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Justice Dept: COVID-Related Directives Can't Treat Religious Groups Differently Than Businesses Justice Dept: COVID-Related Directives Can't Treat Religious Groups Differently Than Businesses
Justice Dept: Covid-related Directives Can't Treat Religious Groups Differently Than Businesses Although state and local governments may issue coronavirus state-of-emergency directives, "there is no pandemic exception to the Constitution and its Bill of Rights," the Justice Department said Sunday. Federal authorities issued the statement in support of a Virginia church whose pastor was charged criminally with conducting a worship service attended by 16 people in a 225-seat sanctuary. But its message extends well beyond the specific case, as federal authorities continue examining state and local emergency orders to see whether they'd stand up to a constitutional challenge. The Lightho…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Israel’s Largest Bank Pays $900 Million In Offshore Tax Evasion Scheme, Soccer Payoffs Israel’s Largest Bank Pays $900 Million In Offshore Tax Evasion Scheme, Soccer Payoffs
Israel’s Largest Bank Pays $900 Million In Offshore Tax Evasion Scheme, Soccer Payoffs Israel’s largest bank and a Swiss subsidiary agreed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday to pay $874.27 million to the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the New York State Department of Financial Services to settle offshore tax-evasion charges. At the same time, Bank Hapoalim B.M. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Hapoalim (Switzerland) Ltd., agreed to pay more than $30 million to the United States to resolve a federal investigation into their roles in laundering bribes and kickbacks to the world governing body for soccer. As part of the tax-evasion settlement, Bank Hapoalim B.M.&…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Federal authorities said they've gotten help from domain providers and others in smashing hundreds of online sites exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to commit fraud and other crimes. As of Tuesday, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) had received and reviewed more than 3,600 complaints related to COVID-19 scams, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Many of them “operated from websites that advertised fake vaccines and cures, operated fraudulent charity drives, delivered malware, or hosted various other types of scams,” federal officials said in a release. To attract traffic, t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Chipotle Paying Feds Record $25 Million Fine For Foodborne Virus That Sickened Customers Chipotle Paying Feds Record $25 Million Fine For Foodborne Virus That Sickened Customers
Chipotle Paying Feds Record $25 Million Fine For Foodborne Virus That Sickened Customers Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to pay the federal government an unprecedented $25 million to resolve criminal charges stemming from a foodborne virus outbreak that sickened more than 1,100 customers nationwide, the Justice Department announced. The fine -- the largest ever in a federal food safety case -- is part of a three-year deferred prosecution agreement that will allow the California-based company to avoid a criminal conviction if it complies with an improved food safety program, DOJ officials said Tuesday. Papers filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday charge Chipotle wit…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: 192,000 Respirator Masks, More Seized From Black Market Dealer Sent To NJ, NY Front Lines Feds: 192,000 Respirator Masks, More Seized From Black Market Dealer Sent To NJ, NY Front Lines
Feds: 192,000 Respirator Masks, More Seized From Black Market Dealer Sent To NJ, NY Front Lines A total of 192,000 N95 respirator masks and other personal protective equipment seized from a black market dealer busted by the FBI is being sent to the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus in New Jersey and New York, federal authorities announced Thursday. The distributed equipment also includes 130,000 surgical masks, procedure masks, N100 masks, surgical gowns, disinfectant towels, particulate filters, bottles of hand sanitizer, and bottles of spray disinfectant, they said. The equipment was seized from Baruch Feldheim, 43, who federal authorities said had enough black market…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Western Union Paying $153M In Compensation To Seniors Who Lost Money In Phone Scams Western Union Paying $153M In Compensation To Seniors Who Lost Money In Phone Scams
Western Union Paying $153M In Compensation To Seniors Who Lost Money In Phone Scams Western Union “turned a blind eye” to money transfers made by elderly phone scam victims and is now paying for it to the tune of $153 million to more than 109,000 people in the U.S. and abroad, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. The payment “brings some measure of justice for the elderly and other victims,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said. It’s only just a start, though. Before it’s done, Western Union must pony up $586 million, which the government is making available to compensate victims of international consumer …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Southern Gun Runner Who Supplied Newark Buyers Gets 2½ Years In Fed Pen Southern Gun Runner Who Supplied Newark Buyers Gets 2½ Years In Fed Pen
Southern Gun Runner Who Supplied Newark Buyers Gets 2½ Years In Fed Pen A weapons trafficker from South Carolina was sentenced Tuesday in Newark to a plea-bargained 2½ years in federal prison, part of a new Justice Department initiative aimed at reducing gun violence nationwide. Richard Lowman, 31, was at times accompanied by his uncle, ex-con Reginald Moultrie of Newark, during several meetings with one of the buyers, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. In another instance, he sold an assault rifle on a Newark street, Carpenito said. Lowman later sold six firearms in a city home after bringing them to New Jersey from South Carolina, the U.S. attorney said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds Smash World's Largest Dark Web Child Porn Network By Following Bitcoin Trail Feds Smash World's Largest Dark Web Child Porn Network By Following Bitcoin Trail
Feds Smash World's Largest Dark Web Child Porn Network By Following Bitcoin Trail Federal authorities have smashed the world’s largest dark web child porn marketplace, arresting a whopping 337 people around the world – some of them in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut -- all thanks to bitcoin. To sniff out the network, investigators used a unique strategy. "Welcome to Video" was one of the first websites of its kind to monetize exploitation videos of infants, toddlers and other children, "one of the worst forms of evil imaginable," one federal prosecutor said. The network used bitcoin because of the difficulty in tracing it, the Justice Department said in a complaint…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Garwood, Jersey City Men Charged In Takedown Of Global Child Porn Network Garwood, Jersey City Men Charged In Takedown Of Global Child Porn Network
Garwood, Jersey City Men Charged In Takedown Of Global Child Porn Network A South Korean man was indicted by a Washington, D.C. grand jury for running a child pornography site described as the largest of its kind and used by people across the globe, including at least two men from New Jersey, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey said Wednesday.  Jong Woo Son, 23, is already imprisoned in South Korea for operating Welcome To Video, which was used by people in several U.S. states as well as Ireland, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and other countries. The site hosted at least 250,000 images and videos, according to authorities.  Among the numerous Americans charged in t…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Feds: Northeast Opioid 'Pill Mill' Takedown Nets Paramus Pharmacy Owner, Clifton Surgeon Feds: Northeast Opioid 'Pill Mill' Takedown Nets Paramus Pharmacy Owner, Clifton Surgeon
Feds: Northeast Opioid 'Pill Mill' Takedown Nets Paramus Pharmacy Owner, Clifton Surgeon The arrests of a Paramus pharmacy owner and a Clifton orthopedic surgeon earlier this month by federal agents were part of a massive crackdown involving the distribution of over 3.25 million opioid doses in “pill mill” clinics and doctors’ offices throughout the Northeast, the Justice Department said Thursday. A total of 54 defendants – 15 of them doctors -- have been charged for their roles in submitting nearly $800 million in bogus health insurance claims, the Justice Department said. Others include marketing executives, pharmacists, and the owners and operators of a genetic testing labor…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Chinese Nationals Used Newark Business To Avoid N. Korea Sanctions: Feds Chinese Nationals Used Newark Business To Avoid N. Korea Sanctions: Feds
Chinese Nationals Used Newark Business To Avoid N. Korea Sanctions: Feds Four citizens of China used front companies to conceal their business relationships with North Korean businesses that have been sanctioned by the U.S. government for dealing in weapons of mass destruction and other offenses, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said. An indictment returned Monday by a federal grand jury in Newark charges Ma Xiaohong; her company, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. Ltd.; and three of its top executives – general manager Zhou Jianshu, deputy general manager Hong Jinhua and financial manager Luo Chuanxu – with violating U.S. law, conspiracy an…

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by Paul Milo