Dec 16th, 2008 · The German company admitted Monday that it has paid more than a billion dollars in bribes to win foreign contracts. Now the company will pay U.S. and European authorities more than a billion dollars in criminal penalties — dwarfing the previous record.
Dec 15th, 2008 · Corruption and nepotism in the struggling Afghan justice system have fostered rampant bribery and insider dealing. One expert believes it might take a generation or more to fix what only began in 2001, after the ouster of the Taliban.
Dec 13th, 2008 · A federal appeals court heard arguments this week in the case of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. Siegelman, a Democrat, was convicted of corruption and bribery and served nine months in prison. But the appeals court ordered his release earlier this year after it found substantial questions with his case. Siegelman argues that the prosecution was a politically motivated attack, and Congress is looking into the case.
Dec 9th, 2008 · Rod Blagojevich was arrested this morning on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and solicitation of bribery. He is accused of trying to leverage his authority to appoint a senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama for his personal gain. We run through the details.
Jul 9th, 2008 · In Italy on Tuesday, opposition parties protested Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's efforts to pass legislation that would grant immunity from prosecution to the country's top four officials. That includes Berlusconi, who is being tried on corruption charges and is under investigation for bribery. The government insists the law is needed to allow the officials to serve without worries. But critics have warned that democracy is in trouble.
Jun 28th, 2008 · A $50,000 bribe has landed one of America's top tort lawyers in prison. Mississippi-native Dickie Scruggs was sentenced Friday to five years behind bars. Journalist Peter J. Boyer, who profiled Scruggs in the May 19th issue of The New Yorker magazine, discusses the case.
Dec 6th, 2007 · An anti-corruption group called Transparency International released The Global Corruption Barometer today. It's their annual survey of bribery and dirty dealings in 60 countries.
Dec 5th, 2007 · Lawyer Richard Scruggs, who represented the insurance cases of many Katrina victims, has been indicted on federal bribery charges. Some hurricane victims, who haven't settled with insurance companies, worry that the indictment could hurt them.