The cost of bribery hovers at $1 trillion a year
OVERRUN The OECD cited a World Bank estimate that $1 trillion in bribes are paid out worldwide every year while the World Economic Forum estimates corruption as an industry surpasses 5% of global GDP not to mention billions of dollars in government waste and fraud
W hether Binyamin and Sara Netanyahu received cigars and champagne as gifts from friends or as part of an ominous web of bribes in return for political favors is a matter for Israeli investigators to determine.
Both Netanyahu and his attorney Jacob Weinrot admit he received some gifts and deny all corruption charges but even the scent of scandal can have consequences. Political corruption and backlash from populist anti-corruption sentiment have brought two leaders of major global economic powers to their knees in recent months.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye was suspended from her post in early December pending the outcome of an impeachment trial for allegedly conspiring to extort $69 million from South Korean businesses. Four months earlier Brazil’s senate removed President Dilma Rousseff from office primarily due to massive public protests following revelations that during Rousseff’s tenure as chairman of Petrobras Brazil’s largest oil company the company bribed leading politicians to gain exclusive drilling contracts.
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