It hasn’t exactly been a great year for Samsung: The company’s vice chairman was indicted, arrested, and then sentenced to five years in prison in connection to a massive South Korean bribery case, then there were the Galaxy Note 7 and washing machine explosion debacles. Now the CEO of the tech giant’s electronics division is heading for the door amid what he calls an “unprecedented crisis” within the company. [More]
bribery
Uber Facing At Least 5 Federal Investigations, Claims Report
By 10.11.17
Uber’s recent woes — a $20 million text message spamming settlement, an ousted CEO, investigations into sneaky software, and other issues — continue to deepen, as the Department of Justice has now reportedly opened at least five investigations into the company and its business practices. [More]
Did Uber Violate Bribery Laws Involving Foreign Officials?
By 8.30.17
Uber’s brand new CEO already has a lot to deal with: The U.S. Justice Department is in the first stages of investigating whether managers at the company ran afoul of a federal law that prohibits companies and their employees from bribing foreign officials in the course of doing business. [More]
Samsung Executive Sentenced To Five Years In Jail For Part In Bribery Case
By 8.25.17
Samsung vice chairman Jay Y. Lee, who was indicted and arrested in February in connection with a massive bribery case in South Korea, has been found guilty on multiple charges and sentenced to five years in prison. [More]
5 Reasons People Are Suddenly Concerned About Brazilian Beef
By 3.22.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Are you having beef for dinner? Do you know where it came from? No, not the grocery store down the street, but where the cow was raised? Most of us probably can’t answer those questions, and that’s a growing concern for health advocates, retailers, and lawmakers amid reports that some meatpackers in Brazil — one of the world’s largest exporters of beef — are shipping out rotten, salmonella-tainted beef. [More]
Samsung Vice Chair, Four Others Indicted On Bribery & Embezzlement Charges
By 2.28.17
A week after a South Korean court approved a warrant for the arrest of Samsung vice chairman Jay Y. Lee in connection with a bribery case, the executive and four others were officially indicted. [More]
Court Grants Warrant For Samsung Vice Chair’s Arrest Related To Bribery Case
By 2.16.17
A month after Samsung’s vice chairman avoided arrest in connection with a South Korean bribery case, a court has approved a warrant for Jay Y. Lee’s arrest. [More]
Samsung Vice Chairman Linked To Growing South Korea Bribery Scandal
By 1.11.17 — Updated: 1.16.17
As if the worldwide recall of its Galaxy Note 7 — not to mention 2.8 million washing machines that could break your jaw — wasn’t enough of an issue for Samsung, one of the company’s executives has now been linked to a growing bribery scandal investigation in South Korea. [More]
Fiat Chrysler Offers $100 Gift Cards To Get Your Recalled Car Fixed Already
By 8.31.15
The federal government has fined Fiat Chrysler $105 million for its failure to address vehicle defects and active recalls, and perhaps they’ve concluded that customers will respond to a cash incentive, not a cash punishment. Taking a break from desperately hugging General Motors, today the automaker announced an offer: car owners get $100 if they bring their vehicle in for repair, and an extra $1,000 or $2,000 trade-in incentive to buy a new car instead. [More]
Shareholder Sues Walmart Board Over Mexico Bribery Allegations
By 4.25.12
The fallout continues over WalmartMexicoGate, a term I just made up right now that will likely never be used again. A shareholder in the nation’s largest retailer has filed a lawsuit against the company’s board of directors over the bad press tied to allegations that Walmart spent millions of dollars bribing folks in Mexico. [More]
Pfizer To Pay $60 Million To Settle Bribery Allegations
By 11.21.11
Drug giant Pfizer will have to squirt out $60 million in order to settle allegations from the feds that it bribed foreign companies, violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids companies from making deals by paying off foreign officials. [More]
Defense Department Employee Accused Of Taking Bribe
By 8.26.11
Bidding wars for defense contracts make particularly fertile ground for corruption, and a federal employee may have gotten caught with his hand stuck in the cookie jar. Federal authorities have accused an Afghanistan-based U.S. Department of Defense employee of taking a bribe from a company there in exchange for helping to secure a government contract. The suspect was caught with a backpack stuffed with $95,000 in alleged bribe money. [More]
Soccer Officials Suspended In Bribery Scandal
By 5.30.11
Long-standing accusations of corruption in the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the world soccer governing body, have picked up traction lately, forcing two top officials in the organization to step aside in light of accusations that they offered $40,000 bribes to two dozen officials in an attempt to buy their votes for the presidency. [More]
BCS "Punishes" Fiesta Bowl By Making It Donate $1 Million To Charity
By 5.13.11
After the Fiesta Bowl revealed it had misspent funds, buying extravagant, bribe-like gifts for power brokers — including strip club outings — and coercing illegal campaign contributions from staffers, Bowl Championship Series officials rattled their sabers. But despite vague threats to possibly strip the Arizona-based bowl game of its lofty BCS status, the organization has let the bowl off the hook with a stern lecture and an non-punishing punishment. [More]
IBM Pays $10 Million To Settle Charges It Bribed Asian Governments
By 3.21.11
After the Securities and Exchange Commission accused IBM of bribing officials in Asian countries to secure government contracts over an 11-year period, the company agreed to pay a $10 million settlement. [More]
Virgin America Out To Bribe Twitter Whores With Free Flights
By 6.22.10
If your Twitter feed starts blowing up with effusive praise for Virgin America, it may be because the airline has influenced those sets of 140 characters with free flights. [More]
Samsung Sues Journalist For Satirically Pointing Out That Its Chairman Keeps Getting Convicted Of Crimes
By 5.11.10
Did you know that the chairman of Samsung, Lee Kun-hee, was convicted in 2008 for tax evasion in South Korea? Or that he was convicted in the 90s for bribing politicians? A British journalist, Michael Breen, wrote a satirical column in a South Korean newspaper last December, and now the electronics giant is suing him for libel. If found guilty, Breen could face jail time. [More]
Here Are America's Most Corrupt Industries
By 4.28.10
Do you work in a corrupt industry? The Daily Beast took a look at data gathered by Transparency International, a “global anti-corruption think tank,” and put together a list of America’s most corrupt professions. Everyone may be hating on Wall Street right now, but the worst offenders according to the criteria used are utilities. In second and third place were Wall Street and telecommunications, and media came in fifth, well before banking, insurance, or retail. [More]
