Measures taken by governments to restrict the spread of the coronavirus have led to more sexual abuse cases and especially “children may be at an increased risk of sexual exploitation both online and offline,”Interpol warned on Monday.

After facing criticism for corruption associated with pandemic-related public procurement spending, South Africa’s government announced on Wednesday that it has published a full listof companies that have been awarded contracts.

An independent government watchdog revealed on Monday that businesses belonging to a Ukrainian billionaire linked to Russian interference in U.S. elections received a total of US$21 million in small business loans from the U.S. government. 

In an effort to take the United Kingdom out of one of the deepest recessions of any major economy following the pandemic, the country’s government has injected billions in public funds into corporations embroiled in financial and human rights scandals, Vice reported on Tuesday.

Some 50 million masks the U.K. purchased as part of a US$326 million contract will not be used by the NHS due to fears of defects, a non-profit organization said. 

Frustration among Azeris has been growing for some time over the forced contributions to the national coronavirus relief fund and payouts of a meagre US$110 for those who have lost their livelihood during the pandemic, but exploded on last week when they heard the government had given half a million dollars to newly-established companies to fund religious events.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned this week that corruption in times of the COVID-19 pandemic is more than just wasted money, and that in fact it erodes the social contract and corrodes the government’s ability to help grow the economy in a way that benefits all citizens.

Lithuanian authorities have launched an investigation into the procurement of Chinese-made protective face masks that, according to anOCCRP investigation, had fake certificates.

The European Commission recommended on Tuesday that member states withhold coronavirus aid from companies linked to countries that have been blacklisted for being non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

If governments fail to guard against fraud and bribery in health-care supply chains as they secure essential medicines and personal-protective equipment in the fight against COVID-19, human rights could be abused and lives could be lost, UN experts warned.

The judge who sent Nawaz Sharif behind bars for graft has been dismissed on Friday for violating the code of conduct, which paves the way for the former prime minister to be acquitted and for Pakistan’s political rift to deepen at a time the country is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.

Substandard protective equipment for COVID-19 is being sold in over a dozen countries, using misleading certificates produced by businesses in the heart of Europe.

Undercover reporters from OCCRP and RISE Romania found a trade run by dealers with ties to organized crime, enabled by shady paperwork and made profitable by unscrupulous buyers.

A bizarre black market business developed in Pakistan as desperate families of critical COVID-19 patients are offering thousands of dollars for blood plasma from recovered patients.

Masks delivered to Romanian hospitals under a procurement contract that saw corruption charges being raised against the head of a state owned-company do not comply with safety standards, experts told OCCRP on Thursday.

The head of a state owned-company responsible for handling coronavirus medical equipment is being charged for soliciting a 760,000 euro (US$860,000) bribe from a firm in exchange for a major contract to supply Romanian hospitals with millions of masks and hundreds of thousands of protective suits. 

Kyrgyzstan has collected hundreds of millions of dollars to fight the coronavirus pandemic. But how that money is being spent remains a mystery — and even a government ministry seems perplexed.

A court in Zimbabwe released on Saturday the country’s health minister on bail after he was arrested over allegations of corruption and misuse of office regarding the procurement of coronavirus tests and other medical equipment.

A British non-profit filed a lawsuit against the UK government for awarding a 108 million pounds (US$136 million) contract for purchasing COVID-19 protective equipment to a small pest-control company from Sussex that has 16 employees - a move they see as dubious.

Germanpolice are looking for witnesses of the theft of 400,000 masks from that what it described as a carefully planned carjacking that took place on Monday.