Morgan Stanley Ex-Official Pleads Guilty to Bribery

With a week to go until the Italian elections, things are getting a little odd to say the least. The somewhat scandal prone Berlusconi, who self-declared himself leading in the polls just recently, has come out swinging in defense of his fellow business leaders' ethical egressions.

A former executive in Morgan Stanley's real estate business in China faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to scheming to skirt the investment firm's controls against foreign bribery to enrich himself and a Chinese government official.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. securities regulators on Wednesday charged a former Morgan Stanley executive with fraud in connection with real estate investments in China. Morgan Stanley's former managing director in its real estate investment and fund advisory business, Garth Peterson, secretly acquired millions of dollars worth of real estate investments for himself and an influential Chinese official, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. The Justice Department filed related criminal charges, the SEC said. (Reporting By Aruna Viswanatha; Editing by Gary Hill)

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was indicted Friday on charges that he used his office for personal gain, accepting payoffs, free trips and gratuities from contractors while the city was struggling to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The charges against Nagin are the outgrowth of a City Hall corruption investigation that already has resulted in guilty pleas by two former city officials and two businessmen and a prison sentence for a former city vendor.

Brent Beckley faces up to a year and a half in prison for fraud and violating Internet gambling laws.

A 23-year-old Russian man accused of masterminding a vast world-wide spamming network pleaded not guilty in federal court in Wisconsin to violating a U.S. anti-spam law.

AP - Specialty chemicals maker Innospec Inc. pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of bribery, defrauding the United Nations and violating the U.S. embargo against Cuba, U.S. authorities said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Specialty chemicals maker Innospec Inc. pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of bribery, defrauding the United Nations and violating the U.S. embargo against Cuba, U.S. authorities said....