Category: corporate corruption

Puerto Rico sues former officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30M in public funds

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s Justice Department announced Tuesday that it is suing at least 30 ex-government officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30 million in public funds. Among those sued are three former legislators, including María Milagros Charbonier, who was sentenced in May to eight years in federal prison after being found guilty of…

Russia, China find payments workaround as US sanctions net widens, sources say

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia-China trade options have narrowed since the U.S. imposed sanctions last week on the only Russian bank branch in China, but President Vladimir Putin’s Chinese visit last month has helped ensure the two countries have payment alternatives for now, three sources said. Since Putin’s visit, specially authorised banks have been set up in border regions which allow Russian…

US sends submarine to Cuba after Russian ships arrive

USS Helena, a Los Angeles-class boat, arrived on Thursday for a “routine port visit,” the US Southern Command said in a statement.  “The vessel’s location and transit were previously planned,” SOUTHCOM added, noting that the Helena is “conducting its global maritime security and national defense mission.” AP described the submarine’s arrival as “a show of force” by Washington, in response…

US and Poland set up center to fight ‘Russian disinformation’ 

The Warsaw-based facility will detect “deceptive narratives” on the Ukraine conflict, the US State Department has said. The United States and Poland have launched an international group based in Warsaw to counter what they describe as Russian disinformation on the Ukraine conflict, the US State Department has announced. The Ukraine Communications Group (UCG) is designed to detect “deceptive narratives” from…

Johnson & Johnson to settle claims it misled consumers about safety of talcum products, including “baby powder”

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $700m to settle lawsuits in the United States that accused the pharmaceutical giant of deceiving customers about the safety of its talcum-based powder products. J&J’s payout resolves an investigation by more than 40 US states into the marketing of baby powder and other talc-based products that contained traces of cancer-causing asbestos. “Targeting communities…

Crypto firm Terraform and Do Kwon to pay $6 billion to settle SEC fraud case

NEW YORK – Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon will pay US$4.47 billion (S$6 billion) to resolve a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit over the company’s 2022 collapse, which wiped out US$40 billion in investor assets and shook the cryptocurrency world. The SEC on June 12 asked a federal judge in New York to approve the settlement….

Lead fund manager Gregoire Tournant in Allianz fraud case pleads guilty

The lead manager in a funds scandal that led to a $6bn settlement between Germany’s Allianz and US authorities has pleaded guilty to investment adviser fraud, two years after two other managers pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. The scandal at one of its US asset management units rocked Allianz, one of the world’s biggest insurance groups, casting…

US clears way for antitrust inquiries of Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have reached a deal that allows them to proceed with antitrust investigations into the dominant roles that Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia play in the artificial intelligence industry, in the strongest sign of how regulatory scrutiny into the powerful technology has escalated. The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission struck the deal over the past week,…

FDA warning: Avoid Crecelac & Farmalac distributed by Dairy Manufacturers Inc

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials warned parents to avoid powdered infant formula sold by a Texas dairy producer, because a dangerous bacteria was found in one of the company’s products. The Food and Drug Administration issued the alert Friday on Crecelac Infant Powdered Goat Milk Infant Formula, after a sample collected from a Texas store tested positive for cronobacter,…

The Latest | Jury finds Trump guilty on all charges in hush money trial

It was the first time a former U.S. president was ever tried or convicted in a criminal case, and was the first of Trump’s four indictments to reach trial. Prosecutors accused Trump of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments tied to an alleged scheme to bury stories that might torpedo his 2016 White House bid. At…

Magellan Diagnostics Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay $42 Million to Resolve Criminal Charges

BOSTON – Magellan Diagnostics, Inc., a medical device company headquartered in Billerica, Mass., has agreed to resolve criminal charges relating to its concealment of a device malfunction that produced inaccurately low lead test results for potentially tens of thousands of children and other patients.  As part of the criminal resolution, Magellan will plead guilty to violations of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics…

After cutting corporate taxes, France gets $22b in pledges from foreign investors like Pfizer, Amazon

PARIS – France won a record €15 billion (S$21.9 billion) in foreign investment pledges on May 13, allowing President Emmanuel Macron to bask in the limelight with global CEOs, and forget about strained public finances and weak polls for a while. The bumper crop of pledges, in sectors ranging from artificial intelligence to pharmaceuticals to energy, stood Mr Macron in…

Police Raid UCLA Gaza Protest After Pro-Israel Mob Attacked Encampment

Video. Update from the University of California, Los Angeles, where police in riot gear began dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment early Thursday, using flashbang grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas, and arresting dozens of students. The raid came just over a day after pro-Israel counterprotesters armed with sticks, metal rods and fireworks attacked students at the encampment.

Second Boeing Whistleblower Dies in Span of 2 Months

A whistleblower who accused a Boeing supplier of ignoring manufacturing defects on the 737 Max died on Tuesday. The former Spirit AeroSystems employee Josh Dean, 45, died after contracting a sudden illness, according to reports by family members on social media, The Seattle Times reported on Wednesday. Josh’s aunt, Carol Parsons, told the outlet that Dean went to the hospital…

Ukraine’s farm minister is the latest corruption suspect as Kyiv aims to undo recent Russian gains

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia. Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he…

South Korean police raid office of incoming head of doctors’ group over protracted strikes

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police said Friday they searched the office of the hard-line incoming leader of an association of doctors and confiscated his mobile phone as he faces accusations that he incited the protracted walkouts by thousands of medical interns and residents. The development could further dim prospects for an early end to the strikes. The…