DOJ: FinCEN, Buzzfeed, Mike Cernovich & Voting Rights

This is about Buzzfeed, Mike Cernovich and the propaganda they spew.

Senior FinCen Employee Arrested And Charged With Unlawfully Disclosing SARs

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards Illegally Photographed SARs and Other Sensitive Government Information and Transmitted Them To Reporter In Connection With Approximately 12 News Articles Over 1-Year Period

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Eric M. Thorson, Inspector General for the Department of Treasury, announced today the filing of a criminal complaint charging NATALIE MAYFLOWER SOURS EDWARDS, a/k/a “Natalie Sours,” a/k/a “Natalie May Edwards,” a/k/a “May Edwards,” who is a Senior Advisor at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), with unlawfully disclosing Suspicious Activity Reports (“SARs”) and conspiracy to do the same.  EDWARDS was arrested yesterday and will be presented this afternoon in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a senior-level FinCEN employee, allegedly betrayed her position of trust by repeatedly disclosing highly sensitive information contained in Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to an individual not authorized to receive them.  SARs, which are filed confidentially by banks and other financial institutions to alert law enforcement to potentially illegal transactions, are not public documents, and it is an independent federal crime to disclose them outside of one’s official duties.  We hope today’s charges remind those in positions of trust within government agencies that the unlawful sharing of sensitive documents will not be tolerated and will be met with swift justice by this Office.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said:  “In her position, Edwards was entrusted with sensitive government information.  As we allege here today, Edwards violated that trust when she made several unauthorized disclosures to the media.  Today's action demonstrates that those who fail to protect the integrity of government information will be rightfully held accountable for their behavior.”

Treasury Department Inspector General Eric Thorson said:  “Our criminal investigators have been at the center of this investigation as a core part of our responsibility to detect and prevent threats to the integrity and efficiency of Treasury programs and operations.  We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners and with FinCEN and other Treasury officials, and appreciate their cooperation and support.”

Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker said:  “Protecting sensitive information is one of our most critical responsibilities, and it is a role that we take very seriously.  We have fully and proactively supported Treasury’s Office of Inspector General’s investigation of leaks of protected information, and thank them for their hard work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to hold accountable those responsible.”

According to the Complaint filed today in Manhattan federal court:

The mission of FinCEN is to “safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering and promote national security through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities.”[2]  Among other things, FinCEN manages the collection and maintenance of SARs regarding potentially suspicious financial transactions, which, under the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. financial institutions and other parties are required by law to generate and deliver to FinCEN.  Under the BSA and its implementing regulations, willful disclosure of a SAR or its contents by government employees or agents except as necessary to fulfill official duties is a felony.

Beginning in approximately October 2017, and lasting until the present, EDWARDS unlawfully disclosed numerous SARs to a reporter (“Reporter-1”), the substance of which were published over the course of approximately 12 articles by a news organization for which Reporter-1 wrote (“News Organization-1”).  The illegally disclosed SARs pertained to, among other things, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, the Russian Embassy, Mariia Butina, and Prevezon Alexander.  EDWARDS had access to each of the pertinent SARs and saved them – along with thousands of other files containing sensitive government information – to a flash drive provided to her by FinCEN.  She transmitted the SARs to Reporter-1 by means that included taking photographs of them and texting the photographs to Reporter-1 over an encrypted application.  In addition to disseminating SARs to Reporter-1, EDWARDS sent Reporter-1 internal FinCEN emails appearing to relate to SARs or other information protected by the BSA, and FinCEN non-public memoranda, including Investigative Memos and Intelligence Assessments published by the FinCEN Intelligence Division, which contained confidential personal, business, and/or security threat assessments. 

At the time of EDWARDS’s arrest, she was in possession of a flash drive appearing to be the flash drive on which she saved the unlawfully disclosed SARs, and a cellphone containing numerous communications over an encrypted application in which she transmitted SARs and other sensitive government information to Reporter-1.

*                      *                      *

EDWARDS, 40, of Quinton, Virginia, is charged with one count of unauthorized disclosures of suspicious activity reports and one count of conspiracy to make unauthorized disclosures of suspicious activity reports, both of which carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Treasury Department, and the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General.  He also thanked the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia for its assistance with the investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly J. Ravener and Daniel C. Richenthal are in charge of the prosecution.

Natalie Edwards Complaint o... by on Scribd

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DOJ: Former Senior Fincen Employee Pleads Guilty To Conspiring To Unlawfully Disclose Suspicious Activity Reports

For the history of the case, click here.

And here.

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards Illegally Repeatedly Transmitted SARs and Other Sensitive Government Information To A Reporter Resulting In Approximately 12 News Articles Over 1-Year Period

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that NATALIE MAYFLOWER SOURS EDWARDS, a/k/a “Natalie Sours,” a/k/a “Natalie May Edwards,” a/k/a “May Edwards,” a former senior adviser at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), pled guilty today to conspiring to unlawfully disclose Suspicious Activity Reports (“SARs”).  EDWARDS pled guilty before United States District Judge Gregory H. Woods.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As she has now admitted, Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a former senior-level FinCEN employee, abused her position of trust by agreeing to repeatedly disclose highly sensitive information contained in Suspicious Activity Reports.  Maintaining the confidentiality of SARs, which are filed by banks and other financial institutions to alert law enforcement to potentially illegal transactions, is essential to permit them to serve their statutory function, and the defendant’s conduct violated the integrity of that critical system and the law.”

According to the allegations contained in the Complaint, Information, publicly available information, court filings, and statements made during the plea proceeding:

The mission of FinCEN is to “safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering and promote national security through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities.”[1]  Among other things, FinCEN manages the collection and maintenance of SARs regarding potentially suspicious financial transactions, which, under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”), U.S. financial institutions and other parties are required by law to generate and deliver to FinCEN.  Under the BSA and its implementing regulations, willful disclosure of a SAR or its contents by government employees or agents is a felony unless necessary to fulfill official duties.

Beginning in approximately October 2017, and lasting until her arrest in October 2018, EDWARDS agreed to and did unlawfully disclose numerous SARs to a reporter (“Reporter-1”), the substance of which were published over the course of approximately 12 articles by a news organization for which Reporter-1 worked (“News Organization-1”).  The illegally disclosed SARs pertained to, among other things, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, the Russian Embassy, Mariia Butina, and Prevezon Alexander.  EDWARDS had access to each of the pertinent SARs and saved them – along with thousands of other files containing sensitive government information – to a flash drive provided to her by FinCEN.  She transmitted the SARs to Reporter-1 by means that included taking photographs or images of them and texting the photographs or images to Reporter-1 over an encrypted application.  In addition to disseminating SARs to Reporter-1, EDWARDS sent or described to Reporter-1 internal FinCEN emails or correspondence appearing to relate to SARs or other information protected by the BSA, and FinCEN nonpublic memoranda, including Investigative Memos and Intelligence Assessments published by the FinCEN Intelligence Division, which contained confidential personal information, business information, and/or security threat assessments.

At the time of EDWARDS’s arrest, she was in possession of a flash drive on which she saved the unlawfully disclosed SARs, and a cellphone containing numerous communications over an encrypted application in which she transmitted SARs and other sensitive government information to Reporter-1.

*                *                *

EDWARDS, 41, of Quinton, Virginia, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to make unauthorized disclosures of SARs, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  EDWARDS is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Woods on Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 4:00 p.m.  The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as the sentence of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly J. Ravener, Daniel C. Richenthal, and Maurene R. Comey are in charge of the prosecution.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

FinCEN: The Original Detroit GTO Model Of Corporate Shape Shifting Races For LLC Property Titles

I bet the Corporate Shape Shifters over there at Title Source/Amrock/Quicken Loans/Bedrock/Jack Entertainment whatever the TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY flavor of the week it is for Dan Gilbert is most certainly glad that Detroit was not identified in these new Geographic Targeting Orders (GTO), but, then again, Detroit was the original model.

The Original Detroit GTO model of corporate shape shifting

Title Source Has Been Anointed As A $706 Million Corporate Shape Shifter

GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING ORDER The Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) hereby issues a Geographic Targeting Order (“Order”) requiring TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY to collect and report information about the persons involved in certain residential real estate transactions, as further described in this Order.

Now, this is how you target populations.

Karma.

FinCEN Reissues Real Estate Geographic Targeting Orders and Expands Coverage to 12 Metropolitan Areas

Purchase Threshold Lowered to $300,000 and Virtual Currencies Included

WASHINGTON—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today announced the issuance of revised Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) that require U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in all-cash purchases of residential real estate. The purchase amount threshold, which previously varied by city, is now set at $300,000 for each covered metropolitan area. FinCEN is also requiring that covered purchases using virtual currencies be reported.

Previous GTOs provided valuable data on the purchase of residential real estate by persons implicated, or allegedly involved, in various illicit enterprises including foreign corruption, organized crime, fraud, narcotics trafficking, and other violations. Reissuing the GTOs will further assist in tracking illicit funds and other criminal or illicit activity, as well as inform FinCEN’s future regulatory efforts in this sector.

Today’s GTOs cover certain counties within the following major U.S. metropolitan areas: Boston; Chicago; Dallas-Fort Worth; Honolulu; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; New York City; San Antonio; San Diego; San Francisco; and Seattle.

FinCEN appreciates the continued assistance and cooperation of the title insurance companies and the American Land Title Association in protecting the real estate markets from abuse by illicit actors.

Any questions about the Orders should be directed to the FinCEN Resource Center at FRC@FinCEN.gov 

Frequently asked questions regarding these GTOs are available here.

U.S. Treasury FinCEN Real Estate Geographic Targeting Order - 11-15-2018 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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DOJ: FinCen & INTERPOL Are Being Purged Of Leakers Covering Up The Stealin' Of Children, Land & Votes

If the U.S. Department of Justice is proceeding with criminal referrals from conjugal collaborations of the U.S. Treasury OIG, who has tied up any loose ends, and the FBI, that means we have ourselves another one of those transposable models!

That is correct, law enforcement, which includes our Inspector Generals, are coming together to finally, go after stealin'.

In this particular situation, we have someone, with an oddly long name, who was taking pics of suspicious banking transactions (really it is money laundering but you cannot call it money laundering until there is a charge) and probably thought she was slick sending it out to reporters in a flash drive her handler gave to her.

I bet she did it as one of those patriot thangs.

But, then, I stepped back and took another look at this to see that, perhaps, this "Leaker With The Long Name", may have been set up as the fall gal, to distract the public attention away from the fact that she more than likely has a handler and there was more exfiltration, or leaking, whatever your preference of espionage, like making SARs 'disappear' the way the "other" Michael Cohen over there at Och-Ziff was caught all up in.

I wonder what encrypted app was used to intercept her pics and communications to the reporter?

Twitter?

Secret Finding: 60 Russian Payments "To Finance Election Campaign Of 2016"

Which one is Reporter 1?

I am going with Jason Leopold, but you can leave your comments, below.

Jason Leopold

BuzzFeed News Reporter

Anthony Cormier

BuzzFeed News Reporter

Jessica Garrison

BuzzFeed News Reporter

Here Is The Money Trail From The Russian "Agent" And Her Republican Partner

GOP Operative Made "Suspicious" Cash Withdrawals During Pursuit Of Clinton Emails

Here's Why The FBI And Mueller Are Investigating "Suspicious" Transactions By Russian Diplomats

We have us a pool of suspects.

FUN FACT! You can encrypt a data in a pic?

I wonder if her handler was playing Call of Duty or PubG when it went down, which is a great way of sending encrypted data, you know.

The charges seemed a bit lenient considering we are in the midst of a major house cleaning investigation with INTERPOL, which is why I believe she is going to absolve herself by singing.

Singing is good for the soul when you realize you participated in the stealin' of children, land and votes.

Much love to the Public Corruption Units across the country!

Hey, has anyone checked on Michael Cernovich, lately?

Senior FinCen Employee Arrested And Charged With Unlawfully Disclosing SARs

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards Illegally Photographed SARs and Other Sensitive Government Information and Transmitted Them To Reporter In Connection With Approximately 12 News Articles Over 1-Year Period

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Eric M. Thorson, Inspector General for the Department of Treasury, announced today the filing of a criminal complaint charging NATALIE MAYFLOWER SOURS EDWARDS, a/k/a “Natalie Sours,” a/k/a “Natalie May Edwards,” a/k/a “May Edwards,” who is a Senior Advisor at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), with unlawfully disclosing Suspicious Activity Reports (“SARs”) and conspiracy to do the same.  EDWARDS was arrested yesterday and will be presented this afternoon in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a senior-level FinCEN employee, allegedly betrayed her position of trust by repeatedly disclosing highly sensitive information contained in Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to an individual not authorized to receive them.  SARs, which are filed confidentially by banks and other financial institutions to alert law enforcement to potentially illegal transactions, are not public documents, and it is an independent federal crime to disclose them outside of one’s official duties.  We hope today’s charges remind those in positions of trust within government agencies that the unlawful sharing of sensitive documents will not be tolerated and will be met with swift justice by this Office.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said:  “In her position, Edwards was entrusted with sensitive government information.  As we allege here today, Edwards violated that trust when she made several unauthorized disclosures to the media.  Today's action demonstrates that those who fail to protect the integrity of government information will be rightfully held accountable for their behavior.”

Treasury Department Inspector General Eric Thorson said:  “Our criminal investigators have been at the center of this investigation as a core part of our responsibility to detect and prevent threats to the integrity and efficiency of Treasury programs and operations.  We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners and with FinCEN and other Treasury officials, and appreciate their cooperation and support.”

Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker said:  “Protecting sensitive information is one of our most critical responsibilities, and it is a role that we take very seriously.  We have fully and proactively supported Treasury’s Office of Inspector General’s investigation of leaks of protected information, and thank them for their hard work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to hold accountable those responsible.”

According to the Complaint[1] filed today in Manhattan federal court:

The mission of FinCEN is to “safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering and promote national security through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities.”[2]  Among other things, FinCEN manages the collection and maintenance of SARs regarding potentially suspicious financial transactions, which, under the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. financial institutions and other parties are required by law to generate and deliver to FinCEN.  Under the BSA and its implementing regulations, willful disclosure of a SAR or its contents by government employees or agents except as necessary to fulfill official duties is a felony.

Beginning in approximately October 2017, and lasting until the present, EDWARDS unlawfully disclosed numerous SARs to a reporter (“Reporter-1”), the substance of which were published over the course of approximately 12 articles by a news organization for which Reporter-1 wrote (“News Organization-1”).  The illegally disclosed SARs pertained to, among other things, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, the Russian Embassy, Mariia Butina, and Prevezon Alexander.  EDWARDS had access to each of the pertinent SARs and saved them – along with thousands of other files containing sensitive government information – to a flash drive provided to her by FinCEN.  She transmitted the SARs to Reporter-1 by means that included taking photographs of them and texting the photographs to Reporter-1 over an encrypted application.  In addition to disseminating SARs to Reporter-1, EDWARDS sent Reporter-1 internal FinCEN emails appearing to relate to SARs or other information protected by the BSA, and FinCEN non-public memoranda, including Investigative Memos and Intelligence Assessments published by the FinCEN Intelligence Division, which contained confidential personal, business, and/or security threat assessments. 

At the time of EDWARDS’s arrest, she was in possession of a flash drive appearing to be the flash drive on which she saved the unlawfully disclosed SARs, and a cellphone containing numerous communications over an encrypted application in which she transmitted SARs and other sensitive government information to Reporter-1.

*                      *                      *

EDWARDS, 40, of Quinton, Virginia, is charged with one count of unauthorized disclosures of suspicious activity reports and one count of conspiracy to make unauthorized disclosures of suspicious activity reports, both of which carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Treasury Department, and the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General.  He also thanked the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia for its assistance with the investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly J. Ravener and Daniel C. Richenthal are in charge of the prosecution.

---

[1] The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and EDWARDS is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[2] www.fincen.gov/about/mission

Natalie Edwards Complaint on FinCEN SAR disclosures by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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Cocktails & Popcorn: FinCEN & "Attorney-Client Privilege"

Recently, on Cocktails & Popcorn, U.S. House Judiciary has taken a "financial" interest in the Michael Cohen "Attorney-Client Privilege" situation by entering documents in question to the missing SARs.

Little does anyone know, unless you follow me, that the U.S. Treasury, through its financial intelligence division, FinCEN, has been in preparation to address this "Attorney-Client Privilege" because they have access to all the records.

All the records...and emails....and phone calls.

Cohen Leaker Steps Forward: "To Say That I Am Terrified Right Now Would Be An Understatement"

Journalist Ronin Farrow is back with another bombshell report - this time from the person who leaked Michael Cohen's banking records, detailing "pay for play" type payments from the likes of Novartis and AT&T.

In short: The leaker, law enforcement official, became alarmed after two "suspicious-activity reports" (SARs) filed by Cohen's bank, First Republic, went missing from a the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) that he leaked the rest.

And instead of going to the Treasury's Inspector General, or special counsel Robert Mueller, the leaker chose porn star lawyer Michael Avenatti, who published the remaining SARs on Cohen (along with two other men named "Michael Cohen" wrongly included in the disclosure). 

The official, who has spent a career in law enforcement, told me, “I have never seen something pulled off the system. . . . That system is a safeguard for the bank. It’s a stockpile of information. When something’s not there that should be, I immediately became concerned.” The official added, “That’s why I came forward.”

The report also refers to two previous suspicious-activity reports, or sars, that the bank had filed, which documented even larger flows of questionable money into Cohen’s account. Those two reports detail more than three million dollars in additional transactions—triple the amount in the report released last week. -New Yorker

Farrow reports that "seven former government officials and other experts familiar with the Treasury Department’s FINCEN database expressed varying levels of concern about the missing reports," with some speculating that FINCEN may have deliberately restricted access to the reports due to the sensitivity of their content - a move officials say would be "nearly unprecedented."

As someone who worked at Treasury on anti-money laundering activities, my reaction to this @RonanFarrow story is “holy s**t.” https://t.co/JnG5Aaqw5m

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) May 16, 2018

That said, "A record-retention policy on FINCEN's Web site notes that false documents or those “deemed highly sensitive” and “requiring strict limitations on access” may be transferred out of its master file," according to Farrow.

Nevertheless, a former prosecutor who spent years working with the fincen database said that she knew of no mechanism for restricting access to sars. She speculated that fincen may have taken the extraordinary step of restricting access “because of the highly sensitive nature of a potential investigation. It may be that someone reached out to fincen to ask to limit disclosure of certain sars related to an investigation, whether it was the special counsel or the Southern District of New York.”

Banks are legally required to file SARs with the Treasury in order to note activity resembling money laundering, fraud or other criminal conduct. Once filed, the reports are routed to a permanent database maintained by FINCEN - searchable by "tens of thousands of law-enforcement and other federal government personnel."

Of note, they are not proof of criminal activity, however the information they contain can be used in law-enforcement proceedings.

No need to fear that the missing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) identified by Ronan Farrow might be destroyed evidence. SARs aren’t evidence, a former federal prosecutor tells me. Bank records are, and Mueller has ‘em.
https://t.co/4OQcjBRNyV

— Jonathan Alter (@jonathanalter) May 17, 2018

That said, "A record-retention policy on FINCEN's Web site notes that false documents or those “deemed highly sensitive” and “requiring strict limitations on access” may be transferred out of its master file," according to Farrow.

Nevertheless, a former prosecutor who spent years working with the fincen database said that she knew of no mechanism for restricting access to sars. She speculated that fincen may have taken the extraordinary step of restricting access “because of the highly sensitive nature of a potential investigation. It may be that someone reached out to fincen to ask to limit disclosure of certain sars related to an investigation, whether it was the special counsel or the Southern District of New York.”

Banks are legally required to file SARs with the Treasury in order to note activity resembling money laundering, fraud or other criminal conduct. Once filed, the reports are routed to a permanent database maintained by FINCEN - searchable by "tens of thousands of law-enforcement and other federal government personnel." 

Of note, they are not proof of criminal activity, however the information they contain can be used in law-enforcement proceedings. 

No need to fear that the missing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) identified by Ronan Farrow might be destroyed evidence. SARs aren’t evidence, a former federal prosecutor tells me. Bank records are, and Mueller has ‘em.
https://t.co/4OQcjBRNyV

— Jonathan Alter (@jonathanalter) May 17, 2018

Cohen opened up the account at First Republic for his company, Essential Consultants, in October 2016 - right before the US election, in order to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford), to keep quiet about an alleged affair she had with President Trump. 

First Republic’s compliance officers later began flagging Cohen’s transactions in the account as possible signs of money laundering. Among other potential violations, the documents cite “suspicion concerning the source of funds,” “suspicious EFT/ wire transfers,” “suspicious use of multiple accounts,” and “transaction with no apparent economic, business, or lawful purpose.” (A spokesperson for First Republic Bank declined to comment.)

By January of 2018, First Republic filed three suspicious-activity reports on Cohen's account - the most recent of which covers the period between September 2017 and January 2018, and included activity totaling nearly one million dollars. It also refers to the two missing reports that made the leaker suspicious, which cover periods prior to September 2017. 

Moreover, Cohen's transfer of the money into his personal accounts caused Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to file their own SAR on Cohen!

A substantial portion of this money seems to have ended up in Cohen’s personal accounts. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney filed a separate sar showing that, during that same three-month period, Cohen set up two accounts with the firm, into which he deposited three checks from his Essential Consultants account, two in the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and one in the amount of five hundred and five thousand dollars. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney marked those transactions, which added up to more than a million dollars, as possible signs of “bribery or gratuity” and “suspicious use of third-party transactors (straw-man).”

Cohen also apparently lied to First Republic - repeatedly telling them that Essential Consultants would be used for leveraging "his experience in real estate to consult on commercial and residential" deals - for which he said that the transactions would be "modest." The bank's compliance officers noted "a significant portion of the target account deposits continue to originate from entities that have no apparent connection to real estate or apparent need to engage Cohen as a real estate consultant."

David Murray, a former Treasury official focussed on illicit finance, told me, “There are a ton of red flags here. The pattern of activity has indicators that are inherently suspicious, and the volume and source of funds do not match the account profile that was built when the account was opened.”

Pay for play?

Last week's report by Avenatti details a payment from Cohen's First Republic account to Demeter Direct, Inc. - a Korean food company on its face, however "a Web site, since taken down, suggested that it was a global consulting firm." 

After the press began scrutinizing Cohen’s accounts, a man listed as Demeter Direct’s C.E.O., Mark Ko, told CNN that he served as an intermediary and translator in Cohen’s dealings with an aviation firm, majority-owned by South Korea’s government, called Korea Aerospace Industries. 

First Republic's SAR on the transaction noted that the aerospace company paid Cohen $150,000 in November, 2017, the same month President Trump visited South Korea, while Korea Aerospace Industries was lobbying for a multibillion-dollar US Air Force contract. 

The Korean defense company, partnered with Lockheed Martin to build the T-50A trainer jet in hopes of securing a U.S. Air Force contract worth roughly $16 billion.

Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's top weapons supplier, entered the T-50A into the bidding contest. The plane is a version of KAI's T-50, which is used in South Korea as well as several other U.S. partner nations.

Lockheed told CNBC in a statement, "We had no knowledge of a business relationship between Korea Aerospace Industries and Mr. Cohen, and are not aware of any connection that it may have to the U.S. Air Force Advanced Pilot Training competition."

The companies are widely expected to win the lucrative contract for the delivery of 350 aircraft. -CNBC

Cohen also used his Essential Consultants account to pay personal expenses, such as his Amex bill, AT&T and Mercedes Benz bills, along with initiation fees and dues to the "Core Club," a place for socialites to rub elbows described once by the Times as a "portal to power." Cohen also cut himself several personal checks from his business account of around $100,000, on top of the million he deposited into his Smith Barney accounts. 

Russia?

One payment which may be of particular interest to Robert Mueller (who has all of Cohen's records now) are payments received by a company closely tied to a Russian oligarch close to Putin. 

In many cases, the suspicious-activity reports highlight activity of potential interest to ongoing investigations, including that of the special counsel, Robert Mueller. Bank compliance officers noted eight payments from a company called Columbus Nova to Cohen’s account between January and August of 2017, totalling five hundred thousand dollars. The investigators wrote that Columbus Nova’s biggest client is a company controlled by Viktor Vekselberg, whom they described as “reputed to be a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.” The report also points out that Andrew Intrater, Vekselberg’s relative and the C.E.O. of Columbus Nova, donated more than three hundred thousand dollars to Trump-related causes.

The report flagged the activity as suspicious “because the CEO’s company transferred substantial funds to the personal attorney of Trump at the same time the CEO reportedly donated substantial funds to Trump’s inauguration fund and joint fundraising committee for Trump’s reelection and the Republican National Committee.”

More banks, more SARs

Several other banks flagged Cohen for suspicious transactions - some of which piece together the reasons for the transactions from news reports, "citing articles from publications including the Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair about Trump, Russia, and secret election-season payments." These include the Stormy Daniels payment.

The quiet rebellion of the news junky compliance officers. https://t.co/yrcRqryhl2 pic.twitter.com/EHwxc1KbUq

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) May 16, 2018

Another, filed by City National Bank, concerns Elliott Broidy - the former deputy finance chairman for the RNC, who Cohen arranged a $1.6 million payoff to a former Playboy model in late 2017. The woman says Broidy impregnated her, then forced her to get an abortion as part of the deal. 

The report notes, “Broidy also owns a private security company, Circinus, which provides services to the U.S. and other governments. The company has hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with the U.A.E.” Broidy has said that Cohen and another lawyer, Keith Davidson, worked out a deal in which Broidy would pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model he had impregnated. Broidy appears to have paid both lawyers for arranging the deal. The City National report shows that Broidy funnelled the payments through Real Estate Attorneys’ Group, a legal corporation. Broidy seems to have paid Davidson two hundred thousand dollars, and to have sent three payments, of $62,500 each, to Cohen—one to the Essential Consultants account and two to the account of Michael D. Cohen and Associates.

A rep for Broidy said that the description of the payments was "not correct," adding that "Mr. Broidy is not going to detail his payments for legal services to Mr. Cohen." 

According to FINCEN, disclosing a SAR is a federal offense which carries harsh penalties including fines of up to $250,000 and five years in prison. The official who leaked to Avenatti says he was aware of the risks, but feared that the missing SARs might be suppressed. 

“We’ve accepted this as normal, and this is not normal,” the official said. “Things that stand out as abnormal, like documents being removed from a system, are of grave concern to me.” 

When it comes to the potential legal consequences of leaking, the official said “To say that I am terrified right now would be an understatement.”

“This is a terrifying time to be an American, to be in this situation, and to watch all of this unfold.”

To this some would counter: why did he put himself in this position, and why - given the seriousness of the official's concerns - did he leak to a porn star's lawyer instead of going straight to Mueller?

As forecast, Avenatti obtained his information through an illegal, CRIMINAL LEAK by someone now identified as a "law enforcement official." Given this source both knew about bank transactions and had access to a government database, this is highly likely either #SDNY or #Mueller. https://t.co/cuReeYc2qn

— Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) May 16, 2018

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FBI & NYPD: Clinton Foundation Probed for Money Laundering, Financial Transactions with Islamic Terror Groups

UPDATE: It seems Sorcha Faal has used me as a citation source.

The following is a publication of True Pundit, not me.

What I do is capture everything, preserve it, and add it to my bucket of crap I like to scrape off the internet, or what many will understand as propaganda.

Sorcha Fall sucks because it was mean to my Sweetie.

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: How To Spot Poorly Constructed Propaganda

There are cyber rumors that Sorcha is David Brook, who sucks, too, but hey, what do I know?

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=120195

I know I feel better now that I have clarified my position on Sorcha Faal using my work, improperly, as a source of citation.

I even have a copyright they violated because they used my work to make money and give legitimacy to its propaganda.

This is about child welfare, and not once, has anyone, but me, has said one word about it.

This looks like a pathetic effort to make me look bad.

Since you have found yourself here, enjoy going through my database, for I have dedicated my entire blog for justice to be served, though the heavens shall fall.

#32819#

~END~

I am just going to leave this right here for now.

Get ready.

Money launderers who bragged on a secret federal wire tap that they could employ Clinton Foundation connections to funnel and cleanse millions in illicit cash have sparked a newly-minted FBI investigation into the embattled charity run by Hillary Clinton and her family, federal law enforcement officials confirm.

The money laundering allegations being probed by the FBI have been buoyed by recent revelations and evidence discovered by the NYPD from a laptop confiscated from Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin’s Manhattan residence. According to NYPD, several of the emails recovered on the hard drive disclosed sensitive financial details of the Clintons and their charity. That evidence is now in the hands of the FBI too, whose New York field office has opened a parallel Clinton Foundation investigation.

Federal law enforcement sources said the Los Angeles-based money launderers, who are part of a separate federal investigation, discussed previously using Clinton Foundation personnel to domesticate foreign funds that could not be legally brought into the United States through traditional bank wires and deposits.

NYPD sources said Weiner’s email treasure trove contained correspondences regarding a company linked to President Bill Clinton and at least one offshore company, a South American affiliate of the Clinton Foundation. The emails also contained offshore financial correspondences, the source said.

Federal agents said one U.S.-based company is owned by Bill Clinton and according to linked banking intelligence discovered in emails, that entity disbursed millions of dollars via wire transfers through global banks to additional accounts controlled by the Clinton family and its charity. NYPD intelligence sources versed in anti-money laundering, said the emails and other items obtained from Weiner’s laptop paint a portrait of a complex corporate umbrella strategically formulated to seemingly operate and avoid law-enforcement detection.

“There’s sophistication in how this works and distributes cash to other accounts,” a federal intelligence source said. “Do we think this involves gun-running or drug-dealing criminals? Not intentionally, but the infrastructure is set up almost identically. Proceeds and income are being hidden the same way.”

Has the Clinton Foundation and/or affiliates underwritten or profited from terror groups? It is distinctly possible it has conducted business with terror-backed financial concerns, federal agents said based on a cache of suspicious financial activity reports filed by institutions with the U.S. Treasury which flagged transactions with known terror-linked cartels, including Islamic factions.

While the sophistication of the financial structuring and money movement may seem familiar to law enforcement, this case is anything but a normal investigation, notwithstanding its targets include a former U.S. president and secretary of state. Normal joint operating protocols between the FBI and Justice Department have been abandoned. FBI agents in the Los Angeles field office, where the money laundering probe launched have been continuously hassled by Justice Department naysayers who want the investigation spiked. Likewise, Justice Department officials have instructed FBI agents in New York City to stand down and abandon the inquiry. However, the Bureau has refused to buckle, especially after receiving corroborating evidence from the NYPD, FBI officials said.

Is the Clinton Foundation federal probe the work of FBI agents gone rogue? No. The FBI agents, with approval from headquarters in Washington D.C., have been sanctioned to continue the investigation, ignoring directives from Attorney General Loretta Lynch and her underlings, including Leslie Caldwell, Lynch’s point running the Justice Department’s criminal division.

Neither Lynch nor Caldwell were available for comment.

The FBI’s probe of the Clinton Foundation is actually a compartmentalized investigation. Field offices in Los Angeles and New York are spearheading the case but other offices are involved and contributing, sources said.

According to federal sources, transactions linked to Clinton corporate holdings have raised several regulatory eyebrows even beyond of the Justice Department, specifically in the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that reports to the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. FinCEN’s mission is to combat and pinpoint money laundering for personal profit or underwriting terrorism through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities, namely banks and investment houses.

According to federal sources, FinCEN is warehousing numerous Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) forwarded to Treasury from financial institutions for transactions from Clinton-owned entities, both in the United States and globally, all triggered by anti-money laundering safeguards. These reports are confidential but federal agents are using these filings as key pieces to the Clinton Foundation financial puzzle.

According to details gleaned from FinCEN, federal agents acknowledge the Clinton Foundation operates a menagerie of subsidiaries and corporate structures beyond the parent charity. According to law enforcement sources, the FinCEN revelations coupled with the emails recovered by the NYPD detail a complex myriad of shell corporations linked to the Clintons and their charity. FBI sources describe these financial entanglements as vast and global. And many defy normal operating procedures of legitimate charities, officials said.

Has the Clinton Foundation underwritten or profited from linked terror groups per the intelligence warehoused in FinCEN’s vast Treasury database? It is distinctly possible the Clinton Foundation has conducted business — knowingly or not — with terror-backed financial concerns or groups, federal agents said, especially because these are the exact suspicious transactions the U.S. Treasury mandates compliance and security officials in U.S. financial institutions to report to FinCEN under threat of hefty fines and imprisonment.

Triggered by such anti-money laundering controls, federal investigators, for example, said they have examined a Clinton-affiliated offshore entity that essentially is a multi-million dollar private for-profit equity firm operated like an unsanctioned U.S. hedge fund outside the regulatory reach of the Securities and Exchange Commission. That for-profit business however, is controlled by New York-based Clinton Foundation, a not-for-profit registered charity. Also, while the profits of the offshore company are taxable in its foreign domicile, the parent company — the Clinton Foundation — is exempt from the same annual taxes in the United States.

Likewise, because the affiliate of the Clinton Foundation operates as a private offshore company, no one — including regulators in the United States — is privy to its clients, its investments or whether it perhaps served as a front company to secretly commission pay-for-play political schemes and favors during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.

The challenge for the investigators? The Clinton Foundation and family have dozens of such affiliates and companies, an intricate corporate tapestry confusing to outsiders and intentionally complex by design.That’s why FBI agents in more than five separate field offices are working this case, federal sources said.

http://truepundit.com/fbi-nypd-clinton-foundation-probed-for-global-money-laundering-financial-transactions-with-islamic-terror-groups/

One cannot sell money and make a profit unless historically excluded populations are included. 

Hey Pretty Preet, can a gal get a "non-spoilage" request of docs?

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©