Last week, during a meeting with President Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán successfully secured an exemption from sanctions regarding the purchase of Russian oil. According to a report in Sky News, Orban made the argument that, as Hungary is a landlocked country, the easiest method for them to get oil and natural gas is through the Turkstream and Druzhba pipelines, respectively. Despite the Trump administration instituting sanctions on two major Russian oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, it is no surprise that he was willing to help a fellow right-wing populist, Orban. Orban will also be grateful for this show of support because he is facing a fierce challenge in next year’s election in the form of upstart opposition candidate Peter Magyar. Finally, considering that Hungary is about to purchase U.S Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) with the contracts being estimated at around $600 million, someone will surely “benefit” from this transaction.
Category: Civil Society
Corruption at the Israeli Labor Union.
Yesterday, the Israelis detained several high-ranking members of Histadrut, the umbrella organization of several Israeli labor unions. According to a report in the Times of Israel, many high-ranking officials, including the chair of the organization, Arnon Bar-David, have been accused of crimes ranging from Bribery, Fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and tax offenses. Many of the suspects arrested are the heads of local authorities and are alleged to have accepted bribes from prominent Israeli businesspeople in exchange for promoting their business interests. One particular case of interest is that of Ezra Gabay, the head of Gabay Insurance Agency, who allegedly used his influence to secure jobs in local authorities in exchange for the individuals in those positions signing up for insurance policies with his company. I have a feeling that this scandal will have some legs and that some relatively high-level figures in the Israeli government may have some involvement.
Nine Chinese Generals Facing Corruption Probe.
On Friday, the Chinese government expelled nine high-ranking generals from its military. According to a report in the BBC, the highest-ranking general that was sacked was He Weidong, who was the vice chair of the Central Military Commission (CMC); however, the political commissars of both the army and navy were also sacked. All of these men are alleged to have misappropriated large sums of money from the military for their own personal use. According to a reportin CNN, He was also a member of the Politburo, thus he would have very close ties to Xi. It is unclear what will happen to their generals, but it wouldn’t surprise me if one of these generals had a “heart attack in a swimming pool” (a Chinese saying referring to when there is a death under mysterious circumstances).
Update on Filipino Corruption.
A month ago, I wrote an article on widespread protests in the Philippines concerning government corruption related to flood defenses. According to a report in The Guardian, Filipino citizens are paying the price for inadequate flood defense. An example of this is a woman who was a health worker in the province of Bulacan in the north of the country who, while trying to get to work, grabbed hold of a metal pole and was electrocuted to death, because the pole was connected to a live wire and was submerged in flood waters. Despite the Filipino government spending upwards of £7 billion on flood defense projects, 421 projects have been identified as non-existent, meaning they were reported as completed, but no work was actually done. According to a report in the Inquirer (the leading newspaper in the Philippines), the majority of Filipinos feel that corruption is widespread and endemic. This is a sad state of affairs that I don’t see changing soon, particularly given the Marcos family history.
Milei Ally Resigns after Bribery Allegations.
Earlier this week, a close ally of Argentine President Javier Milei resigned due to bribery allegations. Jose Luis Espert, a member of Argentina’s lower house of government, known as the Chamber of Deputies, is alleged to have close ties to Argentine businessman Frederico Andres Machado, better known as Fred. Espert may have accepted a two-hundred-thousand-dollar bribe from Machado related to the upcoming Argentine congressional election, according to a report from a website called the Court House News detailing how it is caught up in a sprawling case involving cocaine being smuggled on board airplanes owned by clients who have close links to various South American drug cartels. On top of that, he is also alleged to have been involved in a $550 million Ponzi scheme that involved the sale of up to 100 fake airplanes. Espert claims he thought the money was coming from Machado’s Guatemalan mining company, which, considering Machado’s other business “ventures,” I find hard to believe.
Former Illinois House Speaker Madigan to Serve Time in Prison during Appeal.
Michael Madigan, the longest-serving democratic speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, will have to begin serving his seven-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption and bribery while he appeals. According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Madigan helped advance the political career of City Councilman Danny Solis in exchange for Solis drumming up business for Madigan’s law firm. Additionally, according to a report in Capitol News Illinois, Madigan was prominently involved in a wide-ranging and complex scheme involving the local branch of AT&T and the construction of an apartment complex, which was marked by a shady contract despite no work being completed. This is quite the fall from grace for someone who has been deeply involved in Illinois politics for decades. I’m shocked that, in 2025, Chicago could still be plagued by political corruption in the Democratic Party.
Sarkozy Sentenced in Libyan Campaign Case.
Last week, Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison for corruption. Two years ago, Sarkozy was found guilty of accepting millions of euros from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. According to a report in the BBC, Sarkozy will spend time in prison even if he launches an appeal. He will also have to pay a fine of €100,000. According to a report in The London Times, Sarkozy will reject any pardon from the French government because that would suggest that Sarkozy would have to admit guilt in accepting money from the Libyan government. No matter what happens in the future, the fact that a former French president will spend time behind bars is astonishing.
Albanian Government Turns to AI to Fight Corruption.
Several weeks ago, the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced a new minister to fight corruption; her name is Diella (Albanian for “sun”). Typically, this would be an oversized news item; however, in the case of Diella, she isn’t a human being, she is an AI chatbot. According to a report in The Washington Post, while this hire is seen as a PR stunt mainly because, according to the Albanian constitution, members of the cabinet must be human, there is hope that Diella can streamline and clean up the corruption-prone government procurement system. According to Transparency International, Albania has a serious problem with corruption, as indicated by its Corruption Perceptions Index, which rates countries on a scale from 0 to 100 (0 being the lowest and 100 being the highest). Albania is rated 42, indicating that it has considerable work to do to improve its performance. While it is admirable to see a country like Albania attempt to tackle its corruption problem, I have my doubts about whether an AI chatbot will have a lasting positive impact.
Protests Erupt in the Philippines Over Flood Defense Corruption.
In recent days, several protests have erupted over allegations of corruption in the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). According to a report by France 24, 30 members of the Filipino parliament and the DPWH have been alleged to have taken bribes from construction firms. Starting in 2023 and continuing to the present day, the Philippine Department of Finance has estimated that the Philippine economy has lost approximately 118.5 billion Philippine pesos (equivalent to about $2 billion) due to bribery surrounding flood defense projects. Filipino President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr has backed the anti-corruption protests and stated that none of his allies would escape justice if they were found to have committed crimes. However, despite this pledge, I have my doubts because the Marcos name is known worldwide as a byword for extreme corruption.
19 People Killed in Nepal Over Corruption and Social Media Protests.
Today, 19 people were killed in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, during protests triggered by a ban on social media and frustration over corruption. According to a report in the New York Times, these protests are the most sustained in recent memory, with both opposition politicians as well as some members of the ruling communist party calling for the prime minister KP Sharma Oli to step down. The primary catalyst for the protests was a ban on all social media platforms that include, but are not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The government’s rationale for taking these actions is that social media is not conducive to “social harmony”. According to a report in Reuters, the protestors are also frustrated at what they see as a lack of action on tackling endemic corruption in Nepalese society. While it is admirable to see a government having concerns about the dangers that social media can pose, instituting an all-out ban clearly has not been the best course of action.
Crispin Corruption Report 