Qatar is in talks with the Trump administration to lease a jet to replace its aging Boeing jets, which are currently operating as Air Force One. According to a report from The Washington Post, government ethics officials are concerned that such a transaction would violate the emoluments clause in the Constitution. Trump is visiting Qatar this week as part of a three-country tour through the Middle East, which also includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE; therefore, this topic is likely to be discussed further. In another interesting twist, Laura Loomer, a far-right internet personality who is seen as Islamophobic, who normally backs Trump on most issues, criticized him by equating the sale of a plane to an Islamic takeover of America. This is an outrageous statement, but Loomer seldom disagrees with Trump on anything.
Serbian Students Pressure Government in Anti-Corruption.
Yesterday, in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, massive anti-corruption protests erupted on May Day. These protests were sparked by the collapse of a newly renovated train station that killed 16 people. According to a report in France 24, many Serbians believed that the tragedy should be blamed on corruption regarding the shoddy construction. Yesterday, the student groups in Novi Sad rallied the five biggest unions in massive protests in the capital, Belgrade. It will be fascinating to see how these protests turn out. Serbia is an autocratic country and could easily institute a crackdown.
Nadine Menendez Found Guilty on Bribery Charges.
Nadine Menendez, the wife of Bob Menendez, was convicted on Monday of participating in her husband’s bribery scheme. According to a report in the New York Times, Nadine Menendez used her influence with the Egyptian business community to make her husband a foreign agent. Jurors in Ms Menendez’s trial heard that she had accepted cash in return for granting access to her husband. According to a report in Politico, this case brought by the Southern District of New York may be the last of its kind for a while, as there have been resignations, and the Trump administration has other priorities than fighting corruption. It will be fascinating to see what type of sentence Menendez gets, unless President Trump pressures the Department of Justice like he did around Eric Adams.
Siddiq is Facing an Arrest Warrant in Bangladesh.
Several months ago, I wrote an article about Tulip Siddiq, the former Labour Party anti-corruption minister in the UK, facing corruption allegations in Bangladesh. Last week, the BBC reported that the Bangladeshi government issued an arrest warrant for Siddiq on corruption charges. Siddiq released a statement saying that the arrest warrant was part of a “politically motivated smear campaign” against her. According to a report in Sky News, the arrest warrant was issued over allegations about how Siddiq received a plot of land totaling 7,200 square feet in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka. It is unclear whether or not the UK will extradite her, but I could see it becoming a political flashpoint between the two countries.
Adams Case Tossed Out, Decides to Run For Reelection as an Independent.
A couple of days ago, The lead prosecutor in New York City tossed out the Eric Adams corruption case. Adams was charged with Fraud, bribery, and soliciting illegal campaign funds. According to CNN, Judge Dale Ho stated that he dropped the case because the Justice Department told him to do so, even though he had misgivings about dropping the case. Yesterday, when the case was dropped, Adams announced that he would run for reelection as an independent and bypass the democratic primary. According to a report in the New York Times, Adams felt that running as an independent would give him more time to prepare for the general election. It is unclear what will happen next, but he is a long shot for re-election despite his legal issues being resolved.
Platini and Blatter Cleared in Corruption Case.
Today, Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter, two heavyweights of the global football administration, were cleared of corruption charges. According to a report in The Guardian, the Swiss attorney general’s office had asked for 20 months in prison with two years of the sentence suspended. This case centered around a payment of $2.2 million to Blatter from Platini in the name of non-contracted work done when Platini was advising Blatter’s campaign to be re-elected as FIFA president from 1998 to 2002. According to a report in the BBC, this case was tied in with the wider FIFA scandal and other high-ranking FIFA officials participating in corruption and bribery on an industrial scale. While this is no surprise to me, it is a sad indictment of the state of football that this type of corruption is accepted so readily and that supporters face ever-increasing prices. At the same time, the administrators who run the game continue to rich off the people who love the beautiful game so much.
Hollywood Director Rinsch Charged With Money Laundering and Other Crimes.
Earlier this week, Carl Rinsch, a Hollywood director who directed Keanu Reeves in the 2013 film 47 Ronin, was charged with Money Laundering as well as other financial crimes. According to a report in The Washington Post, Rinsch claimed that despite being paid $44 Million to make a science fiction series called White Horse, he asked Netflix for another $11 million. Rinsch allegedly took 10 of the 11 million, put it into a brokerage account, made some ill-advised bets, and lost most of it. However, with the few million remaining, Rinsch invested in cryptocurrency (specifically Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin). According to a report in the LA Times, Rinsch spent $632K on two high-end mattresses. This whole caper would make a great Netflix drama.
Javier Milei’s Cryptocurrency Misadventures.
Last week, Javier Milei, the chainsaw-wielding president of Argentina, became embroiled in a cryptocurrency scandal. According to a report in the Guardian, Milei tweeted about a cryptocurrency called $Libra, saying it would boost the notoriously sluggish Argentine economy. According to a report in the AP, the backers of $Libra are a fascinating collection of characters. Hayden Davis, a well-known meme coin developer who founded the Melania Trump meme coin, is the main backer of Libra. As well as Davis, Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool, was deeply involved in the promise of an interview with Milei; finally, an unknown crypto backer known as “Meow” also played a prominent role. When Milei touted $Libra, the price went from $0 to $5 and then only a few hours later plummeted back down $0. This appears to be a classic “rug pull” whereby a cryptocurrency is artificially inflated, and the value craters when crypto influencers sell their shares, making the tokens worthless. It is unclear what will happen to Milei, but there are rumors of possible impeachment proceedings in the future.
The Perils of Trump Coin.
On the eve of the presidential inauguration, news filtered out that President Trump was releasing a “meme coin” called $Trump. Memecoins are cryptocurrency assets with no practical financial value but reference popular internet trends. In a report published by Reuters today, companies affiliated with Trump received $100 million in trading fees, and 50 of the most prominent investors in the Trump coin have made a $10 million profit. While this benefits Trump and his associates, it opens a massive ethical can of worms. There is a very real scenario: a foreign power such as Saudi Arabia could fill up its digital wallet with Trump coins instead of staying at one of Trump’s properties to curry favor with the new administration, as had happened during the first term. It will be fascinating to see how this story develops, but it highlights how murky the crypto world can be.
Anti-Corruption Siddiq Resigns Due to Anti-Corruption Probe.
Last week, the Anti-Corruption minister in Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government, Tulip Siddiq, resigned. Starmer and Siddiq have been politically close for a while as they are Members of Parliament (MPs) in neighboring constituencies in North London. In a report by the BBC, Siddiq is the niece of Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh in a series of protests led by students last year. Hasina was also alleged to have embezzled £3.9 billion in infrastructure spending from her government. Siddiq’s name came up in a wide-ranging corruption probe linked to several shell companies regarding her use of several properties in north London. As last week wore on, it became clear that her position was untenable; hence, she resigned.
Crispin Corruption Report 