTAWA - A group opposed to public-private hospital partnerships claimed it had documents suggesting the provincial government approved at least one project based on faulty information - and it's concerned the same thing may have happened with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. (CanWest) MORE: Documents expose flaws in cost comparison of P3 hospital financing |
Canadian con artists get 24 years He was a Canadian who seemed to be living the American dream on the sunny California coast - a yacht and a 2006 Ferrari, country club and golf memberships, a sprawling, multimillion-dollar mansion in a wealthy enclave at seaside Monterey. To dozens of his friends and clients, Jay Zubick was a popular and trusted investment adviser from Toronto. (Windsor Star) |
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Jailed chef steamed lawyer free EDMONTON - Brenda Martin found it ironic that prominent lawyer Marco Antonio del Toro wandered into the Guadalajara courthouse on Monday, the day of the final hearing in a legal nightmare that has seen her spend two years in prison. Both Martin and del Toro once worked for Canadian con man Alyn Waage. Del Toro and Martin both told Mexican investigators in 2001 they didn't know the money they received from Waage was fraudulently obtained - but their treatment was distinctly different. (Journal) |
Conman's mansion for sale, by his lawyer Mexican justice all about bribes Canada could have freed Martin Canadian languishes in Mexican jail Leader of $60M internet scam pleads guilty |
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ALBANY - New York Governor Eliot Spitzer may have made a smart move when choosing lawyers to help him avoid criminal charges for soliciting prostitutes. Two were top attorneys in the same office handling his case. (Bloomberg) |
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Adviser charged with $3M fraud KEMPTVILLE - Police arrested Bruce Elmore, of Kemptville. Police accuse him of defrauding clients of $3 million over a five-year period. He is charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000. (Ottawa Citizen) |
Car dealer fined $7M for fraud VANCOUVER - A Vancouver car dealer was sentenced to two years in jail and fined $7 million in court yesterday for defrauding Ottawa of that amount in a long-running GST fraud. (Vancouver Province) |
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VANCOUVER - In his native Ukraine and for several years in Toronto, Walter Datsko was an accountant and family man who drove his two daughters to movie nights in a beat-up Oldsmobile. (Vancouver Sun) |
MONTREAL - The RCMP have busted what they describe as a Montreal-based network that pirated copies of DVDs, mostly of defunct U.S. television series, and sold them over the Internet. (Montreal Gazette) |
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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) |
Dad cries foul over student loans CAPE BRETON, NS - A Cape Breton man whose daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash four years ago says the federal government is harassing him over her unpaid student loans. (CBC) |
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TORONTO - Five Toronto-area residents face more than 100 fraud-related charges in a real estate scam that sold parking lot spaces as condos, police say. Bank employees, lawyers and real estate agents were all working together to defraud Toronto Dominion of $3.8 million, Det. Craig Ellis explained. (Toronto Star) |
VANCOUVER - In a city that complains long and loud about the state of its taxi service, no one it seems wants to delve a little bit deeper to find out why a cabal of four companies hold a monopoly on the industry in Vancouver. (Asian Pacific Post) RELATED: Taxi firm settles with blind man refused ride because of guide dog |
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VANCOUVER - Former Victoria investment advisor Ian Thow pleaded guilty in Vancouver provincial court to 20 counts of fraud for duping clients and friends out of just under $8M. (Victoria Times Colonist) |
Lavish lifestyle financed by ex-clients RCMP should wait until arrest to celebrate Accountant unravels money trail Media push for access to details on Thow's life |
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VANCOUVER - Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon revealed that he ordered his staff last month to launch an "undercover" operation against 47 inspection facilities in the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland after three farm workers died in a freeway crash, and revelations that vans were found to be unsafe despite having just passed inspections. Sixteen of the 47 designated inspection facilities investigated in the undercover operation and audit were suspended. (Vancouver Province) |
TORONTO - Laws in Ontario may not be protecting workers from questionable business activities, Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips acknowledged yesterday. Phillips said he has asked ministry staff to do some background policy work and look for possible loopholes in consumer protection and franchise legislation. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: No fraud charges in job agency complaints Hope for refund dashed Dozens of lives ruined after answering job ad Fraud artist found managing job agency |
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EDMONTON - An Edmonton woman who created an elaborate pyramid scheme to fund a multimillion-dollar gambling habit was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison. Cheryl-Lynne Braun, 41, defrauded 89 people of more than $22 million, half of which she spent at three city casinos in less than a year. (Edmonton Journal) |
Police arrest man wanted for fraud FORT MCMURRAY - Police have tracked down a man in the United States who allegedly defrauded a Fort McMurray company of almost half a million dollars. Christian Richardson, 28, faces three charges of fraud totalling $425,000 and three counts of attempted fraud totaling more than $1 million. (CBC) |
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LONDON - ITV's breakfast show has suspended its phone-in competitions after being accused of defrauding its viewers by an estimated £10 million a year since 2003. GMTV announced this morning that all its phone-in and online competitions had been stopped as the company investigated a BBC Panorama report that the winners were being selected long before the lines closed, meaning that thousands of people were paying to enter contests they had no chance of winning. (Times) MORE: Viewers 'lose millions' to GMTV BBC staff suspended |
Big problems with BC freedom of information VICTORIA - David Loukidelis, Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC, issued a report on February 15 about the government’s chronic problem with providing prompt access to information. It is not good news. (Tyee) REPORT: Timeliness of Government’s Access to Information Responses .pdf BC slow with information requests Premier's little black book stays secret Lobbying watchdog throws in the towel Privacy commissioner makes his case for more |
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Second suicide linked to corruption TOKYO - A Japanese official under investigation for alleged corruption has committed suicide 24 hours after a scandal-dogged Cabinet minister hanged himself, throwing the beleagured Government into further turmoil. Shinichi Yamazaki, 76, the former head of a public corporation handling forestry work, leapt from his flat early today in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo. (Times online) PREVIOUS: Japanese minister hangs himself Toshikatsu Matsuoka |
REGINA - Some accident victims in Saskatchewan say they are being denied justice because of enormous delays - often a year or longer - with the Automobile Injury Appeal Commission. The commission was established three years ago as a forum for accident victims to appeal decisions by Saskatchewan Government Insurance on claims. It was supposed to be faster, cheaper and less complicated than the courts. (CBC) |
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NJ city pays dead man $130K a year CAMDEN, NJ - A recent audit of cash-strapped Camden, N.J. school district's finances found it was paying an employee $130,000 annually - and he's been dead for more than three decades. The independent audit of Camden schools found fiscal mismanagement and lax controls for payroll, purchasing, and accounts payable. The audit also found outside vendors have been overpaid more than $17 million. (Fox) |
Crime movie's director convicted of GST fraud VANCOUVER - His directorial debut was about a filmmaker who turns to crime to finance his cinematic dream. Life for Silvio Pollio appears to have echoed his art. The Vancouver filmmaker has been sentenced in provincial court to a 22-month conditional sentence and ordered to pay a $101,951 fine for GST fraud he committed to write, direct and produce his movie How It All Went Down. (Vancouver Province) |
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Global fraudster faces new charges TORONTO - Salim Damji pleaded guilty five years ago to defrauding up to 6,000 investors around the globe of some $78M by conning them into believing he owned the rights to a tooth-whitening spray that would make them millionaires. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: WFive: Instant White fraud |
Fraud suspect marks birthday in jail TORONTO - For Adam Spencer, today will be a birthday like no other. The former chief executive of an information technology company will spend the first few hours of his 26th birthday in a jail cell before he heads to Old City Hall court to try to get bail after being charged with defrauding about 100 investors of $8.4 million. (Toronto Star) |
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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 |
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Police close 1200 pirate outlets MOSCOW - Police set into motion large-scale operation against media pirates, having shut down a third of 3,600 outlets selling the counterfeit discs. The black market losses are estimated to reach at least 2 million rubles by this weekend. (Kommersant) |
More arrests at the Accounting Chamber The case of the Accounting Chamber |
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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 estafa case vs. couple from Canada |
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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) Failing grade on bogus colleges Jack of all trades, qualified in none List of Certified Institutions Chilliwack-headquartered World Trade University |
Government warned to keep eye on colleges Ombud urges career college crackdown Schools that make us look stupid Student visas used as ticket into Canada BC shells out cash, sees few benefits Another private BC college shut down Another private college under investigation Province orders probe of second university Controversial college forced to close Private educator faces new questions College head under investigation off board College faces probe after complaint over degrees Schools disciplined but names kept secret International students stir the BC economy |
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DENVER - Let's say you're playing poker and you need one more diamond for a flush. The dealer turns a card, reveals a diamond and you win the hand. Was it skill or luck? The answer is affecting the fates of people across the country accused of breaking anti-gambling laws. (LA Times) |
Casinos/Gambling political contributions US makes deal on Internet gambling US to compensate for online gambling ban WTO: US measures affecting cross border supply of gambling and betting services World Trade Organization 2007 report NETeller founder in conspiracy plea deal Bush signs US Port Security Act: UIGA exempt some US online gambling |
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The gap between Canada’s rich and poor is growing amid shifts in the job market and tax cuts for the wealthy, according to a study that shows income inequality at a record high among industrialized nations. (Globe & Mail) Why inequality keeps rising OECD Country Note: Canada .pdf How Canadians are really faring |
Canadian investors gouged by fees 15 years of growth means little List of countries by income equality Rules forcing people into destitution Welfare design counterproductive System forcing people into destitution NCW: Welfare incomes 2006 & 2007 Ontarians turning to food banks |
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Commitment to Development Index Center for Global Development, The best place to live Finland Worst places in Canada for winter |
Gulf in health between rich and poor Closing the gap in a generation Taxes main expense for families Child poverty soars in Ontario suburbs Gap between rich and poor growing Earning, income and shelter costs Global wealth 2011 .pdf |
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Rich get richer, poor get poorer Youth entering workforce earn less Tax cuts won't buy a cup of coffee Growing credit debt is crushing Fastest rise in food prices in 14 years Alberta rent aid program over spent Measuring housing affordability |
Homeowners hit with higher tax bills House paper millionaires double Non-refundable personal tax credits Working poor can't buy the basics Survey of household spending 2005 Hours worked and labour productivity Inequality in wealth 1984 - 2005 |
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OTTAWA - A year after it opened, opponents of Petrie Island Beach -- which cost Ottawa taxpayers more than $2 million and sparked much debate -- appear to be right: The water is too dirty. (Ottawa Citizen) PREVIOUS: Student detects dangers at the beach Ottawa major projects Petrie Island Park |
OMAHA, Neb. - An Omaha nun turned herself in to police on Wednesday. An arrest warrant issued for Sister Barbara Markey details how she allegedly used church money on gambling, gifts and travel. Markey ran the Omaha archdiocese's Family Life Office until she was fired in January. (KETV) |
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VANCOUVER - The price of widening Vancouver's Burrard Street Bridge has quadrupled - and not a shovelful of dirt has been moved. (Vancouver Province) Infrastructure 'near collapse' Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Most live in the southern part of the country |
Bombardier makes a pitch for piece rapid-transit Water tunnel delays push up costs Tests on bridges miss fatal flaws Montreal overpass closed to trucks Overpass tragedy leaves legacy of mistrust Sky isn't falling yet - but parts of our city are |
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Bridge collapse seen as warning 21 more overpasses need repairs Lack of money delayed overpass repair: official Overpass collapse not transport department's fault Transport Quebec, contractor blame each other Bernard company installed faulty steel rods Daisy chain of contractors hired for overpass |
Que. to ban heavy trucks on bridges, overpasses Number of structures under review is chilling Ministry knew bars were improperly placed Parts of Quebec bridge fall off Misplaced rebar caused overpass collapse: report Concrete quality 'not the issue' Bridge was ticking time bomb, prof says Laval roadway was crumbling before tragedy Failure highlights aging infrastructure 5 killed in Quebec overpass collapse |
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Firms violated federal loan rules OTTAWA - A government-commissioned audit indicates more than a third of the companies granted loans by the much-maligned Technology Partnerships Canada scheme violated the terms of the financing. (CanWest) |
Run Coporate Welfare off the road |
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Private charges laid over sewage treatment VANCOUVER - A coalition of environmental organizations has filed a private prosecution against the Greater Vancouver Regional District and the provincial government, accusing them of allowing toxic sewage to be pumped into Burrard Inlet. (CBC) PREVIOUS: Vancouver sewage under fire Province orders sewage remedy 'You can't keep dumping' |
The Canadian Forces has determined the family of a soldier who was killed during a 1992 training exercise doesn't deserve financial compensation for their suffering, despite a scathing report last year that blasted the military for putting the man's wife and daughters through an emotional roller-coaster of "inattention and insensitivity." (Ottawa Citizen) MORE: Canadian Forces 'betrayed' slain soldier's family |
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EDMONTON - Michael Ritter, Alberta's former chief parliamentary counsel, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for theft of $10.5 million US and fraud in a massive pyramid scheme in the US. (Edmonton Journal) |
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Across India, an estimated 30,000 young women live to regret marriages that have left them alone, miserable and consumed with shame. They married Indian men living overseas in affluent countries -- including many from Canada -- known as Non-Resident Indians. (Province Series) |
Jail for attack on daughter-in-law Holiday wives, abandoned brides & grooms Wanted - A few good snoops to spy |
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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) |
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RCMP accuse former senior exec of $28M fraud HAMILTON - The RCMP have charged a former senior executive of Philip Services Corp. with defrauding the recycler and environmental services company of about $28M, the latest twist for the former Hamilton firm that has been embroiled for years in accounting fraud allegations. (CTV) |
Statscan: Deposits in foreign tax havens up 700% Canadian assets held in offshore financial centres - many of them in the Caribbean and regarded as tax havens - increased eight-fold between 1990 and 2003, to $88B from $11B, the agency said. (CTV) Study: Canadian direct investment in offshore financial centers |
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