This week Pope Francis described Mexico as terrifying and expressed fear of the “Mexicanisation” of his native Argentina. Amnesty International denounced enforced disappearances and the use of torture by security forces. Donald Trump criticised the “reign of corruption” in business circles. And, after receiving an Oscar for ‘Birdman’, the director Alejandro González Iñárritu appealed for a “better government” and described the injustice and impunity in his country as unbearable.
All posts by brucebecker
Bank Called a Gang Conspirator
OS ANGELES (CN) – Victims of L.A. street gangs sued HSBC Bank in a federal RICO class action, claiming the bank is partly responsible because it accepts and launders money for the gangsters, who are associated with the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Woman sues former FBI director after being cleared of fraud
NEW ORLEANS — A woman who was cleared by a federal judge this week on charges of fraud and misconduct is now suing the former FBI director who made the allegations against her.
Christine Reitano, an attorney who worked along with her husband for the court-authorized BP oil spill claims settlement program, was accused in 2013 of unethical conduct by former FBI director Louis Freeh.
Freeh had been hired to serve as a special master to investigate possible fraud inside the claims center. Reitano was fired and sued the claims administrator, Patrick Juneau, saying she did nothing wrong.
Ex-Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi reports to prison for 3-year term for corruption, laundering
PHOENIX — Former Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi reported to a federal prison in West Virginia on Friday to begin serving a three-year sentence for corruption, money laundering and other convictions.
Renzi previously succeeded in postponing the start of his sentence. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that he must report to the minimum security Federal Correctional Institution by Friday.
Bureau of Prisons spokesman Edmond Ross confirmed Renzi had arrived at the Morgantown, West Virginia, facility.
Meanwhile Friday, attorneys for Renzi filed paperwork asking for the U.S. Supreme Court to review the appeals court ruling. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Renzi’s convictions last October after his lawyers argued that prosecutors had violated a constitutional clause that grants members of Congress protection for their legislative acts.
FEMA: Evidence of fraud in Hurricane Sandy reports
Thousands of people who have been denied flood insurance claims for homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy have been crying fraud. Now, the executive in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s insurance program tells 60 Minutes he has seen evidence of fraud in reports used to deny them full insurance payouts. The executive, Brad Kieserman, FEMA Deputy Associate Administrator for Insurance, also tells correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi he has seen evidence of the use of unlicensed engineers for flood damage reports, another criminal act. What’s more, he says FEMA has been aware of this evidence for more than a year. Kieserman speaks to Alfonsi for a 60 Minutes investigation into how fraud may have been the reason thousands of homeowners’ claims were denied. Her report will be broadcast Sunday, March 1 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
USDA Whistleblowers Tell All–and You May Never Eat Bacon Again
In 2004, Elsa Murano stepped down from her post as chief of the US Department of Agriculture division that oversees food safety at the nation’s slaughterhouses. Two years later, she joined the board of directors of pork giant Hormel, a company that runs some of the nation’s largest slaughterhouses. Murano received $238,000 in compensation for her service on Hormel’s board in 2014 alone.
IRS Being Investigated For Criminal Misconduct Surrounding Lois Lerner’s ‘Missing’ Emails
Last night Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Russell George and Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Timothy Camus updated the House Oversight Committee on the status of Lois Lerner’s “missing” emails surrounding the IRS targeting of conservatives.
Call From the I.R.S.? Hang Up. It’s a Fraud.
A spate of fraudulent state income tax returns filed using TurboTax’s online software has unnerved consumers this filing season. But con artists also continue to use more traditional means to try to separate taxpayers from their money, like harassing them on the telephone.
The Internal Revenue Service has posted repeated warnings about tax phone frauds, in which criminals call consumers pretending to be agents from the I.R.S. The impostors claim the taxpayer owes back taxes, then threaten arrest or legal action, unless the individual makes a payment quickly. Sometimes victims are urged to wire money, but more commonly they are directed to obtain a prepaid money card at a retailer and provide the number to the caller.
Whistleblower Hearing Traces Corruption and Retaliation Back to Director’s Door
WASHINGTON, DC, February 25, 2015 –/WORLD-WIRE/– An explosive whistleblower hearing transcript paints a vivid picture of rampant scientific misconduct, callous reprisal and systemic mendacity within the upper echelons of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) which posted the full texts today. The transcript also illustrates how a highly-touted agency Scientific Integrity Policy has become a tool for just the opposite.
This whistleblower case is striking because it involves a high-level manager rather than a field biologist; Gary Mowad is a 28-year FWS veteran and former Deputy Director for law enforcement. For the past few years, Mowad had been the FWS Texas Administrator for the Ecological Services Division, handling a parade of thorny endangered species and natural resource issues arising out of the Lone Star State.
Many U.S. brokerages fail to report possible money laundering-SEC official
Feb 25 (Reuters) – A “disturbingly large” number of U.S. securities brokerages are not filing mandatory reports with regulators about customer transactions that could signal money laundering, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement head said on Wednesday.
Brokerage firms file an average of five reports each per year, a number that is “disconcerting” and “far too low” given the and industry’s volume of transactions, said Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC Division of Enforcement, in prepared remarks.