The Virginian-Pilot

Opinion: Reports of QAnon's death aren't exaggerated

That's why QAnon, who made a messiah out of former President Donald Trump, was always bound to lose steam. It will follow the arc of furious, loopy-loo …

30 mins ago

CNA

Commentary: QAnon – how a conspiracy-consuming …

Commentary: QAnon – how a conspiracy-consuming community persists, despite its leader going MIA. From its humble beginnings in drops posted by a prophet- …

38 mins ago

News.com.au

Four Corners: ABC duped by Scott Morrison QAnon …

A Four Corners investigation has raised concerns over Scott Morrison's friendship with one particular QAnon adherent.

2 hours ago

The New York Times

Opinion | Will Christian America Withstand the Pull of QAnon?

Yet there have been no statements or resolutions by the Southern Baptist Convention calling QAnon “incompatible with the Baptist Faith & Message,” which six …

2 hours ago

The Independent

Woman who claims to be secret queen of Canada develops …

According to Vice, her posts on Telegram were soon noticed by figures within the QAnon conspiracy movement, members of whom were accused of taking part …

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SEC Charges Investment Advisers With Cherry-Picking, Obtains Asset Freeze

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2021-105

Washington D.C., June 17, 2021 —

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has obtained an asset freeze and other emergency relief, and filed fraud charges, against a Miami-based investment professional and two investment firms for engaging in an alleged “cherry-picking” scheme in which they channeled millions of dollars in trading profits to preferred accounts.

According to the SEC’s complaint filed under seal on June 10 in federal court in the Southern District of Florida and unsealed today, defendants Ramiro Jose Sugranes, UCB Financial Advisers Inc., and UCB Financial Services Limited engaged in a scheme since at least September 2015 to divert profitable trades to two accounts believed to be held by Sugranes’ relatives and saddle other clients with losing trades. The defendants allegedly used a single account to place trades without specifying the intended recipients of the securities at the time they placed the trades. As alleged, after the defendants established a position, if the price of the securities increased during the trading day, the defendants usually closed out the position and allocated those profitable trades to the two preferred accounts. Conversely, the complaint alleges that if the price of the securities decreased during the trading day, the defendants usually allocated the unprofitable trades to other client accounts. According to the complaint, the preferred clients, who are named as relief defendants, received approximately $4.6 million from profitable trades while other clients sustained more than $5 million in first-day losses.

“We allege that Sugranes used the UCB investment firms to funnel millions of dollars to two clients, while unloading over $5 million in first-day losses on their other clients,” said Joseph G. Sansone, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit. “The SEC uses sophisticated analytical tools to ferret out investment professionals who abuse their positions to engage in cherry-picking and other fraudulent conduct, as we allege happened here.”

The SEC’s complaint charges Sugranes and the two UCB entities with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, and seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. The complaint also names the preferred clients as relief defendants and seeks to recover their unlawful gains and prejudgment interest. On June 14, the court granted the SEC’s request for emergency relief, including an asset freeze, accounting, and expedited discovery.

The SEC’s investigation, which is ongoing, stems from the Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center, which uses data analysis tools to detect suspicious patterns, including improbably successful trading. The investigation is being conducted by Jeffrey E. Oraker, Daniel M. Konosky, and Helena Engelhart Bean of the Market Abuse Unit and Denver Regional Office with assistance from John Rymas of the Market Abuse Unit and Stuart Jackson and Joshua Mallet of the SEC’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis. The investigation is supervised by Danielle R. Voorhees and Joseph G. Sansone. The SEC’s litigation will be led by Christopher E. Martin and Mark L. Williams under the supervision of Gregory A. Kasper.

https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-105

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I want to thank everybody. Very, very special people. And it is true, this is my first stop, officially. We’re not talking about the balls, or we’re not talking about even the speeches – although they did treat me nicely on that speech yesterday. (Laughter.) I always call them the dishonest media, but they treated me nicely. (Laughter.)

And the reason you’re my first stop is that, as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth. (Laughter and applause.) And they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. And I just want to let you know, the reason you’re the number-one stop is exactly the opposite – exactly. And they understand that, too.

>>13933799

We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Northern District of Indiana

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, June 18, 2021

Two Men From Illinois Were Sentenced To Over 19 Years in Prison

For Robbery and Brandishing a Firearm During Crimes of Violence

FORT WAYNE-Quran R. Waterford, 36, of Chicago, Illinois and Gary McCaleb, 31, of Harvey, Illinois, were sentenced on June 18, 2021, before United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty, following their pleas of guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Hobbs Act Robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.

Waterford was sentenced to 239 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.

McCaleb was sentenced to 245 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.

Restitution of $8,630 was imposed against both defendants.

According to documents filed in the case, on December 5, 2018, Quran Waterford and Gary McCaleb entered B&H Firearms in Fort Wayne while armed with a firearm, tied the owner’s hands behind his back and stole over $8,000 worth of firearms. Eight days later, on December 13, 2018, Waterford, McCaleb, and an unknown individual, entered a T-Mobile cellular telephone store in Fort Wayne while armed with a firearm, restrained two employees and two customers by zip tying their hands behind their backs, before fleeing with numerous cellular telephones. Waterford and McCaleb were apprehended by the Fort Wayne Police Department after a short pursuit.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey R. Speith.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndin/pr/two-men-illinois-were-sentenced-over-19-years-prison

@TucsonSentinel

'Auditors' promised to screen workers, but QAnon promoters and Capitol rioters were hired

>>13933846

https://twitter.com/TucsonSentinel/status/1406036811315564548

>>13933812

I will always fight for you. I will be watching, I will be listening. And I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better.

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Eastern District of New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, June 18, 2021

Acting United States Attorney Mark J. Lesko Announces Formation of Civil Rights Team in the Office’s Civil Division

The Team’s Focus Will Include Policing, Patterns and Practices of Housing Discrimination, and School Segregation

Mark J. Lesko, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced today the creation of a Civil Rights Team in the Office’s Civil Division. The Team, comprised of four Civil Division Assistant U.S. Attorneys and the Civil Division Chief of Civil Rights, enhances the Office’s focus on protecting the rights of the most vulnerable residents of the Eastern District of New York, especially those in disadvantaged communities. The Office has responsibility for the enforcement of our nation’s Civil Rights laws in the Eastern District of New York, which encompasses Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island and Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island. There are approximately eight million residents in the Eastern District.

The Office is creating this team in recognition of President Joseph Biden’s directive in Executive Order 13985, which sets forth that “[a]ffirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our Government.” Among the areas that the Team will focus on are policing, patterns and practices of housing discrimination, and school segregation.

In announcing the formation of the Civil Rights Team, Acting United States Attorney Lesko stated, “Today, the Eastern District of New York, a jurisdiction created by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, celebrates the Juneteenth National Independence Day commemorating the abolition of slavery, which was signed into law yesterday by President Biden. This Office is firmly committed to identifying and rooting out discrimination in all of its forms, wherever it persists, and we have a long and storied history in the Eastern District of New York of enforcing federal laws that prohibit discrimination. The creation of the Civil Rights Team will further strengthen the Office’s capacity to investigate and civilly prosecute civil rights violations in the City of New York and on Long Island, especially our ability to handle investigations of systemic discrimination. The establishment of the Team demonstrates the commitment of this Office to vigorously enforce our federal civil rights laws to help foster a community where individuals can live safely, free from unlawful discrimination, and ensure equal rights for all, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.”

The Office’s Civil Rights Practice is led by Civil Division Chief of Civil Rights Michael J. Goldberger; the Civil Rights Team is made up of Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel G. Balaban, Megan Freismuth, Sean Greene-Delgado, Dara Olds, and Civil Rights Investigator Laura Riley. The Civil Rights Team is overseen by Civil Division Acting Chief Joseph A. Marutollo and Civil Division Deputy Chief Richard K. Hayes. The Team will continue to partner and coordinate with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and federal, state and local agencies that enforce civil rights laws. The Office previously announced it had doubled the size of the Criminal Civil Rights Section under the leadership of Chief Elizabeth Geddes, who, among her other responsibilities, will act as liaison to the Civil Division’s newly formed Civil Rights Team.

The Office has also created a new webpage, located at https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/civil-rights, dedicated to Civil Rights Enforcement, which highlights the work of the Office and provides links to complaint forms and to other civil rights resources. For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, or to report to report suspected violations of civil rights please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/acting-united-states-attorney-mark-j-lesko-announces-formation-civil-rights-team-office

U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of Wyoming

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, June 18, 2021

ARIZONA MAN SENTENCED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING ALONG WITH AN ILLEGAL ALIEN CO-CONSPIRATOR

Acting United States Attorney Bob Murray announced today that JOSE LUIS URREA, age 35 of Tucson, Arizona, and MARIO VERA-SANDOVAL, age 51 of Cananea, Sonora, Mexico were convicted and sentenced by Federal District Court Alan B. Johnson related to their involvement in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Urrea was sentenced to 63 months. Vera-Sandoval was sentenced to 37 months of imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervision, and was convicted of illegally entering the United States, for which he received a sentence of time served.

On August 14, 2020, the defendants were stopped by Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) in Sweetwater County for a routine traffic stop. After the vehicle pulled over, the two passengers quickly exited the vehicle and began aggressively checking the tires and could not give a definitive answer as to their travel plans. During questioning, Urrea admitted he thought there was something illegal in a backpack that the trooper observed in the car. The trooper asked permission to search the vehicle, which resulted in law enforcement finding a large amount of methamphetamine, totaling 2,331.8 grams (approximately 5 pounds) inside the backpack. Urrea said he was paid $3,000 to deliver the backpack to unknown persons in another state. Vera-Sandoval was aware that the reason for the trip was to transport methamphetamine and law enforcement discovered he was in the United States illegally. Both defendants were taken into custody.

Special agents with the Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) further questioned the defendants and gathered enough evidence through their phones, dash cam footage, and their own admissions to charge them with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

“We know the interstate system is widely used by traffickers,” said Criminal Chief Nicole Romine. “That is why state agencies and local law enforcement in communities along the interstates, along with federal partners, work collectively to pursue and prosecute this type of criminal conduct. Simply put, we will not tolerate the use of our interstate system to transport drugs to or through the State of Wyoming.”

“On behalf of the DEA I’d like to commend the sharp eye of the Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers who made this significant seizure,” said Deanne Reuter, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Denver Field Division. “Officers like these are the real force multiplier when combating the trafficking of these dangerous drugs.”

This crime was investigated by the WHP, DCI, and DEA. The drug-related charges were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie I. Sprecher and the illegal immigration charges were prosecuted by Jonathan Coppom.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wy/pr/arizona-man-sentenced-drug-trafficking-along-illegal-alien-co-conspirator

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