Matthew Miller, the former director of public affairs at the Justice Department, is be joining Vianovo, the management and communications consulting group announced Monday.
Miller, who had been the lead public affairs official at DOJ from the start of Eric Holder’s appointment until July, will be joining the firm as a partner in the firm’s Washington office.
Vianovo’s was founded in 2005, has offices in Washington, Houston, Austin and Mexico City, and describes itself as working “at the intersection of business, policy, and politics” with a focus on “energy, healthcare, telecommunications, aerospace, technology, financial services, and global health.”
“Vianovo has put together an incredible team of political, business and communications strategists, and I couldn’t be more excited to join them,” Miller stated in a news release.
Prior to working for Holder’s DOJ, Miller managed media relations for Holder’s confirmation team in 2009, and during the 2008 election, he worked as communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
The FBI has confirmed that it paid $2.1 million for the information that led to the capture of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, but that’s all the bureau wants to say.
“As of Friday, Sept. 23, 2011, the FBI has paid this reward money to more than one individual,” the bureau said in a statement, according to a report on Talking Points Memo. “To protect the anonymity and privacy of those responsible for providing information which directly led to the arrests of Mr. Bulger and Ms. Greig, the FBI will not comment further regarding this matter.”
Talking Points cited an account in The Boston Globe, which said one tipster is a woman in Iceland. How a woman in Iceland figured in the 16-year pursuit of Bulger, who has been linked to a score of murders, may never be clear. Bulger, who turned 82 on Sept. 7, and Greig, 60, were captured in June in Santa Monica, Calif., but the arrests were not cause for unalloyed celebration in the corridors of the FBI, as Main Justice reported.
It’s known that Bulger was himself an informant for the FBI, a fact that has raised questions about how far the bureau went to protect him. Indeed, John “Zip” Connolly, a former FBI agent in Boston who is in prison for murder and racketeering, is alleged to have tipped off his fellow “Southie” Bulger that the FBI was closing in on him, causing Bulger to flee Beantown.
Of the $2.1 million paid by the FBI, $2 million was apparently for information on Bulger and a mere $100,000 for information on his girlfriend. No word yet on whether the disparity has caused jealousy or friction in the relationship. But Allan Lengel reports on his Tickle the Wire blog that Keith Messina of Las Vegas thinks he should have gotten a reward for spotting Bulger on the Santa Monica pier back in June 2008.
Why didn’t that sighting lead to a quick arrest? That’s one of many questions that may never be answered.
The Justice Department on Friday belatedly released a copy of a non-prosecution agreement finalized in July and August with an Islamic bank linked to terrorist financing networks.
The agreement with the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (Bahamas) Ltd. and affiliates it used to evade U.S. taxes was released only after Main Justice wrote a news article about it, and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) began making inquiries about it.
In a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing last week, Grassley raked DOJ National Security Division chief Lisa Monaco over the coals about the agreement – which her division didn’t even handle. The department’s Tax Division did.
Grassley wondered if the department was trying to hide the settlement because it “got a bad deal.” After Monaco was put on the hot seat, the agreement was promptly released to the lawmakers.
The department didn’t get a bad deal. To the contrary, the agreement shows that Tax Division senior litigation counsel Corey J. Smith, who was previously assigned to the National Security Division’s terrorism financing unit, did a fine job of unraveling a complex tax evasion scheme involving $280 million the bank invested in 32 multi-family real estate developments in the U.S.
Then, using an intricate web of Delaware corporations, management companies and Cayman Island vehicles, the bank disguised some $75 million in dividend distributions to its overseas investors as deductible business expenses.
The maneuver allowed the bank to evade $22.5 million in U.S. income taxes, according to the documents released by the Justice Department. The settlement requires the bank to pay $36 million in tax, penalties and accrued interest.
Bravo, Justice Department. Good job. So, why the attempt at secrecy?
The sensitivity may have been related to the fact that the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (Bahamas) Ltd. is wholly owned by the Dar Al-Maal Al Islamic Trust, founded by Saudi Prince Mohamed al-Faisal al-Saud.
As is well known, the Saudis are U.S. allies, but they have also funded the spread of the intolerant and fundamentalist form of Islam known as Wahhabism that has been at the root of many of the conflicts with the West.
As the New York Times and other publications have outlined, the DMI Trust has been linked to financiers for al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups. Some of the DMI Trust’s early advisers were important figures in the Muslim Brotherhood. While the Brotherhood isn’t a U.S. designated terrorist group (and if it had been, this case might have remained a terrorist financing case), the Brotherhood’s role as an ideological inspiration for jihad is well documented. Hamas – which conducted a relentless campaign of suicide bombings against Israel in the 1990s – is an offshoot of the Brotherhood.
No one thinks worse of the department that it wasn’t able to pursue a hard-to-prove terrorist financing case. Using the Al Capone strategy, they got the bank on tax violations instead.
Rather, the point of forcing the department to release the settlement agreement is to put the fruit of five years or more of federal investigation into the public domain. The settlement is now what’s known as a “public source” document that anyone can analyze, regardless of security clearance.
The department hasn’t disclosed who made the decision to try to keep the settlement secret. But it’s signed by among other officials John DiCicco, a career DOJ lawyer who’s been the acting head of the Tax Division during the Barack Obama administration.
Obama only recently put forth a viable choice to head the Tax Division, nominating Fulbright & Jaworski LLP tax partner Kathryn Keneally this month.
Perhaps had the Tax Division had a politically appointed and Senate-confirmed leader, it might have reached a more politically informed view of the settlement – namely, that keeping it secret was bound to become a headache.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011
WWW.JUSTICE.GOV
FOUR ALLEGED NEW ENGLAND LA COSA NOSTRA MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES
CHARGED WITH RACKETEERING AND OTHER CRIMES
Eight Defendants Charged to Date for Alleged Roles in Organized Criminal Enterprise
WASHINGTON – Four alleged members and associates of the New England La Cosa Nostra (LCN), including an alleged Rhode Island leader, have been arrested and charged in a second superseding indictment returned yesterday in federal court in Providence, R.I., with crimes involving racketeering and extortion.
The charges and arrests were announced today by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha for the District of Rhode Island; John T. Foley, Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the FBI’s Boston Field Office; Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Steven M. Pare, Providence Public Safety Commissioner.
“Relying on violence and intimidation to carry out their illegal activities, organized criminal groups often act as though if they operate in the shadows, they will escape punishment,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “As today’s arrests show, they couldn’t be more wrong. Our law enforcement operations over the past nine months should make clear that we are zeroing in on La Cosa Nostra and other organized criminal groups, and that we will not rest until our work is done.”
“As Attorney General Holder said in New York last January, battling all forms of organized crime, including La Cosa Nostra, remains a priority for the Department of Justice,” said U.S. Attorney Neronha. “It remains a priority because history has demonstrated that, unchecked, it extends its tentacles into our citizens’ everyday lives. Let no one doubt the commitment of law enforcement to keeping this threat off balance and on the run.”
“The methodical nature of this investigation is a credit to the diligence and professionalism of our task force which is composed of the Rhode Island State Police, Providence Police, Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said FBI ASAC Foley. “Since its inception, the task force’s combined decades of investigative experience and knowledge of La Cosa Nostra’s criminal schemes has been a blueprint for the extraordinary success that is readily apparent today. In simple terms, the FBI’s Task Force has shattered Omerta, the New England LCN’s code of silence, severely disrupting their criminal activity.”
Charges were unsealed today against Edward Lato, 64, aka “Eddy”; Alfred Scivola, 70, aka “Chippy”; Raymond R. Jenkins, 47, aka “Scarface”; and Albino Folcarelli, 53, aka “Albie” related to their alleged participation in the New England LCN. Lato is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two counts of extortion conspiracy and two counts of travel in aid of racketeering. Scivola is charged with racketeering conspiracy and extortion conspiracy. Folcarelli is charged with extortion conspiracy, and Jenkins is charged with extortion conspiracy and extortion.
Lato, Scivola, Jenkins and Folcarelli were arrested yesterday and today, and made initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Providence today. At the government’s request, all four defendants were detained by U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Martin.
Previously charged were longtime New England LCN boss Luigi Manocchio and associates Thomas Iafrate, Richard Bonafiglia and Theodore Cardillo. The second superseding indictment contains new allegations regarding Manocchio’s alleged involvement in the extortion of additional businesses and efforts to conceal his unexplained wealth. Iafrate pleaded guilty in July 2011 to racketeering conspiracy. The department announced charges against 127 individuals, including 91 alleged leaders, members and associates – including Manocchio and Iafrate – of LCN families in four districts on Jan. 20, 2011, as part of a coordinated enforcement action against the LCN.
The second superseding indictment alleges that since the mid-1980s, the defendants and other New England LCN members and associates used threatened or implied force, violence and fear, to extort monthly cash payments from the owners and operators of the Cadillac Lounge, the Satin Doll, the Foxy Lady, Desire and other adult entertainment businesses in Providence and elsewhere.
According to court documents, the New England LCN family operates in Providence, among other places, and routinely engages in violence and threatens violence to promote a climate of fear, preserve its power, and enrich its members and associates through extortion. The New England LCN has a hierarchical structure, with an administration comprised of a boss, underboss and capos at the top overseeing crews of criminals, including members and associates who commit crimes and serve to insulate the leadership of the enterprise from criminal exposure.
The second superseding indictment alleges that as a capo, Lato was responsible for the Rhode Island New England LCN members and their activities. The indictment also alleges that he received monthly protection payments, in cash, from the owners and operators of certain adult entertainment businesses in Providence, including the Satin Doll and the Cadillac Lounge. At various times, the monthly payments from each of the clubs ranged from $2,000 to $6,000. According to the indictment, after Iafrate and Manocchio were arrested in January 2011, Lato met with another individual in February 2011 to discuss the continuation of the extortion of the Cadillac Lounge, as well as the extortion of other adult entertainment clubs.
According to the indictment, Scivola received a portion of the various extortion payments made to the New England LCN by certain adult entertainment businesses, and he assisted Lato and others in carrying out the extortion scheme. The indictment also alleges that Jenkins and Folcarelli were associates of the New England LCN and that, together with Lato, they extorted $25,000 from an individual by using implied threats of violence, including a visit to the individual’s place of employment.
Each charge of racketeering conspiracy, extortion conspiracy and extortion carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of travel in aid of racketeering carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges announced today are merely allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sam Nazzaro of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and by Assistant U.S. Attorney William Ferland for the District of Rhode Island. The case is being investigated by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Rhode Island State Police and the Providence Police Department.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is questioning whether B. Todd Jones, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives can do an effective job of leading the beleaguered agency as long as he remains U.S. Attorney in Minnesota.
“While U.S. Attorneys have served as acting directors of ATF in the past, the currently embattled agency requires more dedicated leadership,” Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), wrote in a letter Friday to Attorney General Eric Holder.
The ATF is under fire for a troubled gun operation known as Operation Fast and Furious, which allegedly resulted in at least 2,000 firearms being sold to straw buyers, who resold them to drug cartel members in Arizona. The ATF then allegedly allowed the guns to be taken Mexico, where the bureau lost track of them. Two guns from the operation were recovered in December at the scene of a shootout between Border Patrol agents and Mexican bandits near Rio Rico, Ariz., that ended in the death of Border Patrol agent Brian A. Terry. Other firearms sold during the operation have been linked to scenes of violent crime in Mexico.
The gun probe led to the transfer of then-Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson. Jones was then selected to replace Melson as acting director, but Holder said he would also remain as U.S. Attorney.
Smith said he is troubled with that decision, since under federal law, Jones must remain as a Minnesota resident and likely will have to spend a significant portion of his time in that state.
It has been gun rights advocates in the Senate–largely Republicans–who have held up confirmation of ATF directors. Temporary appointees have led ATF since a 2006 law gave the Senate the authority to confirm the director. And during the George W. Bush administration, Michael Sullivan served as U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts and as acting ATF head.
In his letter to Holder, Smith also said that the mere transfer of Melson and a few others will not calm the congressional drumbeat over Fast and Furious. “Congressional interest will continue until we fully understand who authorized the failed program and how a federal agency could allow such decision-making to occurr,” he wrote in the letter to Holder. He also said that the DOJ has failed to answer questions about the operation raised by congressional investigators.
DOJ officials had no immediate comment on Smith’s letter. They have repeatedly said that the DOJ’s Inspector General is investigating Fast and Furious.
Six oil companies accused of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by killing ducks pleaded not guilty Thursday in a U.S. District Court in Bismark, N.D.
Continental, Petro-Hunt LLC, Brigham Oil and Gas LP, Newfield Exploration Co., ConocoPhillips, and Fidelity Exploration & Production Co. also contend that evidence was gathered illegally by the US Fish and Wildlife Services, which has been investigating the case against them.
An October 25 deadline for filing pretrial arguments was set by U.S. Magistrate Charles Miller Jr.
The six oil companies stand accused of illegally letting 16 ducks die in May, in waste pits created by crude oil production.
According to the indictment, misdemeanor violations of the Migratory Birds Treaty Act call for a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $15,000 fine.
A seventh company named in the indictment, Slawson Exploration Co. Inc., accused of illegally allowing twelve birds to die between May and June, was not in court this week. Its arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 21.
According to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, states can enact more stringent regulations than are required by federal statutes. In North Dakota, state law requires waste pits to be fenced off and covered three months after oil well drilling is finished, and the waste pit must be filled in to allow the land be reclaimed within a year of finishing the oil well drilling..
Thursday’s hearing came just a few days after DOJ’s top environmental lawyer, Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno, was in Medora, North Dakota to defend regulations at a gathering of oil company executives.
“It is not fair to law-abiding businesses who comply with the law to protect human health and safety when other businesses cut corners, gain an unfair advantage, and profit from noncompliance with the law,” she said, according to the AP.
Remember those $16 muffins the Justice Department supposedly bought?
They don’t exist, says Hilton Worldwide, the hotel chain that supposedly served the muffins at a 2009 DOJ conference.
While Hilton doesn’t exactly say that the Justice Department’s Inspector General cooked the books to make that claim in a report this week, the hotel chain does say the IG’s calculations are…well, half-baked, the Associated Press reported.
As you might remember (how can you forget with everyone burning with righteous indignation), the IG said in its report that DOJ officials were paying far too much for meals and refreshments at conferences.
But the $16 bought more than muffins, Hilton Worldwide told the AP. It also included fresh fruit, coffee, tea, soft drinks, tax and tips. The IG report classifies the fruit and beverages as being free of charge.
“In Washington, the contracted breakfast included fresh fruit, coffee, juice, muffins, tax and gratuity, for an inclusive price of $16 per person,” Hilton Worldwide said in a statement.
“Dining receipts are often abbreviated and do not reflect the full pre-contracted menu and service provided, as is the case with recent media reports of breakfast items approved for some government meetings,” Hilton Worldwide’s statement added.
IG spokesman Jay Lerner told the AP that “we stand by our report.”
Meanwhile the outrage over the costs detailed in the report continues. “The expenditures this audit has found are simply amazing,” Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), said Thursday. “hey are an example of why so many Americans have lost faith in the Federal government.”
