Phoenix Infragard

The major FBI cases and events of 2007, including the Minneapolis bridge collapse and the Fort Dix terrorism plot

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 15:12:18 GMT

FBI’s Year in Review: Top News Stories of 2007

01/05/07
Boston: Former House Speaker Pleads Guilty to Obstruction of Justice
Thomas M. Finneran, the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, pled guilty to obstructing justice by making false and misleading statements under oath. Full Story

01/12/07
Chicago: Deputy U.S. Marshal Charged with Illegally Disclosing Information on Protected Organized Crime Witness
Deputy U.S. Marshall John Thomas Ambrose, Supervisory Inspector on the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, was charged with revealing information relating to the status of a “made” member of the “Chicago Mob.” Full Story

01/19/07
Washington Field Office: Former Congressman Sentenced on Corruption Charges
Former Congressman Robert W. Ney was sentenced on multiple charges including honest services fraud and making false statement to the U.S. House of Representatives. Full Story

01/26/07
Jackson: Former Klansman Indicted for 1964 Kidnapping and Murder
James Seale, former member of the Ku Klux Klan, was charged with the kidnapping and murder of two African/American men: Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charlie Eddie Moore. Full Story

02/02/07
Atlanta: Former Coke Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing Trade Secrets
Joya Williams pled guilty to conspiring to steal and sell the Coca Cola Company’s highly classified trade secrets. Full Story

02/09/07
New York: 19 Members of Bonanno Family Indicted on Racketeering Charges
Bonanno family acting underboss, acting consigliore, and 17 capos, soldiers, and associates were indicted on numerous charges including racketeering, illegal gambling, extortion, and narcotics distribution. Full Story

02/16/07
Houston: U.S. Citizen Charged With Training to Fight Jihad in Somalia
Daniel Joseph Maldonado, a.k.a. Daniel Aljughaifi, was returned from Kenya and charged with receiving training from a foreign terrorist organization to fight with Islamic extremist fighters in Somalia. Full Story

02/23/07
Miami: Four Police Officers Charged With Corruption
A two-year undercover operation resulted in the indictment of four Hollywood police officers on extortion and narcotics charges. Full Story

03/02/07
Atlanta: Head of Real Estate Investment Fund Indicted in $69 Million Ponzi Scheme
Gene A. O’Neal was charged with running a large scale Ponzi scheme through his real estate investment fund, Pinnacle Development Partners, LLC. Full Story

03/09/07
Boston: AttorneyIndicted for Possession of Stolen Art
Robert R. Mardirosian was indicted for possessing, transporting, and selling stolen paintings, including a Cezanne. Full Story

03/16/07
Los Angeles: Iranian Media Personality Sentenced in Visa Fraud Scheme
Henry Hossein Haghighi Heguman, a Farsi language media personality, was sentenced for orchestrating an immigration fraud scheme that filed fraudulent employment visa applications. Full Story

03/23/07
New Haven: Former Member of the U.S. Navy Indicted on Terrorism and Espionage Charges
Hassan Abujihaad, formerly known as Paul R. Hall, was charged with material support of terrorism and disclosure of classified information relating to national defense. Full Story

03/30/07
Newark: State Senator Indicted on Public Corruption Charges
New Jersey State Senator Wayne R. Bryant was indicted for unlawfully using his power and influence to directly lobby state agencies, high-level officials and others. Full Story

04/06/07
Boston: Pfizer Subsidiary Pleads Guilty to Offering Kickback; Agrees to Pay $19.68 Million Fine
Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., Inc., a subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc., agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $19.68 million criminal fine for offering a kickback. Full Story

04/13/07
Cincinnati: Indictment for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Terrorists
Christopher Paul, a.k.a. Abdulmalek Kenyatta, was charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists and trained individuals in the U.S. in order that they might fight violent jihad overseas. Full Story

04/20/07
FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit Assists in Virginia Tech Shooting Investigation
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzalez pledged Department of Justice assistance to the victims of the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech. Full Story

04/27/07
Chicago: “The Bishop” Arrested for Mailing Pipe Bombs on Investment Firms
John P. Tomkins was arrested on criminal charges for mailing threatening letters to investment companies signed “The Bishop.” Full Story

05/04/07
Sacramento: Four Russians Indicted on Identity Theft and Fraud Ring
Four Russians were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, credit card fraud, and interstate transportation of stolen goods. Full Story

05/11/07
Philadelphia: Six Charged With Plotting to Murder US Soldiers at New Jersey Military Base
Five individuals were charged with conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services and a sixth individual was charged with aiding and abetting. Full Story

05/18/07
Los Angeles: Top Ten Fugitive Arrested in Canada
Richard Steve Goldberg, one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, was arrested in Montreal. Goldberg was wanted in connection with various crimes against children. Full Story

05/20/07
New York: Doctor Convicted of Conspiring to Support al Qaeda
Rafiq Sabir, a Florida doctor, was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to the al Qaeda terrorist organization. Full Story

06/01/07
Dallas: Businessman Admits to Defrauding Employer of more than $2 Million
Donovan Frank Laughlin, the General Manager of Wool Growers Central Storage Co., Inc., pled guilty to money laundering charges. Full Story

06/08/07
New York: International Arms Dealer Charged With Conspiracy to Kill Americans
Monzer Al Kassar, a.k.a. Abu Munawar, an international arms dealer, was charged with conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Full Story

06/15/07
Cincinnati: Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud
Police Officer James L. Cook with the Whitehall Police Department pled guilty to bank fraud for knowingly depositing a counterfeit check into his bank account. Full Story

06/22/07
Memphis: Operation Mainstreet Sweeper Results in Councilman’s Guilty Plea
Former Memphis City Councilman Rickey Peete pled guilty to receiving cash payments for securing city council approval for a real estate development project. Full Story

06/29/07
Philadelphia: Original Manuscript by Pearl S. Buck Recovered
The original typewritten and hand-edited manuscript of “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck was recovered by the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Full Story

07/06/07
Houston: Former Police Officer Sentenced for Bank Robbery Scheme
Stephen Paul Presley, former Texas City police officer, was sentenced on charges of conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Full Story

07/13/07
San Diego: Retired Rear Admiral Pleads Guilty
Retired Rear Admiral Jose Luis Betancourt pled guilty to prohibited representation of private party by former government employee before employing agency. Full Story

07/20/07
New York: Police Officer Charged in Narcotics Trafficking
New York City Police Officer Darren Moonan was charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and conspiracy to commit robberies of drugs from narcotics traffickers. Full Story

07/27/07
Honolulu: Individual Charged With Theft of Government Property
Joseph U.R.M. Elibosang was charged with theft of government property for selling at least 23 of the 34 bronze name plates stolen from the Pacific National Park, Asian Overlook in Guam. The plates bore the names of Guam citizens and U.S. soldiers who lost their lives in WWII. Full Story

08/03/07
Washington Field Office: British Airways and Korean Air Lines Plead Guilty and Agree to Pay $300 Million Each
U.K.-based British Airways Plc and South Korean-based Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd. have agreed to pay separate $300 million criminal fines for their roles in conspiracies to fix the pieces of passenger and cargo flights. Full Story

08/10/07
FBI Continues to Assist in Minneapolis Bridge Collapse Investigation
The FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office provided special agents, its Evidence Response Team, as well as Evidence Response Team (ERT) members from the FBI’s San Antonio, Pittsburgh, and Chicago Field Offices to assist in the investigation of the Minneapolis bridge collapse investigation. Full Story

08/17/07
Washington Field Office: Former Congressional Chief of Staff Sentenced on Corruption Charge
William J. Heaton, former Chief of Staff for former Congressman Robert W. Ney, was sentenced on the charge of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud. Full Story

08/24/07
San Antonio: US Army Major, Wife, Sister Indicted in Procurement Fraud
Major John Cockerham, Jr., his wife Melissa Cockerham, and his sister Carolyn Blake, were indicted on bribery, money laundering, obstruction charges, and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government arising out of the major’s service as an army contracting officer in Kuwait. Full Story

08/31/07
New York: U.S. Army Captain Arrested for Accepting Bribe
U.S. Army Captain Austin Key was arrested and charged with accepting a $50,000 bribe to steer military contracts in Iraq. Full Story

09/07/07
Los Angeles: Former Make-A-Wish Foundation Board Member Arrested in $8.7 Million Scam
Thomas Mitchell Johnson, former member of the boards of directors of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, was arrested for defrauding a North Carolina man out of more than $8.7 million dollars through a bogus investment scheme. Full Story

09/14/07
Miami: Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Arrested in Colombia
Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez was arrested by Colombian authorities near Zarzal in Valle del Cauca. Montoya is the principal leader of the North Valley Cartel, which is believed to be the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organization in Colombia. Full Story

09/21/07
Columbia: Operation Falcon Nets 540 Fugitives
Operation FALCON, a multi-city, nationwide law enforcement effort targeting sexual offenders and persons wanted for violent crimes and narcotics violations, resulted in the arrest of 540 fugitives during a recent 16-day sweep. Full Story

09/28/07
Anchorage: Former State Speaker of the House Convicted on Public Corruption Charges
Former Alaska State representative and former Alaska State Speaker of the House Peter Kott was found guilty of bribery, extortion, and conspiracy. In exchange for casting votes to benefit a major Alaska oil company, Kott received cash, checks, and the promise of a future job with the company. Full Story

10/05/07
Detroit: High-Ranking Immigration Official Charged With Bribery, Extortion, and Conspiracy
Assistant District Director of the Detroit office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), Roy M. Bailey, was charged with accepting large sums of money and other property in return for granting immigration benefits, including the release of several individuals who were in custody of ICE. Four other individuals were also charged in the case. Full Story

10/12/07
Boston: Former House Majority Leader Charged in Pharmacy Scheme
Former Rhode Island House Majority Leader Gerard M. Martineau was charged with honest services mail fraud for engineering personal business dealings with a pharmacy company and a health insurer and, in return, steering the outcome of legislation in which those companies were interested. Full Story

10/19/07
FBI Participates in TOPOFF 4 National Preparedness Exercise
From October 15-19, 2007, the FBI took part in a multi-agency national preparedness exercise known as Top Officials, or TOPOFF. The exercise is the fourth segment of the TOPOFF series of congressionally mandated exercises administrated by the Department of Homeland Security and designed to strengthen the nation’s capacity to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from large scale terrorist attacks. Full Story

10/26/07
Anchorage/Chicago/Houston: British Petroleum Agrees to Pay $370 Million in Environmental Crimes, Fraud Cases
British Petroleum and several of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay approximately $373 million in fines and restitution for environmental violations and fraud for conspiring to corner the market and manipulate the price of propane. Full Story

11/02/07
Philadelphia: Abdullahu Admits to Supplying Weapons in Plot to Kill U.S. Soldiers
Agron Abdullahu pled guilty to conspiring to provide firearms and ammunition to illegal aliens who allegedly plotted to kill U.S. soldiers at various installations. Full Story

11/09/07
Washington Field Office: Five Arrests in Massive Property Tax Refund Fraud Scheme
Harriette Walters, Manager of the D.C. Real Property Tax Administration Adjustments Unit; Diane Gustus, Real Property Program Specialist with the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue; and three of their co-conspirators were arrested for their roles in a scheme to defraud D.C. out of millions of dollars in real estate property tax refunds. To date, the loss has been assessed at over $16 million. Full Story

11/16/07
Detroit: Former Employee of FBI and CIA Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the U.S.
Nada Nadim Prouty engaged in a pattern of deceit to secure U.S. citizenship, to gain employment in the intelligence community, and to obtain and exploit her access to sensitive counterterrorism intelligence. Full Story

11/23/07
New York: Former District Court Judge Sentenced
Former Nassau County District Court Judge David A. Gross was sentenced for conspiring to launder money obtained through the sale of purportedly stolen diamonds and watches. Full Story

11/30/07
Operation Bot Roast II Reveals Growing Criminal Use of Botnets
The FBI announced the results of the second phase of its investigation into a growing and serious problem involving the criminal use of botnets, collections of compromised computers under the remote command and control of a criminal “botherder.” Full Story

12/07/07
Detroit: Marine Corps Captain Pleads Guilty to Citizenship Fraud Conspiracy
Samar Khalil Spinelli (nee Samar Khalil Nabbouh), a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, pled guilty to conspiring with former FBI and CIA employee, Nada Nadim Prouty, to commit citizenship fraud and passport fraud. Full Story

12/14/07
New Orleans: Chief of Police Indicted on Firearms Charges
Chief of Police (Boyce, Louisiana) Claude Williams was indicted on federal charges of possession of illegal firearms and on state charges of malfeasance in office. Full Story

12/21/07
St. Louis: Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo! Pay Millions for Promoting Online Illegal Gambling
Microsoft Corporation, Google, and Yahoo! agreed to pay a total of $31.5 million to resolve claims that between 1997 and 2007 they received payments from online gambling businesses for advertising online gambling. Full Story

12/28/07
Miami: Five Foreign Agents Indicted
Four Venezuelans and an Uruguayan were indicted on charges of acting and conspiring to act as agents of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Full Story

Code Breaking

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:46:18 GMT

CAN YOU CRACK A CODE?
Try Your Hand at Cryptanalysis

11/21/07

The “cryptanalysts” who work in the FBI Laboratory are experts in breaking codes and ciphers of all kinds, but this time we asked them to create one for us just for fun.

Your mission—if you choose to accept it—is to crack the code below and reveal the hidden message.

Hint: if you want a primer on basic cipher systems and how to break them, see the article Analysis of Criminal Codes and Ciphers.

And if you’re a youngster, we recommend that you start with the code on our Kids' page.

Good luck!

To learn more about code-breaking in the FBI:

Hate Crime Statistics

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:02:21 GMT

The FBI has been investigating hate crimes as far back as the 1920s, often as a backstop to state and local authorities. They have been keeping statistics on such crimes as required by law since 1991. Their latest set of annual numbers--Hate Crime Statistics 2006--is now posted online.

Here’s an overview of the findings…and you can delve into the full report for many more details:

Incidents and Offenses: A total of 7,722 incidents and 9,080 offenses were reported by participating agencies in 2006.
Offense Type: Nationwide, 5,449 offenses were classified as crimes against persons, with intimidation (46 percent) and simple assaults (31.9 percent) accounting for most crimes. There were three murders during the year. Of the 3,593 crimes against property, the overwhelming majority (81 percent) were acts of vandalism or destruction.
Offenders: Of the 7,330 known offenders, 58.6 percent were white and 20.6 percent were black.
Victims: A total of 9,652 victims were identified. More than half—52.0 percent—were targeted because of their race.
Locations: Most incidents, 31 percent, took place near or at homes and residences. Another 18 percent occurred on highways or streets. For a general breakdown of offenses by state, see Table 11.

Whether it’s cross burnings or noose incidents, the FBI continues to take all hate crimes seriously. Please contact your local field office if you believe you have witnessed or been victimized by a hate crime.

And for more details on how the FBI combats crimes of bias—and links to all hate crime reports since 1995—please see the Hate Crime webpage.

Feedback

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:46:51 GMT

I am always looking for feedback of any sort regarding the newsletter initiatives as well as any other aspect of Infragard. I assure you that the feedback you take the time to write will be read and responded to.

So please leave us your thoughts, negative or positive. If you do not wish to make a post using infragard.spaces.live.com, please contact Phoenix Infragard in another manner. You may also contact the author any time.

Talking about November 15 2007

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:27:26 GMT

Specific Event Information is available on the event calendar links below

Quote

November 15 2007
Hosted by: Infragard (Phoenix) Lewis and Roca Law Office, 40 N Central Avenue, Suite 1900, Phoenix, Arizona 85004
Date and time: Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 2:00 PM
Location name: 40 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004-4424, United States

View this event on Windows Live

Guest Blogger

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:16:48 GMT

I am looking for anyone who could be considered an expert in their industry who is also an active internet blogger or columnist.

This Guest Blogger would have a unique opportunity to share their thoughts among a truly fantastic group of readers and experts.

If you are interested in this please either leave a comment or contact the Phoenix Infragard Chapter.

Looking for information...

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:11:59 GMT

I am looking for RSS feeds that contain current events related information relative to our Nation's 13 Critical Infrastructures.

If you are wondering what these Infrastructures are please visit: Infragard Home Page

Please submit your sources by leaving a comment to this Blog entry.

Most Wanted Lists

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:07:00 GMT

I am looking for people who will recommend Most Wanted Lists of individuals for consideration in the newsletter publications.

Please leave your comments with a URL to the list and a short description of the resource.

An example list: FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
If you have any ideas please comment to this Blog entry.

Novemeber Meetings

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:08:18 GMT

November 2007 General Meeting

Start: Nov 15 2007 - 2:00pm

End: Nov 15 2007 - 4:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT

Location: Lewis and Roca Law Office, 40 N Central Avenue, Suite 1900, Phoenix, Arizona 85004

This meeting will be held in conjunction with the fall public meeting of the Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council. Two speakers will present: David VanderNaalt, the recently appointed CISO for the State of Arizona will speak on the charter of his position and statewide security and privacy issues, and Steve Holdener of Boeing will present on SBInet of the Secure Border Initiative, part of the Department of Homeland Security's plan to control the borders.

Parking: Visitor parking is available in the underground parking lot of the Renaissance II Building where the Lewis and Roca Law Office is located.

Parking for General Meetings at UAT

UAT's parking lot is closed due to construction of a residence hall on the property. Parking for InfraGard meetings is available in a lot to the west of the Fry’s store across the street, on the northeast corner of Baseline Road and Calle Los Cerros.

UAT provides a crossing guard during the day to increase safety for individuals crossing Baseline at Calle Los Cerros.

Book List: Reading

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:28:04 GMT

Reading

Rosemary Dew: No Backup: My Life as a Female FBI Special Agent
In her thirteen years as special agent for the FBI, Rosemary Dew worked undercover against criminals, spies, and terrorists, earning eight commendations for her service.
Samuel M. Katz: Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the Manhunt for the Al-Qaeda Terrorists
The clandestine world of the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service is the focus of this latest entry into the post-Sept. 11 publishing sweepstakes by Katz, an expert on international terrorism and security issues.
Ronald Kessler: The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI
When Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte created an unnamed investigative bureau of thirty-four special agents within the Justice Department on June 29, 1908, no one could have guessed that it would grow into an agency that would involve itself in ....
Samuel M Katz: The Hunt For The Engineer: The Inside Story of How Isral's Counterterrorist Forces Tracked and Killed the Hamas Master Bomber
The Inside Story of How Isral's Counterterrorist Forces Tracked and Killed the Hamas Master Bomber
Ronald Kessler: The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack
Drawing on unprecedented access to FBI and CIA counterterrorism operatives, New York Times bestselling author Ronald Kessler presents the chilling story of terrorists’ relentless efforts to mount another devastating attack on the United States and ....

Blog list: Contributors

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:37:26 GMT

Contributors

Infragard
Main Infragard
Phoenix Infragard
The Phoenix Infragard Chapter