SaafNations ( A Global Forum for Citizens of Humanity )

 Swiss MPs to vote on new ex-dictator cash law (AP) – 6 days ago GENEVA — The Swiss government says a draft law that would allow aid agencies in Haiti to receive at least $4.6 million claimed by the family of Haiti's ex-dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier is ready for approval by lawmakers. The government said Wednesday the draft law on the restitution of assets held in Swiss banks for deposed dictators will be put to parliament after winning widespread support. It would make it easier for such assets to be repatriated to national governments. The Swiss government acted after the top Swiss court ruled Jan. 12, right before Haiti's devastating earthquake, that the $4.6 million must be returned to Duvalier's family because the statute of limitations on any Duvalier clan crimes would have expired in 2001.

By Sun News Publishing Tuesday,  April 20, 2010 News emanating from Africa can sometimes be disconcerting. One of the latest of these is a report released by Global Financial Integrity which shows that illicit revenue outflow from the continent amounted to a scandalous $854 billion (N28.277 trillion) in the last 38 years (1971 – 2009). The report from the Washington, USA-based organisation said the amount represents a cumulative, illegal capital outflow that is more than enough to clear the continent’s total external debts and address poverty. A breakdown of the illicit cash outflow shows that about 12 percent is as a result of bribery, theft, human trafficking, illicit drugs and tax evasion. These, the report claims, grew steadily at a disturbing average of 11.9 percent between 1970 and 2008. Perhaps, more disturbing is the revelation that Nigeria tops the list of the continent’s illicit financial couriers, with illegal fuel exporters and oil bunkerers fleecing the country o...

April 3, 2010 I.H.T. Op-Ed Contributor By PHILIP BOWRING HONG KONG — The 7-to-14 year sentences for corruption and theft of commercial secrets handed down on Monday by a Shanghai court to four former executives of the mining giant Rio Tinto have sent shock waves through the foreign business community in China. The severity of the sentences came as a surprise, given that Rio appeared to have patched up its relationship with its largest customer. The Rio chief executive, Tom Albanese, had recently made a high profile visit to Beijing and Rio had announced an agreement to sell Chinalco, the Chinese state metals giant, a 47 percent stake in a huge iron-ore venture in Guinea. As a result, many are seeing the harsh sentences, following a mostly closed trial, as evidence of a shift both in China’s attitude to big foreign businesses and in the balance of commercial power in the mining business. Take a step back. The surge in China’s ore demand spurred the global mining industry out...

The Nigerian government has requested the withdrawal of criminal charges against Nuhu Ribadu, the former head of the anti-corruption agency. Mr Ribadu faces charges of not declaring his assets while in office. The request is seen as paving the way for the appointment of Mr Ribadu as a special advisor on fighting corruption to acting President, Goodluck Jonathan. On Wednesday, Nigeria's Senate approved 38 of Mr Jonathan's 39 nominees for a new cabinet. As head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ribadu brought more than 1,000 cases to court. Before his appointment no company in Nigeria had ever been charged for bribery. But in 2007 he was removed in controversial circumstances and later charged with not declaring his assets while in office, a contravention of the 1999 constitution. Anti-corruption campaigners say Mr Ribadu had upset powerful former state governors by trying to bring them to justice for alleged embezzlement. He is currently ...

The Huffington Post, February 17, 2010 The amount of character and courage that it takes to blow the whistle on corporate crime and government corruption is obviously why so many good movies have been made and will continue to be made about whistle blowers. Enough to fill a virtual museum. In this past year alone, for example, we've seen The Informant! (a drama based on Mark Whitacre and ADM) and the fantastic just-released documentary, The Most Dangerous Man in America (a must-see doc about Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.

T who HE name of Sant Singh Chatwal, the controversial US-based hotel magnate, who was, until a few months ago, facing trials for alleged bank fraud, is understood to be among those recommended by the UPA government for the January 26 Padma awards this year. Sources confirmed to The Sunday Express that Chatwal is among the 17 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) whose names have been recommended by the selection panel and sent to President Pratibha Patil for approval. The move to recommend Chatwal has raised consternation among a section in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since the agency filed four chargesheets against the hotelier for an alleged $9-million fraud case connected with the State Bank of India.The businessman was even briefly arrested in Mumbai but he got bail and left the country. Officials recall that the hotelier was acquitted by the special Mumbai court in one case in 2008 and there was a serious difference of opinion in the CBI on whether an appeal should be f...

China Daily, January 14, 2010 Corruption and bribery cases involving officials connected to major engineering projects have grown by 31 percent annually since 2006, a top anti-corruption official with the city said. Zhu Xiaoqin, head of the anti-corruption bureau of Beijing People's Procuratorate, told METRO that from 2006, 146 officials - 34 of which are senior officials - in 135 corruption and bribery cases have been charged by the procuratorates. Among the cases, 101 relate to cases with more than 100,000 yuan. These major cases have seen an average increase of 7.9 percent annually. Zhu said State-owned enterprises account for the majority of the cases, with real estate companies the main culprit. Close behind are government departments such as urban infrastructure management, construction committees, planning committees, civil affairs, and civil defense departments. They are most likely to contain corrupt officials, Zhu said. Meanwhile, group bribery cases are also increa...