Over the weekend, former high-ranking Cardinal Angelo Becciu was found guilty of Embezzlement and Fraud by a criminal court in the Vatican and sentenced to five and a half years in prison. According to a Reuters report, the trial centered on the purchase of a building in London formally by the department store Harrods for £350 million in 2013 through an Italian financier named Raffaele Mincione, while Becciu was the second highest ranking member of the Secretariat of state. According to a report by the CBC, Minicione was also found guilty of embezzling funds from the Vatican. In 2018, with Becciu in another position within the Vatican, the Secretariat attempted to turn to another financier, Gianluigi Torzi, who himself fleeced the Vatican out of millions and was also found guilty of fraud and embezzlement. Eventually, the Vatican took a £140 million loss on the entire investment. No one told Becciu that making a habit out of embezzlement is a bad idea.
Category: Corruption
EU Approves Membership Talks with Ukraine.
Yesterday, the EU approved membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova. While this is undeniably a big step for Ukraine as a country, it is not certain that Ukraine will be accepted into the bloc. According to a report in The Guardian, Hungarian President Viktor Orban, a well-known ally of Russia and President Putin, is threatening to hold up the process in any way possible. It is entirely possible that Orban’s sole goal was to get the EU to release 10 billion Euros from the EU budget. Ukraine has a lot of work to do before it can be accepted into the bloc. According to an article in Reuters, Ukraine must continue to clean up its judicial system and hire more anti-corruption professionals. It will be a long road, but based on its recent track record, Ukraine is committed to joining the EU despite the ongoing conflict with Russia.
An Update on Michelle Mone.
Recently, it has emerged that Baroness Michelle Mone is facing a criminal investigation concerning the PPE Medpro scandal. According to a report in The Guardian, Mone and her husband, businessman Douglas Barrowman, are facing allegations of conspiracy to defraud, fraud by false representation, and bribery brought by the National Crime Agency (NCA), Britain’s version of the FBI. For the last several years, Mone and Barrowman have denied any involvement in profiting off the lucrative government contracts awarded to PPE Medpro. According to an article in the BBC, Mone regrets not informing the public of her role in the company. However, she made this apology in a documentary funded by PPE Medpro. This all seems dodgy to me, and I don’t see the NCA putting much stock in it, either.
The State of Corruption in Moldova.
(Disclaimer: Yesterday, I attended an event at the Brookings Institute where the Justice Minister of Moldova spoke about the country’s Anti-Corruption efforts).
Moldova borders Ukraine in Eastern Europe, and Russia is viewed as its sphere of influence due to Moldova being part of the Soviet Union. According to the Anti-Corruption Resource Center, Moldova is a country that, like many in the region, has a strong oligarchy where corruption and bribery are prevalent. Despite this, in 2021, the election of Maia Sandu and the Party of Action & Solidarity (PAS) signaled a new era of commitment to anti-corruption initiatives. An article by the Center For Security and International Studies states that due to the conflict in Ukraine, Moldova has applied for membership to the EU despite opening up to foreign investors and instituting judicial reforms. While these are encouraging steps to combat corrupt influences, it appears that, like Ukraine, Moldova is trying to make strides in eradicating corruption.
Santos Expelled from the House of Representatives.
On Friday, George Santos, the scandal-ridden member of the House of Representatives from New York, was finally expelled. Santos is facing numerous fraud charges that made his position untenable. According to a report in The Guardian, the vote to expel Santos was 311 for expulsion and 114 against. One hundred ten members of his party voted to remove him, which shows that he was seen as a liability within the party. According to a report in Reuters, he is only the sixth member of the House of Representatives expelled from the House in history. Despite all of the outcry over Santos, he still has some supporters. One in particular left a flower bouquet outside his recently vacated office.
Two High-Ranking Cyber Security Officials Sacked in Ukraine.
Today, two high-ranking officials in the Ukrainian government’s cyber security department were fired. According to a report in Reuters, Yurii Shchyhol and Viktor Zhora, the head and deputy head of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP), were sacked due to allegations of their role in a plot to embezzle $1.72 million between 2020 and 2022. According to a report in US news, Shchyhol and Zhora are accused of buying software at increased prices from two companies they allegedly ran. The procurement process for the software program was very secretive and possibly rigged in favor of Shchyhol and Zhora. Ukraine is making strides in confronting corruption, but there is a long way to go.
Santos Announces That He Will Not Run for Re-election.
Today, representative George Santos has announced that he will not run for re-election after an ethics report ruled that Santos was involved in criminal schemes with the goal of personal financial enrichment. According to an article in the Washington Post, Santos has railed against the report, calling it a “disgusting politicized smear.” According to a report in the Guardian, the ethics committee found a clear pattern of behavior of fraud that emerged during Santos’s time in the house and that he should be removed one way or another. In recent weeks & months, the calls for Santos to be removed came from both sides of the aisle, with some Republicans publicly admitting that he had gone. Even though Santos will not run again for re-election, he still faces many legal issues.
Eric Adams and Turkish Money in New York Politics.
Last week, Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, got himself embroiled in a fundraising scandal. According to an article in Reuters, Adams’s chief campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, had her home searched by FBI agents on November 2nd due to Adams’ possible involvement in a scheme to funnel foreign money from a Turkish donor to his mayoral campaign. On top of that, according to a report in the New York Times, Adams allegedly pressured the New York Fire Department (NYFD) to sign off on the Turkish government’s new consular building despite safety concerns. A follow-up article in the Times stated that Adams had cultivated close ties to the Turkish business community in New York. Many people this time of year are looking forward to turkey and all of the fixings; however, for Adams, the fixings surrounding Turkey could be bribery and corruption, not stuffing and mashed potatoes.
Trump Fraud Trial Update.
A few days ago, Donald Trump testified in his fraud trial in New York City. By all accounts, Trump made a spectacle of the proceedings and lashed out at everyone from the judge to the New York State Attorney General Letitia James. According to a report in the Washington Post, Trump, instead of mounting any credible defense, used the proceeding to try and score political points to bolster his election credentials. The Post article states that Trump may be using this trial as a dry run for his conduct in his upcoming criminal trials. The trial continues.
Portugal PM Costa Resigns After Corruption Probe.
Today, the prime minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, resigned due to his role in corruption allegations. According to an article in Reuters, Costa’s chief of staff, Vitor Escaria, was detained by police, and the minister for infrastructure, Joao Galamba, was named the prime suspect. According to an article in Politico, the allegation centers on large-scale infrastructure projects involving the extraction of lithium in the north of the country, as well as a project focused on the development of green hydrogen technology. The socialist government under Costa has been committed to green energy ventures. Despite this, the projects have been dogged by allegations of environmental damage and the poor quality of lithium extracted. This is a significant blow for the socialist party as they were re-elected last year, and Costa was expected to stay in power for a while longer.
Crispin Corruption Report 