Free Republic

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Full release from U.S. Attorney's Office: Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they and others are engaging in ongoing criminal activity: conspiring to obtain personal financial benefits for Blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to appoint a United States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to induce the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members sharply critical of Blagojevich; and to obtain campaign contributions in exchange...

Postal Nightmare: Needed - an Investigative Journalist October 12, 2008Ida Lofstrom is fighting for her life in a San Diego, CA hospital. When the nurse gave her a shot to draw blood, they couldn't stop the bleeding for three days. They found she was overdosed with blood thinner of some kind. She is old and has several problems, but the biggest problem is her ex-husband, James L. Lofstrom. Ida is being help by her daughter from a previous marriage, Brenda, who, many years ago, modeled for the gaming token pictured to the right. James L. Lofstrom is a retired...

Richmond, Oct 29, 2007 / 10:47 am (CNA).- A retired Roman Catholic priest faces forty years in jail for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from two rural Virginian parishes, the Associated Press reports. On Friday Father Rodney L. Rodis, 51, pled guilty to one count of mail fraud and one of money laundering.  Father Rodis embezzled money from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bumpass and St. Jude Church in Mineral between 2002 and 2006, prosecutors said.  He wired at least $515,231 to relatives in his native Philippines to purchase property.Authorities said Father Rodis established bank accounts and a post...

Mar. 15 - Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the country and it's hard to find someone who hasn't been a victim. But some accuse a government agency of actually helping thieves gain access to personal information. Even in this age of technology, we still rely on regular mail to send and receive sensitive information. Yet some Bay Area consumers say the post office isn't providing strict enough protection for their mail. They say the current 'change of address' system itself needs changing. Kathleen Shecter, Redwood Shores: "We have really tiny mailboxes so the junk mail fills them...

Investigators Look Into Finances Of Local Muslim Cleric Damra Faces Charges Of Tax Evasion, Money Laundering, Mail Fraud UPDATED: 7:12 AM EDT May 13, 2004 CLEVELAND -- A local Muslim cleric accused of hiding terrorist ties now has federal investigators looking into his finances. Federal prosecutors are checking the financial records of Fawaz Mohammed Damra, 41. It could lead to charges of tax evasion, money laundering, and mail and wire fraud, NewsChannel5 reported. Damra, the leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, is also accused of concealing terrorist ties on his U.S. citizenship application. Prosecutors revealed the financial investigation while...

TRENTON, N.J. -- A Democratic fund-raiser linked to Gov. James E. McGreevey extorted $40,000 in campaign donations by promising a farmer that public officials would help him get more money for development rights to his land, federal authorities said Tuesday. David D'Amiano is charged with extortion, mail fraud and bribery. According to an indictment released Tuesday, D'Amiano told the owner of a Piscataway farm he would not get premium value for his property unless he made donations to the Democratic Party. Middlesex County officials had offered Mark Halper $3 million for development rights to his 74-acre family farm. After D'Amiano...

Democratic fund-raiser indicted on extortion chargesBy JOHN P. McALPIN The Associated Press 7/6/2004, 6:02 p.m. ET TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A Democratic fund-raiser linked to Gov. James E. McGreevey extorted $40,000 in campaign donations by promising a farmer that public officials would help him get top dollar for his land, federal authorities said Tuesday. Carteret businessman David D'Amiano is charged with extortion, mail fraud and bribery. According to an indictment released Tuesday, D'Amiano told the owner of a Piscataway farm he would not get premium value for his property unless he made donations to the Democratic Party. Middlesex County officials...

<p>Duke released from federal prison The Associated Press April 9, 2004 BIG SPRING, Texas (AP) — Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke left a federal prison in Big Spring, Texas, on Thursday and headed to a halfway house at an undisclosed location in Louisiana.</p>

EDINBURG — Texas Secretary of State Geoffrey Connor wants an investigation into the ballot-tampering claims made by four Hidalgo County voters earlier this week. Connor requested the assistance of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to look into complaints filed by four county residents that at least four mail ballots were tampered with. "We’re drafting a letter to the attorney general’s office that will be sent today," said Jennifer Waisath, director of communication for the secretary of state. "The matter in Hidalgo County over the mail ballot issue is now in the hands of the A.G.’s office for a full investigation."...

Patton's former mistress resigns from lottery board Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Tina Conner, who was former Gov. Paul Patton's mistress and whom he appointed to the Kentucky Lottery Corp. board, has resigned from that post. Conner did not give a reason for her departure in a Jan. 23 letter to board president but said she "enjoyed my time on the lottery board and was very appreciative of the opportunity to serve on this board." Her term would have expired Nov. 28. Conner did not return calls seeking comment. Patton appointed Conner to the lottery board on Dec. 28, 2000,...

<p>October 3, 2003 -- The comics factory of legendary "Incredible Hulk" creator Stan Lee is getting dragged deeper into a federal probe that's worthy of any wacky comic-book plot.</p> <p>It's got bankruptcy, shady characters fleeing to Brazil, con men, check-kiting, White House influence-peddling and even G-men from different agencies jumping on their trail.</p>

In a phone conversation today with Erik Monninkhof, CFO and co-founder of Dupaco, the sole distributor of SCO product in the Netherlands, I learned that it's not just competing Linux distributions that are suffering since SCO changed management. According to Monninkhof, Dupaco has had a relationship with SCO for 18 years. In 1986, they drove from COMDEX in Las Vegas to Santa Cruz and, for $5000, became distributors of SCO Xenix in the Netherlands. During the following years, they successfully sold SCO products, outlasting other Netherlands companies that also tried to sell SCO to eventually become the sole distributor. To...

Raving Luni, aka Ron of Linux-Universe has contributed this interesting analysis of the current battle raging against Open Source, and by extension, Freedom in general. Sun is behind it too, very much. The Unholy Trinity shares one common issue: "Open Source software is eating into their profits". So they all support this action in a desperate attempt to save their business model. Here are the patients: SCO is in critical condition, so they go first. Sun is in serious condition, they will come too, more forcefully if they don't find a successful business arround OSS first. So they play both...

<p>Linux users to SCO: Forget it! Linux & Open Source Center Editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has a few ideas about what SCO can do with its license.</p> <p>What would you do if you got an invoice from a company demanding payment for software that you've never bought from them? Throw it in the trash, right?</p>

LINDON, Utah, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Darl McBride, CEO of The SCO Group, sent the following letter, dated Sept. 9, 2003, to the Open Source community: The most controversial issue in the information technology industry today is the ongoing battle over software copyrights and intellectual property. This battle is being fought largely between vendors who create and sell proprietary software, and the Open Source community. My company, the SCO Group, became a focus of this controversy when we filed a lawsuit against IBM alleging that SCO's proprietary UNIX code has been illegally copied into the free Linux operating system. In...

SCO Run-Time License Ready Fri Sep 5, 1:16 PM ET Add Technology - Ziff Davis to My Yahoo! Peter Galli - eWEEK The SCO Group has been threatening corporate Linux (news - web sites) users with legal action unless they obtain a license for its intellectual property, but until now, businesses have been unable to buy that license. • Vetting SCO's Linux Lawsuits • SCO 'Off Their Rocker' • Innocents Caught in SCO-Linux Cross Fire • More Security News • More Tech News The Lindon, Utah, company last week began selling its SCO Intellectual Property License for Linux, a run-time...

Governor's ex-mistress is indicted Accusation against Patton prompts mail-fraud case By Jack Brammer HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU Tina Conner, who had a two-year adulterous affair with Gov. Paul Patton, was charged yesterday with one count of mail fraud by a federal grand jury in Covington. Conner prompted the grand jury's investigation last fall with her allegations that Patton abused his office to help her during their affair and then to hurt her once it ended. In an ironic twist, she now faces charges that could result in a 20-year sentence and a $250,000 fine. No one else has been charged, but...

Morales surrenders on fraud charges; claims his innocence AUSTIN (AP) — Former Attorney General Dan Morales surrendered to authorities Friday on mail fraud and conspiracy charges, the result of a long-standing federal investigation related to his role in the state's $17 billion settlement with the tobacco industry. Morales was released on a personal recognizance bond after he agreed to give up his passport and to not leave the country. Upon leaving the federal courthouse, Morales declared his innocence. "Every single allegation of wrongdoing included in this indictment is false. Every single allegation of wrongdoing in this indictment is untrue," a...

With congressional election campaigns in full roar, Terence McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, this year sent out fund-raising letters charging Republicans with plans to dismantle our Social Security system. As I see it, McAuliffe is guilty of mail fraud. First, the letters imply that the plan requires most, if not all, Social Security tax revenues to be invested in stocks. This is false. Under the Bush plan no taxpayer is required to invest any revenues in the stock market. The investment is entirely voluntary and is limited to no more than 16 percent of the payroll tax....