Last weekend, a series of Anti-Corruption protests erupted in Albania’s capital, Tirana. Albania has been trying to innovate in its fight against endemic corruption. According to a report in Al-Jazeera, police used water cannons and tear gas against the protestors, while in return the protesters lobbed Molotov Cocktails at the police. The protestors aim to force Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign. According to a report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Albanian Anti-Corruption organization known as SPAK opened criminal proceedings against Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku. She was allegedly interfering in public procurement processes for the construction of the Llogara Tunnel in Southern Albania to favor certain companies. It is unclear whether or not the prime minister or the deputy prime minister will ever face justice.
Category: Civil Society
Former Ukrainian Minister Arrested at Border.
Earlier this week, the former Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko was arrested at the Ukrainian border attempting to flee the country. Haluschenko is deeply involved in the growing Ukrainian energy scandal, which has also implicated several of President Zelensky’s closest advisors. According to a report in the Washington Post, Haluschenko was arrested on a train at the Ukrainian-Polish border and charged with money laundering and participation in a criminal organization. This case is particularly relevant because Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been severely impacted by relentless Russian bombing. This story is far from being done. I have a feeling that many more high-profile names will be implicated.
Police Corruption Probe Rocks Toronto.
(Disclaimer: This is the Crispin Corruption Report’s 200th blog post.)
Earlier this week, several Toronto police officers were arrested on several corruption-related charges. According to a report in the BBC, an investigation was triggered when an allegation emerged that police officers attempted to murder a prison officer at his house in May of last year. As the investigation proceeded, it came to light that several of the accused officers were also in the business of trafficking Cannabis and Fentanyl. At the center of the case was Constable Timothy Barnhardt, according to a report in the New York Times. Barnhardt allegedly obtained the prison officer’s address from the internal police database. He also illegally obtained the addresses of businesses that were later robbed or extorted by organized criminal elements in Toronto. This appears to be a wide-ranging scandal that isn’t going to end anytime soon.
Mexican Security Chief Tangled in Complex Cartel Web.
(Note: The following events detailed in this article occurred last year, going to 2019. This is also a very complex story.)
Back in 2019, a gentleman named Trindad Alberto de la Cruz Miranda (otherwise known as El Pelon de Playas, translated as “the bald man of the beaches”) was arrested. At the time, he was the head of the notorious Los Zetas cartel in the state of Tabasco in Southeast Mexico. Immediately, the new secretary of security in Tabasco, Hernan Bermudez, was targeted by members of Los Zetas. According to a report in El País, Bermúdez was nominated to the post by Tabasco governor Adán Augusto López. Not long after Bermudez took over as Security chief, it emerged that he was the head of La Barredora, a regional branch of the New Generation cartel based in the state of Jalisco.
On December 4th, 2020, the criminal scene in Tabasco shifted dramatically when two gentlemen known by their aliases as Pantera (Panther) and Toro (Bull), who were involved in widespread stealing of fuel (a common criminal pursuit in Tabasco), executed someone who went by the Alias Kalimba, who had close ties to Los Zetas. Consequently, Pantera and Toro assumed Kalimba’s old fuel smuggling territory. Shortly after that, in 2021, the Mexican Ministry of Defense finally named Bermudez as the head of a massive criminal enterprise. As of September 2025, there was a report from the AP that Bermudez fled to Paraguay with the intention of setting up a criminal enterprise there. However, shortly after he arrived, he was arrested and extradited to Mexico to face charges of criminal association, extortion, and kidnapping. If you have to go to the police in Mexico, you have two problems.
Top Costa Rican Court Attempts to Strip President of Immunity.
(Disclaimer: This article is about events that occurred last summer.)
Back in July of last year, Costa Rica’s top court attempted to strip President Rodrigo Chaves of his presidential Immunity. According to a report in the AP, Chaves tried to induce a video producer who had won a contract awarded by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to give $32,000 from that contract to former Chaves campaign advisor. According to a report by France 24, the culture minister, Jorge Rodriguez, may also be involved, and the attorney general has requested that his immunity be revoked as well. Chaves has accused the Costa Rican Supreme Court, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and Congress of stifling the policy program. Subsequently, this became moot, as in September of last year, the congress, which needed a supermajority of 38 votes to revoke his immunity, received only 34.
Court Sentences Seven in Healthcare Fraud Scandal.
On Monday, a judge in the Dominican Republic sentenced seven government officials to prison in a massive healthcare scandal. According to a report in the AP, Santiago Hazim Albainy, the executive director of the national health insurance agency, accepted $31 million in bribes. Albainy ran and took bribes from representatives of insurance companies in exchange for made-up contracts detailing services provided to people who turned out to be deceased. Three others were sentenced on Monday, including a prominent businessman and two private health insurance executives. These executives are to be held under house arrest for a year.
Documentary Film Exposes Judicial Corruption in Romania.
Last week, a documentary exposing judicial corruption in Romania sparked widespread protests. According to a report in Al Jazeera, these protests have been going on for five days. The documentary titled Captured Justice alleges that prosecutors pursuing anti-corruption efforts are thwarted by their superiors. Then those higher-ranking judges and civil servants embezzle millions of Leu (the Romanian currency) from government contracts. Romania is not the first European country to face anti-corruption protests; they have disrupted both Ukraine and Bulgaria. As with many of these situations, it is unclear what will happen next. Although it is encouraging to see the Romanian President, Nicusor Dan, acknowledging that change must occur.
A Daughter of Former President Zuma is involved in Russian Recruitment Scheme.
Last week, one of Former South African president Jacob Zuma’s daughters (Zuma has twenty children from six wives) was implicated in a scheme to recruit mercenaries for the Russian Army. According to a report in Al Jazeera, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a member of her father’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party since 2024, is alleged to have forced 17 South African men to enlist for military service with a Russian private military contractor (PMC). One of the more mind-boggling elements of this story is that, allegedly, eight of the seventeen men recruited were members of Zuma’s own family. Also, these claims emerged only after an affidavit was filed against her by her own half sister, Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma Mncube. Shortly after these claims, Zuma Sambudla resigned as an MP and was replaced by her half-sister, Brumelda Zuma. It is unclear what will happen next, but clearly, the political and family dynamics of the Zumas are quite complex.
Anti-Corruption Protests Rock Bulgaria.
Yesterday, a string of massive anti-corruption protests erupted across Bulgaria, including the capital, Sofia. This is the latest in a string of anti-corruption efforts worldwide. According to a report by Radio Free Europe, the central focus of protests is massive tax hikes in the most recent government budget. Bulgarian citizens are deeply unhappy that, according to Transparency International, Bulgaria is the second-most-corrupt country in the European Union. It is unclear what will happen next, but sentiment towards the prime minister, Boyko Borisov is at an all-time low.
Prime Minister Netanyahu Requests a Pardon in Corruption Trial.
This morning, reports from Israel suggest that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally requested a pardon in his long-running corruption trial. According to a report in CNN, Netanyahu feels that it is in the “public’s interest” for him to receive a pardon. The president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has sole authority to issue pardons, so Netanyahu cannot pardon himself. According to a report in Reuters, the prominent opposition leader Yair Lapid should only be pardoned if he admits guilt and expresses remorse for his actions. It is unclear what will happen next, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Herzog, a close ally of Netanyahu, grants him a pardon.
Crispin Corruption Report 