Mishcon’s Culture vs Corruption Diary – February 2013
Release Date:
27 February 2013
IMPORTANT: This briefing note is only intended as a general statement of the law and no action should be taken in reliance on it without specific legal advice. Release Date: 27 February 2013
Welcome to the February edition of Mishcon’s Culture vs Corruption Diary. Its aim is to provide businesses and their advisors with a snapshot of what has been happening in the world of corruption in the last month.
We make no judgment whatsoever as to the morality, legality or appropriateness of the conduct which forms the subject matter of this bulletin. We simply aim to bring these matters to the attention of those involved in the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud.
UNITED KINGDOM
Banks
Lynden Scourfield and Mark Dobson, former HBOS managers appeared in court charged with “conspiracy to corrupt” along with six other people in an alleged £35 million fraud. Their case has been to Southwark Crown Court.
Peter Spence
The Times, 9 January 2013
EUROPE
Restoration
Marcello Fiori, an official appointed to rescue the Pompeii ruins has been placed under investigation in a corruption inquiry. It is alleged that contracts for the restoration of the main amphitheatre were inflated by 400 per cent.
James Bone
The Times, 7 February 2013
Monarchy
A court in Palma has ordered Inaki Urdangarin, the King of Spain’s son-in-law, and his former associate Diego Torres Perez hand over €8 million as collateral. The pair are suspected of siphoning off millions of euros paid by regional governments for staging sporting and tourism events and of tax fraud.
Source: AFP
The Telegraph, 30 January 2013
MENA
Reports
The Middle East and North African states with the worst military sector corruption tend to be in the hands of centralised authorities under little or no public scrutiny according to a new report from Transparency International.
Borzou Daragahi
Financial Times, 7 February 2013
ASIA
Government
Li Jianguo, the vice-chairman of China’s National People’s Congress and member of Politburo, has become the most senior Communist Party official to be investigated in line with the nation’s crackdown on political corruption. He has not yet been formally charged.
Tom Phillips
Daily Telegraph, 28 January 2013
Pakistan’s supreme court ordered the arrest of the prime minister, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, on corruption charges. It is alleged he accepted payment in return for handing out contracts when he was minister in charge of electricity. Ashraf denies all charges.
Jon Boone
The Guardian, 16 January 2013
Lease a Finance Director 