FBI Undercover Agents Uncover Billion-Dollar Investment Fraud Scheme

The FBI released information regarding a billion-dollar investment fraud scheme.

For a group of financial fraudsters, it seemed like the ultimate get in an investment scam—a victim willing to hand over $1 billion.

However, like victims of financial scams everywhere, these criminals should have paid more attention to the “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” adage—the wealthy “victim” in this case was actually an undercover FBI agent. And last month, the last three members of this group of con artists were sentenced to federal prison for their role in this scam. Several co-conspirators have previously pled guilty.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2013/december/billion-dollar-investment-fraud 

A Look Back At TV's 'Wiseguy'

Brian Lowry at Variety offers a column on Wiseguy, a clever, well-made TV series that my wife and I enjoyed. 

Reading about Kevin Spacey returning in "House of Cards," watching Jonathan Banks breaking bones on “Breaking Bad” and Steven Bauer in “Ray Donovan,” and seeing Stanley Tucci stealing scenes in the “Hunger Games” sequel, lately it feels like all roads lead to "Wiseguy"

Once in a while there are TV series that in hindsight appear ahead of their time, or that provided a launching pad for an inordinate amount of talent. “Wiseguy,” which aired on CBS from 1987-90, managed to do both.

Starring Ken Wahl as Vinnie Terranova, a cop working undercover as a criminal enforcer, the series introduced Spacey as part of an incestuous brother-and-sister, Tucci as a ruthless mobster and Banks as Wahl’s taciturn boss. Featuring one of composer Mike Post’s best themes (if you know it, you’ll likely be humming it the rest of the day), the Stephen J. Cannell production also proved inordinately adroit – so much so that when Wahl was sidelined by an injury, the producers brought in Tony Denison as a temporary replacement for an arc of episodes (featuring Tucci, Ron Silver and Jerry Lewis) that were among the program’s best.

You can read the rest of the column via the below link:

http://variety.com/2013/tv/columns/kevin-spacey-stanley-tucci-jonathan-banks-all-roads-lead-to-wiseguy-1200920086/

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Wiseguy via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/03/wiseguys-goodfellas-and-godfathers.html

A Visit To The Delaware Valley Intelligence Center At The Old Philadelphia Quartermaster

 

I visited the old Defense Department depot commonly called the "Quartermaster" in South Philadelphia yesterday.

 

As a South Philadelphia neighbor of the compound, as well as a former employee there, I recall vividly when the Quartermaster - an 11-square block compound composed of buff-colored buildings centered by a tall clock tower - was a local South Philly mainstay and major employer.

 

Having worked at the Quartermaster for more than 25 years, it was both a sad and uplifting day.

 

It was sad, as the old depot looked like a dilapidated ghost town. I recall when thousands of Defense Department civilian employees and military personnel worked here in support of the armed forces stationed around the world.

 

I also recall the very active social life we had at the Quartermaster. There were celebratory luncheons, fabulous Christmas parties, picnics, and drinking and dancing at the Officer's Club after working hours. The Quartermaster also had a bowling league, a dart league, a men's softball league, and a mixed men and women softball league.

 

I thought of all of the good times as I walked past the abandoned, lifeless buildings.   

 

But my visit was also uplifting, as I ventured to the compound to visit the newly established Delaware Valley Intelligence Center (DVIC). I was pleased to see the beginnings of new life and purpose on the old compound.  

 

 

On assignment for Counterterrorism magazine, I visited the fusion center to interview Philadelphia Police Inspector Walt Smith, the executive director of the DVIC.

 

According to the DVIC, the facility was established to house all of the region's assets together for counterterrorism, crime and natural disasters. The DVIC is an all-hazards, all-crime, information and intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination facility.

 

 

The DVIC's mission is to support and enhance public safety in the four-state Delaware Valley Region that includes 13 counties across Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, Northern Delaware and Northern Maryland. The DVIC uses a Situational Awareness Portal that contains integration with incident management systems, automatic analysis tools, GIS mapping and visualization capabilities, data mining and advanced data analytics software, and deconfliction capabilities.    

 

Inspector Smith led me on a tour of the center, along with the commanding officer of the Real Time Crime Center, Philadelphia Police Captain Derek Kephart, and Sgt Jay Bowen.     

 

 

After the tour, Inspector Smith gathered a small group of people who work at the DVIC into a conference room, where I was able to ask questions about the operation.

 

Inspector Smith gave an overview of the DVIC and Captain Kephart and Sgt Bowen explained how the Real Time Crime Center operated. I also interviewed Philadelphia Police Captain Raymond Evers, the commanding officer of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, about organized crime, gangs and human trafficking.

 

Also sitting in was Detective Grover Linaweaver from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Police Department and transportation analyst Bob Giorgio. The two spoke of the threats to regional transportation and how they worked within the DVIC.

 

I'll post my piece about the DVIC here when it is published in Counterterrorism magazine.

 

You can read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the planning of the DVIC via the below link:

 

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/08/connecting-dots-at-local-level-fusion.html 

Philly Mob On Trial: Words And Meanings Argued At Mob Trial

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia is covering the federal organized trial in Philadelphia for Bigtrial.net.

What was said in a taped telephone conversation or written in the letter or Christmas card was not in dispute.

But what the words meant was the focus of nearly four hours of cross-examination today as mob informant Anthony Aponick, 43, spent a second day on the witness stand in the racketeering conspiracy retrial of George Borgesi and his uncle, mob boss Joseph Ligambi.

Aponick, a New York mob associate who was Borgesi's cellmate in a federal prison in Virginia for parts of 2002 and 2003, clashed repeatedly with Christopher Warren, Borgesi's defense attorney.

Warren, trying to underscore in the jury's mind that much of what Aponick has testified to is uncorroborated, came back again and again to a simple query.

"We just have to take your word?" the lawyer asked.

"It's the truth," Aponick responded.

The verbal tap dance went on for most of the day and will likely continued tomorrow when Warren concludes his questioning and Ligambi's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs Jr., takes his turn at discrediting the second key prosecution witness to testify in the case.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/12/words-and-meanings-argued-at-mob-trial.html#more

Ernest Hemingway's Havana Retreat

Finn-Olaf Jones at the Wall Street Journal visited the old Cuban home of one of my favorite writers, Ernest Hemingway, and offered an interesting piece.

The Finca's current pristine condition is a testament to Hemingway's continual hold even now among the most divergent of readers. The author who in life provoked three divorces, international controversies and a few memorable punch-outs, has, in death, created an unlikely alliance between two belligerent nations.

 

Since 2005, a team of U.S. engineers, conservationists and architects under the auspices of the Boston-based Finca Vigía Foundation has been working with Ms. Rosale's team to restore the 19th-century building, replacing the sagging roof, installing a new drainage system and rebuilding interior walls. They've also sorted, preserved and cataloged some 3,000 original documents moldering in the tropical humidity.

 

They are in the midst of digitizing the archives so they can be seen for the first time outside of Cuba.

 

"This is a labor of love for us," says Mary-Jo Adams, the foundation's director. "Most of the consultants have been doing this pro bono, and we can't import construction materials. But we have the longest-running cross-cultural program in Cuba. U.S. politicians from both sides of the political aisle—such as Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern —have supported us. Hemingway unites a lot of people."  

 

You can read the rest of the piece and view some good photos via the below link:

 

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304439804579206022406525070 

For Your Eyes Only: Secret Memo Reveals Ian Fleming's Plans For His First James Bond Film

Kieran Corcoran at the British newspaper the Daily Mail offers a piece on the Ian Fleming memo that expressed his views on the making of the first James Bond film.

Ian Fleming wanted his first James Bond film to feature Mafia villains and be as fast-paced as possible to distract the audience from unlikely storylines, a previously unseen memo reveals.

You can read the rest of the piece and see the memo via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2518726/For-eyes-Secret-memo-reveals-Ian-Flemings-plans-Bond-film-fears-weak-storylines.html

Philly Mob On Trial: Witness Puts Price Tag On Mob Membership

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia is covering the federal organized crime trial in Philadelphia for Bigtrial.net.

An outsider can buy his way into the Philadelphia mob for $10,000.

Cash.

That, at least, is what New York mob informant Anthony Aponick said he was asked to cough up to George Borgesi while they were cellmates in a federal prison in West Virginia back in 2003.

"He said I would become a member of his crew," said Aponick as he testified today at the racketeering conspiracy retrial of Borgesi and his uncle, mob boss Joe Ligambi. "He wanted $10,000."

The membership fee was just 10 percent of what Boston mobster Bobby Luisi said he had to pay Joey Merlino back in the late 1990s to become a made member of the organization. Whether that was a reflection of an economic downturn in the underworld or whether Aponick was getting a special discount could not be determined. Like Aponick, Luisi became a close associate of Borgesi's. And like Aponick, he eventually became an FBI informant.

Aponick said his dealings with Borgesi also came with an ominous warning.

"Listen, no matter what, don't fuck me," he said Borgesi told him as Aponick was about to be released from prison in 2003. "If you fuck me, I'll kill you and your whole family."

Aponick, who was already cooperating with the FBI by that time, disregarded the warning.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/12/witness-puts-price-tag-on-mob-membership.html#more