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LONDON - The Duchess of York is "devastated" and "regretful" following newspaper claims she offered to sell access to ex-husband Prince Andrew, a source says. (BBC) MORE: Cash for royal access Cash-for-access sting Sarah Ferguson
Once the world's fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea has shrunk by 90% since the rivers that feed it were largely diverted in a Soviet project to boost cotton production in the arid region. (AP)
'There's something fundamentally wrong with the whole system' TORONTO - A group representing dozens of lawn care companies trying to bring charges against Ontario's environment minister and senior bureaucrats over the province's controversial pesticide ban is now calling for charges against 23 activists. (CP)
TORONTO - Kerry Wong, 44, is charged with two counts of extortion for allegedly trying to get $1,400 from Yanhui Lu and her husband, Hong Hai Kang, on July 25, 2007. (Toronto Star)
TORONTO - A former convenience store owner has pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with the theft of a $5.75M lottery ticket. Hafiz Malik pleaded guilty inside a Toronto courtroom. (CTV) MORE: Stealing $5.7M lotto ticket Store owner guilty
TORONTO - The deal with prosecutors allowed Dr. Lorne Sokol to plead guilty to the lesser offence of contravening Ontario's Health Insurance Act, which carries a maximum fine of $25,000. (Toronto Star)
OTTAWA - Corporate crime has risen in Canada over the last year, with sour economic conditions cited as a factor, according a new report. (CanWest) REPORT: 2009 global economic crime survey
LONDON - The backers of a $5M prize celebrating good governance in Africa said they cannot find anyone to award this year. (AP)
MONTEVIDEO - The former military ruler of Uruguay, Gregorio Alvarez, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder and human rights violations. A court in Montevideo found him guilty of 37 homicides during his time as head of the army in the 1970s and later as president in 1981-85. (BBC) MORE: Former dictator condemned to 25 years Court deals blow to amnesty for Junta
NEW YORK - Federal prosecutors have charged a wealthy fundraiser for top Democrats in an alleged $292M pyramid scheme that spanned more than a decade, saying he used some of the proceeds to support election campaigns. In an indictment returned Monday in US District Court in Manhattan, Iranian-born Hassan Nemazee is charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. (AP) MORE: HSBC falls foul of fundraiser Fund-raiser in $290M fraud
BOGOTÁ - Colombian authorities found more than $500,000 and compromising documents in the home of Alirio Villamizar, a senator being investigated for allegedly receiving benefits for voting for a constitutional reform measure that allowed President Alvaro Uribe’s reelection in 2006. (LAHT) MORE: Investigators raid houses of congressmen |
OTTAWA - A mother and daughter who worked at an Ottawa nursing home are expected in court to face charges of fraud against residents of the seniors facility. In total, the two women are accused of stealing more than $340,000 from 18 residents at the home. (CBC) MORE: Boss of care facility charged Retirement home residents bilked
Toronto’s self-proclaimed dumpster rental king runs a sham company that is little more than a cellphone and website used to plunder homeowners’ credit cards with bogus charges. (Toronto Star)
MANILA - A billionaire and four other millionaires lead the pack of those who want to serve as the15th president of the Philippines, all invariably swearing by an anti-poverty platform. (PCIJ) PREVIOUS: Politics of the Philippines
NEW YORK - US prosecutors charged Guatemala's fugitive former president, Alfonso Portillo, with laundering millions of dollars he embezzled while in office. (AFP) MORE: Portillo arrested
PARIS - Former French president Jacques Chirac has been indicted on embezzlement charges relating to his time as mayor of Paris. (AFP) MORE: New corruption allegations Trial ordered Court action against Chirac
TORONTO - CN alleges Scott Holmes, a former track supervisor, directed maintenance and construction work to companies he secretly owned, sometimes using the ID numbers of other employees to approve payments, including billings for work never done. (Sun Media)
NEW YORK - Peter W. Galbraith 58, a former US ambassador who recently quit as deputy head of the UN mission in Kabul, struck a potentially lucrative oil deal in Iraqi Kurdistan which could reportedly earn him $100M. (Times online)
PARIS - Veteran French Polynesia leader Gaston Flosse, an ally of former president Jacques Chirac, was questioned in a graft probe in Tahiti as police searched his home and party headquarters. (AFP)
Alleged bribe under investigation IQALUIT - RCMP confirm they are investigating an allegation that a city councillor was offered a bribe in connection to a development permit recently granted for a new medical boarding home. (CBC)
LONDON - Fears of widespread fraud on the mortgage books of Britain's high street lenders emerged after Chelsea building society admitted that it had uncovered fraud of up to £41M. (Guardian UK) MORE: How lenders have been caught out
BAGHDAD - Iraq's former trade minister has been arrested at Baghdad airport on corruption charges as he was trying to leave the country. Officials said Abdul Falah Sudani had been on a flight to the United Arab Emirates which was asked to turn back to Baghdad so he could be arrested. (BBC) PREVIOUS: Mother of all corruption scandals 1,000 arrest warrants issued
CALGARY - The fire that started in the basement suite of the house on Jan. 26 claimed the lives of Tiffany Cox, 19, Jonathan St. Pierre, 19, and Colleen Mantei, 23. (Herald) PREVIOUS: Family presses for criminal charges Delay of care cited Public Health charges |
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Forewarning for the Cayman Islands The governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) released a redacted version of the final report of the Commission of Inquiry appointed to inquire into allegations of corruption and serious dishonesty on the part of current and former government officials of that sister Overseas Territory. (Cayman Net News) MORE: WikiLeaks releases report WikiLeaks victorious over report gag order |
WINNIPEG - Four suspects were arrested between Mar. 11, and 13. Police believe, between 2004 and 2006 officers with the now defunct companies, Maple Leaf Distillers and Protos International in collusion with a former senior employee of a local financial institution devised a cheque kiting scheme to obtain unauthorized credit from the financial institution. (CTV) MORE: Cheque kiting scheme |
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CALGARY - A massive alleged mortgage fraud based in Calgary has touched the ranks of Alberta's Liberal party. Lawyer John Casuga, the former president of the Calgary Buffalo riding association, is among the hundreds of Albertans being sued by the Bank of Montreal. The Law Society of Alberta disbarred Casuga on Nov. 26, 2009, for his actions related to the alleged mortgage fraud. (CBC) |
Storm swirls around mortgage lawsuit 'Straw buyer' seduced into scheme |
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EDMONTON - The kingpin of a $30M mortgage fraud was sentenced to 6 years in prison. Gohar (Carmen) Ahmed Pervez, 45, pleaded guilty to 54 counts of fraud that netted him more than $1.8M in profit in less than 5 years. (Edmonton Journal) |
VANCOUVER - Debbie Mary Judd, a Richmond woman accused of embezzling an estimated $180,000 from the Richmond Youth Soccer Association has been charged - 5 1/2 years after an investigation began. (Richmond News) |
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WASHINGTON - An international jewellery executive and a former American diplomat who was based in Toronto pleaded guilty yesterday to trading gemstone rings, trips with exotic dancers and other gifts in exchange for expedited work visas. (AP) MORE: Former US diplomat in Toronto pleads guilty |
VANCOUVER - Gloria and Faustino Chingkoe, who own a million-dollar Richmond house, three expensive condos and have three daughters educated at Crofton House private school, face a host of charges in the Philippines, including "plunder," falsification of documents and tax evasion. (Vancouver Province) |
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War-torn nations remain the world's most corrupt, Transparency International (TI) has said. Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia are the lowest-ranked countries in TI's annual global survey. They were all at the bottom of the list last year as well. New Zealand was the least corrupt, with last year's winner Denmark as runner-up and Singapore third. (BBC) |
Canada has more political corruption Anti-political corruption conference ends |
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VANCOUVER - The chief executive officer of a Vancouver-based junior mining company that is closely associated with Vancouver mining magnate Frank Giustra has been accused by the Thai government of plundering millions of dollars from the now-defunct Bangkok Bank of Commerce. (Vancouver Sun) MORE: Bank president gets another 20 years Rakesh Saxena |
VANCOUVER - A formerly respected and prominent investment broker and longtime West Vancouver resident may face federal jail time for operating a classic Ponzi scheme over a two-year period. In January, Brian Bassett pleaded guilty to running an investment scam between 2002 and 2004, while a top executive with Dundee Securities Corporation. (North Shore News) |
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OTTAWA - Criminal charges have been laid against 14 individuals and seven companies accused of rigging bids to obtain Government of Canada contracts for information technology services, the Competition Bureau announced. (Ottawa Citizen) |
CALGARY - The author of a self-help book on how to dig yourself out of debt and credit trouble has pleaded guilty to fraud. Douglas Idugboe pleaded guilty to fraud, obtain credit, and three counts of uttering forged documents. (CTV) MORE: Guilty plead to fraud and forgery |
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HARARE - Zimbabwe's Vice-President Joyce Mujuru tried to fund a multi-million dollar gold deal in defiance of international sanctions. She is one of about 200 Zimbabweans the EU has hit with sanctions, accusing them of human rights abuses. . (BBC) MORE: Elite seek to evade sanctions VP foiled in gold deal |
ROME - An Italian court has found British tax lawyer David Mills guilty of accepting a bribe of about £400,000 and sentenced him to four-and-a-half years in prison. The prosecution claims the bribe was paid by the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. (BBC) MORE: Sentenced to jail for accepting bribe The minister and the gift |
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TORONTO - Sethuraj "Babji" Mokada, 46, a Newmarket man is wanted for allegedly stealing nearly $2 million from the bank he worked at. (Toronto Star) MORE: Employee and $2M disappear |
CALGARY - A 68-year-old Calgary man who bilked 35 investors out of $615,000 he claimed was destined for education programs will do jail time. James Norbert Hester, 68, was sentenced to a three-year prison term. (Calgary Herald) |
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TALLINN - Herman Simm, 61, an Estonian defence ministry official who was arrested in September, was responsible for handling all of his country's classified information at NATO, giving him access to every top-secret graded document from other alliance countries. He was recruited by the Russians in the late 1980s and has been charged in Estonia with supplying information to a foreign power. (Time online) MORE: Spy scandal shakes NATO and EU 'The Spaniard' Double-agent |
Congo cancels timber contracts KINSHASA - The Democratic Republic of Congo government has cancelled nearly 60% of timber contracts in the world's second-largest tropical rainforest. It follows a six-month review of 156 logging deals aimed at stamping out corruption in the sector and enforcing legal and environmental standards. At the end of the World Bank-backed process, government ministers found that only 65 timber deals were viable. (BBC) PREVIOUS: Congo set to halt most logging Corruption in the DRC |
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PARIS - The French chapter of Transparency International (TI), the non-governmental group Sherpa and a Gabonese citizen took joint action against Presidents Omar Bongo Ondimba, Denis Sassou Nguesso and Teodoro Obiang, and several of their associates, they said in a joint statement. (AFP) RELATED: Corruption charges for MPs 'What on earth is going on?' |
VANCOUVER - An American lawyer believed to be the brains behind a bogus tax-shelter scheme that bilked millions of dollars from the US government has been traced to Vancouver. David L. Smith, 52, of San Francisco, is charged with conspiracy to defraud the government and tax evasion on $18.4 million in personal income. (Vancouver Province) |
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Document falsifiers give evidence PARIS - Jean-Louis Gregorin, former vice-president of EADS and IT expert Imad Lahoud, the two men accused of faking the Clearstream list of clients to include Nicolas Sarkozy's name, give evidence Wednesday in what has been described as France's 'trial of the decade'. (AFP) |
Hollywood plot that has backfired on everybody |
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OECD - Seventeen countries led by France and Germany decided on Tuesday to draw up a new blacklist of tax havens which could include Switzerland, in a first step toward rewriting the rules of global finance. (AFP) |
Lawsuit leads to family's arrest WINDSOR - A Windsor woman accused of stealing her aged husband's winning lottery ticket was arrested by the Ontario Provincial Police Wednesday along with her daughter who claimed the $3.5-million prize. (Windsor Star) |
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Agency charges nannies huge fees VANCOUVER - A-Pro Caregivers and Nannies is one of the biggest caregiver agencies in Vancouver. (CBC) |
Federal agencies fail to protect |
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TAIPEI - Taiwan's former President Chen Shui-bian has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of corruption by a court in Taipei. (BBC) MORE: Ex-president and wife given life sentences Ex-president on trial Chen's detention extended Ex-Taiwan leader in graft trial Alleged money laundering |
CALGARY - The owner of an illegal rooming house in which two tenants died in a fire has been charged with 29 fire code violations and faces fines of up to $435,000. At a pre-arranged meeting Saturday, Calgary fire inspectors served Tan Yeng Li with multiple charges stemming from the July 31 northwest blaze. (Calgary Herald) |
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VANCOUVER - Martin Wirick, 54, has also been ordered to pay $2M in restitution to the Law Society of BC, which has reimbursed victims of the fraud. More than $40M has been paid out to victims, including cases that aren't included in Wirick's guilty plea. (CTV) |
Massive fraud law society on hook for $50m |
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SASKATOON - A Saskatoon judge sentenced Bruce David Cameron to two years less a day - the maximum sentence for a provincial jail - after he pleaded guilty to defrauding the Wheatland Regional Library. (CBC) MORE: Librarian to serve jail time |
Woman stole 'because she could' CALGARY - Penny Marcy Myslichuk, who worked for Bennett Jones, also told forensic psychologist Patrick Baillie in a pre-sentence report that she misappropriated the money in trust account funds from Bennett Jones "because she could," said prosecutor Susan Mulligan. (Calgary Herald) |
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TORONTO - Canada has been very, very good to Imtazur Nasser Rahman. Fresh from a second bankruptcy - leaving his creditors on the hook for $114,000 - he zips around the GTA doing business in a $125,000 Porsche Cayenne Turbo. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: Canada's 'slave trade' |
BANGKOK -The wife of the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been convicted of tax evasion in a major blow to the family's business and political interests. Potjaman Shinawatra, 51, was sentenced to three years imprisonment by a court in Bangkok. (Telegraph UK) MORE: Potjaman guilty |
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CALGARY - The builder of a northwest condo complex whose "systematic failure" in construction led to a $10-million repair bill likely won't face any lawsuits related to the building. (Calgary Herald) |
VICTORIA - Graeme Bryson, 44, of Victoria, appeared in BC Provincial Court in Victoria, pleading guilty to fraud over $5,000 for nine illegal wire transfers between June 2005 and March 2007. (CanWest) |
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EDMONTON - In a statement of claim filed July 2, Canadian Western Bank claims Debra Anne Chapin, her husband and a handful of others rigged up a scheme to filch money from a wealthy customer and get a line of credit in the customer's name. (Edmonton Journal) |
JERUSALEM - Israeli legal authorities indicted former prime minister Ehud Olmert on corruption charges, the first criminal indictment ever filed against a current or past Israeli prime minister. (AP) MORE: Indictment served in 3 cases Cash stuffed envelopes Olmert announces exit |
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CALGARY - A former Calgary Transit worker has admitted stealing more than $375,000 from the city over seven years by palming coins off a conveyor belt, stashing the money in his locker and packing it into a knapsack before he left work each day. David John Hamilton, 56, pleaded guilty Thursday in provincial court to theft over $5,000. (Calgary Herald) |
TOKYO - Almost 450 government bureaucrats in Japan have admitted receiving cash or other gifts and favours from taxi drivers used for official journeys. It has been dubbed the "pub taxi scandal" because often cooler boxes with cold beers were provided in the back of cabs for the bureaucrats. (BBC) PREVIOUS: Life in the limo lane for Ottawa's driven |
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VANCOUVER - Investigators with the Canada Revenue Agency allege InfoSpec Systems Inc. designed and sold electronic sales suppression software, commonly known as zappers, marketed under the name of Profitek. (Vancouver Sun) |
CRA warning against using tax cheating software |
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ORLANDO - A federal judge sent Lou Pearlman off to prison for 25 years Wednesday, then offered him what he called the "keys'' to his jail cell. For every $1-million Pearlman recovers for the investors he scammed, he'll get a month trimmed off his sentence. (Tampa Bay Times) MORE: Pearlman sentenced to 25 years $300M Ponzi scheme |
MISSISSAUGA - A 41-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an Internet fraud involving a phoney hockey school and league, scamming as much as $100,000 from international junior hockey players, Peel regional police say. (CanWest) MORE: Ex-owner of Junior A team arrested Former Derbys owner out on bail |
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CALGARY - Lindsey Elizabeth Alexander, 54, wrote 107 cheques to either herself or MasterCard during the first half of 2004, defrauding Centaur Import Motors of $512,200, including penalties and interest paid by the owners to the Canada Revenue Agency. (Calgary Herald) |
OTTAWA - Canada is laden so thick with business taxes it requires the average major company 11 employees working full-time, year-round simply to comply with them, says a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers. (CanWest) REPORT: Total tax contribution survey |
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VANCOUVER - A Vancouver physiotherapist is facing a charge of defrauding ICBC of thousands of dollars after an investigation alleged she was billing the insurance company, as well as WorkSafe BC, for patient treatments she never performed. (Vancouver Sun) RELATED: Owner pleads guilty |
PARIS - Gilbertte Van Erpe, 67, was arrested last week in Nice after nearly two years on the run. Police allege she made between C$21.7M and C$25.66M by persuading 5,000 Chileans and 25,000 Peruvians to invest savings into what they believed was miraculous "cheese paste." (Star News) |
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VANCOUVER - Five of six downtown Vancouver hotels bought by the BC government for low-rental housing were bought from one man, developer Robert Wilson, who made a profit of $10 million on the sales in less than two years. (Vancouver Province) RELATED: Rat hotel faces hefty fines |
CALGARY - A Kelowna, BC, man stands accused of swindling almost $100,000 from people through a phoney online auction of vintage cars. (Calgary Herald) MORE: Car scam used Calgary bank Vintage-car fraud Vintage car scam |
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MIAMI - AEY, Inc., the weapons company headed by 22-year-old Efraim E. Diveroli, had their $300 million weapons contract suspended by the federal government on Friday. (Trans World News) PREVIOUS: Afghans sent obsolete ammunition |
CALGARY - Penny Marcy Myslichuk, who handled accounts for wills and estates, dependent adults, family trusts and a large mixed account for Bennett Jones, pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of forgery. (Calgary Herald) |
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TORONTO - A few years ago Lushan Lu subdivided his large Scarborough home into an illegal rooming house, creating 18 bedrooms and eight bathrooms. (Toronto Star) |
MONTREAL - The judge didn't buy Josie Cioffi's story that she was under her co-accused's spell when she defrauded her employer of $4.3 million. (Montreal Gazette) |
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MONTREAL - The company that owns Quebec's four horse racing tracks has been placed under bankruptcy protection, resulting in the immediate closure of the Hippodrome de Montreal, formerly known as Blue Bonnets Raceway. In 2005, the racetracks were sold by the province to Attractions Hippiques, owned by Senator Paul Massicotte. (CBC) PREVIOUS: Racetracks misspent public money |
NEWMARKET - In his financial heyday, strip club owner Riccardo DiGiuseppe drove a Ferrari and captained a 60-foot luxury yacht called My Way. Yesterday, DiGiuseppe, 61, heard himself sentenced in Newmarket court to a six-year term in prison and ordered to pay a $2 million fine, at the conclusion of one of the Greater Toronto Area's longest and most complicated tax evasion prosecutions. (Toronto Star) |
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KATHMANDU - "I am just a doctor, not a kidney dealer," Amit Kumar told reporters as he was brought to Kathmandu after being arrested Thursday in the southern Nepalese town of Chitwan. (CBC) MORE: Kumar denies role in harvesting ring 'Dr. Horror' nabbed |
Developer leaves buyers in limbo KELOWNA - The Willows condominium development in the Okanagan town of Lake Country is in receivership, leaving about 78 purchasers in limbo. The condos were being built by Divergent Environments, a Victoria-based company. (CBC) |
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MOSCOW - Former Russian minister Yevgeny Adamov has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for abusing his office and embezzling more than $30m. (BBC) MORE: Adamov sentenced |
TORONTO - A senior executive at Maple Leafs' parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment has resigned and five other employees have been fired after the company learned of ticket irregularities. (Toronto Star) |
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EDMONTON - Lax security at Alberta's privatized registries has produced an embarrassing export trade in fraudulent drivers' licences that is threatening highway safety across the country. (Edmonton Journal) |
VANCOUVER - A group of former high school buddies has been ordered to pay $510,000 to the Insurance Corporation of BC for staging a series of crashes as part of an insurance fraud scheme. (Vancouver Sun) |
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SAN LUIS OBISPO - A transplant surgeon could face up to eight years in jail after being charged with trying to hasten the death of a patient. (Telegraph UK) |
TORONTO - Walter Garrick, 37, is facing 16 charges of theft and fraud after he was arrested on Thursday by Toronto police fraud investigators. (Toronto Star) |
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The risks of indicting a despot Let's pretend, for a moment, that you are the Sudanese president, Omar al-Beshir, sitting in Khartoum and likely to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity from the International Criminal Court for the last five years of bloodshed in Darfur. |
Sudan's dictator started young |
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Nigeria graft boss strikes again ABUJA - Nigerian anti-corruption agents have issued an arrest warrant for an eighth former governor. Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State is accused of stealing more than $24M through three front companies. (BBC) PREVIOUS: Nigeria corruption tsar sidelined Nuhu Ribadu |
Forces find illegal driftnet fishing COMOX - A multinational operation on the high seas involving a Canadian Forces Aircraft from CFB Comox has turned up photographic evidence of 10 vessels involved in driftnet fishing, a practice banned by the United Nations. (Victoria Times Colonist) MORE: High seas stake-out |
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VICTORIA - The Oak Bay Marine Group's former vice-president of finance has been charged with theft and fraud after more than half a million dollars was diverted from the company's bank accounts. Graeme Bryson, 43, of Victoria, has been charged with theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000. (Victoria Times Colonist) |
WHITE PLAINS - Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik was sentenced to four years behind bars Thursday for eight felonies. (AP) |
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It was supposed to be a stress-free investment for Florence and Jim Langford. After all, the retired Saskatchewan couple was only looking for a little extra income to supplement their retirement savings. It all started when Florence decided to take an investment course with a company called Whitney Canada. (W-Five) |
Shipwreck, treasure, insider trading WASHINGTON - The US Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday that Ernesto Tapanes, 39, agreed to pay more than $216,000 to settle insider trading charges in the case involving the 18th century shipwreck, code-named Black Swan. (Reuters) MORE: Canadian guilty of insider trading |
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TORONTO - A man who posed as a high-flying financial adviser and befriended small investors, bilking some out of their life savings, has pleaded guilty to defrauding six people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. (Toronto Star) |
EDMONTON - A 61-year-old paralegal was sentenced Monday to more than five years in prison after she "greased the wheel" of a $30-million mortgage fraud believed to be the largest in Alberta history. (Edmonton Journal) |
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OTTAWA - A group opposed to public-private hospital partnerships claimed it had documents suggesting the provincial government approved at least one project based on faulty information - and it's concerned the same thing may have happened with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. (CanWest) MORE: Documents expose flaws in cost comparison of P3 hospital financing |
Canadian con artists get 24 years He was a Canadian who seemed to be living the American dream on the sunny California coast - a yacht and a 2006 Ferrari, country club and golf memberships, a sprawling, multimillion-dollar mansion in a wealthy enclave at seaside Monterey. To dozens of his friends and clients, Jay Zubick was a popular and trusted investment adviser from Toronto. (Windsor Star) |
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Jailed chef steamed lawyer free EDMONTON - Brenda Martin found it ironic that prominent lawyer Marco Antonio del Toro wandered into the Guadalajara courthouse on Monday, the day of the final hearing in a legal nightmare that has seen her spend two years in prison. Both Martin and del Toro once worked for Canadian con man Alyn Waage. Del Toro and Martin both told Mexican investigators in 2001 they didn't know the money they received from Waage was fraudulently obtained - but their treatment was distinctly different. (Journal) |
Conman's mansion for sale, by his lawyer Mexican justice all about bribes Canada could have freed Martin Canadian languishes in Mexican jail Leader of $60M internet scam pleads guilty |
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ALBANY - New York Governor Eliot Spitzer may have made a smart move when choosing lawyers to help him avoid criminal charges for soliciting prostitutes. Two were top attorneys in the same office handling his case. (Bloomberg) |
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EDMONTON - An Edmonton man who duped his fiancee, his barber and a childhood friend into taking part in a mortgage fraud scheme alleged to involve as much as $30 million was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison. Harkamaljit (Tony) Kahlon, 30, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of fraud in connection with the alleged multimillion-dollar scam. (Edmonton Journal) |
Behind the Capital's slum mafia NEW DELHI - The latest crackdown on the Capital’s “slum mafia” by the Central Bureau of Investigation has brought to the fore a deep nexus between building contractors and government officials behind fraudulent allotment of land meant for resettlement of displaced slum dwellers. (The Hindu) MORE: Land scam: Congress in crisis management mode |
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Adviser charged with $3M fraud KEMPTVILLE - Police arrested Bruce Elmore, of Kemptville. Police accuse him of defrauding clients of $3 million over a five-year period. He is charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000. (Ottawa Citizen) |
Car dealer fined $7M for fraud VANCOUVER - A Vancouver car dealer was sentenced to two years in jail and fined $7 million in court yesterday for defrauding Ottawa of that amount in a long-running GST fraud. (Vancouver Province) |
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VANCOUVER - In his native Ukraine and for several years in Toronto, Walter Datsko was an accountant and family man who drove his two daughters to movie nights in a beat-up Oldsmobile. (Vancouver Sun) |
MONTREAL - The RCMP have busted what they describe as a Montreal-based network that pirated copies of DVDs, mostly of defunct U.S. television series, and sold them over the Internet. (Montreal Gazette) |
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VANCOUVER - A commission panel ruled Brian Anderson perpetrated a fraud, made misrepresentations and distributed securities illegally under his Frontier Assets and Alpha Program investments. (Toronto Star) |
Dad cries foul over student loans CAPE BRETON, NS - A Cape Breton man whose daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash four years ago says the federal government is harassing him over her unpaid student loans. (CBC) |
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TORONTO - Five Toronto-area residents face more than 100 fraud-related charges in a real estate scam that sold parking lot spaces as condos, police say. Bank employees, lawyers and real estate agents were all working together to defraud Toronto Dominion of $3.8 million, Det. Craig Ellis explained. (Toronto Star) |
VANCOUVER - In a city that complains long and loud about the state of its taxi service, no one it seems wants to delve a little bit deeper to find out why a cabal of four companies hold a monopoly on the industry in Vancouver. (Asian Pacific Post) RELATED: Taxi firm settles with blind man refused ride because of guide dog |
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VANCOUVER - Former Victoria investment advisor Ian Thow pleaded guilty in Vancouver provincial court to 20 counts of fraud for duping clients and friends out of just under $8M. (Victoria Times Colonist) |
Lavish lifestyle financed by ex-clients RCMP should wait until arrest to celebrate Accountant unravels money trail Media push for access to details on Thow's life |
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VANCOUVER - Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon revealed that he ordered his staff last month to launch an "undercover" operation against 47 inspection facilities in the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland after three farm workers died in a freeway crash, and revelations that vans were found to be unsafe despite having just passed inspections. Sixteen of the 47 designated inspection facilities investigated in the undercover operation and audit were suspended. (Vancouver Province) |
TORONTO - Laws in Ontario may not be protecting workers from questionable business activities, Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips acknowledged yesterday. Phillips said he has asked ministry staff to do some background policy work and look for possible loopholes in consumer protection and franchise legislation. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: No fraud charges in job agency complaints Hope for refund dashed Dozens of lives ruined after answering job ad Fraud artist found managing job agency |
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EDMONTON - An Edmonton woman who created an elaborate pyramid scheme to fund a multimillion-dollar gambling habit was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison. Cheryl-Lynne Braun, 41, defrauded 89 people of more than $22 million, half of which she spent at three city casinos in less than a year. (Edmonton Journal) |
Police arrest man wanted for fraud FORT MCMURRAY - Police have tracked down a man in the United States who allegedly defrauded a Fort McMurray company of almost half a million dollars. Christian Richardson, 28, faces three charges of fraud totalling $425,000 and three counts of attempted fraud totaling more than $1 million. (CBC) |
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LONDON - ITV's breakfast show has suspended its phone-in competitions after being accused of defrauding its viewers by an estimated £10 million a year since 2003. GMTV announced this morning that all its phone-in and online competitions had been stopped as the company investigated a BBC Panorama report that the winners were being selected long before the lines closed, meaning that thousands of people were paying to enter contests they had no chance of winning. (Times) MORE: Viewers 'lose millions' to GMTV BBC staff suspended |
Big problems with BC freedom of information VICTORIA - David Loukidelis, Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC, issued a report on February 15 about the government’s chronic problem with providing prompt access to information. It is not good news. (Tyee) REPORT: Timeliness of Government’s Access to Information Responses .pdf BC slow with information requests Premier's little black book stays secret Lobbying watchdog throws in the towel Privacy commissioner makes his case for more |
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Second suicide linked to corruption TOKYO - A Japanese official under investigation for alleged corruption has committed suicide 24 hours after a scandal-dogged Cabinet minister hanged himself, throwing the beleagured Government into further turmoil. Shinichi Yamazaki, 76, the former head of a public corporation handling forestry work, leapt from his flat early today in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo. (Times online) PREVIOUS: Japanese minister hangs himself Toshikatsu Matsuoka |
REGINA - Some accident victims in Saskatchewan say they are being denied justice because of enormous delays - often a year or longer - with the Automobile Injury Appeal Commission. The commission was established three years ago as a forum for accident victims to appeal decisions by Saskatchewan Government Insurance on claims. It was supposed to be faster, cheaper and less complicated than the courts. (CBC) |
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NJ city pays dead man $130K a year CAMDEN, NJ - A recent audit of cash-strapped Camden, N.J. school district's finances found it was paying an employee $130,000 annually - and he's been dead for more than three decades. The independent audit of Camden schools found fiscal mismanagement and lax controls for payroll, purchasing, and accounts payable. The audit also found outside vendors have been overpaid more than $17 million. (Fox) |
Crime movie's director convicted of GST fraud VANCOUVER - His directorial debut was about a filmmaker who turns to crime to finance his cinematic dream. Life for Silvio Pollio appears to have echoed his art. The Vancouver filmmaker has been sentenced in provincial court to a 22-month conditional sentence and ordered to pay a $101,951 fine for GST fraud he committed to write, direct and produce his movie How It All Went Down. (Vancouver Province) |
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Fake invoice scheme exposed in court MONTREAL - The construction industry's dirty little secret - fake invoices on demand to hide cash from the taxman - got exposed in detail yesterday in a Longueuil courtroom. (Montreal Gazette) |
Councillor's father charged with fraud MONTREAL - A Montreal man whose daughter is a city councillor from the Southwest borough is accused of taking money from a real estate developer in return for trying to obtain a zoning change. (Montreal Gazette) |
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Global fraudster faces new charges TORONTO - Salim Damji pleaded guilty five years ago to defrauding up to 6,000 investors around the globe of some $78 million by conning them into believing he owned the rights to a tooth-whitening spray that would make them millionaires. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: WFive: Instant White fraud |
Fraud suspect marks birthday in jail TORONTO - For Adam Spencer, today will be a birthday like no other. The former chief executive of an information technology company will spend the first few hours of his 26th birthday in a jail cell before he heads to Old City Hall court to try to get bail after being charged with defrauding about 100 investors of $8.4 million. (Toronto Star) |
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Hsu charged with pyramid scheme NEW YORK - Federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal complaint Thursday charging Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu with breaking campaign finance laws and creating a "massive" pyramid scheme. (MSNBC) |
FBI reportedly examining investment |
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Police close 1200 pirate outlets MOSCOW - Police set into motion large-scale operation against media pirates, having shut down a third of 3,600 outlets selling the counterfeit discs. The black market losses are estimated to reach at least 2 million rubles by this weekend. (Kommersant) |
More arrests at the Accounting Chamber The case of the Accounting Chamber |
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MANILA - True to form, Janice Del Rosario arrived back in the Philippines in designer clothes, sunglasses and a smile. She left minutes later in handcuffs for the same Manila-area jail where she had met her husband years earlier. (Toronto Star) |
Cops prepare estafa case vs. couple from Canada |
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OTTAWA - Defence Department officials reassured senior managers at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre several years ago that government audits of their organization would not be too rigorous, despite previous problems with the way money had been spent. (Ottawa Citizen) PREVIOUS: Peacekeeping centre questioned |
Immigrant money spent on race track CHARLOTTETOWN - PEI's auditor general has raised concerns about how the Department of Development has been using money collected from immigrants, including funds from the immigrant investor program being spent at the track. (CBC) |
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Hidden earphone aids exam cheats TORONTO - Britain's education authority has branded a Canadian company selling wireless miniature spy earphones that help students cheat during exams "shameless" - and has warned it will take whatever action it can. (CanWest) MORE: Cheats get high-tech boost Schools ban ipods |
Video slots pulled from Ont. Casinos TORONTO - Video gambling machines have been pulled from Ontario casinos after reports of subliminal messages being flashed while players are using the machines. Eighty-seven of 22,000 slot machines were pulled by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation after the problem was noticed. (CTV) |
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Nurses union hit by massive theft VANCOUVER - The BC Nurses' Union says its former director of finance has been fired after admitting to skimming $700,000 from the union during the past six years. (CBC) |
Family charged in kickback probe TORONTO - Gerald Rich, 64, his wife Queenie, 61, and their son Philip Rich, 27, all from Toronto, are each charged with fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. (Toronto Star) |
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TORONTO - Rogue career colleges that take advantage of students with false promises and fake degrees face a $250,000 fine and increased policing under tougher rules announced Wednesday by the province. (Toronto Star) Failing grade on bogus colleges Jack of all trades, qualified in none List of Certified Institutions Chilliwack-headquartered World Trade University |
Government warned to keep eye on colleges Ombud urges career college crackdown Schools that make us look stupid Student visas used as ticket into Canada BC shells out cash, sees few benefits Another private BC college shut down Another private college under investigation Province orders probe of second university Controversial college forced to close Private educator faces new questions College head under investigation off board College faces probe after complaint over degrees Schools disciplined but names kept secret International students stir the BC economy |
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DENVER - Let's say you're playing poker and you need one more diamond for a flush. The dealer turns a card, reveals a diamond and you win the hand. Was it skill or luck? The answer is affecting the fates of people across the country accused of breaking anti-gambling laws. (LA Times) |
Casinos/Gambling political contributions US makes deal on Internet gambling US to compensate for online gambling ban WTO: US measures affecting cross border supply of gambling and betting services World Trade Organization 2007 report NETeller founder in conspiracy plea deal Bush signs US Port Security Act: UIGA exempt some US online gambling |
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ST JOHN - The provincial government is promising sweeping changes to its social assistance system as part of a new poverty-reduction plan. Social assistance rates will immediately increase by 80% for people on the "lowest rung" of the system, who currently live on less than $300 a month. (CBC) Commitment to Development Index Center for Global Development, |
Welfare recipients poorer than Canadians imagine NCW: Welfare incomes 2006 & 2007 Ontarians turning to food banks Poverty, inequality rates jump in Canada Gulf in health between rich and poor Closing the gap in a generation Taxes main expense for families in Canada Child poverty soars in Ontario suburbs Gap between rich and poor growing |
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Rich get richer, poor get poorer Youth entering workforce earn less than parents Taxman seizes painting firm's revenues Tax cuts won't buy a cup of coffee Growing credit debt is crushing Canadians Fastest rise in food prices in 14 years Tax Bill has increased 1600% since 1961 Cost of living, part 1 Cost of living, part 2 Cost of living, part 3 Cost of living, part 4 Alberta $40M rent aid program over spent Stats Can: Measuring housing affordability |
City homeowners hit with even higher tax bills House paper millionaires double in province Non-refundable personal tax credits Working poor can't buy the basics Survey of household spending 2005 Stats Can: Hours worked and labour productivity Inequality in wealth 1984 - 2005 |
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DR Congo poll officials arrested KINSHASA - Six election officials have been arrested for allegedly trying to rig vote counting after recent elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are reported to have been caught "red handed" trying to falsify voting documents in the capital, Kinshasa, and were taken to court on Thursday. (BBC) |
OTTAWA - After spending millions more on consultants than expected, Public Works may have to buy more expert help to build a much-maligned procurement system that's supposed to save Canadians billions. (Ottawa Citizen)PREVIOUS: AT Kearney Secret report angers federal suppliers |
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OTTAWA - A year after it opened, opponents of Petrie Island Beach -- which cost Ottawa taxpayers more than $2 million and sparked much debate -- appear to be right: The water is too dirty. (Ottawa Citizen) PREVIOUS: Student detects dangers at the beach Ottawa major projects Petrie Island Park |
OMAHA, Neb. - An Omaha nun turned herself in to police on Wednesday. An arrest warrant issued for Sister Barbara Markey details how she allegedly used church money on gambling, gifts and travel. Markey ran the Omaha archdiocese's Family Life Office until she was fired in January. (KETV) |
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VANCOUVER - The price of widening Vancouver's Burrard Street Bridge has quadrupled - and not a shovelful of dirt has been moved. (Vancouver Province) Infrastructure 'near collapse' Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Most live in the southern part of the country |
Bombardier makes a pitch for piece rapid-transit Water tunnel delays push up costs Tests on bridges miss fatal flaws Montreal overpass closed to trucks Overpass tragedy leaves legacy of mistrust Sky isn't falling yet - but parts of our city are |
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Bridge collapse seen as warning 21 more overpasses need repairs Lack of money delayed overpass repair: official Overpass collapse not transport department's fault Transport Quebec, contractor blame each other Bernard company installed faulty steel rods Daisy chain of contractors hired for overpass |
Que. to ban heavy trucks on bridges, overpasses Number of structures under review is chilling Ministry knew bars were improperly placed Parts of Quebec bridge fall off Misplaced rebar caused overpass collapse: report Concrete quality 'not the issue' Bridge was ticking time bomb, prof says Laval roadway was crumbling before tragedy Failure highlights aging infrastructure 5 killed in Quebec overpass collapse |
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Missing school official owes $700,000 NANAIMO - A former school superintendent famous for advising schools against using the word "Christmas" to describe winter concerts has left Nanaimo and left behind a $700,000 debt to the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district. (Vancouver Sun) |
RCMP probing offshore accounts in Vancouver market VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Integrated Market Enforcement Team (“IMET”) is interviewing a significant number of Vancouver-area residents identified as the beneficial owners of securities accounts at a brokerage firm located in a Caribbean jurisdiction. (RCMP Media Release) |
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Firms violated federal loan rules OTTAWA - A government-commissioned audit released Monday indicates more than a third of the companies granted loans by the much-maligned Technology Partnerships Canada scheme violated the terms of the financing. (CanWest) |
Run Coporate Welfare off the road |
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Pelican Lake band in hands of 3rd-party management PELICAN LAKE, Sask. - Years of turmoil over leadership of the Pelican Lake First Nation has resulted in a federal government department refusing to recognize any chief and council and placing the band under third-party management. (Star Phoenix) |
Museum won't be able to maintain renovated building OTTAWA - The Canadian Museum of Nature is spending $216.6 million -- that's 30 per cent more than the planned budget -- to renovate areas of its building that, once refurbished, may have to be partially closed because of insufficient operating funds. (Ottawa Citizen) |
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VANCOUVER - Hong Kong officials, who were tracking the cop’s loot, said they are unlikely to seek the overseas assets that they linked to the proceeds of criminal activities of Hon Kwing-shum, after cutting a deal with the man’s family. (Mata Press Service) |
Crooked cop's family returns $20M Should a wealthy B.C. family pay for the sins of their father? |
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Private charges laid over sewage treatment VANCOUVER - A coalition of environmental organizations has filed a private prosecution against the Greater Vancouver Regional District and the provincial government, accusing them of allowing toxic sewage to be pumped into Burrard Inlet. (CBC) PREVIOUS: Vancouver sewage under fire Province orders sewage remedy 'You can't keep dumping' |
The Canadian Forces has determined the family of a soldier who was killed during a 1992 training exercise doesn't deserve financial compensation for their suffering, despite a scathing report last year that blasted the military for putting the man's wife and daughters through an emotional roller-coaster of "inattention and insensitivity." (Ottawa Citizen) MORE: Canadian Forces 'betrayed' slain soldier's family |
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Man charged with bilking investors VANCOUVER - Kevin Jason Steele, a Vancouver man who allegedly passed himself off as a hotshot commodities trader and swindled $8.1 million US from investors has been charged with fraud. (The Province) |
OTTAWA - Four days after they arrived quietly at a Kanata hotel, the world's rich and powerful left just as mysteriously, in limos and SUVs with blacked-out windows. (Ottawa Citizen) PREVIOUS: Bilderberg group meets in Ottawa |
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Tricks for avoiding hidden fees NEW YORK - Consumer Reports estimates that U.S. consumers collectively pay at least $216 billion in financial fees each year. That works out to about $750 a person in miscellaneous fees. Your cell phone bill and your Internet service provider may slap on some hidden fees. (CBS) |
Stock promoter's divorce reveals life of luxury VANCOUVER - For more than a decade, Vancouver businessman Mark Harris made a fortune running boiler rooms - high- pressure telephone stock sales operations - in Europe and Asia. (Vancouver Sun) |
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Scam bilks $12M from B.C. church's members VANCOUVER - A group of Kelowna men is under investigation in connection with a massive U.S. faith-based Ponzi scheme that cost local church members in the Okanagan community an estimated $12.2 million. (Vancouver Sun) |
SEATTLE - Costco Wholesale Corp. won a landmark legal battle Friday that could lead to lower beer and wine prices in Washington - and across the nation, if other states use the case's precedent to knock down their distribution laws. (Post-Intelligencer) |
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Record number of complaints against BC realtors VANCOUVER - The Real Estate Council of B.C. says it expects to receive 400 complaints by the end of its fiscal year in June. That number is up from a little more than 300 last year. Along with complaints, licence suspensions are also climbing. (CBC) |
Stomach's Magna ponies up $504K for Cellucci AURORA.- Former Massachusetts Governor and US Ambassador Paul Cellucci received $504,000 in compensation last year race-track operator Magna Entertainment Corp., in his role as executive vice president of corporate development. (Boston Business Journal) |
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Revenue reveals tax fraud levels LONDON - HM Revenue & Customs halted 38,924 suspect tax credit applications between April and November 2005, the Treasury has revealed. More than half these cases are believed to have featured attempts by gangs of organised fraudsters to obtain cash. (BBC) |
Bookkeeper gets one year for skimming $180,000 EDMONTON - Former bookkeeper Anne Grete Taje, who admitted to taking more than $180,000 from her employer -- at first to cover rent, but later for luxuries like Oilers' season tickets -- was sentenced to one year in jail. (Edmonton Journal) |
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Ferrari crash leads to game executive's arrest LOS ANGELES - Sheriff's deputies have arrested the Swedish video-game executive who crashed his rare Ferrari Enzo in Malibu in February, alleging that he didn't own that car and others in his $3.5 million exotic-car collection, authorities said Sunday. (LA Times) |
MONTREAL - Buying a used car? Then you may find sobering the findings of the Automobile Protection Association's annual survey of the automotive industry. When the national figures are tallied up, at best you have a 40% chance of finding a fair deal. (W-Five) PREVIOUS: Test Drive |
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10 years in prison for con man EDMONTON - Michael Ritter, Alberta's former chief parliamentary counsel, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for theft of $10.5 million US and fraud in a massive pyramid scheme in the US. (Edmonton Journal) |
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Radler has paid millions for his sins CHICAGO - The $250,000 fine that Vancouver businessman David Radler agreed to pay Monday as part of his plea agreement with the US Department of Justice is chump change compared to the millions he has already paid to atone for his financial sins. (Vancouver Sun) Black hiding $60M offshore, court told 'In general, a person convicted of a serious crime is inadmissible to Canada" |
Black wants to regain Canadian citizenship Hollinger sues Black, associates, for $700M Black sues Newman for libel for 2004 memoir Mulroney sues over 'secret tapes' |
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Across India, an estimated 30,000 young women live to regret marriages that have left them alone, miserable and consumed with shame. They married Indian men living overseas in affluent countries -- including many from Canada -- known as Non-Resident Indians. (Province Series) |
Jail for attack on daughter-in-law Holiday wives, abandoned brides & grooms Wanted - A few good snoops to spy Indian police bust bridegroom scam |
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Asbestos-laden warship an albatross at sea PARIS - When it first took to the seas nearly 50 years ago, the Clemenceau was the crown jewel of French naval prowess. Today, the decommissioned aircraft carrier is an albatross for France amid an uproar over the toxic waste the hulking ship carries. (AP) |
Appeal Court sends Saulteaux pair to prison REGINA - Two former Saulteaux First Nation band officials convicted of improperly taking $2.8 million from a Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) fund intended for their community are off to prison after the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal upped their sentences. (Star Phoenix) |
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World's longest spy scandal still glossed over The so called PROMIS affair would never have happened if the software invented by an American computer specialist, Mr. William A. Hamilton, had been a technical failure. (Canadian Free Press) |
Israel espionage case points to new Net threat Scandal shocks business world |
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RCMP accuse former senior exec of $28M fraud HAMILTON - The RCMP have charged a former senior executive of Philip Services Corp. with defrauding the recycler and environmental services company of about $28M, the latest twist for the former Hamilton firm that has been embroiled for years in accounting fraud allegations. (CTV) |
Statscan: Deposits in foreign tax havens up 700% Canadian assets held in offshore financial centres - many of them in the Caribbean and regarded as tax havens - increased eight-fold between 1990 and 2003, to $88B from $11B, the agency said. (CTV) Study: Canadian direct investment in offshore financial centers |
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Feds probe bulletproof vest maker WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors are investigating whether a maker of bulletproof vests endangered lives, including President Bush's, by concealing potentially deadly flaws in the body armor sold to the government and police agencies. (AP) |
Police vests may not be bulletproof, firm says |
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