Showing posts with label SEC. Show all posts

Monday, August 31, 2020

Is LinkedIn Reid Hoffman Related To An Open Secret Gabe Hoffman?

Reid Hoffman was mean to my Sweetie because he took down our LinkedIn account the day he moved to Detroit.

Gabe Hoffman is a hedge fund manager, who seems to navigate the seas in tiny human trust funds when it comes to early investment in AIDS/HIV research.

Gabe likes to talk about the Nasty Things People Do To Tiny Humans all the time, but I guess it is because he has a movie about it.

Just asking because they both seem to have similar agenda.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Monday, August 10, 2020

Tales Of The New Crown: A Textbook Example On The Art Of Stealin' - KODAK

I wish to give special thanks to the upper echelon over there at KODAK for providing us a real time teaching tool on the art of stealin'.

Ok, so, let me get this straight.

KODAK decides it is going to get into the pharmaceutical game, probably to snag some more Cooties TARP 7.0 money.

Kodak C.E.O. Got Stock Options Day Before News of Loan Sent Stock Soaring

Then, it accidentally leaks out a presser to the local newspaper on how it is going to get funded to start playing in the pharmaceutical game.

Kodak Under SEC Scrutiny Over Early Disclosure of U.S. Loan Plan

Then, since only their selectively chosen audience received the accidentally released presser on the investment, stock prices soared from $2.00 a share to $60.00 a share, overnight.

But, during the maximum price peak, some of the top executives and their in-laws, in the midst of the stock price climax, ejaculates its shares either by sale or tax write off to a local synagogue.

Then, word got out and the stock price dropped back to $9.00 a share and now there is an FEC investigation.

So, my question would be, which tiny human trust funds of stealin' the children, land & vote were the financial vehicles and what kind of fraud schemes were funded for purposes of laundering the money.

Kodak deal with US government to produce pharmaceuticals appears to be on hold

The US DFC tweeted that ‘recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns’

An agreement between the US government and Kodak to develop generic drug ingredients appears to be on hold, after the US International Development Finance Corporation tweeted that “recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns.”

“We will not proceed any further unless these allegations are cleared,” the agency tweeted, without specifying what the allegations were.

On July 28, we signed a Letter of Interest with Eastman Kodak. Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns. We will not proceed any further unless these allegations are cleared.
— DFCgov (@DFCgov) August 7, 2020

Kodak said Friday it was conducting an internal review of recent activity by the company in connection with a $765 million loan it would receive under the Defense Production Act to produce pharmaceuticals. The company’s stock price surged in the days before the deal was announced, CBS News reported, leading Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to call for the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether there were any instances of insider trading.

Kodak, best known for its camera and film equipment, said it planned to create a new business arm called Kodak Pharmaceuticals to make ingredients that have “lapsed into chronic national shortage.” Kodak CEO Jim Continenza told The Wall Street Journal that he expected pharmaceuticals to become 30 to 40 percent of the company’s business. The company’s plans included production of ingredients for drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, according to The Wall Street Journal. President Trump has touted hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for COVID-19, despite evidence that the anti-malaria drug has been ineffective against the virus.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), chair of the House Financial Services Committee and other Democrats sent a letter to DFC head Adam Boehler August 4th asking why the agency was supporting a loan for Kodak, “an organization that was on the brink of failure in 2012 and was unsuccessful in its previous foray into pharmaceutical manufacturing, in its efforts to develop the capacity to produce up to 25 percent of domestic pharmaceutical components.” The committee is asking to see all communications concerning the loan.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Friday, December 20, 2019

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

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

When Election Interference Costs Voters Billions In Fraud - Think Of Detroit

Egads!

You mean to tell me there is a possibility the Detroit Public Schools Bond that ending up building Little Ceasar's Arena may have experienced election interference of gerrymandering?

I am in utter shock....not really...just doing my stand up castigation shtick.

I bet the SEC is interested in this.

Midland County officials just found a missing ballot box. It may change the result of a $569 million bond election.

Midland officials found in a missing box from the November 2019 election containing over 800 ballots.

A proposal for a $569 million bond failed, then passed and could fail again after the discovery of missing ballot box from the November election.

A proposal for a $569 million bond to build two new high school buildings in Midland failed by 25 votes in the November election, a margin slim enough it set off calls for a recount.

The ballots were recounted manually, and to the delight of Midland ISD officials, the results flipped and the proposal passed by a margin of 11 votes.

But last week, a Midland elections staffer found a box on the bottom of a shelf in the office containing 836 ballots that weren't tallied in the recount. Those votes threaten to again reverse the election results, which school officials are counting on to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for school construction.

The elections office obtained a court order to open the ballot box on Monday morning, when staffers began to count up the missing votes.

The first and unofficial vote tally on Nov. 5, which used the electronic ballots, took the missing ballots into account. The paper ballots are a physical copy of how constituents voted on the electronic system. The paper ballots came into play during the manual recount, which was missing the more than 800 ballots, making the recount number inaccurate.

The revelation of the vote discrepancy doesn't automatically change the election result, however. The result of the manual recount was canvassed — or made official — on Nov. 15, when it was signed by County Judge Terry Johnson.

But last week, representatives for Better Bond for Midland, the special political action committee opposing the bond, filed to contest the election results. We Choose Our Future, the SPAC in favor of the bond will also contest.

The missing ballot box is just the latest reversal in a roller coaster ride for this particular bond proposal. On election night, Midland voters watching the polls closely initially believed the bond passed by 18 votes, because of the results posted on Midland County's election website. But a week after the posting, officials clarified to reporters that the tally didn't include mail-in votes, which revealed it had actually failed that night, according to Deborah Land, elections administrator for the Midland County Elections Office. We Choose Our Future quickly called for the recount.

The Office of the Secretary of State has advised Midland officials of how to proceed and “will continue to provide appropriate assistance to Midland County officials as this matter proceeds forward,” wrote Stephen Chang, a representative of the office.

Land said she might have been the one to have moved the ballot box in question that led to it not being counted, but she's not positive.

“It was human error,” Land said, adding that the office will learn from the blunder and do things differently come the next election.

In her five years working in the elections office, Land said she’s never seen something like this happen before.

The deputy secretary of state and the director of elections were in Midland on Monday to observe the ballot count and advise local officials, according to a tweet by State Sen. Kel Seliger, who represents the area.

“Every Texan deserves to have full faith in our elections process,” Seliger wrote in a tweet.

Every Texan deserves to have full faith in our elections process. I met with the @TXsecofstate’s office while in Austin yesterday to get a complete update on the @Midland_ISD bond election. While the SOS is only able to advise local officials I have no doubt that...
— Kel Seliger (@kseliger) December 13, 2019

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

SEC & Congress Discuss Fraud & The Whisleblowers

SEC and the Congress have issues with the amount of the awards to whistleblowers.

Well, I can simply everyone's life and propose that this can all be resolved by bowing down and giving reverence to those who bear witness.

All you have to do is #sayhisname.

The SEC can not audit private companies because that is called an investigation.

The SEC can neither audit Public Private Partnerships....like the Detroit Land Bank Authority....because it never incorporated....so it has no SEC filings....and if it is listed in any other SEC filings on record....the SEC then should consider themselves whistleblowers, too....because they probably found some Corporate Shape Shifters.

Oh, my!

There are fake ass groups submitting fake ass letters to report fraud, to investigate something else, as a throw from what others are doing?

Well, I guess it would be a novel idea to have all whistleblower sign their name on any grievance, under penalty of law, don't ya think?

Wanna Bet The SEC Investigating The Detroit Land Bank Authority?

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

TRUMP Announces The Quantum Renaissance At National HBCU Week Conference

HBCUs are universities.

Faith Based HBCUs now have equal access to federal funding support from SCOTUS ruling.

This is going to be a wild ride because the history is going to come out, even the financial and foreign special interest academic investments.

HBCUs now have access to high demand fields in space, science research and technology.

For those of you who did not catch it, HBCUs historically did not have access to high demand fields in space, science research and technology.

@21:00 Trump slammed about foreign corporations taking university money for special interests like foreign wars.

He is in rare form.

He is talking about rebuilding America, what I consider to be the Second Reconstruction because the first one got shutdown just as fast as it was implemented.

Quantum Renaissance.

Fixing decades of mistakes by politicians of both parties, who put special interests ahead of our people....policies that devastated millions hard working families....China and other nations loot our nation....of course, I am paraphrasing.

The era of economic surrender is over.

We are bringing back our wealth.

Welcome to Detroit.

#sayhisname

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

DOJ: Mobile Telesystems Pjsc and Its Uzbek Subsidiary Enter into Resolutions of $850 Million with the Department of Justice for Paying Bribes in Uzbekistan

Former General Director of MTS’s Uzbek Subsidiary and Former Uzbek Official Charged in Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme Totaling Almost $1 Billion

Moscow-based Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (MTS), the largest mobile telecommunications company in Russia and an issuer of publicly traded securities in the United States, and its wholly owned Uzbek subsidiary, KOLORIT DIZAYN INK LLC (KOLORIT), have entered into resolutions with the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and agreed to pay a combined total penalty of $850 million to resolve charges arising out of a scheme to pay bribes in Uzbekistan. In addition, charges were unsealed today against a former Uzbek official who is the daughter of the former president of Uzbekistan and against the former CEO of Uzdunrobita LLC, another MTS subsidiary, for their participation in a bribery and money laundering scheme involving more than $865 million in bribes from MTS, VimpelCom Limited (now VEON) and Telia Company AB (Telia) to the former Uzbek official in order to secure her assistance in entering and maintaining their business operations in Uzbekistan’s telecommunications market.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman of the Southern District of New York, Special Agent in Charge Raymond Villanueva of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. and Chief Don Fort of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.

Gulnara Karimova, 46, a citizen of Uzbekistan, was charged in an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York on March 7 with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Karimova is a former Uzbek official who allegedly had influence over the Uzbek governmental body that regulated the telecom industry. Bekhzod Akhmedov, 44, a citizen of Uzbekistan and the former Uzbek executive, was charged in the same indictment with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), two counts of violating the FCPA, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Karimova’s and Akhmedov’s case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood of the Southern District of New York.

“Gulnara Karimova stands accused of exploiting her official position to solicit and accept more than $865 million in bribes from three publicly traded telecom companies, and then laundering those bribes through the U.S. financial system,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. “The indictment and corporate resolution announced today, together with two prior corporate resolutions involving bribes allegedly paid to Karimova, demonstrate the Department’s comprehensive approach to foreign corruption: we will aggressively pursue both corrupt foreign officials and the companies and individuals who bribe them in order to gain unfair business advantages, and we will do everything we can to keep the proceeds of that corruption out of the U.S. financial system.”

“This is the third installment in a trilogy of cases arising from an almost $1 billion bribery scheme that reached the highest echelons of the Uzbekistan government and was orchestrated by some of the largest telecommunications companies in the world,” said U.S. Attorney Berman. “By funneling multimillion-dollar bribe payments through the U.S. financial system, the companies and individual defendants corruptly tried to tip the global economy in their favor and line their own pockets. But they are now paying the price. Today, my Office and our law enforcement partners are sending a bold, unequivocal message that the U.S. financial system is not in business to enable foreign bribery or money laundering. This Office stands ready to prevent, prosecute, and penalize foreign corrupt practices wherever in the world we find them.”

“Corruption of this level and reach poisons our integrity as a participant in the global marketplace,” said HSI Washington Special Agent in Charge Villanueva. “Thanks to our skillful and collaborative investigators at HSI and the IRS-CI, Karimova and Ahkmedov’s exploitive crimes will be presented before the just eye of our courts and no longer will such corruption be permitted to metastasize across our borders.”

“With the increase in globalization and ease with which funds can be moved, criminals think their financial transactions cannot be tracked—but they would be wrong,” said IRS-CI Chief Fort. “We will continue to investigate violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to ensure our country’s financial institutions are not used for devious purposes. We are committed to aggressively pursuing all who engage in corruption, money laundering, and bribery for their own personal gain and at the expense of the U.S. government.”

According to the indictment against Karimova and Akhmedov, in or around the early 2000s, they agreed that Akhmedov would solicit and facilitate corrupt bribe payments from telecommunications companies seeking to enter the Uzbek market. In exchange, Karimova allegedly used her influence over Uzbek authorities to help the telecommunications companies obtain and retain lucrative business opportunities in the Uzbek telecommunications market. In total, Akhmedov conspired with the telecom companies and others to pay Karimova more than $865 million in bribes, and Akhmedov and Karimova conspired with others to launder and conceal those funds to, from and through bank accounts in the United States, in order to promote the ongoing bribery scheme, the indictment alleges.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MTS entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice in connection with a criminal information filed yesterday in the Southern District of New York charging the company with one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the FCPA and one count of violating the internal controls provisions of the FCPA. KOLORIT pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information filed in the Southern District of New York, charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the FCPA. Pursuant to its agreement with the department, MTS agreed to pay a total criminal penalty of $850 million to the United States, including a $500,000 criminal fine and $40 million in criminal forfeiture that MTS agreed to pay on behalf of KOLORIT. MTS also agreed to the imposition of an independent compliance monitor for a term of three years and to implement rigorous internal controls and cooperate fully with the Department’s ongoing investigation, including its investigation of individuals such as Akhmedov and Karimova. The case against MTS and KOLORIT is assigned to U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York.

In related proceedings, MTS reached a settlement with the SEC. Under the terms of its agreement with the SEC, MTS agreed to pay a $100 million civil penalty. Consistent with Coordination of Corporate Resolution Penalties in Parallel and/or Joint Investigations and Proceedings Arising from the Same Misconduct (Justice Manual 1-12.100), the Department of Justice agreed to credit the civil penalty paid to the SEC as part of its agreement with MTS. Thus, the combined total amount of criminal and regulatory penalties paid by MTS and KOLORIT to U.S. authorities will be $850 million.

According to the companies’ admissions, MTS and KOLORIT, through various managers and employees within MTS, MTS’s Uzbek subsidiaries Uzdunrobita LLC and KOLORIT, and other affiliated entities, paid approximately $420 million in bribes to Karimova, who had influence over the Uzbek governmental body that regulated the telecom industry. The bribes were paid on multiple occasions between 2004 and 2012 so that MTS could enter the Uzbek market through the acquisition of Uzdunrobita and so that Uzdunrobita could gain valuable telecom assets and continue operating in Uzbekistan. The companies admittedly structured and concealed the bribes through payments to shell companies that members of MTS’s and Uzdunrobita’s management knew were beneficially owned by Karimova. MTS and Uzdunrobita also acquired KOLORIT, knowing that the price MTS and Uzdunrobita paid was inflated, in order to bribe Karimova in exchange for Uzdunrobita’s continuing to operate in Uzbekistan. Uzdunrobita made payments to purported charities and for sponsorships to entities related to Karimova. The Uzbek government expropriated Uzdunrobita in 2012 as a result of MTS’s, Uzdunrobita’s and KOLORIT’s failure to meet Karimova’s demands for additional payments.

A number of factors contributed to the Department’s criminal resolution with the companies, including (1) the companies did not voluntarily disclose; (2) the companies’ level of cooperation and remediation was lacking, not proactive; (3) the nature and seriousness of the office, including $420 million in bribes to a high-level Uzbek official; and (4) the mitigating factors present in this case, including that the Uzbek government expropriated the companies’ telecommunications assets in Uzbekistan, resulting in no realized pecuniary gain to the companies as a result of the misconduct.

The resolution, reached in coordination with the SEC’s resolution, marks the third such resolution by a major international telecommunications provider for bribery in Uzbekistan. On Feb. 18, 2016, Amsterdam-based VimpelCom and its Uzbek subsidiary, Unitel LLC, entered into resolutions with the Department of Justice and admitted to a conspiracy to make more than $114 million in bribery payments to Karimova between 2006 and 2012. On Sept. 21, 2017, Stockholm-based Telia and its Uzbek subsidiary, Coscom LLC, also entered into resolutions with the Department and admitted to a conspiracy to make more than $331 million in bribery payments to Karimova. The investigation has thus far yielded a combined total of over $2.6 billion in global fines and disgorgement, including over $1.3 billion in criminal penalties to the United States. In related actions, the Department has also filed civil complaints seeking the forfeiture of more than $850 million held in bank accounts in Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland, which constitute bribe payments made by MTS, VimpelCom and Telia, or funds involved in the laundering of those corrupt payments to Karimova.

The IRS-CI and HSI are investigating the cases as part of the IRS Global Illicit Financial Team in Washington, D.C. Assistant Chief Ephraim Wernick and Senior Litigation Counsel Nicola J. Mrazek of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward Imperatore and Daniel Noble of the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case against MTS and KOLORIT. Assistant Chief Wernick and Trial Attorney Elina Rubin-Smith of the Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Imperatore and Noble are prosecuting the case against Karimova and Akhmedov. Trial Attorney Michael Khoo of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) is prosecuting the forfeiture case with substantial assistance from former MLARS Trial Attorney Marie M. Dalton, now an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Washington.

Law enforcement authorities in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom have provided valuable assistance in this case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance as well. The SEC referred the matter to the Department and also provided extensive cooperation and assistance.

The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

Individuals with information about possible proceeds of foreign corruption located in or laundered through the United States should contact federal law enforcement or send an email to kleptocracy@usdoj.gov.

Mobile TeleSystems Settles FCPA Violations

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Russian telecommunications provider Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (MTS) will pay $100 million to resolve SEC charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to win business in Uzbekistan.

According to the SEC’s order, MTS bribed an Uzbek official who was related to the former President of Uzbekistan and had influence over the Uzbek telecommunications regulatory authority. During the course of the scheme, MTS made at least $420 million in illicit payments for the purpose of obtaining and retaining business. The payments enabled MTS to enter the telecommunications market in Uzbekistan and operate there for eight years, during which it generated more than $2.4 billion in revenues. In 2012, the Uzbek government expropriated MTS’s Uzbek operations. As further described in the SEC’s order, the bribes were funneled to front companies controlled by the Uzbek official and were disguised in MTS’s books as acquisition costs, option payments, purchases of regulatory assets, and charitable donations.

“The company engaged in egregious misconduct for nearly a decade, secretly funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to a corrupt official. Building business on a foundation of bribery leaves the business and American investor interests at the mercy of corrupt officials,” said Charles E. Cain, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit.

MTS consented to the SEC’s order finding that it violated the anti-bribery, books and records and internal accounting control provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and requiring it to pay a $100 million penalty. In a related matter, MTS has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and its subsidiary has pleaded guilty in federal court, and has agreed to pay a criminal fine and forfeiture in the amount of $850 million. The Department is crediting the $100 million penalty that MTS is paying to the SEC. The company must also retain an independent compliance monitor for at least three years.

This is the third case brought by the SEC and the Department of Justice involving public companies operating in the Uzbek telecommunications market. Taken as a whole, these actions have led to the recovery by U.S. and foreign authorities of $2.6 billion.

The Commission greatly appreciates the cooperation and assistance of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud and Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Sections, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Prosecution Authority of the Netherlands, the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway (ØKOKRIM), the Swedish Prosecution Authority, the Office of the Attorney General in Switzerland, and the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau in Latvia. Valuable assistance was also provided by regulatory and law enforcement colleagues in the United Kingdom, France, and Ireland, including the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the Bermuda Monetary Authority, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Paris Court of Appeals, the Serious Fraud Office, and the Financial Control Authority.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Friday, February 22, 2019

Happy Black History Month: Bennet College, HBCUs, Betsy DeVos & Child Welfare Fraud

HBCUs have always been part of the underground network for money laundering, but hey, what do I know?

I know the timing is just impeccable and reminds me of Detroit, sooooooooo much!

Bennett College loses appeals hearing but files federal suit to keep accreditation

Then this happened...

Federal judge grants Bennett College temporary restraining order, restoring accreditation

Just another transposable model.

HBCU, SEC, DOE, DOJ And The Child Welfare Fraud

Happy Black History Month!

DeVos donates her salary to historically black colleges, 6 other groups

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos donated a portion of her government salary to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, a group of public historically black colleges and universities, the group announced Wednesday.

“Out of all the higher education organizations in the country she could have selected, we can’t thank Mrs. DeVos enough for her trust, belief in and support for TMCF, the mission and our 47 member-schools,” Harry L. Williams, TMCF president and CEO, said in a statement.

It's the latest example of her warming relationship with HBCUs, which got off to a rocky start when she issued a statement in 2017 calling the schools — founded during an era of racial segregation — "real pioneers when it comes to school choice.” Later that year, she was booed by hundreds of graduating seniors at a historically black university in Florida as she delivered the school's commencement address.

But DeVos has since drawn praise from leaders, in part for her work on a capital financing program that's helped their financially struggling schools.

“Mrs. DeVos has taken the time to consistently meet, listen and work with TMCF, learning more about the needs and value of our schools throughout her time at the Department of Education,"

Williams said. "We have had a productive and impactful working relationship with Mrs. DeVos and her entire team.”

DeVos made a $199,700 salary as a Cabinet member in 2018. The college fund would not say how much she gave. Nor would an Education Department spokesperson.

DeVos, a billionaire philanthropist, has a long history of donating to groups that support expanding access to charter schools and private schools and religious organizations, among other causes. Last year, she divided her government salary among four nonprofits, including the Special Olympics.

Besides the college fund, DeVos this year also gave unspecified amounts to:

— The Travis Manion Foundation, a nonprofit supporting veterans.

Image result for The Travis Manion Foundation

https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2017/412/237/2017-412237951-0e5b08d4-9.pdf

— The Kennedy Center's Any Given Child initiative.

http://education.kennedy-center.org/education/anygivenchild/

It seems Any Given Child is not incorporated but was found 411 entities to directly link to the Van Wezel Foundation.

https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2017/592/807/2017-592807055-0f15a7ff-9.pdf

— The National Academy Foundation, a national network supporting STEM education.

Image result for The National Academy Foundation

https://naf.org/

This one seems to be one of those Social Impact Bonds operation where you can write off a tax exemption as a PR marketing ploy to pump your federal and state Medicaid cost reimbursements double billing programs.

This is one of those start up charter schools when you want to set up shop to plunder the children's trust funds of a municipal school budget.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unofficial-National-Foundation-Engineering-Operations/dp/1599800438

— The Children's Scholarship Fund, a nonprofit school choice group.

Image result for The Children's Scholarship Fund

https://scholarshipfund.org/

2017 Gross Receipts: $23,961,963.00

2017 Assets: $18,362,840.00

https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2017/134/002/2017-134002189-0ed3a44c-9.pdf

This is one of those fun philosophical Gregorian Knots I like to throw at the heads of "The Elected Ones" every so often when I need a good chuckle by counting how many days it takes them to figure out that I just called them out for stealin'.

If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?

If a child meets to qualifying criteria under the Title IV-A Poverty Means Test in being eligible for free or reduced school lunches in attending a public school, funded under Title I, then why is there a private scholarship fund to pay for what the student gets for free already?

In all situations, this exercise in ethics flies over the heads of "The Elected Ones".

This particular one is fun because it flat out tells you that they are using kids as lab rats, having Medicaid pay for their socio-economic research through child welfare, an expertise of Betsy.