The Polish Government announced that it was seeking the extradition of its former justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, from Hungary to the U.S According to a report in The Guardian, Ziobro is facing allegations of diverting funds meant to go towards victims of crime to his own personal interests. In particular, Ziobro is accused of buying the controversial Israeli software Pegasus to listen in on his political opponents. Ziobro was being sheltered in Hungary by the now former president Viktor Orban. It is an open question whether Ziobro will actually face justice back in Poland.
Category: Civil Society
Cherfilus-McCormick Resigns Before Congressional Investigation.
Last week, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democratic representative from Florida, resigned before an investigation into her allegedly embezzling $5 million in disaster relief funds to fund her 2021 Congressional campaign. According to a report in the New York Times, McCormick used the five million from FEMA, which was supposed to help register people for vaccines during COVID. Instead, she used most of the money to fund her campaign and the rest for personal use. Despite resigning from Congress, she is still facing federal criminal charges and could spend up to 53 years in prison. It is unclear what will happen next, but it is not a great look for the democrats, who are trying to highlight corruption on the other side of the aisle.
Orban’s defeat continues to Cause Political Ripples Both Domestically and internationally.
On Sunday, Viktor Orban, who had been Prime Minister of Hungary for 16 years, was heavily defeated by the upstart candidate Peter Magyar. Orban’s Fidesz party was reduced to only 55 seats in the 199-seat Parliament, allowing Magyar’s Tisza to have a supermajority to hopefully undo the most extreme excesses of the Orban era. According to a report in the Guardian, Hungarians were fed up with the stagnant economy and woeful healthcare and education systems that have been neglected for far too long. As for Peter Magyar, he is an interesting figure in Hungarian politics. He was an Orbán loyalist for many years, but he broke with the government over a scandal relating to the pardoning of a government official who covered up years of abuse at a state-run children’s home. According to a report by PBS, Magyar wants parliament to transfer power on May 5th; whether that happens is up for debate.
Former Ghana Finance Minister Bids for Permanent Residence in the U.S.
The former Ghanaian finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, who is facing corruption charges back in Ghana, is attempting to gain permanent residency in the United States. According to a report by the website Semafor, Ofori-Atta was detained by ICE agents in January for overstaying his visa. During Ofori-Atta’s tenure, he was accused of awarding public contracts to Databank, a company he co-founded, and of allegedly misusing state funds. As of right now, the Ghanaian government is pursuing extradition proceedings against Ofori Atta. Who knows what will happen next, but somehow I wouldn’t be surprised if Ofori-Atta gets his freedom in this country, but at a price.
Tensions Grow Between Ukraine and Hungary.
Tensions between Hungary and Ukraine have increased today. This is due to Hungarian authorities seizing $90 million in funds from Ukraine’s state savings bank Oschadbank, as well as 9 KGs of gold. According to a report in the BBC, the money and gold were destined for Austria, which has been a regular occurrence since the start of the war. However, the Hungarian authorities stated that this shipment was seized due to money-laundering concerns. The six Ukrainian bank workers who were accompanying the shipment were released today after successful diplomatic negotiations between the two countries. It seems rich from Hungary to claim that this shipment of money could have been involved in money laundering; Hungary isn’t exactly known as a paragon for anti-corruption. It seems much more likely that Orban, who is facing a tricky election next month, is trying to whip up anti-Ukrainian sentiment for his own political gains.
Anti-Corruption Protests Erupt in Albania.
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.
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.
Crispin Corruption Report 