Free Republic

CHICAGO—It’s the hottest scam going, one that everyone would be well-advised to keep in mind as they wander the streets of Chicago: fake charity solicitors and “homeless” people commandeer phones and transfer large sums of money to themselves using the victims’ electronic banking apps. We’ve told you about the scam and some people who’ve allegedly been caught running it, usually in tourist areas like the Mag Mile and Millennium Park or nightlife districts like Wrigleyville and the Gold Coast. Just yesterday morning, two men asked a couple for a donation near Crown Fountain at Millennium Park. The victims reluctantly agreed...

A judge has ordered the federal government to hand over emails from Joe Biden's White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki after she allegedly admitted to "lying" to the media in one thread. The court requested a review of Psaki's communications regarding conversations she had about secret meetings the Obama-Biden administration held with the Islamic Republican of Iran.

A French woman whose jihadist son fought, and is thought to have died, in Syria was given a two-year jail sentence for financing terrorism on Thursday because she sent him money. Nathalie Haddadi, 43, insisted she did not know how her son Belabbas Bounaga spent the money she wired to him and said the conviction was a “double punishment” for a grieving mom. “I have trouble understanding how they can accuse me of financing terrorism,” Haddadi told reporters before hearing the verdict. “I helped my son,” she said, while insisting she had never sent money to Syria. […] Haddadi, a...

NPR would like to talk with first-generation immigrants who send money to family or friends in their home countries. Tell us in the comments what country you're sending money.

SNIPPET: “In about less than a week, India will mark the first anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks. After the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s Chicago breakthrough, now Italy has achieved some headway in the investigations relating to last year’s terror events(26/11). The Italian police have arrested, after almost a year long monitoring and surveillance, two Pakistani nationals (Father and Son duo) from Brescia city who are accused of sending funds from their money transfer agency and providing the logistical support to Pakistani terrorists. The suspects Mohammad Yaqub Janjua and Aamer Yaqub Janjua, owners of the Madina Trading telephone...

Federal agents searched three money-transfer businesses in Minneapolis on Wednesday, carrying away boxes of documents and copying computer hard drives in a quest for details of financial transactions between the U.S. and several African nations. Agents searched Mustaqbal Express, also known as North American Money Transfer Inc.; Quran Express; and Aaran Financial. FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson confirmed the searches but wouldn't elaborate on the reason.

Four months ago, Gwen Gampon wired $1,030 to her brother from a Western Union Co. outlet in Anaheim during a family emergency. In Hawaii, her brother, who is unemployed and doesn't have a checking account, ended up with just $950 -- after the money-transfer company deducted a $79.99 fee for the immediate transaction. "Western Union is seen as a lifeline," said Gampon, a refinery worker from Garden Grove. "That lifeline, however, has an ugly side that preys on those that are already in financial need." Sending money to less-affluent relatives is an age-old practice that grows more popular every year...

N. Korea Holds Off On Reactor Pledge Transfer From Macau Bank in Dispute By Edward Cody Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, April 21, 2007; Page A12 BEIJING, April 20 -- Despite assurances from U.S. and Macau officials, North Korea said Friday it is still negotiating over possession of $25 million in North Korean accounts frozen by Macau banking authorities for 21 months. U.S. officials have repeatedly declared the complicated financial dispute resolved, but it has persisted in preventing implementation of an agreement Feb. 13 under which North Korea pledged to close its main nuclear reactor and allow verification by inspectors...

Federal Reserve Markets “Directo a México” to U.S. Banks for “Migrant” Transfers of $20 Billion in Remittances to Mexico (Washington, DC) -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released Federal Reserve marketing materials created for “Directo a México” [Direct to Mexico], a new government program designed to facilitate the transfer of funds from immigrant workers in the U.S. – regardless of their legal status – to their relatives in Mexico. Judicial Watch obtained the marketing materials, prepared for presentations to financial institutions in California in early November 2006, from the Retail Payments Office...

Aeroflot office in NKorea fails to transfer money via Chinese bank 25.10.2006, 10.56 PYONGYANG, October 25 (Itar-Tass) - The office of the Russian Airlines – Aeroflot in North Korea faced difficulties while transferring money to Moscow via one of Hong Kong’s banks, the head of the Aeroflot office in Pyongyang, Vladimir Fedoseyev, told Itar-Tass on Wednesday. The request for money transfer to Moscow transmitted to a bank of Hong Kong several weeks ago has not been processed, he said. China sent a notification that the transaction cannot be processed as there is no confirmation that it does not contradict sanctions...

NEW JERSEY MAN GETS JAIL TIME IN CONNECTION WITH ILLEGAL MONEY TRANSFER SCHEME THAT MOVED $100 MILLION TO PAKISTAN -- Fourth of six defendants sentenced in the ICE / IRS investigation -- NEWARK, N.J. - A key player in a scheme to illegally transfer more than $100 million to Pakistan through a New Jersey money transmittal business has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison as a result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Umer Darr, a Pakistani native and naturalized U.S. citizen of Bayonne, N.J, was sentenced earlier...