Word: kickbacker
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...four decades, the same handful of politicians and parties claimed power as a bulwark against bolshevism. But once the threat of a communist government in Rome fizzled, the cozy coalition system began to implode. In the past year, magistrates have uncovered a spaghetti of corruption -- illicit political payments, bribery, kickbacks and outright thievery -- so tangled that even the tolerant, rule-bending Italians have been shocked. Many watched with a mixture of glee and dismay as nearly 2,500 of the country's political and business elite, from former Prime Ministers and corporate executives to legislators and businessmen, were either arrested...
With the lira down and the nation rocked by the Mani Pulite, or Clean Hands, kickback investigations, Italians need some good economic news. They looked for it, naturally, in the Milan fall ready-to-wear shows, just ended, hoping in part that a recovering U.S. economy will send a windfall of clothing orders their way. One enticement: with the weaker lira, price tags will be at least 15% lower than last year's. But the critics' reviews were mixed. Clown motifs, gold frogging, Tyrolean touches or military flourishes cluttered many of the outfits and seemed inappropriate for local customers...
Repeated bribery, corruption and kickback scandals have soured Italians on authority in general and politicians in particular. Suspected affiliation with the Mob, once dismissed as unprovable, has increasingly become a political kiss of death. Italian authorities believe that the Mob, with less of its money coming from state funds, will now be forced to turn to higher-risk crime...
...thousands are putting on shirts -- black ones -- to demonstrate their disgust with a Collor regime that is haunted by scandal and economic failure. An inflation rate of 20% a month and record unemployment had already eroded support for the once popular Collor even before congressional investigators recently uncovered a kickback and bid-rigging racket engineered by top presidential aides. The embattled President made the mistake of asking followers to dress in green and yellow, the national colors, to show support. Instead, thousands of demonstrators draped themselves in black and paraded through major cities chanting, "Collor out!" The demonstrations persuaded many...
...understand your concerns with the council's $20 allocation to bring the Spin Doctors to Harvard Square, but I can assure you that there was no grand conspiracy to give a kickback to one of our own members. The $20 was granted to a UC-sponsored event, approved by the full council at our public meeting on February 2. This resolution was treated as any other, with the Executive Board having no role whatsoever in its passage...