Vintage Fraud: FBI Tells Of Rare Wine Dealer's Counterfeit Scheme

The FBI web site offers a piece on a counterfeit wine scheme.

The same old wine in a brand new bottle” is a phrase that aptly describes how fraudsters deceive the public in ever-changing ways. It applies perfectly to Rudy Kurniawan’s profitable and long-running counterfeiting scam—except that Kurniawan was putting new wine in old bottles.

Earlier this month, a New York federal judge sentenced Kurniawan to a 10-year prison term for his elaborate counterfeiting scheme in which he mixed newer, cheaper wines together and poured them into old bottles with forged labels.

When FBI agents executed a search warrant at Kurniawan’s California home in 2012, they found wine-making materials everywhere in plain sight. “Essentially, the entire house was a fake wine-making laboratory,” said Special Agent Adam Roeser, who helped investigate the case out of our New York Division.

“There were old bottles soaking in the sink. There was fresh wax dripping off bottles in another room,” Roeser said. “There were piles and piles of corks, and on the kitchen counter there were 30 to 50 open bottles with a funnel and re-corker next to them. We found fake labels going back to 1899. He could make any label going back to the end of the 1800s.”

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

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/september/rare-wine-dealer-sentenced-in-counterfeiting-scheme 

"The Drop": Dennis Lehane's Latest Crime Thriller Is Understated And Perfectly Paced

Frank Wilson, my friend and former editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, offers a good review of Dennis Lehane's crime thriller The Drop in today's Inquirer.

Bob works at Cousin Marv's. Marv really is Bob's cousin, but the bar that bears Marv's name isn't really Marv's anymore. Controlling interest has fallen to some Chechen mobsters, who use the place to drop off the day's take from gambling, drugs, and prostitution for an overnight stay and a next-day pickup.

So when two guys in ski masks - one with a pistol, the other with a shotgun - rip the joint off, it's lucky for Bob and Marv that all they get is the money the bar made that night, about five grand.
Bob doesn't fail to notice the two guys could easily drop-kick him and Marv through the goalposts of life, but another thought distracts him: "I just want to raise the dog, he thought for some reason. I just want to teach it tricks and live more of this life."

... Quite a few threads go into this taut little thriller, which started out as a short story called "Animal Rescue." (The film version, which features James Gandolfini in his last role, is scheduled for release on Friday.)

What makes The Drop so good is not just the pacing, which is just about right, but the mood, which mirrors perfectly Bob's supremely understated personality.

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

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/literature/20140907_Lehane_s_latest__understated_and_perfectly_paced.html

You can also check out Frank Wilson's popular literary blog, Books, Inq, via the below link:

http://booksinq.blogspot.com

ISIS Rebels Are Heavily Armed

FBI: Cuban Intelligence Aggressively Recruiting Leftist American Academics As Spies, Influence Agents

Veteran national security reporter Bill Gertz offers a piece at the Washington Free Beacon on the FBI's report on Cuban intelligence recruitment of leftist American academics.

Cuba’s communist-led intelligence services are aggressively recruiting leftist American academics and university professors as spies and influence agents, according to an internal FBI report published this week.

Cuban intelligence services “have perfected the work of placing agents, that includes aggressively targeting U.S. universities under the assumption that a percentage of students will eventually move on to positions within the U.S. government that can provide access to information of use to the [Cuban intelligence service],” the five-page unclassified FBI report says. It notes that the Cubans “devote a significant amount of resources to targeting and exploiting U.S. academia.”

“Academia has been and remains a key target of foreign intelligence services, including the [Cuban intelligence service],” the report concludes.

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

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/fbi-cuban-intelligence-aggressively-recruiting-leftist-american-academics-as-spies-influence-agents/

You can also read about Cuban intelligence's successful recruitment of a spy in my Philadelphia Inquirer review of True Believer: Inside the Investigation and capture of Ana Montes, Cuba's Master Spy via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/08/my-philadelphia-review-of-scott-w.html

Sir Roger Moore Is "One Lucky Bastard"

Sir Roger Moore was interviewed by Kirsty Nutkins at the British newspaper the Express about his new book, called Last Man Standing in the UK and One Lucky Bastard in the US.

Best known for playing James Bond, Sir Roger Moore was the longest-serving 007, starring in seven films between 1973 and 1985. He also appeared in TV series such as The Saint and The Persuaders!

The 86 year old retired from acting in 2009 and has since written two books – the latest, Last Man Standing: Tales From Tinseltown, has just been published. Roger and his wife Kristina ‘Kiki’ Tholstrup divide their time between their homes in Monaco and Switzerland. 

Your new book features colourful tales from your life in showbiz. Can you reveal any juicy stories?

If I did you wouldn’t buy the book!

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

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/507275/James-Bond-actor-Sir-Roger-Moore

You can also read an earlier post on Sir Roger Moore via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/10/happy-86th-birthday-to-roger-moore.html

Note: Although I disliked Sir Roger Moore's lightweight performance as James Bond, I was a huge fan of his when I was a teenager and he was so cool as The Saint on TV. I also liked him in The Persuaders!

And, I have to admit, his James Bond films were good, lighthearted spy films. I simply preferred to see Ian Fleming's iconic James Bond character portrayed in a darker light in a true thriller.

I've read Sir Roger Moore's earlier books and found them to be intelligent, amusing, and self-deprecating -  like the author himself.  

Islamic State Using Leaked Snowden Info To Evade U.S. Intelligence

Rowan Scarborough at the Washington Times offers a piece on how NSA leaker Edward Snowden has aided terrorists.

A former top official at the National Security Agency says the Islamic State terrorist group has “clearly” capitalized on the voluminous leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and is exploiting the top-secret disclosures to evade U.S. intelligence.

Bottom line: Islamic State killers are harder to find because they know how to avoid detection.

Chris Inglis was the NSA's deputy director during Mr. Snowden’s flood of documents to the news media last year. Mr. Snowden disclosed how the agency eavesdrops, including spying on Internet communications such as emails and on the Web’s ubiquitous social media.

Asked by The Washington Times if the Islamic State has studied Mr. Snowden's documents and taken action, Mr. Inglis answered, “Clearly.”

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

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/4/islamic-state-using-edward-snowden-leaks-to-evade-/

Pentagon Confirms Death of al-Shabab Co-founder

The DoD News offers the below piece:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2014 - Ahmed Abdi al-Muhammad, also known Ahmed Godane, the co-founder of the al-Shabab jihadist group, was killed Sept. 1 in a U.S. airstrike in Somalia, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby confirmed today.

"The U.S. military undertook operations against Godane on Sept. 1, which led to his death," Kirby said in a statement. "Removing Godane from the battlefield is a major symbolic and operational loss" to al-Shabab," Kirby said in a statement. "The United States works in coordination with its friends, allies and partners to counter the regional and global threats posed by violent extremist
organizations."

At a Sept. 2 Pentagon news conference, Kirby said manned and unmanned aircraft operated by U.S. special operations forces participated in an airstrike that destroyed an al-Shabab encampment and a vehicle located at that camp. Kirby added that the operation was a direct strike against the al-Shabab network, and specifically against Godane.

The operation was carried out after actionable intelligence was obtained that suggested that Godane was present at the camp, located south of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, the press secretary said at the news conference, noting that it was too early to tell whether the strike had killed him.

The aircraft fired several Hellfire missiles and laser-guided munitions, and no U.S. forces were present on the ground, either before or after the attack, he added.

Al-Shabab is a jihadist group based in Somalia. It has claimed responsibility for last year's attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, which resulted in more than 70 deaths and 200 injured. The group is also believed to be responsible for many bombings, including suicide attacks in Mogadishu and in central and northern Somalia, Kirby said Sept. 2.