CEO charged in MASSIVE money-laundering case targeting illicit gold trade

Miami, Fl. – South Florida federal prosecutors have charged a Doral business owner with facilitating a $140 million transnational illicit gold smuggling operation aimed at laundering cash with alleged ties to criminal activity.

According to the criminal complaint affidavit unsealed yesterday, Jesus Gabriel Rodriguez, Jr., 45, owned and operated Transvalue, a South Florida company that transported gold, cash, and other valuables by armored truck, both domestically and internationally. It is alleged that from about March 2015 to September 2016, Rodriguez used his industry experience and contacts to facilitate the importation of thousands of kilograms of illicitly-sourced gold being flown into the United States from Curacao. The sellers of the gold were co-conspirators based in the Caribbean. The buyers of the gold were co-conspirators based in South Florida and Latin America who earned volume-based commissions by procuring gold for NTR Metals (now, Elemetals LLC). NTR Metals was a U.S. precious metals refinery with policies in place to combat money laundering, including not buying gold from Curacao, a country with no gold mines that is commonly used as a waypoint for gold illegally mined in, and smuggled out of, South America. Rodriguez helped co-conspirators dodge NTR Metals’ anti-money laundering policy and get the gold past U.S. Customs by working to conceal the gold’s illegal origins and connections to Curacao, says the affidavit.

For example, it is alleged that Rodriguez coordinated transportation for the gold that routed it through different countries before reaching its final destination in Miami: from Curacao to the United States, to the Cayman Islands, and back to the United States. According to the charges, Rodriguez hired brokers to clear the gold through U.S. Customs at Miami International Airport (MIA), where customs documentation was introduced falsely identifying the gold as having originated in the Cayman Islands, not Curacao. Then, Rodriguez used his company’s armored trucks to transport the smuggled gold from MIA to NTR Metals’ precious metals refinery in Doral, it is alleged. To pay for the gold, “clean” money was wire-transferred to companies owned by co-conspirators.

The criminal complaint against Jesus Gabriel Rodriguez, Jr. charges him with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering.

https://breaking911.com/ceo-charged-in-massive-money-laundering-case-targeting-illicit-gold-trade/

Military Leaders Fire Back at Lawmakers as Critical Race Theory Debate Erupts on Capitol Hill

Months of conservative criticism of the Pentagon's diversity and anti-extremism efforts boiled over Wednesday, as the military's top leadership forcefully pushed back on accusations that the services are teaching Marxist and anti-American racial theories.

During a House Armed Services Committee budget hearing, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley each grew heated at different points amid questioning about critical race theory.

After Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., pressed Austin about a course at West Point that discussed critical race theory and a seminar on "Understanding Whiteness and White Rage," Milley delivered a strong defense of the need for service members to be open-minded.

It's important to understand differing viewpoints on the United States, Milley said, particularly at the service academies, which are universities.

"I want to understand White rage, and I'm White," he said. "What is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find out."

Critical race theory was developed in academia in the late 1970s and early 1980s; it argues that racism is not just a matter of individual people's biases, but something that has been embedded in systems and policies throughout the United States over long periods of time. For example, bank policies from a century ago on who they would give mortgages to have had long-term effects on zoning and hurt desegregation efforts.

But critics argue that critical race theory and its proponents are fostering racial intolerance by dividing people into groups based on their identities, and teaching that America is a fundamentally racist country.

Milley acknowledged that he needs to better familiarize himself with critical race theory, but dismissed concerns that learning about it would be dangerous.

"I've read Mao Zedong, I've read Karl Marx, I've read Lenin," he said. "That doesn't make me a communist. So what is wrong with having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?"

As Milley continued, his brow furrowed deeper and his voice grew sterner.

"I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our noncommissioned officers of being, quote, woke, or something else, because we're studying some theories that are out there," he said.

Milley passionately explained that the racial theories being debated stem from efforts at Harvard Law School and the legacy that systemic racism has left the nation.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/06/23/i-want-understand-white-rage-top-military-leaders-defend-race-education.html

Children missing from residential care exposed to sexual exploitation

Vulnerable children in state care are going missing from their residential units at alarming rates with many exposed to sexual and criminal exploitation, including through organised rings of predators.

An inquiry by the Victorian Commission for Children and Young People found those who went missing from state care were often stigmatised as “rotten” or “streetwise” rather than vulnerable.

It found their exposure to sexual and criminal exploitation, and other serious harms, was poorly reported and met with an inadequate and inconsistent response by child protection, residential care providers and Victoria Police.

Residential units house the state’s most traumatised and vulnerable children who cannot live with their parents or find a place in foster or kinship care. There are about 450 children in residential care on any given night.

Commissioner for Children and Young People Liana Buchanan said young people said they were leaving residential care units because they didn’t feel physically safe or connected to their unit.

“As a direct consequence of the fact that we don’t have a fit-for-purpose model for caring for these children, they are in large numbers leaving care, and ultimately becoming victims experiencing some of the worst forms of harm that we can imagine.”

In the 18 months to March 31, 2020, 388 warrants per month were granted, on average, authorising police to take children absent or missing from residential care into “safe custody”.

Over the inquiry period, 37 per cent of residential care absent client incident reports (870) referred to “sexual exploitation”.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/children-missing-from-residential-care-exposed-to-sexual-exploitation-20210624-p583sh.html

Netflix Unveils New Bizarre Dating Show ‘Sexy Beasts’ Where Singles Look Like Demonic Furries

When society is in the final throes of collapse…

Netflix teased a new bizarre dating show “Sexy Beasts” where singles look like demonic furries.

The dating show will feature contestants in elaborate makeup and prosthetics to “put true blind-date chemistry to the test.”

The show premieres July 21.

The reaction to Netflix’s demon furry dating show was interesting.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/06/netflix-unveils-new-bizarre-dating-show-sexy-beasts-singles-look-like-demonic-furries-video/