prosecutors - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

Prosecutors seek death penalty for mastermind of Vietnam’s largest financial scam

VIETNAMESE prosecutors called for the death penalty to be handed to Truong My Lan, the mastermind of the Southeast Asian nation's largest financial fraud on record, state media said. Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, faces a trial in the economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City on accusations of leading a scam that caused damages of $20 billion, or about 4.9% of Vietnam's gross domestic product. The trial, expected to run until the end of April, is part of a campaign against graft that the leader of the ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu…

Jan

2024

By KEVIN BUCKLAND

Japan prosecutors make first arrest in political funding scandal

WORLD

A lawmaker from Japan's ruling party was arrested for suspected fundraising violations, the first arrest in a scandal that has battered support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Yoshitaka Ikeda, 57, a lower house lawmaker and former vice minister for education, was arrested by Tokyo prosecutors, Kishida told reporters, adding that Ikeda would be expelled from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). "This is very regrettable. I take it very seriously," Kishida said in broadcast remarks. "As a party, we must work to restore trust in politics with a strong sense of urgency." Ikeda allegedly received a kickback of some 48 million…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Prosecutors block release of Tunisian opposition figure Chaima Issa

NEWS

TUNISIA'S public prosecutor appealed against a judge's decision to free Chaima Issa, a prominent opponent of President Kais Saied, following her arrest in February, her lawyer said. Issa will now not leave prison on Friday, lawyer Dalila Mbarek told Reuters. A decision will be taken to release her or keep her in prison within days, lawyers said. Issa had been accused of plotting against state security. Issa is a prominent leader in the Salvation Front, which is the main opposition coalition to Saied, organising protests against him since he seized additional powers in 2021 and shut down the elected parliament.…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Trump says he expects to be arrested on Tuesday, calls for protests

WORLD

LUC COHEN and KAREN FREIFELD FORMER U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects to be arrested on Tuesday as prosecutors consider charges over a hush money payment to a porn star, and called on his supporters to protest. "Illegal leaks from a corrupt & highly political Manhattan district attorney's office ... indicate that with no crime being able to be proven ... the far & away leading Republican candidate & former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week," Trump wrote on Truth Social. A spokesman for Trump said the former president had…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Sex, lies and video cams: Andrew Tate turned women into slaves, prosecutors say

WORLD

LUIZA ILIE, OCTAV GANEA and ANDREW R.C. MARSHALL THE woman from Moldova thought it was love. Internet celebrity Andrew Tate had offered her a new life. They'd even discussed marriage. He asked for only one thing: absolute loyalty. "You must understand that once you are mine, you will be mine forever," Tate told her on February 4 last year in one of the dozens of WhatsApp messages cited by Romanian prosecutors who allege he trafficked and sexually exploited several women. Tate, an influencer with millions of online followers, urged the Moldovan woman to join him in Romania. "Nothing bad will…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

U.S. Capitol riot probe prepares to ask prosecutors to charge Trump

WORLD

PATRICIA ZENGERLE THE House of Representatives committee probing the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters will vote to decide whether to ask federal prosecutors to bring multiple criminal charges against the former president. The Democratic-led panel has spent 18 months probing the unprecedented attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power by thousands of Trump backers, inspired by the Republican's false claims that his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud. Criminal referrals to the Justice Department could be on charges including obstruction of an official proceeding…