Recently an appeal trial has started in Paris involving the son of the former head of World athletics, Papa Massata Diack. According to Reuters, Diack was convicted on charges relating to kickbacks from Russian athletes in return for hiding their positive drug tests. He was sentenced to five years in prison and was fined €1 million. He is also facing similar legal issues in his native Senegal. This trial is ongoing, and I will update as more information becomes available.
The Downfall of the Corrupt Castillo Government in Peru
Recently in Peru, a constitutional crisis erupted when President Pedro Castillo was ousted from office. According to an article by ABC News, Castillo attempted to dissolve parliament to hold on to power and avoid elections. There had been reports in Peru that corruption had festered within the Castillo administration among some of his ministers. The Peruvian congress was getting ready to attempt to impeach Castillo for the third time when he tried to dissolve parliament. According to the Washington Post, Castillo was detained immediately and escorted out of the presidential palace.
Castillo’s replacement is his former vice president Dina Boluarte. According to the AP, Boluarte plans on instituting a robust anti-corruption platform as a part of her time in office. She has made all her ministers stand against government malfeasance as a requirement of serving in her cabinet. The hope has to be that Boluarte can bring unity to the country and quell the ongoing protests. It is still an open question if she forms a successful enough coalition to stay in power long term.
The Ongoing Influence-Peddling Scandal Between the EU and Qatar.
On December 13th of last year, a major scandal erupted in Brussels, the home of the European Parliament, involving an ever-growing list of high-profile figures within the EU. The central person in the case is Eva Kalli, a Greek Member of the European Parliament (MEP), who also served as the European Parliament’s vice president. According to the BBC, investigators in Brussels found a suitcase that contained €1.5 million. €140,000 was found in Ms. Kalli’s flat, so it became apparent that she had at least some role in a possibly corrupt scheme. The allegations are centered around Qatari officials paying bribes to Kalli and other MEPs so as to influence policy favorable to Qatari interests within the EU. According to a report in The Guardian, an MEP from Cyprus stated that Kalli had encouraged him to water down a forthcoming report critical of human rights in Qatar.
As a result of this Investigation, a proposed vote on whether or not Qataris should be allowed visa-free travel into the EU was suspended. Kalli traveled to Qatar, as per The Washington Post, and described the country as a “front runner in labor rights” despite numerous examples of reports to the contrary. According to The Irish Times, there are reports of MEPs accepting lavish hospitality packages to matches at the recently completed world cup. On December 19th of last year, Qatar threatened to cut off European gas supplies due to the ongoing probe. This could cause even more energy insecurity for European leaders already worried about a lack of natural gas due to the war in Ukraine. This is an ongoing investigation that is likely to expand and possibly ensnare other high-ranking officials.
The Perils of Peronism
Recently, a figurehead of the Argentine political scene, Vice President and former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, was sentenced to six years in prison on corruption charges. She and her late husband Nestor, who served as President from 2003 to 2007, are prominent in the Kirchnerism political movement, which is an offshoot of Peronism. Kirchnerism opposes international free trade agreements and other neoliberal ideals. According to the New York Times, Kirchner is divisive within Argentina; to her supporters, she is regarded as someone who has lifted many out of poverty. However, according to her detractors, her policies have triggered massive inflation and high poverty rates. As an example of her divisiveness, an attempt was made on her life in September.
According to Reuters, Kirchner was involved in a scheme to award public works contracts to businessman and close political ally Lazaro Baez. After the contracts were awarded, money was funneled back to the Kirchners. These public works contracts were based in the province of Santa Cruz, which is the Kirchners’ political stronghold. Kirchner will likely appeal her conviction in hopes of avoiding prison. Nonetheless, it appears that her days in the political spotlight may be coming to an end.
Going Bust: The Troubles of Michelle Mone
Recently, Baroness Michelle Mone, a member of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, has been facing allegations that she and her family have unethically profited from government contracts awarded at the beginning of the pandemic. Mone is well known in the UK for founding Ultimo, a designer lingerie brand, leading to the nickname in some quarters of the UK media as “Baroness Bra.” On November 23 of last year, The Guardian published an exclusive saying that Mone and her children received £29 million ($36 million) from the profits of a company called Medpro PPE. Medpro was given a £200 million contract to provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) through the so-called “VIP lane,” where the government appeared to hand out contracts to companies with close links to people in government. Some of the PPE Medpro provided to the government proved defective and is currently sitting in warehouses.
In the case of Mone specifically, according to a follow-up article in The Guardian, it is clear that the Baroness had a much less stressful pandemic than most people. She and her then fiancé, a businessman named Douglas Barrowman, bought a luxury yacht called the Lady M. It is alleged that Barrowman received 65 million pounds in profits through the same scheme and then passed 29 million pounds of that on to an offshore trust that Mone and her children control. recently, The Guardian published an article saying Mone is taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords to try and clear her name. It is unclear what will happen next, but it appears that Baroness Mone has some explaining to do about how she may have profited off the misery of millions.
Australian National Anti-Corruption Commission Enacted.
I recently wrote about the Australian Parliament enacting new Anti-Corruption legislation. This is my original article https://app.legislata.com/posts/33182/detail.
Recently, The Australian Parliament enacted a law allowing the National Anti-Corruption Commission to be created. According to the statement released online by the Office of the Prime Minister, the main aims of the commission are to investigate corruption in Australia within the public sector. This new body will also be able to investigate previous allegations of corruption before the commission begins. The commission will also be able to hold public hearings in exceptional situations. Work will start in the middle of next year.
The History of Transparency International
Transparency International was formed in 1993. Before then, corruption was not studied in depth by international organizations. Corruption and bribery in the developing world were often a necessary part of doing business. However, by 1995, TI established its head office in Berlin, Germany, and subsequently opened 26 chapters worldwide. They started the first global Corruption Perceptions Index, which ranked countries on the level of corruption domestically. In the first decade of the 2000s, TI had advocated for international organizations to create their own anti-corruption bodies. An example of this was the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, which required UN members to enforce anti-corruption laws and encourage global cooperation on corruption.
In the 2010s, Transparency International started to expand its focus. For example, they began to focus on the connection between corruption and climate change and how funds intended to reverse the effects of climate change could be mismanaged. As the 2010s progressed, TI became more focused on combating the use of shell companies and increasingly elaborate methods that heads of state and business people employ to hide away ill-gotten gains. In 2019 Transparency started to focus on the link between corruption and democracy. In particular, they have looked at the connection between democracy in a given country and the level of corruption.
A follow-up on Brazil
Recently Lula da Silva won the run-off to decide the winner of the Brazilian election. While this comes as a great relief to left-wing political movements in Brazil and around the world, Brazil still faces questions about corruption. In a statement released by Transparency International, it is alleged that despite the harsh anti-corruption rhetoric put out by the previous government, Bolsonaro and his administration engaged in corrupt practices. It is alleged that money was funneled to allies of Bolsonaro without government oversight which was spent on multiple pet projects. The Bolsonaro administration has also gutted previous anti-corruption legislation to cover their crimes. One of the goals of the new government will hopefully be to reinstate and build on anti-corruption legislation, although given Lula’s previous history of alleged corruption, this remains to be seen.
Tom Barrack: Just a Friend of Trump or a Friend with Benefits.
Recently, the trial of one of former President Trump’s closest friends started in Brooklyn. Lebanese-American Tom Barrack, a real estate mogul like Trump, has been charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Barrack was the head of Trump’s inaugural committee and is close to other Trump allies, including Paul Manafort, a well-known lobbyist. According to The Guardian, Barrack speaks fluent Arabic and views himself as someone who can operate and deal with Middle Eastern leaders and power brokers. He was the head of Miramax films from 2013 until 2016, when it was sold to Qatar-based Bein Group; he also runs Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, a private equity real estate firm.
This is not the first time Barrack has been linked to Middle Eastern countries. When he was younger, he worked in the oil industry in Saudi Arabia and made connections with the royal family. Prosecutors allege that Barrack tried to influence former President Trump to pursue a foreign policy favorable to the United Arab Emirates. In return, the UAE would allow Barrack to invest in the lucrative real estate market in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. According to Bloomberg, there was also hope from the UAE government that Trump would make Barrack Secretary of State so that UAE could have a direct line to the government to influence foreign policy further. Barrack’s fate hangs in the balance, as the trial is not over, but if he is found guilty, his usefulness to Trump will end.
EA: Effective Altruism or Effective Greed.
In the 2000s, a concept called Effective Altruism was created by Scottish philosopher William MacAskill. MacAskill’s idea was to encourage bright young college students to get into the financial world, make money, and then give it to charity. According to an article in The Washington Post, an ever-growing network of charities and think tanks have developed over the last two decades to expand the EA movement. EA charities have focused on issues such as Pandemic Presentation and Nuclear non-proliferation. According to an article in The New York Times, EA went from being an obscure theory to a booming industry.
EA came under the spotlight recently due to Sam Bankman-Fried, the now-former CEO of FTX, the Cryptocurrency exchange. Bankman-Fried set up a foundation called the FTX Future Fund that was devoted to Effective Altruism causes. The Future Fund had given away $140 million to other foundations furthering the goals of the EA movement. However, the future of donations has been called into question because Bankman-Fried lost his fortune overnight due to FTX’s collapse. All of this raises questions about Effective Altruism’s future and whether the movement is genuinely trying to improve the world or just lip service spouted by crypto bros.
Crispin Corruption Report 