As Wal-Mart reported higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Thursday, it also disclosed that the scope of an investigation into foreign bribery issues at the retailer seemed to have widened.

The Wal-Mart board’s audit committee is examining not just possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act at its Mexican subsidiary, as previously disclosed by the company, but “other alleged crimes or misconduct in connection with foreign subsidiaries,” the company said in a regulatory filing. And while Wal-Mart said in December that it did not expect the bribery accusations to hurt the company, it backed away from that assertion on Thursday.

“Although the Company does not presently believe that these matters will have a material adverse effect on its business, given the inherent uncertainties in such situations, the Company can provide no assurance that these matters will not be material to its business in the future,” the filing said.

The disclosures on Thursday caught some analysts by surprise.

Faye Landes, an analyst with Consumer Edge Research, wrote in a note to clients that the new information was “dramatic.”

She wrote, “It makes clear that this issue could be very wide in scope as well as material to the company.”

Wal-Mart also warned in Thursday’s filing that its reputation could be affected by the bribery scandal, with inquiries from the media and law enforcement authorities impacting the “perception among certain audiences of its role as a corporate citizen.”

Possible outcomes include enforcement actions that could lead to fines or criminal convictions; judgments against the company from shareholder lawsuits; and costs from the government’s investigations, from its own investigation and from defending itself against the lawsuits, the filing said.

The company “cannot predict at this time the ultimate amount of all such costs.” Further, the inquiry could involve some senior executives, and that could “could impinge on the time they have available to devote to other matters relating to the business.”

The New York Times reported last month that Wal-Mart had found credible evidence that its Mexican subsidiary had paid bribes and that an internal inquiry into the matter had been suppressed at corporate headquarters in Arkansas. The Mexican government is investigating the retailer’s dealings with local officials, and in the United States, both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the matter.

The new disclosures on Thursday about the bribery scandal came as Wal-Mart reported its quarterly results, which were higher than analysts had expected.

Profit rose 10 percent to $3.74 billion, or $1.09 a share, 5 cents per share more than analysts had expected. Revenue increased 8.6 percent to $112.3 billion.

In the United States, sales at stores open at least a year rose 2.6 percent versus the same quarter last year. That was the best quarterly same-store sales result in three years.

Charles M. Holley Jr., the chief financial officer, said in a call with reporters that while shoppers continued to be on tight budgets, they were responding to the wider array of merchandise and cheaper prices that Wal-Mart has been bringing in.

“We still see what we call the paycheck cycle,” he said, “where the customer has the cash and will spend money early when they get the paycheck, and as the paycheck runs out it gets a little harder.

”We see trade-downs — going to a lower price point, going to a smaller pack size on products,” which has not changed much in the last few quarters, he said.

Wal-Mart said its business in the United States was particularly strong in areas like hunting and fishing and home and outdoor goods. Apparel, which the company has long struggled with, posted its first positive comparable-store sales figure in six years. Mr. Holley said that the company’s focus on cheap prices had helped, and that women’s workout apparel, jeans and particularly underwear were popular. “We sold a lot of underwear in the first quarter,” he said.

The company’s Sam’s Club warehouse unit posted a 5.3 percent increase in same-store sales, excluding fuel, helped by extra marketing efforts for its grocery business.

Internationally, sales grew 10.9 percent, adjusted for currency fluctuations. Mr. Holley said that the Mexico investigation had so far not affected plans for store openings in Mexico and its overseas growth expectations.

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Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wal-mart-concedes-bribery-case-164808528.html

Relations between the United States and Myanmar, also known as Burma, have warmed with startling speed in the last year, after two decades of cold-war-like tensions and a raft of sanctions that still remain in effect. The election of a new president last year, U Thein Sein, set in a motion a series of political and economic reforms that included the end of the house arrest of the country’s iconic dissident, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and led to the election of her and others from her party to Parliament this year.

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have promised to respond to the developments with reciprocal steps, and the actions announced on Thursday are the most significant steps to date.

Mrs. Clinton, in announcing the changes, described the reforms in Myanmar as “irreversible,” and pledged American political, diplomatic and economic support to bring the country out of its isolation. As she appeared with the country’s foreign minister in the State Department’s Treaty Room, framed by the flags of both countries — a tableau virtually unthinkable a year ago — Mrs. Clinton underscored a drastic and historic shift in relations.

“Today we say to American business: Invest in Burma,” she said.

The White House also announced the nomination of Derek J. Mitchell to be the first American ambassador to Myanmar since 1990.

Earlier on Thursday, two senior officials said that the administration planned to extend the legal authority to impose sanctions, but at the same time would allow American corporations far greater license to make investments in a broad range of sectors. The Treasury Department office that enforces sanctions would still restrict American commerce with Myanmar’s armed forces and corporations closely affiliated with them in the country’s state-managed economy.

American companies would be required to report on their investments and ensure that they do not support forces inside Myanmar that repress political rights or participate in ethnic conflicts, both major concerns of human rights advocates.

“A big issue with Burma is it is so opaque,” a senior administration official said, referring as a matter of American policy to the country by its colonial name. “We’re trying to get at that part of the problem.”

This easing follows steps by the European Union and Australia to suspend sanctions, raising the prospect of a foreign investment boom in one of Southeast Asia’s poorest and most isolated countries. Prominent members of Congress have urged the administration to follow suit, including Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia.

The warming of relations has unusual bipartisan support, as well as the endorsement of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, who this month took her seat in Parliament.

Other voices have raised concern, though. Human Rights Watch appealed to the president to slowly ease sanctions, citing Myanmar’s weak rule of law, corruption and abusive practices, like forced labor.

“The U.S. government should not reward the Burmese government’s nascent and untested changes by allowing an unregulated business bonanza,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch. “Tough rules are needed to ensure that new investments benefit the people of Burma and don’t fuel human rights abuses and corruption, or end up strengthening the military’s control over civilian authorities.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/world/asia/united-states-rewards-myanmar-easing-ban-on-investments.html

By Samuel Rubenfeld

A roundup of corruption-related news from Dow Jones and other sources. You can also receive a newsletter version of Corruption Currents here.

Bribery:

Mike Lucas

To disclose or not to disclose? That is the question facing companies when they discover bribery problems, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wasn’t alone in disclosing late. (Bloomberg)

India’s receiving praise for its proposal to ban bribery by or for the private sector. (Hindustan Times, Hindustan Times)

The FCPA Blog notices the mainstreaming of Chinese corruption, completes its series on Brazil and reports on remarks in Russia from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Tom Fox recommends performing background checks on executives. Mike Volkov has some advice for in-house counsel. The FCPAProfessor takes on ”The Donald.”

A proposal in the U.K. to allow authorities to offer deferred-prosecution agreements was laid before parliament. More here and here. (Financial Times sub req, thebriberyact.com, thebriberyact.com)

Allen Overy release a client alert on the anti-bribery review conducted by the U.K. Financial Services Authority.

A former Polish legislator was sentenced to three years in prison for taking about $30,000 in bribes, a diamond-encrusted pen and alcohol in exchange for facilitating a real-estate deal. (OCCRP)

Bulgaria’s soccer association forwarded a match-fixing and bribery investigation to the Sofia prosecutor’s office. (EuroSport)

A leading Czech opposition figure was charged with bribery. He didn’t appear to be contacted for comment. Another profile on the country’s bus tours covering corruption is here. (Reuters, Wall Street Journal)

A Florida Department of Transportation employee was charged with taking $30,000 in bribes from a business facing displacement due to road projects. She didn’t appear to be contacted for comment. (Orlando Sentinel)

Money Laundering:

Russia and New Zealand were removed from the European Union banking “white list”  because of weak anti-money laundering and terrorist financing frameworks. The move followed a series of reports into the laundering of $680 million by a New Zealand company through a Latvian bank account. More here. (OCCRP, Fairfax NZ News)

Meanwhile, Moscow has seen capital leave Russia in droves: $42 billion has left the country in the first four months of the year. (Wall Street Journal)

More coverage of the fine by the FSA of Habib Bank AG Zurich is here and here. More coverage of the Swiss surge in money-laundering reports is here. (Money Marketing, Bloomberg, Globe and Mail)

The Kazakh senate approved a bill combating money laundering and terrorist financing. (Kazinform)

Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau began its money-laundering investigation into the Sharifs. More here. (Pakistan Today, Express Tribune)

Thailand is working on beefing up its money laundering laws to comply with FATF requirements, though being on the group’s “grey list” hasn’t hurt yet. (Bangkok Post, The Nation Thailand)

A Zimbabwean businessman lost his lawsuit against HSBC for flagging a transaction of his as “suspicious” and reporting it to U.K. authorities. More here and here. (New Zimbabwe, Money Laundering Bulletin, Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP)

The U.K. revenue office was warned of potential money laundering risks in self-administered pension plans. (FT Adviser)

Thomas Curry, the comptroller of the currency, said U.S. banks’ ability to manage risk—including on money laundering—in their operations is an increasing concern to regulators. (Reuters)

Bloggers explains why they are advocating for Congress to pass a corporate transparency bill.(Financial Task Force, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington)

In the money-laundering case of Indian horse trader Hasan Ali, his lawyer says evidence against his client was fabricated. (The Hindu)

Sanctions:

Syria remains the top destination for Iranian arms shipments, violating an embargo on weapons exports by Iran, according to a report reviewed by Reuters.

Meanwhile, Japan may seek approval to provide sovereign cover to tankers carrying Iranian crude as EU sanctions ban such coverage. Oil sales by Iran have been stymied by sanctions. The U.S. Senate is considering new sanctions Thursday, and Iran’s nuclear output is seen as steady ahead of talks. The U.S. envoy to Israel said Washington is ready to strike if necessary. More here and here. (Bloomberg, Daily Telegraph, Reuters, Reuters, Reuters, AP, Al-Monitor)

A West African economic group threatened further sanctions on Mali. (Global Post)

More coverage and analysis of the Obama executive order on new sanctions in Yemen is available here, here and here. More coverage and analysis of the possible delisting of the Iranian group MEK is here and here. (Glenn Greenwald, Emptywheel, Antiwar.com, Glenn Greenwald, Mother Jones)

Transparency:

More coverage of Oxfam America’s lawsuit against the SEC is here. (The Hill)

General Anti-Corruption:

Graft costs about EUR4 billion a year in Greece. (eKethimerini)

Nigeria’s war against corruption is for the sake of the next generation, said the head of one group. There’s a problem with corruption in the police force as well. More here. (The Nation Nigeria, This Day, Leadership)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to clean up corruption at the state’s horse racing commission. (NY Daily News)

Australia’s Green party called for a national anti-corruption commission. More here. (The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald)

The EU envoy to Azerbaijan said the country has gained achievements in its fight against money laundering. (News.az)

Russia and Switzerland will together probe financial fraud at the Bank of Moscow. (Voice of Russia)

Educating cricketers is the first step to stopping corruption. More here and here. (ESPNCricinfo, PTI, KYC360)

Pakistan’s supreme court transferred a corruption case from one agency to the National Accountability Bureau. (Daily Times)

The mayor of Montreal’s former right-hand man was arrested in a corruption probe. It doesn’t appear he was contacted for comment. (Globe and Mail)

Article source: http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2012/05/17/high-tide-from-that-vexing-disclosure-question-to-new-zealands-white-list-removal/

Edwards is accused of orchestrating a scheme to take about $1 million from two wealthy campaign donors to hide his pregnant mistress Rielle Hunter while he ran for the White House in 2008. In the 2004 campaign, when he ran for vice president with Sen. John Kerry, Edwards spoke often of the two Americas, saying the rich and poor needed an equal say.

“Campaign finance laws are designed to bring the two Americas together at election time,” prosecutor Bobby Higdon said. “John Edwards forgot his own rhetoric.”

But Edwards attorney Abbe Lowell accused prosecutors of trying to use sordid details of the cover-up of an affair to send a famous politician to prison, and said prosecutors presented no evidence in more than two weeks of testimony that Edwards knowingly violated the law.

“This is a case that should define the difference between a wrong and a crime … between a sin and a felony,” Lowell told the jury. “John Edwards has confessed his sins. He will serve a life sentence for those. But he has pleaded not guilty to violating the law.”

Each side was given two hours Thursday to make their case to jurors, who will begin deliberating the case Friday.

Higdon opened his argument by recounting Edwards’ announcement on Dec. 30, 2006, to run for president at an event in his hometown of Chapel Hill. The day was also the first time Edwards’ wife Elizabeth came face to face with his mistress, whom the candidate had hired as a videographer through his political action committee.

“He wanted to be our leader. He asked for our vote. He had a popular wife and beautiful family, and on that day, the seeds of his destruction were sown.”

Prosecutors recounted his affair with Hunter, her pregnancy and Edwards’ plan to have his close aide, Andrew Young, claim that he was the father of the baby. Edwards knew if the affair became public, it would destroy his political career, and he would “deny, deceive and manipulate” at every turn, Higdon said.

The money from heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and campaign finance chairman Fred Baron that went to Young and Hunter was over $1 million, prosecutors said. Edwards was well aware of the $2,300 legal limit on campaign donations, Higdon said.

“It is a simple rule and applies to every candidate and every donor,” Higdon said.

Edwards is charged with six criminal counts including conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, accepting contributions that exceeded campaign finance limits, and causing his campaign to file a false financial disclosure report. He faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted of all charges.

At the trial, prosecutors have shown two members of Edwards’ inner circle, Baron and Young, engaged in a yearlong cover-up to hide the married presidential candidate’s mistress from the media.

Prosecutors described how Edwards became increasingly desperate to hide the affair, saying after Hunter was photographed by the National Enquirer in December 2007, Edwards asked Young to lie.

Baron provided Young and Hunter with more than $400,000 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, Calif.

“This wasn’t a guy quietly helping a friend. It was a full rescue operation … for a teetering campaign,” Higdon said, describing Baron’s involvement.

In January 2008, while Andrew Young, his wife, Cheri, and Hunter were hiding in the rental mansion, there were 63 calls between them and Edwards, Higdon said. Sometimes there were four calls a day, with conversations routinely more than 90 minutes.

“The whole scheme was cooked up to support John Edwards’ political ambitions,” Higdon said.

Lowell argued that the Youngs, who both testified at the trial, gave inconsistent accounts about what Edwards knew about the money.

“Even those two, who could shame Bonnie and Clyde, couldn’t get their story straight,” Lowell said.

Lowell reminded the jury that it was the Youngs who received the $725,000 in secret checks from Mellon, using most of it to help pay for a $1.6 million dream home, not to care for Hunter. Baron wired another $325,000 directly to the couple’s builder, on top of another $21,000 in cash provided by the Texas lawyer.

Lowell emphasized that none of the money from Mellon and Baron was ever deposited into a campaign account, used for expenses such as road signs or staff salaries, and that no money went to the candidate himself.

Nowhere in any federal regulation does it say that payments from one third party to another third party for personal expenses is a campaign contribution, Lowell told the jury.

“If it is not a contribution for someone to pay the transportation or living expenses of campaign staffers, then how in the world can that be true for a mistress?” Lowell asked the jurors, some of whom were nodding as he made his argument.

Edwards’ team wrapped up their defense Wednesday without calling him, his mistress or daughter to testify, a move experts said was intended to shift focus from a political sex scandal to the nitty-gritty of campaign finance law.

The prosecution presented nearly three weeks of evidence and testimony from a former Edwards aide and campaign advisors that painted Edwards as a frequent liar, but showed no direct evidence he intended to break federal campaign finance laws, the experts said.

Many observers believed Edwards would testify so the jury could hear directly from the former U.S. senator and trial lawyer, who had a reputation for his ability to sway jurors. But putting Edwards and Hunter on the stand would have exposed the defense to withering cross-examination about Edwards’ past lies and personal failings.

____

Follow AP writer Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck

Article source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/17/closing-arguments-to-begin-in-john-edwards-case/

But the Lebanese-born Shahin claims he has been left in legal limbo that shows no signs of ending. He said he began his hunger strike on Monday.

“I had to do something,” he said Wednesday in a telephone interview from detention. “This is my cry for help. I’m asking the UAE government to give me my day in court and calling on my own government to be a better advocate for my interests.”

Shahin was arrested in 2008 in probes over alleged embezzlement by executives at Deyaar. He was later the target of other investigations into alleged fiscal wrongdoing at the company, but no trial dates have been set.

Shahin, 52, denies any improprieties. His lawyers claim independent auditors found no evidence of fiscal abuses, but bail has been set at $5 million.

Also implicated in the Deyaar corruption probes was a former finance minister, Mohammed Kharbash, who was chairman on the company’s board. He has denied any wrongdoing and has been granted bail.

Shahin’s Washington-based legal team says American officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, have raised Shahin’s case with UAE authorities, but have chosen to “tread lightly” to avoid disrupting Washington’s close relationship with a key ally.

The spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, Robert Arbuckle, said Thursday that American officials are aware of Shahin’s hunger strike and “express concern about his condition.” Shahin is among just a handful of Americans in long-term detention in the UAE.

The U.S. has “raised concern at all levels,” said Arbuckle.

Arbuckle did not give further details of the U.S. discussions over Shahin, but noted that the delays in his case suggest “unequal treatment” compared with others accused of financial crimes in the United Arab Emirates.

UAE officials have not commented on the hunger strike.

“I’m either going to get my voice heard with the UAE legal system or die trying,” said Shahin, who was raised in Ohio and whose wife now lives in Houston. “I don’t want to die, but I’m already facing a slow death in prison without any trial date.”

Local media have reported that a wave of hunger strikes has occurred in UAE prisons recently among inmates jailed on financial crimes, including issuing bad checks.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-businessman-jailed-since-2008-in-dubai-corruption-probe-goes-on-hunger-strike/2012/05/17/gIQAJp3eVU_story.html

Reuters

12:56 p.m. CDT, May 17, 2012

Article source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-walmart-congressbre84g12x-20120517,0,7788480.story