THE
COST OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION
http://ccea.uconn.edu/studies/The%20Economics%20of%20Ethics-%20The%20Cost%20of%20Political%20Corruption.pdf
CORRUPTION
ABOUNDS
Corruption Probe Turns To
Hartford Councilwoman
By JEFFREY B. COHEN, EDMUND H. MAHONY And
STEVEN GOODE | Courant Staff Writers August 28, 2008
A yearlong investigation into possible corruption at Hartford city hall has once
again landed in the kitchen of a public official. State investigators Wednesday
morning arrived at the Ridgefield Street home of
Republican city Councilwoman Veronica Airey-Wilson
with a search warrant, apparently interested in granite counters installed by
Carlos Costa — the same contractor whose work on Mayor Eddie A. Perez's
home sparked the investigators' interest a year ago, sources said. Last August,
investigators served a search warrant on Perez's Bloomfield Avenue house, looking into
roughly $20,000 in kitchen and bathroom work done by Costa, whose company, USA
Contractors, did millions of dollars of work for the city. That work — along
with work on the city's school reconstruction project and no-bid deals to at
least one political ally of the mayor — have been the subject of an ongoing
grand jury investigation into possible corruption in the Perez administration.
Continued http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-grandjury0828.artaug28,0,5883494.story
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DOJ Seeks Reduced Sentence
For Abramoff In D.C. Corruption Case, By John Bresnahan Aug 27, 2008
Federal prosecutors are seeking a reduced sentence for
imprisoned GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff in a Washington, D.C., corruption case,
citing his his "significant and useful"
cooperation against other individuals involved in the scandal that brought down
the one-time K Street
superstar. Prosecutors are seeking only a 64-month sentence for Abramoff in the
D.C. corruption case, far less than the minimum 108 months
behind bars he could have received under federal sentencing
guidelines. Abramoff, who is already serving a 70-month prison term in
a Florida
fraud case, is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 4 in the D.C. case. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/27/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4390813.shtml
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Two Longtime Alaska Politicians Face Ouster
Wednesday 20 August 2008, by: Kim Murphy, The
Los Angeles
Times
Senator Ted Stevens and Congressman Don Young of Alaska are both at risk of losing in Alaska's GOP primary next
Tuesday. Caught up in a federal
corruption probe, Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young face bruising fights in
Tuesday's primary that could put their once solidly Republican seats up for
grabs.
…. Together, they have helped build
one of the nation's wealthiest states out of an unruly territory, pushing
foreign fishing fleets out of Alaskan waters, opening the way to oil
development on the North Slope and using their considerable power from decades
on Capitol Hill to funnel billions of dollars of federal money into roads,
schools, hospitals and rural development…Both have been caught up in a
long-running federal investigation that has already seen three GOP state lawmakers,
the former governor's chief of staff and three others convicted on corruption
charges.
Stevens was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of
concealing $250,000 in home renovations and gifts from an oil services firm.
Young, who faces a highly unusual election challenge from his party's
lieutenant governor, has spent more than $1 million defending himself, though he has not been charged. Many
Republicans across the state have rallied to the politicians' defense, arguing
that the state risks losing their proven ability to deliver billions of dollars
in federal grants and projects for Alaska.
http://www.truthout.org/article/two-longtime-alaska-politicians-face-ouster
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Fumo
'Anxious' On Eve Of Corruption Trial
Philadelphia, August 31, 2008-- With his federal corruption trial set to start in just over a
week, a powerful state legislator said he is "anxious" and has no way
of knowing if he'll win or lose. State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, who
has twice before beaten corruption charges, told The Philadelphia
Inquirer he has never been one to "throw in the towel." ….. Last year, federal prosecutors unveiled a
139-charge indictment alleging that Fumo defrauded
the state Senate, a seaport museum and a nonprofit by using their staff and
assets to do his personal and political work. He has maintained his innocence. …
Fumo, who has spent 30 years in the Senate, said he
made the right decision not to seek re-election after his term ends in
November. Prosecutors say he once controlled more than 90 state jobs, in part
as the ranking Democrat on the Senate
Appropriations Committee. Continued http://www.nbc10.com/politics/17353634/detail.html
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Hundreds
Of Thousands Of Mexicans Protest Crime, Corruption, August 31, 2008 8:08 a.m. EST Amy Beeman - AHN
Mexico City,
Mexico (AHN) -- An estimated hundreds of thousands of
people dressed in white and carrying candles demonstrated across Mexico
Saturday night, protesting the crime and corruption that has permeated the
lives of the Mexican people. Among the
protesters were the families of kidnapping and murder victims who carried signs
saying that enough was enough in the country whose kidnapping rate has
reportedly surpassed that of Iraq
and Colombia. Over the last few years, drug cartels and an ailing police
force have created a culture in which violence and death are commonplace. Some
5,000 people have been killed in gang violence over the last 21 months, 500 of
those being police officers, according to reports. In August alone 24 officers
were killed. Several thousand more have been kidnapped for ransom, with the
latest case being somewhat of a catalyst for the protests. ….. it is reported that many in the police force are uneducated
and fearful of the cartels, thereby making them easily corruptible. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012125587
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Rampant Corruption In 80% of Least Developed Nations,
12 08 2008
The United Nations classifies a group of 49 countries as the
Least
Developed Nations. They exhibit the lowest indicators of
socio-economic development and the lowest Human Development Index ratings of
all countries in the world.
Perhaps not surprisingly, 80% of them score less than 3 out
of 10 points on the Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency
International. That means they suffer from
rampant corruption.
Of the 49 countries on the Least Developed Countries
list 33 are in Africa, 10 are in Asia, 5 are in Oceania and 1 is in the Americas.
In 2005, 12 percent of the world´s
population lived in Least Developed Countries. That figure
represented 750 million people. It was predicted that this figure
would rise by 200 million people by 2015, making the reduction, let alone
eradication, of poverty more difficult.
Fifty per cent of their populations live on less than $1
dollar a day, and 80 percent on less than $2 a day. Life expectancy is
declining as a result of malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases like
malaria and tuberculosis. And the resources and technologies available to most LDCs are limited.
Clearly these countries are in need of foreign aid but, as
the article I posted yesterday indicates, $600bn in aid to Africa
over the past 40years has had almost zero impact in most cases. Improvements
have been minimal. http://paulbarnett.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/rampant-corruption-in-80-of-least-developed-nations/
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Mexico Police Killings Highlight
Difficulty of Corruption Fight , By Hugh Collins
Aug. 12
(Bloomberg) -- The killing of four local law enforcement chiefs in Mexico
yesterday highlights the challenge President Felipe Calderon faces as he tries to stamp out
police corruption and bolster his fight against organized crime. More than 270 Mexican police officers have
been killed this year, including the assassinations in Michoacan, Chihuahua,
Quintana Roo and the State of Mexico
yesterday, newspaper Milenio reported. Most of the violence is tied to drug
gangs that are battling for control of lucrative shipping routes to the U.S. Calderon pledged to root out police
corruption during appearances over the past week after public outrage over the
kidnapping and slaying of the 14-year-old son of a businessman, allegedly at
the hands of police. Ending police involvement with organized crime is
difficult because of low salaries and threats to the lives of honest cops, said
Jorge Chabat, a
professor at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching in Mexico City.
``It's hard to fight narco corruption because
police have positive incentives -- money -- and also negative incentives -
they'll kill you if you don't go along,'' Chabat
said.
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Former Alaska Businessman Pleads Guilty to Public
Corruption Charges
Last update: 10:37 a.m. EDT Aug. 12, 2008
WASHINGTON, Aug 12, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire
via COMTEX/ -- William Weimar, 68, a former owner of an Alaska-based company,
has pleaded guilty to making $20,000 in illegal payments to cover consulting
and advertising expenses incurred by a candidate running for an elected
position in the Alaska state legislature, Acting Assistant Attorney General
Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division announced today. Weimar also admitted that he manipulated and
structured the illegal payments to avoid currency reporting requirements for
financial institutions under federal law.
Weimar pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District
Judge John W. Sedwick at the federal court in Anchorage to a two-count information charging him with conspiracy to
commit honest services mail and wire fraud and structuring financial
transactions. In court documents, Weimar
admitted to conspiring with the candidate, the owner of a company that provided
consulting and advertising services to the candidate,
and others by paying the consultant approximately $20,000 in 2004 for expenses
incurred by the candidate's campaign. Weimar admitted that he, the candidate,
and the consultant agreed to make these payments in a manner that concealed the
payments and deceived the public. Weimar admitted to making these payments to
secure the candidate's election to the Alaska state legislature, to deprive the
public of the honest services that the candidate would provide as a state
legislator, and to gain the candidate's official support for legislation that
would benefit Weimar's ongoing financial interest in a private prison project. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/former-alaska-businessman-pleads-guilty/story.aspx?guid=%7BBF7206E9-5705-41B3-A75F-C4BC97686598%7D&dist=hppr
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Businessman Weimar paid candidate to
push prison
GUILTY PLEA: Fixation on building private prison brought him
down.
By LISA DEMER and RICHARD MAUER,
Anchorage Daily
News, Published: August 12th, 2008 12:06 AM
Last Modified: August 12th, 2008 10:03 AM
Bill Weimar, who made his fortune off private halfway houses
in Alaska, pleaded guilty Monday to two federal felonies in U.S. District Court in Anchorage.
He admitted his role in a conspiracy to secretly funnel
money to a political consultant for an unnamed state Senate candidate, knowing
the candidate would back a private prison if he won. Weimar had a long-standing
relationship with the candidate running in the 2004 primary, a charging
document filed Monday said. Weimar
held a "contingent interest" in a private prison project worth $5.5
million, but only if the project was completed, the charges say. http://www.adn.com/front/story/490989.html
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