For Immediate Release
September 7, 2007
|
Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
|
FBI'S
TOP TEN NEWS STORIES FOR THE WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
1.
Newark: 11 Public Officials Arrested in Corruption Probe
Paterson
Assemblyman Alfred E. Steele; Orange Mayor and State Assemblyman
Mims Hackett; Passaic Mayor Samuel "Sammy" Rivera;
Passaic City Council member Marcellus Jackson; Former Passaic
City Council member Jonathan Soto; former President of the
Pleasantville Board of Education Jayson Adams; Pleasantville
Board of Education member James Pressley; Pleasantville
School Board member Rafael Velez; former Pleasantville School
Board member Maurice "Pete" Callaway; Pleasantville
Board of Education James T. McCormick; and Chief of Staff
to the Newark City Council President Keith O. Reid were
charged with either conspiracy to extort corrupt payments
or attempting to extort corrupt payments. Full
Story
2. Miami: Son of Former Liberian President Charged With
Acts of Torture
Roy
Belfast, Jr., aka Chuckie Taylor, was charged with a superseding
indictment with additional crimes of torture occurring in
Liberia between 1999 and 2003. Belfast is the son of former
Liberian President Charles Taylor and is alleged to have
been a commander in the armed security force in Liberia
during his father's administration. Full
Story
3.
San Diego: San Diego State University Hoax Threat Case
Cristobal
Fernando Gonzalez was sentenced for making threatening communications
by posting a threat on his website. Gonzalez posted the
threat shortly after the shootings at Virginia Tech on April
16, 2007, intending to draw attention to his website business.
Full
Story
4.
Las Vegas: Henderson Man Charged With Defrauding Investors
in Mining Claim Scam
Alberto
DoCouto was charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, fraudulent
interstate securities transactions, making a false statement,
and visa fraud in soliciting others to invest over $20 million
in various alleged mining projects. DoCouto has no expertise
or appreciable experience in mining precious metals. Full
Story
5.
St. Louis: Former Chamber of Commerce Administrative Assistant
Sentenced for Embezzlement
Christina
Finney was sentenced on wire fraud charges for embezzling
from the Mobile Chamber of Commerce. To cover up the embezzlement,
she failed to pay, among other things, insurance policy
premiums which covered employee embezzlements. By not paying
these premiums, the Chamber of Commerce had no insurance
and suffered the entire loss of the embezzlement. Full
Story
6.
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. Johnson spent the victim's
money on extravagant personal expenses for himself and his
girlfriend. Full
Story
7.
Chicago: Three Officials Indicted in Fraud Scheme
Julius
Patterson, president of the Harvey Park District (HPD);
Kendall Parrott, director of the HPD; and Linda Hudson,
assistant director of the HPD were arrested and charged
with wire fraud and theft of government funds. The three
defendants obtained corporate credit cards in the name of
the HPD and used them for personal expenses. Parrott allegedly
concealed the scheme by instructing a HPD employee to classify
the expenses as "board-related" or "special
events." Full
Story
8.
New Orleans: Project Safe Childhood Initiative Generating
Results
A
Bridge City, Louisiana, man was sentenced to nearly 20 years
in prison for producing child pornography. One of his victims
was a 6-year-old girl. Federal investigators found more
than 15,800 images of child pornography on his computer.
Officials announced action on two other cases under the
initiative. Full
Story
9.
Indianapolis: Operation Tombstone Leads to 26 Indictments
in Crack Cocaine Trafficking Case
FBI
Safe Streets Task Force and DEA-Evansville launched "Operation
Tombstone" in Spring 2007 to target the drug trafficking
organization. 150 law enforcement officers participated
in the execution of arrest warrants and over fourteen search
warrants. Twenty-six individuals were indicted for trafficking
powder and crack cocaine. Full
Story
10.
Washington Field Office: Four Defendants Plead Guilty "Pump
and Dump" Scheme
Michael
Saquella, Lawrence J. Kaplan, Henry "Hank" J.
Zemla, and Justin Medlin pleaded guilty to defrauding investors
of over $20 million in stock manipulation schemes involving
15 different publicly traded companies. Three other defendants
have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced in federal court.
Full
Story
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