Bribery, Fraud & Tax Evasion

Tobacco Industry Saves on Soft Money, Spends On Advertising and Lobbyists The quadrennial special-interest cash race is on. Although the McCain-Feingold Act has blocked some of the flow, the political system is still awash with tobacco dollars. Read More

Two years after Congress enacted the sweeping corporate-accountability act known as "SOX," corporate officials are hoping their complaints will take the teeth out of the legislation's power to regulate. Read More

In the face of criticism over its controversial construction projects, Bechtel has taken media manipulation to the next level, employing a three-pronged approach to weaving a rosy story for the public and investors. Read More

Rimbunan Hijau, a billion-dollar business owned by Malaysian tycoon Tiong Hiew King, has been engaging in illegal logging in South East Asia, while local governments turn a blind eye. Read More

Iraqi ministries will now be able to borrow billions of dollars to buy much-needed equipment from overseas suppliers, but only by mortgaging the national oil revenues through a bank managed by JP Morgan Chase. Read More

The Iraqi port of Umm Qasr -- once a crown jewel of the Iraqi economy -- is now a symbol of a new era of foreign domination. It's run by SSA, a politically-connected firm with an ugly history of anti-labor policies. Read More

Jordan is selling its stake in the flagship Arab Potash Company to the Canadian potash giant PCS as part of privatization efforts spearheaded by USAID. Read More

Free trade advocates and multinational corporations are pinning their hopes on Robert Zoellick, the United States trade representative, as negotiators from around the two continents gather in Miami for the Free Trade of the Americas talks. Read More

BAE Systems has been accused of operating a $33.4 million slush fund to procure prostitutes, sports cars, and other enticements in connection with the biggest transaction in UK history -- the Al-Yamamah arms-for-oil deal with the Saudi royal family. Listen online here via FSRN! Read More

Bolivia has been rocked by protests against a proposed gas pipeline to be built by Pacific LNG. The consortium is made up of notorious British and Spanish multinationals, including BP and Repsol-YPF. Read More