The week in corruption, 22 February 2019

Published in

Voices for Transparency

3 min readFeb 22, 2019

The meaning of commitment

This week, Maldives police arrested the former president Abdulla Yameen after he was implicated in a massive corruption scandal that involved leasing islands and reefs in return for alleged bribes and kickbacks.

Yameen’s arrest is a positive step for the new Maldives government, but many more people — including other politicians — received money from a private bank used to pay the alleged bribes. The government has a lot more to do to hold all of those implicated to account.

As in other countries, the new government of the Maldives campaigned on an anti-corruption platform. Others have not yet shown a lot of progress. Last year, Jordan’s prime minister came to power after nationwide protests, but he is yet to follow through on anti-corruption commitments. India’s government has done little to build the transparency and accountability promised in the 2014 elections. And in some countries, where leaders pledged to clean up, corruption may even be getting worse: this year the United States lost four points on our Corruption Perceptions Index, indicating a growing perception that corruption is going in the wrong direction

At times like this, the work of independent watchdogs is ever more important. Many investigative journalists are taking huge risks by uncovering how corrupt deals are struck. It was journalists at OCCRP — a global crime reporting project — who detailed the scheme in the Maldives. One year ago this week, the young Slovakian investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancé Martina Kušnírová were murdered, apparently in revenge for his reporting.

Ján lost his life uncovering the truth, but his legacy lives on. If only the people with real power were as committed.

What do you think? Tell us @anticorruption!

News from Transparency International

Maldives government must act on new details in corruption scandal

Together with our national chapter in the Maldives, we urge Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih not to let political position or status become a ticket to impunity for those involved in grand corruption.

Danske bank scandal needs full accountability, not scapegoating

We welcome the European Banking Authority’s decision to investigate the Danish and Estonian financial supervisory authorities concerning their work over Danske Bank. The regulator announced this week that it will seek to determine if the two have breached EU law.

Corruption in the news this week

Latest News

Cambodia: Cambodia put on money-laundering watchlist in move that may curtail foreign investment
The Straits Times (22 February)

Moldova: This man’s about to get elected after a $1 billion bank fraud
Bloomberg (22 January)

USA: Trump-Russia inquiry: What might ‘Mueller report’ look like?
BBC News (21 February)

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