16th June 2019
FATHER OF PAKISTAN BOMB AQ KHAN APPLIES TO HIGH COURT FOR RELEASE FROM HOUSE ARREST
The Times of India on 16th June reported on AQ Khan, the founder of Pakistan’s enrichment programme (and associated with other programmes, including that of North Korea), who made a televised confession of his guilt in 2004 and was placed in house arrest for 5 years, released from it in 2009 and then restricted again after that US warned Pakistan that he still posed a serious proliferation risk. He has applied to the High Court to be released from the restrictions.
UK: HUGE CANNABIS FACTORY FOUND IN OLD BINGO HALL AFTER POLICE NOTICE STRONG SMELL
The Mirror on 15th June reported that a cannabis farm found at The Gala Bingo building in Kettering is thought to be worth £2.8 million. Northamptonshire Police first became suspicious about the building when it started letting off a strong smell of marijuana.
NSO SPYWARE GROUP TO ADOPT IMPROVED HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY
The Times of Israel reported on 16th June that controversial NSO Group, whose spyware has reportedly been used by repressive regimes ad implicated in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, will align itself with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and to improve the transparency of its operations and client base.
UK: ILLEGAL EEL EXPORTERS EXPOSED BY BBC COUNTRYFILE
On 16th June, the BBC reported that a reporter posing as a UK fisherman who had legally caught the eels on the River Severn was approached by Chinese and Russian buyers and a UK exporter. They were prepared to pay up to 7 times the normal catch price if the eels could be sent out of the EU. An export ban on the endangered species has been in place since 2010. The illegal trade has previously been focused on stocks in France and Spain but now smugglers have turned their attention to the UK, where glass eels can only be caught by licensed fishermen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-48647168
THE COST OF COMPLIANCE: CAN ANOTHER 1MDB HAPPEN AGAIN?
On 15th June, the Asean Post posed this question, saying that screening processes in ASEAN have risen due to the corruption scandal surrounding Malaysia’s collapsed sovereign wealth fund. The scandal has led to an 8% to 9% increase in the cost of AML compliance for companies over the past 2 years – and the amount is expected to rise by a similar percentage this year. It reports that a new survey by LexisNexis Risk Solutions: ‘True Cost of AML Compliance’, estimated the true cost of compliance in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore to be US$6.09 billion annually – with Singapore representing just over half of this amount.
https://theaseanpost.com/article/can-another-1mdb-happen-again
BRIBERY PROBE INTO THE US INVESTOR BEHIND THE LARGEST PRIVATELY-OWNED REHAB CENTRE IN UK SPARKS TALK OF A SALE
The Daily Mail on 15th June reported that one of Britain’s largest privately-owned treatment centres for drug addicts (UK Addiction Treatment Centres, aka UKAT) could be about to change hands after its US investor became embroiled in an FBI investigation into the alleged bribery of public officials. It reports that the US company, Eli Global, and its CEO, Greg Lindberg, were being investigated by the FBI and the US Attorney’s office and that reports claim Lindberg has been indicted by a federal grand jury.
LAW SOCIETY CALLS FOR TASKFORCE TO SAVE AILING CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
The Law Society Gazette on 14th June reported that the Law Society has called for a legal aid taskforce made up of solicitors, barristers, prosecutors and judges – this being one of 11 recommendations outlined in the Society’s report, Justice on Trial 2019: Fixing our criminal justice system.
The report is available at –
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/research-trends/justice-on-trial-2019/
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