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10 Famous Politicians Who Got Arrested For Corruption

It cuts across the world and lures many into its network including politicians. Corruption often called a cancer eats away the society’s integrity values and plants selfish interests as the driving force in individuals.

Corruption has trapped top-ranking public officials including politicians at different ranks throughout the globe. In this article, we highlight the prominent politicians who have faced arrests for various accounts of corruption. For some, it is the abuse of power, others money laundering, and some for bribery or more issues. Take a look.

Here are 10 Famous Politicians Who Got Arrested For Corruption.

1. Silvio Berlusconi

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His service as  Prime Minister earned him recognition in the Italian political space as well as in Europe and beyond. He doubles up as an entrepreneur and owns a successful media empire.

Furthermore, his first tenure as Prime Minister of Italy started in 1994 and ended in 1995. Again from 2001 to 2006 and the final time from 2008 to 2011. He was part of the lower house of the Italian Parliament from 1994 until 2013. Later he joined the country’s Senate and the European Parliament.

The Supreme Court of Cassation charged this politician with tax fraud in 2013. Following these charges, he was given a four four-year sentence and banned from holding public office for at least two years.

Moreover, because of his age at the time about 76 years, Silvio was permitted to serve his sentence in unpaid community service. He made a political comeback in 2019 which earned him a seat in the European Parliament the same year. Further, he vied and won a Senate seat during the 2022 Italian general election.

Berlusconi was featured in a 2009 Forbes World’s Most Powerful People ranking. In 2018 he appeared on a listing by the same publication for the wealthiest people in the world.

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2. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

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He was the 39^th and 35^th president of Brazil. Lula has served as President of Brazil for three terms. He was first elected during the 2002 Brazilian presidential election. Thus he completed his first term in 2006 and he defended his position through reelection so he left office in 2010.

Additionally, in April 2018 he was arrested for accusations of money laundering and he was in prison until November 2019. The Supreme Court acquitted him of the charges in March 2021. Hence he ran for presidential office in 2022 and won in the runoff against incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. So Lula got the chance to serve as President of Brazil for the third term from January 2023.

3. Thaksin Shinawatra

In politics, he is recognized for serving as the Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. He is also one of Thailand’s richest individuals because of his investments in the IT and telecommunications industry in the country.

To add on, he was ousted from office in September 2006 through a military coup. Following the events he has been in exile abroad since then. Subsequently, his charge was an abuse of power which earned him a two-year jail sentence granted in absentia.

4. Nawaz Sharif

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This former Prime Minister of Pakistan is noted for long service in such capacity spanning about 9 years. He assumed office as the Prime Minister of Pakistan in June 2013 and was in office until July 2017.

On top of that, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the removal of Sharif from the Prime Minister’s office in 2017. This was to give way to investigations into the Panama Papers case that was before the Pakistani Supreme Court.

The Panama Papers detailed financial information on offshore accounts of the world’s elite. These papers also pointed out the legal loopholes leveraged by some people to commit tax crimes such as tax evasion and escaping international sanctions.

The Pakistani Supreme Court in 2018 ruled against Sharif and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment. He was also disqualified from holding public office all his life.

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5. Yulia Tymoshenko

She is celebrated for her service as Prime Minister of Ukraine, making her the first woman to hold the office. She served in this office in 2005 and again from 2007 to 2010. She has also served as a People’s Deputy of Ukraine several times.

Over and above that from 2010 Tymoshenko was caught up in unending criminal cases that caused her to serve three years in jail. She was released in February 2014. Later, Tymoshenko became a candidate in the 2014 and 2019 Ukrainian presidential elections.

6. Jacob Zuma

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This former South African head of state led the country from 2009 up to 2018 when he resigned from presidential office. His resignation happened in February 2018 after the fifth Parliamentary vote of no confidence in his leadership.

Following his resignation, the nation’s prosecuting authority started a probe into corruption charges against him in March 2018. In 2021, the Constitutional Court ordered his arrest and issued a sentence of 15 months to Zuma.

7. Jiang Jiemin

He is prominent for serving in political and senior positions in the petroleum industry in China. In 1994 he was the leader of the Qinghai Petroleum Administration Bureau. In 1999 he was appointed to a senior position in the republic’s leading petroleum corporation.

Additionally, in 2000 he was among those chosen to be the deputy leader of the Chinese Communist Party in Qinghai Province. In 2001, Jiemin was named the Deputy Party Secretary for the Communist Party in Qinghai.

The Director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission was the last public office he held before his arrest. He assumed office in March 2013 and he was accused of corrupt dealings in September of the same year. His corruption charges were for abuse of power and bribery counts. So he was given a 16-year prison sentence.

8. Ehud Olmert

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The Israeli politician cum lawyer has served as mayor, cabinet minister, and Prime Minister of Israel. He served in this capacity starting 2006 until 2009. According to Israel’s judicial system, Olmert’s bribery and obstruction of justice crimes dated to his time in the office of mayor and the ministry of trade. These crime accounts saw him arrested and he was given a prison sentence.

9. Cristina Kirchner

She was Argentina’s president from 2007 to 2015. In 2019 she became the Vice President of the country. But in December 2022, she received a six-year prison sentence for corruption charges plus a life ban to hold public office.

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10. Park Geun-hye

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She assumed office as the South Korean president in 2013 and she was in the country’s top seat of power until 2017. But she was forced out of office through a parliamentary impeachment in March 2017.

Moreover, in April 2018 she was convicted of abuse of power and corruption crimes. So she was taken to prison to serve her 25-year prison sentence. She was released on the grounds of compassionate pardon in 2022 by South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The arrest and conviction of these political personalities are evidence of hope for a more fair and just society. Throughout the world corruption is a menace that derails progress and development. Yet the battle against bribery rages on from generation to generation.