Two Quebec Men Extradited to North Dakota from Canada as Part of ‘Operation Denial’
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-quebec-men-extradited-north-dakota-canada-part-operation-denial
Three Foreign Nationals Charged with Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS
The men were allegedly members of a group of ISIS supporters that carried out terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Day in 2019, killing 268 people
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-foreign-nationals-charged-conspiring-provide-material-support-isis
Deutsche Bank Agrees to Pay over $130 Million to Resolve Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Fraud Case
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/deutsche-bank-agrees-pay-over-130-million-resolve-foreign-corrupt-practices-act-and-fraud
Florida Medical Doctor Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Falsify Clinical Trial Data
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-medical-doctor-pleads-guilty-conspiring-falsify-clinical-trial-data
Denmark Charges Two for Masterminding Billion Dollar Tax Fraud
Two British citizens were indicted on Thursday over allegations that they swindled over a billion dollars from the Danish treasury in what was described as “cynical and carefully planned fraud,” according to a press release from the Public Prosecutor for Special Economic and International Crime (SØIK).
1280px-Sanjay Shah born 1970British financier Sanjay Shah, who was identified as one of the two charged by Danish prosecutors. (Photo:TheTroothFairy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)The two are accused of acting on behalf of numerous investors and companies, and are said to have submitted more than 3,000 applications requesting unjustified dividend tax refunds totaling 9.6 billion kroner (US$1.6 bn).
This scheme was observed on a larger scale in what is known as the cum-ex scandal, which – as revealed in a cross-border investigation that relied on undercover reporting, whistleblowers, and a leaked trove of 180,000 pages in documents – saw Europe’s financial elite extract over $60 billion from state coffers.
“It was a trade that was uncovered purely by chance, and at the end a group of masterminds turned it into an industrialized cottage industry,” said the news outlet Correctiv, which coordinated the investigation.
One of the two individuals reportedly charged by Danish prosecutors is Sanjay Shah, a flamboyant British financier residing in Dubai, who was profiled in an OCCRP investigation.
His spokesperson confirmed to the Financial Times that he had been indicted, adding that Mr. Shah, who is also being investigated by German, Norwegian, Belgian, U.K., and U.S. authorities, “continues to deny any wrongdoing and stresses that he took professional advice before carrying out the trades.”
He, along with another unnamed suspect, is accused of setting up the scheme through the use of 24 Malaysian companies and 224 American pension plans, along with more than 70 companies established in the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
If found guilty, they could face imprisonment for eight years. SØIK, Denmark’s financial crimes prosecutor, added that due the seriousness of this case, the amount stolen, the duration of the crime, and its organized nature, the maximum sentence could also be increased to twelve years.
The authority says it has already recovered in excess of $357.8 million in connection with its investigation, which presumably includes a seizure of Shah’s £15m ($20.43m) London property reported in February of last year.
Per Fiig, SØIK’s acting public prosecutor, said that in cases like these it is “very difficult or almost impossible to get the money back.”
“It is our experience from the major cases of fraud and money laundering that the proceeds of fraud are often paid to organized criminal networks that distribute the money globally through ingenious systems,” he explained.
Fiig’s office remains determined to return as much money as they can to Denmark’s treasury, saying that despite charging the two main architects of the alleged tax fraud scheme, “there are still a number of other suspects.”
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13592-denmark-charges-two-for-masterminding-billion-dollar-tax-fraud
US Sentences Russian National Behind JPMorgan Hack to 12 Years
A federal court in New York has sentenced a Russian hacker to 144 months prison time for his role in one of the largest data theft cases in U.S. history.
Amid this litany of criminal activities, Tyurin also ran an extensive online gambling service and illegal payment processing system. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)Amid this litany of criminal activities, Tyurin also ran an extensive online gambling service and illegal payment processing system. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)Russian national Andrei Tyurin was convicted on charges of computer intrusion, wire fraud, bank fraud and illegal online gambling, partly relating to his role in a scheme to steal the personal data of more than 83 million customers at JP Morgan Chase, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement on Thursday.
“From his home in Moscow, Andrei Tyurin played a major role in orchestrating and facilitating an international hacking campaign that included one of the largest thefts of U.S. customer data from a single financial institution in history,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Audrey Strauss, said.
Prosecutors noted that Tyurin did not act alone, and that he had worked under the command of Gery Shalon, who also played a senior role in several other criminal schemes, including a securities fraud racket.
“The conspiracy targeted major financial institutions, brokerage firms, news agencies, and other companies, and netted Tyurin over US$19 million,” Strauss said, adding that the enterprise had earned Tyurin’s co-conspirators hundreds of millions more in criminal proceeds.
Amid this litany of criminal activities, conducted between 2007 and 2015, Tyurin also ran an extensive online gambling service and illegal payment processing system.
Though he worked from Moscow, Tyurin has been in federal custody since he was extradited to the U.S. from Georgia in 2018.
In addition to his 12 year prison sentence, the court also ordered that Tyurin would have to forfeit his illegally-acquired, multi-million dollar personal fortune.
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13591-us-sentences-russian-national-behind-jpmorgan-hack-to-12-years
Rep. Eric Swalwell Tries to Sic FBI on BlazeTV Journalist Elijah Schaffer for Covering Capitol Riot
It all started with a poorly researched hit piece in the Daily Beast. Then it escalated quickly. However, it appears the attacks on the opposition or investigative journalists that were prevalent in the Obama administration will resume under Joe Biden. Remember when the Associated Press was spied on and James Rosen was threatened — both by Eric Holder’s DOJ? Today, it is BlazeTV’s Elijah Schaffer.
In the Beast’s never-ending mission to smear Republicans and conservatives for sport, they pounced on a tweet from Schaffer during the riots at the Capitol on Wednesday. Schaffer had been in the thick of the protests and riots all summer, providing commentary and video footage. Numerous media outlets have used his footage. It was critical in reconstructing events around the shooting in Kenosha, Wisc., that involved Kyle Rittenhouse.
Schaffer has been so effective in painting the reality of some of the most violent protests that radical left-wing groups targeted him for violence. He was beaten while covering the riots in Philadelphia following the police-involved shooting of Walter Wallace. In other words, Schaffer is a credentialed photojournalist who goes into chaotic and dangerous situations to document them.
When he covered the riots at the Capitol on January 6, he followed participants when they breached the building. Reporters from Townhall and the Daily Caller did the same. In the melee, Schaffer ended up following protestors into the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He took a picture of an open computer on the desk and posted it to Twitter, along with the update that rioters had entered the office.
During his podcast on January 8, BlazeTV founder Glenn Beck said Elijah was told to remove the post because they didn’t feel comfortable with the exposed computer screen. As requested, Elijah removed the post. But not before Molly Jong-Fast, editor-at-large for the Daily Beast, took a screenshot of it and reporter Max Tani decided to write an attack piece on the tweet deletion for the site. Clearly, he did not reach out to Schaffer for a comment:
TheBlaze host Elijah Schaffer posted a photo of a private staff computer screen, with his caption: “BREAKING: I am inside Nancy Pelosi’s office with the thousands of revolutionaries who have stormed the building. To put into perspective how quickly staff evacuated, emails are still on the screen along side a federal alert warning members of the current revolution.”
Schaffer later deleted the tweet, and tried to memoryhole his trespassing, claiming that he is merely a “full time reporter” and “am not personally involved in the events today in DC.” He added that his repeated use of words like “patriots” and “revolutionaries” to describe the MAGA mob was because the protesters used such descriptors for themselves.
So, Schaffer, a full-time reporter, posted an image to try and tell the story of the events. His employer asked him to remove it and he complied. However, if you read the Daily Beast post, you would think Schaffer organized the breach of the doors and was gleefully participating. Tani says The Blaze did not immediately respond to comment. My guess is he gave them about 30 seconds, and there is no update based on Beck’s explanation this morning. Because, of course, there wouldn’t be.
Based on the image alone, Representative Eric “Fang-Bang” Swalwell decided to add fuel to the fire and share it with the FBI. Trying to get federal law enforcement to pursue a journalist is a pretty rich irony since he was a co-sponsor of the Journalist Protection Act. Mind you, that was only because Orange Man Bad used to call CNN fake news and his supporters booed them at rallies. This was especially distressing to Jim “loves himself a mirror” Acosta.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/stacey-lennox/2021/01/08/blaze-tv-journalist-elijah-schaffer-smeared-attacked-and-banned-for-covering-capitol-riots-n1325008
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski calls for President Trump to resign
The Republican from Alaska says she is also questioning whether to remain in the party
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski has called for President Donald Trump to resign in the wake of Wednesday's breach of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, saying the mob that stormed the building was taking "an order from the president."
Murkowski—who has earned a reputation as a centrist willing to buck the party line—added that if Republicans remain the party of Trump, she may no longer be a good fit.
What are the details?
"I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage," Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday of Trump, who has less than two weeks remaining of his presidency.
"I think he should leave," she reiterated, saying, "he said he's not going to show up. He's not going to appear at the at the inauguration. He hasn't been focused on what is going on with COVID. He's either been golfing or he's been inside the Oval Office fuming and throwing every single person who has been loyal and faithful to him under the bus, starting with [Vice President Mike Pence]. He doesn't want to stay there. He only wants to stay there for the title. He only wants to stay there for his ego. He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I don't think he's capable of doing a good thing."
Murkowski went on to say that "there may have been many, many, many, many good Americans who came to Washington, D.C., because they felt strongly in support of this president," while she blames Trump for inciting that occurred at the Capitol following his speech at the rally that occurred beforehand.
"I will attribute it to the president, who said, even after his vice president told him that morning, 'I do not have the constitutional authority to do what you have asked me to do. I cannot do it. I have to protect and uphold the Constitution.' Even after the vice president told President Trump that, he still told his supporters to fight. How are they supposed to take that? It's an order from the president. And so that's why they did it. They came up and they fought and people were harmed, and injured and died."
The Anchorage Daily News asked Murkowski whether she might leave the Republican Party, to which she replied:
"Well, you know, there's a lot of people who actually thought that I did that in 2010, think that I became an independent. I didn't have any reason to leave my party in 2010. I was a Republican who ran a write-in campaign and I was successful. But I will tell you, if the Republican Party has become nothing more than the party of Trump, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me."
With Democrats picking up both Georgia Senate seats this week, the upper chamber is now split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, meaning Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will serve as the tie-breaker after inauguration. Losing Murkowski would weaken the GOP even further, as the Democrats hold a majority in the House and have won the White House.
Anything else?
Murkowski is the first Republican senator to call for Trump to step down, as House Democrats draw up articles of impeachment against the president for the second time.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Friday that impeachment of the president is "not going to happen" in the Senate.
But another GOP senator, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, told CBS News that if the House brought articles of impeachment against Trump, he would "definitely consider" such a measure.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/gop-sen-lisa-murkowski-calls-for-president-trump-to-resign
CDC investigating death of Florida doctor after receiving COVID-19 vaccine
Pfizer is also investigating the death
A Florida doctor died about two weeks after he received a COVID-19 vaccine, and investigations have been launched to determine whether the shot had any role in the man's death.
Dr. Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old obstetrician-gynecologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, passed away on Jan. 3. Michael received the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Dec. 18, but then experienced a "strong reaction" only days later, according to his wife, Heidi Neckelmann.
"In a Facebook post, Michael's wife, Heidi Neckelmann, said he sought emergency care three days after the shot because he had dots on his skin that indicated internal bleeding," USA Today reported.
Michael reportedly suffered from a severe lack of platelets, and doctors from around the country allegedly attempted to raise his platelet count to "no avail." Because of his medical condition, Michael purportedly suffered from a hemorrhagic stroke and died in a "matter of minutes," according to his wife.
The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy on Tuesday, and has not ruled out a possible connection to the COVID-19 vaccine.
"The cause of death is pending the completion of studies being done by the medical examiner and the Centers for Disease Control," Darren Caprara, director of operations at the county office, told the Miami Herald. "The case is still under investigation, so nothing has been finalized."
Caprara said the doctor's cause of death would be released after the medical examiner completes its investigation in partnership with other agencies.
A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the agency is "aware of a reported death in Florida of an individual who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine about two weeks before passing away."
"CDC will evaluate the situation as more information becomes available and provide timely updates on what is known and any necessary actions," the CDC spokesperson said. "It's been a difficult year as each of us grapple with a worldwide pandemic. Use of COVID-19 vaccines is the next step in our efforts to protect Americans and reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic."
Pfizer released a statement on the death, "Pfizer and BioNTech are aware of the death of a healthcare professional sixteen days after receiving a first dose" of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"It is a highly unusual clinical case of severe thrombocytopenia, a condition that decreases the body's ability to clot blood and stop internal bleeding," the pharmaceutical company noted. "We are actively investigating this case, but we don't believe at this time that there is any direct connection to the vaccine."
The Mayo Clinic defines Thrombocytopenia as a "condition in which you have a low blood platelet count," where "the number of platelets can be so low that dangerous internal bleeding occurs." Thrombocytopenia "might occur as a result of a bone marrow disorder such as leukemia or an immune system problem. Or it can be a side effect of taking certain medications."
Pfizer stated, "There have been no related safety signals identified in our clinical trials, the post-marketing experience thus far or with the mRNA vaccine platform."
"To date, millions of people have been vaccinated and we are closely monitoring all adverse events in individuals receiving our vaccine," Pfizer continued. "It is important to note that serious adverse events, including deaths that are unrelated to the vaccine are unfortunately likely to occur at a similar rate as they would in the general population."
According to Bloomberg's COVID-19 vaccine tracker, 6.25 million doses have been administered in the United States since vaccinations began on Dec. 14. There have been 17.5 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines administered in 38 countries.
Mount Sinai Medical Center released a statement declaring that the "appropriate agencies are contacted immediately and have our full cooperation." The hospital said it "cannot confirm or deny information about any patient" due to medical privacy laws.
The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office, the Florida Department of Health, the CDC, and Pfizer are all investigating Michael's death.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/coronavirus-vaccine-death-florida-doctor
Cocaine-Filled Colombian Submarine Intercepted near Mexican Beach
Four drug traffickers from Colombia used a makeshift submarine to move cocaine into Mexican waters this week.
The seizure took place near the beach resort area of Huatulco, Oaxaca, when military forces working coast guard operations intercepted the makeshift submarine, the Mexican Navy revealed. A military surveillance aircraft spotted the submarine and coordinated the capture.
Authorities arrested four men identified only as Colombian nationals. Sailors seized the boat and 106 bundles of cocaine. A total weight for the cocaine remains undisclosed. Mexico’s Navy claimed the four suspected drug runners and their equipment would be turned over to the Oaxaca Attorney General’s Office for criminal handling.
https://www.breitbart.com/border/2021/01/08/cocaine-filled-colombian-submarine-intercepted-near-mexican-beach/