The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "bribes" ...
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Wal-Mart Abroad: How a Retail Giant Fueled Growth With Bribes
Part One revealed how Wal-Mart’s highest executives shut down an internal investigation that had uncovered strong evidence of systemic bribery by Wal-Mart’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico. As a result, authorities were never notified and no one was punished. Instead, the executive identified as the driving force behind years of bribery was promoted to vice chairman of Wal-Mart. Part Two offered an in depth examination of precisely how Wal-Mart de Mexico used bribes to accelerate its growth. The article described Wal-Mart as “an aggressive and creative corruptor” in Mexico, and it focused on how Wal-Mart paid more than $200,000 in bribes to build a single supermarket in the town of Teotihuacán, not far from two ancient pyramids.
Tags: Wal-Mart; bribery; corruption
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The Secret Sins of Koch Industries
In a four-continent investigation involving 16 reporters, Bloomberg Business News unearthed a multi-decade pattern of crimes and misdeeds by Koch Industries, the company run by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. Using never-before-published internal documents and on-the-record interviews with former employees, the article reveals that Koch Industries paid bribes to win contracts in Africa, India, and the Middle East.
Tags: koch industries; charles koch; david koch; brothers; bribes; contracts
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NC Auto Inspection's-Failing the Test
Every year, North Carolina auto owners must take vehicles to private garages for state-mandated safety and emissions testing meant to prevent traffic crashes and curb pollution. Drivers cannot put a car on the road legally unless it passes inspection. A review inspection data showed the program is undermined by unscrupulous garages who do a volume business, passing unsafe cars, and by other who take bribes or cheat customers with uncessary repairs.
Tags: auto owners; emissions testing; unsafe cars
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"Looting the Public Trust"
In three different investigations, Jennifer Dixon reveals a single consistency: "piercing government bureaucracies." Bribes, questionable wire transfers and hundreds of millions lost in "bad deals" are all part of the investigative reports that reveal startling government misconduct in Detroit.
Tags: Synagro Technologies; Detroit Public Schools; pension; bribes; U.S. Attorney; Detroit City Council
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"Black Money"
This investigative report reveals that a "trillion dollars in bribes," are paid each year regardless of an international anti-bribery treaty that is in place. The bribes, also known as "black money," are used by "multinational companies" to get overseas business. The bribes cause a break in the "stability of governments" and "distort the marketplace."
Tags: Margaret Thatcher; British Aerospace; Department of Justice; Saudi Arabia; bribery; bribes; World Bank; Securities and Exchange Commission; Jimmy Carter
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Clerk's Office Corruption: Following the Money
Investigations into Shelby County Clerk, Maureen Bowers, revealed she accepted personal payment to to register vehicles for customers in the Hispanic community. Bowers bribed other officials to verify false identities in order for illegals to acquire vehicle registration.
Tags: Maureen Bowers; Shelby county; clerk; corrupt; bribe; vehicle; registration; illegal;
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"At Top Subprime Mortgage Lender, Policies Were Invitation to Fraud
Amid a nationwide lending crisis, reporters found policies at Long Beach Mortgage "encouraged rampant fraud." Company policies made it easy for employees to submit "fake documents" and override "bad loans." Loan reviewers were often bribed with money or expensive items to approve bad loans.
Tags: Long Beach Mortgage; investment; banking; lending; Wall Street
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Secret Deadly Earmarks
Congressman Duke Cunningham was bribed with a yacht, antiques, and campaign contributions from a company owner seeking a government contract to fight roadside bombs in Iraq. Major Eric Egland was assigned to discover why troop deaths were increasing from roadside bombs despite the millions being paid, and in his search he came across "classified" information revealing the truth behind the contract.
Tags: lobbying; military; whistleblower; IEd; American soldiers; MZM; Mitchell Wade;
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I Lit the Fire: Jared Petrovich Admits His Role in the Killing of John Chamberlain. But why did he target the gay?
These four articles probed the culture of violence at tTheo Lacy Men's Jail in Orange, CA, beginning with an exclusive interview of Jared Petrovich, the accuse ringleader of the Oct. 5, 2006 murder of John Chamberlain, an inmate suspected of child molestation who was brutally beated inside the jail. That story included combined interviews with Petrovich and other inmates and guards at the facility with transcripts and notes of interviews with inmates and guards that the reporter obtained from lawyers representing inmates, including Petrovich, who were charged in the attack. The article contained allegations that Deputy Kevin Taylor, a prison guard who was never charged in the crime, told Petrovich that Chamberlain was a child molester, and that Taylor routinely use inmates like Petrovich to enforce prison rules and mete out punishment to various inmates. Petrovich provided an example of this behavior that I did not include in my original story, alleging that Taylor had known about--and approved--a previous beating of an inmate in Sept. 2006. He only knew the inmate's first name--Mark--but claimed the inmate had been a guitarist for the rock band Kiss. He claimed another inmate, nicknamed "Sick Dog" had witnessed Taylor being informed of the planned attack and, after it was carried out, rewarding the inmates with sack lunches. Through a California Public Records Act request, the reporter obtained the Sheriff Department's jail file on the beaten inmate, Mark Leslie Norton, aka Mark St. John of the rock band Kiss, and found information which corroborated Petrovich's account of the incident, and obtained his death certificate. St. John died of a brain hemorrhage several months after being released.
Tags: prison beatings; rock band Kiss; California; prisoner brutality; bribe; prison regulation
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Feasting on the Spoils
A biographical look at former U.S. Congressman Randy “Duke†Cunningham, one of the most corrupt members of Congress this nation has ever seen. Cunningham pleaded guilty to accepting more than $2.4 million in bribes that came from defense contractors in exchange for political favors.
Tags: Defense Appropriations; House Intelligence Committee; Navy; CIA;