Latest news with #graft
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Spanish police enter ruling party HQ in corruption probe
MADRID, June 20 (Reuters) - Spanish police entered the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party on Friday to copy the emails of ex-senior party official Santos Cerdan, whose resignation amid a widening graft probe last week triggered a severe political crisis. Judge Leopoldo Puente, who is investigating allegations against Cerdan and former Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos, had ordered that the party let the plainclothes officers access its premises, although the Guardia Civil police and government officials said the move did not amount to a raid or searches. Government spokesperson Pilar Alegria and Transport Minister Oscar Puente also confirmed a similar visit to the ministry's roads department. The resignation of Cerdan, a close ally of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, on June 12, and subsequent revelations of potential misconduct, have destabilised the minority governing coalition. Sanchez has apologised publicly but rejected the opposition's calls for his resignation. In a tense grilling in parliament on Wednesday, he declined to say whether his name could crop up in the investigation. The Cerdan case is the latest and most severe of a series of scandals that has left Sanchez having to fend off calls from opponents for snap elections. Cerdan resigned from his seat in parliament and his post in the Socialist Party after a police report was sent to the judge. The report, seen by Reuters, provided transcripts of recordings of Cerdan, Abalos and the latter's former assistant Koldo Garcia discussing alleged kickbacks. Cerdan "appeared to be the person in charge of taking those alleged payments," the police wrote in the report. He has publicly denied any wrongdoing. The judge also asked the police to pore over bank accounts held by Cerdan, companies which allegedly paid bribes and five entrepreneurs. Around 500 bank accounts will be analysed, according to the writ. He also ordered state-owned railway infrastructure operator Adif and the transport ministry's roads department to hand over files over public works that were questioned in a preliminary police report. Abalos and Garcia will testify before the judge next week, while Cerdan will appear on June 30.
Bloomberg
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Sanchez Puts NATO's Trump Plan at Risk by Opposing 5% Goal
By Updated on Save The problems piling up for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Spain are threatening to spill into next week's NATO summit, with potentially drastic consequences for the rest of the European Union. The 53-year-old premier has been under fire at home, with allegations of graft in his inner circle putting his minority coalition under strain. As he seeks to reclaim the initiative, he's emerged as the only leader from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization refusing to sign up to a new target for spending 5% of GDP on defense.
New York Times
7 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
His Prison Term Halved, Former Malaysia Leader Wins Another Reprieve
A Malaysian court on Friday dropped money-laundering charges against former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is in prison for stealing millions of dollars from a government fund, saying prosecutors were not ready to proceed with the case even though they had filed the charges six years ago. The court issued what is called a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, meaning Mr. Najib could face those charges again. But that is unlikely, and the move fueled criticism that the authorities were being lenient with the former prime minister, who remains a political force. Mr. Najib, 71, was ousted from office and eventually convicted of graft in 2020 in the fallout from the looting of a multibillion sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB. The scandal also led to legal action in the United States because of the involvement of the investment bank Goldman Sachs. But last year, Mr. Najib's prison sentence was halved to six years and his fine reduced to $11 million, a quarter of the original. Since then, Mr. Najib has been petitioning the courts to serve the remainder of his term, which ends in 2028, at home. In November, charges of misappropriating public funds against Mr. Najib were dropped because of prosecutorial delays. Mr. Najib's shifting legal fortunes have become a lightning rod in Malaysia. To his critics, they are a sign of the weakness of the current prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, who campaigned on anti-graft platform but took office only after forming an alliance with Mr. Najib's party, the United Malays National Organization. Mr. Anwar has repeatedly denied any involvement in Mr. Najib's legal cases but recently hinted at his priorities. 'I have no interest in jailing people,' Mr. Anwar said in a speech last Saturday. 'I'm interested in recovering the money so it can be returned to the people.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Bloomberg
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Sanchez Is Putting NATO's Trump Plan at Risk by Opposing 5% Goal
The problems piling up for Primer Minister Pedro Sanchez in Spain are threatening to spill into next week's NATO summit, with potentially drastic consequences for the rest of the European Union. The 53-year-old premier has been under fire at home, with allegations of graft in his inner circle putting his minority coalition under strain. As he seeks to reclaim the initiative, he's emerged as the only leader from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization refusing to sign up to a new target for spending 5% of GDP on defense.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Far-right Erdogan opponent slams opposition graft probes
Umit Ozdag was placed in pre-trial detention on charges of inciting public hatred on Jan. 20A court sentenced him to two years and four months behind barsISTANBUL: A far-right political opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday slammed ongoing graft probes into Turkiye's opposition as unfair, a day after being released from Ozdag, who heads the small anti-immigrant Victory party, was placed in pre-trial detention on charges of inciting public hatred on January 20.A court on Tuesday sentenced him to two years and four months behind bars, but ordered his release on grounds of time already is also being tried on a separate charge of insulting the president — a charge often used to silence Erdogan's critics — with the next hearing on September to Anka news agency on Wednesday, Ozdag said the barrage of legal probes targeting municipalities run by the main opposition CHP was one-sided and 'harmful.''The application of one law for (Erdogan's AKP) ruling party and another for the opposition, is causing an extraordinarily harmful fragmentation within society,' he said.'You cannot convince the public that only CHP municipalities are involved in corruption and that there is no corruption worth prosecuting in AKP municipalities.'Over the past nine months, there has been a surge in legal cases against CHP mayors and municipal officials on graft charges, with observers seeing it as a government move to weaken the party which scored a huge victory against Erdogan's AKP in 2024 local most controversial move was the removal of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan's biggest political opponent and the CHP's candidate for the 2028 presidential was arrested on March 19 in connection with a graft probe and allegations of terror ties which critics say was designed to prevent him from arrest sparked protests across the country in the worst street unrest since 2013.
