Yet his alleged crimes seem to relate to a personal failing rather than the "pay to play" schemes that have stained his state's reputation for so many decades.Illinois remains the country's third-most-corrupt state after New York and California, and Chicago is still the corruption capital of America, according to a report by Messrs Simpson and Gradel and others that was published on May 28th.
Last week, Lazio called New York "the corruption capital of America".
"Florida has become the corruption capital of America," said Dan Krassner, the executive director of a watchdog group, Integrity Florida, citing statistics going back to 1976 and the "significant number of public officials arrested this year and last".
The prosecutor, Yuri Skuratov, was investigating high-level corruption and capital flight, and his search was veering towards the Kremlin itself.
"The evidence displays a strong connection between the spatial distribution of population and corruption: Isolated capital cities are associated with greater levels of corruption across U.S. states," a study by the Kennedy School concludes.
It was also, Professor DiGaetani continued, "a dialectic on the inevitable corruption of capital, an environmental warning against the rape of nature and a philosophical manifesto on the need to remove oneself spiritually from worldly entanglements".
He's been doing what Russia needs to do: reform the administration, get the books in order, combat corruption, halt capital flight and work on Russia's international standing.
Indian website ipaidabribe.com, which allows citizens to upload details of street-level extortion, suggests that Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad rank worst for corruption; Dhaka, capital of neighbouring Bangladesh, is listed by a number of surveys as one of the places where informal payments for public utilities or business licences are demanded most frequently.
Ukrainian Government officials eliminated most tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law, bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's large shadow economy, but more improvements are needed, including fighting corruption, developing capital markets, and improving the legislative framework.
Leaving his office, I noticed a poster fastened to his door: "Corruption" in capital letters, with a large red X drawn through the word.
Leaving his office, I noticed a poster fastened to his door: "Corruption" in capital letters, with a large red X drawn through the word.
