Organized crime and corruption reporting project

State authorities in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, arrested a former border city official on extortion and organized crime charges. The same official is also under federal investigation for allegedly trying to smuggle more than 1100 bulletproof vests. The Tamaulipas government confirmed to Breitbart Texas, the arrest this week of Luis Alfredo Biasi. The suspect is an import and export businessman who was the former Social Development Secretary for the border city of Matamoros from 2013 to 2016. The arrest took place just south of Matamoros as Biasi was making his way to the local airport. State police officers and prosecutors arrested Biasi on a warrant charging him with one count of extortion and one count of organized criminal activity. Officials moved him to Ciudad Victoria where he is expected to face a judge. Breitbart Texas obtained a photograph of Biasi immediately after his arrest. According to information obtained by Breitbart Texas, Biasi who owns an import and … [Read more...] about Mexican Officials Charge Former Border City Official with Organized Crime, Extortion

Canada Steps up the Fight Against Foreign Corruption By Susan Hutton and Paul BeaudryStikeman Elliott LLPIn August 2013, a Canadian court convicted Nazir Karigar for conspiring to bribe Indian government officials with US$450,000, following a failed attempt to secure an airline security contract for Cryptometrics Canada, an Ottawa-based technology company.1 The Karigar decision is significant, as it marks the first contested trial of a charge under Canada's Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act2 (“CFPOA”), and the first conviction against an individual. Such is the natural result, however, of Canada's recent determination to step up the fight against foreign corruption.Since it was criticized in 2011 by both the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Working Group on Bribery and by Transparency International3 for a perceived failure to adequately prosecute complex white-collar criminal cases, Canada has markedly enhanced the scale and capability of … [Read more...] about Canada Steps up the Fight Against Foreign Corruption

World Donald Trump International Affairs On Thursday, a court in Kazakhstan launched preliminary hearings of a corruption case against the former mayor of the Kazakh city of Almaty, Viktor Khrapunov, and his wife Leila Kharpunova, a couple with deep ties to the Trump Organization. The former mayor and his wife have been accused of a wide array of crimes, including money laundering embezzlement, abuse of office, fraud and the creation of an organized crime group. They are currently living in Switzerland, but are being tried in absentia. The couple claims that the charges against them are politically motivated. Reports and court documents have demonstrated that the couple has deep ties to Trump associates, including Trump’s current lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Trump adviser Felix Sater. They have also been accused of using purchases in a Manhattan Trump tower to launder stolen money. An investigation published last year by McClatchy, for example, … [Read more...] about Corruption Case Begins Against Kazakh Couple That Allegedly Laundered Money Through Trump Tower

Sweeping reforms across Mexico’s oil, gas and electric markets promise more opportunities for the private sector and increased investment from international firms.  However, U.S. companies looking to enter this market will need to stay vigilant to anti-corruption risks and plan ahead to ensure they have adequate anti-corruption compliance structures in place to address these risks.  Given heightened enforcement of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, particularly in the energy industry, international energy firms need to pay particular attention to their anti-bribery risks when contemplating potential transactions in Mexico’s newly privatized energy markets.Oil Market Reforms in MexicoIn an interview on February 11, 2014, Mexico’s finance minister, Luis Videgaray, announced that Mexico is expediting the schedule for its first oil contracts with private companies and would begin announcing certain private agreements to the market by early 2015.  … [Read more...] about New Energy Opportunities in Mexico Raise FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act), Anti-Bribery Risks

Anti-bribery laws, including the United States’ own Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, seem to be becoming the stuff of Aesop’s Fables, with many asking whether the resounding alarm over bribery-exposure is akin to the cries of “wolf” by the shepherd boy. The alarm is real enough, however. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have brought an average of 30 cases per year since 2005. These laws equally impact small and medium-sized companies and their executives, as well. In July 2014, Kara Brockmeyer, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unwith explained that “small and medium-size businesses that want to enter into high-risk markets and expand their international sales” must be compliant with the FCPA.Be Aware of Your Risks. When it comes to corruption risks, there is no one-size fits all approach. Each business must be aware of its own risks. Corruption risks are directly tied to (i) the contacts a … [Read more...] about Foreign Corrupt Practices Act – Keeping the Wolf At Bay