By Gary Goldfarb

May 20, 2010/ PHILADELPHIA – With all the recent news of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 law, a Mexican being beaten and the Mexican president calling the law ‘racist’, does this mean that Mexicans are of a certain race?

Last I checked, Mexico is a country. Let’s switch countries around to see: So, if a Mexican police officer said, “I’m going to beat the f***ing American piss out of you, Homey! You feel me?” to an American, would that be racist?
Mexico and the United States were invaded and conquered by the Spaniards [Europeans]- remember, the conquistadors? The Spaniards beat the natives in what is now Mexico. The other Europeans [English] ‘invaded’ and beat the Spanish-Europeans and the United States is now what it is. (See below video):

Now we have the Mexican president, Calderon (which is a Spanish [European] surname), saying that the Arizona 1070 law is ‘racist’.
Once again, switch countries around to let’s say, Canada, which was also conquered by Europeans [French]. Would it be ‘racist’? No, that’s because Canada is just another country. (See video below):

Now, the United States’ people are made-up of mostly European decent, with Blacks making-up 13%. What part of Mexico is European?
In our minds, we have been trained to think of Mexicans as ‘Latinos’ – who came-up with this?
The Latin world, as we know it, is basically every single country south of the U.S. including many Caribbean, but not all, countries. Some Caribbean countries are almost all elusively Black. Are there any Blacks in Mexico? I haven’t seen any, minus tourists. At one point in time, c. 1570, Blacks outnumbered Spaniards 3:1 Brazil has many Blacks but not Mexico. Whatever happened to the Black Mexicans?

Reciprocating, if we call most countries’ people south of the U.S., ‘Latinos’ – what do the Latinos call the northern countries’ peoples?
It’s time we all recognize our true history.
And don’t forget, on these continents, both North and South, we are all Americans.

-Gary Goldfarb ©
Diverse News

PHILADELPHIA, April 13 /PRNewswire/ — Veterans and other volunteers will gather Wednesday, April 14, at noon at the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial to voice their concern over vandalism and to offer their support by patrolling at the site.

The Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is organizing veterans and others to monitor activities at the Memorial starting this week through Memorial Day. Veterans will be asked to speak at the noon press conference to voice their concern about the desecration of the Memorial.

More detail will be provided about the patrols and other measures to halt the vandalism from skateboarders and inline skaters, who have actually been destroying devices designed to halt such activity. Scores of veterans already have contacted the fund volunteering to patrol at the site on Front and Spruce streets.

A limited number of copies of the surveillance tapes showing the vandalism will be available, as well as new, more prominent signage outlining illegal activities at the Memorial. The Fund is a nonprofit organization that provides oversight at the Memorial in cooperation with the Fairmount Park.

Three juveniles from the Philadelphia suburbs were apprehended March 7 by police who have charged them with desecration of a memorial, a third degree felony that is punishable by fines and imprisonment.

Coordinating the Veteran activities will be Dennis Best, vice president of the Memorial Fund, assisted by James Moran, Memorial Custodian.

The Memorial Fund last fall completed the first phase of its “Duty to Remember” Campaign for the restoration and preservation of the Memorial at Spruce and Front Streets. The fund is working to raise $500,000 for the second phase which will involve creating an opening in the “wall of scenes” on the Spruce Street side of the Memorial to make it easier for police to spot offenders and also create greater awareness at the enclosed site. For more information, visit www.pvvm.org. The Memorial honors the 646 Philadelphians who were lost in the Vietnam War.

Note: The lawyers are members of the Pennsylvania Bar Association

Five Indicted in Foreclosure Rescue and Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Scam Involved Lawyers, Mortgage Brokers, and More Than $14.6 Million in Loans

PHILADELPHIA—A 15-count indictment was filed today against five defendants charged in a $14.6 million mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in at least 35 fraudulent mortgage loans, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Janice K. Fedarcyk, and Pennsylvania Secretary of Banking Steven Kaplan. Charged are Edward G. McCusker and John Alford Bariana, owners of Axxium Mortgage, Inc., McCusker’s wife, Jacqueline, and Jeffrey A. Bennett and Stephen G. Doherty, owners of the Doylestown law firm Bennett & Doherty, P.C.

According to the indictment, the defendants targeted financially distressed homeowners facing foreclosure, falsely promised them help in saving their homes, engaged in real estate transactions with straw purchasers, and obtained dozens of fraudulent mortgages. The defendants took whatever equity the homeowner had left, funneled it through various shell corporations they controlled, used some of it to pay the new mortgages, and put the rest of the equity into their own bank accounts. Read More »

1.  Washington Field: Twenty-Six Charged in Nationwide Scheme to Defraud FCC’s Video Relay Service Program

Indictments were unsealed against 26 people charged with engaging in a scheme to steal millions of dollars from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Video Relay Service program. Arrests were made by FBI agents and Postal Inspectors in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Maryland, and were the result of a joint FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and FCC Office of Inspector General investigation into the nationwide scheme. Full Story

2.   Atlanta: Kuwaiti Company Indicted for Massive Overcharging of United States for Soldiers’ Food

Public Warehousing Company, K.S.C., a logistics company organized under the laws of the Nation of Kuwait, was indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, committing major fraud against the United States, making false statements, submitting false claims, and wire fraud. All of the charges concern multi-billion dollar contracts issued by the Department of Defense for feeding American troops in Iraq, Kuwait, and Jordan. Full Story

3.   FBI Headquarters: Seeking Civil Rights-Era Cold Case Victims’ Next of Kin

Nearly three years after the launch of the Civil Rights-Era Cold Case Initiative, the FBI is publicly releasing updated information demonstrating the progress made so far, and requesting public assistance with a new challenge: locating victims’ next of kin in 33 cases.  Full Story

4.   Los Angeles: Athens Park Bloods Street Gang Members Charged with Narcotics Violations

Hundreds of Sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents executed arrest and search warrants in the final phase of “Operation Blood Klot.” Seventeen members and associates of the Athens Park Bloods street gang were charged for their alleged roles in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy that operated within a South Los Angeles. Full Story

5.   San Diego: Man Pleads Guilty to $25 Million Investment Fraud Scheme

Richard M. Hersch pled guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy to structure financial transactions in connection with a $25 million investment fraud scheme. The plea agreement provides for Hersch to pay at least $9.2 million in restitution to investors he defrauded. Full Story

6. New York: United States Charges 43 Members of Cocaine Trafficking Ring Read More »

1. Los Angeles: 100 Linked to Computer Hacking Ring Charged by U.S. and Egypt in Operation Phish Phry

One hundred defendants were indicted as a result of Operation Phish Phry, a multinational cyber crime investigation conducted in the United States and Egypt that uncovered a sophisticated phishing operation. The defendants fraudulently collected personal information from thousands of victims, using it to defraud American banks. Operation Phish Phry marks the first joint cyber investigation between Egyptian law enforcement authorities and United States officials. Full Story

2. Denver: Mohammed Zazi Indicted for False Statement Involving International and Domestic Terrorism

Mohammed Zazi was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver for making a false statement in a matter involving international and domestic terrorism. Zazi was first arrested by the FBI based on a criminal complaint filed on September 19, 2009.  Full Story

3. Dallas: Federal Grand Jury Indicts Man for Attempting to Bomb Dallas Skyscraper

A federal grand jury in Dallas has charged Hosam Maher Husein Smadi with offenses stemming from his attempt to bomb a skyscraper in downtown Dallas.  It is expected that Smadi will make his initial appearance on these charges before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Dallas next week. Full Story

4.Springfield: Grand Jury Indicts Man Previously Charged with Attempt to Bomb Courthouse and Murder Federal Employees

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Michael C. Finton, as previously charged in a criminal complaint, with attempted murder of a federal officer or employee and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) against property owned by the United States. Finton was arrested on September 23, 2009, in connection with an alleged plot to detonate a vehicle bomb at the federal courthouse in Springfield.  Full Story

5. New York: Bonanno Organized Crime Family Members and Associates Indicted

A 33-count indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn federal court charging members and associates of the Bonanno organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra with racketeering-related charges, firearms violations, bank fraud, illegal gambling, extortion, extortion conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Full Story Read More »

Finally, after 30 years, Roman Polanski, a child molester, has been arrested in Switzerland.

Google via AP

Polanski was flying in to receive an honorary award at the Zurich Film Festival when he was apprehended Saturday at the airport, the Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement. It said U.S. authorities have sought the arrest of the 76-year-old around the world since 2005

-Josh Truman

Former Dallas Cowboys Football Player Eugene Lockhart and Eight Others Charged in Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Federal Indictment Charges Conspiracy, Bank Fraud, and Wire Fraud

DALLAS—A federal grand jury has indicted Eugene Lockhart, Jr., 48, a former player with the Dallas Cowboys, and eight others on various charges related to a mortgage fraud scheme he and the others allegedly ran in the Dallas area from 2001 through 2005, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Lockhart, of Carrollton, Texas, and co-defendant Lendell Beacham, 50, of DeSoto, Texas, were arrested this morning by FBI agents, and will appear this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeff Kaplan for their initial appearance.

All nine defendants are charged in the indictment, returned by a federal grand jury earlier this week and unsealed this morning, with various offenses related to the scheme, including conspiracy, bank fraud, and wire fraud. In addition to Lockhart and Beacham, the following defendants are named in the indictment: William Randolph Tisdale, Jr., 45, formerly of Dallas, but currently serving a federal sentence on unrelated charges; Hubert Jones, III, 39, of Garland, Texas; Patricia Ortega Suarez, 55, of Dallas; Suzette Switzer Hinds, 45, of Dallas; Michael Anthony Caldwell, 49, of Arlington, Texas; Donna Lois Kneeland, 45, of Grand Prairie, Texas; and Bryan J. Moorman, 67, of Mesquite, Texas. These defendants, with the exception of Tisdale, are expected to surrender to the FBI tomorrow morning, September 4, 2009.

All nine defendants are charged with Read More »

PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 25, 2009/Diverse News/- President Obama made it clear that the U.S. and the international community condemns and will take action on North Korea’s violation of laws and commitments. This could certainly mean a variety of things such as (more) sanctions and perhaps even a unified blockade of the communist state which is led by Kim Jong Il.
The Communist leader appears to be doing these types of things to show power to either make others fear him or respect him. All this while the vast majority of his people live in dreaded conditions and famine.

With this speculative blockade coming up, it will no doubt leave into skirmishes, further violations and eventually, North Korea’s demise.

All this because of one man’s super ego to control, which has brought anything but respect to him, now leaves him in fear of being overthrown, as will most likely be the case.

-Mark Smith

MultiEthnic Behavioral Health, Inc. Charged with Fraud Scheme Involving Multi-Million Dollar City Contract

PHILADELPHIA—United States Attorney Laurie Magid today announced the filing of a 21-count indictment charging eight employees of a social service agency with defrauding the City of Philadelphia and the federal government by falsely claiming to provide social services to needy families and then billing the City for the services. A ninth employee is charged with a single count of lying to a federal grand jury. The indictment alleges that the fraud scheme was carried out by employees of MultiEthnic Behavioral Health, Inc. (“MEBH”) and contributed to the death of a 14-year-old girl for whom the City’s Department of Human Services had hired MEBH to provide services. Joining in today’s announcement were Health and Human Services Special Agent-in-Charge Pat Doyle, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk, and Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham.

The indictment alleges 12 counts of wire fraud, six counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation, one count of providing a false statement to federal agents, and one count of perjury before a federal grand jury. Charged in the indictment are Read More »