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Tag: FBI

  • BULLETIN: George Theodule, HYIP Ponzi Huckster Identified In 2008 By SEC, Arrested On Criminal Charges

    breakingnews72George Louis Theodule, identified by the SEC in a 2008 civil case as a multimillion-dollar Ponzi huckster and affinity fraudster largely targeting the Haitian community through so-called “investment clubs,” now has been arrested on criminal charges, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida said.

    Investors were duped into believing Theodule’s HYIP “program” through entities known as Creative Capital Consortium LLC and A Creative Capital Concept$ LLC had been endorsed by a regulatory agency, the SEC said in December 2008

    The FBI and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation joined in the probe, prosecutors said.

    “This case provides an egregious example of someone exploiting the trust of members of their own community,” said OFR Commissioner Drew J. Breakspear.

    “Ponzi schemes, affinity fraud schemes, and high-yield investment fraud scams such as this pose a serious threat to people,” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer.

    Theodule, formerly of Wellington, Fla., is 52. He has been charged with with multiple counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and money-laundering, prosecutors said.

    “This is a stark reminder that promises of large returns with little risk should immediately send up red flags and make investors run the other way,” said Michael B. Steinbach, special agent in charge of FBI’s Miami office..

     

  • BULLETIN: Songkram Roy Shachaisere, Figure In AdSurfDaily Ponzi Story, Indicted With 8 Others In ‘One Of The Largest International Penny Stock Frauds In History’

    breakingnews72BULLETIN: Songkram Roy Shachaisere, a sidebar figure in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme story, has been indicted with several others in what federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York are calling “one of the largest international penny stock frauds in history.”

    The probe “used wiretaps in the United States and undercover agents in foreign countries,” prosecutors said.

    Chillingly, prosecutors said some of the scammers impersonated IRS employees. Others joined forces to scam victims a second time by creating a “fake law firm.” Some of the money allegedly ended up in “an account maintained in Beirut, Lebanon.”

    Indeed, prosecutors said, some of the scammers branched off from the penny-story scheme to orchestrate a scheme “in which they fraudulently induced penny stock victims to pay advance fees, on the promise that the victims would then either be able to sell their securities to other waiting investors or join lawsuits to reclaim their losses,” the office of U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch said.  “In reality, the advance fees were nothing more than a con, as neither the investors nor the lawsuits existed.  To hoodwink the penny stock owners, the advance fee defendants invented fake trading companies and a fake law firm and then posed as employees of those entities while soliciting advance fees from the penny stock victims.”

    “The criminals behind this scheme were shameless in heartlessly defrauding hundreds of victims out of their savings and retirement accounts for their own enrichment,” said James C. Spero, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Buffalo.

    All in all, the scams netted at least $140 million and defrauded victims in 35 countries, prosecutors said.

    Fake news releases, bogus announcements about nonexistent ventures, bribes and fake posts on social-media sites were used to dupe the masses, prosecutors said.

    Shachaisere allegedly was involved in a massive pump-and-dump scheme. In 2010, according to the SEC, Sahachaisere fraudulently touted the stock of Praebius Communications. That’s the company ASD once conveniently announced was providing it a $200 million revenue infusion. ASD made the claim while awaiting a key ruling by the federal judge presiding over the ASD Ponzi case brought by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008.

    Even as critics were voicing concerns that ASD was advancing yet-another story that was too good to be true, members of the now-defunct Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum were cheerleading ASD’s purported revenue infusion from Praebius.

    Some ASD members sprinted to forums to announce the news, but the information could not be verified. ASD later removed the announcement from its website.

    ASD’s name was not referenced in the SEC’s 2010 complaint against Shachaisere, and Praebius was not listed as a defendant in the case. Praebius was referenced in the case as a client that paid Sahachaisere and his company in stock “to provide investor relations services.”

    All in all, seven defendants were arrested today, with nine indicted. Before the bust, one of the defendants bragged, “We know enough to be subtle,” prosecutors said.

    Here is a list of the defendants:

    • Sandy Winick
      Citizenship: Canada
      Age: 55
      Bangkok, Thailand
    • Gregory Curry
      Citizenship: Canada
      Age: 63
      Bangkok, Thailand
    • Kolt Curry
      Citizenship: Canada
      Age: 38
      Ontario, Canada
    • Gregory Ellis
      Citizenship: Canada
      Age: 46
      Ontario, Canada
    • Gary Kershner
      Citizenship: United States
      Age: 72
      Tucson, Arizona
    • Joseph Manfredonia
      Citizenship: United States
      Age: 45
      Tom’s River, New Jersey
    • Cort Poyner
      Citizenship: United States
      Age: 44
      Boca Raton, Florida
    • Songkram Roy Shachaiser
      Citizenship: United States
      Age: 43
      Huntington Beach, California
    • William Seals
      Citizenship: United States
      Age: 51
      Fallbrook, California

    Here’s how prosecutors described the pump-and-dump scheme (italics added):

    As alleged in the indictment, defendants Sandy Winick, Gary Kershner, Joseph Manfredonia, Cort Poyner, Songkram Roy Shachaisere and William Seals orchestrated one of the largest international penny stock frauds in history. First, the defendants gained controlling interests of huge quantities of worthless stock in 11 public companies known in the industry as ‘file cabinet businesses’ – thinly traded companies with minimal assets and non-existent business operations, which in many cases were mere shell companies. They then ‘pumped up’ the share prices of the companies’ stock by engaging in fraudulent and illegal sales campaigns, which included distributing false press releases, announcing non-existent business ventures and fake mergers, posting false information on social media sites and bribing stock promoters and brokers.

    And here’s how prosecutors described the advance-fee component of the scam (italics/bolding added):

    As the indictment alleges, defendants Winick, Gregory Curry, Kolt Curry and Gregory Ellis perpetrated a second scheme in which they fraudulently induced penny stock victims to pay advance fees, on the promise that the victims would then either be able to sell their securities to other waiting investors or join lawsuits to reclaim their losses. In reality, the advance fees were nothing more than a con, as neither the investors nor the lawsuits existed. To hoodwink the penny stock owners, the advance fee defendants invented fake trading companies and a fake law firm and then posed as employees of those entities while soliciting advance fees from the penny stock victims.

    To facilitate the scheme, the defendants established boiler rooms or call centers from which members of the conspiracy would solicit advance fees from the unsuspecting penny stock victims. The call centers were located in various locales around the world, including Canada, Thailand and the United Kingdom. Recently, the defendants began planning to open a new call center in Brooklyn, New York. Some of the victims were told that they either needed to pay the advance fee to remove restrictions that were placed upon their penny stock, which prevented the victims from selling their stock in the market, or to join investors in a pending or anticipated lawsuit to recover losses that they incurred while owning the penny stock. Victims were then told that the advance fees were needed to convert the warrants of their stocks to a saleable security. In several instances, the advance fee defendants even pretended to be IRS employees collecting a bogus advance tax from victim investors before they could unload their penny stocks. The victims were directed to send payment of the advance fees to banks around the world, including bank accounts in New York City. The fraud proceeds were then transferred through a funds transfer network, located in Getzville, New York, to an account maintained in Beirut, Lebanon. Ultimately, these defendants generated more than $20 million in fraudulently obtained advance fees.

    Defendant Kolt Curry described the Advance Fee Scheme in the following way over an intercepted wire communication: “I would say that 100 percent of these stocks are like uh pink uh… just dumps . . . . so … ya know they’re totally, they’re like, so a lot of these guys are dying . . . . to get rid of this crap. . . . The money is good, it’s easy. It’s easy money. Definitely easy money, and it’s good money.” In fact, while bragging about his prowess as a fraudster, defendant Kolt Curry further stated, “I had a guy send me a million dollars over one phone call . . . . He actually sent me almost two million dollars over the period of the hit . . . . I guess in the industry they coin it as a smash and grab.” As for the group’s recent plans to open a call center in Brooklyn, New York, defendant Kolt Curry said, “I tell you what man . . . hitting the Americans would be like taking money from a baby.”

    Lynch’s office thanked various U.S. agencies for their worked on the probe. She also thanked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Financial Crime Intelligence Unit in Vancouver and the Integrated Market Enforcement Team in Toronto, and the Serious Organized Crime Agency in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, prosecutors said that significant assistance was also provided by the United States Embassies in Ottawa, Toronto, London, Bangkok and Beijing.

  • FEDS: Florida Scammer Who Swindled Investment Clients And Tried To Arrange Murders Of Witness And Business Partners Sentenced To 30 Years In Federal Prison

    breakingnews72A 60-year-old Florida man who swindled retirees and ran a “sham investment firm” known as Yorkshire Financial Services with his now-deceased brother has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.

    Paul S. Kruse of Jacksonville plotted at least three murders after the scam was exposed, including the murder of a personal assistant who’d observed his dirty dealings, contacted the FBI and became a government witness.

    If Kruse survives the prison sentence, his release will occur when he is approximately 90 years old.

    After his brother’s 2012 suicide in the wake of the Yorkshire collapse, Kruse hired hit men to kill the personal assistant “to both prevent her from testifying and avenge his brother’s death,” the Justice Department said today.

    “Kruse also hired the hit men to rob and kill two former business partners, who Kruse contended had cheated him,” the Justice Department said.

    The hit men, however, were “undercover federal agents,” the Justice Department said.

    Kruse laid out the plot while being detained prior to trial, the Justice Department said.

    From a statement by the Justice Department (italics added):

    According to court documents, beginning in 2010, Kruse and his brother conspired to recruit and defraud a number of clients to whom they provided financial advisory services. As part of the scheme, Kruse established a sham investment firm called Yorkshire Financial Services. He and his brother convinced their clients, a number of whom were retirees, to move their savings to Yorkshire. Kruse and his brother deceptively told clients that Yorkshire had been in business for more than 30 years, had a staff of experienced securities traders, and traded in a combination of stocks, bonds and currencies appropriate for individual retirement accounts (IRAs). In reality, Kruse did not invest the investors’ funds. Rather, he spent the investors’ money on luxury cars, home improvements and personal items and made hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals. As a result of the scheme, Kruse stole $931,844 from 21 victims.

    Senior U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger late yesterday ordered Kruse jailed for three decades. Kruse further was ordered to pay restitution of $897,960 and serve five years’ supervised probation upon his prison release.

    The case was investigated by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

  • BULLETIN: James Timothy Turner, Purported ‘President’ Of Purported ‘Republic for the united States of America’ (RuSA), Sentenced To 18 Years In Federal Prison

    breakingnews72James Timothy “Tim” Turner, a purported “sovereign citizen” and the purported “President” of a shadow government known as the “Republic for the united States of America” (RuSA), has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison in a bizarre tax scam in which he was convicted of conspiring to defraud the IRS and teaching others to do so.

    In a particularly bizarre display of magical thinking, Turner and three other purported “Guardian Elders” sent “demands to all 50 governors in the United States in March 2010 ordering each governor to resign within three days to be replaced by a ‘sovereign’ leader or be ‘removed,’” the Justice Department said.

    Investigations by the FBI and IRS soon began, the agency said.

    “This lengthy prison sentence shows that tax defiers like Turner who use bogus tax schemes and file retaliatory liens against government officials will be punished,” said Kathryn Keneally, assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

    Added Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Stewart of the Middle District of Alabama: “This sentence should send a message that if you attempt to use retaliatory tax liens and fraudulent tax schemes as weapons against the United States and its citizens you will be punished.”

    A top IRS official, meanwhile, said Turner espoused a “false ideology.”

    “Turner influenced others with his false ideology by aggressively promoting obstruction of the IRS,” said Richard Weber,  chief of IRS-Criminal Investigation. “In truth, Turner’s own defiance of IRS and his attempts to lead others through the same labyrinth of lies and distortions led to his downfall as shown by the significant sentence he must now serve.”

    From a statement by the Justice Department (italics added):

    In March 2013, following a five-day jury trial, Turner was convicted on 10 counts in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Based on the evidence introduced at trial and in court filings, Turner, the self-proclaimed “president” of the sovereign citizen group Republic for the united States of America (RuSA), traveled the country in 2008 and 2009 conducting seminars teaching attendees how to defraud the IRS by preparing and submitting fictitious bonds to the U.S. government in payment of federal taxes, mortgages, and other debt. The evidence at trial revealed the bonds are fictitious and worthless but witnesses testified that Turner used special paper, financial terminology and elaborate borders in an effort to make them look authentic and more likely to succeed in defrauding the recipient. Turner was convicted of sending a $300 million fictitious bond in his own name and of aiding and abetting others in sending fifteen other fictitious bonds to the Treasury Department to pay taxes and other debts.

    The evidence at trial also established that Turner taught people how to file retaliatory liens against government officials who interfered with the processing of fictitious bonds. Turner filed a purported $17.6 billion maritime lien in Montgomery County, Ala., Probate Court against another individual. This investigation began after Turner and three other self-proclaimed “Guardian Elders” sent demands to all 50 governors in the United States in March 2010 ordering each governor to resign within three days to be replaced by a “sovereign” leader or be “removed.” The FBI immediately began investigating Turner and IRS- Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) joined the investigation soon thereafter.

  • BBC HOST: ‘We Have An Idiot On The Program Today’ — And It’s Alex Jones

    Andrew Neil yesterday made the universal "[batspit] crazy" gesture after trying to interview Alex Jones of InfoWars.
    Andrew Neil yesterday made the universal “[batspit] crazy” gesture after trying to interview Alex Jones of InfoWars.
    HYIP apologists dating back (at least) to the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme in 2008 ($119 million) have bizarrely sought to defend their favorite scams by steering discussions off the track. Why talk about the recidivist securities felon who presided over ASD (Andy Bowdoin), for instance, when the “real menace” is the Bilderberg Group?

    And, hey, since the United States is a participatory Democracy, why not further cloud the issues by launching petition drives designed to derail the prosecutions of major Ponzi schemes (such as AdSurfDaily and Zeek Rewards) and even filing bogus liens for billions of dollars against judges, prosecutors and investigators?

    If you encounter an HYIP Ponzi scheme these days that perhaps purports to pay interest of 2 percent a day or more, it’s a safe bet you’ll encounter one conspiracy theorist after another on well-known fraud-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup — especially if the evilGUBment brings a criminal or civil action against the purported “opportunity.”

    It was against this delusional backdrop that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones appeared on the BBC’s “Sunday Politics” program hosted by Andrew Neil. The subject was the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group, sometimes known  simply as the Bilderbergers.

    One of the best moments of the program occurred near the end of the Jones segment, when Neil made the universal “[batspit] crazy” gesture after Jones shared a FEMA concentration-camp conspiracy theory and screamed that “you will not stop freedom! You will not stop the republic! Humanity is awakening!”

    Neil declared, “We have an idiot on the program today.”

    Among the bizarre claims of the AdSurfDaily apologists was that all commerce is lawful as long as the parties to a “contract” agree that it is lawful, a position that would legalize Ponzi schemes — and slavery and human trafficking and narcotics trafficking, for that matter. The U.S. Secret Service took down ASD, and promptly was called “Satan” by ASD operator Andy Bowdoin, now serving a 78-month prison sentence for wire fraud for his 1-percent-a-day scheme.

    The SEC took down Zeek Rewards in August 2012, amid allegations it was conducting a $600 million, international Ponzi- and pyramid scheme by duping people into believing they were receiving a legitimate return that averaged about 1.5 percent a day. A federal judge appointed a receiver, who quickly was described as a felon by a Zeek litigant. (The Zeek receiver is a former federal prosecutor who once successfully prosecuted a Hezbollah terrorist cell operating in the United States.)

    Back in 2008 and 2009, some of the ASD apologists accused a federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush of committing dozens of felonies and conspiring with a chief judge to deny ASD members justice.

    Why HYIP scammers seem to embrace the conspiracy theories of Jones long has been left to the imagination. One thing that is clear is that ASD and Zeek combined allegedly gathered $719 million. Some recent HYIP scams such as Legisi ($72 million) and JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid (unknown take) have required participants to avow they were not with the “government.” Legisi specifically named the CIA, FBI, SEC, “Her Majesty’s Police,” the Intelligence Services of Great Britain and the Serious Fraud Office, among others.

    Late last month, the United States — working with other countries — took down a major payment processor for fraud schemes. Its name was “Liberty Reserve.”

  • ULTIMATE INSULT? ‘ProfitClicking,’ A ‘JSSTripler’/’JustBeenPaid’ Reload Scam That Surfaced After Collapse Of Zeek Rewards, Now Called ‘ProfitCrapping’ On Ponzi Boards

    Frederick Mann
    Frederick Mann

    A “program” the PP Blog reported may have ties to the so-called “sovereign citizens” movement appears to have wiped out investors and perhaps zeroed out the purported earnings of many of them, according to posts at the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi-scheme forum.

    In fact, according to one post, the “ProfitClicking” program perhaps now can be best described as “Profitcrapping.”

    ProfitClicking listed Liberty Reserve as one of its payment processors. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in New York described Liberty Reserve as a massive criminal enterprise involved in the laundering of more than $6 billion. The effect of the Liberty Reserve action on Profit Clicking was not immediately clear.

    What is clear is that ProfitClicking was a fraud from the start. The “program” traces its roots to JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid, which promised a daily payout of 2 percent and purportedly was operated by Frederick Mann, a one-time pitchman for the collapsed, 1-percent-a-day AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. ProfitClicking surfaced after Mann purportedly retired suddenly in the days after the SEC took down Zeek Rewards in August 2012, amid allegations it had operated a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud that had duped investors into believing it provided a legitimate payout averaging about 1.5 percent a day.

    Prior to the emergence of ProfitClicking, Mann speculated that his JSS/JBP “program” could come under attack by American cruise missiles. He also has described U.S. government employees as “part of a criminal gang of robbers, thieves, murderers, liars, imposters.”

    Taking the time to ensure JSS/JBP was operating legally was a concession to slavery, Mann contended. Fellow AdSurfDaily figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming, a purported sovereign convicted in a plot to file false liens for billions of dollars against U.S. government employees, later contended that he was being held as a slave against his will.

    But even as Mann was sliming the U.S. government and calling its employees slavemasters, one of his JSS/JBP pitchmen was operating a site known as Vatican Assassins that contended “Majority Savage Blacks were never taught to behave in civil White Protestant culture and thus have been released upon us Reformation Bible-believing Whites to further destroy our once White Protestant and Baptist American culture founded upon the Reformation’s AV1611 English Bible and a White Protestant Presbyterian Constitution with its attached White Baptist-Calvinist Bill of Rights.”

    Some analysts have speculated that the name “Frederick Mann” (emphasis by PP Blog) is longhand code for “free man.” Purported “sovereign citizens” sometimes calls themselves “free men of the land.”

    Among other things, both JSS/JBP and ProfitClicking made members affirm they were not with the “government.” Mann declined to say where his “program” was operating from, a development that drew comparisons to the infamous BCCI banking scheme of the 1990s. BCCI, shorthand for Bank of Credit and Commerce International, purportedly was designed to be “offshore everywhere,”

    Liberty Reserve also has drawn such comparisons. (Link is to May 28 article in Vanity Fair.)

    Mann fell out of the Ponzi spotlight for a brief time after his purported retirement from JSS/JBP as ProfitClicking was gaining a head of steam.

    He soon was back, however — this time as a pitchmen for a “program” known as ClickPaid.

    The ClickPaid Terms — like the Terms of JSS/JBP and ProfitClicking — made members affirm they are not with the “government.”

    On May 29, the PP Blog reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Republic of the Philippines had issued a warning on the JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid and ProfitClicking scams. JSS/JBP also came under investigation in Italy.

    A Ponzi-board program known as “Profitable Sunrise” also experienced the same fate in Italy.

    The U.S. SEC has described Profitable Sunrise as a murky “program” that may have collected tens of millions of dollars through offshore bank accounts. Profitable Sunrise had five HYIP plans, including one bizarrely dubbed the “Long Haul,” which purported to pay 2.7 percent a day — more than Zeek, more than ASD, more than JSS/JBP, more than ProfitClicking, more than ClickPaid.

    A website linked to Mann once linked to videos featuring Francis Schaeffer Cox, a purported “sovereign” and “militia” man implicated in a murder plot against public officials in Alaska.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: AdSurfDaily Figure And Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Kenneth Wayne Leaming Sentenced To 8 Years In Federal Prison

    Kenneth Wayne Leaming
    Kenneth Wayne Leaming

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (UPDATED 10:55 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison. His former business associate and fellow purported “sovereign” David Carroll Stephenson has been sentenced to 10 years.

    Stephenson already was serving prison time for a tax scam.

    “These defendants tried to mask their crimes with the cloak of free speech and beliefs,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington. “They thought they were immune from the law or the justice system, but now their frauds aimed at taxpayers and public servants need to come to an end. A lengthy prison term is the best way to protect the public from their schemes.”

    Stephenson, Durkan’s office said, received a sentence longer than the recommended guidelines.

    U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton said that Stephenson “cannot, will not live his life without doing harm to others,” prosecutors said. “He is the master manipulator, the puppeteer . . . He is in my mind a very dangerous man.”

    Leaming, the judge said, flaunts authority and “harasses law abiding people who have an obligation to the people to serve,” according to prosecutors.

    Leaming, like Stephenson, is 57. Although it never was clear whether Leaming was a member of the $119 million ASD Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008, it became crystal clear that he was trying to derail the prosecution by filing bogus liens against public officials involved in the ASD case and had worked with Stephenson to file fraudulent liens against two U.S. prison officials.

    Prosecutors had asked for Leaming to be sentenced to 10 years.

    When the FBI executed search warrants at Leaming’s Spanaway home in November 2011, they found six firearms — this despite the fact Leaming was a convicted felon banned from possessing guns. Leaming previously has been convicted of piloting an aircraft without a license.

    One of the weapons Leaming possessed was described by prosecutors as a “street sweeper” style shotgun. He also had an “assault rifle,” according to prosecutors.

    Leaming also was found to be harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas wanted in a home-business caper separate from ASD.

    During his criminal trial, Leaming was channeling deceased cop-killer Christopher Dorner in a veiled bid to intimidate law enforcement, prosecutors said. Dorner is the former member of the Los Angeles Police Department who promised warfare against cops in February. The Dorner story stunned the nation.

    Leaming, according to the FBI, also has a history that includes discussing a plot by which he’d serve U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts with a purported writ at a school attended by Roberts’ young children.

    From a statement by Durkan’s office tonight (italics added):

    The men (Stephenson and Leaming) identify themselves as members of the ‘Sovereign Citizen’ movement. ‘Sovereign Citizens’ profess a belief that both state and federal government entities are illegitimate. Members of this group often engaged in so-called “freedom driving,” i.e., driving about without state-required licenses, either for their vehicles or themselves. When contacted by local law enforcement, members of the group often bombard local officials (from the officer, to local judges, to mayors and other members of local government) with frivolous liens, false claims, and sometimes threats of violence. Many members of this same group had previously come to the attention of federal law enforcement for engaging in various fraudulent tax schemes, wire fraud schemes, and (occasionally) inappropriate communications with various members of federal law enforcement and the judiciary.

    In asking for a ten year sentence for both men, prosecutors wrote to the court that only a long prison term would protect the public. About STEPHENSON they wrote, “This is not the case of a defendant who continues to run afoul of the law because of a substance abuse addiction or a history of childhood abuse. Rather, this is a defendant who simply chooses to remain defiant, despite court after court telling him that he must stop, and despite multiple stints in prison. At this point, removal from society is the only way in which the public can be kept safe from the defendant’s crimes.”

    As for LEAMING, prosecutors provided information to the court about his repeatedly holding himself out to victims as a lawyer who could solve their problems, when in fact his actions may have damaged their case. About the crimes from the March 2013 conviction prosecutors wrote: “Defendant’s possession of firearms is particularly disturbing in light of several facts. First is obviously his disdain for government. Second is his possession of various items of police equipment, including numerous badges, light bars, and a Crown Victoria sedan modified to appear to be a police vehicle. Last but not least is Defendant’s repeated invocation of the shooting of government officials in Southern California by a disgruntled former police officer – which again appeared to be a veiled threat to engage in violence himself if he is prevented from pursuing his “‘petitions for redress,’” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

  • Letter Sent To Federal Judge In Washington State Contained Ricin, FBI Says; Matthew Ryan Buquet Arrested

    americaatrisk4The FBI has arrested Matthew Ryan Buquet, who appeared in federal court yesterday to face a charge he mailed a letter containing ricin toxin to a federal judge in Washington state.

    Buquet is 37. The Associated Press, via Fox News, identified the intended recipient as U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle of the Eastern District of Washington. Van Sickle presides over cases in Spokane. He was appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and now serves as a senior judge. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, Van Sickle was a state-court judge in Washington.

    It was not immediately clear whether the FBI suspects a broader crime. Nor was it clear whether Van Sickle ever presided over a case in which Buquet had a role. Washington state is known to be the site of an investigation into the activities of purported “sovereign citizens.” The word “sovereign” does not appear in a statement by the FBI yesterday on the Buquet arrest, but purported “sovereigns” have been linked to cases of domestic terrorism and extremism in the United States.

    “Our coordinated team acted swiftly to resolve a potentially dangerous situation and continues working tirelessly around-the-clock to investigate the origin of the letter and to address any remaining, potential risks,” said Laura M. Laughlin, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle Division.

    “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service quickly deployed resources dedicated to find those responsible for this suspicious mailing to ensure the safety of U.S. Postal Service employees and the American public,” said Bradley J. Kleinknecht, inspector in charge of the Seattle Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

    The Spokane ricin investigation follows on the heels of an April incident in Mississippi allegedly involving ricin and the mails. President Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and a state judge in Mississippi allegedly were targets of the April letters.

    News of Buquet’s arrest came during the same week federal prosecutors in the Western District of Washington alleged that AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming was channeling deceased cop-killer Christopher Dorner in the courtroom.

    Leaming, 57, was convicted March 1 on charges of filing false liens against public officials involved in the ASD case, harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas wanted in a separate multimillion-dollar fraud scheme and being a felon in possession of firearms. Based on their bizarre court pleadings, the Arkansas fugitives found with Leaming appear either to be “sovereigns” or people acting under the influence of “sovereigns.”

    “Sovereign citizens,” known to network over the Internet, may have an irrational belief that laws do not apply to them and may draft others into “sovereign” schemes, sometimes for a fee. Though typically linked to financial crimes, some individuals linked to the purported “sovereign citizen” movement also have been involved in sex crimes. In November 2011, a Florida man listed as a registered sex offender was jailed after the allegedly filed a bogus lien against a judge.

    In a separate case involving a purported “sovereign,” Bruce Chalmers Hicks was jailed in Florida last week. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Hicks served seven years in prison after his 2004 conviction for molesting a child under the age of 12.

    MailOnline reported yesterday that Buquet “was listed as a sex offender following an ‘indecent liberties’ charge in 1998.”

    The office of U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington prosecuted Leaming, the ASD figure and purported “sovereign.” Leaming now claims a federal judge owes him 208,000 ounces of fine silver. Durkan’s office recently has prosecuted other purported “sovereigns,” including David Russell Myrland.

    In 2011, Myrland was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for threatening the mayor of the Seattle suburb of Kirkland and other public officials. He later bizarrely claimed (apparently) that the government was engaging in a grammar conspiracy against him.

     

  • DEVELOPING STORY: Buford Rogers Arrested In Alleged Localized Terror Plot In Minnesota, FBI Says

    Buford Braden Rogers: Source: Chippewa County Sheriff's Office.
    Buford Braden Rogers: Source: Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office.

    FBI agents and other members of law enforcement have arrested 24-year-old Buford Rogers in Montevideo, Minn., after executing a search warrant Friday and finding “explosive devices” and “several guns,” the FBI said today.

    “The FBI believes that a terror attack was disrupted by law enforcement personnel and that the lives of several local residents were potentially saved,” the agency said.

    The alleged plot was “discovered and subsequently thwarted through the timely analysis of intelligence and through the cooperation and coordination” among federal, state and local agencies, the FBI said.

    How long the probe had been under way was not immediately clear. Also unclear is whether the alleged plot was targeted at specific individuals or posed a general local threat.

    Montevideo is a small town in Chippewa County, about 140 miles west of Minneapolis. Rogers is being held on a charge of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

    The Star Tribune of Minneapolis/St. Paul is reporting that agents found “Molotov cocktails, suspected pipe bombs and a Romanian AKM assault rifle among the firearms.”

    Agencies participating in the probe include the Montevideo Police Department; the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Minnesota State Highway Patrol; the Bloomington Police Department; the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office (South Dakota); the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; and members of CEE-VI (Cooperative Enforcement Effort), the FBI said.

    Rogers turned 24 in December, according to his booking sheet at the Sheriff’s Office.

  • UBER-BIZARRE: Man Stabbed Parishioners During Sunday Mass Because He Believed Choir Director Was ‘Part Of A Group Of Freemasons Who Are Involved In A Large-Scale Conspiracy,’ Albuquerque Police Say

    Lawrence Capener: Source: Al Police.
    Lawrence Capener: Source: Albuquerque Police.

    Sunday Mass at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church was the site of multiple attacks by a knife-wielding man who believed the choir director was “part of a group of Freemasons who are involved in a large-scale conspiracy,” the Albuquerque Police Department said.

    Lawrence Capener, 24, was arrested on three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Police said he carried out a “brutal attack” on the choir director, identified as 48-year-old Adam Alvarez. At least two other churchgoers were stabbed, including choir member Gerald Madrid, 53, and Greg Aragon, 43.

    Madrid “tried to stop the attack by wrapping his arms around Capener” and was stabbed “five times in the back,” police said.

    “Witnesses say that as the final song of the church service began, Capener leapt from his seat, jumped over the pews and charged Alvarez with a knife,” police said.

    Aragon is an off-duty Albuquerque firefighter who intervened with other parishioners to stop the attack. Also wounded was Michael Tungate, a 37-year-old churchgoer, police said. They added that Capener waved his knife “wildly” during a “massive struggle” involving multiple worshipers to disarm him.

    Police credited off-duty public-safety personnel who were attending the Mass with preventing the already-violent attack from becoming even more bloody. Among the churchgoers who intervened were Charles Metzler Jr., an FBI special agent; Chris Maestas, a Rio Rancho police officer; Gilbert Flores, a sergeant with the Department of Corrections; and Daren DeAguero, an off-duty Albuquerque police officer who managed to get Capener handcuffed with cuffs provided by Maestas.

    “The quick action by the parishioners and numerous off-duty public safety personnel clearly prevented a major tragedy,” Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said.  “We are grateful for the vigilance and bravery of those who undoubtedly put their lives at risk.”

    From a statement by police (italics added):

    Capener was interviewed by APD Northwest Impact Detectives Sunday evening and told them that he intended to attack Adam Alvarez because he believes Alvarez is part of a group of Freemasons who are involved in a large-scale conspiracy.

    As Capener received medical treatment for the cut on his hand, he told medical staff that the Freemasons have tapped into the radio waves of the church’s microphones to send out their message.  Capener stated that the devil was sending a message through the microphone whenever Alvarez sang or spoke. He said that he had been attending church at St. Jude’s for the past three months and on Sunday he “had enough” and had to take action.

    Capener admitted to vandalizing the Masonic Lodge, 1420 Barbara Loop SE, Rio Rancho, NM.  Capener vandalized the Masonic Lodge within hours prior to the church attack.  Capener still had spray paint on his hands when he was taken into custody.  The Rio Rancho Police Department is investigating the vandalism.

    Separately, the Associated Press reported that Capener told police that he was “99 percent sure Alvarez was a mason” and that he thought Alvarez was involved in a conspiracy.

    “He told the investigator that Masons are a group involved ‘in a conspiracy that is far more reaching than I could or would believe,’” the news agency reported.