Category: Corruption

Vladimir Putin announced last month that if “unfriendly countries” wanted to continue buying Russian natural gas, they would have to pay in rubles starting April 1. It seems not everyone believed he was serious. Would Russia really turn away profit by refusing payment in other currencies? Apparently so. Many media outlets are calling the move a ‘weaponization’ of the gas supply, though clearly Russia may set its own terms and do as it pleases with its own natural resources, even…

The Pentagon says the U.S. is monitoring events in the Eastern European country of Moldova after the breakaway republic of Transnistria bordering Ukraine said explosions over the past two days hit a radio center and a security headquarters. The reports of explosions prompted Moldova’s president to convene a meeting of the country’s security council as she vowed to prevent an escalation. A Russian military commander said Sunday that one goal of the war in Ukraine was to establish a southern…

Monero, traded as ticker XMR, seems to be the only cryptocurrency able to escape the solid downtrend lately and the approaching hard fork is not the only cause. While it is a definite motivator, there are at least four additional main reasons. The first is obviously the new trend in sanctions. 1. The sanctionsFirst, the west has essentially sanctioned anyone they could get their hands on with suspected ties to Russian oligarchs, including their uncles and children. This year’s US…

According to Western media, now copy-paste reporting the same claims, Russian forces apparently secretly buried *up to 9,000 Mariupol civilians* in “mass graves” in a town just west of the city. Except, it never happened, there is no mass grave. It’s actually just a normal, small, cemetery…no pits, no mass graves, just an orderly cemetery whose grave diggers refuted Western claims. On April 23, with journalist Roman Kosarev, I went to Mangush (Manhush in Ukrainian), found a normal cemetery setting,…

You don’t want to call sanctions a hoax because they legitimately put compliance pressure on our businesses and people. But do they put any pressure on the actual targets? It’s part of our news cycle and even our language to think so. After all, what is a “sanction” if not a punishment for breaking the rules? In a move that was presented as severe by the press and by government, the Treasury Department promised sanctions on the Russian Direct Investment…

Firms now control a significant portion of the rental market in the United States and Canada, raising rents in the service of turning profits. They also continue to receive tax breaks and subsidies. When the US federal government forecloses on homes due to residents’ inability to pay their mortgage, for instance, the homes are then resold to investment firms at big discounts. The corporate landlords then either resell or rent those homes. “With help from the federal government, institutional investors…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ronald Bauer et al. Case No. 1:22-cv-03089 (S.D.N.Y. filed April 14, 2022) SEC announced charges against eight individuals for participating in a long-running fraudulent scheme that generated over $145 million from unlawful sales of penny stocks and caused significant harm to retail investors in the United States and around the world. Defendants. UK-resident Ronald Bauer and various combinations of his associates, Craig James Auringer, Adam Christopher Kambeitz, Alon Friedlander, Massimiliano (“Max”) Pozzoni, Daniel Mark Ferris,…

“Elect me, I will charge you less.” “You have to do what the special interest groups require.” Lauren Windsor of The Undercurrent caught GOP Rep Mo Brooks on video saying that says prime committee chairmanships cost a minimum of $1 million and are paid by special interest groups as “a quid pro quo” for favored legislation. NEW: GOP Rep Mo Brooks says prime committee chairmanships cost a minimum of $1 million and are paid by special interest groups as "a…

Litigation Release No. 25369 / April 15, 2022 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Damon Elliott, et al., Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-10860 (District of Massachusetts, Filed May 6, 2020) Final judgments against defendant Damon Elliott, United Kingdom citizen and French resident Civil action charged that Elliott engaged in a Ponzi scheme and misappropriated money from investors, as well as against multiple relief defendants. Among other things, Elliott has been ordered to pay a total of $6,445,837. The court also recently entered judgments…

From Amy Goodman, Democracy Now – 12 Apr 2022 In Pandemic, Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick, ProPublica investigative reporter J. David McSwane tracks pandemic federal relief funds and finds many contracts to acquire critical supplies were wrapped up in unprecedented fraud schemes that left the U.S. government with subpar and unusable equipment. He says an array of contractors were “trying to take advantage of our national emergency,” and calls the book “a blueprint…

Positive content published on the private Monero / XMR cryptocurrency was once hard to come by, what with all the focus on crime and money laundering. It’s worth noting that Monero is a private currency for regular people who value the fundamental right to privacy. We archived some of the positive sources, as such articles tend to disappear shortly after publishing. Even the Wayback Machine failed to archive one of these. XMR Crypto Prices Spike as Monero Bulls Coordinate Mass…

ExxonMobil (XOM.N) has suspended its liquefied natural gas project in Russia’s Far East, Interfax news agency quoted a Russian governor as saying on Monday, after the firm announced plans to quit the country following Western sanctions. ExxonMobil said last month it would exit its Russian oil and gas operations, which it had valued at more than $4 billion, and halt new investment due to sanctions on Russia over Ukraine. read more The decision would see Exxon pull out of managing…

S&P Global Inc violated Russian sanctions (E.O. 13662) by receiving payment from sanctioned Russian Rosneft. S&P didn’t voluntarily disclose the violation and received $82,500. They settled with OFAC for $78,750. Here’s the press release.