Everybody hates Mondays but today could mark one of the worst ever for HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver.
Today, HSBC unveiled a 17% plunge in profits before tax to £12.14 billion for 2014, from £14.66 billion in 2013.
A ‘must read’ tells how corrupt Chicago and Illinois are
It’s all there.
Dishonest Chicago aldermen, crooked Cook County pols, sleazy suburban overlords and untoward state officials.
There’s also: infamous shoeboxes stuffed with thousands in embezzled cash, courtesy of the late Illinois Secretary of State Paul Powell; the groundbreaking “Hired Truck” scandal that rocked former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration; and the Mirage Tavern sting, where the Sun-Times and Better Government Association teamed up to snare greedy municipal inspectors.
And let’s not forget the trials and tribulations of two former governors — impeached and imprisoned Rod Blagojevich, and his predecessor, George Ryan, who recently completed his hitch in the pen.
Part 2 Demodulation: Israeli spying, US government collusion and crime
Part 2 Demodulation: Israeli spying, US government collusion and crime
Menendez and Booker seek N.J. probe of Hurricane Sandy insurance fraud
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker have asked the New Jersey attorney general’s office to investigate whether insurers were purposely underestimating Hurricane Sandy damages suffered by homeowners.
The two senators, in a letter to Acting Attorney General John Hoffman, said they were concerned that insurance companies had been rewriting engineering reports to avoid payments by claiming that damage was caused by factors other than the hurricane.
Sheldon Silver Is Indicted on Fraud and Extortion Charges
A federal grand jury in Manhattan voted on Thursday morning to indict AssemblymanSheldon Silver on the fraud and extortion charges that were the basis of his arrest last month, and led to his ouster as speaker of the State Assembly.
Swiss prosecutor raids HSBC office, opens criminal inquiry in money-laundering case
Geneva: Geneva’s public prosecutor searched HSBC’s lakeside Swiss office on Wednesday after opening a criminal inquiry into allegations of aggravated money laundering, the second probe to hit the bank this week.
Europe’s largest lender is in regulators’ sights after details about how its Swiss private bank allegedly helped wealthy clients dodge taxes were leaked to the media and published last week.
In an unusual move, the Geneva prosecutor’s office notified the media of the raid as it was going on. It searched two HSBC offices and said its investigation could target individuals, who would be liable to a fine and up to five years in prison if found guilty of serious money laundering offences.
The Clintons Don’t Even Try to Hide Their Corruption Anymore
The Clinton Foundation reportedly is seeing an increase in contributions from foreign governments after ending a self-imposed ban on such donations, raising new ethical questions as Hillary Clinton prepares for a possible 2016 presidential campaign. According to The Wall Street Journal, which cited the foundation’s online database, recent donors to the foundation include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, Germany, and a Canadian government agency promoting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Columnist resigns over Telegraph’s ‘fraud’
The former chief political commentator for the UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph has resigned after claiming to have discovered that advertisers held immense power over the newspaper’s editorial division.
Peter Oborne, who had been with the Telegraph for five years, wrote a lengthy and blistering post on OpenDemocracy.net on Tuesday accusing the newspaper of committing “fraud” on its readers for not properly covering newsworthy events that involved their advertisers, such as the bank HSBC or the government of China.
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Cuomo says there will always be some corruption in Albany
There will always be corruption in government — and Albany is no worse than anywhere else, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
“You’ve always had and you probably always will have some level of corruption,’’ said Cuomo in an interview with New York 1.
“Power corrupts, and government is a source of power, you have it in the City Council, you have it in the state Legislature, you have it in the Congress of the United States, so, that continues.”
Lance Armstrong loses $10 million in fraud lawsuit
AUSTIN, Texas — A three-man arbitration panel has ordered Lance Armstrong and Tailwind Sports to pay $10 million in a fraud dispute with a promotions company.
Dallas-based SCA Promotions announced the 2-1 ruling against the former cyclist on Monday when it asked a Texas state court to confirm the arbitration decision.