In recent days, Republican Senator Susan Collins and her campaign are facing bribery allegations. According to a ProPublica report, in 2019, the head of Collins’s super PAC, Scott Reed, met with high-level executives at a Hawaiian defense contractor called Navatek to boost fundraising for the campaign. Collins had a history with Navatek, having awarded it a multimillion-dollar naval research contract in Maine. During the meeting, Reed and Navatek CEO Martin Kao agreed to a deal in which Collins would award more federal contracts to Navatek in exchange for a $150,000 check to the Collins super PAC. According to a report in The New York Times in 2022, Kao pleaded guilty to allegations of bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. However, the FBI quietly dropped the investigation last year, which is unsurprising given the current political climate. It is unclear how this affects Collins, but this certainly smells like bribery.
PSG President Al-Khelaifi Facing Corruption Allegations.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) president is facing potential corruption allegations due to a potential conflict of interest. In addition to owning PSG, Al-Khelaifi owns broadcasting giant beIN Sports. According to a report in AFP, Al-Khelaifi sat in on the meeting to discuss beIN’s £100 million bid for French Ligue 1 rights, while he is the current chairman of the beIN board. According to a Reuters article, sources close to Al-Khelaifi say that, despite allegations, he has recused himself from all business involving beIN and Ligue 1. It is unclear what will happen next, but a preliminary investigation does not mean that any wrongdoing has been committed.
Members of LA Homeless Charities Arrested for Embezzlement.
Today, law enforcement officials arrested several members of two separate Los Angeles homeless charities. According to a report in The Guardian, Michael Young, the founder of Home at Last, and Lakiya Malone, an employee of another group called Special Service for Groups, were detained by the FBI. Young is alleged to have embezzled $7.5 million in federal funds to open a nightclub, bingo hall, and restaurant. Malone is charged with taking $180,000 in bribes from the director of yet another homeless shelter. The Department of Justice is also seeking charges against a third man, Donye Marshall, the CEO of another organization called Big Blue Umbrella. Marshall allegedly obtained $1.2 million in federal funds under pretenses and used the money to pay off credit card debt, bail bonds, and to buy a Sony PlayStation and video games. It is unclear whether any of this is linked, but there is clearly a major governance issue at LA-based homeless charities.
Ukrainian Chief Prosecutor Resigns in Wake of Call Center Allegations.
On Monday, Ukraine’s chief prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko stepped down from his position after being charged with Money Laundering. According to a report by the BBC, Individuals within Kravchenko’s office, but (possibly) not Kravchenko himself, received money in return for protecting call centers running phone scams. The officials then spent the money on luxury items such as cars and jewelry. According to a report in the Guardian, these call centers employed people to pose as law enforcement, bank employees, and investment advisors, and to convince victims to transfer their life savings to cryptocurrency wallets. Kravchenko was not at his home in Lviv, which suggests he might have fled and indicates a level of guilt.
Mr. Paz’s eventful week in La Paz.
The current president of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, has been facing scrutiny on multiple fronts. According to a report in the Washington Post, Paz, who only took office two weeks abruptly scraped long standing fuel subsidies put in place by the previous left wing government. On top of that, the government bought a batch of contaminated gasoline, which damaged thousands of cars. The upshot of that was massive street demonstrations, with protesters wielding sticks of dynamite. Away from the protests, Paz had to fire his economic minister after allegations emerged that he failed to declare his true income when purchasing a luxury car. However, all of that pales in comparison to the travails of Paz’s informal Argentine advisor, Fernando Cerimedo, whose former lover, a Bolivian lawyer, Nadia Beller, was shot but thankfully survived—from her hospital bed, Beller accused Cerimedo of ordering her killing to silence her from making allegations of widespread corruption in the Paz government. Needless to say, it’s been a week full of explosive allegations in La Paz.
Mayor of Lawrence, MA, Arrested on Fraud and Money Laundering Charges.
On Friday, the mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was arrested on fraud and money laundering charges. According to an AP report, Brian DePena is accused of using a $1.5 million COVID-19 pandemic loan intended for his tire business for personal use. DePena is accused of funneling the money to pay off mortgages on his house and to fund his mayoral campaign. On Friday, DePena was released on bail on the condition that he surrenders his passport and does not apply for any more loans without approval from the court. It is unclear what will happen next; however, I have a feeling that there may need to be another mayoral election in Lawrence soon.
Former Ukrainian Ambassador Resigns After Corruption Allegations.
Several days ago, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna, resigned after allegations emerged that she concealed ownership of two apartments. According to a report in Euronews.com, Stefanishyna failed to declare on official government forms that she owned two luxury apartments in Kyiv, as well as undeclared cash that she used to pay for airfare. According to another report in Reuters, the total sum of undeclared assets is $310,000. According to investigators from NABU (the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption organization), Stefanishyna earned the equivalent of $ 89,000 between 2024 and 2025, so clearly something does not add up. She also failed to declare the use of a Mercedes SUV that reportedly belonged to one of her aides. It is unclear what will happen next, but clearly Stefanishyna won’t be continuing her diplomatic career anytime soon.
Endemic Corruption Plagues Iraqi Society.
Iraq, like many places around the world, is plagued by endemic corruption. Recently, a major scandal has broken out in the Iraqi oil industry. Two weeks ago, according to a report by CBS News, Iraqi authorities seized 825 pounds of gold and a large quantity of cash that was connected to the Ministry of Oil. Last Thursday, $10.6 million in cash was recovered from a rainwater drainage pit which was reportedly linked to the oil ministry. According to a report in Al Jazeera, these events are closely linked to the arrest of the former deputy oil minister Adnan Al Jumaili, who embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars from the oil ministry and enriched himself by investing in real estate and buying vehicles and gold jewelry in large quantities. While this is an admirable start, new Prime Minister Ali Faleh Ali-Zaidi has quite a job on his hands to eradicate the widespread corruption that has plagued Iraqi society.
Former Indonesian Anti-Corruption Prosecutor arrested on Money Laundering Charges.
Earlier this week, the former Indonesian anti-corruption prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah was arrested on money laundering charges after 94 kilograms of gold bars and a large quantity of cash were found at the home. Further complicating an already murky situation was the fact that, according to a report in the South China Morning Post, the man who managed Adriansyah’s household, who was known only as Sutrimo, was found dead in unclear circumstances on Monday. Apparently, Sutrimo was found on the grounds of the Mordent beauty clinic in South Jakarta unconscious, and then was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital. On top of that, Adriansyah’s lawyer, the colorfully named Hotman Paris Hutapea, stepped down to focus on his recovery from spinal surgery. Since Adriansyah was only recently arrested, it is unclear what will happen next.
Spanish Prime Minister Embroiled in Ever-Widening Corruption Scandal.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been embroiled in an ever-expanding corruption scandal. According to a report in the Guardian, Sanchez’s younger brother David is facing allegations of influence and misuse of public office in a trial that started today. The specific allegation is that in 2017, when his brother was the head of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), but not yet the Prime Minister, David Sanchez, who is a music composer, was given a job as the music coordinator for a group of public music schools in the southwestern Spanish province of Badajoz. On top of that, Sanchez’s wife, Begona Sanchez, is facing allegations that she used her influence to secure a position at Madrid’s Complutense University and to use her husband’s connections to further her own career. Sanchez’s predecessor and close ally is also facing a massive corruption scandal involving the £46 million government bailout of Plus Ultra, a Spanish airline with reported links to Venezuela. It is unclear what will happen next, but there are already several other corruption scandals involving Sanchez either directly or indirectly, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he is removed from power one way or another.
