News and commentary about white-collar crime, enforcement, and compliance
Harry Cassin
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Andy Spalding
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Bill Steinman
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Richard L. Cassin
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Julie DiMauro
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Thomas Fox
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Marc Alain Bohn
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Bill Waite
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Shruti J. Shah
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Russell A. Stamets
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Richard Bistrong
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Eric Carlson
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A woman who helped arrange adoptions for an Ohio-based agency pleaded guilty last week to bribing court officials in Uganda and defrauding adoptive parents and the U.S. State Department.
Robin Longoria, 58, of Mansfield, Texas, pleaded guilty in federal court in Ohio to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and to commit wire and visa fraud. … Continue Reading
Chi Ping Patrick Ho (aka Patrick Ho)The former Hong Kong home secretary indicted in the United States for allegedly bribing Africa officials on behalf of a Chinese energy company joined an anti-corruption NGO in Hong Kong last year.… Continue Reading
Former Hong Kong home secretary Patrick HoThe Chinese energy company that U.S. prosecutors say benefited from millions of dollars in bribes allegedly paid to officials in Africa has denied that it was involved in any way with the corruption.… Continue Reading
The DOJ unsealed a criminal complaint Monday charging the head of a Hong Kong-based NGO and the former foreign minister of Senegal with bribing high-level officials in Chad and Uganda to help a Chinese oil and gas company.… Continue Reading
E-government to business (G2B) such as e-procurement, e-tax filing and e-sourcing are often cited as being useful to reduce interface between companies and government officials and thus the scope for discretionary decisions, thereby diminishing the opportunities for bribery.… Continue Reading
Two senior managers of the China Roads and Bridge Construction Company were arrested in Kenya for allegedly giving bribes to highway authority officials to cover up the use of overloaded trucks.… Continue Reading
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa witness the signing of the Colombo Port City Project in September 2014 (Image courtesy of CCC)Sri Lanka this month became the latest of at least five countries to shut down huge China-backed infrastructure and telecoms projects tainted by allegations of corruption.… Continue Reading
Street view in Kampala, Uganda (Image courtesy of Wikipedia)Freddie Kwiringira runs a safari business in Uganda. He has strong words about the local kleptocrats and the damage they’re doing.
Writing in Uganda’s New Vision, the plain-speaking Kwiringira said: “It is usual in Uganda to find a public servant working in a hospital, with over ten houses, farms, properties abroad, and children studying in London, USA.… Continue Reading
Anti-corruption agencies in the countries of the East African Community are hoping to finalize a regional protocol to fight corruption but differences among member states are holding up the effort.
The signing of the East African Community Protocol on Preventing and Combating Corruption has been delayed mainly over whether the member states — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda — will give prosecutorial powers to their respective anti-corruption agencies, the East African reported.
Freedom House said in its latest report that 54 countries showed overall declines in political rights and civil liberties, compared with 40 that showed gains.
“For the eighth consecutive year, Freedom in the World recorded more declines in democracy worldwide than gains,” Freedom House said.… Continue Reading
In the prior post, I talked about steps governments in East Africa can take to lift the natural resource curse that plagues the region. Let’s look now at how extractive companies and foreign governments can also help make life better for millions of people.… Continue Reading
There’s no silver bullet to overcome the natural resource curse that haunts much of the globe. But countries in East Africa, the region I am most familiar with, can take several practical and affordable steps to exploit resources in ways that will benefit citizens and put realistic development goals within reach.… Continue Reading