public corruption

HOUSTON, Texas — A Harris County grand jury handed down felony indictments on Monday against three aides to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, which stem from a Texas Ranger’s investigation into alleged improprieties about an $11 million contract for a COVID-19 vaccine advertising project. The awardee was a one-woman firm with a 19-month operational history specializing in Democrat candidate campaign work based in a residential apartment unit.

Federal law enforcement officials arrested an Eagle Pass, Texas, police detective on charges related to her alleged participation in a conspiracy to harbor migrants. FBI agents executed search and arrest warrants at the home of the detective.

The Transportation Department’s Inspector General made public on Wednesday a report that cites repeated examples of former Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao allegedly using her staff and her office to help benefit her family and their business operations and revealed that staff members at the agency had raised ethics concerns.

The huge explosion at Beirut’s port last month laid bare a dockside institution riddled with graft which critics say is a microcosm of a corrupt Lebanese state.

The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election for the next session. The statement follows crumbling support among top Republican leaders and the release of a recording from a meeting that seems to confirm allegations of wrongdoing in June.

The Brazoria County, Texas, district attorney reportedly joined the investigation into allegations made against House Speaker Dennis Bonnen regarding a June meeting with political activist Michael Quinn Sullivan. Brazoria County is Speaker Bonnen’s home and under a new Texas law, would be responsible for investigating and prosecuting any potential criminal case against him.

The Texas Democratic Party and a Democrat State Representative reportedly filed a lawsuit against the man who accused the Texas Speaker of the House and Chairman of the House Republican Caucus of misconduct and bribery. The lawsuit seeks to protect records and force the release on a recording from a meeting between the three parties.

A Texas Republican legislator reportedly listened to a recording of a meeting between a Texas political activist and two leaders of the House in which an alleged bribery attempt took place. The legislator said the recording confirms the allegations of wrongdoing by the speaker and the chairman of the House Republican Caucus on June 12.

A former border county commissioner, a former city commissioner, and a local attorney face federal fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges. The charges come in connection with a long-term bribery scheme over construction contracts. A former municipal judge already pleaded guilty to his role in the case.

The son of one of the top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel testified that former Mexican President Vicente Fox’s chief bodyguard worked for them. The bodyguard was one of several top military figures that received large cash bribes in exchange for favors and information.

The New York Times smeared U.S. Border Patrol agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers with a misleading tweet that indicated hundreds of employees had been arrested for accepting bribes and other forms of corruption. Of the approximately 60,000 agency employees less than 500 were charged with crimes over a two year period — only 30 of those involved charges of corruption.

Tomas Uresti tweeted he is “contemplating” running for the Texas State Senate seat vacated when his brother resigned following 11 felony convictions.

State authorities in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, arrested a former border city official on extortion and organized crime charges. The same official is also under federal investigation for allegedly trying to smuggle more than 1100 bulletproof vests.

A federal judge in Arizona sentenced a former Border Patrol to seven and a half years in prison for his role in helping smuggle marijuana into Arizona. The agent received bribes for assisting in the smuggling effort.

A Mexican court sentenced two police officers from the city of Saltillo to prison for their role in a string of armed robberies and rapes. The attacks occurred as the cops claimed to be carrying out police raids. The victims in all of the cases were underage teen females ranging from 12-17 years of age; they were raped at gunpoint.

The Senate Ethics Committee announced a finding on Thursday evening that New Jersey Senator Robert Mendez (D-NJ) violated federal law and Senate rules by accepting unreported gifts from a friend and political ally. The committee said Menendez then used the power of his office to assist the friend. The New Jersey Democrat avoided a conviction in a federal corruption trial in 2017.

A federal jury in San Antonio found Democrat Texas State Senator Carlos Uresti guilty on 11 charges of criminal fraud on Thursday. The conviction sent shockwaves through the capital and the senator’s hometown.

The Justice Department is dropping its public corruption case against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in a huge victory for Sen. Menendez, who is up for re-election in November.

Jury selection began on Tuesday in the public corruption trial of Senator Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) and co-defendant Dr. Salomon Melgen in a Newark, New Jersey federal court room. The trial is currently scheduled to begin on September 6.

U.S. District Judge William Walls denied a motion from convicted felon Dr. Salomon Melgen on Wednesday to postpone the public corruption trial in a New Jersey federal court in which he is a co-defendant along with Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ).

A Democrat Texas State Senator has pleaded not guilty to various federal charges tied to two separate fraud cases filed against him.

The son of a former Mexican governor fears that U.S. authorities will arrest him when he is expected to travel to a San Antonio, Texas, courthouse for a hearing in connection with an asset forfeiture case.

A key defense witness in Dr. Salomon Melgen’s Medicare fraud trial was “stunned by [the] gap between Melgen, him, in number of tests ordered,” the Palm Beach Post reported of Dr. Dana Deupree’s testimony in a federal courtroom in Florida on Tuesday.

Texas State Representative Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) has reportedly been indicted on 13 felony counts of corruption. She is also accused of two misdemeanors.

The small number of bribery and corruption cases by employees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could have a wider ranging impact on border security and immigration enforcement. The department’s 250,000 employees and vast law enforcement activities are about to be turned over to a new DHS Secretary who will have to address the emerging issue of official corruption.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have filed 15 additional corruption charges against the mayor and city manager of the south Texas town of Crystal City. The new charges include wire fraud, theft of services, and additional conspiracy charges.

DRISCOLL, Texas — The police chief in this small Texas community is under investigation for having allegedly taken drugs from the department’s evidence locker. During the investigation the chief has been placed on leave.

Fred Buenrostro, the former Chief Executive Officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) was sentenced to 4.5 years in federal prison this week for what a U.S. District termed “a spectacular breach of trust.”

The director of the City of Hidalgo Housing Authority and her secretary have been sentenced to prison for demanding bribes in exchange for providing government funded housing.

Dozens of National Health Service (NHS) officials with responsibility for deciding which drugs the service uses are also being paid as consultants by pharmaceutical firms, it has emerged, prompting the Ministry of Health to order an inquiry into the allegations.

Following FBI raid that shut down the city hall in Crystal City last week, as reported in Breitbart Texas, one member of City Council has resigned. Three other city leaders are now facing a recall election.

About four dozen current and retired state prison guards were arrested and charged with bribery and distribution of drugs after a series of raids across the state of Georgia on Thursday morning.

A multi-agency law enforcement task force raided and shut down the city hall building of the town of Crystal City, Texas, on Thursday. Five city officials and a Texas businessman were arrested on corruption charges.

Authorities have arrested the tax collector and three employees from this border county on multiple bribery, engaging in organized criminal activity, and official oppression charges. As with the multiple recent corruption cases along the border, the public officials have ties to the Democratic Party.

The county tax assessor, her staff and several other individuals have all been arrested in connection with a massive border corruption and embezzlement scheme linked to the theft of more $700,000 in taxpayer money. The charges include tampering with government records, theft by a public servant, forgery, organized criminal activity and more.

More public officials on the Texas border have pleaded guilty to public corruption charges. This time, a former Maverick County commissioner and justice of the peace pleaded guilty in federal court to bribery charges.

“Today, Aug. 18, 2015, I announce the arrests of the former Governor of the Virgin Islands, John P. DeJongh, Jr., and Julito Frances, former director of the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority,” Walker told reporters in a press conference broadcast over local radio. “This morning both men were advised of their constitutional rights before a Superior Court magistrate in the St. Thomas district. Both men were arrested on two counts: Embezzlement of public monies and neglecting to pay over public monies in violation of the Virgin Islands criminal code.”

Lawyer Abbe Lowell and the rest of Menendez’s defense team claim that FBI agent Gregory Sheehy’s statement to the grand jury that the August 2012 meeting was “all about Dr. Melgen” was untrue and that it “directly contradicted what the officials had told the FBI.”

Dr. Salomon Melgen, the Florida opthalmologist indicted on public corruption charges along with Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), remains in a Florida jail on separate Medicare fraud charges.

The federal government argues that Menendez should be tried by his New Jersey constituents and peers. “Robert Menendez, a United States Senator elected to represent the people of New Jersey, has filed a motion seeking to avoid being tried by a jury of his peers in the State of New Jersey. The Court should not permit this,” the brief notes.