BUENOS AIRES: Former Argentina president Cristina Kirchner, who has been accused of receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes during her term in office, will go on trial for corruption, a federal court confirmed on Thursday (Dec 20).

Kirchner is accused of running a criminal network related to the infamous "corruption notebooks" scandal - revealed through the meticulous records of millions of dollars in bribes paid by businessmen to government officials kept by a ministerial chauffeur.

The court accepted a request by judge Claudio Bonadio that Kirchner, now a senator, be held in pre-trial detention, but her partial parliamentary immunity prevents that from happening.

That immunity protects her from imprisonment - but not from prosecution.

In August, the Senate voted to partially lift her immunity so that investigators could search her three luxury homes - but unless it is entirely lifted, she cannot be jailed even if found guilty.

The court also seized 1.5 billion pesos (US$38 million) worth of her assets and ordered former planning minister Julio de Vido, now in pre-trial detention, to be prosecuted.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/argentina-ex-leader-kirchner-to-be-tried-for-corruption-11051296

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Several other former junior ministers and businessmen were ordered to be released from detention but will still be tried on bribery charges.

Both Kirchner, 65, and her late husband and predecessor as president, Nestor, are suspected of having received millions of dollars in bribes from businessmen in exchange for large-scale public works contracts.

The payments were documented by ministerial chauffeur Oscar Centeno in notebooks seized by investigators.

Nestor Kirchner, who died of a heart attack in 2010, was president from 2003-07, with his wife then serving consecutive terms until 2015.

PRESIDENT MACRI'S FAMILY PROBED

More than a dozen former government officials and 30 top businessman are implicated in the case.

Prosecutor Carlos Stornelli has said a total of US$160 million in bribes was handed over between 2005 and 2015.

The scandal has engulfed practically the entire construction industry in Argentina, even involving the family of current President Mauricio Macri.

His father Franco and brother Gianfranco were called before Bonadio last week to answer questions relating to the Autopistas del Sol company, a subsidiary of the Macri Group, in connection with alleged bribes paid to secure highway contracts.

His cousin and businessman, Angelo Calcaterra has also been caught up in the probe.

The president, who held important roles in the family business started by his father before beginning a political career, has not commented on the case, while the government has said it respects the judiciary's independence.

Away from the corruption scandal, Macri has his hands full managing an economic crisis that has seen the peso lose 50 per cent of its value against the dollar this year, while Argentina entered recession earlier this week.

Macri has secured a US$56 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund to try to drag Argentina out of its problems, while implementing tough austerity measures.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/argentina-ex-leader-kirchner-to-be-tried-for-corruption-11051296

>>4407593

And The next one , corruption , scandals, pedo priest, all coming out in The news… What a day.

>Brazil AG seeks corruption charges against President Temer

Brazil's attorney general has accused President Michele Temer of sitting at the center of "an institutionalized system of corruption" and has asked the courts to charge him with crimes as soon as he leaves office at the year's end.

Attorney general Raquel Dodge filed a request late Wednesday asking the Supreme court to assign the case to a lower court after Temer loses his limited protections from prosecution.

"The evidence we have collected in our investigations points to an ongoing pernicious scheme based on trading favours, with Michele Temer at the center creating an institutionalized system of corruption," Dodge said

The case focused on Grupo Rodrimar, a company accused of funneling bribes through companies associated with the president. Prosecutors say one of the companies, Argeplan, paid for renovations of Temer's residence in 2000 and again for his daughter Maristela's house in 2014. Argeplan paid contractors in cash much of the $330,000 spent on Maristela's home according to Dodge.

Temer issued a statement denying the allegations, saying he would "establish through the courts that there was no irregularity in my actions involving the ports and there were no improper benefits to any company."

Israel prosecutor ‘to recommend corruption charges against Netanyahu’

Israeli media claims that country’s state prosecutor has found

>sufficient evidence to charge premier with bribery in at least one of corruption cases against him

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-prosecution-benjamin-netanyahu-corruption-charges-latest-a8692466.html

https://allafrica.com/stories/201812210021.html

Nigeria: How Attorney-General Malami Stalled N5.7 Billion Corruption Case Against Former Govt Officials

The actions of Nigeria's Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has culminated in a Katsina State High Court terminating the corruption trial of three former officials of the Katsina State government.

The three former officials – Nasiru Ingawa (former special adviser on Sure-P to former Governor Ibrahim Shema), Abdulazeez Shinkafi (former director of finance and account at the Katsina State Sure-P department) and Bello Bindawa (former chief store officer in the Katsina State civil service) were prosecuted for allegedly mismanaging N5.7 billion Sure-P funds.