Displaying items by tag: FBI

It took $120,000, and a reduced prison sentence, for a smartphone developer to collaborate with the FBI and Australian police in 2018 and kick-start Operation Trojan Shield. Three years later, the investigation involving 9,000 law enforcement officers from 17 countries saw authorities monitor 27 million messages from 12,000 devices in 100 countries and track the activities of over 300 organised crime groups. To date, there have been over 800 arrests and over eight tons of cocaine seized, 22 tons of cannabis, two tons of synthetic drugs, 250 guns, 55 luxury vehicles, and over $48 million. More arrests and seizures are expected. The ‘confidential human source’ had created a new hardened encrypted phone with a bespoke app called ANOM to organise drug deals and hits on rivals, and launder illicit earnings without detection. However, the criminals did not realise that all their messages were being monitored.

In this fallen world people in positions of authority break laws. The following are corruption instances in a three week period. Four Baltimore police detectives distributed heroin. A congressional staffer organised fraudulent money laundering schemes. A deputy secretary of state committed perjury. A Detroit deputy chief of police committed bribery and conspiracy. A Navy comptroller accepted illegal gratuities. A state judge dismissed cases in exchange for personal benefits. A Philadelphia judge and a witness made false statements to the federal election commission. Audio evidence in a federal investigation was tampered with for financial gain. A construction company paid $1 million in bribes for Atlanta contracts. A Drug Enforcement Administration special agent obstructed justice, committed perjury and other crimes; a former Task Force officer was also charged. A Pine Bluff man stole $1 million intended to feed hungry children. A Vigo County sheriff’s deputy committed fraud. Corruption damages the economy, reputations of businesses and of those fighting for justice.

Escalating events: -President Putin claims to have records of the meeting between Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and President Trump. -Reports that Trump asked former FBI director James Comey to drop an investigation into the former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s links to Russia. -The White House denies there was ever a Trump/Comey meeting. -Israel emerges as supplying sensitive security intelligence to Trump. -Trump shared the material with Russia. -Trump fired Comey, who was leading investigative links between the Trump campaign and Russia. -The New York Times cited a memo Comey wrote about his meeting with Trump in February. Did the US president try to influence an FBI investigation? Now former prosecutor and FBI director Robert Mueller will oversee an independent inquiry into ‘Russia,/Trump true/fake news’. Democrats and Republicans agree that Mueller ‘has a history of standing up to the White House’. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports Trump growing increasingly angry with staff; some have turned to impeachment gallows humour, some are contacting consultants and circulating their CVs . See: