International:
Chevron may foot legal bills for man who taped judge
Bloomberg
International: Iraq fraud inquiry focuses on retired army colonel
Associated Press
Korea:Jail term sought for Taekwang CEO
Korea Times
Russia: Study: Roads perfect example of Moscow corruption
Associated Press (TI mention)
Uganda: Interview - Ugandan opposition wants clarity on oil sector
Reuters
Details of news
International: Chevron may foot legal bills for man who taped judge
Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=atU.hV4XSls4
Chevron May Foot Legal Bills for Man Who Taped Judge
By Karen Gullo
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp., battling a $27 billion environmental lawsuit in Ecuador, said it may pay the legal bills of a U.S. businessman whose secret recordings of meetings with the judge on the case led the jurist to step down.
Californian Wayne Hansen used a pen equipped with a tiny camera to record meetings he had in May and June with Judge Juan Nunez in Ecuador, Chevron announced Aug. 31. Hansen told the judge he was seeking contracts for his company to clean up oil contamination if Nunez ruled Chevron was responsible for environmental damage in the Amazon Basin, according to Chevron’s translation of the conversations, which were in Spanish.
Chevron alleges that Nunez disclosed his intention to rule against the company at the meetings. Ecuador Prosecutor General Washington Pesantez said yesterday that the recordings, which Chevron provided to the government, show Nunez told Hansen that he would have to wait until Nunez issued a decision to find out the ruling. Pesantez said he’s investigating the matter.
If Hansen “incurs future legal costs related to this matter, it would only be fair that we consider assisting him,” Kent Robertson, a Chevron spokesman, said yesterday in an e- mailed statement.
Hansen has “no relationship” to Chevron, the company has said.
Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said secretly recording the meetings could be a criminal or civil violation. Companies often cover legal bills or provide attorneys for executives facing lawsuits connected to their duties, she said.
‘Good Samaritan’
“Either Chevron has turned into the biggest good Samaritan out there or they have allied interests with this man,” Levenson said in a telephone interview. “The balls in Chevron’s court to give a better explanation of whether they’ll pay his legal costs out of the goodness of their heart or as part of a contractual arrangement.”
Chevron paid for Ecuadorean contractor Diego Borja, who also attended and recorded the meetings with Hansen, to leave Ecuador and is providing him with financial support, Robertson said on Sept. 1, without disclosing specific amounts. The company had concerns for his safety in Ecuador, Robertson said.
Alleged Bribe
Chevron has declined to say where Borja is. He left Ecuador for the U.S. on June 24, according to migration police records in Quito. Borja and Hansen were asked to pay a $3 million bribe by a political operative in Ecuador’s ruling party to get pollution cleanup contracts, Chevron says the recordings show.
Hansen, an engineer, declined to comment and referred questions to San Francisco criminal defense attorney Mary McNamara, who confirmed that she’s representing him.
“This event has generated considerable interest,” McNamara said in a telephone interview. She declined to comment further.
A biography of Hansen posted on the Internet says he was director of engineering at Mintie Corp., a Los Angeles-based indoor air-quality management services company, for 15 years and has written books about reducing infections through the proper design and construction of health-care facilities.
David Lutz, a spokesman for Mintie, said Hansen is a consultant to the company.
Nunez, a former Ecuadorean Air Force officer and president of the Nueva Loja Superior Court in Ecuador’s northeastern Sucumbios province, had been overseeing a lawsuit filed by Amazon Basin residents who claim San Ramon, California-based Chevron is responsible for toxic waste from oil drilling in the jungle from 1964 to 1990 or later.
Texaco Drilling
The plaintiffs claim the pollution was left by Texaco Inc., which Chevron acquired in 2001. The case began in 1993 in New York and now is being handled in a court in Lago Agrio, a town 20 miles south of the Colombian border near the former Texaco oil fields.
The potential damages in the case may total as much as $27 billion, according to a court-ordered report in the case.
The Amazon Basin, extending from Brazil to Peru and Ecuador, has sparked environmental discord for decades as ecologically sensitive tropical rain forest was destroyed to extend pasture for cattle and to build roads and pipelines. Companies have been accused of oil spills spoiling delicate lands and waterways while slash-and-burn removal of tropical trees by soybean farmers and ranchers have sometimes provoked deadly confrontations.
Liability Claim
Chevron has said Texaco cleaned up its share of any lingering spills in exchange for a release from future liability before state-owned PetroEcuador took control of the operations almost two decades ago. PetroEcuador continued to release wastewater into the environment from 1990 until 2007, company spokesman Fausto Meja said last year.
Nunez agreed to step down from the case on Sept. 4. He had been expected to issue a decision as early as November. Nunez hasn’t returned phone calls seeking comment.
The case now goes to a new judge in Lago Agrio. In the country’s legal system, civil cases are decided by judges who gather evidence from witnesses, documents and experts before reaching a decision.
To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Gullo in San Francisco at kgullo@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 9, 2009 14:55 EDT
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International: Iraq fraud inquiry focuses on retired army colonel
Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gjWN_iGyXagIT58NeuECY5VfattgD9AJP19O0
Iraq fraud inquiry focuses on retired Army colonel
By RICHARD LARDNER (AP) – 18 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Federal investigators are searching for suspicious transactions in the personal bank records of a retired Army colonel who ran the contracting office in Baghdad during the early stages of Iraq's $125 billion reconstruction.
The focus on Anthony B. Bell opens a window into the scope of a long-running inquiry of fraud and corruption that's gathering steam even as U.S. forces are beginning to leave the country.
While contracting procedures and oversight in Iraq have improved dramatically in recent years, that hasn't slowed investigators trying to piece together the scale of corruption that undermined the largest nation-building effort in U.S. history.
Bell is suspected by investigators of being a key figure in a loosely connected network of U.S. officials who allegedly steered contracts to companies that paid them millions of dollars in return.
According to federal court records, the special inspector general's office was told by an anonymous source in 2004 that Bell had allegedly accepted kickbacks on reconstruction contracts. The records do not specify the contracts or give the amounts of the payments.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Bell said he has no problem with the investigators looking through his records. "I will gladly go to court with them anytime they want to bring me to court," he said.
As chief of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority's contracting office from June 2003 to March 2004, Bell managed a critical arm of the U.S. presence in Iraq. The office awarded scores of contracts quickly to get the country back on its feet. At the time, there was almost no oversight on how huge sums of cash were being spent, according to the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
That office, known as SIGIR, is involved in the current investigation along with the Justice Department, the Army Criminal Investigation Command and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
So far, there have been 46 convictions, including 16 involving military personnel, for criminal misconduct stemming from Iraq's rebuilding, which has been aided by $50 billion in U.S. tax dollars.
A spokesman for the inspector general for Iraq reconstruction declined to comment because the investigation is still open.
In late June, a U.S. magistrate cleared the way for investigators to examine Bell's financial records. Bell had initially resisted a subpoena for his records because the document had the incorrect account number and home address.
Bell is also alleged to have received a multimillion-dollar payment from John Cockerham, an Army contracting officer who was stationed in Kuwait and other overseas locations. Cockerham hatched a bribery scheme that prosecutors say netted him $9.5 million that was stashed in bank accounts and safe deposit boxes.
Cockerham was indicted in August 2007 and pleaded guilty less than a year later to bribery, conspiracy and money laundering charges. He has not yet been sentenced.
The New York Times reported in February that Bell's name appeared in a private notebook kept by Cockerham.
In the interview with the AP, Bell denied accepting any bribes or payoffs from Cockerham. He did, however, offer a possible explanation for why his name might appear in Cockerham's notebook: After leaving Iraq in 2004, Bell took over an Army contracting office at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. In December 2005, following a long tour in Kuwait, Cockerham was assigned to Bell's office. Bell said he contacted Cockerham and Cockerham's former supervisors before he arrived to find out more about him just as anyone would do with a new employee.
Calls to Cockerham's attorney were not returned.
Federal agents have also examined the financial records of Ronald W. Hirtle, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was a contracting officer in the Baghdad office from February through June 2004. Hirtle's tenure briefly overlapped with Bell's.
In an interview, Hirtle said the agents found nothing improper. Hirtle also said the investigators urged him to take a lie-detector test. According to Hirtle, he took it and passed.
No charges have been filed against Hirtle, who retired from the military in July after a 20-year career. He denied any wrongdoing and said he didn't witness any improper behavior while in Iraq.
Hirtle, an Air Force major when he was sent to Baghdad, said he spoke to Bell only a handful of times while he was stationed there. His entanglement in the investigation appears to be connected to an $8.2 million warehouse construction contract he signed in May 2004 with a company in Kuwait called American Logistics Services.
The company, which later become Lee Dynamics International, paid tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to U.S. contracting officials in order to win work, according to documents filed in federal court.
On the Net:
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction: http://www.sigir.mil/
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Korea:Jail term sought for Taekwang CEO
Korea Times
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/09/117_51572.html
09-09-2009 19:34
Jail Term Sought for Taekwang CEO
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The prosecution sought a four-year prison term and a 30-billion-won fine for the former Taekwang CEO Park Yeon-cha, Wednesday, on charges of tax evasion and bribery. Park had allegedly lavished expensive gifts and cash on the late former President Roh Moo-hyun.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office said Park's cooperation in the investigation, confession to the charges and worsening health were reflected in the "light" punishment requested.
The 64-year-old was indicted last December on charges of evading taxes totaling 29 billion won and giving two billion won in bribes to the CEO of a state financial firm in exchange for his help in a bid to take over a chemical firm at below market price.
In June, Park was additionally charged with bribing high-ranking government officials including some presidential secretaries. The Seoul Central District will hand down a verdict next Wednesday.
In a related case, prosecutors sought a three-million-won fine for Rep. Kim Jung-kwon of the governing Grand National Party for receiving illegal funds from Park.
Kim was indicted without physical detention in June on charges of receiving 20 million won from four businessmen in March last year. Prosecutors claimed the former Taekwang CEO ordered them to give the money.
"Despite the irrefutable evidence, Kim denied the charge," a prosecutor said in the final hearing, citing why a heavier penalty was sought. But his lawyer, Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, refuted the allegation, arguing he was a victim of a politically-motivated investigation. The ruling is scheduled for Sept. 25.
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Russia: Study: Roads perfect example of Moscow corruption
Associated Press (TI mention)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gVs_Wps4pbLMPjh24NRyUo1lLIkwD9AJ86M00
Study: Roads perfect example of Moscow corruption
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA (AP) – 1 day ago
MOSCOW — Nineteenth-century Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol once said his country has two problems: roads and fools. And roads, a new study claimed Tuesday, cost many times more to build in Moscow than in U.S. and European cities because of corruption.
Opposition figure Boris Nemtsov compiled facts and figures from open sources to shed light on the 17-year tenure of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
"We'll never solve the problem of traffic under Luzhkov, no matter how much money is allocated for road construction," Nemtsov told journalists. "The exorbitant prices are directly linked to corruption and ties between road builders and authorities. Traffic jams are about corruption."
Luzhkov, who has overseen a construction boom in the capital, has often been accused of corruption and of helping advance the business interests of his wife, Yelena Baturina. A major property developer, Baturina is ranked by Forbes as Russia's wealthiest woman.
Luzhkov has persistently denied allegations of wrongdoing and has successfully sued many accusers for libel.
A 2008 nationwide poll by the Public Opinion Foundation showed that Moscow is regarded as the most corrupt city in Russia, with 42 percent of Moscow residents polled admitting they had given bribes to public officials.
The anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International ranks Russia 147th out of 180 in its global corruption index.
President Dmitry Medvedev announced a drive against corruption earlier this year — but with little visible result.
Clogged roads are a major problem in Moscow, home to at least 10 million people with another 10 million traveling into the city each day.
Road construction proceeds slowly, Nemtsov said, because the price is exorbitant compared to other countries.
Construction of Moscow's new, fourth ring road is expected to cost 7.4 billion rubles per kilometer ($380 million per mile), his study revealed.
Road construction in China, the United States and Europe hovers between $3 million and $6 million per kilometer (between $4.8 million and $9.6 million per mile), according to his report.
The average cost of road construction in Washington, for comparison, was $6.1 million per kilometer ($9.8 million per mile) in 2002, according to the U.S. capital's transportation department.
City Hall said the high costs are due to the demolition of residential housing in areas adjacent to the new ring road. The city has budgeted 13 billion rubles for the demolition, with 25.5 billion rubles to be spent on the construction proper. This, however, still puts the cost of one kilometer at an exorbitant $209 million per kilometer ($334 million per mile).
Nemtsov blamed a lack of competition.
"We should hold tenders open to all road companies from around the globe," he said. "The lack of competition leads to price hikes."
In the 1990s, Nemtsov served as governor of one of Russia's largest regions and then deputy prime minister under Russia's first post-Soviet president, Boris Yeltsin. He has since become a prominent opposition figure.
None of his supporters was allowed on the ballot for Moscow city legislative elections in October.
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Uganda: Interview - Ugandan opposition wants clarity on oil sector
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL9339107
INTERVIEW-Ugandan opposition wants clarity on oil sector
Wed Sep 9, 2009 8:22am EDT
By Jack Kimball
KAMPALA, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Uganda's opposition wants more transparency in awarding oil contracts to foreign firms and may seek to review some deals if it wins power from President Yoweri Museveni in 2011, its main leader said on Wednesday.
Investor interest is heating up in the western region bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an estimated 2 billion barrels of crude have been discovered by explorers including London-listed Tullow Oil (TLW.L).
Kizza Besigye, head of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), has lost two elections to his former close ally Museveni, and he is widely expected to run again in 2011.
"We know very little about what's going on in the oil sector," Besigye told Reuters in an interview. "The critical thing is that there should be transparency."
He called on the government to publish complete details of oil finds and contracts awarded in the Lake Albert region.
Asked if the opposition would seek to change existing oil deals if it won power, Besigye said: "If the contracts were obviously tilted against the interests of our country, then without any doubt we'd seek to revise them."
Oil explorers want at least limited exports to start recouping investments, estimated at $500 million by the end of last year. Analysts say the firms do not have the capital or will to build a major refinery in the area, but local media have reported interest from Iran and China in the project.
East Africa's third largest economy has been hailed for its political and economic stability over the last two decades after years of ruinous civil war during the 1970s and 80s.
But Besigye said the nation needed to make important constitutional and legal reforms if it was to avoid a return to conflict. "Failure to get reforms will inevitably mean that this country would degenerate into violence ... It's a shame that we keep on going round and round in a vicious cycle," he said.
ONE CANDIDATE?
The FDC and a few other opposition groups are in talks in the hope of fielding a single candidate at the ballot in 2011.
Besigye, who was Museveni's doctor during the bush war that propelled his National Resistance Movement (NRM) to power in 1986, said he might stand again.
"If the necessity (of standing as a candidate) still arises, I will not be cowering away from it," Besigye said.
"Our major focus now is to rally the entire opposition into a coordinated and focused group that can successfully overwhelm the dictatorship that currently runs the government."
Museveni, 64, has dismissed opposition calls for a reinstatement of term limits that would block him from running again. He says the only reform now needed is the computerisation of the country's voter register. [ID:nL0183583]
Museveni has been widely praised for his macroeconomic reforms and poverty reduction. But critics, including some Western donors, have accused him of rights abuses, high-level corruption and the political repression of opponents.
Besigye said it was vital the government forbid the security services from interfering with elections, create a truly independent electoral commission and boost voter education.
"Those are utterly critical," he said. "Any reforms that come beyond the end of year would render the possibility of having a free and fair election unobtainable."
He said the opposition was still assessing whether it would be "prudent" to participate in the poll.
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