Copyright: BBC, 13th October, 2011

Ukrainian investigators have opened a corruption inquiry into former leader Yulia Tymoshenko, two days after she was jailed for exceeding her powers. The case is legally separate from that involving the 2009 gas deal. It is alleged she illegally transferred more than USD 400m (£255m) of debt from her energy company's books to the state. She obtained a guarantee that the debts would be paid back to the Russian defence ministry by the state, and then transferred the money to her own bank card and several Swiss bank accounts.

Read full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15293905

Copyright: Azeri-Press Agency (APA), 13th October, 2011

Senior Lieutenant of the National Army Ziyafet Hasanov is accused of corruption crime. Baku Military Court proved Hasanov’s guilt on bribery and sentenced him to 9-year imprisonment.

Read full article: http://www.en.apa.az/news.php?id=157231

Copyright: Reuters, 11th October, 2011

Analysis on Russia and how its failure to cultivate soft power through trade and diplomacy is forcing it back into its costly Cold War addiction to missiles and guns. While Western countries cut military spending to deal with the global financial crisis, Russia plans to spend 20 trillion roubles (USD 611 billion) on defense through 2020. Moscow now wants to replace 70 per cent of its weapons by the end of the decade and create a nearly fully contract army made of lighter and more mobile units that can defend against and attack smaller, more elusive enemies.

Read full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/11/us-russia-military-idUSTRE79A2CB20111011

Copyright: New York Times, 10th October, 2011

President Ollanta Humala of Peru has dismissed two-thirds of the generals in the country’s national police force, the most forceful move yet in an anti-corruption drive he announced shortly after taking office in July. The move included the dismissal of 30 of the 45 generals in the police force, including its director.

Read full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/world/americas/peru-leader-ousts-30-police-generals.html

Copyright: Dawn, 3rd October, 2011

The Pakistani Ministry of Defence has agreed to constitute a court of inquiry to put on trial three retired generals of the Pakistan Army who are alleged to have racked up a loss of Rs1.8bn (around £13,000) between 2004-08 through improper investments in the stock exchange using funds belonging to the National Logistics Cell that the generals were administering at the time.

Read full article: http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/03/military-accountability.html

Copyright: The Daily Telegraph, 2nd October, 2011

European defence and aerospace giant EADS faces the prospect of US authorities joining the UK's Serious Fraud Office in probing alleged bribes it paid as part of a £2bn contract in Saudi Arabia.

Read full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/defence/8801316/US-could-join-UK-authorities-in-probe-of-EADS-Saudi-deal.html

Copyright: The Christian Science Monitor, 27th September, 2011

Niger authorities arrested seven army officers accused of plotting to assassinate the country’s newly elected civilian President Mahamadou Issoufou on the commemoration of his 100 days in power. His election marked an end to nearly 14 months of military rule. Senior military leaders had seized power from the previous civilian president, Mamadou Tandja, after he manipulated the constitution to remain in power past stated term limits. Some sections of Niger’s military have been angered by Mr Issoufou’s attempts to end corruption, which has led to the dismissal of several officials, correspondents say. Issoufou’s killing would have opened the way for the military to recapture power, an official said.

Read full article: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/0727/Niger-s-new-leader-faced-coup-attempt-for-pursuing-corruption-investigation

Copyright: The Irish Times, 27th September, 2011

A piece on the business ventures of the militaries of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The author pays most attention to the Pakistani military, which has business interests which fall into three broad categories: those controlled directly by the army chief; the services and defence ministry that run ordnance and armament factories; and four charitable trusts in which serving and former servicemen run factories and manufacturing plants.

Read full article: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0927/1224304800531.html

Copyright: Daum, 26th September, 2011

The South Korean state military acquisition agency has continued to sign contracts with local firms with a track record of irregularities, making it difficult to stamp out corruptive practices in defence deals. Rep. Chung Mi-kyung of the Grand National Party said during the parliamentary inspection that since 2006 when the Defence Acquisition Program Administration opened, 16 firms were caught for corruption.

Read full article: http://media.daum.net/foreign/englishnews/view.html?cateid=1047&newsid=20110926193816876

Copyright: AP, 24th September, 2011

A decorated former Army captain has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking more than USD 300,000 in bribes from Afghan contractors. The government called the scheme the largest bribery case to be prosecuted related to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Sidharth Handa of Charlotte, N.C., who received the Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan, was arrested earlier this year after being targeted in an undercover sting.

Read full article: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/army-captain-10-years-taking-bribes-14594039

Copyright: Malaysia Today, 23rd September, 2011

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak could be subpoenaed to appear in a Paris court over the controversial Scorpene submarine deals involving millions of ringgit in commissions to both government and military officers. Najib was defence minister when the RM7.3 billion (around £1.4 billion) arms deal was struck to purchase two submarines.

Read full article: http://malaysia-today.net/archives/archives-2011/43462-malaysian-scorpene-submarine-corruption-case-legal-briefing

Copyright: The Prague Monitor, 22nd September, 2011

Former Czech defence minister Martin Bartak dismissed yesterday the statement by businessman Stefan Novota who was quoted by a local newspaper as saying that ministerial clerks wanted him to give them a bribe for a military order.

Read full article: http://praguemonitor.com/2011/09/22/former-defense-minister-dismisses-bribery-claim

Copyright: Off news info, 20th September, 2011

Colombia's intelligence service, the DAS, is alleged to have passed on high value information to one of the region's most wanted drug lords, Daniel Barrera. A collection of intelligence documents, including lists naming hundreds of undercover agents deployed across the country, was leaked to the newspaper Semana. They reportedly include the identity, mission, and home addresses of hundreds of detectives and informants. The newspaper reported at least two people from the DAS leaked sensitive intelligence information to Barrera.

Read full article: http://www.offnews.info/verArticulo.php?contenidoID=34534

Copyright: AP/The Guardian, 16th September, 2011

A retired Philippine military budget chief whose plunder charges were dismissed by a civilian court was rearrested by the military in September to serve a prior two-year prison sentence for hiding assets and holding a U.S. green card while in service.

Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9849687

Copyright: The Washington Post, 16th September, 2011

Trucking contractors who pay off the Taliban, warlords and government officials to ensure safe passage for U.S. military goods in Afghanistan do so because they believe they have no choice if they want to avoid attack, a senior military official told a congressional oversight panel Thursday. Pentagon officials told a House subcommittee that a new trucking contract, which goes into effect Friday, will decrease the level of corruption through wider competition, increased vetting and improved military oversight, along with a “code of ethics” for the contractors.

Read full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/corrupt-afghan-trucking-for-us-military-probed-by-congress/2011/09/15/gIQA9KHnVK_story.html

Copyright: The Guardian, 16th September, 2011

Two top executives of Finmeccanica have offered their resignations following the publication of Italian court documents claiming the group used bribery to win contracts. Salvatore Metrangolo, president of a subsidiary of the Finmeccanica group, and the company’s commercial director, Paolo Pozzessere, have offered to stepped down “until all relevant issues [were] clarified”. Both executives figure in documents relating to an enquiry into suspected blackmailing of Italian President Silvio Berlusconi.

Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/arms-finmeccanica-executives-italy-bribery?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

Copyright: New York Times, 14th September, 2011

The Justice Department has issued a devastating report on the rampant corruption and constitutional violations committed by the Puerto Rico Police Department, the second-largest police force in the United States. The investigation found that the Police Department, with 17,000 officers, was “broken,” lacking basic systems of accountability at every level. The result was a “staggering level of crime and corruption” and a longstanding pattern of “violating the Constitution by using force, including deadly force, when no force or lesser force was called for,” as well as the routine use of illegal searches and seizures.

Read full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/opinion/unconstitutional-policing-in-puerto-rico.html?src=recg

Copyright: Reuters, 9th September, 2011

U.S. law enforcement officials are tracking possible bribery and corruption issues involving the global aerospace industry and foreign state-owned airlines, according to legal and government sources. Industry executives told Reuters at the Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington that compliance with U.S. and international anti-bribery laws remains a big priority for an industry that has seen its share of violations over the years. Robert Stevens, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), said each of the company's 126,000 employees, and every member of the company's board of directors, received in-depth ethics training once a year.

Read full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/09/us-aero-arms-summit-bribery-idUSTRE78876G20110909

Copyright: The Daily Star, 5th September, 2011

This article postulates that the biggest challenge for the West in its relations with the Arab world are to come. The article surveys the situation across countries in the MENA region, and comments on the difficulties pervading their future development. The discussion of Algeria is particularly relevant where, it is argued, the legislative elections in May 2012 may be unable to address the issue of corruption: “because corruption is identified with the country’s political leaders…and an entrenched military elite that has controlled Algeria’s fortunes from the shadows since independence, it remains a seemingly untouchable issue.”

Read full article: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2011/Sep-05/147915-whats-next-for-the-west-in-libya.ashx#axzz1X5q6zmFP

Copyright: BBC Channel 4, 4th September, 2011

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak returned to the courtroom for his trial on charges of corruption, with 4 policemen giving the first testimony in the trial. Meanwhile clashes broke out outside the courtroom as protestors and victims’ families attempted to enter the courtroom. The judge has prevented TV cameras from covering the trial from inside the courtroom, and victims’ families have had difficulty in getting permission to view the trial. Mubarak is charged with corruption and of killing protestors, and could be sentenced to death if convicted; his sons Alaa and Gamal are also on trial for corruption, along with former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and a number of aids.

Read full article: http://www.channel4.com/news/police-give-evidence-as-egypts-mubarak-returns-to-court

Copyright: Times Live, 4th September, 2011

A Defence Review is under way in South Africa. Unlike the 1998 review, this one is being conducted by a tiny committee - which includes convicted arms-deal fraudster Tony Yengeni - with little public consultation. Yet the committee's decision could not only shape the capabilities of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), but be used as a justification for future purchases.
The article addresses the 1998 Defence Review - and the consequent signing in 1999 of the controversial arms deal – especially regarding the benefits of the offsets which accompanied this deal. The weapons sellers were supposed to create (in 1999 rands) R110-billion in investments and about 65000 direct and indirect jobs. Yet allegations of bribes and consultancy fees paid to key political and politically connected individuals in the initial arms deal have overshadowed any failure to deliver on these offsets.

Read full article: http://www.timeslive.co.za/Feeds/2011/09/04/another-view-is-another-arms-deal-on-the-horizon

Copyright: Wired, 2nd September, 2011

The case of the non-competitive umbrella style contract the Pentagon awarded to Xe Services (former “infamous” security firm Blackwater) for Afghan police training fits into a larger pattern of no-bid Pentagon contracting identified by the Center for Public Integrity. The deal came from an Army bureau called the Counter Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office (CNTPO), which provides tech to foreign allies’ counternarcotics efforts, which already had an existing contract with Blackwater. This situation meant the Pentagon could slip Blackwater into the training job and avoid holding a new full-and-open competition.

Read full article: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/pentagon-no-bid-champ/

Copyright: Gulfnews.com, 2nd September, 2011

This article proposes that the era of military rule in the Arab world is to end. The collapse of several regimes recently, and the potential for two more to follow, may present a fundamental shift in the political landscape. It is argued that several centuries ago, military officers in these states overthrew traditional regimes with western support, on the basis that a shift away from conservative regimes would better promote movement to democracy and modernisation. Yet this was not to be the case: military rule instead led to a police state, corruption, and poverty. Realising this, it is suggested that Western governments support the 2011 Arab Spring, and that Turkish-style democracy may become the new, archetypical political model states in the Middle East may embrace.

Read full article: http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/era-of-military-rule-coming-to-an-end-1.860146

Copyright: Agence France-Presse, 2nd September, 2011

Austrian prosecutors are reportedly suspecting the European aircraft manufacturing consortium EADS of “extracting funds out of business partners by means of false contracts” in order to provide up to 100 million euros for corrupt activities of lobbyists charged with securing the sales of EADS’ Eurofighter jets in Vienna. These revelations are the latest development in the corruption allegations around a 2003 two billion euro Eurofighter sale, which has already been the subject of court proceedings, a parliamentary inquiry committee, and the arrest of a financier.

Read full article: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=7571746&c=EUR&s=AIR

Copyright: CzechPosition.com, 30th August, 2011

Czech Investigators reported a new development in one of the country’s most significant corruption allegations, which has been the subject of a stop and ago investigation since 2003. In 2002, the Czech government, led by the Czech Social Democrats, singed a deal for the purchase of 24 Gripen jet fighter aircraft from the then consortium of BAE Systems and Saab. After failing to receive the necessary parliamentary support, the deal morphed into the lease of 10 Gripens, which expires in 2015. The widespread corruption allegations around the deal, which sparked the long-running investigation by Czech authorities, concerned the Austrian Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly allegedly acting as a middleman for the BAES and channelling bribes to Eastern European officials, including Czech officials, to secure the Gripen deals. The Czech investigation was reported to have stalled due to lack of cooperation of foreign investigators, including the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). In June 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron, however, promised renewed cooperation to his Czech counterpart on a state visit to the country. On August 8, 2011, such information reportedly materialised in the form of fresh material from the SFO.

Read full article: http://www.ceskapozice.cz/en/bae-systems/czechs-hope-gripen-graft-breakthrough-sfo

Copyright: Washington Post, 29th August, 2011

A bipartisan and independent Congressional report, ‘The Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan,’ provides a detailed account of the waste that has occurred in wartime contracting over the past decade. The report estimates that ‘at least one in every six dollars of U.S. spending for contracts and grants in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade, or more than $30 billion, has been wasted.’ The reports chairs, Christopher Shays and Michael Thibault argue in a Washington Post opinion piece that ‘at least that much could again turn into waste if the host governments are unable or unwilling to sustain U.S.-funded projects after our involvement ends.’ The report issues 15 strategic recommendations including conducting risk assessments on contractors to address waste, fraud, and other procurement issues facing the US Government.

Read full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/reducing-waste-in-wartime-contracts/2011/08/26/gIQAyqQhlJ_sto

Copyright: News.az, 22nd August, 2011

A military commissioner of a district of Azerbaijan has been arrested, News AZ reported. The arrest of the Military commissioner of Ordubad District was announced by sources in law enforcement agencies. He has been detained over the criminal case launched by the Republican Military Prosecutor’s Office. Twenty other commissioners have already been arrested on corruption charges.

Read full article: http://www.news.az/articles/society/42925

Copyright: Asian Human Rights Commission, 21st August, 2011

There are many corruption cases against army Generals and the institution itself, but the courts are reluctant to put the cases for regular hearing because of threats and intimidations from the army. There is one case that has been pending before the Supreme Court of Pakistan since 1998 where a retired chief of army staff confessed that he himself disbursed huge amounts to different politicians to topple the democratically elected government. The case has never seen the light of the day.

Read full article: http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-113-2011

Copyright: New Zealand Herald, 20th August, 2011

Military forces across South Asia are flexing their commercial muscles to create ventures that rival private firms and threaten to militarise civil society.
In Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indian and Sri Lanka defence chiefs have interests in everything from airlines to sugar factories, banks to bakeries, from power plants to ports. Investments worth billions of dollars are controlled by a military elite that is eclipsing civilian bureaucracies and, in some cases, corrupting the services.

Read full article: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10746321

Copyright: Asia One, 18th August, 2011

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has refused to reveal to the Commission on Audit (COA) the number of officers and soldiers under its wing, citing national security reasons. According to George Rabusa, a retired lieutenant colonel, The AFP has been padding its actual troop strength by 20 percent through the years. Rabusa, who served as military budget officer from 2000 to 2002, claims that the budget for the ‘ghosts’ is used to finance send-off gifts amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos for retiring top military officials.

Read full article: http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110818-295035.html