U.S. Seeks to Recover Approximately $540 Million Obtained From Corruption Involving Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund

The Justice Department announced today the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture and recovery of approximately $540 million in assets associated with an international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. Combined with civil forfeiture complaints filed in July 2016, seeking more than $1 billion, and civil forfeiture complaints filed last week seeking approximately $100 million in assets, this case represents the largest action brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. Assets now subject to forfeiture in this case total almost $1.7 billion. read more »

Global Risk Map

Click on each country to see the Corruption Perception Index(CPI) score. read more »

Former Julius Baer banker pleads guilty in U.S. FIFA corruption probe

A former banker at Julius Baer and Credit Suisse pleaded guilty on Thursday to a U.S. money laundering conspiracy charge in connection with a wide-ranging corruption probe of FIFA, the world soccer governing body.

Jorge Arzuaga, 56, of Argentina, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen in the Brooklyn federal court as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

"I deeply regret what I did," Arzuaga said in court. "I am ashamed."

Arzuaga is one of more than 40 people and entities charged in the U.S. probe, in which prosecutors say soccer officials took more than $200 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for marketing and broadcast rights. read more »

New FBI Whistleblower Protections Could Not Have Come At A Better Time

The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012, the chief law protecting government whistleblowers, explicitly carves out of its coverage those who work in the intelligence agencies.

Thankfully, this age of the intelligence whistleblower as a second-class citizen may be coming to a close. At least for those in the FBI. The FBI Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, introduced by Senators Chuck Grassly (R-OH) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and a slightly truncated version signed into law by President Obama last December, was designed to fill this much needed gap in whistleblower protection. According to Senator Grassley, “[i]t’s no secret that FBI whistleblowers often face harsh consequences for simply trying to address failures or misconduct at work.” Senator Leahy echoed this assessment, noting “[w]e have heard of numerous instances in which FBI employees who report waste, fraud, or abuse were not afforded whistleblower protections.  This has to change.” read more »

Health Care Fraud How a Florida Mother & Daughter stole $20 from Medicare

A South Florida mother and daughter were flying into Miami from the Dominican Republic on American Airlines flight #935 last year when customs agents stopped the women to ask how much currency they were carrying. When the agents searched the seven bags carried by Mildrey Gonzalez and her daughter, Milka Alfaro, they found about $2.5 million in cash packed between diapers and baby wipes, court papers state.

Those stacks of cash became part of a Medicare fraud case against the two women, in a South Florida example of the health care scams that cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $100 billion each year. The chief of the Department of Justice criminal division, Kenneth Blanco, spoke on the issue last month, saying health care fraud deprives sick people of medical care by driving up costs—and pointing to Miami as one of nine U.S. cities with high levels of billing fraud. read more »

Former Chief Financial Officer of Arthrocare Corp. Pleads Guilty to Multimillion Dollar Securities Fraud Scheme

A Texas man and former chief financial officer (CFO), pleaded guilty today to a multimillion dollar securitries fraud scheme.

Michael Gluk, 59, of Austin, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Lane of the Western District of Texas. A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled. 

As part of his guilty plea, Gluk admitted that he conspired with others to falsely inflate ArthroCare’s sales and revenue through a series of end-of-quarter transactions involving ArthroCare’s distributors. He further admitted that he and other co-conspirators caused ArthroCare to file a Form 10-K for 2007 and Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2008 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that materially misrepresented ArthroCare’s quarterly and annual sales, revenues, expenses and earnings. As part of the plea, Gluk further admitted that he provided false testimony in proceedings before the SEC and in federal district court. read more »

American Chipmakers Had a Toxic Problem. Then They Outsourced It

Twenty-five years ago, U.S. tech companies pledged to stop using chemicals that caused miscarriages and birth defects. They failed to ensure that their Asian suppliers did the same. read more »

Wells Fargo Is Accused of Making Improper Changes to Mortgages

Even as Wells Fargo was reeling from a major scandal in its consumer bank last year, officials in the company’s mortgage business were putting through unauthorized changes to home loans held by customers in bankruptcy, a new class action and other lawsuits contend.

The changes, which surprised the customers, typically lowered their monthly loan payments, which would seem to benefit borrowers, particularly those in bankruptcy. But deep in the details was this fact: Wells Fargo’s changes would extend the terms of borrowers’ loans by decades, meaning they would have monthly payments for far longer and would ultimately owe the bank much more. read more »