Brazil

BRAZIL IS A NATION mired in the white-collar crime of political corruption. The United Nation's Global Program Against Corruption defines corruption as the “abuse of power for private gain” and includes both the public and private sector. Although perceived differently from country to country, corruption tends to include the following behaviors: conflict of interest, embezzlement, fraud, bribery, political corruption, nepotism, sectarianism, and extortion.

The longest running story of political corruption involves former president Fernando Collor de Mello. An otherwise obscure governor of the state of Alagoas, he was propelled into the national scene single-handedly by the media giant TV Globo as its champion to defeat the Workers' Party candidate Luiz Inácio da Silva.

Upon securing the presidency, Collor de Mello apparently went on a binge of corrupt ...