RCMP Charge 17 People in International Money Laundering Case With Ties to Organized Crime

MONTREAL—More details are expected today on multiple raids in Montreal and Toronto that police are linking to an extensive international money laundering network with ties to organized crime. The RCMP is set to hold a news conference in Montreal about the raids in both cities on Feb. 11 that involved multiple police forces, the Canada Revenue Agency and the Mounties.

More than 300 officers took part in the raids that resulted in 15 arrests, as well as the seizure of large quantities of drugs, $1.7 million in cash and properties worth $15 million. The RCMP began the probe dubbed “Collector” in 2016 and wrapped it up last spring before launching the raids at around 6 a.m. on Feb. 11. Four other suspects were still being sought. RCMP Sgt. Luc Thibault said the sweep targeted “individuals who facilitated the collection of money from criminal groups in Montreal and laundered the proceeds of their illicit activities.”

Thibault said the suspects were detained in Laval, just north of Montreal, adding that they will likely face charges including conspiracy, trafficking and laundering the proceeds of crime, while a few others arrested in Toronto were expected to be taken to Laval.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/rcmp-charge-17-people-in-international-money-laundering-case-with-ties-to-organized-crime_2798246.html

Note: Wondering if this is part of the Clinton Crime Family.

>>5152638

Jody Wilson Raybould Resigns From Cabinet

OTTAWA—Veterans Affairs Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould is quitting the federal cabinet. In a letter published on her website, the former justice minister says she has hired former Supreme Court judge Thomas Cromwell to tell her what she can say about her dealings with the prime minister on the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Wilson-Raybould’s letter does not say exactly why she’s quitting. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported last week that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or his staff pressured her to arrange a deal with the Montreal company that would have let it avoid a criminal prosecution on allegations of corruption and bribery in relation to its efforts to win government contracts in Libya. Since then, Trudeau has denied he did any such thing. On Feb. 11, he said in Vancouver that he’d told Wilson-Raybould that any decision on the subject was hers alone.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/jody-wilson-raybould-resigns-from-cabinet_2798338.html

Tax-paid Hill Pensions Would End Under Scott, Braun Bill

WASHINGTON—Generous tax-funded pensions for members of Congress would be abolished under a proposal introduced in the Senate on Feb. 12 by two Republican freshmen senators, Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.). “It’s time we make Washington more like the private sector and the best place to start is to end taxpayer-funded pensions—like Nancy Pelosi’s six-figure annual pension—that senators and congressmen are entitled to in retirement,” Braun said in a joint news release. “If we remove the luxurious perks from Congress, we’ll get better leaders: That’s why I’ll never accept my Senate pension and, if forced to, I pledge to donate every penny to Hoosier charities.”

Braun, a businessman, defeated incumbent Democrat Sen. Joe Donnelly in the 2018 congressional election, thanks in large part to President Donald Trump, who held two boisterous, well-attended “Make America Great Again” rallies in the Hoosier state during the campaign.

Scott, who also defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2018, long-serving Sen. Bill Nelson, linked the pension proposal to another populist standard, limiting terms for members of Congress, as a means of ending career politicians. “It’s time for term limits and it’s time to make those in D.C. realize that the era of career politicians is over. Americans should not have to foot the bill for generous salaries and pensions for members of Congress, and I’m proud to be working on common-sense solutions to make Washington work for families across the nation,” he said in the release. All current members of Congress would be grandfathered, meaning the first freshmen to be covered by the proposal if it becomes law would be elected in 2020. Scott spokesman Chris Hartline said the Florida senator plans to donate his entire salary and, like Braun, any tax-funded pension he may receive to charity.

Congressional pensions are far more generous than those in the private sector for three reasons—they are defined benefits that pay a percentage of the former senator or representative’s final annual salary until death, they are adjusted for inflation annually unless Congress specifically votes not to do so, and the members themselves set their compensation levels, subject only to voters. Senators and representatives are currently paid $174,000 annually, except for the Speaker of the House, who receives $223,500. Also, the Senate’s President Pro Tempore, as well as the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and the House, are paid $193,500, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi retired in 2019, her tax-funded pension would be $178,800 annually. The net median income of a member of Congress was just over $1 million, according to opensecrets.org in 2015, with little change in the years since then. Members of Congress were first required to participate in Social Security beginning in 1984, when the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) for federal workers was replaced by the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS).

Under the Braun/Scott proposal, senators and representatives would only have Social Security, their contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan of FERS, and other retirement savings accumulated prior to entering public service. “There were 611 retired Members of Congress receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service as of Oct. 1, 2016. “Of this number, 335 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $74,028. A total of 276 Members had retired with service under FERS and were receiving an average annual pension of $41,076 in 2016,” according to the latest available data from CRS. Most private sector pensions are defined contribution programs that base benefits to be paid on how much the individual employee contributes, sometimes with a small percentage match by the employer. Cost-of-living adjustments are rare in the private sector.

Initial reaction to the Braun/Scott proposal was mixed Feb. 12. R Street Institute Vice-President Kevin Kosar, for example, showed little enthusiasm for it, telling The Epoch Times that “nixing legislators’ pensions may well increase the incentives they have to serve in Congress for a short time and then flee to K Street to be big-earning lobbyists.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/tax-paid-hill-pensions-would-end-under-scott-braun-bill_2798713.html

>>5152638 >>5152686

Trudeau Says He’s Surprised, Puzzled by Wilson Raybould’s Resignation

WINNIPEG—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he was surprised and disappointed by Jody Wilson-Raybould’s resignation on Feb. 12. The former justice minister resigned from the federal cabinet one day after Trudeau suggested her continuing presence there was proof she didn’t think she’d been improperly pressured to help SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution. At an appearance in Winnipeg late afternoon on Feb. 12, Trudeau said the government did its job on the SNC-Lavalin file and if anyone in the cabinet thought anything improper had happened, they had a duty to raise it with him at the time. Wilson-Raybould never mentioned it, he said.

Nevertheless, her departure added fuel to opposition accusations of political interference in the justice system. And it left Trudeau’s reconciliation agenda with Canada’s Indigenous Peoples in tatters. Wilson-Raybould had been Canada’s first Indigenous justice minister and the face of Trudeau’s commitment to make reconciliation his top priority.

In a letter to Trudeau published on her website, Wilson-Raybould said she was resigning “with a heavy heart” but did not explain why. However, she said she’s aware that “many Canadians wish for me speak (sic) on matters that have been in the media over the last week”—referring to the furor that erupted after a news report on Feb. 7, alleged she was demoted to veterans-affairs minister in January from the prestigious justice and attorney general portfolio because she had refused to give in to pressure last fall from the Prime Minister’s Office on the SNC-Lavalin case. As the former attorney general, Wilson-Raybould has refused to comment on the allegation, citing solicitor-client privilege. In her letter on Feb. 12, she said she has hired former Supreme Court justice Thomas Cromwell to advise her on “the topics that I am legally permitted to discuss in this matter.” Wilson-Raybould said she intends to continue serving as the MP for the riding of Vancouver-Granville. For the time being at least, she remains a member of the Liberal caucus.

Her exit came less than 24 hours after Trudeau said he had “full confidence” in her and suggested she would have resigned from cabinet on principle if she had felt anyone had tried to improperly pressure her. “In our system of government, of course, her presence in cabinet should actually speak for itself,” he said following an event in Vancouver—one that Wilson-Raybould didn’t attend, unlike a handful of fellow Liberals from the city. Trudeau’s office issued a terse statement that made no attempt to put any gloss on Wilson-Raybould’s departure from cabinet or to thank her for her service.

Wilson-Raybould informed the prime minister on Monday night of her intention to resign, the statement said. Trudeau informed the rest of his cabinet on the morning of Feb. 12 about her decision and named Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to take over responsibility for the veterans-affairs portfolio. Trudeau was scheduled to take questions from the media later, on Feb. 12, after an event in Winnipeg.

In Fredericton, N.B., Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said Wilson-Raybould’s resignation proves there’s more to the SNC-Lavalin story than Trudeau has been letting on. “Yesterday, he said that her presence (in cabinet) speaks for itself. Well, today, her resignation speaks for itself,” Scheer said. “Clearly, there is something more than he has been forthcoming with.” Trudeau has denied Wilson-Raybould was pressured to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin rather than pursue a criminal trial on charges of corruption and bribery related to the company’s efforts to secure government contracts in Libya. On Feb. 11, after meeting with Wilson-Raybould, Trudeau said she confirmed to him that he had specifically told her it was entirely up to her whether to prosecute the Montreal-based engineering giant.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/trudeau-says-hes-surprised-puzzled-by-wilson-rayboulds-resignation_2798941.html

Huawei Vows to Sue Czech Cyber Watchdog for Naming It a Security Threat

After a Czech cyber watchdog identified Chinese tech giant Huawei as a security threat, the company is threatening to take it to court and initiate international arbitration for damaging the firm’s reputation. In a Feb. 7 letter addressed to the independent governmental body Czech National Office for Cybernetics and Information Security (NÚKIB), as well as Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, the company called for the “cancellation” or “modification” of the warning issued by NÚKIB back in December 2018, which identified Huawei and its Chinese competitor ZTE as “security threats.” The Czech newspaper DeníkN quoted Huawei’s letter, which alleged that the NÚKIB office “seriously damaged the company in the Czech Republic and abroad, and the company has suffered losses for it and its brand has been damaged.” Huawei requested a response to the letter by Feb. 14, threatening that if the warning is not “canceled” or “modified” by then, Huawei intends to file a lawsuit on February 17, a NÚKIB spokesman said.

In the letter, Huawei also denied the existence of backdoors in its products, which international governments had expressed concerns could be exploited by Beijing to conduct espionage. “The warning is therefore not based on fact and the above legal conditions for its issuance have not been met,” Huawei said in the letter. Experts such as the head of the non-governmental Czech Institute of Information Security Managers Aleš Špidla has previously warned of Huawei’s potential threats due to the Chinese regime’s laws that mandate Chinese firms give up data and “intelligence information” to authorities if requested. Some Czech state agencies have begun to exclude products and services by Huawei and ZTE since NÚKIB issued its warning, wrote the Czech daily Právo

The fact that the United States is taking a hard stance against Huawei “has played no role” in the NÚKIB’s decision to issue its warning, according to the agency’s director Dušan Navrátil. “We’ve even found that the United States was actually very surprised with our warning,” Navrátil said in a Feb. 7 interview with DeníkN. “The basic thing is that in China’s political-legal environment, private companies are subordinate to China’s interests, intelligence interests, and the interests of the Chinese Communist Party—not to the interests of its customers,” Navrátil said in another Feb. 7 interview, for Právo. he Czech government said the NÚKIB office would make an appropriate response to Huawei’s letter, during a Feb. 8 press conference. “The NÚKIB is independent … We will certainly not pressure an independent body to change its decision in any way,” deputy prime minister Richard Brabec said.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/huawei-vows-to-sue-czech-cyber-watchdog-for-naming-it-a-security-threat_2798910.html

>>5153048

My thoughts exactly, they probable have fewer resources than others…so Huawei sees this as a win for them.