All posts by brucebecker
Report: TSA Doesn’t Know if Bomb-Detecting Machines Are ‘Operational’
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has such poor management over its airport security equipment that the agency does not know if its screening machines are working, according to an audit by the Office of Inspector General.
American lives may be at risk due to ineffective maintenance of its equipment, which has cost taxpayers $1.2 billion.
“The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is not properly managing the maintenance of its airport screening equipment,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general auditsaid. “Specifically, TSA has not issued adequate policies and procedures to airports for carrying out equipment maintenance-related responsibilities. Because TSA does not adequately oversee equipment maintenance, it cannot be assured that routine preventive maintenance is performed or that equipment is repaired and ready for operational use.”
Starbucks still grappling with fraud in online accounts, gift cards
Starbucks is still grappling with fraud involving its customers’ online accounts and gift cards, with some victims seeing hundreds of dollars stolen.
Gift-card related fraud with Starbucks cards is not new, but recent victims were highlighted earlier this week in an article by journalist and author Bob Sullivan.
Unethical health food: is your avocado habit funding drug cartels?
In Mexico, where they are colloquially referred to as “green gold”, the avocado can get you killed. Production of the fruit is concentrated in the state of Michoacán and much of it is controlled by the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel – making farmers and land owners give up a percentage of their income, enforcing a tax on fruit sold and land owned, and even murdering those who don’t play ball. All this has resulted in the term “blood guacamole”.
Caesars Palace could face up to $20 million in fines in anti-money laundering investigation
LAS VEGAS – Caesars Palace may pay a fine of $12 million to $20 million in a U.S. Treasury Department investigation into the casino’s anti-money laundering practices.
Caesars Entertainment Corp. said in a quarterly financial filing Monday that the federal investigation focused on its flagship Las Vegas Strip property.
The Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions and casinos to assist federal agencies in detecting and preventing money laundering.
Caesars says it was made aware of investigations by the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and a grand jury in October 2013. Caesars says it’s cooperating.
The Messages the Federal Court of Appeals Sent to Congress and the Executive Branch on Metadata Surveillance
Last week, a federal appeals court ruled that Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act does not authorize the NSA’s telephone metadata surveillance program. Since Edward Snowdendisclosed it in June 2013, the program has been so controversial that its fate has taken on historic significance. The decision inAmerican Civil Liberties Union v. Clapper arrived as Congress must decide whether to reform the program, continue it by re-authorizing Section 215, or let Section 215 expire on its June 1 sunset date. The judgment provided the program’s defenders and critics with ammunition in this debate. Moreover, the court, through its decision, seems to be sending the political branches explicit constitutional messages about what should happen next.
Tuesday is Election Day again in Perth Amboy after voter fraud ruling
PERTH AMBOY – Voters on Tuesday will return to the polls to decide a seat on the City Council.
The election is a do-over of the November election, in which former Councilman Fernando Gonzalez beat Sergio Diaz by 10 votes for one of the three available seats. But three months into Gonzalez’s term, a Superior Court judge threw out the result,ruling that fraud surrounding vote-by-mail ballots warranted a new election between the third- and fourth-place finishers.
Is Australian Property a Haven for Money Laundering?
Regulators have recently come under fire for failing to adequately monitor foreign acquisitions of Australian real estate and ensure that they are in full compliance with domestic law. The property sector may already be host to far more nefarious forms of illicit activity, however, given Australia’s continued lax scrutiny of the use of real estate holdings for money-laundering purposes.
Intergovernmental anti-money laundering (AML) body the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has just released a scathing assessment of Australia’s law enforcement and regulatory arrangements for addressing the problem of illicit, cross-border cash flows.
New York Senate leader Skelos quits top post after arrest
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Dean Skelos stepped down as leader of the New York Senate on Monday in the wake of federal corruption charges and was quickly replaced by another Long Island Republican, Sen. John Flanagan.
Skelos, who is keeping his legislative seat, is the sixth legislative leader to face criminal charges or scandal in Albany since 2008. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, stepped down from his leadership position in January.
1,000 refugees arrive in Malaysia and Indonesia after Thai crackdown on human trafficking
Malaysia detained more than a thousand Bangladeshi and Rohingya refugees, including dozens of children, police said, a day after authorities rescued hundreds stranded off the coast of Indonesia’s western tip.
There has been a huge increase in refugees from impoverished Bangladesh and Myanmar drifting on boats to Malaysia and Indonesia in recent days after Thailand, usually the initial destination in the region’s people smuggling network, announced a crackdown on the trafficking.