Ballsy Bribes

Scoundrel Spotlight - Eric Goldstein

This week's Scoundrel In the Spotlight is Eric Goldstein, the former head of the New York City Department of Education (DOE) Office of School Support Services.  Last Wednesday (June 28), a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted him -- along with the three founders of the SOMMA Food Group -- for bribery and extortion relating to the New York City school lunch program.  According to the DOJ press release announcing the...

ɃA££$¥ ฿RIɃ€$: The Russian Anti-graft Czar Edition

By Max Voldman A high ranking Russian anti-corruption official is under arrest after a police search revealed $123 million in cash at his sister’s apartment. A Russian newspaper reported that the volume of money was so great that investigators had to pause the search to locate a container capable of storing it all. Dmitry Zakharchenko, whose official title is the deputy head of the Energy Industry Department...

ɃA££$¥ ฿RIɃ€$:The Money Jar Edition

By Max Voldman Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Authority (NABU) seized a glass jar containing $150,000 from judge Mykola Chaus. The head of the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, Nazar Kholodnytsky, posted a photo of a jar filled with bundles of US dollars on his Facebook page. The money was allegedly exchanged for favorable treatment in a suspected drug dealer’s case. Judge Chaus may now face 8-12 years...

ɃA££$¥ ฿RIɃ€$: Don’t Cry for José López, Argentina

By Max Voldman Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s public works secretary, José López, was arrested last week after he was spotted throwing sacks of cash over a nunnery wall in the middle of the night. Observing the strange scene, a concerned neighbor, fearing for the nuns’ safety, called the police. When police arrived, Mr. López was with the nuns, claimed to be a church official,...

ɃA££$¥ ฿RIɃ€$: Food for Drugs

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Apparently, it doesn’t take much to alter a doctor’s judgment. According to a recent study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, a single meal can be enough to change the drugs a doctor prescribes away from generics and towards more expensive, brand-name drugs. The study also found that the more meals a doctor receives, the greater the share of brand-name drugs...

ɃA££$¥ ฿RIɃ€$: The Norman Seabrook Edition

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team In late 2013, after a few drinks and while relaxing in a hotel room in the Dominican Republic, Norman Seabrook declared that it was about time “Norman Seabrook got paid.”  According to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Seabrook felt he had done his time for over two decades, managing the investments of New York...