What has been described as “the perfect storm of urgent need, supply shortages and overwhelmed health systems and governments” resulting from the ravages of the coronavirus has created what the Washington-based social enterprise and media platform Devex has described in a recent feature as a “wealth of opportunities for corruption.”
The July 1 article (authors Sean Darby and Tom Wright) flags “substandard ventilators, grossly overpriced equipment,” and “lucrative contracts awarded to companies with little or no expertise” as some of the crooked and underhand procurement practices that have emerged from the medical, sanitization and other supplies emergencies resulting from the advent of the global coronavirus pandemic.
What is believed to be a widespread racket that targets the various global financial pledges to combat the pandemic for huge rip-offs implicates some named countries including the United States, Britain, Brazil and Slovenia, though the racket is believed to embrace a number of other countries including underdeveloped ones.