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Keyword: organizedcrime

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  • Confirmed: Mafia Towns Have Dirty Politicians

    09/18/2012 1:50:45 PM PDT · by AtlasStalled · 6 replies
    Friends of Ours ^ | 09/18/12 | Friends of Ours
    The four areas where organized crime reigns in America -- New York City, Dirty Jersey, Chicagoland and South Florida -- also account for the lion's share of corruption convictions by federal prosecutors against local officials as reported by Joe Palazzolo for The Wall Street Journal Law Blog. The U.S. Department of Justice has released the number of corruption convictions its prosecutors have won against public servants over the last ten years across the 93 federal judicial districts into which the country is divided, and at the top of the list is New Jersey with 429 convictions. Third on the list...
  • Mickey Cohen’s Colorful Life of Crime

    08/22/2012 9:13:04 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 2 replies
    Jewish Journal ^ | August 22, 2012 | JONATHAN KIRSCH
    Meyer Harris Cohen was born in the Jewish Pale of Settlement in imperial Russia, immigrated with his family to the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn and reached Los Angeles’ Jewish point of entry in Boyle Heights in 1915. Up to this point, the spare details of his biography are unremarkable. But Meyer was later nicknamed “Mickey,” and his name still echoes with the larger-than-life reputation he acquired on the mean streets of Los Angeles in the 1930s and 1940s. “By the end of the 1930s, the view from the top of Hollywood Hills seemed unlimited,” Tere Tereba writes in her rich,...
  • Austin, Texas nightclub owners linked to drug deals, possible financing of Hezbollah

    04/01/2012 6:18:16 PM PDT · by LSUfan · 38 replies
    Shariah Finance Watch ^ | 1 April 2012 | Unattributed
    The Yassine family of Austin, Texas is apparently quite the enterprising group. Led by Hussein “Mike” Yassine, the Yassines were quite diversified. They own 8 bars. According to law enforcement authorities they are also a one-family crime wave. They are involved in murder, money laundering, drug dealing–and they have a brother back in Lebanon who is part of Hezbollah.
  • Lawyer Says He Made Up Story of Berlusconi Payoff

    12/23/2011 6:54:48 PM PST · by decimon · 4 replies
    Associated Press ^ | December 22, 2011
    ROME -- A British lawyer says he invented accusations that Silvio Berlusconi paid him $600,000 to lie on the stand to protect the former Italian premier's business interests. David Mills' testimony Thursday at Berlusconi's corruption trial in Milan undercuts prosecutors' case against the politician.
  • Officials Plead Guilty in New York Voter Fraud Case

    12/21/2011 4:50:53 PM PST · by Doogle · 18 replies
    FOXNEWS ^ | 12/21/11 | Eric Shawn
    A total of four Democratic officials and political operatives have now pleaded guilty to voter fraud-related felony charges in an alleged scheme to steal a New York election. The latest guilty pleas expose the ease with which political insiders can apparently manipulate the electoral system and throw an election their way, by the forging of signatures of unsuspecting voters that are then cast as real votes. "The phrase they use is: 'making sure they vote the right way,'" said a source close to the case, which is unfolding in Troy, N.Y. "It is not a Democratic or Republican thing. ......
  • Mexico Busts Drug Cartels' Private Phone Networks

    12/10/2011 10:24:31 PM PST · by JerseyanExile · 26 replies
    NPR ^ | December 9, 2011 | Jason Beaubien
    The Mexican military has recently broken up several secret telecommunications networks that were built and controlled by drug cartels so they could coordinate drug shipments, monitor their rivals and orchestrate attacks on the security forces. A network that was dismantled just last week provided cartel members with cellphone and radio communications across four northeastern states. The network had coverage along almost 500 miles of the Texas border and extended nearly another 500 miles into Mexico's interior. Soldiers seized 167 antennas, more than 150 repeaters and thousands of cellphones and radios that operated on the system. Some of the remote antennas...
  • Due To Austerity, The Italian Catholic Church May Have To Begin Paying Property Tax

    12/10/2011 6:25:48 PM PST · by SeekAndFind · 8 replies
    Business Insider ^ | 12/10/2011
    ROME (AP) — Italy's Catholic Church has shifted gears and shown a willingness to revisit its tax-exempt status amid renewed criticism that much of its vast real estate holdings isn't subject to local property taxes. The criticism has grown recently following Premier Mario Monti's proposal to restore a property tax on first and second homes as part of his sweeping austerity measures to help reign in Italy's massive debt. With ordinary Italians being asked to make sacrifices, the church is coming under fire to do its part and give up what some consider an unfair privilege. Critics, most prominently Italy's...
  • Italy seeks tougher sanctions against Syrian regime -- FM

    12/10/2011 6:46:28 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 3 replies
    Kuna ^ | Sunday, December 11, 2011 | unattributed
    Italy will continue its efforts within the UN to issue a new Security Council resolution "explaining for everyone the mechanism of economic pressure on the (Syrian) regime, Terzi said during a meeting of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), headed by Burhan Ghalyoun. Italy is determined to impose stricter sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his aides," he said. Opening a humanitarian passage in Syria "is a complicated problem in front of the force deployed by the regime," added Terzi. Terzi, meanwhile, noted possibility of deploying Arab League observers in Syria to pave way for stability in some tense...
  • Letter Bomb Explodes in Italian Tax Office

    12/09/2011 8:48:54 AM PST · by Qbert · 6 replies
    NYT ^ | 12/9/2011 | RACHEL DONADIO
    ROME — The director of a Rome office of Italy’s tax collection agency was wounded in the hands and eyes on Friday after opening a letter bomb, Italian police said. The man was hospitalized but the extent of his injuries were not immediately known. The police were investigating what they said was a stapled package mailed through the Italian postal system. Prosecutors in Rome have opened an investigation into whether the letter bomb’s senders had terrorist aims, the ANSA news agency reported. The explosion in Italy comes a day after German authorities intercepted and defused a package bomb mailed to...
  • ...Albanian Government Aide Arrested; Newly Unsealed Indictment Charges 17 Defendants....

    08/25/2010 2:55:10 PM PDT · by Cindy · 6 replies
    NewYork.FBI.gov ^ | August 24, 2010 | n/a
    NOTE The following text SNIPPET is a quote: newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/nyfo082410.htm Two Additional Arrests Made of Members of Violent International Organized Crime Group Albanian Government Aide Arrested; Newly Unsealed Indictment Charges 17 Defendants with Murder, Kidnapping, and Other Racketeering Offenses PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JANICE K. FEDARCYK, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and RAYMOND W. KELLY, the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, announced the arrests of FLORIAN VESHI and ALMIR RRAPO for their roles in a racketeering enterprise that engaged...
  • Anxious Greeks Emptying Their Bank Accounts

    Many Greeks are draining their savings accounts because they are out of work, face rising taxes or are afraid the country will be forced to leave the euro zone. By withdrawing money, they are forcing banks to scale back their lending -- and are inadvertently making the recession even worse. Georgios Provopoulos, the governor of the central bank of Greece, is a man of statistics, and they speak a clear language. "In September and October, savings and time deposits fell by a further 13 to 14 billion euros. In the first 10 days of November the decline continued on a...
  • Dodd-Frank Rules Will Crush Employment, Banks Warn (2.9 Million fewer jobs created by 2015)

    12/05/2011 3:10:54 PM PST · by Qbert · 1 replies
    IBD ^ | 12/5/2011 | PAUL SPERRY
    Job-killing bank regulations threaten to wipe out all the gains in private-sector employment since the recovery began, the industry warns. Washington, however, is hiring thousands more bureaucrats to enforce the rules. Signed into law last year, the Dodd-Frank Act is the biggest rewrite of financial regulations since the New Deal. It was intended to rein in Wall Street "excesses." But the banking industry says burdensome red tape is hurting economic growth and jobs in a still-sluggish labor market. "The level of real GDP could be 2.7% less by the year 2015 than would otherwise be the case for the United...
  • Former GOP Congressman Says Gingrich 'Evil' and a Liar

    12/02/2011 5:03:19 PM PST · by Free ThinkerNY · 68 replies
    Yahoo! News ^ | Dec. 2, 2011
    COMMENTARY | Former New York congressman Guy Molinari has a few things to say about former Speaker of the House and current presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich -- none of them nice. He speaks from experience, having worked with the presidential candidate in the 80s, a few years prior to the Gingrich becoming Speaker of the House. And Molinari bluntly states that Gingrich is "evil" and a liar, according to CNN. "Evil is a tough word, but frankly I can't think of a better word that describes what he is all about," said Molinari, who now works as an adviser to...
  • Appleton native creates 'blue fist' logo

    11/27/2011 6:36:42 PM PST · by WOBBLY BOB · 25 replies
    pioneer press ^ | 11-27-11 | ap
    APPLETON, Wis. - An Appleton native is the creator of the iconic "blue fist" graphic in the shape of Wisconsin used in spring protests at the state Capitol. Graphic artist Carrie Worthen graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She now lives and works in Los Angeles, but she kept in touch with members of the AFL-CIO and, in February, the union asked her to take the germ of the fist idea and make it stand out. "To me it needed to be bold and clear and loud and simple," Worthen told Wisconsin Public Radio.
  • Disparaging tweet about Gov. Sam Brownback lands Kansas teen in principal’s office

    11/25/2011 7:26:01 PM PST · by peggybac · 54 replies
    The Wichita Eagle ^ | 11/23/11 | Suzanne Perez Tobias
    A Kansas teenager is in trouble after mocking Gov. Sam Brownback during a mock legislative assembly for high school students. Emma Sullivan, a senior at Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village, was in Topeka on Monday as part of Kansas Youth in Government, a program for students interested in politics and government. During the session, in which Brownback addressed the group, Sullivan posted on her personal Twitter page: “Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot” On Tuesday, Sullivan was called to her principal’s office and told that the tweet had...
  • Italy's borrowing rates skyrocket, Monti scrambles

    11/25/2011 12:47:50 PM PST · by John W · 17 replies
    AP ^ | November 25, 2011 | COLLEEN BARRY and FRANCES D'EMILIO
    ROME (AP) — A week into his new job, Premier Mario Monti is running out of time to reassure nervous investors that his government has a strategy to deal with Italy's crippling debts. The nation's borrowing rates skyrocketed Friday after a grim set of bond auctions, with a new auction looming Tuesday. Another borrowing debacle could ratchet up fears that Italy has entered a debt spiral driving it toward bankruptcy and the 17-nation eurozone into its most acute crisis yet.
  • Monti forms new Italian govt with no politicians

    11/16/2011 3:12:49 PM PST · by NormsRevenge · 32 replies
    Yahoo ^ | 11/16/11 | Colleen Barry and Frances D'Emilio - AP
    ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Monti formed a government of bankers, diplomats and business executives Wednesday, saying the absence of politicians in his Cabinet will spare political parties the "embarrassment" of taking the tough decisions needed to steer the country from financial disaster. The 68-year-old former European Union competition commissioner and his Cabinet were sworn in at a solemn ceremony at the presidential palace that formally ended Silvio Berlusconi's 3 1/2-year-old government and the media mogul's 17-year-long political dominance. Monti faces his first major hurdle Thursday when he presents his legislative agenda to parliament and subjects his government to...
  • Goldman Sachs International Advisor Mario Monti Is Italy's New Prime Minister

    11/13/2011 1:28:24 PM PST · by Nachum · 14 replies
    Zero Hedge ^ | 11/13/11 | Tyler Durden
    Not on even a Sunday is the headline barrage over: MARIO MONTI ASKED TO FORM NEW ITALIAN GOVERNMENT MONTI TO MAKE COMMENTS AFTER ACCEPTING OFFER TO LEAD ITALY MARIO MONTI THANKS NAPOLITANO FOR OFFER TO FORM GOVERNMENT MARIO MONTI SAYS ITALY MUST BE PROTAGONIST IN EUROPE MARIO MONTI SAYS HE'LL ACT TO SAVE ITALY FROM CRISIS And so the international advisor to Goldman Sachs drones on. In the meantime, the €300 billion in BTP sales is set to resume in just over 13 hours. Yet the reason why the EURUSD is less than jubilant on the news is that Silvio...
  • WHAT ITALY MEANS FOR YOU – DICK MORRIS TV: LUNCH ALERT! (video)

    11/11/2011 5:47:03 PM PST · by Signalman · 4 replies
    Dick Morris ^ | 11/11/2011 | Dick Morris
    Dear Friend, In this video commentary, I discuss Italy’s current financial crisis. Italy is facing almost inevitable default. It’s too big to rescue. And the implications will be felt right at our kitchen tables. Tune in!
  • Planned Parenthood Charges Dropped as Sebelius Destroyed Records

    11/09/2011 4:26:30 PM PST · by wagglebee · 38 replies
    Life News ^ | 11/9/11 | Steven Ertelt
    A Kansas judge ordered some of the 107 charges filed against Planned Parenthood for engaging in illegal abortions and covering up those cases thanks to the destruction of records that took place during the Sebelius administration.The case with 107 charges against Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri came about when former state attorney general Phill Kline brought the charges after obtaining evidence in patient records showing Planned Parenthood committed illegal late-term abortions and then manufactured documents to cover up their crimes. The charges allege the abortion business potentially engaged in illegal abortions and violated state record-keeping laws. Kline, as the...