'Target Israel and We Will Target You': ICC Chief Exposes Explosive Death Threats From US Senators Over Israel War Crime Files

A viral post revives scrutiny of US senators' threats against the ICC prosecutor over potential actions against Israel.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan blew the lid off Trump and Netanyahu 🔥👏

Khan: "They threatened ICC judges, UN staff, and my family over Israel cases.

🇺🇸 12 U.S. senators sent a letter saying 'Go after 🇮🇱 Israel and we go after you and your family.

Then came sanctions, frozen accounts, travel bans. It is deeply dangerous for states to bully international justice."

Finally someone said this. What a COURAGE this man has 💪 🫡

https://twitter.com/i/status/2070952587986399484

U.S. Lost Another Helicopter Near Hormuz, One Crewwomen Missing

The United States Naval Forces Central Command announced that a MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier conducted an emergency water landing in the Arabian Sea on July 1.

In a statement posted to X, the command said that there is no indication the emergency water landing was caused by “hostile action.”

“Three of the helicopter’s four crew members have been recovered and are in stable condition aboard George H. W. Bush. U.S. Navy assets in the region are currently searching for other aircrewman still missing,” it added, noting the “cause of incident is under investigation.”

The MH-60S, a variant of the naval SH-60, is typically deployed aboard aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, Maritime Sealift Command ships, and fast combat support ships.

The helicopter’s missions include vertical replenishment, medical evacuation, combat search and rescue, anti-surface warfare, maritime interdiction, close air support, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and special warfare support. A single helicopter of this type could cost upwards of $30 million.

This is the second American military helicopter to go down close to the Strait of Hormuz in under a month. On June 8, an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter went down near the coast of Oman. Both crewmen were rescued by a drone of the U.S. Navy in a first.

Interestingly, when the Apache went down, the U.S. military, just likely now, didn’t provide any clear reason. Later, however, it acknowledged that the helicopter was hit by an Iranian drone. The incident led to a series of clashes with the Islamic Republic.

The latest incident also follows a clash between the U.S. and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. The clash broke out after Oman announced an alternative route through the waterway along its shoreline in cooperation with the International Maritime Organization.

Two ships were hit along the route, with the U.S. Central Command holding Iran responsible and launching two waves of strikes against the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded both times, hitting American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

https://southfront.press/u-s-lost-another-helicopter-near-hormuz-one-crewwomen-missing/

Iran Threatens To ‘School’ Trump’s ‘Pets’ In Tel Aviv

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on July 1 that the memorandum of understanding obligates the United States to “muzzle its pets in Tel Aviv” and prevent Israel from militarily threatening Iran

“The terms of the Islamabad MoU are crystal clear and public for all to see. POTUS has committed the US to muzzling its pets in Tel Aviv,” Araghchi wrote in a post on X.

“If they ignore their master, Iran will school them. Any threat against our People and Leadership will receive Immediate Powerful Response,” he added.

The warning came in response to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said in a briefing with Israeli military reporters a day earlier that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “marked for death.”

Katz also said that the Islamic Republic was attempting to “extract concessions” in its talks with the U.S., warning that Israel “will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. If an agreement achieves that, all the better.”

The minister doubled down, renewing his threats on July 1. He said that Israel had twice carried out “proactive preemptive attacks” against Iran and would strike a third time if necessary.

“We crushed the nuclear program it was advancing and removed an existential threat from over the citizens of Israel,” Katz said.

“We thwarted its leaders, headed by (former Supreme Leader Ali) Khamenei, who led the plan to destroy Israel,” he added.

Israel is not a signatory to the memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran last month. Nevertheless, the deal clearly states in its very first term that the allies of both countries should “refrain from the threat or use of force against each other.” Naturally, this includes Israel being the main ally of the U.S. in its war on Iran.

The latest warning by Araghchi came as Iran began another round of indirect talks with the Americans in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Two senior Iranian sources who spoke with Reuters after the start of the talks said that the Islamic Republic is determined to win international recognition of its control over the Strait of Hormuz and ability to levy fees on ships entering or leaving the Gulf even if it has to do so by force.

U.S. and Iran clashed over the waterway in recent days after Oman announced an alternative route along its shoreline in cooperation with the International Maritime Organization.

Two ships were hit along the route, with the U.S. Central Command holding Iran responsible and launching two waves of strikes against the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded both times, hitting American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Despite all recent tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the talks with the Islamic Republic in the Qatari capital went well.

“The denuclearization of Iran is moving along well,” Trump told reporters. “They’ve had very good meetings, and we’ll see.”

Katz’s latest threats were a deliberate attempt to sabotage the American-Iranian talks in Qatar, and it has clearly failed. It remains unclear, however, if the two countries made any meaningful progress on key issues, like the future of the Strait of Hormoz, during the indirect talks.

https://southfront.press/iran-threatens-to-school-trumps-pets-in-tel-aviv/

Brother Lawrence's 1692 book provides a simple method of experiencing the Divine within, the antidote to insanity.

"Fix your mind on God continually, converse with Him lovingly in all things, and let every action flow from love for Him.

This practice, he taught, is the shortest and surest path to spiritual fulfillment."

https://levaire.com/the-practice-of-the-presence-of-god-free-pdf/

Alibaba Group and AUS Merchant Services Agree to Pay $600 Million to Resolve Allegations that they Failed to Prevent Illegal Sales of Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceutical Equipment, and Other Illegal Products

Note: View Alibaba non-prosecution agreement here. View AUS Merchant Services non-prosecution agreement here.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (Alibaba) — one of China’s largest companies — and its U.S.-based payment processor, AUS Merchant Services Inc. (AUS, and formerly known as Alipay US), have entered a non-prosecution agreement to pay $600 million to resolve the Justice Department’s allegations that they violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) by failing to prevent merchants from selling and importing illegal pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, listed chemicals, and pill presses into the United States through the Alibaba.com and AliExpress.com e‑commerce platforms.

Alibaba operates e-commerce platform Alibaba.com, one of the world’s largest business-to-business (B2B) online marketplaces, and e-commerce platform AliExpress.com, a global business-to-consumer online marketplace. AUS is a subsidiary of Ant International, which operates Alipay, one of the largest mobile and digital payment platforms in the world.

Alibaba admitted that, between January 2016 and December 2024, it failed to prevent merchants using its Alibaba.com and AliExpress.com platforms from engaging in approximately 80,000 product sales involving imports into the United States, including List I and II chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and pharmaceutical counterfeiting equipment. These sales violated the FDCA and other federal laws. The combined gross merchandise value of these transactions exceeded $200 million. During the investigation, federal law enforcement conducted over 40 undercover purchases of pharmaceuticals and counterfeiting equipment that were illegal to be imported into the United States.

Although Alibaba maintained policies restricting the sale of prohibited products on Alibaba.com and AliExpress.com, employees raised concerns that the company’s compliance controls were inadequate and failed to prevent the sale and importation of illegal products. Alibaba also provided merchants and buyers with a private, in-platform messaging service that some merchants used to facilitate unlawful transactions. In some instances, merchants used Alibaba's messaging service to direct buyers to third-party encrypted messaging platforms to facilitate those unlawful transactions. Alibaba derived some profit related to those sellers' illegal activities on Alibaba.com by charging membership, marketing, advertising, shipping, and payment-processing fees.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/alibaba-group-and-aus-merchant-services-agree-pay-600-million-resolve-allegations-they

Second Former Trading Firm Executive Sentenced To 24 Years In Federal Prison For Defrauding Coloradans and Clients Worldwide Of $179 Million

DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Michael Shawn Stewart, 63, of Scottsdale, Arizona, was sentenced to a total of 288 months in federal prison and $93,273,838.16 in restitution after being found guilty by a federal jury in May 2024 on 14 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Co-defendant, Bryant Edwin Sewall, 59, formerly of Little Elm, Texas, was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison in November 2024 after being convicted on the same counts.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Stewart and Sewall were owners and executives of companies operating on various Caribbean islands under the names Mediatrix Capital and Blue Isle Markets. As part of the scheme, Stewart and Sewall provided false and fraudulent information about an algorithm-based foreign currency exchange (“ForEx”) trading program to potential investors and to salespeople they were using to solicit investors. For example, Stewart and Sewall falsely represented that Mediatrix had a history of successful ForEx trading going back to 2013 with no months of losses when, instead, Mediatrix did not exist until 2014, and its trading history included many months of net losses. Mediatrix promised its investors “100% Transparency,” “100% Liquidity” and “World Class Returns.”

Additional evidence at trial showed that, after luring investors into the scheme, Stewart and Sewall fraudulently induced them to stay by manipulating account statements to show only positive trades while intentionally hiding massive losses that substantially reduced those investors’ accounts. By the end of the scheme, Stewart and Sewall had promised investors over $179 million but had only $9.8 million in their accounts, a gap that they internally referred to as “the hole.” Even as they lost approximately $32 million in trades, Stewart and Sewall rewarded themselves with approximately $28 million in performance fees. They also used their brokerage, Blue Isle, to fraudulently convert investor money into over $45 million in markup fees. They spent the money on real estate, boats, cars, jewelry, and other luxuries.

“Stewart and Sewall stole millions of dollars from unsuspecting clients so they could give themselves lives of luxury. Instead, they bought themselves decades in federal prison and have been ordered to pay $93 million to the people of whom they took advantage,” said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly. “To others who think they might want to get rich by defrauding their clients, we look forward uncovering your scheme and bringing you to justice.”

“Mr. Stewart and his co-defendant orchestrated an elaborate foreign currency investment fraud scheme causing significant financial harm to unsuspecting victims; they misled investors with calculated lies about profit potential while diverting the money for personal gain,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski. “The FBI remains committed to pursuing justice for individuals targeted by financial criminals.”

A third partner involved with Mediatrix and Blue Isle — Michael Young — previously pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison in 2024.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/second-former-trading-firm-executive-sentenced-24-years-federal-prison-defrauding

Former Secretary of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sentenced to 27 Months in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Take Illegal Kickbacks in Awarding Government Contract

LAFAYETTE – On June 30, 2026, former Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (“LDWF”) Jack Montoucet, 78, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for conspiring to defraud the United States by soliciting and accepting kickbacks in return for awarding a state contract. Montoucet previously pled guilty on March 31, 2026.

According to court documents, Montoucet, while Secretary of the LDWF, steered an LDWF contract to a company called DGL1, LLC, in exchange for one-third of the profit, with the other two-thirds divided between Montoucet’s two co-conspirators, Dusty Guidry and Leonard Franques. On January 27, 2021, Montoucet caused LDWF to award a no-bid contract to DGL1 to provide online hunter and boater education courses. After the Louisiana Division of Administration, Office of Special Procurement raised concerns about the no-bid contract, the LDWF put out for public bids a contract to provide these educational classes. Montoucet used his position with LDWF to ensure DGL1 had a competitive advantage in the bidding process and DGL1 was awarded the contract.

On October 8, 2021, Montoucet, acting as Secretary, signed a contract with DGL1 to provide the hunter and boater classes in the knowledge that he would receive kickbacks. A month later, Montoucet met with Franques and Guidry to discuss how to conceal the payouts, agreeing that Franques would hold Montoucet’s portion until after he departed LDWF and pay it to him as a purported “signing bonus” for consulting work.

U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana made the announcement.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Myers P. Namie, Lauren L. Nickel, and LaDonte A. Murphy, along with Trial Attorney Alex Dempsey of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice, with assistance from Legal Assistant Christy Angelle.

You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana at www.justice.gov/usao-wdla.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana at www.lawd.uscourts.gov or at https://www.lawd.uscourts.gov/cmecf-pacer, under Case Number 25-cr-00134.

###

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdla/pr/former-secretary-louisiana-department-wildlife-and-fisheries-sentenced-27-months

Former Labor Union Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud, Embezzlement, & Falsification of Union Financial Reports

Pensacola, Florida – Clarence Penny, 40, of Pace, Florida, pleaded guilty to eight counts of bank fraud, one count of embezzlement of labor union funds, and three counts of falsification of labor union reports. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “This defendant violated the position of trust he occupied in his union to personally enrich himself with the dues paid by his hard-working colleagues, and he attempted to conceal his criminal conduct by falsifying financial records he was required to maintain. Thanks to the excellent investigative work by our federal law enforcement partner and the aggressive prosecution by my office, this fraudster’s scheme has been dismantled and federal prison awaits him.”

Court documents reflect that the defendant served as the Treasurer for the Steelworkers, AFL-CIO, Local 09 333 Chapter of the United Steelworkers International Labor Union from May 2015 to October 2023. Between January 2020 and May 2023, the defendant wrote 66 unauthorized checks to himself from the Union’s bank account, and he used those fraudulently derived proceeds on personal expenses. In total, the defendant stole $94,586.53. Penny also provided fake account balances and false statements on annual financial reports in 2020, 2021, and 2022, to conceal his ongoing theft of funds.

Penny faces up to 30 years’ imprisonment for each count of bank fraud; up to five years’ imprisonment for the embezzlement count; and up to one year imprisonment for each count of falsification of labor union reports.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. Assistant United States Attorneys Brooke Lindsay and Walter Narramore are prosecuting the case.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 17, 2026, at 10:30am in the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access available public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/former-labor-union-treasurer-pleads-guilty-bank-fraud-embezzlement-falsification-union

10 Defendants, Including South L.A. Motel Manager, Arrested in Latest Human Trafficking Sweep Targeting L.A.’s Figueroa Corridor

LOS ANGELES – Six members and associates of the South Los Angeles-based Hoover Criminal Gang – and the manager of a South L.A. motel – were among nine defendants arrested today, and 10 defendants arrested total, on federal indictments charging them with a series of crimes, including sex trafficking children and adults along the Figueroa Corridor.

Today’s takedown is the second major operation that federal and local law enforcement have taken on the Figueroa Corridor, an area of Los Angeles that has long been notorious for street prostitution, the first such action occurring last year.

“Sex trafficking of young women and children ranks among the worst criminal offenses our office prosecutes – truly the lowest of the low,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “We hope today’s arrests break the cycle of crime and abuse in one of L.A.’s most notorious human trafficking corridors.”

“The actions taken today by HSI are another decisive blow against those who have exploited the vulnerable people of our community, and they will now face the consequences of those actions,” said Eddy Wang, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles. “HSI remains steadfast in our mission to protect victims and pursue justice against human traffickers. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure those responsible are held fully accountable and that victims receive the support they deserve.”

“By working hand in hand with our federal partners, we are doing far more than making arrests,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. “We are dismantling the criminal enterprises that profit from human trafficking, rescuing victims, and reclaiming the Figueroa Corridor for the community that has always deserved better.”

“As alleged, the individuals associated with the Stadium Inn concealed significant amounts of illicit cash, manipulated business records, and structured deposits across multiple accounts to hide the true source of their income,” said Darren Lian, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Working closely with our federal and local partners, IRS-CI remains committed to exposing and disrupting financial schemes that enable human trafficking and other violent crimes.”

According to a 65-count superseding indictment returned on June 25 and unsealed today, from February 2021 to June 2026, the Hoovers largely controlled sex trafficking and prostitution in the Figueroa Corridor of South Los Angeles. Members and associates of the gang acted as pimps to promote and manage sex trafficking. The indictment lists 51 victims impacted by these alleged crimes.

The superseding indictment adds seven new defendants – six of them being Hoover Criminal Gang members charged with federal crimes such as racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking through force, fraud, or coercion, drug trafficking conspiracy, and concealment money laundering:

Cameron Lockett, 23, a.k.a. “Jankie” and “Hesopayed,” of Anaheim;

Caleed Mouton, 26, a.k.a. “Poo” and “Pooski,” of South Los Angeles;

Nakhali Miller, 30, a.k.a. “FY3,” of South Los Angeles;

Jorge Melendez, 23, a.k.a. “Crim Style,” of South Los Angeles;

Mauricio Ulloa-Franco, Jr., 23, a.k.a. “Ese Face” and “Face,” of Palmdale; and

Lagrane Lenox, 30, a.k.a. “King Blue” and “Blue,” of Compton.

The seventh new defendant charged in this case is Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, 45, of South Los Angeles, the manager of the South L.A.-based Stadium Inn & Spas motel, who is charged with financially benefiting from the Hoover gang’s sex trafficking operation. Specifically, from September 2024 to January 2026, Ahir deposited $64,581 in proceeds that he knew derived from the gang’s sex trafficking of children and adults.

Ahir also is charged with “structuring,” or depositing smaller amounts at a time into bank accounts opened for this purpose to avoid banks from reporting large cash deposits to the U.S. government.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/10-defendants-including-south-la-motel-manager-arrested-latest-human-trafficking-sweep