North America | United States | Corruption

CDC Official Steps Down After Coca-Cola ILSI Scandal Comes to Light

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Two days after it was revealed that a veteran leader within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was assisting Coca-Cola and International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) in influencing world health authorities on issues related to sugar and beverage policy, Dr. Barbara Bowman has now stepped down from her position. Dr. Barbara Bowman, the disgraced former director of the CDC’s division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention began working with the CDC in 1992 and has since been involved with a number of different initiatives within that division which is charged with providing �
North America | United States | Corruption

Wasserman Schultz resigning as party leader

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Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced Sunday she is stepping down as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee at the end of the party's convention, which is set to begin here Monday. The Florida congresswoman's resignation -- under heavy pressure from top Democrats -- comes amid the release of thousand of leaked emails showing DNC staffers favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the party's 2016 primary contest. Her announcement that she was leaving had pro-Sanders supporters cheering during a demonstration in Philadelphia and
North America | United States | Corruption

Former Congressional Candidate Admits Sending Death Threats To Herself

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A former Congressional candidate admitted to CBS13 that she sent herself fake death threats in the mail. Karen Davis is now facing federal charges for lying to investigators about two death threat letters she said she received during her failed 2014 campaign. “You know, everybody makes mistakes. I did,” she said. The first letter included the line, “A close up to your head or to your husband will be final. You make the decision not to run for Congress.” A second letter read, “If you don’t quit very soon, you won’t be warned. You won’t see it coming. Your family will
North America | United States | Corruption

Barbara Byrd-Bennett, Ex-Chicago public schools chief, to plead guilty in contract kickback scheme

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Former Chicago Public Schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett plans to plead guilty to federal charges that she steered more than $23 million in no-bid contracts from the school system to her previous employers in exchange for kickbacks that would have made her millions of dollars, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. Zachary Fardon, the U.S. attorney for Northern Illinois, said Byrd-Bennett is cooperating with investigators and that her lawyer has indicated to prosecutors that she plans on soon pleading guilty to the charges. Byrd-Bennett, 66, who lives in Solon, Ohio, faces 15 counts of
North America | United States | Corruption

New Mexico’s secretary of state faces 65th charge: identity theft

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The New Mexico secretary of state, who oversees campaign finance reporting and once bemoaned a "culture of corruption" in the state, has been accused of using her election fund as a personal piggy bank at jewelry stores, ATMs and casinos. Secretary of State Dianna K. Duran already faces allegations of financial crimes, stemming from a separate August indictment. Late Friday, the New Mexico attorney general's office alleged in a criminal complaint that Duran also falsified campaign finance reports by forging the name of a former state Senate colleague and claiming him as her campaign trea
Africa | Nigeria | Corruption

Nigeria’s ex-oil minister Alison-Madueke arrested in London – sources

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Nigeria's former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was arrested in London on Friday, a source from Nigeria's presidency circle and another with links to her family said. Alison-Madueke was minister from 2010 until May 2015 under former president Goodluck Jonathan, who was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari at the polls in March. Buhari took office in May promising to root out corruption in Africa's most populous country, where few benefit from the OPEC member's enormous energy resources. A police spokesman in London said he had no record of such an arrest. The National Crime Agency did no
North America | United States | Corruption

Mostly Women…Shame: School drug counselors charged with carrying out $46-million Medi-Cal fraud scheme

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In middle schools and high schools across Los Angeles County, Atlantic Recovery Services offered some hope: a free, government-funded treatment program for children coping with drug and alcohol addiction. But prosecutors alleged this week that the Long Beach-based program was set up to exploit children and defraud taxpayers, with supervisors telling staffers to forge student signatures, falsify treatment records, and enroll students who may have merely dabbled in drugs, even once. Eight employees of the now-defunct drug treatment company have been charged in a decade-long scheme that ne
North America | United States | Corruption

Keila Ravelo: From ‘Women Worth Watching’ to Under Arrest

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Just weeks before she quit her job at a white-shoe law firm in New York and was arrested on charges of stealing more than $5 million from two former employers and a client, Keila Ravelo was named one of 100 “Women Worth Watching” by a diversity publication. Ms. Ravelo’s photo and bio are still posted on the website of Profiles in Diversity Journal even though she is now facing criminal charges that could send her to prison. Other alleged actions by Ms. Ravelo could unravel the largest antitrust settlement in history – a $6 billion pact between Visa, MasterCard and millions of mercha
North America | United States | Corruption

New Mexico secretary of state charged with theft, money laundering

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New Mexico Republican Secretary of State Dianna Duran was charged on Friday with embezzlement, fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations by the state’s attorney general Democrat Hector Balderas. Balderas’ officer filed the 64-count complaint in state district court in Santa Fe. Balderas didn’t make a statement of hold a news conference to announce the complaint against Duran, one of the high-ranking GOP lawmakers in the state. James Hallinan, a spokesman for Balderas, said the office wouldn’t release any information beyond the court filing. “Our office will procee
North America | United States | Corruption

12 of Illinois’ Most Politically Corrupt 21st Century Women

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"Old boys network" is a term used to describe the culture that allows political corruption to thrive. According to a study from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, this shorthand term does not accurately reflect the female gender. "Unsupervised, Ensnared, Relational, and Private: A Typology of Illinois' Corrupt Women" takes a look at the women of Illinois who have been convicted for abusing their official powers. It challenges the notion that "female public officials have a deterrent effect on corruption" and examines the methods and motivations most common among female officials who ha
North America | United States | Corruption

First Female Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Tenure Is Fraught with Abuse of Power

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Women have made great strides in recent years, earning respected political positions and shattering the “glass ceiling” which previous generations lamented. With each new office won, pundits laud the fact that future generations of America’s girls have new role models. So what happens, then, when these high-profile female leaders make egregious missteps? Last week, Kathleen Kane, the Attorney General of Pennsylvania, was indicted of one felony count of perjury and seven misdemeanors – including official oppression and obstruction of justice. Kane was once considered a rising star
North America | United States | Corruption

Chesterfield woman charged with stealing $800,000 from Virginia Physicians for Women

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A former billing specialist for Virginia Physicians for Women who has a prior conviction for welfare fraud has been charged with embezzling more than $800,000 from the well-known obstetrics and gynecology practice in Midlothian. Edith W. Harris, 51, of the 7400 block of Sandlewood Drive, was arrested June 29 on 11 counts of felony embezzlement, Chesterfield County police announced Monday. Grohowski said Harris was responsible for making reimbursements to the accounts of patients who had overpaid for services while under the care of Virginia Physicians for Women at 10710 Midlothian Turn
South Asia | Sri Lanka | Corruption

Sri Lanka women cricketers ‘forced into sexual favours’

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Members of Sri Lanka's women's cricket team were forced to perform sexual favours to keep their places in the team, the sports ministry has said. The ministry said evidence of sexual harassment was uncovered in an investigation begun last year. It was launched following reports a player had been dropped for refusing to have sex with cricketing officials. Disciplinary procedures would now be initiated, the ministry said, without naming the individuals involved. "It is a shameful incident," Sri Lankan Children's Minister Rosy Senanayake told the AFP news agency. It is not clear what