Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Indonesia SOE compliance / Thailand asset declaration / Sri Lanka political alternative

Corporate compliance key to corruption prevention (Opinion).  The upholding of corporate compliance serves as a sign that state losses will not be considered a criminal act of corruption. Meanwhile, a breach of corporate compliance serves as a red flag, based on which a court is likely to rule that state losses are criminal acts of corruption.

Sechabudin and Imelda Napitupulu/The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2019/07/25/corporate-compliance-key-to-corruption-prevention.html

 

NACC panel looks to make listing assets more transparent.  Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has formed a panel to improve its asset declaration form to improve transparency, the commission's secretary-general Worawit Sukboon says, indicating that the form needs to be revised to address several concerns raised by people required to submit their assets and liabilities, as well as complaints by critics in the wake of a luxury watch controversy.

Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1718231/nacc-panel-looks-to-make-listing-assets-more-transparent

 

Making Political Alternative meaningful and Relevant to Masses (Opinion).  “Many functions that can be easily and more fruitfully carried out at local and provincial levels remain with the central government. The result is a top heavy administration that controls much of the country’s public finances and other resources, often leading to wastage, corruption and inefficiency.”

Siri Hettige/Daily Mirror: http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Making-Political-Alternative--meaningful--and-Relevant-to-Masses/172-171472

Pacific Anti-Corruption Updates (27 July 2019): PNG, Fiji

PAPUA NEW GUINEA:

Stop bribery and Corruption, says PNG PM Marape. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape wants bribery to stop in all walk of life in his country. The Prime Minister appeals to the public, company personnel, government officers and anyone to stop bribery and corruption. Mr. Marape says, he will setup special bribery and corruption unit through the Ombudsman and Police Force to fight bribery and corruption in the country. 

https://news.pngfacts.com/2019/07/stop-bribery-and-corruption-says-png-pm.html

Road-building spree in Papua New Guinea threatens environment, communities and economy.  A huge road-building scheme in Papua New Guinea could imperil some of the largest, biologically richest and culturally most diverse forests on the planet, says an international research team led by James Cook University in Australia.

https://phys.org/news/2019-07-road-building-spree-papua-guinea-threatens.html

 

FIJI:

Former TLTB staff on corruption charges.  A former Finance Clerk with the iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) appeared in the Nausori Magistrates Court on corruption-related charges such as obtaining financial advantages.

https://www.fbcnews.com.fj/news/court/former-tltb-staff-on-corruption-charges/

 

To know more about the UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project please contact the team members:

Annika Wythes, Regional Anti-Corruption Adviser, UNODC, annika.wythes@un.org

Mihaela Stojkoska, Anti-Corruption Specialist - Pacific, UNDP, mihaela.stojkoska@undp.org

Maria Lee, Peace & Development Administrative Assistant, UNDP/UNODC, maria.lee@undp.org

Privatization increases corruption / Thailand Microsoft probe / Myanmar forestry sector

Privatization Increases Corruption (Opinion).  “Statistical analysis of International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities on 141 developing countries from 1982 to 2014 has found that requiring privatization of SOEs has undermined anti-corruption efforts.”

Jomo Kwame Sundaram/Inter Press Service: http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/privatization-increases-corruption/

 

Probe looms in Microsoft case.  The Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand’s secretary-general, Mana Nimitmongkol, urges the National Anti-Corruption Commission to act, in response to reports that Microsoft agreed to pay about US$16.6 million (about 512 million baht) to settle a charge brought against it by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over kickbacks to government officials paid out by its executives in Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Turkey.

Kornchanok Raksaseri/Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1718255/probe-looms-in-microsoft-case

 

EITI applied in forestry sector for the first time.  Myanmar’s forestry sector was included in the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (MEITI) report for the first time this year. Myanmar is the second country to have its forestry sector included in the EITI.

Myat Moe Aung/Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/eiti-applied-forestry-sector-first-time.html

Top three challenges / Myanmar proposed law / India Power Department

Top Three Challenges and Good Practices in Anti-Corruption (Blog).  “Answering what are the main three challenges in fragile and conflict-affected states and developing countries was not easy; our experience is that corruption dynamics differ greatly from country to country, and across sectors.”

Diana Chigas and Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church/Tufts University:  https://sites.tufts.edu/ihs/top-three-challenges-and-good-practices-in-anti-corruption/

 

Public access to info: Planned archives law alarms civil society.  Myanmar’s government is proposing a new law on storing records and archives which critics fear will restrict public access to state information.

Thompson Chau/Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/public-access-info-planned-archives-law-alarms-civil-society.html

 

Power Dept SDO gets 5-yr jail in graft case.  In India, the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Rakesh Singh has awarded five-year imprisonment to a sub-divisional officer (SDO) of the electricity department in a graft case, which involves taking bribe from people and pressuring employees of the department to give money to him.

The Tribune: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/power-dept-sdo-gets-5-yr-jail-in-graft-case/805727.html

China BRI anti-corruption / Malaysia beneficial ownership / Myanmar energy ministry

China to embed anti-corruption officers in BRI projects.  The Chinese Communist party’s top graft inspector, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), plans to expand its anti-corruption campaign overseas by embedding officers in countries participating in China’s global infrastructure scheme the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

China Economic Review: https://chinaeconomicreview.com/china-to-embed-anti-corruption-officers-in-bri-projects/

 

Tackling beneficial ownership: MACC wants provision to identify real owners.  It's vital for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to have its own provision on beneficial ownership in the MACC Act 2009 to identify real owners of businesses or properties to further eradicate corruption. Currently, there were provisions on beneficial ownership but it is under other legislations, such as the Companies Act and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2001 (AMLA).

Hemananthani Sivanandam/The Star: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/07/22/tackling-beneficial-ownership-macc-wants-provision-to-identify-real-owners/

 

Anti-Corruption Committee Steps Up Energy Ministry Investigation.  The Myanmar Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has stepped up its corruption investigation of the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, seizing the minutes of intra-ministry meetings going back three years, after unsuccessfully attempting to obtain information from the Project Appraisal and Progress Reporting Department, which is overseen by the Ministry of Planning and Finance.

Htet Naing Zaw/The Irrawaddy: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/anti-corruption-committee-steps-energy-ministry-investigation.html

Bangladesh ruling party / Thailand complaint calls / Malaysia police probe

‘ACC probing graft allegations against 10-15 ruling party men’.  Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been dealing with corruption allegations against about a dozen of the ruling party men, the commission’s Chairman Iqbal Mahmood said, although he did not disclose what level of the ruling party they belong to.

The Daily Star: https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/acc-probing-graft-allegations-against-10-15-ruling-party-men-1774309

 

Thailand’s anti-corruption hotline receives over 5,000 complaints in past two years.  912 complaints were lodged against state officials for misconduct and corrupt practices and forwarded to the National Anti-Corruption Commission for further investigation, of which 842 cases were resolved. The other 4,161 complaints were more about people’s well-being and hardship.

National News Bureau of Thailand/Thailand Business News: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/politics/74711-thailands-anti-corruption-hotline-receives-over-5000-complaints-in-past-two-years.html

 

IGP welcomes MACC action against corrupt cops.The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's action against corrupt cops is welcomed, says the Inspector General of Police, indicating that the action was being taken in phases against any personnel guilty of misconduct by the Integrity and Compliance of Standards Department (JIPS).

The Star: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/07/20/igp-welcomes-macc-action-against-corrupt-cops/

Thailand integrity review / Indonesia House speaker / Singapore accountant jailed

Thailand and the OECD advance cooperation: Launch of the Integrity Review of Thailand Phase 2 and Capacity Building workshop on Public Ethics.  Three years after the start of the Integrity Review of Thailand, the Thai government is continuing its commitment to strengthen public integrity policies with a series of activities, including a second review phase under the OECD-Thai Country Programme, covering corruption risk management, international control and auditing, as well as integrity safeguards in decision-making processes and transparency in policy formulation.

OECD: https://www.oecd.org/site/adboecdanti-corruptioninitiative/Thailand_and_the_OECD_advance_co-operation.pdf

 

DPR deputy chairman Taufik Kurniawan gets 6 years for bribery.  The Semarang Corruption Court has sentenced Indonesia’s House of Representatives deputy speaker and senior National Mandate Party (PAN) politician Taufik Kurniawan to six years in prison for bribery in a case connected to special allocation funds (DAK) for Kebumen and Purbalingga regencies. The court also stripped him of his political rights for three years, starting with his release from prison.

The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/07/15/dpr-deputy-chairman-taufik-kurniawan-gets-6-years-for-bribery.html

 

Accountant jailed 25 years, 10 months for embezzling $41m.  A certified public accountant in Singapore with an "insatiable appetite for gambling" who siphoned close to $41 million from his clients for over a decade to feed his addiction was yesterday sentenced to a jail term of 25 years and 10 months.

The Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/accountant-jailed-25-years-10-months-for-embezzling-41m