Bucharest mayor taken into custody in corruption probe
The mayor of Romania’s capital Bucharest was taken into custody on Saturday night on suspicion of taking kickbacks on municipal tenders, anti-corruption officials said. Mayor Sorin Oprescu is accused of being among a group of officials that demanded a share in the profits made by companies that won contracts with the city. – France24.com
The $1bn hole in Afghanistan’s refugee system
The United States has allocated $950-million for assisting Afghan refugees and returnees, but much of that money has been lost to corruption while those in need remain in dire conditions. That’s just one finding in a scathing report released by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which has been tasked by Congress with auditing and investigating the effectiveness of $110 billion directed to Afghanistan for relief and reconstruction projects since 2002. – Irin News
Egypt’s agriculture minister arrested after resignation
Egyptian authorities on Monday arrested the country’s agriculture minister over corruption allegations, security sources said, just after his resignation was announced. The prime minister’s office released a statement earlier in the day saying Salah El Din Mahmoud Helal’s resignation had been accepted on the instruction of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. – Reuters
Russian activists fight municipal corruption with ‘Mortal Kombat’-style website
Anti-corruption activists from Komanda 29 (“Team 29″), a group of Russian lawyers and journalists dedicated to promoting transparency, came up with an ingenious way to draw attention to their latest project centered on court hearings against local authorities and anti-corruption investigations. Together with Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, Komanda 29 designed a website called “MunKombat” or “Municipal Kombat.” – Global Voices Online
Egyptian student becomes anti-corruption icon
Softly spoken schoolgirl Mariam Malak has become an unlikely symbol of the fight against corruption in Egypt after scoring the sum total of zero in her final exams. The 19-year-old top student, a teacher’s daughter in a small village in the poor southern province of Minya, dreams of becoming a doctor like her two brothers. – France24.com
Ghana judges to be investigated over corruption allegations
Ghana’s judicial council is to start an inquiry into corruption in the judiciary after a two-year investigation by a top journalist. Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s investigation alleges that 34 judges have taken bribes and extorted money. – BBC.com
Malaysia’s badly timed political scandal
The storm sweeping over emerging markets has hit Malaysia at an especially fraught moment, with Prime Minister Najib Razak embroiled in a $700-million funding scandal. The country’s economic difficulties are bad enough by themselves. The political turmoil makes them all the harder to deal with. – Bloombergview.com
Nigeria’s political golden boy facing allegations of corruption
Once hailed as “the man who tamed Nigeria’s most lawless city”, Babatunde Fashola has now found himself at the centre of a corruption scandal that threatens to mar the new government’s attempts to present a clean image. – Ethixbase.com
Caesars Palace pays $8-million penalty for compliance ‘blind spot’
The US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said on Tuesday that the owner of Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas will pay an $8-million civil penalty for “willful and repeated violations” of the anti- money laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act. – FCPA Blog
Prince Ali says Fifa leaders knew of corruption
Prince Ali bin al Hussein, who led a challenge against Sepp Blatter this year, hit out on Monday at Fifa leaders links to corruption ahead of his entry into the Fifa presidential race. The Jordanian prince was expected to declare his candidacy on Wednesday in Amman, according to sources close to the former Fifa vice president. Standing as a reform candidate the prince lost to Blatter in an election in May, just two days after the arrest of seven Fifa officials in Zurich. – Ethixbase.com
