Free Republic

Mark Lambert, 54, of Mount Airy, Maryland, was charged in an 11-count indictment with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to commit wire fraud, seven counts of violating the FCPA, two counts of wire fraud and one count of international promotion money laundering. The charges stem from an alleged scheme to bribe Vadim Mikerin, a Russian official at JSC Techsnabexport (TENEX), a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation and the sole supplier and exporter of Russian Federation uranium and uranium enrichment services to nuclear power companies worldwide, in order to secure contracts...

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Maryland state lawmaker Tawanna Gaines, a Democrat from Prince George's County, has abruptly resigned after being suspected of using money she raised for her reelection campaign for personal use. She submitted her resignation to House Speaker Adrienne Jones on Friday, Oct. 4. She now faces a federal wire fraud charge. Gaines, 67, has served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2001 and, according to the AP, defrauded her campaign and its contributors of more than $22,000 from at least January 2015 through April 2018. "After much thought and consideration, I have decided to submit...

Michael Avenatti, the former attorney for porn actress Stormy Daniels, pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges that he allegedly stole millions of dollars from his clients, failed to pay taxes and lied in bankruptcy cases. The 48-year-old Avenatti, who was indicted earlier this month on 36 counts including wire and bank fraud, appeared in federal court for an arraignment in Santa Ana, California on Monday. Asked to enter a plea, Avenatti told the judge, "Not guilty to all charges." The trial is set to begin on June 25 with a status hearing scheduled for June 15. Prosecutors accused Avenatti...

A former Massachusetts state senator awaiting trial on federal corruption charges was found dead in his home Thursday.. The body of former state Sen. Brian A. Joyce, 56, was found by his wife, the Bristol County District Attorney's office said in a statement. The DA’s office said “foul play” was ruled out .. ... The Democrat, who served as assistant majority leader, was first elected in 1998. Joyce left the Senate after not seeking re-election in 2016 amid the federal probe. ... In December 2017, Joyce was named in a 113-count indictment charging him with racketeering, extortion, wire fraud and...

Debbys’ Awan, & Robs’ magnificent nine. Free… snipp HTTP://DAILYCALLER.COM/2018/06/04/WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ-AWAN-ISLAMOPHOBE/ WASSERMAN SCHULTZ SCREAMED AT HOUSE OFFICIALS TO KILL HACKING PROBE, INTERVENED IN PAKISTANI CRIMINAL MATTER // snipp // https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/cyber/iranian-mabna-hackers On February 7, 2018, a grand jury sitting in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, indicted nine (non DWS) Iranian nationals for their alleged involvement in computer intrusion, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft offenses. //snipp// State-Sponsored Cyber Theft Nine (non DWS)Iranians Charged in Massive Hacking Campaign on Behalf of Iran Government https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/nine-iranians-charged-in-hacking-scheme-032318

Federal prosecutors indicted Elizabeth Holmes on criminal fraud charges for allegedly defrauding investors, doctors and the public as the head of the once-heralded blood-testing startup Theranos. Federal prosecutors also brought charges against the company's former second-in-command. Holmes, who was once considered a wunderkind of Silicon Valley, and her former Chief Operating Officer Ramesh Balwani, are charged with two counts conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud each, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California said late Friday. If convicted, they could face prison sentences that would keep them behind bars for the rest...

While Hillary Clinton loyal aide Huma Abedin was reportedly sidelined in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential campaign as a result of Abedin’s husband’s child-porn scandal, she was potentially an even greater liability than known. It turns out Anthony Weiner wasn’t the only family member under investigation. In fact, the U.S. Justice Department has been actively prosecuting two other Abedin family members – for conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud – and she along with the State Department, where she previously worked for Clinton, are mentioned in the federal case, court records show. Other documents reveal the same allegedly...

FBI and IRS agents today conducted an operation at the law office of State Senator Carlos Uresti, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports. The operation took place at Uresti's private law office on Quincy Street, just off I-35 on the north end of downtown.An FBI agent confirmed only that agents are conducting 'lawful law enforcement activity' at the office. They are being assisted by San Antonio Police, officers are keeping bystanders at bay.It is not clear what the agents are looking for. The IRS has not returned a call seeking comment. Developing

A former Rhode Island state lawmaker has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges, becoming the third former House member in 11 days to be charged with criminal conduct and prompting the U.S. attorney to decry the state’s political culture. The charges filed against Democrat Ray Gallison in federal court Monday include mail fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and filing false tax returns. Gallison, an attorney, acknowledged taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a dead man’s estate and other misconduct. “This says something about our political culture here, which I think should get our attention,” U.S. Attorney Peter...

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 10 - Journalists remember him as Jack, an eccentric, heavily armed and at times, it seemed, dangerously unbalanced, middle-aged former American Special Forces soldier, who appeared in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001. Surrounded by armed Afghan guards and rumors that he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, he quickly rose to prominence. In the next two years, he was interviewed by Fox and CBS News, helped write a book called "The Hunt for bin Laden" and said he had discovered evidence in Afghanistan that linked Iraq to Al Qaeda. This week, Jack, a convicted felon...

Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), a Hillary Clinton superdelegate, was convicted on Tuesday on corruption charges stemming from a racketeering conspiracy in which the congressman and four associates misappropriated thousands of dollars from federal, campaign, and charitable sources. Fattah and four associates were indicted in July 2015 on 29 corruption charges including racketeering, bribery, money laundering, mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, and falsification of records, among other charges. The Department of Justice said Fattah took an illegal $1 million loan from his failed Philadelphia mayoral bid in 2007 and disguised it as a loan to his consulting company. At...

One of Hillary Clinton’s top aides was reportedly overpaid by nearly $10,000 because of violations of rules that govern vacation and sick time during her time as an official in the State Department, according to investigators. The Washington Post reports the finding emerged on Friday after Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley sent letters to Secretary of State John Kerry, among others, about an investigation into possible “criminal” conduct by Huma Abedin over her pay.

Charge stems from auto maker’s failure to recall vehicles equipped with defective ignition switchThe U.S. Justice Department is weighing charging General Motors Co. with criminal wire fraud stemming from the auto maker’s failure to recall millions of vehicles equipped with a defective ignition switch, said people familiar with the matter. Federal prosecutors in New York are focusing on the charge after determining GM likely made misleading statements and concealed information about the faulty switch, now linked to more than 100 deaths, the people said. They are hoping to reach a settlement with the company by the end of summer or...

**SNIP** At one meeting with an undercover FBI agent, Jackson allegedly told Yee that the agent knew the owner of an NFL team. Yee then told the agent about a pending law that would limit NFL players from filing workers' compensation claims in the state if they played for out of state teams. Yee told the agent that he should "convey this information to the owner of the NFL team" with an offer of help from Yee. Asked about the cost of such a vote, Yee reportedly said, "Oh no...we gotta drag it out, man. We gotta juice this thing."...

Federal prosecutors say a former Fresno IRS employee stole the identities of her co-workers and opened credit cards to go on shopping sprees with friends. U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said Tuesday that 30-year-old Viririana Hernandez and three others stole $1.2 million from 160 people, many of them IRS employees. Prosecutors say they bought home goods, jewelry and clothes. A grand jury on Friday indicted the four Fresno County residents on 23 counts, charging them with conspiracy, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors say the alleged identity theft unfolded from June 2012 to January 2014. Prosecutors say Hernandez, who had...

Edward "Ed" Mezvinsky born January 17, 1937, is a former Democrat congressman. As a Democrat, he represented Iowa 's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for two terms, from 1973 to 1977. He sat on the House Judiciary Committee that decided the fate of Richard Nixon. He and the Clinton's were very politically intertwined for years. In March 2001, Mezvinsky was indicted and later pleaded guilty to 31 of 69 charges of bank fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud. He was sentenced to 80 months in (Federal) prison. Ed Mezvinsky embezzled more than $10 million...

An embattled former Obama administration appointee -- who was part of a group of attorneys accused of being terrorist sympathizers for defending "enemy combatants" -- has been hired for a post at the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, officials confirmed today. Tali Farhadian was one of several private attorneys who created a rift between Republicans last spring when the Obama Administration assigned them to posts within the Justice Department. Although Farhadian was handling unrelated matters in Attorney General Eric Holder's office, a political watchdog group accused Obama of overloading the agency with officials sympathetic to enemy combatants. Their appointments even...

How 'bout a little refresher re. Obama political Godfather  and actual (16-count!) convicted felon Tony Rezko...? The Syrian-born Rezko is an infamous Chicago slumlord, fast-food restauranteur, and sleazy political operator who played a key role in the Blagojevich case- as well as the unlikley ascension to power of Barrack Hussein Obama.Obama's longtime ally, friend, and top fundraiser was found guilty of 16/24 counts of felony influence peddling back in June 2008. Of course the story was mostly buried/detached from his bud Barry in the run-up to that year's most unfortunate (for us) presidential election whilst the jury convicted Rezko of wire...

UPI) -- Former U.S. Rep Dan Rostenkowski, who rose to be chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and went to prison in disgrace, died Wednesday. He was 82. Rostenkowski died at his summer home in Powers Lake, Wis., after a long battle with cancer, the Chicago Tribune reported. A onetime Washington political insider and power broker, Rostenkowski represented his Chicago 5th Congressional District in Congress for 36 years, rising to head the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee that rewrote the 1986 U.S. tax code. The son of 32nd Ward Democratic Alderman Joseph Rostenkowski, Daniel was first elected...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Extradited Hacker Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Masterminding First-Ever Hack Into Internet Phone Networks Defendant Also Ordered to Pay Over $1 Million in Restitution NEWARK, NJ—The first individual ever charged with hacking into the networks of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers and reselling hacked VoIP services for a profit was sentenced today to 120 months in prison, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Edwin Andres Pena, 27, transmitted over 10 million minutes of unauthorized telephone calls over the victims' networks. Pena, a Venezuelan citizen, fled the United States...