Crime

Informants Who Helped US Catch Drug Lords Say Rewards Have Not Been Paid

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Don Diego?s $5m price tag and the role of bounties in the US war on drugs
Colombian drug cartel leader Diego León Montoya Sánchez, alias ‘Don Diego’, being arrested in 2007. Photograph: Leonardo Munoz/EPA

– Informants who helped US catch drug lords say rewards have not been paid (Guardian, Feb 25, 2014):

The lure of $5m helped catch Colombian capo ‘Don Diego’, but the man who turned him in says he is still waiting for the bounty

Tito will never forget the night he learned that the FBI had put a $5m price on the head of Diego León Montoya Sánchez (“Don Diego”), the leader of what was then Colombia’s most powerful drug cartel. As the newest name on the FBI’s list of 10 most wanted, Montoya was second only to Osama bin Laden as America’s most wanted.

When he saw the headlines on the evening news that night in 2004, Tito turned to Montoya on the sofa beside him in the safehouse where they were hiding, and the two men shared a nervous laugh. Tito, who was part of Montoya’s inner circle, thought: “Things are going to get hairy.”

And they did. The offer of $5m made Montoya distrust everyone around him. Over the next three years Tito helped Montoya escape numerous Colombian police and military operations to capture him. After each failed attempt, Montoya ordered the murder of those he suspected of ratting on him – including several of Tito’s closest friends.

“He started having people who knew things killed off. And if anyone knew things about Diego it was me,” said Tito. So before Montoya could turn on him, Tito turned him in, figuring he could live the rest of his life comfortably with the $5m bounty. Thanks to Tito, Montoya is now serving a 45-year sentence in a Florida prison. But six and a half years later, Tito hasn’t seen a dime of the reward.

Read moreInformants Who Helped US Catch Drug Lords Say Rewards Have Not Been Paid

SWAT Raids Soldier’s Home After DHS Agent Mistook His Air Rifle For An AR-15

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swat-team

– SWAT Raids Soldier’s Home After DHS Agent Mistook His Air Rifle for an AR-15 (The Daily Sheeple, Feb 23, 2014):

A SWAT team complete with armored truck and dozens of police vehicles stormed the Houston area street where an active duty soldier lived last week because a homeland security agent misidentified the vet’s air rifle.

Twenty-five-year-old Ramon Hooks, back from a tour in Iraq, was shooting at targets in his backyard. He had the misfortune to accidentally fire a pellet through the window of a home for sale that a DHS agent just happened to be looking to buy at that moment. One phone call later, and two nearby schools were put on lockdown as the full force of the law descended the suburban neighborhood.

Read moreSWAT Raids Soldier’s Home After DHS Agent Mistook His Air Rifle For An AR-15

Half Of U.S. Prison Sex Crimes Involve Staff Toward Inmates (Reuters)

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– Half of U.S. prison sex crimes involve staff toward inmates: fed study (Reuters, Jan 24, 2014):

Nearly 9,000 incidents of sexual victimization against inmates in U.S. prisons and jails were reported in 2011, with roughly half of them involving corrections staff, according to a report by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The number of incidents showed a “significant increase” over about 8,400 incidents reported in 2010 and 7,855 reported in 2009, it said. The year 2011 was the most recent cited in the bureau study, published on Thursday.

Read moreHalf Of U.S. Prison Sex Crimes Involve Staff Toward Inmates (Reuters)

Texas Man Cleared Of Killing Detective Who Delivered No-Knock Warrant (Video)

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– Texas man cleared of killing detective who delivered no-knock warrant (VIDEO) (Guns, Feb 8, 2014):

When Henry Magee heard people burst into his Texas home before 6 a.m. on a Thursday morning in December, he grabbed his rifle, came face to face with an armed man, shot, and killed him.

It was only later that Magee found out that the man was Sgt. Adam Sowders, an investigator with the Burleson County Sheriff’s Department who was there serving a search warrant for drugs.

Now, seven weeks after the shooting, Magee has been cleared by a grand jury of all charges related to the detective’s death.

Read moreTexas Man Cleared Of Killing Detective Who Delivered No-Knock Warrant (Video)

Bizarre: Man Breaks Into Police Station, Beats Up, Hospitalizes Cops

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– Man Breaks Into Police Station, Beats Up, Hospitalizes Cops (ZeroHedge, Feb 15, 2014):

It’s not that the US has a scarcity of bizarre everyday stories – it does not. It is just that sometimes you encounter something so surreal, warped and ridiculous, that even the stock “market” makes sense by comparison. Such as this.

From WNEP of Scranton.

A man is locked up in Luzerne County after breaking into city hall in Pittston. Police said Max Deangelo of Blakeslee smashed one of the glass doors to get into city hall. The Pittston Police Department is also located in the building.

Deangelo is also accused of kicking officers in the chest and face as they tried to arrest him. Deangelo and an officer were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Investigators have not said why Deangelo broke into the building.

Police said he is charged with burglary, aggravated assault, and more charges.

And now, back to the regularly scheduled, televised recovery.

Colorado Health-Exchange Director Indicted For Fraud, Theft

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– Colorado Health-Exchange Director Indicted for Fraud, Theft (National Review, Feb 13, 2014):

The director of Colorado’s health exchange has been placed on administrative leave after the state discovered she had been indicted for stealing from a non-profit, the Denver Post reports:

[Christa Ann] McClure, 51, pleaded not guilty Feb. 6 in federal District Court in Montana to eight counts of theft and fraud from a nonprofit housing agency in Billings.

She was indicted Jan. 16 and notified her current Denver employer, the state-sponsored health exchange, on Monday, a few days after the story broke in Montana media, Connect for Health spokesman Ben Davis said in a telephone interview.

Read moreColorado Health-Exchange Director Indicted For Fraud, Theft

14 Turkish Protesters Jailed For 2 Years For ‘Insulting’ Prime Minister Erdogan

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– 14 Turkish Protesters Jailed For 2 Years For “Insulting” Prime Minister (ZeroHedge, Feb 11, 2014):

Forget throwing Molotov cocktails; don’t worry about throwing stones or hand to hand combat with the Police… the real trouble for Turkish protesters appears to be “insults” and “tree-hugging”:

  • *TURKEY PROSECUTOR REQUESTS JAIL FOR TREE-PLANTING STUDENTS: NTV
  • *Turkey Protesters Given Jail for Insults to Erdogan

The punishments vary from 2-years to 14 years in jail!!

Read more14 Turkish Protesters Jailed For 2 Years For ‘Insulting’ Prime Minister Erdogan

JPMorgan Sued For Crony Justice – Presenting ‘A Decade Of Illegal Conduct By JP Morgan Chase’

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Jamie Dimon cufflinks - The seal reads Seal of the President of the United States and includes the arrow-carrying eagle

– JPMorgan Sued For Crony Justice – Presenting “A Decade of Illegal Conduct by JP Morgan Chase” (ZeroHedge, Feb 10, 2014):

Earlier today, the non-profit organization Better Markets did what so many others have only dreamed of doing – they sued JPMorgan.

Specifically, as they disclose in the fact sheet posted on their website, they are “challenging the historic and unprecedented $13 billion settlement agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and JP Morgan Chase (“Agreement”).  Better Markets alleges in its complaint that the DOJ violated the Constitution and laws of the United States by using a mere contractual agreement to resolve claims of historic importance without subjecting the Agreement to independent judicial review.  In effect, the DOJ acted as investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury, sentencer, and collector, without any check on its authority or actions, even though the amount is the largest in the 237 year history of the United States. Because the DOJ has declared its intention to use the Agreement as a “template” in future similar cases, it is imperative that the DOJ’s unlawful and secretive approach in the settlement process be subjected to judicial review.”

We wish them the best of luck, as in a “crony justice” system as corrupt as this one – perhaps best described, paradoxically enough by the fictional movie The International – where the same DOJ previously implicitly admitted it will not prosecute “systemically important” firms like JPM to the full extent of the law and instead merely lob one after another wrist slap at them to placate the peasantry, any hope for obtaining true justice is impossible.

Read moreJPMorgan Sued For Crony Justice – Presenting ‘A Decade Of Illegal Conduct By JP Morgan Chase’

Barclays’ Busted For Stealing, Selling Confidential Financial Data Of Thousands Of Clients

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Barclays

– Barclays’ Busted For Stealing, Selling Confidential Financial Data Of Thousands Of Clients (ZeroHEdge, Feb 9, 2014):

In recent months, the attention of the public has been consumed by concerns over private data abuse by such public spy agencies as the NSA, as well as what personal financial information may have been intercepted by rogue hacker black hats who in the past two months have been blamed for millions in credit card privacy breaches. However, so far there have been two major loose ends in the story of personal data collection (and abuse): just how web search browsers and cookie-based advertising companies collect everything there is to know about the particular interests and desires of any given individual, and just as importantly, how banks abuse client confidentiality by taking the secret financial data of their clients less than seriously.

Read moreBarclays’ Busted For Stealing, Selling Confidential Financial Data Of Thousands Of Clients

Sniper Attack On California Power Station

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From the article:

The attack was “the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred”

So why was this attack found NOT to be newsworthy last year?

Assault on California Power Station Raises Alarm on Potential for Terrorism

– Assault on California Power Station Raises Alarm on Potential for Terrorism (Wall Street Journal, Feb 4, 2014):

April Sniper Attack Knocked Out Substation, Raises Concern for Country’s Power Grid

SAN JOSE, Calif.—The attack began just before 1 a.m. on April 16 last year, when someone slipped into an underground vault not far from a busy freeway and cut telephone cables.

Within half an hour, snipers opened fire on a nearby electrical substation. Shooting for 19 minutes, they surgically knocked out 17 giant transformers that funnel power to Silicon Valley. A minute before a police car arrived, the shooters disappeared into the night.

To avoid a blackout, electric-grid officials rerouted power around the site and asked power plants in Silicon Valley to produce more electricity. But it took utility workers 27 days to make repairs and bring the substation back to life.

Nobody has been arrested or charged in the attack at PG&E Corp.’s Metcalf transmission substation. It is an incident of which few Americans are aware. But one former federal regulator is calling it a terrorist act that, if it were widely replicated across the country, could take down the U.S. electric grid and black out much of the country.

The attack was “the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred” in the U.S., said Jon Wellinghoff, who was chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the time.

Read moreSniper Attack On California Power Station

Catholic Church ‘Systematically’ Protected Abusive Priests, U.N. Says

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– Catholic Church ‘systematically’ protected abusive priests, U.N. says (LA Times, Feb 5, 2014):

ROME — The Roman Catholic Church has “systematically” protected predator priests, allowing “tens of thousands” of children to be abused, a United Nations committee said Wednesday in a scathing report that cast the first shadow over Pope Francis’ honeymoon period as pontiff.

The panel called on the Vatican to remove all suspects from their posts immediately and to open up its confidential archives in order “to hold abusers accountable.”

Read moreCatholic Church ‘Systematically’ Protected Abusive Priests, U.N. Says

Chaos Computer Club Files Criminal Complaint Against The German Government

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– Chaos Computer Club files criminal complaint against the German Government (Chaos Computer Club, Feb 3, 2014):

On Monday, the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) and the International League for Human Rights (ILMR), have filed a criminal complaint with the Federal Prosecutor General’s office. The complaint is directed against the German federal government, the presidents of the German secret services, namely Bundesnachrichtendienst, Militärischer Abschirmdienst, Bundesamt für Verfassungschutz, and others. We accuse US, British and German secret agents, their supervisors, the German Minister of the Interior as well as the German Chancelor of illegal and prohibited covert intelligence activities, of aiding and abetting of those activities, of violation of the right to privacy and obstruction of justice in office by bearing and cooperating with the electronic surveillance of German citizens by NSA and GCHQ.

After months of press releases about mass surveillance by secret services and offensive attacks on information technology systems, we now have certainty that German and other countries’ secret services have violated the German criminal law. With this criminal complaint, we hope to finally initiate investigations by the Federal Prosecutor General against the German government. The CCC has learned with certainty that the leaders of the secret services and the federal government have aided and abetted the commission of these crimes.

Read moreChaos Computer Club Files Criminal Complaint Against The German Government

A Rash Of Deaths And A Missing Reporter – With Ties To Wall Street Investigations

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– A Rash of Deaths and a Missing Reporter – With Ties to Wall Street Investigations (Wall Street On Parade, Feb 3, 2014):

In a span of four days last week, two current executives and one recently retired top ranking executive of major financial firms were found dead. Both media and police have been quick to label the deaths as likely suicides. Missing from the reports is the salient fact that all three of the financial firms the executives worked for are under investigation for potentially serious financial fraud.

The deaths began on Sunday, January 26. London police reported that William Broeksmit, a top executive at Deutsche Bank who had retired in 2013, had been found hanged in his home in the South Kensington section of London. The day after Broeksmit was pronounced dead, Eric Ben-Artzi, a former risk analyst turned whistleblower at Deutsche Bank, was scheduled to speak at Auburn University in Alabama on his allegations that Deutsche had hid $12 billion in losses during the financial crisis with the knowledge of senior executives. Two other whistleblowers have brought similar charges against Deutsche Bank.

Read moreA Rash Of Deaths And A Missing Reporter – With Ties To Wall Street Investigations

Two Dozen U.S. Generals And Admirals Investigated For Sexual Misconduct

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– Two Dozen Generals and Admirals Investigated for Sexual Misconduct (AllGov, Jan 30, 2014):

If it’s not being criticized for failing to crackdown on sexual assaults, the U.S. military is enduring embarrassing revelations about senior commanders accused of sexual misconduct.

The Washington Post reports numerous generals and admirals have been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior ranging from assaults to having extramarital affairs.

Read moreTwo Dozen U.S. Generals And Admirals Investigated For Sexual Misconduct

Bank Of America Caught Frontrunning Clients

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– Bank Of America Caught Frontrunning Clients (ZeroHedge, Jan 25, 2014):

Every time a TBTF bank releases its 10-Q, we head straight for the section, usually well over 100 pages in, that discloses the bank’s total profitable trading days.

This is what the most recent Bank of America 10-Q said on this topic:

The histogram below is a graphic depiction of trading volatility and illustrates the daily level of trading-related revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2013 compared to the three months ended June 30, 2013 and March 31, 2013. During the three months ended September 30, 2013, positive trading-related revenue was recorded for 97 percent, or 62 trading days, of which 69 percent (44 days) were daily trading gains of over $25 million and the largest loss was $21 million. These results can be compared to the three months ended June 30, 2013, where positive trading-related revenue was recorded for 89 percent, or 57 trading days, of which 67 percent (43 days) were daily trading gains of over $25 million and the largest loss was $54 million. During the three months ended March 31, 2013, positive trading-related revenue was recorded for 100 percent, or 60 trading days, of which 97 percent (58 days) were daily trading gains over $25 million.

Read moreBank Of America Caught Frontrunning Clients

Mexican Citizens Topple Drug Cartels And Are Rewarded With Government Retaliation, … Killing 2 Militia Supporters

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Mexican Citizens Topple Drug Cartels And Are Rewarded With Government Retaliation

– Mexican Citizens Topple Cartels And Are Rewarded With Government Retaliation (Alt-Market, Jan 22, 2014):

There is one rule to citizen defiance that, in my opinion, surpasses all others in strategic importance; and it is a rule that I have tried to drive home for many years. I would call it the “non-participation principle” and would summarize it as follows:

Read moreMexican Citizens Topple Drug Cartels And Are Rewarded With Government Retaliation, … Killing 2 Militia Supporters

Halliburton Manager Gets One Year Probation For Destroying Evidence Of 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster

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BP Deepwater Horizon - Gulf of Mexico - Disaster

– Halliburton Manager Gets One Year Probation For Destroying Evidence Of 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster (Business Insider, Jan 22, 2014):

A former Halliburton manager was sentenced to one year of probation on Tuesday for destroying evidence in the aftermath of BP’s fatal 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout, which claimed 11 lives.

Anthony Badalamenti, former cementing technology director for Halliburton, which was BP’s cement contractor on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, had faced a maximum of one year in prison. The 62-year-old pleaded guilty in October to one count of destruction of evidence.

Read moreHalliburton Manager Gets One Year Probation For Destroying Evidence Of 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Syrian regime document trove shows evidence of ‘industrial scale’ killing of detainees (Guardian)

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FYI.

– Syrian regime document trove shows evidence of ‘industrial scale’ killing of detainees (Guardian, Jan 20, 2014):

Senior war crimes prosecutors say photographs and documents provide ‘clear evidence’ of systematic killing of 11,000 detainees

Files Show Chicago Archdiocese Hid Decades Of Child Sex Abuse

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This …

“In other instances, priests were promoted, despite knowledge of abuse charges.”

… is missing in the ‘updated’ version of the article down below.

– Files Show Chicago Archdiocese Hid Decades Of Child Sex Abuse (CBS News, Jan 21, 2014):

CHICAGO (CBS/AP) – After a 13-year-old boy reported in 1979 that a priest raped and threatened him at gunpoint to keep quiet, the Archdiocese of Chicago assured the boy’s parents that, although the cleric avoided prosecution, he would receive treatment and have no further contact with minors.

But the Rev. William Cloutier, who already had been accused of molesting other children, was returned to ministry a year later and went on to abuse again before he resigned in 1993, two years after the boy’s parents filed a lawsuit.

Read moreFiles Show Chicago Archdiocese Hid Decades Of Child Sex Abuse

Jimmy Savile Abused Up To 1,000 Victims On BBC Premises (The Guardian)

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In other news:

– BBC staff knew of Savile sexual abuses: Inquiry (PressTV, Jan 19, 2014)

Related info:

– BBC Paid For Pedophile Jimmy Savile’s Cash Gifts To Children

– So Much For BBC Transparency: 90 Pages Of BBC’s Jimmy Savile Report Blacked Out

More info down below.

Jimmy-Savile-1

– Revealed: how Jimmy Savile abused up to 1,000 victims on BBC premises (The Guardian, Jan 18, 2014):

Executives turned a blind eye to attacks, according to former judge’s ‘shocking’ finding

The BBC will be plunged into a major crisis with the publication of a damning review, expected next month, that will reveal its staff turned a blind eye to the rape and sexual assault of up to 1,000 girls and boys by Jimmy Savile in the corporation’s changing rooms and studios.

Dame Janet Smith, a former court of appeal judge, who previously led the inquiry into the murders by Dr Harold Shipman, will say in her report that the true number of victims of Savile’s sexual proclivities may never be known but that his behaviour had been recognised by BBC executives who took no action.

Smith’s investigations, which followed the Pollard inquiry into why the BBC shelved a Newsnight programme about Savile, will send shockwaves through the corporation.

Read moreJimmy Savile Abused Up To 1,000 Victims On BBC Premises (The Guardian)

Mexican Vigilantes Battle Drug Cartel For Control Of A City, Disarm Police (Must-See Photos)

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– Insane Photos Show Mexican Vigilantes Battling A Drug Cartel For Control Of A City (Business Insider, Jan 11, 2014):

Mexico has long suffered blistering violence and crime at the hands of its homegrown drug cartels.

Though the Mexican government has waged war on the cartels, the effort has struggled to go anywhere. More than 90,000 people have died in the ongoing conflict.

Fed up with a corrupt police force that is often in bed with the cartels and a military that has to this point been ineffective, some Mexicans have taken it upon themselves to fight the cartels and protect their families — with an incredible conflict happening this week in the city of Paracuaro.

Below are some pictures from what’s happening south of the border:

Over the last year, vigilante groups, known as fuerzas autodefensas have sprung up all over Mexico, particularly in the southwestern state of Michoacan, an area plagued by the Knights Templar cartel.

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Mexican Vigilantes Battling A Drug Cartel For Control Of A City
On Monday, hundreds of vigilantes stormed Paracuaro, Michoacan, where the Knights Templar had set up their headquarters, in order to seize the town back from the cartel. Below is the entrance, where vigilantes erected a checkpoint.
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