FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 22, 2015
This is a sad day. The United States has lost a friend, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, and the world has lost a revered leader. King Abdullah was a man of wisdom and vision. I loved my visits with him as a Senator and as Secretary. Even as he battled age and illness, he held on to his sense of determination. His stories of his father and of his family were remarkable. He was so proud of the Kingdom’s journey, a brave partner in fighting violent extremism who proved just as important as a proponent of peace. The courageous Arab Peace Initiative that he sponsored remains a critical document for the goal we shared of two states, Israel and Palestine, living in peace and security. He also made great strides to invest in the Saudi people, and the Kingdom’s infrastructure and economic development. The scholarship program that bears his name represents an enormous, far-sighted contribution to Saudi Arabia’s future prosperity. I know he was very proud of his role as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and as leader of his people.
Teresa and I send our condolences to the family of King Abdullah and to the people of Saudi Arabia and the region.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
FORMER DUNKIRK, NEW YORK MAYOR CHARGED FOR USING CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PERSONAL USE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT S
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Former Mayor Charged with Wire Fraud for Using Campaign Contributions for His Own Personal Benefit
A former mayor of Dunkirk, New York, was indicted today for engaging in a scheme to defraud his mayoral campaign and supporters by stealing campaign contributions for his personal benefit, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. of the Western District of New York.
Richard L. Frey, 83, of Dunkirk, New York, was charged today in a 13-count indictment with 12 counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
According to the indictment, from January 2003 through June 2012, Frey allegedly solicited and received several campaign contributions from area businesses and businesspeople and then, instead of depositing the donations into his campaign accounts, either cashed the checks for his personal use or deposited the checks into his personal bank accounts. The indictment further alleges that Frey concealed the existence of these campaign contributions by not reporting or disclosing them on his campaign disclosure reports, as was required of local candidates for public office. When asked about the scheme, Frey allegedly provided false information to the FBI.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Edward P. Sullivan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Rogowski of the Western District of New York.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Former Mayor Charged with Wire Fraud for Using Campaign Contributions for His Own Personal Benefit
A former mayor of Dunkirk, New York, was indicted today for engaging in a scheme to defraud his mayoral campaign and supporters by stealing campaign contributions for his personal benefit, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. of the Western District of New York.
Richard L. Frey, 83, of Dunkirk, New York, was charged today in a 13-count indictment with 12 counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
According to the indictment, from January 2003 through June 2012, Frey allegedly solicited and received several campaign contributions from area businesses and businesspeople and then, instead of depositing the donations into his campaign accounts, either cashed the checks for his personal use or deposited the checks into his personal bank accounts. The indictment further alleges that Frey concealed the existence of these campaign contributions by not reporting or disclosing them on his campaign disclosure reports, as was required of local candidates for public office. When asked about the scheme, Frey allegedly provided false information to the FBI.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Edward P. Sullivan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Rogowski of the Western District of New York.
FTC WARNS SPANISH-SPEAKING CONSUMERS ABOUT DEBT COLLECTION SCAMS WITH GRAPHIC NOVEL
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC ‘Fotonovela’ Warns Latino Community About Debt Collection Scams
To help Spanish-speaking consumers know their rights when dealing with debt collectors, the Federal Trade Commission has created a Spanish-language graphic novel, Cobradores de Deuda, which describes the rules debt collectors must follow, and what consumers should do if they don’t.
It’s part of the FTC’s fotonovela series, a campaign to promote consumer education and protection in the Latino community. Previous issues focused on government imposters and income scams. Consumers can order all three free publications at ftc.gov/bulkorder, or read and download them at ftc.gov/fotonovela.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.
FTC ‘Fotonovela’ Warns Latino Community About Debt Collection Scams
To help Spanish-speaking consumers know their rights when dealing with debt collectors, the Federal Trade Commission has created a Spanish-language graphic novel, Cobradores de Deuda, which describes the rules debt collectors must follow, and what consumers should do if they don’t.
It’s part of the FTC’s fotonovela series, a campaign to promote consumer education and protection in the Latino community. Previous issues focused on government imposters and income scams. Consumers can order all three free publications at ftc.gov/bulkorder, or read and download them at ftc.gov/fotonovela.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.
CFTC APPROVES TOKYO COMMODITY EXCHANGE, INC. REGISTRATION AS FBOT
FROM: U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Statement of CFTC Commissioner Mark Wetjen on CFTC Approval of TOCOM as an FBOT
January 21, 2015
Washington, DC – I am pleased that Chairman Tim Massad brought forward and the Commission then moved quickly to approve registration of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. (TOCOM) as a Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT). As I have stressed before, this cross-border approach to the oversight of trading platforms incentivizes higher standards around the world by requiring foreign entities that want access to U.S. market participants to be subject to supervision that is comparable and comprehensive to our regime under Dodd-Frank. I hope the Commission will move quickly to consider the remaining applications for FBOTs that have been relying on no-action relief for years.
As a next step, I believe the Commission should formalize a regulatory regime for foreign Swap Execution Facilities, just as Congress contemplated in the Dodd-Frank Act. Embracing a foreign SEF regime would be a useful step toward implementing the CFTC’s cross-border framework and would also help prevent unnecessary fragmentation of the global swaps market. Just as with FBOTs and substituted compliance, a foreign SEF regime would incentivize foreign jurisdictions to harmonize their regulations with ours.
Last Updated: January 21, 2015
Statement of CFTC Commissioner Mark Wetjen on CFTC Approval of TOCOM as an FBOT
January 21, 2015
Washington, DC – I am pleased that Chairman Tim Massad brought forward and the Commission then moved quickly to approve registration of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. (TOCOM) as a Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT). As I have stressed before, this cross-border approach to the oversight of trading platforms incentivizes higher standards around the world by requiring foreign entities that want access to U.S. market participants to be subject to supervision that is comparable and comprehensive to our regime under Dodd-Frank. I hope the Commission will move quickly to consider the remaining applications for FBOTs that have been relying on no-action relief for years.
As a next step, I believe the Commission should formalize a regulatory regime for foreign Swap Execution Facilities, just as Congress contemplated in the Dodd-Frank Act. Embracing a foreign SEF regime would be a useful step toward implementing the CFTC’s cross-border framework and would also help prevent unnecessary fragmentation of the global swaps market. Just as with FBOTs and substituted compliance, a foreign SEF regime would incentivize foreign jurisdictions to harmonize their regulations with ours.
Last Updated: January 21, 2015
REP. POWER'S REMARKS ON DOMINIC ONGWEN'S ARRIVAL AT INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
New York, NY
January 20, 2015 UN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dominic Ongwen’s arrival at the International Criminal Court in the Hague is a welcome development in the international community’s campaign to counter the LRA’s dehumanizing violence, and to bring perpetrators to justice after more than two decades of the LRA’s brutal campaign of torture, rape and murder.
I commend the governments of the Central African Republic and Uganda, as well as the leadership of the African Union, for their close coordination on this effort and for their commitment to ensuring that perpetrators of human rights violations face justice.
The fact that Ongwen will finally face trial is the latest sign of tangible progress in the African Union-led effort to end the threat posed by the LRA and its leader, Joseph Kony, to which the United States has dedicated considerable resources, including more than 100 U.S. military advisors. Today’s outcome is a great example of what can result from regional coordination in combating the LRA, and it is imperative that the African Union Regional Task Force (AU-RTF) continue to coordinate with regional governments, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) in its fight against the LRA, which still remains a serious threat to regional peace and security.
Those remaining LRA members should follow the lead of Dominic Ongwen and the more than 250 other individuals who have left the LRA since 2012. They should end their lives on the run and turn themselves in.
The United States continues to look forward to the end of the LRA and the day when its victims will finally be free from LRA terror, seeing justice that is long overdue.
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
New York, NY
January 20, 2015 UN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dominic Ongwen’s arrival at the International Criminal Court in the Hague is a welcome development in the international community’s campaign to counter the LRA’s dehumanizing violence, and to bring perpetrators to justice after more than two decades of the LRA’s brutal campaign of torture, rape and murder.
I commend the governments of the Central African Republic and Uganda, as well as the leadership of the African Union, for their close coordination on this effort and for their commitment to ensuring that perpetrators of human rights violations face justice.
The fact that Ongwen will finally face trial is the latest sign of tangible progress in the African Union-led effort to end the threat posed by the LRA and its leader, Joseph Kony, to which the United States has dedicated considerable resources, including more than 100 U.S. military advisors. Today’s outcome is a great example of what can result from regional coordination in combating the LRA, and it is imperative that the African Union Regional Task Force (AU-RTF) continue to coordinate with regional governments, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) in its fight against the LRA, which still remains a serious threat to regional peace and security.
Those remaining LRA members should follow the lead of Dominic Ongwen and the more than 250 other individuals who have left the LRA since 2012. They should end their lives on the run and turn themselves in.
The United States continues to look forward to the end of the LRA and the day when its victims will finally be free from LRA terror, seeing justice that is long overdue.
U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT ARTICLE ON PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION
FROM: U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT
Take Three: Pregnancy Discrimination
Women now make up nearly half of the U.S. labor force. Three out of every four women entering the workforce will experience at least one pregnancy while employed. Every year, thousands of women file charges of pregnancy discrimination. Latifa Lyles, director of the Women's Bureau, answers three questions on pregnancy discrimination and what it means for the workforce.
What is pregnancy discrimination? Pregnancy discrimination occurs when an employer treats a job applicant or an employee unfavorably due to her pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition. It could involve refusing to hire or promote a qualified individual because she is pregnant, firing a woman because she missed a few days of work to give birth, or forcing a pregnant employee to take leave. Pregnancy discrimination is illegal, as is pregnancy-related harassment that creates a hostile or offensive work environment. Pregnancy discrimination negatively affects not just pregnant women and their families, but also employers, who may be cheating themselves by driving away skilled, qualified workers.
What resources do pregnant workers have? At the federal level, women are protected by laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Also, many states have enacted laws that provide women with additional protections against pregnancy discrimination.
Why are these protections necessary? Today, most women work during pregnancy, often into their third trimester. Laws prohibiting pregnancy discrimination are necessary because they ensure that women who want to work during pregnancy do so under the same conditions as non-pregnant employees. They also ensure that women who are not able to work due to a pregnancy-related disability are treated the same as non-pregnant workers who are similar in their inability to work. In turn, these laws ensure that the U.S. workforce is operating under the best possible conditions — those in which all workers have an equal opportunity to contribute their skills and experience.
Take Three: Pregnancy Discrimination
Women now make up nearly half of the U.S. labor force. Three out of every four women entering the workforce will experience at least one pregnancy while employed. Every year, thousands of women file charges of pregnancy discrimination. Latifa Lyles, director of the Women's Bureau, answers three questions on pregnancy discrimination and what it means for the workforce.
What is pregnancy discrimination? Pregnancy discrimination occurs when an employer treats a job applicant or an employee unfavorably due to her pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition. It could involve refusing to hire or promote a qualified individual because she is pregnant, firing a woman because she missed a few days of work to give birth, or forcing a pregnant employee to take leave. Pregnancy discrimination is illegal, as is pregnancy-related harassment that creates a hostile or offensive work environment. Pregnancy discrimination negatively affects not just pregnant women and their families, but also employers, who may be cheating themselves by driving away skilled, qualified workers.
What resources do pregnant workers have? At the federal level, women are protected by laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Also, many states have enacted laws that provide women with additional protections against pregnancy discrimination.
Why are these protections necessary? Today, most women work during pregnancy, often into their third trimester. Laws prohibiting pregnancy discrimination are necessary because they ensure that women who want to work during pregnancy do so under the same conditions as non-pregnant employees. They also ensure that women who are not able to work due to a pregnancy-related disability are treated the same as non-pregnant workers who are similar in their inability to work. In turn, these laws ensure that the U.S. workforce is operating under the best possible conditions — those in which all workers have an equal opportunity to contribute their skills and experience.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
SEC ANNOUNCES S&P RATINGS SERVICES WAS INVOLVED WITH FRAUD IN COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES BUSINESS
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2015-10
Washington D.C., Jan. 21, 2015 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a series of federal securities law violations by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services involving fraudulent misconduct in its ratings of certain commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).
S&P agreed to pay more than $58 million to settle the SEC’s charges, plus an additional $19 million to settle parallel cases announced today by the New York Attorney General’s office ($12 million) and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office ($7 million).
“Investors rely on credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s to play it straight when rating complex securities like CMBS,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. “But Standard & Poor’s elevated its own financial interests above investors by loosening its rating criteria to obtain business and then obscuring these changes from investors. These enforcement actions, our first-ever against a major ratings firm, reflect our commitment to aggressively policing the integrity and transparency of the credit ratings process.”
The SEC issued three orders instituting settled administrative proceedings against S&P. One order, in which S&P made certain admissions, addressed S&P’s practices in its conduit fusion CMBS ratings methodology. S&P’s public disclosures affirmatively misrepresented that it was using one approach when it actually used a different methodology in 2011 to rate six conduit fusion CMBS transactions and issue preliminary ratings on two more transactions. As part of this settlement, S&P agreed to take a one-year timeout from rating conduit fusion CMBS.
Another SEC order found that after being frozen out of the market for rating conduit fusion CMBS in late 2011, S&P sought to re-enter that market in mid-2012 by overhauling its ratings criteria. To illustrate the relative conservatism of its new criteria, S&P published a false and misleading article purporting to show that its new credit enhancement levels could withstand Great Depression-era levels of economic stress. S&P’s research relied on flawed and inappropriate assumptions and was based on data that was decades removed from the severe losses of the Great Depression. According to the SEC’s order, S&P’s original author of the study expressed concerns that the firm’s CMBS group had turned the article into a “sales pitch” for the new criteria, and that the removal of certain information from the article could lead to him “sit[ting] in front of [the] Department of Justice or the SEC.” The SEC’s order further finds that S&P failed to accurately describe certain aspects of its new criteria in the formal publication setting forth their operation. Without admitting or denying the findings in the order, S&P agreed to publicly retract the false and misleading Great Depression-related study and correct the inaccurate descriptions in the publication about its criteria.
“These CMBS-related enforcement actions against S&P demonstrate that ‘race to the bottom’ behavior by ratings firms will not be tolerated by the SEC and other regulators. When ratings standards are compromised in pursuit of market share, a firm’s disclosures cannot tell a different story,” said Michael J. Osnato, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit.
A third SEC order issued in this case involved internal controls failures in S&P’s surveillance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) ratings. The order finds that S&P allowed breakdowns in the way it conducted ratings surveillance of previously-rated RMBS from October 2012 to June 2014. S&P changed an important assumption in a way that made S&P’s ratings less conservative, and was inconsistent with the specific assumptions set forth in S&P’s published criteria describing its ratings methodology. S&P did not follow its internal policies for making changes to its surveillance criteria and instead applied ad hoc workarounds that were not fully disclosed to investors. Without admitting or denying the findings in the order, S&P agreed to extensive undertakings to enhance and improve its internal controls environment. S&P self-reported this particular misconduct to the SEC and cooperated with the investigation, enabling the Enforcement Division to resolve the case more quickly and efficiently and resulting in a reduced penalty for the firm.
The SEC’s orders find that S&P violated Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Act (fraud), Section 15E(c)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act (internal controls violations), Securities Exchange Rules 17g-2(a)(2)(iii) (books and records violations), Rule 17g-2(a)(6) (books and records violations), and 17g-2(a)(2)(iii) (failure to maintain records explaining differences between numerical model output and ratings).
In a separate order instituting a litigated administrative proceeding, the SEC Enforcement Division alleges that the former head of S&P’s CMBS Group fraudulently misrepresented the manner in which the firm calculated a critical aspect of certain CMBS ratings in 2011. Barbara Duka allegedly instituted the shift to more issuer-friendly ratings criteria, and the firm failed to properly disclose the less rigorous methodology. The matter against Duka will be scheduled for a public hearing before an administrative law judge for proceedings to adjudicate the Enforcement Division’s allegations and determine what, if any, remedial actions are appropriate.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by the Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit and led by John Smith in the Denver office, Robert Leidenheimer and Lawrence Renbaum in the Washington D.C. office, and Joshua Brodsky in the New York office with assistance from Daniel Nigro and Judy Bizu. The litigation against Duka will be led by Stephen McKenna of the Denver office. The cases were supervised by Laura Metcalfe, Reid Muoio, and Mr. Osnato. The Enforcement Division worked closely with the SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings in these matters, particularly Thomas Butler, Michele Wilham, Natasha Kaden, Julia Kiel, Kenneth Godwin, and David Nicolardi.
The SEC appreciates the assistance of the New York Attorney General’s office and the Massachusetts Attorney General’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2015-10
Washington D.C., Jan. 21, 2015 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a series of federal securities law violations by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services involving fraudulent misconduct in its ratings of certain commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).
S&P agreed to pay more than $58 million to settle the SEC’s charges, plus an additional $19 million to settle parallel cases announced today by the New York Attorney General’s office ($12 million) and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office ($7 million).
“Investors rely on credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s to play it straight when rating complex securities like CMBS,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. “But Standard & Poor’s elevated its own financial interests above investors by loosening its rating criteria to obtain business and then obscuring these changes from investors. These enforcement actions, our first-ever against a major ratings firm, reflect our commitment to aggressively policing the integrity and transparency of the credit ratings process.”
The SEC issued three orders instituting settled administrative proceedings against S&P. One order, in which S&P made certain admissions, addressed S&P’s practices in its conduit fusion CMBS ratings methodology. S&P’s public disclosures affirmatively misrepresented that it was using one approach when it actually used a different methodology in 2011 to rate six conduit fusion CMBS transactions and issue preliminary ratings on two more transactions. As part of this settlement, S&P agreed to take a one-year timeout from rating conduit fusion CMBS.
Another SEC order found that after being frozen out of the market for rating conduit fusion CMBS in late 2011, S&P sought to re-enter that market in mid-2012 by overhauling its ratings criteria. To illustrate the relative conservatism of its new criteria, S&P published a false and misleading article purporting to show that its new credit enhancement levels could withstand Great Depression-era levels of economic stress. S&P’s research relied on flawed and inappropriate assumptions and was based on data that was decades removed from the severe losses of the Great Depression. According to the SEC’s order, S&P’s original author of the study expressed concerns that the firm’s CMBS group had turned the article into a “sales pitch” for the new criteria, and that the removal of certain information from the article could lead to him “sit[ting] in front of [the] Department of Justice or the SEC.” The SEC’s order further finds that S&P failed to accurately describe certain aspects of its new criteria in the formal publication setting forth their operation. Without admitting or denying the findings in the order, S&P agreed to publicly retract the false and misleading Great Depression-related study and correct the inaccurate descriptions in the publication about its criteria.
“These CMBS-related enforcement actions against S&P demonstrate that ‘race to the bottom’ behavior by ratings firms will not be tolerated by the SEC and other regulators. When ratings standards are compromised in pursuit of market share, a firm’s disclosures cannot tell a different story,” said Michael J. Osnato, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit.
A third SEC order issued in this case involved internal controls failures in S&P’s surveillance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) ratings. The order finds that S&P allowed breakdowns in the way it conducted ratings surveillance of previously-rated RMBS from October 2012 to June 2014. S&P changed an important assumption in a way that made S&P’s ratings less conservative, and was inconsistent with the specific assumptions set forth in S&P’s published criteria describing its ratings methodology. S&P did not follow its internal policies for making changes to its surveillance criteria and instead applied ad hoc workarounds that were not fully disclosed to investors. Without admitting or denying the findings in the order, S&P agreed to extensive undertakings to enhance and improve its internal controls environment. S&P self-reported this particular misconduct to the SEC and cooperated with the investigation, enabling the Enforcement Division to resolve the case more quickly and efficiently and resulting in a reduced penalty for the firm.
The SEC’s orders find that S&P violated Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Act (fraud), Section 15E(c)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act (internal controls violations), Securities Exchange Rules 17g-2(a)(2)(iii) (books and records violations), Rule 17g-2(a)(6) (books and records violations), and 17g-2(a)(2)(iii) (failure to maintain records explaining differences between numerical model output and ratings).
In a separate order instituting a litigated administrative proceeding, the SEC Enforcement Division alleges that the former head of S&P’s CMBS Group fraudulently misrepresented the manner in which the firm calculated a critical aspect of certain CMBS ratings in 2011. Barbara Duka allegedly instituted the shift to more issuer-friendly ratings criteria, and the firm failed to properly disclose the less rigorous methodology. The matter against Duka will be scheduled for a public hearing before an administrative law judge for proceedings to adjudicate the Enforcement Division’s allegations and determine what, if any, remedial actions are appropriate.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by the Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit and led by John Smith in the Denver office, Robert Leidenheimer and Lawrence Renbaum in the Washington D.C. office, and Joshua Brodsky in the New York office with assistance from Daniel Nigro and Judy Bizu. The litigation against Duka will be led by Stephen McKenna of the Denver office. The cases were supervised by Laura Metcalfe, Reid Muoio, and Mr. Osnato. The Enforcement Division worked closely with the SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings in these matters, particularly Thomas Butler, Michele Wilham, Natasha Kaden, Julia Kiel, Kenneth Godwin, and David Nicolardi.
The SEC appreciates the assistance of the New York Attorney General’s office and the Massachusetts Attorney General’
U.S. CONDEMNS VIOLENCE IN NIGER
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
01/20/2015 05:59 PM EST
U.S. Condemns Violence in Niger
Press Statement
Jen Psaki
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 20, 2015
The United States strongly condemns the violence that occurred in Niger on January 16 and 17 during protests against the depiction of the Prophet Mohamed in the French journal Charlie Hebdo, which resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people and the destruction of residences, businesses and other property, including places of worship. We express our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the victims of the violence.
The U.S. Government respects all faiths. In a democratic society, freedom of expression includes allowing expression that one disagrees with and protecting the right of all persons to hold different views. This freedom does not imply acceptance of content, nor is there any justification for the wanton killing of innocents and destruction of property.
We commend the efforts of government officials, religious and traditional leaders, and civil society to end the violence and encourage calm in the affected communities. The United States remains firmly committed to our partnership with Niger to expand prosperity and counter regional threats to peace and security.
01/20/2015 05:59 PM EST
U.S. Condemns Violence in Niger
Press Statement
Jen Psaki
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 20, 2015
The United States strongly condemns the violence that occurred in Niger on January 16 and 17 during protests against the depiction of the Prophet Mohamed in the French journal Charlie Hebdo, which resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people and the destruction of residences, businesses and other property, including places of worship. We express our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the victims of the violence.
The U.S. Government respects all faiths. In a democratic society, freedom of expression includes allowing expression that one disagrees with and protecting the right of all persons to hold different views. This freedom does not imply acceptance of content, nor is there any justification for the wanton killing of innocents and destruction of property.
We commend the efforts of government officials, religious and traditional leaders, and civil society to end the violence and encourage calm in the affected communities. The United States remains firmly committed to our partnership with Niger to expand prosperity and counter regional threats to peace and security.
AFTER NEARLY THREE YEARS, FUGITIVE MURDER SUSPECT ARRESTED IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
FROM: U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE
For Immediate Release
Contact:
January 17, 2015 Kevin Neal, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal
District of Massachusetts
Jimell Griffin, Senior Inspector
Domestic Investigations
USMS Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Arrested in Dominican Republic
Fugitive allegedly killed military veteran; fled the country
Peter Castillo (Captured)
Washington – After only three months on the U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted fugitive list, suspected murderer Peter Castillo is now in custody after he was arrested Thursday, Jan. 15, in the Dominican Republic.
Castillo, 26, was wanted for allegedly shooting and killing 22-year-old military veteran Stephen Perez on May 10, 2012, following an altercation that occurred in the Boston Theater District. The Boston Police Department immediately identified Castillo as the shooter, and a warrant was issued charging him with homicide. Shortly after the incident, Castillo allegedly fled to New York then to the Dominican Republic where he had extensive ties.
“The arrest of Peter Castillo is a testament to how effective and valuable our relationships are with our international and domestic law enforcement partners,” said U.S. Marshals Service Director Stacia Hylton.
“Because of these strong partnerships and the global network they provide, Castillo’s attempt to flee and disappear in another country after murdering a member of our military proved unsuccessful. We will never rest in seeking those who murder or assault our public servants,” said Hylton.
The manhunt for Castillo gained momentum when U.S. Marshals developed significant information leading them to believe he was at a residence in the city of Santo Domingo. Marshals forwarded the information to the country’s Direccion Nacional Control de Drogas Fugitive Task Force whose members responded to the location. Upon arrival, authorities discovered Castillo, with the help of local neighbors, fled the residence and hid in the neighborhood. After a brief search, authorities located and arrested him at approximately 6:15 p.m.
On Saturday, U.S. Marshals escorted Castillo back to the U.S. He is currently being held in a U.S. jail awaiting transfer to Massachusetts.
“Today, I want to commend the deputies of the U.S. Marshals Service and the officers of the Boston Police Department for their steadfast commitment to Castillo’s apprehension in the Dominican Republic” said John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts.
“I would also like to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office, which assisted in securing the arrest warrant, and charging Castillo with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution; the Dominican Direccion Nacional Control de Drogas (DNCD) Fugitive Task Force for their assistance in the apprehension; and Interpol Washington for issuing the red notice that helped facilitate the arrest."
“Countless hours of collaborative investigative work by the agencies involved and sheer determination have finally brought Castillo to justice,” said Gibbons. “I hope his arrest brings some comfort to the family of Stephen Perez.”
"I want to commend the U.S. Marshals, our law enforcement partners in the Dominican Republic, as well as, the members of the Boston Police Homicide and Fugitive Apprehension Units for the shared efforts and team first approach that lead to the arrest of Peter Castillo,” said Boston Police Commissioner William Evans.
“Castillo’s capture should send a strong, clear message to anyone who cruelly and callously takes the life of another in our city that although you can certainly run and attempt to hide, BPD investigators, working hand-in-hand with our federal partners, will ultimately run you down, find you and bring you to justice."
“Stephen Perez was a young man who certainly deserved better. What began as a night out with friends in Boston’s Theater District on April 28, 2012 ended in an unthinkable tragedy and the loss of a young man who had proudly served his country as U.S. Army sniper in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Undoubtedly, Stephen Perez deserved more including a long life well beyond his 22 years. Today, our thoughts and prayers go out to the Perez family and it is our sincere hope that the news of today’s arrest will provide for them some small measure of comfort and relief," Evans said.
“This defendant’s capture and return to U.S. soil is a major step toward justice for Stephen Perez,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.”
“It’s a moment his family, his friends, and his fellow veterans have awaited for too long. We expect to arraign him on a first-degree murder indictment at the earliest opportunity.”
For Immediate Release
Contact:
January 17, 2015 Kevin Neal, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal
District of Massachusetts
Jimell Griffin, Senior Inspector
Domestic Investigations
USMS Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Arrested in Dominican Republic
Fugitive allegedly killed military veteran; fled the country
Peter Castillo (Captured)
Washington – After only three months on the U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted fugitive list, suspected murderer Peter Castillo is now in custody after he was arrested Thursday, Jan. 15, in the Dominican Republic.
Castillo, 26, was wanted for allegedly shooting and killing 22-year-old military veteran Stephen Perez on May 10, 2012, following an altercation that occurred in the Boston Theater District. The Boston Police Department immediately identified Castillo as the shooter, and a warrant was issued charging him with homicide. Shortly after the incident, Castillo allegedly fled to New York then to the Dominican Republic where he had extensive ties.
“The arrest of Peter Castillo is a testament to how effective and valuable our relationships are with our international and domestic law enforcement partners,” said U.S. Marshals Service Director Stacia Hylton.
“Because of these strong partnerships and the global network they provide, Castillo’s attempt to flee and disappear in another country after murdering a member of our military proved unsuccessful. We will never rest in seeking those who murder or assault our public servants,” said Hylton.
The manhunt for Castillo gained momentum when U.S. Marshals developed significant information leading them to believe he was at a residence in the city of Santo Domingo. Marshals forwarded the information to the country’s Direccion Nacional Control de Drogas Fugitive Task Force whose members responded to the location. Upon arrival, authorities discovered Castillo, with the help of local neighbors, fled the residence and hid in the neighborhood. After a brief search, authorities located and arrested him at approximately 6:15 p.m.
On Saturday, U.S. Marshals escorted Castillo back to the U.S. He is currently being held in a U.S. jail awaiting transfer to Massachusetts.
“Today, I want to commend the deputies of the U.S. Marshals Service and the officers of the Boston Police Department for their steadfast commitment to Castillo’s apprehension in the Dominican Republic” said John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts.
“I would also like to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office, which assisted in securing the arrest warrant, and charging Castillo with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution; the Dominican Direccion Nacional Control de Drogas (DNCD) Fugitive Task Force for their assistance in the apprehension; and Interpol Washington for issuing the red notice that helped facilitate the arrest."
“Countless hours of collaborative investigative work by the agencies involved and sheer determination have finally brought Castillo to justice,” said Gibbons. “I hope his arrest brings some comfort to the family of Stephen Perez.”
"I want to commend the U.S. Marshals, our law enforcement partners in the Dominican Republic, as well as, the members of the Boston Police Homicide and Fugitive Apprehension Units for the shared efforts and team first approach that lead to the arrest of Peter Castillo,” said Boston Police Commissioner William Evans.
“Castillo’s capture should send a strong, clear message to anyone who cruelly and callously takes the life of another in our city that although you can certainly run and attempt to hide, BPD investigators, working hand-in-hand with our federal partners, will ultimately run you down, find you and bring you to justice."
“Stephen Perez was a young man who certainly deserved better. What began as a night out with friends in Boston’s Theater District on April 28, 2012 ended in an unthinkable tragedy and the loss of a young man who had proudly served his country as U.S. Army sniper in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Undoubtedly, Stephen Perez deserved more including a long life well beyond his 22 years. Today, our thoughts and prayers go out to the Perez family and it is our sincere hope that the news of today’s arrest will provide for them some small measure of comfort and relief," Evans said.
“This defendant’s capture and return to U.S. soil is a major step toward justice for Stephen Perez,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.”
“It’s a moment his family, his friends, and his fellow veterans have awaited for too long. We expect to arraign him on a first-degree murder indictment at the earliest opportunity.”
2 CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER OF U.S. NATIONALS ABROAD
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Two Yemeni Nationals Charged with Conspiring to Murder United States Nationals Abroad and Providing Material Support to Al-Qaeda
Defendants Allegedly Conspired to Carry Out Armed Attacks Against United States Military Personnel and Facilitated the Entry of an American Citizen into Al-Qaeda
A complaint and arrest warrant were unsealed today in federal court in the Eastern District of New York charging Saddiq Al-Abbadi, also known as “Sufiyan al-Yemeni” and “Sufwan,” and Ali Alvi, also known as “Issa al-Yemeni,” with conspiracy to murder United States nationals abroad and providing material support to al-Qaeda. Alvi’s initial appearance was held before United States Magistrate Judge Steven I. Locke on Jan. 18, 2015, and Al-Abbadi’s initial appearance is scheduled today before United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom. Al-Abbadi and Alvi were arrested in Saudi Arabia pursuant to the pending warrants in this case and lawfully expelled to the United States.
The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; and Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office.
As alleged in the complaint, Al-Abbadi and Alvi are both members of al-Qaeda who engaged in attacks against United States military forces stationed in Afghanistan. Between 2003 and 2007, Al-Abbadi also fought against United States military forces in Iraq. In approximately March 2008, Al-Abbadi and Alvi traveled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan for the purpose of training with and fighting for al-Qaeda. During that time period, both defendants helped an American citizen gain entry into al-Qaeda so that he could fight against U.S. troops in Afghanistan and U.S. citizens in the homeland.
In approximately late spring and summer 2008, Al-Abbadi and Alvi traveled from Pakistan to Afghanistan to conduct attacks against United States military personnel stationed there. Al-Abbadi led a battle against U.S. forces in Paktya Province in May 2008 during which one U.S. Army Ranger was killed and several others were seriously wounded.
“There is no escape from the reach of our law for violent terrorists, especially if they target our military,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Al-Abbadi and Alvi may have operated in the mountains of Afghanistan, but now they face justice in a courtroom in Brooklyn.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI.
“With the charges announced today, these defendants will face justice for conspiring to kill Americans overseas and providing material support to al-Qaeda,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “Seeking to identify, thwart, and hold accountable those who target U.S. citizens and interests around the world will remain a top priority of the National Security Division. I want to thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this matter.”
“The arrest and prosecution of these two individuals, who allegedly directly supported the mission of a designated terrorist organization, is a major step in the international cooperation to combat terrorism,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge McCabe. “On a daily basis, the FBI is faced with a complex threat environment that is always evolving and changing. Through international partnerships, the FBI will continue to pursue those who provide support to terrorist groups and ensure that they are brought to justice.”
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The charges in the complaint are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Zainab Ahmad, Michael P. Canty and Douglas M. Pravda, with assistance provided by Trial attorney Josh Parecki of the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section and by the Office of International Affairs.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Two Yemeni Nationals Charged with Conspiring to Murder United States Nationals Abroad and Providing Material Support to Al-Qaeda
Defendants Allegedly Conspired to Carry Out Armed Attacks Against United States Military Personnel and Facilitated the Entry of an American Citizen into Al-Qaeda
A complaint and arrest warrant were unsealed today in federal court in the Eastern District of New York charging Saddiq Al-Abbadi, also known as “Sufiyan al-Yemeni” and “Sufwan,” and Ali Alvi, also known as “Issa al-Yemeni,” with conspiracy to murder United States nationals abroad and providing material support to al-Qaeda. Alvi’s initial appearance was held before United States Magistrate Judge Steven I. Locke on Jan. 18, 2015, and Al-Abbadi’s initial appearance is scheduled today before United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom. Al-Abbadi and Alvi were arrested in Saudi Arabia pursuant to the pending warrants in this case and lawfully expelled to the United States.
The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; and Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office.
As alleged in the complaint, Al-Abbadi and Alvi are both members of al-Qaeda who engaged in attacks against United States military forces stationed in Afghanistan. Between 2003 and 2007, Al-Abbadi also fought against United States military forces in Iraq. In approximately March 2008, Al-Abbadi and Alvi traveled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan for the purpose of training with and fighting for al-Qaeda. During that time period, both defendants helped an American citizen gain entry into al-Qaeda so that he could fight against U.S. troops in Afghanistan and U.S. citizens in the homeland.
In approximately late spring and summer 2008, Al-Abbadi and Alvi traveled from Pakistan to Afghanistan to conduct attacks against United States military personnel stationed there. Al-Abbadi led a battle against U.S. forces in Paktya Province in May 2008 during which one U.S. Army Ranger was killed and several others were seriously wounded.
“There is no escape from the reach of our law for violent terrorists, especially if they target our military,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Al-Abbadi and Alvi may have operated in the mountains of Afghanistan, but now they face justice in a courtroom in Brooklyn.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI.
“With the charges announced today, these defendants will face justice for conspiring to kill Americans overseas and providing material support to al-Qaeda,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “Seeking to identify, thwart, and hold accountable those who target U.S. citizens and interests around the world will remain a top priority of the National Security Division. I want to thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this matter.”
“The arrest and prosecution of these two individuals, who allegedly directly supported the mission of a designated terrorist organization, is a major step in the international cooperation to combat terrorism,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge McCabe. “On a daily basis, the FBI is faced with a complex threat environment that is always evolving and changing. Through international partnerships, the FBI will continue to pursue those who provide support to terrorist groups and ensure that they are brought to justice.”
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The charges in the complaint are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Zainab Ahmad, Michael P. Canty and Douglas M. Pravda, with assistance provided by Trial attorney Josh Parecki of the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section and by the Office of International Affairs.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION AND COMPUTER GAME MAKER SETTLE "BRAIN TRAINING" GAME CASE
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Makers of Jungle Rangers Computer Game for Kids Settle FTC Charges that They Deceived Consumers with Baseless “Brain Training” Claims
A Texas company and its officers must stop making unsubstantiated claims that their computer game, Jungle Rangers, permanently improves children’s focus, memory, attention, behavior, and school performance, including for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), under a Federal Trade Commission settlement.
“This case is the most recent example of the FTC’s efforts to ensure that advertisements for cognitive products, especially those marketed for children, are true and supported by evidence,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Many parents are interested in products that can improve their children’s focus, behavior, and grades, but companies must back up their brain training claims with reliable science.”
The FTC’s administrative complaint states that Focus Education,its chief executive officer, Michael Apstein, and its chief financial officer, John Able, have marketed and sold the ifocus System, including the Jungle Rangers computer game, via television infomercials and the company’s websites for $214.75 plus tax, generating sales of approximately $4.5 million between 2012 and the middle of 2013.
The advertisements claimed that Jungle Rangers had “scientifically proven memory and attention brain training exercises, designed to improve focus, concentration and memory” and touted the software as giving children “the ability to focus, complete school work, homework, and to stay on task.” Focus Education’s website implied that these benefits would be permanent.
The infomercial featured children stating that because of Jungle Rangers they could “pay attention to [their] teacher a lot more,” and got “better grades,” and “a lot more 100 percents,” according to the complaint. Parents, teachers, and a child psychiatrist also appeared, stating that Jungle Rangers had improved children’s school performance and behavior.
The FTC has charged that Focus Education and its officers violated the FTC Act by making false or unsubstantiated claims that the ifocus System permanently improves children’s focus, memory, attention, behavior, and/or school performance, including in children with ADHD. The company also allegedly falsely claimed that these benefits were scientifically proven.
The proposed consent order settling the FTC’s charges prohibits Focus Education and its principals from making the claims alleged in the complaint about the ifocus System (or any substantially similar product), unless the claims are non-misleading and are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.
The proposed order further prohibits the company and its principals from making unsubstantiated claims about the benefits, performance, or efficacy of products or services that supposedly alter the brain’s structure or function, improve cognitive abilities, behavior, or academic performance, or treat or reduce the symptoms of cognitive disorders, including ADHD.
Finally, the proposed order bars the company and its principals from misrepresenting the results of any test, study, or research; or misrepresenting that the benefits of a cognitive improvement product are scientifically proven.
Further details of the settlement can be found in the analysis to aid public comment for this matter.
The Commission vote to accept the proposed consent order for public comment was 5-0. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through February 20, 2015, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Interested parties can submit comments electronically by following the instructions in the “Invitation To Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section.
NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.
Makers of Jungle Rangers Computer Game for Kids Settle FTC Charges that They Deceived Consumers with Baseless “Brain Training” Claims
A Texas company and its officers must stop making unsubstantiated claims that their computer game, Jungle Rangers, permanently improves children’s focus, memory, attention, behavior, and school performance, including for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), under a Federal Trade Commission settlement.
“This case is the most recent example of the FTC’s efforts to ensure that advertisements for cognitive products, especially those marketed for children, are true and supported by evidence,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Many parents are interested in products that can improve their children’s focus, behavior, and grades, but companies must back up their brain training claims with reliable science.”
The FTC’s administrative complaint states that Focus Education,its chief executive officer, Michael Apstein, and its chief financial officer, John Able, have marketed and sold the ifocus System, including the Jungle Rangers computer game, via television infomercials and the company’s websites for $214.75 plus tax, generating sales of approximately $4.5 million between 2012 and the middle of 2013.
The advertisements claimed that Jungle Rangers had “scientifically proven memory and attention brain training exercises, designed to improve focus, concentration and memory” and touted the software as giving children “the ability to focus, complete school work, homework, and to stay on task.” Focus Education’s website implied that these benefits would be permanent.
The infomercial featured children stating that because of Jungle Rangers they could “pay attention to [their] teacher a lot more,” and got “better grades,” and “a lot more 100 percents,” according to the complaint. Parents, teachers, and a child psychiatrist also appeared, stating that Jungle Rangers had improved children’s school performance and behavior.
The FTC has charged that Focus Education and its officers violated the FTC Act by making false or unsubstantiated claims that the ifocus System permanently improves children’s focus, memory, attention, behavior, and/or school performance, including in children with ADHD. The company also allegedly falsely claimed that these benefits were scientifically proven.
The proposed consent order settling the FTC’s charges prohibits Focus Education and its principals from making the claims alleged in the complaint about the ifocus System (or any substantially similar product), unless the claims are non-misleading and are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.
The proposed order further prohibits the company and its principals from making unsubstantiated claims about the benefits, performance, or efficacy of products or services that supposedly alter the brain’s structure or function, improve cognitive abilities, behavior, or academic performance, or treat or reduce the symptoms of cognitive disorders, including ADHD.
Finally, the proposed order bars the company and its principals from misrepresenting the results of any test, study, or research; or misrepresenting that the benefits of a cognitive improvement product are scientifically proven.
Further details of the settlement can be found in the analysis to aid public comment for this matter.
The Commission vote to accept the proposed consent order for public comment was 5-0. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through February 20, 2015, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Interested parties can submit comments electronically by following the instructions in the “Invitation To Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section.
NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT JOURNALISTS SECURITY CONFERENCE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the Journalists Security Conference
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 20, 2015
Well, thank you very much, Tom. Thanks for your outstanding service, your leadership, and your passion about this and all issues about human rights. And as Secretary of State, I will tell everybody it’s an enormous advantage to have an adviser who is so knowledgeable and so widely respected, so much so that the very name Malinowski has become synonymous, virtual synonym for leadership on the issue of human rights. It is my fervent wish that the world didn't give my assistant secretary of state so much to do.
This morning I also want to say thank you to another assistant secretary and his team for conceiving and organizing this conference. Now, I’ve known Doug Frantz for a long time. He worked with me in the United States Senate. He’s been in and out of journalism, but journalism is his passion, as well as public policy. And he’s really equally passionate with Tom about this issue of safety for journalists. And the reason is he was a great reporter himself and later had the experience of sending people on his staff into dangerous places, into war zones, to cover and shed light on the nature of the conflict to the rest of the world. And everybody here knows how much we value that. The open free flow of information is at the core of our democracy, at the core of our sense of rectitude about the relationship between people and the world around them.
And Doug is also somebody who tragically has lost close friends and colleagues who were killed simply for doing their jobs. Journalism is in his blood and he cares deeply about those who practice it and about the principles that should protect everybody’s freedom and safety as they go out simply to tell the story. So I thank him for bringing us together, and I thank the expert panelists – including my friends David Rhode and Sebastian Junger – from whom you are going to hear directly shortly. And I thank all of you for taking time out of your schedules, particularly those of you who have traveled some distance to be able to be here.
We all know that journalism can be dangerous. There’s no way to eliminate the risk completely, except by keeping silent, and that’s what we call surrender. So that’s not in the cards. The world obviously needs to be informed about what is happening. Silence gives power to dictators, to the abusers, to tyrants. It allows tyranny to flourish, not freedom. And so what is happening in high-threat locations such as Syria, Iraq, Somalia, or Central African Republic, Libya, Pakistan – all of these are places where they don’t want people to tell the story or they distort it. We need people who are going to shed light also on subtler forms of coercion that rot a society from within – corruption, crime. Exposing them can be dangerous, difficult, but equally critical to the capacity to have accountability and to respect the rights of people.
Today’s conference gives us a chance to look in a cooperative way at: How do we better protect journalists and other media workers who provide these windows on reality? And our particular focus is on local reporters and freelancers who lack the broad access to training and also lack, frankly, support from the largest news organizations that have a little more clout and a little more power and ability to be able to protect their people.
Why does this issue matter? Well, there are a bunch of reasons, but let me begin pretty starkly with a few: al-Moataz Bellah Ibrahim, Deniz Firat, James Foley, Gregorio Jimenez de la Cruz, Camille Lepage, Ali Mustafa, Andrea Rocchelli, Luke Somers, Steven Sotloff, and Bernard Verlhac. I could go on. Unfortunately, a bunch more were added the other day in Paris. These are much more than just names of people, folks. Each one of those names reflects a life that was prematurely cut off, and it was ended by violence – that’s just 2014, some of those names I read you; in the case of Monsieur Verlhac, earlier this month. And each reflects the death of a storyteller who had more stories to tell. Each is a personal tragedy. Each is a call to action. Each is a reminder that freedom of the press is not free but it is, in fact, very costly.
By now, we’re all familiar with the statistics. Nine media workers were among the dead in Paris. In 2014, at least 60 journalists were killed; 73 the year before that. And many others wounded, harassed, detained, or threatened. These are record numbers, getting worse, not better. And a sad litany is that it really reflects the collective failure on the part of the world community to end some of these conflicts and to preserve peace. There’s nothing I’d like more as Secretary of State than to see war correspondents left with no stories to cover; but until that distant day arrives, it’s going to remain the trademark of top international journalists that they rush to enter places that other folks are desperate to escape. It’s also true that the vast majority of the victims we mourn each year are local reporters covering local issues. And when the security environment heats up, these journalists can’t buy a plane ticket and go home. They are home. If they write or take pictures for a living, that’s the job that many of them are going to continue to do, and for that we ought to be grateful. But these journalists are also in danger, and the question today is: What more can we realistically do to help?
Decades ago, when I was preparing to go to Vietnam, I received training from the most professional military in the world. Yet I still found that a lot of what I saw and engaged in was jarring and unexpected – a certain level of lack of preparation despite the preparation, each day filled with unpleasant surprises. And even though reporters aren't sent anywhere to fight, they’re expected to do a job. And the more preparation that they have, frankly, the better the chances are for them to avoid danger. Measure that against the training that most reporters get today. What kind – what are we talking about here?
Well, you’re the experts. But if I were about to drop into an uncertain environment in order to try to cover the story, I’d sure as heck want to know as much as I could about how to protect myself, about what to expect, about what kind of equipment and supplies I should carry, about how to do first aid on myself or my colleagues, about how to develop educational and situational awareness, to identify warning signs about how to make sure that my communications are secure. I’d also want to know what not to do, what not to say, what not to have in my possession in case I were stopped or searched or abducted. And perhaps most of all, I’d want to have some help in preparing psychologically in knowing what to expect and in thinking about how to deal with the intense stress, with harsh questioning, with deprivation, and other forms of adversity. And I would feel a lot better if there were people I could call when the trouble arose or some signal or mechanism that existed to know my last location or where I was going, or all of those kinds of things that not everybody thinks about.
It’s good to know that you've prepared for the possibility that people have your back. As a rule, it’s not the responsibility, obviously, of government to step in and provide this kind of training. In fact, journalists ought to be as independent from the public sector as possible, and sometimes, that lack of independence confuses people, and those are some of the telling pre-indicators of a potential of trouble. But there are places where government can help. We do believe that.
Two years ago, the State Department launched what we call the SAFE Initiative, a pilot project to help local media workers in difficult regions. It now has five centers in various parts of the globe, and it’s focused on digital and physical security, psycho-social care, information sharing, and the establishment of regional security advisory networks. And thus far, it has reached some 300 working journalists. In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department have programs that support independent media in more than 30 countries, including an internet freedom program that provides outlets with long-term mentoring, tools, training, and techniques to help reporters keep themselves and keep their data safe.
More generally, under President Obama, we have made support for press freedom one of the recurring themes of United States foreign policy. Each day, American diplomats make known our backing in one place or another directly to government, directly to the public, but firmly, in all cases, our backing for the right of people to speak, publish, broadcast, blog, tweet, and otherwise express themselves openly and without fear and without retribution. And when journalists are unfairly detained, we always raise this issue in our meetings with foreign officials at every level, and that is true whether the journalist is an American such as Jason Rezaian, who is being held in Iran, or from some other country where the rights of journalists are violated all too often.
And this is particularly important now because the world environment has obviously changed and changed significantly. It used to be that the primary threat to journalists was just being in the wrong place at the wrong time – you step on a landmine or you get in the way of a border or a fire or whatever happens. And we’ve lost people that way, obviously, in past wars. In the past, it was extremely rare for a member of the press to be intentionally targeted, stalked, followed. But in our era, roughly two-thirds of the reporters who die violently are killed because of, not despite, their profession. They are attacked for what they have written, silenced for what they have witnessed, or kidnapped for the leverage their capture may provide. And in most cases, the perpetrators are not caught.
The truth is that freedom of the press, whether symbolized by a pencil, a pen, a camera, or a microphone is under siege, purposefully. And that is because some people, some groups, and even some governments want to dictate the truth, want to define it, want to hide what we would know to be the truth. And obviously, we cannot and we will not let that happen, especially after the outrage in Paris on January 7th, we need to make certain that we are taking all the steps in our power to reiterate our commitment to the values that bring all of you here today.
So this morning there’s a band of brothers and sisters who are here today, and I have great confidence because of you in coming here today and in my knowledge of the people and mission you are on. I know you’re not going to give up and I have great confidence in the future of press freedom and the commitment of journalists of every description to go out and find the truth and report on it no matter where they are and what the resistance and no matter how stark the danger, no matter how many efforts are made to shut you down. And we will stand with you every step of the way in all the ways that we have at our disposal.
So I ask you to sort of have at it this morning. You’re going to hear from some experts, from some folks who've been through some pretty grueling experiences, and you’re going to have a chance to really dig into this and I urge you to do so. I’d like to just ask, just to get a sense of this, I’d ask all the journalists and other media workers who are here if you have ever been attacked or kidnapped or seriously threatened in the course of doing your jobs, I’d just like for you to stand, just so we get a sense of how many you here have been through that experience. Come on. You guys who were – how many people here who have been in that experience.
We’ll that’s pretty significant. That’s amazing, as a matter of fact. An enormous number. Thank you for standing, and please, I want you to stay, be part of this discussion. Please share with everybody what you've been through, what you learned from it, what you think could be done, and I really look forward to Doug and Tom reporting to all of us here in the Department what our road-map is going forward so that we can help to do our part to try to make you a little bit safer.
I thank you very, very much for being here and I think because of you perhaps we have a chance to make future generations of journalists a little safer, a little more secure. And I can guarantee you in doing so we all contribute to the possibilities of the truth winning out and of democracy getting stronger, and I thank you for that. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Remarks at the Journalists Security Conference
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 20, 2015
Well, thank you very much, Tom. Thanks for your outstanding service, your leadership, and your passion about this and all issues about human rights. And as Secretary of State, I will tell everybody it’s an enormous advantage to have an adviser who is so knowledgeable and so widely respected, so much so that the very name Malinowski has become synonymous, virtual synonym for leadership on the issue of human rights. It is my fervent wish that the world didn't give my assistant secretary of state so much to do.
This morning I also want to say thank you to another assistant secretary and his team for conceiving and organizing this conference. Now, I’ve known Doug Frantz for a long time. He worked with me in the United States Senate. He’s been in and out of journalism, but journalism is his passion, as well as public policy. And he’s really equally passionate with Tom about this issue of safety for journalists. And the reason is he was a great reporter himself and later had the experience of sending people on his staff into dangerous places, into war zones, to cover and shed light on the nature of the conflict to the rest of the world. And everybody here knows how much we value that. The open free flow of information is at the core of our democracy, at the core of our sense of rectitude about the relationship between people and the world around them.
And Doug is also somebody who tragically has lost close friends and colleagues who were killed simply for doing their jobs. Journalism is in his blood and he cares deeply about those who practice it and about the principles that should protect everybody’s freedom and safety as they go out simply to tell the story. So I thank him for bringing us together, and I thank the expert panelists – including my friends David Rhode and Sebastian Junger – from whom you are going to hear directly shortly. And I thank all of you for taking time out of your schedules, particularly those of you who have traveled some distance to be able to be here.
We all know that journalism can be dangerous. There’s no way to eliminate the risk completely, except by keeping silent, and that’s what we call surrender. So that’s not in the cards. The world obviously needs to be informed about what is happening. Silence gives power to dictators, to the abusers, to tyrants. It allows tyranny to flourish, not freedom. And so what is happening in high-threat locations such as Syria, Iraq, Somalia, or Central African Republic, Libya, Pakistan – all of these are places where they don’t want people to tell the story or they distort it. We need people who are going to shed light also on subtler forms of coercion that rot a society from within – corruption, crime. Exposing them can be dangerous, difficult, but equally critical to the capacity to have accountability and to respect the rights of people.
Today’s conference gives us a chance to look in a cooperative way at: How do we better protect journalists and other media workers who provide these windows on reality? And our particular focus is on local reporters and freelancers who lack the broad access to training and also lack, frankly, support from the largest news organizations that have a little more clout and a little more power and ability to be able to protect their people.
Why does this issue matter? Well, there are a bunch of reasons, but let me begin pretty starkly with a few: al-Moataz Bellah Ibrahim, Deniz Firat, James Foley, Gregorio Jimenez de la Cruz, Camille Lepage, Ali Mustafa, Andrea Rocchelli, Luke Somers, Steven Sotloff, and Bernard Verlhac. I could go on. Unfortunately, a bunch more were added the other day in Paris. These are much more than just names of people, folks. Each one of those names reflects a life that was prematurely cut off, and it was ended by violence – that’s just 2014, some of those names I read you; in the case of Monsieur Verlhac, earlier this month. And each reflects the death of a storyteller who had more stories to tell. Each is a personal tragedy. Each is a call to action. Each is a reminder that freedom of the press is not free but it is, in fact, very costly.
By now, we’re all familiar with the statistics. Nine media workers were among the dead in Paris. In 2014, at least 60 journalists were killed; 73 the year before that. And many others wounded, harassed, detained, or threatened. These are record numbers, getting worse, not better. And a sad litany is that it really reflects the collective failure on the part of the world community to end some of these conflicts and to preserve peace. There’s nothing I’d like more as Secretary of State than to see war correspondents left with no stories to cover; but until that distant day arrives, it’s going to remain the trademark of top international journalists that they rush to enter places that other folks are desperate to escape. It’s also true that the vast majority of the victims we mourn each year are local reporters covering local issues. And when the security environment heats up, these journalists can’t buy a plane ticket and go home. They are home. If they write or take pictures for a living, that’s the job that many of them are going to continue to do, and for that we ought to be grateful. But these journalists are also in danger, and the question today is: What more can we realistically do to help?
Decades ago, when I was preparing to go to Vietnam, I received training from the most professional military in the world. Yet I still found that a lot of what I saw and engaged in was jarring and unexpected – a certain level of lack of preparation despite the preparation, each day filled with unpleasant surprises. And even though reporters aren't sent anywhere to fight, they’re expected to do a job. And the more preparation that they have, frankly, the better the chances are for them to avoid danger. Measure that against the training that most reporters get today. What kind – what are we talking about here?
Well, you’re the experts. But if I were about to drop into an uncertain environment in order to try to cover the story, I’d sure as heck want to know as much as I could about how to protect myself, about what to expect, about what kind of equipment and supplies I should carry, about how to do first aid on myself or my colleagues, about how to develop educational and situational awareness, to identify warning signs about how to make sure that my communications are secure. I’d also want to know what not to do, what not to say, what not to have in my possession in case I were stopped or searched or abducted. And perhaps most of all, I’d want to have some help in preparing psychologically in knowing what to expect and in thinking about how to deal with the intense stress, with harsh questioning, with deprivation, and other forms of adversity. And I would feel a lot better if there were people I could call when the trouble arose or some signal or mechanism that existed to know my last location or where I was going, or all of those kinds of things that not everybody thinks about.
It’s good to know that you've prepared for the possibility that people have your back. As a rule, it’s not the responsibility, obviously, of government to step in and provide this kind of training. In fact, journalists ought to be as independent from the public sector as possible, and sometimes, that lack of independence confuses people, and those are some of the telling pre-indicators of a potential of trouble. But there are places where government can help. We do believe that.
Two years ago, the State Department launched what we call the SAFE Initiative, a pilot project to help local media workers in difficult regions. It now has five centers in various parts of the globe, and it’s focused on digital and physical security, psycho-social care, information sharing, and the establishment of regional security advisory networks. And thus far, it has reached some 300 working journalists. In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department have programs that support independent media in more than 30 countries, including an internet freedom program that provides outlets with long-term mentoring, tools, training, and techniques to help reporters keep themselves and keep their data safe.
More generally, under President Obama, we have made support for press freedom one of the recurring themes of United States foreign policy. Each day, American diplomats make known our backing in one place or another directly to government, directly to the public, but firmly, in all cases, our backing for the right of people to speak, publish, broadcast, blog, tweet, and otherwise express themselves openly and without fear and without retribution. And when journalists are unfairly detained, we always raise this issue in our meetings with foreign officials at every level, and that is true whether the journalist is an American such as Jason Rezaian, who is being held in Iran, or from some other country where the rights of journalists are violated all too often.
And this is particularly important now because the world environment has obviously changed and changed significantly. It used to be that the primary threat to journalists was just being in the wrong place at the wrong time – you step on a landmine or you get in the way of a border or a fire or whatever happens. And we’ve lost people that way, obviously, in past wars. In the past, it was extremely rare for a member of the press to be intentionally targeted, stalked, followed. But in our era, roughly two-thirds of the reporters who die violently are killed because of, not despite, their profession. They are attacked for what they have written, silenced for what they have witnessed, or kidnapped for the leverage their capture may provide. And in most cases, the perpetrators are not caught.
The truth is that freedom of the press, whether symbolized by a pencil, a pen, a camera, or a microphone is under siege, purposefully. And that is because some people, some groups, and even some governments want to dictate the truth, want to define it, want to hide what we would know to be the truth. And obviously, we cannot and we will not let that happen, especially after the outrage in Paris on January 7th, we need to make certain that we are taking all the steps in our power to reiterate our commitment to the values that bring all of you here today.
So this morning there’s a band of brothers and sisters who are here today, and I have great confidence because of you in coming here today and in my knowledge of the people and mission you are on. I know you’re not going to give up and I have great confidence in the future of press freedom and the commitment of journalists of every description to go out and find the truth and report on it no matter where they are and what the resistance and no matter how stark the danger, no matter how many efforts are made to shut you down. And we will stand with you every step of the way in all the ways that we have at our disposal.
So I ask you to sort of have at it this morning. You’re going to hear from some experts, from some folks who've been through some pretty grueling experiences, and you’re going to have a chance to really dig into this and I urge you to do so. I’d like to just ask, just to get a sense of this, I’d ask all the journalists and other media workers who are here if you have ever been attacked or kidnapped or seriously threatened in the course of doing your jobs, I’d just like for you to stand, just so we get a sense of how many you here have been through that experience. Come on. You guys who were – how many people here who have been in that experience.
We’ll that’s pretty significant. That’s amazing, as a matter of fact. An enormous number. Thank you for standing, and please, I want you to stay, be part of this discussion. Please share with everybody what you've been through, what you learned from it, what you think could be done, and I really look forward to Doug and Tom reporting to all of us here in the Department what our road-map is going forward so that we can help to do our part to try to make you a little bit safer.
I thank you very, very much for being here and I think because of you perhaps we have a chance to make future generations of journalists a little safer, a little more secure. And I can guarantee you in doing so we all contribute to the possibilities of the truth winning out and of democracy getting stronger, and I thank you for that. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
MAN ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO ACQUIRE RICIN THROUGH THE "DARK WEB"
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
New York Man Indicted For Attempting to Acquire Deadly Toxin, Ricin
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York and Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos of the FBI’s New York Office, announced today that a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Cheng Le for attempting to acquire and distribute ricin and committing postal fraud. Le was arrested on Dec. 23, 2014, by the FBI in Manhattan. He was presented on a Complaint before the U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV on Dec. 24, 2014, and has been detained since his arrest. He is expected to be arraigned on Friday, January 23, 2015, before the United States District Judge Alison J. Nathan.
“As alleged, Cheng Le attempted to acquire ricin, a potentially lethal toxin, through the Dark Web so that it could be used for deadly purposes,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “Thankfully, with the help of our law enforcement partners he was intercepted and must now answer for his alleged crimes.”
“In the shadows of the Dark Web, criminals hide behind a veil of anonymity, sniffing out hidden opportunities to buy and sell illegal and potentially dangerous merchandise,” said Assistant Director-in-Charge Venizelos. “As alleged, in this case, activity carried out in the marketplace served as a conduit for Le to obtain ricin. In his desire to acquire this potentially deadly toxin, he picked his own poison and now faces the consequences of the justice system.”
According to the Complaint, which was unsealed today in Manhattan federal court, and the indictment:
Ricin is a highly potent and potentially fatal toxin with no known antidote. In December 2014, an individual (the Ricin Buyer) contacted an FBI online covert employee (the OCE) on an online forum. During Dec. 2014, the Ricin Buyer exchanged a series of messages with the OCE, during which the Ricin Buyer explored the possibility of the OCE supplying the Ricin Buyer with ricin, for the Ricin Buyer to resell to at least one secondary buyer.
On or about Dec. 18, 2014, the Ricin Buyer directed the OCE to send a quantity of ricin to a particular postal box in Manhattan (the Postal Box). The FBI later determined that the Postal Box belonged to Cheng Le. Later that same day, FBI agents observed Le wear latex gloves while retrieving a package from the Postal Box (the Package) and mailing it at a nearby post office (the Post Office). Law enforcement officers examined the Package, confirmed that it did not contain any hazardous materials, and determined that Le had listed a fake name as the Package’s return address. A postal employee (the Postal Employee) informed the FBI that the Postal Employee had seen Le at the Post Office on multiple prior occasions and that Le has worn blue latex gloves on at least some of those occasions.
The FBI prepared a package (the Sham Shipment) that was consistent with the Ricin Buyer’s request to the OCE, which was then delivered to the Postal Box. On Dec. 23, 2014, Le, wearing latex gloves, retrieved the Sham Shipment, opened it, and took the contents to his apartment, whereupon he was arrested by FBI agents.
* * *
The indictment charges Le, 21, in two counts. Count One charges Le with attempting to possess a biological toxin for use as a weapon, and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Count Two charges Le with using a fictitious name in furtherance of unlawful business involving the mail, and carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Assistant Attorney General Carlin is grateful for the outstanding investigative efforts of the FBI, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). Le’s arrest is the result of the close cooperative efforts of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force—which consists of law enforcement officers of the FBI, NYPD, USPIS and other agencies.
The case is being prosecuted by the office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ilan Graff and Andrew D. Beaty are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Joseph Kaster of the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
New York Man Indicted For Attempting to Acquire Deadly Toxin, Ricin
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York and Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos of the FBI’s New York Office, announced today that a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Cheng Le for attempting to acquire and distribute ricin and committing postal fraud. Le was arrested on Dec. 23, 2014, by the FBI in Manhattan. He was presented on a Complaint before the U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV on Dec. 24, 2014, and has been detained since his arrest. He is expected to be arraigned on Friday, January 23, 2015, before the United States District Judge Alison J. Nathan.
“As alleged, Cheng Le attempted to acquire ricin, a potentially lethal toxin, through the Dark Web so that it could be used for deadly purposes,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “Thankfully, with the help of our law enforcement partners he was intercepted and must now answer for his alleged crimes.”
“In the shadows of the Dark Web, criminals hide behind a veil of anonymity, sniffing out hidden opportunities to buy and sell illegal and potentially dangerous merchandise,” said Assistant Director-in-Charge Venizelos. “As alleged, in this case, activity carried out in the marketplace served as a conduit for Le to obtain ricin. In his desire to acquire this potentially deadly toxin, he picked his own poison and now faces the consequences of the justice system.”
According to the Complaint, which was unsealed today in Manhattan federal court, and the indictment:
Ricin is a highly potent and potentially fatal toxin with no known antidote. In December 2014, an individual (the Ricin Buyer) contacted an FBI online covert employee (the OCE) on an online forum. During Dec. 2014, the Ricin Buyer exchanged a series of messages with the OCE, during which the Ricin Buyer explored the possibility of the OCE supplying the Ricin Buyer with ricin, for the Ricin Buyer to resell to at least one secondary buyer.
On or about Dec. 18, 2014, the Ricin Buyer directed the OCE to send a quantity of ricin to a particular postal box in Manhattan (the Postal Box). The FBI later determined that the Postal Box belonged to Cheng Le. Later that same day, FBI agents observed Le wear latex gloves while retrieving a package from the Postal Box (the Package) and mailing it at a nearby post office (the Post Office). Law enforcement officers examined the Package, confirmed that it did not contain any hazardous materials, and determined that Le had listed a fake name as the Package’s return address. A postal employee (the Postal Employee) informed the FBI that the Postal Employee had seen Le at the Post Office on multiple prior occasions and that Le has worn blue latex gloves on at least some of those occasions.
The FBI prepared a package (the Sham Shipment) that was consistent with the Ricin Buyer’s request to the OCE, which was then delivered to the Postal Box. On Dec. 23, 2014, Le, wearing latex gloves, retrieved the Sham Shipment, opened it, and took the contents to his apartment, whereupon he was arrested by FBI agents.
* * *
The indictment charges Le, 21, in two counts. Count One charges Le with attempting to possess a biological toxin for use as a weapon, and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Count Two charges Le with using a fictitious name in furtherance of unlawful business involving the mail, and carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Assistant Attorney General Carlin is grateful for the outstanding investigative efforts of the FBI, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). Le’s arrest is the result of the close cooperative efforts of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force—which consists of law enforcement officers of the FBI, NYPD, USPIS and other agencies.
The case is being prosecuted by the office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ilan Graff and Andrew D. Beaty are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Joseph Kaster of the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
RECENT DOD PHOTOS: DROP ZONE PORDENONE
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
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| U.S. paratroopers descend onto Juliet drop zone in Pordenone, Italy, Jan. 13, 2015. The paratroopers are assigned to the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade. The aircraft crew is assigned to U.S. Air Force 86th Air Wing. U.S. Army photo by Paolo Bovo. |
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| U.S. paratroopers come in for a landing on Juliet drop zone in Pordenone, Italy, Jan. 13, 2015. U.S. Army photo by Paolo Bovo. |
GEN. DEMPSEY MEETS WITH ITALIAN OFFICIALS OVER SECURITY
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Dempsey, Italian Officials to Discuss Security Concerns
By Lisa Ferdinando
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
ROME, Jan. 18, 2015 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is in Italy to discuss threats to Italy's southern flank and get the Italian perspective on the country's security issues, ahead of a two-day NATO meeting in Brussels.
The Italians are great military partners who have "stepped up in any number of missions," Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said in an interview here today.
Dempsey, who arrived in Rome earlier in the day, is to meet Monday with his Italian counterpart, Chief of Defense Adm. Luigi Binelli Mantelli, as well as Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti.
The talks with this "key ally" come at an important time, Dempsey said.
"There have been approximately 160,000 immigrants from North Africa into Italy, (that) puts a huge burden on them, so they have some real concerns about their southern flank," he said.
Dempsey and European defense officials have expressed concern about the possible flow of foreign fighters, via the southern flank.
Dempsey lauded the Italians for their contributions to global military efforts, including in the United Nations mission in Lebanon, and against terrorists with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
Italy's leadership in NATO is critical to global security, particularly in the Mediterranean, according to the chairman, who also underscored the U.S. commitment to strong relations with Italy.
Italy and the U.S. are the top two contributors of on-the-ground trainers and advisors who are enabling the Kurds and Iraqis in the fight against extremists, defense officials noted.
There are more than 4,000 Italian service members serving overseas in Kosovo, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa on a number of missions, including peacekeeping, training, and counter-piracy missions, they said.
Allies gather in Brussels Wednesday, Thursday "In my three and a half years (as chairman) this is probably going to be the most important meeting of NATO's military leaders during that period," Dempsey said.
It is of such high importance, he said, because the representatives are "going to talk about the hard work that's been done at the staff level to meet those commitments" that were made in September at the Wales summit.
The NATO Military Committee conference in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday is expected to include discussion on NATO's southern flank, Afghanistan, and efforts against ISIL.
Dempsey said he is looking forward to also hearing from the Italians about Italy's view on Eastern Europe and "aggressiveness" from Russia.
"The way they see it will determine how they balance their priorities and their resources," he said.
"Our relationship vis-a-vis Russia has changed. I don't think it's irreversibly changed," he said. "I think that in the next year, you'll find NATO in particular working toward determining how to react to that changed relationship."
Dempsey highlighted the importance of U.S.-NATO collaboration and maintaining strong ties with European allies.
"It's all about building relationships so that when things don't turn out the way you hope they will, you have a foundation to build on," he said.
Dempsey, Italian Officials to Discuss Security Concerns
By Lisa Ferdinando
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
ROME, Jan. 18, 2015 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is in Italy to discuss threats to Italy's southern flank and get the Italian perspective on the country's security issues, ahead of a two-day NATO meeting in Brussels.
The Italians are great military partners who have "stepped up in any number of missions," Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said in an interview here today.
Dempsey, who arrived in Rome earlier in the day, is to meet Monday with his Italian counterpart, Chief of Defense Adm. Luigi Binelli Mantelli, as well as Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti.
The talks with this "key ally" come at an important time, Dempsey said.
"There have been approximately 160,000 immigrants from North Africa into Italy, (that) puts a huge burden on them, so they have some real concerns about their southern flank," he said.
Dempsey and European defense officials have expressed concern about the possible flow of foreign fighters, via the southern flank.
Dempsey lauded the Italians for their contributions to global military efforts, including in the United Nations mission in Lebanon, and against terrorists with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
Italy's leadership in NATO is critical to global security, particularly in the Mediterranean, according to the chairman, who also underscored the U.S. commitment to strong relations with Italy.
Italy and the U.S. are the top two contributors of on-the-ground trainers and advisors who are enabling the Kurds and Iraqis in the fight against extremists, defense officials noted.
There are more than 4,000 Italian service members serving overseas in Kosovo, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa on a number of missions, including peacekeeping, training, and counter-piracy missions, they said.
Allies gather in Brussels Wednesday, Thursday "In my three and a half years (as chairman) this is probably going to be the most important meeting of NATO's military leaders during that period," Dempsey said.
It is of such high importance, he said, because the representatives are "going to talk about the hard work that's been done at the staff level to meet those commitments" that were made in September at the Wales summit.
The NATO Military Committee conference in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday is expected to include discussion on NATO's southern flank, Afghanistan, and efforts against ISIL.
Dempsey said he is looking forward to also hearing from the Italians about Italy's view on Eastern Europe and "aggressiveness" from Russia.
"The way they see it will determine how they balance their priorities and their resources," he said.
"Our relationship vis-a-vis Russia has changed. I don't think it's irreversibly changed," he said. "I think that in the next year, you'll find NATO in particular working toward determining how to react to that changed relationship."
Dempsey highlighted the importance of U.S.-NATO collaboration and maintaining strong ties with European allies.
"It's all about building relationships so that when things don't turn out the way you hope they will, you have a foundation to build on," he said.
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