The government, for instance, promises that its officials will not take bribes and that they will give all bidders a fair chance.
He was prepared to trade jobs for support, but not pay bribes.
And I am telling you that federal judges do not take bribes and I am telling you that I have never bribed anyone in my life and I sure as hell am not going to do it now on your case.
Lurking behind Mr Ibrahim's worthy aims is the niggling sense that the money amounts to an annual bribe - a bribe for not accepting bribes - dangled like a fat carrot in front of the continent's elites, in the hope of steering them towards the sort of behaviour that should surely be taken for granted.
But in Britain some 85% of the cars bought are imported, so such bribes might not do much for local carmakers.
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He's not charged with taking bribes but with knowingly omitting from his Senate disclosure form a quarter million dollars in gifts and services from Allen, including major home renovations.
Indeed, as many Burmese went to pains to remind me, if "ordinary things" are generally associated with the corruption of those in authority, "ordinary people" include those who agree to pay the bribes, not complain, even looking for their own opportunities to exchange give for take.
Chevron insists that it did not prompt Borja to raise discussions about paying bribes, and says that he was not compensated for his efforts.
Ordinary South Africans are not bombarded with demands for bribes by policemen and customs officers.
Proxmire is upset because established accounting did not lead to exposure of illegal bribes by business.
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Companies should be able to identify and mitigate against bribes and corrupt payments not only to ensure compliance with the law, but also to keep markets competitive and to ensure that their activities are benefiting the societies in which they operate.
Bribes and outright theft is not the same as inventing revenue numbers.
Now the scandal is reaching into Scotland Yard amid charges of serious police corruption and bribes being paid for information not in the public domain.
Of course, the old smoke-filled rooms were filthy places, for cutting deals and making threats and trading bribes, and the old bosses were not always weighing the merits when they christened their candidates.
Ginsberg reasoned that Congress meant the pre-1987 understanding of the term, and meant to criminalize only the taking of bribes and kickbacks in the performance of a job, not any sort of scheme that somehow deprived somebody of honest work.
The BBC's Bashir Abdullahi in Abuja says as it is illegal to give as well as take bribes in Nigeria, some people have asked why Mr Otedola is not also facing any legal action.
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Another referee revealed that some club owners did not hesitate to use their influential positions in society to victimise referees who refused to accept bribes.
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Olmert has admitted accepting donations, mostly in cash, from an American businessman for his election campaigns since the nineteen-nineties, but he insisted that he did not take any money for his personal use, and denied allegations that he had accepted bribes.
If bribes are going to be needed in a post-Armageddon world, they're probably not going to be offered with a credit card.
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