Tag: Feds

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Financial advisor stole $5M from family, feds say

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By Thomas Moriarty | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on February 03, 2017 at 4:58 PM, updated February 03, 2017 at 5:58 PM

NEW YORK — A Morris County man was arrested by federal agents Friday morning in connection with allegations he stole more than $5 million from clients of his wealth management practice.

Barry Connell, of Chester, was expected to appear Friday afternoon in Manhattan federal court on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

Federal prosecutors said Connell, 50, had been arrested that morning in Henderson, Nevada on a criminal complaint filed by the FBI.

Yahoo Finance reported Connell had worked in the Ridgewood office of Morgan Stanley, which fired him November 2016.

https://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2017/02/wealth_manager_from_nj_stole_5m_from_clients_feds.html#incart_river_index

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Feds renew contested allegations in Democratic Senator Menendez case

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file photo by Boyd Loving

NEWARK — More than a year after a judge dismissed four counts of bribery in the corruption case against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and Florida ophthalmologist Dr. Salomon Melgen, a federal grand jury Thursday renewed the accusations in a superseding indictment.

Menendez, a Democrat from Paramus, was originally indicted in April 2015 along with Melgen, who prosecutors allege gave the senator more than $1 million in gifts and campaign contributions in exchange for Menendez intervening in federal matters involving Melgen.

The bribery charges returned in Thursday’s superseding indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court in Newark, concern a $20,000 payment Melgen made to the Fund to Uphold the U.S. Constitution, a trust formed by the senator “to defray the outstanding costs of a politically charged recall effort,” according to a motion filed by Menendez’s defense team in July 2015.

https://www.nj.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/10/feds_re-file_contested_charges.html#incart_river_home

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Feds: Rutherford man among three charged in spamming scheme that targeted 60M people

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DECEMBER 15, 2015, 11:55 AM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2015, 12:07 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEWARK — Three men were charged Tuesday in a computer hacking and spamming scheme that federal prosecutors in New Jersey said compromised the personal information of 60 million people and netted more than $2 million in profits.

Timothy Livingston, 30, of Boca Raton, Florida, operated a business known as A Whole Lot of Nothing that sent spam emails on behalf of clients including insurance companies and online pharmacies, charging $5 to $9 for each spam email that resulted in a completed transaction, according to authorities.

In addition to Livingston, the indictment charged Tomasz Chmielarz, 32, of Rutherford, New Jersey; and Devin McArthur, 27, of Ellicott City, Maryland, with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Livingston and Chmielarz also were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with electronic mail.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/feds-rutherford-man-among-three-charged-in-spamming-scheme-that-targeted-60m-people-1.1473887

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Feds call meeting with Christie and Cuomo to discuss new transit tunnel

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JULY 27, 2015, 10:53 PM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015, 10:53 PM
BY HERB JACKSON AND CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx urged Governor Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday to meet with him in the next two weeks to talk about replacing the century-old Hudson River rail tunnel that is frequently the cause of delays for commuters.

Foxx’s call comes after a week in which state and federal officials traded increasingly harsh words about delays on trains entering and leaving New York City.

In a letter to the two governors obtained by The Record, Foxx recounted how the federal government put up $3 billion for a new NJ Transit tunnel that was begun in 2009, then canceled by Christie in October 2010.

Amtrak, which owns the existing tunnel and Northeast Corridor tracks used by many NJ Transit commuters daily, has proposed the Gateway project, which includes building two new tubes under the river. If Gateway were built and the existing two-track tunnel were overhauled to replace failing electrical systems and structural damage caused by flooding from Superstorm Sandy, rail capacity under the river would eventually be doubled.

Foxx said that Amtrak was in discussions with the Federal Railroad Administration about financing, but that Washington would not bankroll the project by itself.

“Neither Amtrak nor your individual states, acting alone, can replace these tunnels,” Foxx wrote. “It will take all of us working together. To that end, I would like to meet with you within the next two weeks to discuss the project, especially your states’ roles in getting it completed.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/feds-call-meeting-with-christie-and-cuomo-to-discuss-new-transit-tunnel-1.1381739

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FEDS CALL NJ-NY GATEWAY TUNNEL ‘MOST IMPORTANT RAIL PROJECT IN U.S.’

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MEIR RINDE | JUNE 16, 2015

But near-insurmountable difficulties remain to be resolved — such as where the requisite $15 billion will come from
Two century-old tunnels that carry Amtrak and NJ Transit trains into New York City

The urgent need for new rail tunnels under the Hudson River is finally getting some serious attention after years of little activity.

At a closely watched summit of transportation leaders in New York last month, a top official from the Obama administration called Amtrak’s proposed Gateway tunnel between northern New Jersey and Manhattan “the most important rail project in the United States.” Peter Rogoff, the acting undersecretary of transportation, said the two states must act immediately to advance a plan, sparking attendees’ hopes that the highly complex, expensive, long-stalled project might finally get underway.

“It was like, ‘Whoa! We finally are hearing it from Washington,’” Martin Robins, the dean of New Jersey transportation experts and a conference participant, said after the meeting. “I wish it had come earlier.”

The sign of possible movement comes five years after Gov. Chris Christie canceledNJ Transit’s ARC (Access to the Region’s Core) tunnel project under the Hudson, citing the project’s potential high cost. It comes two and half years after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the existing, 105-year-old tunnels, raising the prospect of a long shutdown of at least one tunnel for repairs that could cripple rail travel in the near future.

“Closure of that tunnel, and the 50 percent to 75 percent reduction in capacity, would have a disastrous effect on the regional economy. That can’t be overestimated,” said Pat Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

New tunnels are needed to prevent such a crisis and to allow continued economic growth, the conferees said. Rail travel across the Hudson has increased 140 percent in the past 25 years, even as auto travel has declined, and is projected to double again by 2040, according to the Regional Plan Association, which organized the conference with the Port Authority.

“This conference isn’t about transportation. It’s about jobs,” Foye said during a panel discussion. “It’s about protecting and retaining the jobs the region already has and creating the platform for future job growth. It is not an overstatement to say the region’s economic prosperity is at stake.”

But even with that looming risk and the kick in the pants from Rogoff, fundamental questions remain unanswered. Most importantly, which agency will own and direct the project? And where will the required funding, which could reach $15 billion or more, come from?

How will Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who are both under pressure to pay for other transportation needs, somehow agree to support such a massive undertaking? And what role will be played by the powerful but politically vulnerablePort Authority, which needs to spend billions on other projects and remains under a cloud of Bridgegate-related scandals?

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/06/16/feds-call-nj-ny-gateway-tunnel-most-important-rail-project-in-u-s/

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First on CNN: Feds prepare criminal corruption charges against Senator Bob Menendez

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file photo Boyd Loving Senator Menendez  at Ridgewood REORG

First on CNN: Feds prepare criminal corruption charges against Senator Bob Menendez

By Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz, CNN

Updated 2:27 PM ET, Fri March 6, 2015

Washington (CNN)The Justice Department is preparing to bring criminal corruption charges against New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat, alleging he used his Senate office to push the business interests of a Democratic donor and friend in exchange for gifts.

People briefed on the case say Attorney General Eric Holder has signed off on prosecutors’ request to proceed with charges, CNN has learned exclusively. An announcement could come within weeks. Prosecutors are under pressure in part because of the statute of limitation on some of the allegations.

The case could pose a high-profile test of the Justice Department’s ability to prosecute sitting lawmakers, having already spawned a legal battle over whether key evidence the government has gathered is protected by the Constitution’s Speech and Debate clause.

https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/06/politics/robert-menendez-criminal-corruption-charges-planned/

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Rep. Louie Gohmert: US Will Become ‘Third World Nation’ If Feds Don’t Enforce Immigration Laws

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Rep. Louie Gohmert: US Will Become ‘Third World Nation’ If Feds Don’t Enforce Immigration Laws

July 1, 2014 9:50 AM

WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, warns that the United States will become a third world nation if the federal government does not enforce its immigration laws.

Speaking to “The Sean Hannity Show,” the Republican lawmaker said the country will be destroyed if the U.S. continues to allow thousands of immigrants to cross the border illegally.

“You’ve got to follow the law. You cannot bring hundreds of thousands of people in this country without destroying the country,” Gohmert told Hannity. “Then there’s no place that people can dream about coming.”

Gohmert stated that it’s the government’s job to defend the U.S. “against anybody that would overwhelm the country and bring it down.”

“It’s always been such an irony, though, that people would flee a country that’s got … drug cartels, people that ignore the law, or bribe people to look the other way,” Gohmert said. “So they don’t have jobs there so they come to the United States because we’ve mostly been a nation of laws where the rule of law matters. But then once they are here, they say now we want you to ignore the rule of law, which ironically is like the country they came from.”

 

https://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/07/01/gohmert-us-will-become-third-world-nation-if-feds-dont-enforce-immigration-laws/

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THIS LAND WAS YOUR LAND ;REID SMELLING ANYTHING BUT ROSY IN RANCH FIGHT

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Feds Forced to Surrender to American Citizens
Infowars.com, April 13, 2014

In an epic standoff that Infowars reporter David Knight described as being like “something out of a movie,” supporters of Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy advanced on a position held by BLM agents despite threats that they would be shot at, eventually forcing BLM feds to release 100 cattle that had been stolen from Bundy as part of a land grab dispute that threatened to escalate into a Waco-style confrontation.

https://www.infowars.com/historic-feds-forced-to-surrender-to-american-citizens/

THIS LAND WAS YOUR LAND ;REID SMELLING ANYTHING BUT ROSY IN RANCH FIGHT

NJTPC

Desert showdown blows lid off long-standing plans with Chinese

An investigative report published last week by Infowars.com drew a connection between Senate Majority Leader Reid’s involvement with Chinese energy giant ENN, Chinese efforts to build massive solar facilities in the Nevada desert and the showdown between Bundy and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, or BLM.

It wasn’t the first report to notice curious dealings involving the Chinese and America’s top Democrats.

Harry Reid’s last roundup: Exclusive: Joseph Farah exposes China deal possibly driving fed action against rancher

On Jan. 20, 2013, WND warned Chinese government-backed economists were proposing a plan to allow Chinese corporations to set up “development zones” in the United States as part of a plan proposed by the Chinese government to convert into equity the more than $1 trillion in U.S. Treasury debt owned by the Chinese government.

The next day, Jan. 21, 2013, WND documented the Obama administration had begun to allow China to acquire major ownership interests in oil and natural gas resources across the USA.

China grabs oil interests in USA

The first major intrusion of China in the U.S. oil and natural gas market can be traced to the Obama administration decision in October 2009 to allow state-owned Chinese energy giant China Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC, to purchase a multi-million dollar stake in 600,000 acres of South Texas oil and gas fields.

By allowing China to have equity interests in U.S. oil and natural gas production, the Obama administration reversed a policy of the Bush administration that in 2005 blocked China on grounds of national security concerns from a $18.4-billion dollar deal in which China planned to purchase California-based Unocal Corp.

China’s two, giant, state-owned oil companies acquiring oil and natural gas interests in the USA are CNOOC, 100-percent owned by the government of the People’s Republic of China, and Sinopec Group, the largest shareholder of Sinopac Corporation, an investment company owned by the government of the People’s Republic of China, incorporated in China in 1998, largely to acquire and operate oil and natural gas interests worldwide.

On March 6, 2012, the Wall Street Journal compiled a state-by-state list of the $17 billion in oil and natural gas equity interests CNOOC and Sinopec have acquired in the United States since 2010.

Colorado: CNOOC gained a one-third stake in 800,000 acres in northeast Colorado and southwest Wyoming in a $1.27-billion pact with Chesapeake Energy Corporation.

Louisiana: Sinopec has a one-third interest in 265,000 acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale after a broader $2.5-billion deal with Devon Energy.

Michigan: Sinopec gained a one-third interest in 350,000 acres in a larger $2.5-billion deal with Devon Energy.

Ohio: Sinopec acquired a one-third interest in Devon Energy’s 235,000 Utica Shale acres in a larger $2.5-billion deal.

Oklahoma: Sinopec has a one-third interest in 215,000 acres in a broader $2.5-billion deal with Devon Energy.

Texas: CNOOC acquired a one-third interest in Chesapeake Energy’s 600,000 acres in the Eagle Ford Shale in a $2.16-billion deal.

Wyoming: CNOOC has a one-third stake in northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming after a $1.27-billion pact with Chesapeake Energy. Sinopec gained a one-third interest in Devon Energy’s 320,000 acres as part of a larger $2.5-billion deal.

On March 6, 2012, in a separate story, the Wall Street Journal described that China’s strategy implemented since 2010 by Fu Chengyu, who has served as chairman of both CNOOC and Sinopec, involved the following components: “Seek minority states, play a passive role, and, in a nod to U.S. regulators, keep Chinese personnel at arm’s length from advanced U.S. technology.”

Read more at https://www.wnd.com/2014/04/reid-smelling-anything-but-rosy-in-ranch-fight/#LMV2smfSpBG6VS0Y.99

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Nevada Cattle Rancher Wins ‘Range War’ With FedsNevada Cattle Rancher Wins ‘Range War’ With Feds

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Nevada Cattle Rancher Wins ‘Range War’ With Feds

April 12, 2014
By LIZ FIELDS
LIZ FIELDSMore From Liz »Reporter via GOOD MORNING AMERICA

A Nevada cattle rancher appears to have won his week-long battle with the federal government over a controversial cattle roundup that had led to the arrest of several protesters.

Cliven Bundy went head to head with the Bureau of Land Management over the removal of hundreds of his cattle from federal land, where the government said they were grazing illegally.

Bundy claims his herd of roughly 900 cattle have grazed on the land along the riverbed near Bunkerville, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, since 1870 and threatened a “range war” against the BLM on the Bundy Ranch website after one of his sons was arrested while protesting the removal of the cattle.

“I have no contract with the United States government,” Bundy said. “I was paying grazing fees for management and that’s what BLM was supposed to be, land managers and they were managing my ranch out of business, so I refused to pay.”

The federal government had countered that Bundy “owes the American people in excess of $1 million ” in unpaid grazing fees and “refuses to abide by the law of land, despite many opportunities over the last 20 years to do so.”

However, today the BLM said it would not enforce a court order to remove the cattle and was pulling out of the area.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/nevada-cattle-rancher-wins-range-war-federal-government/story?id=23302610

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Showdown on the range: Nevada rancher, feds face off over cattle grazing rights

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Showdown on the range: Nevada rancher, feds face off over cattle grazing rights

By Michael Martinez, CNN
updated 8:17 AM EDT, Fri April 11, 2014

(CNN) — A 20-year dispute between a Nevada rancher and federal rangers over illegal cattle grazing erupted into an Old West-style showdown on the open range this week, even prompting self-proclaimed members of militia groups from across the country to join the rancher in fighting what they say is U.S. “tyranny.”

What began as a legal fight between longtime rancher Cliven Bundy and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has escalated as Bundy kept his cattle on the federal land, and the government has responded by beginning roundups of the livestock.

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A confrontation teetered on violence Wednesday when Bundy family members and dozens of supporters angrily confronted a group of rangers holding Tasers and barking dogs on leashes near Bunkerville, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Federal officials say a police dog was kicked and officers were assaulted.

Photos: Showdown in Nevada

Bundy family members say they were thrown to the ground or jolted with a Taser.

In the end, the rangers got into their white SUVs and drove away, a YouTube video of the incident showed.

“Get out of our state!” the cheering protesters yelled at the rangers as they departed in several vehicles. “BLM go away! BLM go away!” they added, referring to the Bureau of Land Management.

The entire incident is now under investigation, Amy Lueders, the bureau’s director in Nevada, said Thursday.

https://www.cnn.com/2014/04/10/us/nevada-rancher-rangers-cattle-showdown/