Kodak Kickback Trial To Begin

Barring a last-minute hitch, jury selection is scheduled to begin this morning in a trial alleging the payment of kickbacks to manipulate property assessments in Monroe County, primarily on Eastman Kodak Co. holdings in Greece.

About 120 potential jurors from nine counties are expected to be called to U.S. District Court in Rochester to be screened for the trial of appraiser John E. Nicolo, former Kodak executive David N. Finnman and Nicolo's wife, Constance J. Roeder.

The jury will hear evidence alleging that Nicolo and Finnman conspired with former Greece Assessor Charles A. Schwab and former Kodak executive Mark S. Camarata to manipulate assessments in exchange for kickbacks. Schwab and Camarata have pleaded guilty and could be called as witnesses.

Roeder, along with her husband, is charged with hiding fraudulently obtained funds through dummy corporations and falsified tax returns.

US Oil Exec Jailed For Iraq Bribes

A US oil executive has been jailed for two years for paying bribes worth millions of dollars to the government of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. David Chalmers, the head of Bayoil Inc, paid bribes from 2000 to 2003 to gain access to Iraqi crude oil being sold under the UN oil-for-food programme.

The $60bn (£32bn) UN programme allowed Iraq to sell oil to buy civilian goods to ease the impact of UN sanctions. A number of people have been convicted of abuses linked to the UN initiative.

Last year, Benon Sevan, the former director of the scheme set up because of international sanctions imposed on Iraq after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, was charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Former Nursing Home Executive Convicted

Following one hour of deliberation, a federal jury in Fort Worth convicted Bedford, Texas, resident, Stephen Michael Ewing, a/k/a “Stephen Michaels,” on various offenses related to his operation of nursing homes in Texas and elsewhere, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Following this afternoon’s verdict, U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means remanded Ewing to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Specifically, the jury convicted Ewing, 60, on one count of conspiracy, seven counts of tax evasion, five counts of mail fraud, seven counts of making false statements to government agencies and seven counts of making false statements regarding health care.

The maximum statutory sentence applicable to the conspiracy, false statements and tax evasion counts are five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, per count; the maximum statutory penalty applicable to the mail fraud counts is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, per count. Restitution could be ordered. Sentencing has been set for July 21, 2008.

Former Beaumont Officer Sentenced For Mail Fraud

BEAUMONT, Texas — A former police officer accused of pilfering money from the police officers' union was sentenced Thursday to four months in federal prison and four months of home confinement, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Paul Perritt, 54, of Port Neches, also was ordered to make restitution of $142,000. He pleaded guilty in November to mail fraud.

Perritt had been treasurer of the Beaumont Police Officers Association and had the authority to write checks for the union's accounts, which included money from dues.

Prosecutors contend he wrote a $3,300 check from a BPOA account to pay his personal credit card. The check was mailed to the credit card company in June 2003, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Ex-Judge Pleads To Mail Fraud

Former Knox County Judge-Executive Raymond C. Smith pleaded guilty to a federal mail-fraud charge Monday.

Smith admitted that during his term from 2002 to 2006, he had false bids prepared for county projects to cover the fact that companies owned by him or family members did the work. Smith mailed false information to a state auditor, which resulted in the fraud charge, according to a court document.

The maximum prison sentence under the charge is 20 years, but Smith’s sentence probably will be much shorter. The plea deal also calls for him to pay restitution of $110,000 to the county.

Smith’s brother Henry Matt Smith pleaded guilty to aiding the scheme. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years, although it also is likely to be much shorter.

The brothers are to be sentenced in June.

Ex-Chief of Bellevue Hospital Accused Of Bribery

The former executive director of Bellevue Hospital Center, the nation’s oldest public hospital, was charged on Tuesday with taking $27,500 in bribes from a private vendor.

The bribery scheme unfolded, prosecutors said, when the head of a medical transcription service, Professional Transcription Company, met with Mr. Perez in 2000 to promote his company and try to get an exclusive contract with Bellevue.

In that 2000 meeting, Mr. Perez went to dinner at an Upper East Side restaurant with the head of the company, who paid for the meal, prosecutors said. They said the company then hired Mr. Perez’s companion, Regina Morris, who has since become his wife, in what they called essentially a no-show job.

Professional Transcription Company paid Ms. Morris, who has not been charged, $25,000, which prosecutors are now calling a bribe intended for Mr. Perez, for turning in four pages of work: a two-page brochure and a two-page marketing plan.

Mr. Perez then tried to use his influence to help the company win a contract through the hospital’s regular competitive bidding process, prosecutors said, by arranging meetings with company representatives and calling his subordinates on their behalf.

Prosecutor Held For Alleged Bribery

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) placed Urip Tri Gunawan in detention on Monday as part of a bribery investigation targeting the state prosecutor. The graft body also detained Artalita "Astuti" Suryani, the woman that investigators alleged gave Urip US$660,000 in cash.

Both Urip and the woman have been named suspects in the case, the second criminal case to involve a state prosecutor since South Jakarta prosecutors Burdju Roni and Cecep Sunarto were each sentenced to 20 months in jail in February last year for extortion.

The arrest comes as the KPK investigates the alleged misappropriation of Rp 100 billion in Bank Indonesia funds, in a case involving current and former bank officials and House of Representatives members.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said investigators were seeking possible connections between Astuti and Gadjah Tunggal Group owner Sjamsul Nursalim, whose graft case involving Bank Indonesia liquidity funds was dropped by the Attorney General's Office.

Sociopaths Among Us

After all that Hurricane Katrina victims have gone through, it is just plain awful that now they have to deal with a sociopath and known burglar in their midst. Can you imagine rebuilding your life only to have some heartless sociopath come along to try and take everything you have?

I know we cannot tell convicted felons where to live, but the innocent should be made aware of their presence when there is a strong possibility that they are searching for their next victims.

Japan's Prime Minister Speaks Out

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Sunday rejected calls for his defence chief to resign, saying he was needed to reform the scandal-ridden defence ministry, Kyodo news agency said.

Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been harried by accusations of a cover-up over the circumstances behind a collision between a destroyer and a fishing boat earlier this month.

Ishiba has admitted the ministry's handling of the inquiry had flaws, but denied any attempt to hide information and pledged to resign if a cover-up was shown to have taken place.

Marlon Samuels Charged In Scheme

West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels has been charged with misconduct after an internal investigation by the WICB into bribery and match-fixing allegations against him.

The Jamaican batsman was suspected of playing a part in fixing the first One-Day International against India in Nagpur on January 21, 2007. The allegations led to the ICC asking the WICB to conduct an investigation.