High corruption

Acts committed at a high level of government that violate the rules or functioning of the state, allowing the official to gain benefits at the expense of the public good. See: “corruption”, “petty corruption” and “political corruption”.

The Anglo Leasing scandal in Kenya, which dates back to 2002, allegedly involved 18 acts of corruption in government through public procurement of security-related services.

Many of the companies awarded the contracts were fictitious or overcharged the Kenyan government for goods and services that often did not exist.

It is estimated that around one billion US$ was probably lost through these contracts. Two former South Korean presidents, Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan, were found guilty of corruption in 1996 in a case linking them to chaebols (large family businesses with strong political ties), which bribed top political leaders in exchange for unfair business advantage.