The Boston Fire Department suspended 54 firefighters on Thursday who were part of a state-wide scheme involving more than 200 Emergency Medical Technicians who faked medical training certifications last year, according to state investigators.

Although other districts planned to fire the EMTs involved in the fake training, the Boston Fire Department decided to wage a yearlong investigation, which culminated Thursday.

“They did not follow established procedures when they were going to be recertified,’’ said Fire Department spokesman Stephen McDonald in a Boston Globe article. “The state made us aware of it, and we did an investigation.’’

Two instructors were accused of falsifying certification records for 213 emergency medical technicians in 2010. They gave the EMTs credit for classes that did not take place, from refresher courses to certification in advanced cardiac life support, according to a state report obtained by the Boston Globe.

The investigation yielded that 20 of the 54 Boston firefighters involved received false credentials twice. This earned them a 45-day suspension without pay. The remaining 34 received the falsified certifications once, and got a 15-day suspension without pay.

All will have to repay the department the $1,000 or more stipend they each received for agreeing to take the courses, which are not required, according to McDonald.

The stipend was equal to 37.5 hours of overtime pay for those who did it once. Those who did it twice received double that amount.

The investigation came after state officials received tips that EMTs were gaining false certification.

Leo Nault, a former employee of Trinity Ambulance in Lowell, admitted to collecting between $50 and $125 for offering EMTs fake credentials. He gave these to 170 people.

Lexington Firefighter Mark Culleton said he falsified test scores, but told officials that he “was just trying to help fellow EMTs who were experiencing some hardship,’’ according to the report.

Although those involved in the scheme were a small part of the state’s 23,000 EMTs, the Department of Public Health began outlining steps to prevent training fraud, including monitoring the courses, said Julia Hurley, a department spokeswoman.

The Department of Public Health suspended the licenses of the involved EMTs for up to nine months, and the two instructors were banned from practicing in Massachusetts. Many have appealed the suspension.

A Lowell police officer was charged with raping prostitutes and soliciting prostitution while on duty.

Officer Aravanh Lakmany was indicted on Thursday, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.

Lakmany allegedly solicited several prostitutes beginning in 2009 during his night shifts for the Lowell Police Department. Prosecuters say he asked the women to get into his cruiser or personal car and drove them to a secluded area to engage in sexual acts.

The officer told one prostitute he would not arrest her if she had sex with him, according to prosecutors.

According to the Associated Press, a woman answered Lakmany’s home phone and said “no comment,” and hung up.

A federal grand jury convicted former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Salvatore F. DiMasi and a Beacon Hill lobbyist today of a scheme to “deprive the Massachusetts citizens of his honest services by accepting bribes,” according to a Department of Justice press release.

After a six-week trial and three days of deliberation, the jury found that DiMasi misused his power to allow a software company to get multi-million dollar goods and services from agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

DiMasi, 65, and Lobbyist Richard W. McDonough, 66, were both convicted of one count of conspiracy, three counts of honest services mail fraud, three counts of honest services wire fraud, and one count of extortion under color of official right.

Joseph P. Lally, 50, also played a part in the scheme and previously pleaded guilty. He is awaiting trial.

“Public service and elected office is not a right or an entitlement – it is a privilege that comes with the public’s expectation of truthfulness and honesty,” United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said. “Today, justice has been served and the culture of corruption has been dealt another blow.”

Lally was an Area Vice President of Sales for the State and Local Government Division of Cognos ULC, the Canadian software company involved in the scheme. Cognos made business intelligence and performance management software and similar services targeted toward Massachusetts government agencies. Lally left Cognos and started Montvale Solutions, LLC, which resold Cognos software to agencies in Massachusetts.

Lally hired McDonough as a lobbyist.

When DiMasi took office as Speaker of the House in 2004, income from his outside law practice decreased drastically, according to testimony.

In December 2004, McDonough, DiMasi and Lally had money funneled to DiMasi through DiMasi’s law associates. Said associates were paid $5,000 per month and not asked to work for the following two years.

Through this scam, DiMasi made $65,000 over two years in exchange for taking official action that would help Cognos, Lally and McDonough.

DiMasi performed actions such as securing funds for two Cognos contracts with Massachusetts worth $17.5 million.

The former Speaker also lobbied Governor Deval Patrick and his administration to execute Cognos’ contract.

The Boston Globe wrote multiple article in 2008 that raised questions about the Cognos contracts, and sparked DiMasi to urge his law associates to “lose his check register” that contained information about Cognos payments.

This is the third time in the past year that a Massachusetts elected official has been convicted of “graft-related offenses,” according to Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI-Boston Field Division.

DiMasi and McDonough each face up to 20 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release and $250,000 fine on each count of mail and wire fraud; up to 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release and $250,000 fine on extortion under color of official right; and up to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy count.

They will be sentenced on August 18.

“The citizens of Massachusetts put extraordinary trust in Mr. DiMasi, and he betrayed that trust when he chose to conspire with his friends to use his office in order to line his pockets, and theirs. Today, Mr. DiMasi and Mr. McDonough paid the price for their decision to abuse their influence for their own personal gain,” Ortiz said..

The Boston City Council voted to expel Chuck Turner on Wednesday afternoon.

Only Councilor Charles Yancey, a stalwart Turner supporter, voted against removal in the 11-1 Council vote.

Turner was recently convicted on federal bribery and corruption charges and his removal was anticipated as many councilors had already called for Turner’s resignation.

LAVAL, France — Former French President Jacques Chirac now faces two sets of corruption charges after a French judge signed an ordinance Monday summoning him to appear before a criminal court in Paris.

Many French people, when asked their opinion on the matter, said they were not surprised by the charges.

“If he did something bad, it’s normal that he be punished,” said Thérèse Belloche, 73, of Laval.

Belloche, who said she follows politics only a bit, said it’s unfortunate the wealthy often get away with corruption when those with less resources are forced to pay.

“It’s a question of lots of money, it’s an injustice,” she said.

According to the French Associated Press, Chirac, 77, is charged with using public funds to pay the salaries of his political allies between 1992 and 1995, when he was mayor of Paris.

The right-wing politician was president from 1995 to 2007.

Chirac, who served as mayor from 1977 to 1995, was originally charged with corruption in 2009, but yesterday more charges were laid upon him, which he will likely answer to in April 2011, when he is already scheduled to appear in court.

Most people, when asked Tuesday afternoon what they thought about Chirac and the charges, said they were not surprised.

“They are all liars,” said one Frenchman of politicians, while he was waiting for the bus in downtown Laval Tuesday afternoon.

The man, who refused to give his name, said he has never voted and called the recent strikes useless because he said they will not change anything the government has already done.

“We talk about only the rich…The government is the mafia,” he said.

Most people interviewed said they do not follow politics and were unaware of the corruption charges. Others said they had no opinion of the situation.

But for French polticos, Chirac is remembered for his wide-reaching reforms in France. He is known as the man who defeated socialist leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002, reduced the presidential term to five years from seven, implemented many tax reductions and argued for business privatization.

He has also been suspected of corruption for over 10 years. His luxurious habits, including frequent holidays and lavish meals, have been long suspected to have been financed with the city’s money.

“They confused their wallets with the wallet of the French people,” said Robert Mazurais, 67, of Laval.

Mazurais, who said he is a member of France’s Green Party, said he worked in the public housing sector before he retired. He acknowledged that Chirac did much to help set up the system of low-income housing in France.

“He wasn’t a bad guy,” Mazurais said, but added that at the same time, Chirac took advantage of his status of wealth and power.

“It’s not normal that it’s the French who pay,” he said, adding that it was inevitable that Chirac be brought to terms with his decisions at one point or another.

According to the French Associated Press, an agreement was signed in 2010 between the city of Paris and Chirac’s political party, the UMP, where the UMP paid the city 2.2 million euros in exchange for not bringing civil charges against Chirac.

Still, Chirac is said to have denied all corruption charges since the investigation began in 1999.

According to the French newspaper Le Progrès, Chirac could face five years in prison and 75,000 euros in fees.

If your country went through an outrageously corrupt election that was exposed by an “impartial” governing body, you’d think as president you’d have the balls to sack the chief of your electoral commission, especially after agreeing to a run-off election with your main opponent.

Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai apparently has no balls. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah called on Karzai to fire the head of the election commission for his inability to ensure a fair democratic election in August’s vote. Karzai rejected the call by Abdullah, obviously, because they are rivals.

But why did it even have to be demanded? Ideally, the man would have been sacked just after the U.N.-backed panel discovered and exposed widespread electoral fraud and ballot box stuffing. The whole Independent Election Commission in Afghanistan should see a major overhaul, but Karzai claims doing this just before a run-off would upset the order of things.

“The changes would not be helpful to the elections and the country,” he said, BBC reports.

Abdullah claims the IEC is full of rampant Karzai supporters. While that may be true, so is the rest of the world. Obama, Sarkozy, Brown, Kerry and even Ban ki-Moon have praised Karzai for accepting a run-off election. For doing basically what is required of a democratic president. That praise is not really necessary and just reinforces the fact that Karzai is a western-backed leader of a nation whose own people consistently questioning his governing ability.

Both leaders have also denounced the possibility of a joint government. I saw that reported as a possibility in some places and I couldn’t believe some saw it as a viable option.

The run-off is set to take place on November 7. I think we can predict the outcome.

Check back tomorrow for the second episode of Blast’s new podcast Your World in Focus, narrated by me. Also, take a listen to the first if you missed it. It’s about this very election.

When State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson’s arrest hit the news, everyone knew that there would be a messy fallout. Other Boston-based power brokers, in the state and city levels, would likely be implicated, leaving the leadership stuck with a major public relations hit and ongoing anxiety. The public, of course, would become increasingly skeptical of their leaders. This fallout was rearing its head today.

Chuck Turner, a charismatic Boston City Councilor,‚  who was arrested last week for allegedly taking a bribe, was all over the news again this week. Not only did Turner hold a press conference to claim innocence and plead for public support, but Maureen Feeney, city council president, preempted that 2:30 p.m. press conference with one of her own.

At 1 p.m., at City Hall’s Curley Room, Feeney said that while she respected Turner’s rights to claim innocence, thought the investigation would render him ineffective as a councilor. Feeney had already, and unilaterally, stripped Turner of his committee assignments.

But Turner, a Roxbury member of the Green-Rainbow Party, said he was being abused by city officials and members of the media.

“Obviously, the press is working to publicly destroy my reputation before I even have an opportunity to have a day in court,” he said. “Since I am being tried by the media and my fellow councilors, I have made the decision to publicly defend myself. That is, I will act as my own lawyer in this media trial in which I find myself. Some argue that I should keep quiet for fear that I may make some statement that can be used against me. So be it! I will not sit back silently and allow my reputation to be ripped to shreds.”

He added, “They are criminals.”

Chris Faraone, writing for The Phoenix, observed the situation.

Turner stepped to his crowd as planned. Even before a working microphone arrived, he launched into a condemnation of his colleagues and the pad-and-camera-wielding culprits who he deems responsible for his predicament.

The crowd was energized. Everyone expected fireworks, as the councilor’s operatives circulated an announcement declaring war against the media. “My main concern is that I am not being tried by a jury of my peers, I am being tried by the Globe, the Herald, Fox News, Channel 7, Channel 5, etc…,” Turner wrote and went on to say

Vocal support rang loudly. Some folks belted pro-Chuck chants, while others were noticeably angrier. When it became obvious that the sound system was busted, one participant suggested that evildoers “Stop controlling the truth and let him be heard.” “Get him a mic,” another person yelled.

Welcome to the surreal state of Massachusetts politics in 2009. It is sure to be a constant stream of drama, accusations, arrests and subpoenas.

The public is left to watch, and wonder who to trust.

Retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr. was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder for leaking information to informants that caused them to kill a potential witness more than two decades ago.

The jury ruled that Connolly leaked information to James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, which led to the murder of John B. Callahan, who was killed in Florida 26 years ago, at the age of 45.

Connolly, 68, faces the possibility of serving the rest of his life in prison. The verdict followed seven weeks of testimony in a South Florida Courtroom. Flemmi, 74, who is currently in prison for several murders, was a key witness for the prosecution, according to reports.

Fred Wyshak, a federal prosecutor from Boston who was involved in the prosecution, told The Boston Globe that, barring an arrest of long-time fugitive Whitey Bulger, “this ends what is really a sad chapter in the history of law enforcement in Boston.”