Denouncing sleaze and kickbacks has long been fashionable among the bosses of the World Bank. Back in 1996, James Wolfensohn piously vowed to root out the "cancer of corruption" and even made some modest internal efforts at reform. His successor, Paul Wolfowitz, also made the issue a priority, linking it to his goal of making aid effective. Both men genuinely tried to tackle the scourge. And yet this week saw yet another bank boss, Robert Zoellick, forced into the spotlight by yet another scandal.rnFor several years there have been whispers about wrongdoing in the agency's lending to Indian health-care projects. The allegations led to a "detailed implementation review" by the bank's internal auditor. That report, made public in January, concluded that over $5oom-worth of contracts may have been tainted by "significant indicators of fraud and corruption" such as "collusive behaviours, bid rigging, bribery and manipulated bid prices". Though the bank was initially slow to respond to the allegations, it said this week that it had started nine investigations into the matter. The Indian government has also started several related probes.
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