Vetted by NeuralPress's Multi-Agent Verifier for strict factual validity and event relevance. Our compliance engine cross-checks and filters search results to ensure zero false correlations or misleading content.
Primary Sources
Former President Maithripala Sirisena arrives at Bribery Commission ...
Former President Maithripala Sirisena arrived at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) today (April 28). ..
Trial of ex-FirstEnergy execs in Ohio bribery to begin
OHIO — The $4.3 million payment that Ohio-based FirstEnergy made to veteran lawyer and lobbyist Sam Randazzo in 2019, shortly before he was appointed as the state’s top utility regulator, is at the center of the latest criminal trial to get underway in a sweeping $60 million bribery scandal. What You Need To Know Prosecutors allege that then-FirstEnergy Corp. CEO Chuck Jones and then-Senior Vice President Michael Dowling played roles in orchestrating the hefty payout to Randazzo in exchange for several lucrative regulatory favors Opening statements were expected to kick off Tuesday in Akron The two defendants were among executives FirstEnergy fired in the wake of the 2020 arrests of then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates Prosecutors allege that then-FirstEnergy Corp. CEO Chuck Jones and then-FirstEnergy Services Corp. Senior Vice President Michael Dowling played roles in orchestrating the hefty payout to Randazzo in exchange for regulatory and legislative favors he would later deliver to the company. Both men have pleaded not guilty to felony corruption charges, denying all wrongdoing and arguing that the money was a lump sum settling Randazzo's long-running consulting agreement with the company. Opening statements kicked off Tuesday in Akron. Special Assistant Attorney General Matthew Meyer told jurors they need not to be overwhelmed by the complexities of utility regulation that they'll encounter over what is expected to be an eight-week trial. He said that the two executives were smart men who knew exactly what they were doing. “Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling went to Mr. Randazzo repeatedly, secretly and they rigged the game,” he said. “That's what this is about, and that's why it's simple. This game got rigged and the game is not boring.” Defense attorney Steve Grimes countered by repeatedly telling jurors that "details matter.” He predicted that prosecutors would try to gloss over or omit the complexities behind Jones' and Dowling's actions in order to tell a good story. “In our daily lives, we might be able to get away with that sort of shortcut from time to time," he said. “But that's not how it works in a court of law. You can't skip the details. You can't miss critical facts when somebody's liberty is at stake. Not in here.” The two defendants were among executives FirstEnergy fired in the wake of the 2020 arrests of then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates. Federal prosecutors alleged that the speak...
Treasury denies Bribery Commission officials pay hikes
The Treasury has left out a salary increase for the three Commissioners and the Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), despite the Parliament's Committee on Public Finance recommending salary hikes for the last two years. With Parliament ...
Suspended IDT CEO caught on camera trying to bribe a journalist
Suspended IDT CEO, Tebogo Malaka, caught on camera trying to bribe a Daily Maverick journalist with R60 000 to stop investigating and reporting irregularities at the SOE. The Daily Maverick's ...
