UNSEALED Farmington Hills university set up by feds to nab illegal immigrants

The Department of Homeland Security said it set up a fake university in Farmington Hills to target immigrant students who were staying in the U.S. without proper authorization, according to federal indictments unsealed in Detroit Wednesday.

Eight people were arrested and indicted for conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harboring aliens for profit, said US. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Matthew Schneider. Six of them were arrested in metro Detroit, one in Florida, and another in Virginia.

An indictment says the defendants helped at least 600 "foreign citizens to illegally remain, re-enter and work in the United States and actively recruited them to enroll in a fraudulent school as part of a 'pay to stay' scheme."

The indictments were filed Jan. 15 and unsealed Wednesday. They allege that from February 2017 through January 2019, the defendants "conspired with each other and others to fraudulently facilitate hundreds of foreign nationals in illegally remaining and working in the United States by actively recruiting them to enroll into a metro Detroit private university that, unbeknownst to the conspirators, was operated by HSI (Homeland Security Investigation) special agents as part of an undercover operation."

HSI is an investigative arm of the Dept. of Homeland Security.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/2019/01/30/farmington-university-immigrant-arrests/2724992002/

UNSEALED Another Apple Engineer Accused of Stealing Autonomous Vehicle Trade Secrets

For the second time in six months, an Apple engineer is accused of stealing intellectual property in order to benefit a China-based competitor

For the second time in six months, the FBI is accusing a Chinese national working for Apple of attempting to steal trade secrets related to the company’s secret autonomous vehicle program, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit learned Tuesday.

Apple began investigating Jizhong Chen when another employee reported seeing the engineer taking photographs in a sensitive work space, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed this week.

Chen, according to the complaint, allowed Apple Global Security employees to search his personal computer, where they found thousands of files containing Apple’s intellectual property, including manuals, schematics, and diagrams. Security personnel also found on the computer about a hundred photographs taken inside an Apple building.

Apple learned Chen recently applied for a job at a China-based autonomous vehicle company that is a direct competitor of Apple’s project, according to the complaint. A photo found on Chen’s computer, which Apple provided to the FBI, showed an assembly drawing of an Apple-designed wiring harness for an autonomous vehicle.

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Another-Apple-Engineer-Accused-of-Stealing-Autonomous-Vehicle-Trade-Secrets-505055701.html

==UNSEALED

Massive Workers’ Compensation Fraud Case leads to Grand Jury Indictments==

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif – A Riverside County judge has unsealed indictments against eight people accused of operating an international conspiracy to defraud the California workers’ compensation system of more than $123 million.

In March 2017, the Riverside and San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Offices began an investigation into Blue Oak Medical Group. The evidence was presented to a Riverside County criminal grand jury which, after hearing six weeks of testimony, handed down indictments on Jan. 17, 2019.

The indictments were unsealed on Jan. 22, 2019, by Judge O.G. Magno in Dept. 41 at the Hall of Justice in Riverside.

Indicted in the case are: Kenneth Amodeo, DOB: 2-4-59, of Agoura Hills; Rosa Bernal, DOB: 4-14-71, of Covina; Shannon Devane, DOB: 4-24-77, of Downey; Janek Hunt, DOB: 9-25-74, of Estonia; Edgar Lozano, DOB: 11-21-66, of Porter Ranch; Matthew Rifat, DOB: 10-16-69, of El Cajon; Hector Sandoval, DOB: 9-22-64, of Sherman Oaks; and Munir Uwaydah, DOB: 4-1-66, of Lebanon.

Based on information found in publicly filed documents, the defendants used the sham clinics to take advantage of thousands of patients by prescribing nearly all of them the same high priced cocktail of unnecessary medications, regardless of the patients’ condition. Many of the medications were produced by pharmacies under the control of the defendants and the patients often received little, if any, of the medicine they were prescribed. The defendants funneled the fraudulently obtained proceeds from the scam through a network of shell companies, ultimately sending the money to co-conspirators throughout Southern California, Europe, and the Middle East.

http://www.thedesertinde.com/Articles-2019/Massive-Workers-Compensation-Fraud-Case-leads-to-Grand-Jury-Indictments–0129.html

UNSEALED Bail hiked for alleged MS-13 members charged in Huntington Station stabbing

Defendants face second-degree assault charges but they don't belong to the notorious gang, their lawyers say, and were defending themselves in the Jan. 9 altercation.

Three alleged MS-13 members accused in the Huntington Station stabbing of a 16-year-old boy earlier this month were charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday in a Central Islip courtroom where a judge tripled their bail.

The defendants, Ramon Arevalo Lopez, 19, Oscar Canales Molina, 17, and Nobeli Montes Zuniga, 20, all of Huntington Station, appeared in First District Court in Central Islip Tuesday for their arraignments on second-degree assault charges unsealed in the indictment.

At a news conference afterward, Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini said that despite the Jan. 9 attack inside a Huntington Station Burger King, MS-13 is “on the run” on Long Island thanks to pressure from federal and local authorities. But there are indications, Sini said, to suggest the gang is poised for a resurgence.

“There is intelligence that in 2019, MS-13 will make some effort to come back,” he said. The Jan. 9 stabbing gained national prominence when the White House sent out a tweet in an effort to tie it to the ongoing debate over illegal immigration.

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/ms-13-timothy-sini-huntington-station-stabbing-1.26582910

GAGA UNSEALED 2ND SOURCE

Lady Gaga‘s deposition by Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald‘s attorney in the music producer’s ongoing legal battle with Kesha about sexual abuse was unsealed Tuesday — and she was clearly Team Kesha.

https://sports.yahoo.com/lady-gaga-heated-exchange-dr-163607418.html

UNSEALED Solis Investigation: Attorneys Explain Potential Impact of Yearslong Federal Probe

Retiring 25th Ward Ald. Danny Solis traded official acts for campaign contributions, sexual favors and more, according to reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times, which based its story on an affidavit filed in federal court as part of “an explosive search warrant application.”

The particulars of that document may not be clear to people unfamiliar with federal investigations – so what exactly is it?

“When a federal agency wants to go and search your house or search your offices or whatever it is, a federal agent authors an affidavit,” said criminal defense attorney Gal Pissetzky of the law firm Pissetzky and Berliner. “The affidavit has to lay out information to show a judge … that there’s enough probable cause, enough information in there that a crime may have been committed.”

Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor and a longtime white-collar crime defense attorney at the law firm Greensfelder, said it’s “fairly stunning” the Sun-Times was able to obtain the affidavit. “This is a secret document,” Cotter said. “It would not normally be unsealed unless and until there were a federal prosecution and if it were deemed to be something that the defendant was entitled to see.”

Michael Monico, a former federal prosecutor better known for his work as a criminal defense attorney as a partner at Monico and Spevack, also said it’s almost certainly not the only such affidavit related to the Solis investigation.

https://news.wttw.com/2019/01/29/solis-investigation-attorneys-explain-potential-impact-yearslong-federal-probe

>>4968136

Idaho State Police Seize Record-Amount Of Marijuana From Oregon Semi

Idaho State Police say they found 6,701 pounds of a THC-containing substance inside a semi truck registered in Oregon. The bust occured during an inspected at the east Boise Port of Entry last week.

The 31 bags inside the semi were filled with a green leafy substance the driver claimed was hemp, but tested positive for THC.

CREDIT IDAHO STATE POLICE

The driver's paperwork indicated the truck trailer contained industrial hemp. But a state trooper's training and experience led him to believe it may be something more.

The truck trailer was unsealed and inspectors found 31 large bags filled with a green leafy substance that appeared to be marijuana. A drug sniffing dog gave a positive alert on the cargo and a narcotic ID kit sample tested presumptive for THC, the active intoxicant in pot.

The 36-year-old truck driver from Portland was arrested and charged with felony trafficking in marijuana. The presumed pot is being tested at a lab for a more conclusive analysis.

http://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/post/idaho-state-police-seize-record-amount-marijuana-oregon-semi#stream/0

UNSEALED Ald. Ed Burke Sat on Loyola’s Council of Regents Before His Name was Removed from its Website

Chicago’s longest-serving alderman, Ed Burke, who’s become embroiled in allegations of corruption and extortion, is a member of Loyola’s Council of Regents.

But you’d never know about his connection to the school by looking at the council’s website. Last week, Burke’s name was absent from an otherwise seemingly comprehensive list of members, which, as of Tuesday, is gone from the site altogether. The school says it has “no knowledge of a change to his status on the Council of Regents.”

Burke, alderman of Chicago’s 14th ward and former chair of City Council’s Committee on Finance, has been charged with attempted extortion in a case unsealed Jan. 3. Burke was allegedly using his political status to gain business for his law firm. His city hall and ward offices were raided by the FBI in November and his city hall office was visited again by the feds in December.

http://loyolaphoenix.com/2019/01/ald-ed-burke-sat-on-loyolas-council-of-regents-before-his-name-was-removed-from-its-website/

>>4968171

TINCTURE AND INFUSED ITEMS

UNSEALED City racks up $3 million in legal fees, covered mostly by insurance

Weidner v. City of Racine

Last week, The Journal Times reported that the city is seeking $17,780 from Weidner, pending a decision from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, for the attorney’s fees related to her contempt-of-court case. However, records received Friday stated that, in total, the city paid Meissner Tierney $19,461 for fees and costs related to the Weidner contempt of court matter. The dollar amounts are different, in part, because some of the costs were incurred after the fine amount was submitted to the court, according to Letteney.

In explaining why the city hired outside counsel for the Weidner cast, Letteney wrote in an email: “Because the city was sued by a sitting alderperson and the lawsuit involves alleged conduct of the City Attorney’s Office, this created a conflict of interest.”

Letteney did not respond to a question regarding the reason for hiring Meissner Tierney for the Holmes and Harmon cases.

According to the Weidner documents recently unsealed, Meissner Tierney was not only hired to represent the city in the contempt of court case against Weidner, but has been handling the connected public records case, which has been going on since at least February 2018.

https://journaltimes.com/news/local/city-racks-up-million-in-legal-fees-covered-mostly-by/article_b78e22d5-0bf7-5cb6-b2c6-81ce34cf0853.html

>>4968226

Blagovich specifically

UNSEALED Here's the Uber investor letter that forced Travis Kalanick to step down

Below is a full reproduction of the letter, which references corporate scandals and concerns about the lack of a qualified chief financial officer

On June 20, 2017, two venture capitalists arrived at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Chicago to hand-deliver a letter to Travis Kalanick. The memo helped convince the Uber Technologies Inc. co-founder to step down as chief executive officer.

The document was among a series of files that were unsealed Monday as part of a lawsuit over autonomous-vehicle trade secrets brought by Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo. Although the companies settled the case a year ago, a judge ruled that some of the evidence shouldn’t be kept from the public.

Below is a full reproduction of the letter, which references corporate scandals and concerns about the lack of a qualified chief financial officer. Kalanick’s replacement, Dara Khosrowshahi, worked to rectify those in his first year on the job. He appointed a former Merrill Lynch executive, Nelson Chai, as the chief financial officer to help prepare Uber for an initial public offering planned for this year.

Dear Travis:

On behalf of Benchmark, First Round Capital, Menlo Ventures, Lowercase Capital, and Fidelity Investments, we are writing to express our profound concerns about Uber’s future, its willingness to fully embrace the changes that are needed to move forward, and your ability to implement them.

We all believe in Uber’s mission. We are deeply grateful for your vision and tireless efforts over the last eight years, which have created a company whose technology and workforce have transformed the world’s idea of transportation.

A series of recent revelations, however, continues to affect Uber’s business and put the mission at risk. Among the enormously troubling developments that have recently come to light are the issues of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation that prompted the Holder Report, as well as publicly reported allegations about the behavior of Uber’s senior executives in connection with the India rape incident and other matters. The ongoing Waymo trade secret litigation and Greyball investigation are also extremely serious and unresolved.

We believe that the cultural values of Uber need to be transformed to embrace transparency, diversity and social responsibility alongside growth and the bottom line. We believe that this transformation is possible - and is necessary for Uber to succeed operationally and as a respected member of the community. The public perception is that Uber fundamentally lacks ethical and moral values. Uber has a clear opportunity to engage positively with its employees, drivers and customers to change the company, correct this perception and achieve Uber’s full potential.

As shareholders representing approximately 40% of Uber’s voting shares and 28% of Uber’s overall stock, we believe the company must immediately take concrete steps to address these issues and strengthen Uber. The company must change at its core. If Uber does not adequately address the company’s ethical, cultural, and governance issues now, Uber’s operations and reputation will continue to erode, to the detriment of the company and all of its stakeholders, including you.

To that end, we believe that the company must take certain concrete steps to enhance its leadership and culture. Please know that we remain fully supportive of Uber’s mission and the incredibly positive role Uber can play in communities around the world. But that positive role -and Uber’s full value for all its stakeholders -cannot be realized unless Uber achieves a new level of trust, social responsibility and transparency through the adoption of values that transcend the negative business practices and culture of the past. With these changes we firmly believe Uber can ensure its future as one of the most important companies Silicon Valley has ever produced.

Below are the steps that we believe are imperative to serve this end:

First, you need to immediately and permanently resign as CEO and transition this leadership role to capable hands. We strongly believe a change in leadership- coupled with effective Board oversight, governance improvements, and other immediate actions -is necessary for Uber to move forward. We need a trusted, experienced, and energetic new CEO who can help Uber navigate through its many current issues, and achieve its full potential.

MORE

We hope you will agree to move forward with us on this path, and look forward to your response.

https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/here-s-the-uber-investor-letter-that-forced-travis-kalanick-to-step-down-119013000136_1.html

1-2-3 GTFO

UNSEALED Canadian serial killer placed parts of victims in pots

A landscaper has pleaded guilty to the premeditated murders of eight men with links to Toronto’s gay community and the mutilation of their bodies, most of them dismembered and ­hidden inside planters.

The plea entered by Bruce McArthur, 67, was a surprise as he had been scheduled to stand trial next year.

He was convicted of beating a male prostitute with a metal pipe but did not serve prison time. Later he would be granted a pardon, wiping the conviction from the official record until Canadian media went to court to have the documents unsealed.

https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/here-s-the-uber-investor-letter-that-forced-travis-kalanick-to-step-down-119013000136_1.html

LDS church fire not yet ruled arson, criminal investigation continues

(KUTV) — A fire that torched a church building in St. George, Utah, is under investigation but is not yet confirmed to be arson.

St. George Police Department issued an update Tuesday after an LDS church building under construction burned early Saturday morning near 300 East, 500 South in St. George.

(KUTV) — A fire that torched a church building in St. George, Utah, is under investigation but is not yet confirmed to be arson.

St. George Police Department issued an update Tuesday after an LDS church building under construction burned early Saturday morning near 300 East, 500 South in St. George.

"Evidence collected from the LDS Stake Center fire Jan. 26 was sent for resting to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Exploses," police said in a release.

It could take up to two weeks to get those results and meanwhile the cause of the first is still under investigation.

"We cannot confirm this is an arson," police said, "but rather we are conducting a criminal investigation to ensure all leads are covered."

Part of the investigation is to determine if what type of accelerants if any, were used in the fire. The criminal investigation also includes, according to police, searching, interviews, interrogations and "various methods of investigation."

Local church leaders expressed frustration that the building — scheduled to open for use in weeks, would have served 3,000 to 4,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — was completely destroyed.

https://kutv.com/news/local/lds-church-fire-not-yet-ruled-arson-criminal-investigation-continues

Lawmakers unveil legislation that would expand expungement

A bipartisan group of lawmakers Tuesday unveiled a bill that would increase the ability of low-level offenders to virtually erase their criminal records.

Proponents of the bill argue changes to the process of expungement — in which a person can petition to have his or her record cleared of a nonviolent, lower-level offense — would provide a second chance for criminal offenders by removing some barriers to employment.

But the bill and previous versions of it have also received pushback from open-records advocates who criticize efforts to conceal records from public view.

When a criminal case record is expunged, it is sealed from public access unless a court orders it to be unsealed. Information about expunged cases is not available on the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access website.

>>4968492

LOOKS

>>4968326

Thank you Lord Jesus!

>>4968326

We could only get a postponement in Rhode Island

>>4968649

>Massive Workers’ Compensation Fraud Case leads to Grand Jury Indictment

>>4968083

It 404'd for me now too

alternate article

8 indicted in $123 million Southern California workers’ comp scam

Defendants are accused of filling exorbitantly priced and unnecessary prescriptions

https://www.pe.com/2019/01/24/prosecutors-eight-indicted-in-123-million-southern-california-workers-comp-scam/

>>4968698

welcome fren

Feds Indict powerful Philly Union Boss Johnny "Doc" Dougherty, Councilman Bobby Henon, others

PHILADELPHIA – A powerful union boss who has long held a tight grip on construction jobs in the Philadelphia region and wielded political power in the city and Statehouse has been indicted on embezzlement and fraud charges along with a city councilman who allegedly did his bidding, and six others.

Johnny "Doc" Dougherty exerted complete control over the union, according to the 116-count indictment, using that power to "repeatedly and persistently steal its funds and put his own self-interests over that of the membership." All told, the defendants misspent more than $600,000 in union funds, officials said.

Dougherty, 58, leads the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, with 5,000 members, along with the city's Building Trades Council, an umbrella group with more than 70,000 members. He has been at the helm of the century-old electricians union for 25 years.

The union over the years has emerged as a major political donor, spending tens of millions of dollars through its political action committees, mostly to help Democrats in Pennsylvania.

According to the indictment, Dougherty used union credit cards to buy groceries and household goods and to splurge on restaurants, and let others in his orbit do the same. He allegedly used union funds to pay contractors for work at his South Philadelphia home and bar. And he put friends and family members on the union's payroll, showering them with raises and overtime for hours they didn't work and using them to do personal tasks, prosecutors said.

The union paid Dougherty $1.4 million between 2010 and 2016. He and the other defendants are due to appear in court Friday.

His lawyer, Henry E. Hockeimer, said Dougherty has devoted "all his energies" to the union for a quarter century, leading to dramatic increases in wages and benefits. "To allege that John in any way attempted to defraud the union he cares about so deeply is preposterous," Hockeimer said in a statement.

>>4968737

baker this is muthaTrumpin huge

even if I am noting my own post

>>4968808

He's gonna burn in Hell and I hope to see it as I pass through purgatory