Tales Of The New Crown: Will Valerie Caproni Heed Her Own Message On Public Corruption Sent To Sheldon Silver?

Judge Valerie Caproni sent a powerful message to New York office holders on public corruption, but, will she heed her own wisdom, considering the fact that she was mean to my Sweetie?

I doubt it.

#maytheheavensfall

Ex-New York assembly speaker Sheldon Silver sentenced to 6 1/2 years

Sheldon Silver 

"This was corruption pure and simple,” the judge said while sentencing the man who was once one of the three most powerful state officials.

NEW YORK — Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years in prison in the corruption case that drove him from power as a judge said she hoped to “send a message to Albany.”

U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni sentenced Silver, 76, for the third time, acknowledging that a man who was once one of the three most powerful state officials came closer than ever before to properly expressing remorse.

But she said it remained unclear as to whether “he really gets it,” and she shaved only six months off the seven-year prison sentence she announced in 2018, ignoring claims by Silver’s defense lawyer that he could die if he contracts COVID-19 in prison. She also fined him $1 million.

“This was corruption pure and simple,” Caproni said.

"But, everyone was doing it."

She said she hoped the sentence was “long enough to send a message to Albany,” though she added that the 17 to 22 years in prison called for by federal sentencing guidelines was “draconian.” Caproni said Silver must report to prison Aug. 26.

She described how Silver had changed his statements to her at each sentencing, going from an insistence that he did no harm at his first to a “self-pitying” approach at the second and finally to acknowledging his wrongful conduct this year.

Before Caproni announced the sentence, Silver stood and repeated parts of a handwritten letter he had written to the judge, though not the part in which he told her to spare him a sentence that might cause him to die in prison.

He said he had done a lot of good things over the decades as his power grew in state government, where he spent 21 years as Assembly speaker.

“I destroyed that legacy that I built over 35 years,” he said, blaming his downfall on “improper, selfish and ethically indefensible” behavior that grew from a sense of entitlement.

Last week, Caproni denied Silver’s request to be sentenced remotely because of the coronavirus. Masked spectators were kept apart in a large courtroom which they entered only after undergoing a temperature check and answering COVID-related questions at the courthouse entrance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Richenthal urged Caproni to impose the same seven-year sentence she levied for bribery and extortion crimes before a federal appeals court ordered a new sentencing after tossing out three counts.

Silver was ousted as speaker in 2015 and convicted later that year, but appeals have so far kept him out of jail. His original conviction was overturned on appeal but Silver was convicted again in 2018.

In court papers, Silver’s lawyers had asked for leniency, saying Silver was an obese man in his 70s with a history of cancer, chronic kidney disease and other health problems that make him among those most at risk of dying from COVID-19.

Caproni, though, said the death rate of the population outside prison was approaching the death rate inside and it seemed that prisons were improving at adjusting to the threat of the illness.

“I do not want Mr. Silver to die in prison either,” she said.

In the part of the case that survived the appeal process, Silver was convicted in a scheme that involved favors and business traded between two real estate developers and a law firm. Silver supported legislation that benefited the developers. The developers then referred certain tax business to a law firm that paid Silver fees

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A Message Of Gore: New Jersey Judge Esther Salas On The Deutsche Bank Son Murdered, Husband Shot

This is about the Trump Empire, not Trump.

This is about trafficking tiny humans.

This is about land banks.

This is about my Sweetie.

This is Preet Bharara.

This is about gerrymandering, replete with campaign and election fraud.

Taken from the complaint, below:

Deutsche Bank has been the subject of scandal, investigation and regulatory enforcement for years due to widespread AML compliance failures and deficiencies in its disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, causing it to have one of the lowest gradings offered by the Federal Reserve. Such deficiencies have negatively impacted the Bank and had farreaching implications in the U.S., including in this Judicial District, which covers the State of New Jersey. For example, on October 25, 2017, New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino (“Porrino”) announced that New Jersey is part of a $220 million, multi-state settlement with Deutsche Bank that resolves allegations of fraudulent and anti-competitive conduct involving manipulation by Deutsche Bank of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). According to Porrino, Deutsche Bank’s manipulations of LIBOR harmed multiple government agencies and other entities in New Jersey, including the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

TRANSLATION: LYING FOR STEALIN'

Here is a bit of history to the action:

http://beverlytran.blogspot.com/search?q=Danske

https://beverlytran.blogspot.com/search?q=+Deutsche+

This was a horrible message.

#maytheheavensfall

Federal judge's son, 20, is shot dead and her criminal defense attorney husband is critically injured after a gunman disguised as a FedEx driver ambushed their home - four days after she was assigned a case linked to Jeffrey Epstein

Esther Salas and her husband, Daniel Anderl

A man dressed as a FedEx driver opened fire at the home of judge Esther Salas
 The attack happened in North Brunswick, New Jersey, on Sunday night
Daniel Anderl, the judge's 20-year-old son, was killed
Her husband Mark Anderl, 63, is reportedly in a critical condition in hospital
Judge Salas is believed to have been in the basement during the shooting
Last week, the judge was assigned a case involving links to Jeffrey Epstein
She previously presided over the trial of former Real Housewife Teresa Giudice in a case regarding financial fraud
She has also dealt with cases involving members of the Grape Street Crips

The son of a federal judge has been shot dead and her husband critically wounded after they were attacked at their home by a gunman dressed as a FedEx driver.

The attack happened at the home of Esther Salas, 51, an Obama-appointed District Court judge, in North Brunswick, New Jersey, on Sunday evening.

The judge's 20-year-old son Daniel Anderl was killed, and her defense attorney husband Mark Anderl, 63, was critically injured.

The shooting came days after the judge was assigned a case with links to Jefferey Epstein, although there is not yet any suggestion that the attack is linked her work.

The attack began at around 5pm when Mark Anderl answered the front door to the family home. He was shot several times.

Daniel, a student at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., then went to investigate the commotion and was fatally shot.

The perpetrator, believed to be a lone gunman, then fled the scene and is not yet in custody,

The attack happened at the home of Esther Salas, 51, an Obama-appointed District Court judge

Mark Anderl, 63, is reportedly in a critical condition in hospital after being shot several times

The judge and her family were the targets of an assassination attempt on Sunday evening at their home in North Brunswick Township, New Jersey

The FBI, U.S. Marshals, New Jersey State Police along with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General have all been on the scene of the shooting throughout Sunday evening

Francis 'Mac' Womack, the mayor of North Brunswick, New Jersey, said that Daniel was 'shot through the heart'.

Mark is reportedly in critical but stable condition at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick.

Judge Salas is believed to have been in the basement of the home during the shooting and was unharmed in the attack, according to NBC New York. 

Last week, on July 15, the judge was assigned to a case that had links to late sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein.

The case Salas is presiding over involves as ongoing lawsuit brought by Deutsche Bank investors who claim the company made false and misleading statements about its anti-money laundering policies and failed to monitor 'high-risk' customers including convicted sex offender billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

But her highest-profile case in recent years was the financial fraud case involving husband-and-wife Real Housewives of New Jersey reality TV stars Teresa and Joe Giudice, whom Salas sentenced to prison for crimes including bankruptcy fraud and tax evasion.

https://beverlytran.blogspot.com/2016/03/double-dipping-double-standard-of-child.html

Salas staggered their sentences so that one of them could be available to take care of their four children.

In 2017, she barred federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against an alleged gang leader charged in several Newark slayings, ruling the man's intellectual disability made him ineligible for capital punishment.

Salas later sentenced the man, the leader of the Newark Bloods street gang to 45 years in prison.

She has also dealt with cases involving members of the Grape Street Crips according to NJ.com. The case was connection with a long-running drug-trafficking network that was taken down by the FBI in 2015.

Judge Salas had received death threats in the past but as of Sunday night, authorities have not suggested the shootings are linked to any of her previous cases.

'As a judge, she had threats from time to time, but everyone is saying that recently there had not been any,' said Mayor Womack to ABC News, who is both friends with the judge and her husband. 

'No words can express the sadness and loss we share tonight as a community after senseless shootings of the husband and son of USDC Judge Esther Salas,' she said.

The mayor said investigators are now 'trying to get a hard make on the vehicle' to try and track the suspect.

'We commit to do all we can to support the family in this time, as well as all law enforcement agencies involved,' Womack said.

The U.S. Marshals have also been called to provide the judge with a security detail, according to a law enforcement official.

One of several high-profile trials Judge Salas has presided over includes the trial of former Real Housewife Teresa Giudice and her husband Joe in a case regarding financial fraud

Judge Salas staggered Teresa and Joe Giudice's sentences so that one of them could be available to take care of their four children

Salas had sat a judge on the U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark, for nine years and was the first Hispanic woman to serve on the federal bench in the state.

Before that she spent five years as a magistrate judge, and nine years prior to that as a federal public defender before President Barack Obama nominated her to serve as a District Court Judge in 2010.

The daughter of a Cuban mother and a Mexican father, Salas spent part of her childhood on welfare after a fire destroyed her Union City apartment, according to The Globe.

Her husband, Mark Anderl also works in legal circles and served as an assistant prosecutor in Essex County, New Jersey for ten years before becoming a criminal defense attorney.

Salas met her husband when he was working as a prosecutor and she was working as a law school intern. He spotted her 'getting fingerprinted' and came over to talk to her, she told New Jersey Monthly in February 2018. 'We've been inseparable since 1992,' she said.

The daughter of a Cuban mother and a Mexican father, Judge Salas is well known in the community and often gives talks to school children and gives tours of the court

New Jersey's politicians were quick to react.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said in a statement: 'Judge Salas and her family are in our thoughts at this time as they cope with this senseless act. This tragedy is our latest reminder that gun violence remains a crisis in our country and that our work to make every community safer isn't done.'

'I know Judge Salas and her husband well, and was proud to recommend her to President Obama for nomination to New Jersey's federal bench. My prayers are with Judge Salas and her family, and that those responsible for this horrendous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice,' said Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez in a statement.

The FBI, U.S. Marshals, New Jersey State Police along with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General have been on the scene of the shooting throughout Sunday evening.

'The FBI is investigating a shooting that took place at the home of Judge Esther Salas in North Brunswick Township, NJ early this evening July 19. We are working closely with our state and local partners and will provide additional updates when available,' the bureau said in a statement.

So far, police have not announced any arrests or named any suspects, however the FBI tweeted it was looking for 'one subject' in the shooting.

Anyone who thinks they may have relevant information should call the FBI in Newark at 973-792-3001.

So far, police have not announced any arrests or named any suspects, however the FBI tweeted it was looking for 'one subject' in the shooting

Judge who was the target of an assassination attempt had recently been assigned a case with links to Jeffrey Epstein

Last week, Judge Salas was assigned a case with links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The case sees investors suing Deutsche Bank and its CEO Christian Sewing, alleging the bank made false and misleading statements before it agreed to pay a $150 million fine for compliance failures linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, and seeks unspecified damages.

It claims shareholders lost money because of Deutsche Bank's dealings with Epstein, who was implicated in dozens of sexual abuse cases. He died last August at the age of 66 after being found hanging in a Manhattan jail.

New York regulators last week announced Deutsche Bank would pay the fine for 'significant compliance failures' over Epstein and two unrelated cases.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the lawsuit. Last week, it said the settlement showed 'how important it is to continue investing in our controls and enhancing our anti-financial crime capabilities'.

The lawsuit also names as defendants Deutsche Bank's finance chief James von Moltke and former CEO John Cryan.

The named plaintiff is Ali Karimi, who lives in Connecticut, according to court documents.

Epstein, 66, was found hanged in his New York City prison cell in August 2019 after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges, and his death was ruled a suicide.

His former lover Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, was arrested on sex trafficking charges at a remote property in New Hampshire on July 2.

She was denied bail on Tuesday and learned she must stay locked up until her trial next summer after she pleaded not guilty.

Judge Salas is not involved with the current Maxwell case due before court in July 2021.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/07/16/2063666/0/en/DEUTSCHE-BANK-DEADLINE-ALERT-Faruqi-Faruqi-LLP-Encourages-Investors-Who-Suffered-Losses-Exceeding-250-000-In-Deutsche-Bank-Aktiengesellschaft-To-Contact-The-Firm.html

Karimi v. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft et al., No. 20-cv-08978Karimi v. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaf... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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Prelude To Detroit: Steve Bing Self Extracts From Humanity - Perhaps Geoffrey Berman Knows Why

I bet Hillary Clinton is just devastated that another one of her dear friends, did not reach out to her as the maternal confidant she is.

$25 million gift endows overseas program, renamed in honor of Bings

Such a tragedy!

Bing Overseas Studies Program

Steve seems to have had a similarly close relationship with Bill, too.

Steve Bing loaned Bill Clinton private jet for North Korea 'mercy mission'

I wonder if Steve assisted Bill in Haiti, also?

Bill Clinton urges solution to Haiti 'kidnap' case

At least Steve does not have to worry about all those mortgages or what is going on over there at SDNY.

Perhaps, just perhaps, Geoffrey Berman can share with Judiciary the reason why Steve decided to leave Hillary, all alone, all by herself....

Geoffrey Berman Resigns as Manhattan US Attorney, Ending Standoff With William Barr

I hope the Grieving Window will be consoling Bill & Hillary, the exact same way they consoled her.

Steve Bing, producer and Elizabeth Hurley ex, reportedly dead by suicide

Steve Bing

Steve Bing, a Hollywood lifer and father of actress Elizabeth Hurley’s child, has reportedly died.

TMZ is reporting that Bing, whose other notable efforts in the industry include a writing credit on “Kangaroo Jack” and a role as an investor in the Tom Hanks film “The Polar Express,” is dead after a jump Monday from the 27th floor in his Century City, LA, neighborhood. They claim sources close to Bing said he was depressed about being isolated in quarantine.

Bing, 55, dropped out of Stanford his junior year after receiving a $600 million inheritance from his grandfather, a real estate developer. He had a hand in writing Chuck Norris’ “Missing in Action” franchise in the 1980s, and moved into producing in the early 2000s with the Sylvester Stallone remake “Get Carter.”

Bing initially denied that he was the parent of Hurley’s son Damian Charles, born in 2002, claiming that the pair’s 2001 relationship was brief and non-exclusive. A DNA test eventually established him as the child’s father.

In 2012, Bing joined with Bill Gates and Warren Buffet for a “Giving Pledge” aimed at donating to give away the majority of his wealth over his lifetime. TMZ reports that Bing donated to multiple progressive causes.

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Prelude To Detroit: Putin, Pompeo, Whelan, Tony Perkins, Guatanamo & Trafficking Tiny Humans

I bet Mike Pompeo wants Paul Whelan home really, super uber badly, right about now because it seems Russia is working with the U.S. to take down, and take out that industry of trafficking tiny humans, but, hey, what do I know?

I know we are in Detroit.

According to Wikipedia, here is the Guatanamo List exchange:

The "Guantanamo List" (Russian: список Гуантанамо) is the list of US politicians and citizens barred from the entrance into Russia for being responsible for human rights abuses, primarily in Guantanamo Bay detention camp, a "symmetric response" to the Magnitsky List.^[1]HistoryInitially the list contained 11 US officials responsible to running the Guantanamo prison was compiled in December 2012.^[2] The Russian law to match the Magnitsky Act was signed by Vladimir Putin on January 28, 2012.^[2] In January 2013 a Russian Parliamentarian Aleksey Pushkov announced that the list was expanded to 60 persons, to include people related to the prosecution of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, described as politically motivated, and of a Russian drug dealer Konstantin Yaroshenko, allegedly kidnapped by the USA in Liberia.^[1]In April 2013, the finalized list was published to include 18 US officials, four of which were related to Guantanamo and 12 were declared responsible to human rights violations with regard to Russian citizens abroad.^[3]In July 2014, the Guantanamo list was expanded with 10 people responsible for Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse and 2 more related to Guantanamo, a symmetric response to the American List of individuals sanctioned during the Ukrainian crisis.^[4]List of banned people[edit]The people banned from Russia are listed below: US officials involved in legalizing torture and indefinite detention of prisoners:

• David Addington, Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney (2005–2009)

• John Yoo, Assistant US Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice (2001–2003)

• Geoffrey D. Miller, retired US Army Major General, commandant of Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), the organization that runs the Guantanamo Bay detention camps (2002–2003)

• Jeffrey Harbeson, US Navy officer, commandant of JTF-GTMO (2010–2012)

The Russian lawmakers also banned several U.S. officials involved in the prosecution and trial of Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout and drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko, both serving prison time in the United States:

• Jed Rakoff, Senior US District Judge for the Southern District of New York

• Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York

• Michael J. Garcia, former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York

• Brendan R. McGuire, Assistant US Attorney

• Anjan S. Sahni, Assistant US Attorney

• Christian R. Everdell, Assistant US Attorney

• Jenna Minicucci Dabbs, Assistant US Attorney

• Christopher L. Lavigne, Assistant US Attorney

• Michael Max Rosensaft, Assistant US Attorney

• Louis J. Milione, Special Agent, US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

• Sam Gaye, Senior Special Agent, US DEA

• Robert F. Zachariasiewicz, Special Agent, US DEA

• Derek S. Odney, Special Agent, US DEA

• Gregory A. Coleman, Special Agent, US Federal Bureau of Investigation

Pompeo rips Russia over spying conviction for former Marine

#maytheheavensfall

Lawyer: Appeal of Whelan's conviction, 16-year sentence likely in next two weeks

A Michigan security executive convicted of spying on the Russian government could appeal his 16-year sentence in a maximum-security prison colony within the next couple of weeks, according to one of his Russian lawyers. 

Olga Karlova and Vladimir Zherebenkov plan to review next with Whelan the details of the appeal, which must be filed within about 10 days of sentencing. 

It is unlikely that Whelan, 50, of Novi will serve his sentence at a maximum-security labor camp because "he is too important," Karlova said. 

Whelan's family has expressed worry over the sentence but noted the verdict also might trigger further involvement from diplomats seeking some kind of deal to secure Whelan's release. 

"The Russian government has been clear, through statements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that it expected to extract concessions but that Paul's inclusion in those discussion would only happen after a conviction," Paul's brother, David Whelan, said in a statement Monday. "That time is here."

Karlova on Monday said she and Zherebenkov have heard rumors of an exchange with the United States for Victor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko. Bout is a Russian arms trader convicted in 2011 of conspiring to sell weapons to Colombian rebels, while Yaroshenk is a Russian pilot arrested for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S., according to the Associated Press.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Monday that the United States is outraged with the Monday ruling, which occurred after a "secret trial, with secret evidence, and without appropriate allowances for defense witnesses." 

Pompeo demanded Whelan's release. 

"We have serious concerns that Mr. Whelan was deprived of the fair trial guarantees that Russia is required to provide him in accordance with its international human rights obligations," he said.

Whelan, a former U.S. Marine and director of global security for Auburn Hills auto parts supplier BorgWarner, was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and charged with espionage, which carries an up to 20-year prison sentence.  Russia’s Federal Security Service arrested him at his hotel after agents allegedly found a USB drive with classified information in his room.

His family has said he was visiting the city for a friend's wedding. 

Whelan has told reporters in Moscow that a Russian friend in law enforcement planted the storage drive without his knowledge. He has denied being a spy.

U.S. officials have decried Russia's handling of Whelan's case, noting there has been no credible evidence produced in court to show Whelans' guilt and prison officials at times have delayed Whelan's medical treatments.

“During his detention, Mr. Whelan has endured unimaginable hardships," Michigan's Congressional delegation said Monday. "He was denied necessary medical care until his condition required a life-saving emergency surgery. He was barred from speaking to his family for over a year. He has been threatened by prison guards. 

“Despite months of harsh and cruel treatment, we remain steadfast in our commitment to working with the Whelan family to end this nightmare. Mr. Whelan should not continue to be held as a political prisoner, and he should be allowed to return home to his family in Michigan immediately.”

David Whelan also criticized the sentence Monday and called on President Donald Trump "to bring Paul home."

"The court's decision merely completes the final piece of this broken judicial process," David Whelan said. "We had hoped that the court might show some independence, but, in the end, Russian judges are political, not legal, entities."

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DOJ: United States Attorney Announces Money Laundering Charges Against Operators Of Multimillion-Dollar Nationwide High-End Prostitution Enterprise - Magnitsky

Much love to thIsrael National Police and the Israel Ministry of Justice, and of course, SDNY.

This is what all that random letter propaganda cover up was about.

These girls, and boys, came from overseas.

That money is going to be real estate and mortgage fraud, run back out the country through children's trust funds.

This is what Loretta Lynch was going after.

You are also going to find the subsidiaries are going to be run through NYPD.

Cocktails & Popcorn: The Civil Rights Work Of Loretta Lynch ~ NYPD Busted In Human Trafficking & Trafficking Tiny Humans

Happy Chanukah! Jona Rechnitz Sentenced For Stealin' Children, Land & Votes In New York

COMETH NOW, the Magnitsky tales.

\

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Homeland Security’s (“DHS”) Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) in New York, and Dermot Shea, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced today the arrest of TRACY REYNOLDS, a/k/a “Sara,” and IZHAK COHEN, for money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with their ownership and operation of VIP Escorts, a nationwide multimillion-dollar business offering high end prostitution services, as well as the seizure of bank accounts and 391 websites related to the VIP Escorts business.  REYNOLDS was arrested this morning at Tampa International Airport while boarding a flight to Mexico and was presented today in Tampa federal court.  COHEN was arrested by Israeli authorities in Hadera, Israel.  The United States Attorney’s Office will seek COHEN’s extradition to stand trial in the United States.

According to the allegations in the Complaint sworn out in Manhattan federal court:[1] 

From at least 2012 to the present, REYNOLDS and COHEN have operated an online high-end prostitution business through their company and its affiliates known as “VIP Escorts.”  VIP Escorts maintains a website, http://wvvw.vipescorts.com (the “VIP Escorts Website”), which it used to promote its prostitution services and was registered to COHEN.  VIP Escorts also operates an array of affiliated escort websites, which also advertised its prostitution services, with names such as “Prestige Escorts,” “American Escorts,” “Russian Escorts,” and “Manhattan Exotics,” all of which are registered to COHEN. 

As part of their prostitution business, REYNOLDS and COHEN arranged for escorts to meet clients in Manhattan and in numerous other locations for prostitution services, charging them thousands of dollars.  REYNOLDS and COHEN required escorts to deposit the proceeds of their commercial sex acts into a large number of bank accounts that they controlled, many of them in the name of fake entities.  REYNOLDS and COHEN then laundered the money through thousands of domestic and international financial transactions.  In total, over $10 million passed through various personal and business accounts controlled by REYNOLDS during the course of this conspiracy, and over $1 million was sent from REYNOLDS in the United States to COHEN in Israel in thousands of small transactions designed to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds.

REYNOLDS and COHEN then used the proceeds of the prostitution scheme for personal gain and to further their illegal prostitution business.  They paid, for example, over $295,000 from bank accounts under their control to advertise the VIP Escorts business on a known advertising platform for the prostitution industry.   

*                      *                     *

REYNOLDS, 45, of Alamosa, Colorado, and Cohen, 53, of Hadera, Israel, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and two counts of money laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of HSI, NYPD, and the El Dorado Task Force, and expressed his sincere gratitude to the Israel National Police and the Israel Ministry of Justice for their support and assistance with the investigation.  He also thanked the Office of International Affairs of the U.S. Department of Justice for their assistance in the arrest of COHEN.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant United States Attorney Michael R. Herman is in charge of the prosecution.

The charge contained in the Complaint is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

---

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

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Doug Collins Humbly Responds To Preet Bharara

Dougie humbly responds to Pretty Preet, but, even though he still does not get it, I am his greatest fan, still routing for him.

*routing*

Let me be clear: I do not believe Democrats are in love with terrorists, and I apologize for what I said earlier this week. (1/5)

— Rep. Doug Collins (@RepDougCollins) January 10, 2020

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Preet Bharara Brutally Castigates Doug Collins

Lol Cow certified
"Preet's letter was moooving."

Oh, Pretty Preet!

This was a brutal castigation of Dougie's breathtaking, lack of legal acumen and non-existent understanding of ethical deontology.

Do not worry, Dougie, for you, too, shall figure it out, sooner than later.

*Routing for you*

#maytheheavensfall

Preet Bharara to Georgia congressman: You've hit a shocking new low

Dear Representative Doug Collins,

You are not my congressman, and while I am ever thankful for that fact, after seeing your performance on Fox News on Wednesday night, I'm not sure you are fit to be anyone's congressman. Specifically, I saw you blithely assert on national television that Democrats "are in love with terrorists. We see that they mourn Soleimani more than they mourn our Gold Star families."

No American is "in love" with terrorists or "mourns" the death of that Iranian general on an airstrip in Baghdad. Many of us do, however, mourn the death of decency, honesty and reason here at home.

I realize that you are a politician and that hyperbolic, hyperpartisan claptrap is the unfortunate fashion of the day. But even allowing for the new normal of nastiness in political rhetoric, your casual slur of countless good Americans hits a new bottom. Americans can, in good faith, differ about the legality or efficacy of killing Soleimani. That doesn't make them unpatriotic or lovers of terrorists. It is hostility to differences of opinion that is un-American.

I understand that politics is a tough racket. I served as a Democratic staffer in the US Senate. I get that terrorism is a threat. I prosecuted terrorists as a United States attorney, working just yards from Ground Zero. I know of the particular evil posed by Qasem Soleimani. My office prosecuted plots orchestrated by him and the Quds Force, including the conspiracy to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States in 2011.

So, I have some idea of what is at stake here when it comes to terrorism. As you well know, Congressman, terrorists do not kill Republicans or Democrats. They kill Americans.

You know what else is true? The prosecutors, law enforcement agents and intelligence officers who keep us safe from terrorism do not do so as Republicans or Democrats. They do so as Americans. The victims of terrorism — and their families — do not grieve as members of a political party. They do so as Americans.

You are not a talk radio host or a carnival barker. You are a pastor, an attorney and a sitting member of Congress. Therefore, the evidence would suggest you should know better. To utter such garbage, which you know to be false and defamatory, goes against all the training and teaching you must have received. But you got your cheap shot across, and perhaps that's all that matters to you.

To be clear, Congressman, I am not making some old and familiar naive call for a return to "civility" in our politics. I don't have much hope for that in the immediate future. I just want people like you to knock off the worst scurrilous nonsense. I'd hope that would be possible for a member of the House who happens to be the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee.

If we are going to come together, protect the homeland and heal the hearts of people who have suffered the scars of terrorism, we need our leaders to do better than lazy trash talk.

Learn that volume and wisdom are not the same thing.

You were elected to lead. Please give it a try.

Respectfully,

Preet Bharara

Who is running against this craven un-American ignorant asshole named Doug Collins? I will max out to you tomorrow. I hope you all join me. https://t.co/AREc1pvjdX

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) January 9, 2020

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Happy Chanukah! Jona Rechnitz Sentenced For Stealin' Children, Land & Votes In New York

Over $1 Billion in fraud.

This would mean that there was mortgage fraud, and probably property tax fraud, and TARP.

I speculate that if you squint your eyes really, really hard, then look at the financials, you will see the Detroit Land Bank Authority, but, hey, what do I know?

I know we have now entered the New York Police Department quagmire of public drama of trafficking tiny humans.

This quagmire, also, includes the New York prison guards.

Hedge Fund Fraud Case Study — Platinum

‘Liar,’ and Star Witness in City Graft Cases, Gets 10-Month Sentence

Jona Rechnitz was arrested on corruption charges in New York and then became a star witness. His testimony led to the conviction of several officials.

Jona Rechnitz & DeBlasio

Jona Rechnitz, center, made large donations to the campaigns and causes of Mayor Bill de Blasio, right, as a way to gain access.

Mayor Bill de Blasio called him a “liar and a felon.”

The man, Jona S. Rechnitz, was a wealthy real estate scion who made large donations to the mayor’s political campaigns and causes, gaining access to key officials, including Mr. de Blasio.

But Mr. Rechnitz became an instant pariah in City Hall after pleading guilty in 2016 to corruption-related charges. He admitted that those contributions — as well as direct bribes given to police officials — were a means to gain influence.

His admissions formed the core of a cooperation agreement in which he became a key government witness in three federal corruption trials, leading to the convictions and guilty pleas of half a dozen people, including a powerful correction officers’ union boss, a hedge fund mogul, a police official and a Brooklyn businessman.

Mr. Rechnitz became, according to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, “one of the single most important and prolific white-collar cooperating witnesses in the recent history of the Southern District of New York.”

On Thursday, Mr. Rechnitz was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of house arrest, followed by three years on parole,  an outcome that contrasted sharply from the possible 20 years in prison he faced when he was first arrested and charged. The start of his sentence has been suspended pending the outcome of an appeal.

Before he was sentenced, Mr. Rechnitz apologized to Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein for his “criminal and moral” behavior, and asked the judge for leniency.

“I cannot express, your honor, how distraught I am at how I desecrated my religion,” he said, acknowledging that he had “made many poor choices, and many people suffered because of them.”

Mr. Rechnitz had endured intense public scrutiny as a government witness, federal prosecutors said. He met with prosecutors more than 80 times, often traveling to New York City from the West Coast, where he lived.

His testimony in one of the trials helped expose years of sordid and petty corruption within the New York City Police Department — officials who had provided favors in exchange for junkets, prostitutes and expensive gifts — that reached the highest echelon of the department.

Mr. Rechnitz’s testimony, the government wrote, had “exposed the sordid underbelly of multiple New York City institutions, exposed serious crimes and held powerful people who fell short of their obligations to the broader public to account.”

The cases cast a cloud over City Hall and the mayor, who was never accused of wrongdoing. Mr. Rechnitz asserted that he had bought access to City Hall with his donations to Mr. de Blasio’s campaigns and causes; the mayor said that Mr. Rechnitz was “exaggerating in many, many ways,” characterizing him as a “horrible human being.”

Mr. Rechnitz had undoubtedly hoped to make a different kind of impact when he moved to New York City from Los Angeles in 2008 to follow in his father’s footsteps in real estate.

He got his start with Africa Israel USA, an international real estate development firm owned by Lev Leviev, an Israeli real estate and diamond mogul. Mr. Rechnitz wanted badly to be a “big shot,” federal prosecutors said during one of the trials.

Mr. Rechnitz eventually met Jeremy Reichberg, an enterprising Brooklyn businessman who had built a reputation as a “fix-it guy” who used his police connections to help friends and associates with moving and parking violations for a fee. (He was sentenced to 48 months in prison in May.)

The men bonded, it seemed, over a shared desire to secure access to New York City’s most powerful and influential officials.

“He had all these connections to police,” Mr. Rechnitz testified. “I didn’t know many people that had connections with police, growing up in Los Angeles, and I thought this would be an awesome tool for me personally and for my business.”

The men became partners, federal prosecutors said, trading gifts with police officials for favors. Mr. Rechnitz testified that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on meals at luxury restaurants, sporting events, on private jets, jewelry, hotel stays, all-expense paid trips and prostitutes for officers.

The men used their connections to officers in one instance to shut down a lane in the Lincoln Tunnel to allow a police escort to take Mr. Leviev, Mr. Rechnitz’s boss, to his Manhattan hotel.

Jeremy Reichberg

Jeremy Reichberg, center, was Mr. Rechnitz’s partner; he was convicted earlier this year on bribery and conspiracy charges.

“This will earn me lots of points,” Mr. Rechnitz recalled thinking.

Three years later, he launched his own firm, JSR Capital, in midtown on Fifth Avenue.

By 2013, their police connections included four deputy chiefs in commands throughout the city.

Emboldened, they chartered a $60,000 jet to Las Vegas in February 2013 with a prostitute on board for an all-expense-paid Super Bowl weekend with two police officials.

On Christmas Day that year, they dressed as Santas and delivered expensive gifts to high-ranking police officials. In exchange, they got favors and police escorts.

Around the same time, they began courting Philip Banks III, a former chief of the department. They bought him a ring that once belonged to Muhammad Ali, took him to cigar bars and on trips to Israel, the Dominican Republic, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

In return, they asked Mr. Banks for a parking placard, and to promote a police official  — which Mr. Banks did. Mr. Banks was not charged with a crime. He resigned in 2014 citing unspecified personal and professional reasons.

Mr. Banks introduced Mr. Rechnitz to Norman Seabrook, the longtime leader of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, who was one of the most politically connected figures in the city.

Mr. Rechnitz played a key role in the prosecution of Mr. Seabrook, who was convicted last year on bribery and conspiracy charges. Mr. Seabrook had steered $20 million from the union into a risky hedge fund in exchange for a promised kickback worth more than $100,000. The union lost $19 million of its investment.

Still riding a wave of “unbridled ambition,” prosecutors said Mr. Rechnitz turned his attention to City Hall.

“We’re going to become significant contributors, but we want access,” Mr. Rechnitz told Mr. de Blasio’s chief fund-raiser. “When we reach out for things, we want them to get done.”

Over the next several months, Mr. de Blasio received more than $150,000 in contributions for his political campaigns and causes. In return, Mr. Rechnitz had the mayor’s personal cellphone number and email, which he used to invite the mayor to a Knicks game.

At his sentencing, Mr. Rechnitz who now operates a jewelry store in Los Angeles that is frequented by celebrities, told the judge that if he were given a lengthy prison sentence, he doubted that he could “start over a third time.”

Judge Hellerstein cited the Seabrook case in how he determined what sentence to give Mr. Rechnitz. He ordered Mr. Rechnitz to pay $10 million in restitution for the correction officers’ union’s loss.

“All of us do bad things,” the judge said. “Some of those bad things are criminal acts for which we must account.”

Hedge Fund Founder Pleads Guilty To Fraud In Connection With Bribery Of Former Correction Officers Union Leader

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the guilty plea of MURRAY HUBERFELD to wire fraud conspiracy in connection with funds used to bribe the former president of the nation’s largest municipal correction officers union.  Specifically, HUBERFELD, founder of the Platinum Partners hedge fund (“Platinum”), pled guilty to conspiring with an intermediary, Jona Rechnitz, to cause the fund to pay $60,000 to Rechnitz’s company by falsely representing that the money was payment for courtside tickets to eight New York Knicks basketball games.  Instead, as HUBERFELD knew, the actual purpose of the payment was to reimburse Rechnitz for having paid Norman Seabrook, then-president of the Correction Officer’s Benevolent Association (“COBA”), for Seabrook’s efforts to get COBA to invest millions of dollars in Platinum.  HUBERFELD pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Murray Huberfeld caused his former hedge fund to pay tens of thousands of dollars to a criminal partner in order to enable another crime – paying off the head of the correction officer’s union for the investment of millions of its members’ funds.  We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to fight fraud and corruption.”

According to the Superseding Information, Superseding Indictment, Indictment, and Complaint filed in this case, other public filings, statements made during the plea proceeding, and evidence and testimony presented at trial proceedings in October and November of 2017:

HUBERFELD was the founder of Platinum, a hedge fund that he continued to help operate unofficially even after his formal affiliation with the fund had ceased.  In late 2013, HUBERFELD and Rechnitz, a real estate businessman who was an acquaintance of HUBERFELD, sought to attract public and institutional investors to the fund.  At or around that time, Rechnitz told HUBERFELD that a contact of his – COBA President Norman Seabrook – would likely invest COBA’s money in Platinum.  Over the next few months, Seabrook caused COBA to invest approximately $20 million of its funds into Platinum, including $15 million from a retirement benefits program funded by the City of New York that invests money for correction officers’ retirements.

In or around December 2014, arrangements were made to pay Seabrook personally for the millions of dollars the Union had invested over the course of that year.  Rechnitz paid Seabrook $60,000 in cash, delivered to Seabrook in a men’s luxury handbag.  HUBERFELD and Rechnitz then arranged for Platinum’s management company to receive a fraudulent invoice for $60,000 – generated by Rechnitz – that, on its face, billed Platinum for eight pairs of courtside tickets to New York Knick games given to Platinum by Rechnitz, who owned Knicks season tickets.  In truth, and as HUBERFELD knew, the reason given to Platinum was false, and no Knicks tickets had changed hands.  The real purpose of the payment was to reimburse Rechnitz, who had paid Seabrook for his efforts in securing COBA’s investments.  Three days later, Platinum issued Rechnitz a $60,000 check. 

HUBERFELD, 57, of Lawrence, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  The charge carries a maximum term of five years in prison.  HUBERFELD is scheduled to be sentenced on September 14, 2018.  The maximum potential penalty is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Trial against Seabrook, on charges of (i) conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, (ii) the substantive offense of honest services wire fraud, and (iii) the substantive crime of wire fraud with respect to COBA’s right to control its assets, is scheduled to commence on July 30, 2018, before Judge Hellerstein.  As to Seabrook, the charges in the various charging instruments are merely allegations, and Seabrook is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department, Internal Affairs Division.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Martin S. Bell, Russell Capone, and Lara Pomerantz are in charge of the prosecution.

Huberfeld Platinum Partners SDNY Indictment by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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DOJ: Member of “The Dark Overlord” Hacking Group Extradited From United Kingdom to Face Charges in St. Louis

The Dark Overlord allegedly released 911 legal documents.

Defendant Conspired to Steal Sensitive Personally Identifying Information from Victim Companies and Release those Records on Criminal Marketplaces unless Victims Paid Bitcoin Ransoms

A United Kingdom national appeared today in federal court on charges of aggravated identity theft, threatening to damage a protected computer, and conspiring to commit those and other computer fraud offenses, related to his role in a computer hacking collective known as “The Dark Overlord,” which targeted victims in the St. Louis, Missouri, area beginning in 2016. 

Nathan Wyatt, 39, was extradited from the United Kingdom to the Eastern District of Missouri and arraigned on Dec. 18 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shirley Padmore Mensah.  He pleaded not guilty and was detained pending further proceedings.

A federal grand jury indicted Wyatt on Nov. 8, 2017.  According to court records, beginning in 2016, Wyatt was a member of The Dark Overlord, a hacking group that was responsible for remotely accessing the computer networks of multiple U.S. companies without authorization, obtaining sensitive records and information from those companies, and then threatening to release the companies’ stolen data unless the companies paid a ransom in bitcoin.  Victims in the Eastern District of Missouri included healthcare providers, accounting firms, and others. Among other things, Wyatt is alleged to have participated in the conspiracy by creating email and phone accounts that he used to send threatening and extortionate emails and text messages to certain victims, including victims in the Eastern District of Missouri.  

“Today’s extradition shows that the hackers hiding behind The Dark Overlord moniker will be held accountable for their alleged extortion of American companies,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “We are thankful for the close cooperation of our partners in the United Kingdom in ensuring that the defendant will face justice in U.S. court.”

“Cyber criminals who harm victims in the Eastern District of Missouri cannot hide behind international borders to evade justice,” said U.S. Attorney Jeffrey B. Jensen of the Eastern District of Missouri.  “Today’s case demonstrates the United States’ commitment to unmasking criminal hackers and bringing them to justice, no matter where they may be located.”

“Cyber hackers may no longer use territorial borders to shield themselves from accountability,” said Special Agent in Charge Richard Quinn of the FBI’s St. Louis Field Office. “This case is another example of how the FBI successfully works with international law enforcement partners to bring alleged perpetrators to justice.”

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s St. Louis Field Office.  The FBI’s Atlanta Field Office also provided support.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs coordinated the extradition of Wyatt. The department thanks law enforcement and international cooperation authorities in the United Kingdom for their substantial assistance in the investigation.

Senior Counsel Laura-Kate Bernstein of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gwendolyn Carroll and Matthew Drake of the Eastern District of Missouri are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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