criminal mentality noted. On Monday, January 4, 2016 at 11:49:09 AM UTC-6, brine wrote: > > Yep, if someone's gonna profit, it might as well be my family!!! ;) > > > On Mon, Jan 4, 2016 at 12:30 PM, plainolamerican <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> My Parents and Sister are in Florida, too bad they aren't cops!!! >> --- >> so they too could be on the take? >> >> On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 5:51:23 PM UTC-6, brine wrote: >>> >>> My Parents and Sister are in Florida, too bad they aren't cops!!! >>> >>> On Sat, Jan 2, 2016 at 3:14 PM, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/entire-florida-police-department-busted-for-laundering-millions-for-international-drug-cartels/ >>>> Entire Florida police department busted for laundering millions for >>>> international drug cartels >>>> >>>> The village of Bal Harbour, population 2,513, may have a tiny footprint >>>> on the northern tip of Miami Beach, but its police department had grand >>>> aspirations of going after international drug traffickers, and making a >>>> few >>>> million dollars while they were at it. >>>> >>>> The Bal Harbour PD and the Glades County Sheriff’s Office *set up a >>>> giant money laundering scheme* >>>> <http://pubsys.miamiherald.com/static/media/projects/2015/license-to-launder/index.html> >>>> >>>> with the purported goal of busting drug cartels and stemming the surge of >>>> drug dealing going on in the area. But it all fell apart when federal >>>> investigators and the Miami-Herald found strange things going on. >>>> >>>> The two-year operation, which took in more than $55 million from >>>> criminal groups, *resulted in zero arrests* but netted $2.4 million >>>> for the police posing as money launderers. Members of the 12-person task >>>> force traveled far and wide to carry out their deals, from Los Angeles to >>>> New York to Puerto Rico. >>>> >>>> Along the way, the small-town cops got a taste of luxury as they used >>>> the money for first-class flights, luxury hotels, Mac computers and >>>> submachine guns. Meanwhile, the Bal Harbour PD and Glades County Sheriffs >>>> were buying all sorts of fancy new equipment. >>>> >>>> Besides these “official” uses of the money, confidential records >>>> obtained by the Miami-Herald show that officers withdrew hundreds of >>>> thousands of dollars with no record of where the money went. >>>> >>>> *“They were like bank robbers with badges,” said Dennis Fitzgerald, an >>>> attorney and former Drug Enforcement Administration agent who taught >>>> undercover tactics for the U.S. State Department. “It had no law >>>> enforcement objective. The objective was to make money.”* >>>> >>>> The operation, which was not fully reported to federal authorities, >>>> funneled millions of dollars to overseas criminals and interfered with >>>> investigations being carried out on known money launderers. >>>> >>>> The *latest revelations* >>>> <http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article51698275.html> >>>> >>>> show that at least 20 people in Venezuela were sent drug money from the >>>> Florida cops, including William Amaro Sanchez, the foreign minister under >>>> Hugo Chavez and now special assistant to President Nicolas Maduro. >>>> >>>> They wired a total of $211,000 to Sanchez, even while the U.S. >>>> government was investigating Venezuelan government leaders involved in the >>>> drug trade. Instead of reporting their knowledge of Sanchez to federal >>>> agencies, the cops went on laundering money, taking their cut, and all the >>>> while aiding Sanchez in his machinations, which likely included political >>>> corruption. >>>> >>>> Four other Venezuelan criminals and smugglers were major recipients of >>>> the millions being wired from the Bal Harbour PD and Glades County >>>> Sheriff’s Office, including a figure tied to one of the largest drug >>>> cartels in the hemisphere. >>>> >>>> These actions violated strict federal bans on sending illegal money >>>> overseas, and the Florida cops never investigated the backgrounds of the >>>> people receiving their laundered drug money. >>>> >>>> *“I can’t think of a more podunk town than Bal Harbour — not in a bad >>>> way. But in the sense that these cops would have otherwise been stopping >>>> traffic or shooting radar,” said Ruben Oliva, who has represented alleged >>>> narco-traffickers since the 1980s. “In reality they were being launderers. >>>> The minute they started doing busts, it would have been over.* >>>> >>>> *“This is like a movie. You’ve got these guys and they’re flying all >>>> over. They’re saying, ‘Hey, I’m in the big leagues.’ I’ve seen every kind >>>> of law enforcement money-laundering investigations. I’ve never seen >>>> anything like this. It’s really one for the ages.”* >>>> >>>> After the Department of Justice busted the Bal Harbour PD for >>>> misspending seized money to pay police salaries, the Miami-Herald began >>>> deeper investigations and found a much bigger pool of money that was never >>>> noticed by the feds. Soon after that, the ambitious sting operation—which >>>> was really just a money-making scheme—began to fall apart. >>>> >>>> *“The Miami Herald gained unprecedented access to the confidential >>>> records of the undercover investigation, reviewing thousands of records >>>> including cash pickup reports, emails, DEA reports, bank statements and >>>> wire transfers for millions of dollars. The inquiry found:* >>>> >>>> *▪ Police routinely withdrew cash — thousands at a time — totaling $1.3 >>>> million from undercover bank accounts, but to this day there are no >>>> records >>>> to show where the money was spent. “In all my years of law enforcement, >>>> I’ve never seen anything like it,” Chief Overton said.* >>>> >>>> *▪ Bal Harbour officials say they cannot find receipts for hundreds of >>>> thousands in expenses, including five-star hotel bookings, dinners that >>>> ran >>>> up to $1,000 and scores of purchases like laptops, iPads, electronic money >>>> counters, flower deliveries, and even iTunes downloads.* >>>> >>>> *▪ While posing as launderers, police delivered nearly $20 million to >>>> storefront businesses in Miami-Dade to launder the money for drug groups — >>>> gathering critical evidence against the business owners — yet took no >>>> action against them. Years later, the businesses are still open, some >>>> still >>>> suspected by federal agents of laundering for the cartels.”* >>>> >>>> Cash deposits to SunTrust Bank *totaling $28 million* do not appear >>>> anywhere in police records. It’s no coincidence that the operation was >>>> launched “at a time law enforcement agencies across Florida were looking >>>> to >>>> boost their budgets during one of the state’s toughest economic periods.” >>>> >>>> *“We had to find a revenue stream,” said Duane Pottorff, chief of law >>>> enforcement for Glades. “It allowed us to have resources we wouldn’t >>>> normally have.”* >>>> >>>> Federal authorities and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have >>>> launched probes into the Bal Harbour police, which will surely confirm the >>>> rampant abuses of power. However, the fact that these types of shady >>>> operations, carried out with the help of agencies such as Immigration and >>>> Customs Enforcement, can occur at all is even more troubling. >>>> >>>> Government creates a black market of drugs and blood money through >>>> prohibition, then under the War on Drugs it grants itself the power to >>>> break the law and get involved in money laundering operations. While the >>>> professed goal is to “sting” the bad guys, government rakes in millions >>>> upon millions of dollars to further bolster its prohibition and war on >>>> drugs. >>>> >>>> The War on Drugs is the real scheme that should be investigated. >>>> >>>> *This story first appeared at The Free Thought Project* >>>> <http://thefreethoughtproject.com/small-town-cops-set-giant-international-money-laundering-scheme-rake-millions-illegally/> >>>> . >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> __._,_.___ >>>> ------------------------------ >>>> Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected]> >>>> ------------------------------ >>>> >>>> >>>> Visit Your Group >>>> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmaGV0YmxpBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0NTE3NTgyMDM-> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> [image: Yahoo! Groups] >>>> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlMzhqM2VtBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQ1MTc1ODIwNA--> >>>> >>>> • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> >>>> • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use >>>> <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> >>>> >>>> __,_._,___ >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> -- >>>> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. >>>> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum >>>> >>>> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ >>>> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. >>>> * Read the latest breaking news, and more. >>>> >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "PoliticalForum" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> brine >>> http://brineb.blogspot.com/ >>> >> -- >> -- >> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. >> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum >> >> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ >> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. >> * Read the latest breaking news, and more. >> >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "PoliticalForum" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > > > -- > brine > http://brineb.blogspot.com/ >
-- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
