Corruption Cases

Netanyahu to take witness stand for first time in his corruption trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to take to the witness stand Tuesday for the first time in his trial on corruption allegations, a pivotal point in the drawn-out proceedings that comes as the leader wages war in Gaza and faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes charges. At home, Netanyahu is on trial for accusations of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, but his appearance on the witness stand will be a low point in his decades-long political career, standing in contrast to the image of a sophisticated, respected leader he has tried to cultivate. The trial will take up a chunk of Netanyahu's time at a crucial point for Israel. While he makes his case for weeks from the stand, he will still be tasked with managing the war in Gaza, maintaining a fragile ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and keeping tabs on threats from the wider Middle East, including Iran. It will be the fir

Excise policy 'scam': Delhi HC asks ED to reply to Manish Sisodia's plea

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the Enforcement Directorate's response on a plea of AAP leader Manish Sisodia challenging a trial court's order taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri issued the notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and fixed Sisodia's plea on December 20, when AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's similar petition is also listed for further proceedings. The former deputy chief minister sought the high court's direction to set aside the trial court's order on the ground that the special judge took cognisance of the chargesheet in the absence of any sanction for the prosecution of the former Delhi chief minister, who was a public servant when the offence was allegedly committed. Sisodia is out on bail in the case. According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours were extended to the licence holders. The De

China places its high-ranking military official under investigation

China has suspended a high-ranking military official while he is being investigated, its Defence Ministry announced Thursday. The official, Miao Hua, is director of the Political Work Department on the powerful Central Military Commission that oversees the People's Liberation Army (PLA). He is one of five members of the body that oversees the world's largest standing military, in addition to China's leader Xi Jinping, who heads the commission. Defence Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said Miao is under investigation for serious violations of discipline, which usually alludes to issues of corruption. It is the third recent major shakeup for China's defence establishment. In June, China announced that former Defence Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe were accused of corruption and expelled from the party. They were being investigated for corruption and bribery, after initially facing suspension. Yet, the high-level investigation is not likely to have any significant ...

Bangladesh court acquits former PM Khaleda Zia in corruption case

Bangladesh High Court on Wednesday acquitted former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a corruption case in which she was sentenced to seven years in jail by a lower court, according to media reports. Zia, 79, was convicted in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in 2018 by a Dhaka court. It also sentenced her to seven years imprisonment under the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government and fined her Tk 1 million. A bench of Justices AKM Asaduzzaman and Syed Enayet Hossain overturned the decision based on an appeal by Zia, the bdnews24.com news portal reported. Two others accused in the case were also acquitted by the court. The graft case was filed in 2011 by the Anti-Corruption Commission with Tejgaon Police Station, accusing Zia and three others of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown sources, the Daily Star news portal reported. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson was lodged in the Old Dhaka Central Jail

Two Adanis, a foreigner, and 5 others charged with corruption: Who they are

Gautam Adani US indictment: Eight people, including Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and an individual named Cyril Cabanes, have been named by the US SEC in the alleged corruption case

Gautam Adani charged by US in $265 million bribery case: Top things we know

Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar, and Cyril Cabanes, a former board member of Azure Power, charged by the US SEC in a bribery and fraud scheme

How SEC's Adani charges differ from Hindenburg's fraud allegations

The SEC charges Gautam Adani with bribery and fraud, while Hindenburg accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. Here's how the allegations differ

Singapore hides repression, corruption, says son of its ex-PM Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore has become much more repressive, and corruption in the Asian financial hub has worsened in the decade since the death of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, according to his youngest son who fled to Britain to seek asylum from what he described as a campaign of persecution to silence him. Lee Hsien Yang, who has been granted political refugee status in the UK, told The Associated Press that Singaporean authorities have weaponised the country's laws against critics and that he is just the most prominent example of a growing number of Singaporeans fleeing abroad to seek protection from their own government. Lee cited a tightening of laws on security and rights of assembly and a sharp increase in the number of asylum-seekers from the city-state over the past decade under the rule of his estranged brother, Lee Hsien Loong, who was prime minister until he stepped down earlier this year. Singapore has this veneer that purports to be a sort of affluent, democratic, free country.

Peru's ex-President Toledo gets over 20 yrs in prison for corruption case

Peru's former President Alejandro Toledo on Monday was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which became synonymous with corruption across Latin America, where it paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials and others. Authorities accused Toledo of accepting $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for allowing a highway to be built in the South American country. The National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice in the capital, Lima, imposed the sentence after years of legal wrangling, including a dispute over whether Toledo, who governed Peru from 2001 to 2006, could be extradited from the United States. Odebrecht, which built some of Latin America's most crucial infrastructure projects, admitted to US authorities in 2016 to having bought government contracts throughout the region with generous bribes. The investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice spun probes in several ...

Vivo PMLA case: Patiala House Court grants bail to CA Rajan Malik

This case also involves other individuals, including Lava International's former Managing Director Hari Om Rai, Chinese national Guangwen (Andrew Kuang), and chartered accountant Nitin Garg

Ex-Singapore Minister Iswaran accepts charges, begins 12-month jail term

S Iswaran has was accused of accepting gift worth $306,000 from Malaysian billionaire Ong Beng Seng and businessman David Lum

Excise 'scam': SC refuses urgent hearing on Dhall's plea against HC order

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant urgent hearing on a plea filed by businessman Amandeep Singh Dhall, who has challenged the Delhi High Court's verdict denying him bail in a corruption case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan declined the request of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Dhall, who mentioned the matter for early hearing of the plea. "We have to think about poor litigants also. We cannot just bypass procedure of the Supreme Court," the bench said. At the outset, Singhvi said Dhall has been in custody for a long period. "He got regular bail in the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate case. The findings in a more stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act case in my favour. I am also seeking interim bail," Singhvi said. The top court said it will take up the matter in October second week. The apex court had on September 17 issued notice to the Central Bureau of ...

Ex-minister Iswaran pleads guilty in graft case that gripped Singapore

The charge of accepting gifts carries a jail term of up to two years and a fine. For obstructing justice, Iswaran can be sentenced to jail of up to 7 years and a fine

CVC flags 34 non-compliance major cases in action against corruption

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has flagged 34 major cases of non-compliance by government departments, which diluted its advice of acting against "corrupt" officials. In some cases, these "corrupt" officials were either exonerated or punishment against them were diluted by the departments concerned, according to the CVC's annual report 2023. Of the total, a highest of seven cases involved are under the coal ministry, five in the State Bank of India (SBI), four in the IDBI Bank, three under the steel ministry and two each under the power ministry and NBCC (India) Limited, it said. One such instance each was in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), the Ministry of Railways, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) among others, according to the report. One each case of deviation from the CVC's advice was also from the ...

Excise case: Delhi court dismisses Kejriwal's pleas against summons

A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal's two petitions challenging the summons issued to him on complaints filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Special Judge Rakesh Syal dismissed the revision petition filed by Kejriwal, saying there was sufficient ground to proceed against him. Kejriwal had moved the sessions court against an order passed by a magisterial court directing him to appear before it on the ED's complaint. The outgoing Delhi chief minister had challenged the summons issued by the magisterial court after taking cognisance of two complaints filed by the ED over avoidance of summons issued to him. The ED had filed complaints before the magisterial court seeking prosecution of Kejriwal for skipping multiple summonses issued to him in the case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Over 6K corruption cases probed by CBI pending trials in courts: CVC

Over 6,900 corruption cases probed by the CBI were pending trials in different courts, 361 for more than 20 years, according to the latest annual report of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Besides, as many as 658 corruption cases were pending CBI investigation, 48 for more than five years. Of the total of 6,903 cases under trial before courts, 1,379 were pending for less than three years, 875 for more than three years and up to five years and 2,188 for more than five years and up to ten years, as on December 31, 2023, the anti-corruption watchdog said. As many as 2,100 cases were pending trial for more than ten years and up to twenty years, and 361 for more than 20 years, said the CVC's annual report 2023. "It was noted that 6,903 number of cases were pending trials as on December 31, 2023. It is a matter of concern that 2,461 cases were pending for more than 10 years at the end of 2023," it said. The CVC report said that 12,773 appeals/revision, filed by the CBI and by the

Will appoint prosecutor to conduct trial in 2015 cash-for-vote scam: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will appoint a special prosecutor to conduct trial in the 2015 cash-for-vote scam case in which Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is an accused. The top court was hearing a petition seeking transfer of the trial in the case from the state to Bhopal. A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan said it will consult colleagues from Telangana and pass an order at 2 pm. At the outset, senior advocate C Aryama Sundaram, appearing for Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy and three others, sought transfer of trial saying the Telangana CM has been publicly making statements on the case. "Only on apprehension, how can we entertain...If we entertain such petitions, we will be disbelieving our judicial officers," the bench observed. Sundaram submitted that Telangana CM is himself the Home Minister. "There is a rule of natural justice that no person should be a judge in his own cause," he said. The bench t

Diageo submits financial documents in Delhi police corruption investigation

The documents submitted included certain bank statements, records of financial dealings with the Delhi city agencies

Odisha vigilance arrests three including GST officer on graft charge

Odisha vigilance on Sunday arrested three persons including a commercial tax and GST officer on the charge of bribery, evasion of taxes, and causing loss to the government, officials said. Binay Bhusan Tripathy, an assistant commissioner of enforcement unit, Jajpur along with two private persons Jyoti Pattnaik and Md Golam Sad has been arrested for evasion of taxes and misappropriation of government money over Rs 5.85 lakh, the vigilance officials said. According to the vigilance, Tripathy had intercepted one goods vehicle carrying scrap worth Rs 8.89 lakh at Revena in Jajpur district in May this year. He detained the vehicle at a dhaba on the NH and demanded Rs 2.5 lakh bribe from the owner to release the vehicle. However, when the bribe demand was not met, in contravention to the laws of GST, Tripathy, with an ulterior motive, illegally sold the entire scrap to another scrap dealer, and realized nominal tax and misappropriated Rs 5.85 lakh. The investigation revealed that Tripath

Ex-Pak PM Imran Khan, wife Bushra Bibi's remand extended by 11 days

An accountability court has extended by 11 days the physical remand of jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the new Toshakhana corruption case, media reports said on Friday. The hearing, presided over by Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana, took place on Thursday in the makeshift courtroom set up at Rawalpindi's high-security Adiala Jail, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Judge Rana approved the remand extension of the former first couple for 11 days after the lapse of their 10-day physical remand in the fresh Toshakhana corruption case. Khan, 71, has been imprisoned at the Adiala Jail for more than a year now upon his conviction in multiple cases. His wife, 49-year-old Bibi, is also jailed along with him. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) told the court that the accused had cooperated with the investigation team only twice during the previous 10-day remand. The anti-corruption watchdog requested an additional 14-day ...