Tag: crime

Understanding the RICO Charges in Atlanta

Since the beginning of 2023, prosecutors in Georgia have threatened to charge activists protesting against a planned police militarization facility known as “Cop City” with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Last week, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr indicted 61 people on RICO charges in Fulton County.

In indiscriminately lumping together scores of arrestees, many of whom have ostensibly never met, into a fabricated conspiracy case, the prosecution is attempting to criminalize protest itself. This case represents politically driven repression aimed at suppressing all forms of activism and dissent, in the style of Vladimir Putin. It should be of interest to anyone who is concerned about civil liberties such as the freedom to protest or the freedom to advocate against police brutality and authoritarianism or in favor of preserving the environment.

The indictment does not seem to indicate that prosecutors have any previously unreleased information at their disposal indicating the existence of a conspiracy, in the sense that the word is ordinarily employed. Rather, they have brought new charges against those whose names they already had as the result of previous arrests, and are now clumsily endeavoring to frame them as participants in a cohesive criminal enterprise.

The defendants include 42 people already charged with “terrorism” for allegedly participating in the movement to #StopCopCity, many of them on the basis of actions as simple as entering a forest or posting to social media; three more people already charged with felonies for allegedly distributing handbills; and another three people charged last May with “money laundering” and other crimes for organizing legal support for activists. None of these previous charges has resulted in a single conviction.

The only thing that connects all of these indictees is that they all appear to have been arrested or detained at some point, however randomly, on suspicion of protesting against the government’s plan to destroy the Weelaunee Forest.

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Germany Begins Process to Restart Deportations to Syria, Starting with Criminals

The German government has begun the process of lifting the protection status for some Syrian refugees with the aim of returning them to their homeland now that the civil war has ended.

Germany has long been one of the top destinations for Syrian asylum seekers after civil war broke out in 2011. This was ramped up during the 2015 Europe Migrant Crisis when then-Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the gates of the EU, allowing in around a million migrants into Germany, including hundreds of thousands of Syrians.

Now, with the fall of the Assad regime in Damascus and the recent election of Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz in Berlin, Germany finally appears set to begin the process of returning at least some Syrians home.

According to broadcaster NTV, this will start with Syrians convicted of crimes, with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) being ordered to “start revocation activities” for criminals from Syria.

Previously, even criminal migrants from Syria were allowed to remain in Germany as Berlin had determined that their homeland was not safe for them to return to.

However, others have argued that the government needs to go further, with the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party saying that previous refugees must also be returned home, not just criminals.

AfD MP Gottfried Curio said: “After more than half a year has passed since the fall of the Assad regime, a new government has been established and the fighting has essentially ended. It is time for the federal government to also take these new realities into account in its asylum policy.”

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Ringleader of $30M grandparent scam network preying on unsuspecting seniors finally arrested

The ringleader of a $30 million scam network that preyed on seniors across a staggering 46 states has finally been arrested and now faces decades in prison for the alleged fraud.

Gareth West of Canada was taken in custody Friday for the scamming ring, in which callers phoned the older Americans, pretending they were their grandchildren who had been arrested or hurt and were desperate for cash, according to the Economic Times.

The worried elders were pressured to act fast and not tell other family members about the dire situation.

The scammers would then connect the victims to phony lawyers or bail agents and facilitate getting the money, even using ride-share services or couriers, the outlet reported.

West, who was taken into custody by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the request of US officials, hired dozens of people to help him with the intricate scam, with operated from call centers in the Montreal area and spoofed American phone numbers.

Under the guise of being a successful Montreal real estate developer, West allegedly used the money he racked up from the scams for his high-end lifestyle that included luxury cars, properties and travel.

In all, 23 people who were part of the scam had been arrested in the months before the RCMP, working with US Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS and provincial police, were able to nab West, authorities said.

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Feds seize $1M OC home at center of corruption scandal

The U.S. government has seized a home in unincorporated Tustin at the center of the corruption scheme involving former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do. The home was purchased by Do’s daughter Rhiannon Do for a little more than $1 million in 2023.

The downpayment came from taxpayer money awarded to a nonprofit led by Rhiannon Do. That money was supposed to be used to feed needy seniors.

The backstory: Andrew Do was sentenced to five years in prison last month for accepting bribes disguised as payments to his two adult daughters, including the $385,000 downpayment for Rhiannon Do’s home in unincorporated Tustin.

The forfeited assets: As part of Do’s sentencing, Judge James V. Selna found that he had an interest in the Tustin home, another property, and $2.4 million in bank accounts. Selna ordered the immediate transfer of the assets to the federal government.

What happens now? Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said the Tustin home would be “sold just like any other property,” and the money will be returned to Orange County.

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Gunmen kill Mexico city councillor during basketball game

Gunmen burst into a sports hall in central Mexico and shot dead a local government official attending an amateur basketball game on July 5, local authorities said.

Families and children had gathered at the sports centre in the violent state of Guanajuato, where Mr Ignacio Alejandro Roaro, a city council secretary in Apaseo el Grande, was killed.

The city council “strongly condemns the treacherous, despicable, and cowardly attack that occurred this Saturday, in which our colleague and friend, city council secretary Ignacio Alejandro Roaro, lost his life”, it said in a statement.

Local media said an armed man had been arrested.

Guanajuato is a thriving industrial hub and home to several popular tourist destinations, but it is also Mexico’s deadliest state due to gang turf wars, according to official homicide statistics.

In June, 11 people were shot dead and about 20 others injured in a shooting targeting a neighbourhood party in Irapuato, about 80km west of Apaseo el Grande.

A month earlier, 17 bodies were found by investigators in an abandoned house in Irapuato.

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US Reassesses Relations With Colombia As Crime And Cocaine Surge Under Leftist Regime 

The Trump administration recalled its top diplomat in Colombia, John McNamara, for “urgent consultations” on Thursday in response to what it described as “baseless and reprehensible” statements from senior Colombian officials. While the State Department did not specify which remarks prompted the move, it indicated that further actions would follow. In response, Colombian President Gustavo Petro recalled his country’s ambassador to the U.S., citing the need to reassess the bilateral relationship.

Tensions between the two nations have been rising, exacerbated by the recent shooting of opposition Senator Miguel Uribe, which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed on inflammatory rhetoric from Colombia’s far-left government.

Earlier in the year, President Petro refused to accept deportation flights from the U.S., prompting President Trump to threaten tariffs and sanctions; however, that dispute was ultimately defused. Colombian Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia resigned amid the diplomatic fallout. 

The deterioration in bilateral relations comes as Colombia’s security situation has deteriorated under President Petro’s leftist regime. Once a close ally of the U.S., Colombia has descended into crime and chaos, with coca cultivation surging. 

Coca cultivation rose 10% last year to 253,000 hectares — enough to produce more than 2,600 tons of the drug. The National Liberation Army, or ELN, capitalized on the boom, seizing full control of the Catatumbo region near the Venezuelan border, one of the world’s most prolific drug corridors. -Bloomberg

Petro’s “total peace” policy—centered on negotiating with drug cartels—has deeply frustrated the Trump administration, which has spent several months seeking to dismantle cartel command-and-control networks across the Americas to stop the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S. 

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Inside the cyber-scam capital of the world — and modern slavery in the internet age

The message from Alice was blunt: “I don’t trust you. You are one of them, right? You all just want to sell me like some animal.”

Alice’s hostile reaction wasn’t completely surprising to Ivan Franceschini, Ling Li and Mark Bo, the co-authors of “Scam: Inside Southeast Asia’s Cybercrime Compounds” (Verso), out July 8. “Like the dozens of other survivors we met in the following months,” they write, “her harrowing experience had left her unable to trust anyone.”

Alice (not her real name), a Taiwanese single mom, had recently escaped from a Cambodian scam compound where she’d been raped, beaten, sold multiple times and nearly forced into a brothel. 

She’d been lured to the town of Sihanoukville by a friend who promised her a legitimate job, and even paid for her visa and flight. What awaited Alice, however, was not a front-desk position but forced criminal labor in an online fraud mill. 

“The supervisor informed her that she had been sold there to conduct online scams,” the authors write, “and that she would not be allowed to leave until she had earned enough money for the company.” 

When she resisted, the supervisor threatened Alice with a stun gun and “said that if she did not comply, he would lock her up in a room and let several men rape her,” the authors write. “Which is exactly what happened soon after.”

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French Left-Wing MPs Introduce Amendment To “Reduce” Coverage Of Migrant Crime Stories

When reality does not mesh with the “narrative,” the left’s standard tactic is to turn to censorship, and the French left is no different. The French Greens and other left-wing parties now want to make sure that news stories are not used for ideological purposes by the “far right,” claiming that certain media outlets are causing a “moral panic” around immigration due to migrant murders.

According to a parliamentary amendment tabled on June 25, 2025, by a group of Green and left-wing MPs in the National Assembly, news stories of actual events that have happened, and actual lives lost, are being improperly used by the right.

Another post from the French Observatory for Journalism ,wrote: “BREAKING NEWS | Green and left-wing deputies submit an amendment to REDUCE the coverage of crime stories in PUBLIC media. The authors believe these stories are used for ‘political exploitation;’ the text cites the murders of Lola and Thomas.”

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Texas Gubernatorial Candidate Vows to Hold Fauci Accountable for ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ 

Retired Green Beret Doc Pete Chambers just announced he’s running for Texas Governor, vowing to issue arrest warrants for those who have committed crimes against humanity—starting with Anthony Fauci.

He says he witnessed vaccine injuries firsthand among his own soldiers and is determined to hold the architects of the COVID pandemic accountable, no matter how powerful they are.

“They will be afraid to come into Texas,” he warned.

Doc Pete Chambers is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, Special Forces Green Beret and physician who has dedicated his life to defending freedom and serving others from combat zones to the Texas border.

Doc has always shown up where leadership is needed most. Over the weekend, he stunned the country and the world when he announced that he’s running for governor of Texas.

If elected governor, he promises to go after those who have committed crimes against humanity. His first target? Anthony Fauci.

Needless to say, people are very keen to hear from Doc Pete Chambers. He joins us to detail why Texas desperately needs a new governor, and why he is the only man for the job.

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Huawei To Stand Trial In US On Charges Of Bank Fraud, Sanctions Violations, Theft

Chinese company Huawei Technologies will stand trial on multiple charges after a federal judge denied its bid to dismiss a long-running case against it.

On July 1, District Judge Ann Donnelly of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that there was sufficient evidence to proceed with a 16-count indictment against Huawei and its subsidiaries.

Huawei, which is closely tied to the Chinese communist regime, stands accused of racketeering, stealing trade secrets from six U.S. companies, and committing bank fraud.

With Donnelly’s ruling, the case will move forward toward trial. Currently, the proceedings are scheduled to begin on May 4, 2026.

Huawei stands charged with using a Hong Kong-based front company, Skycom, to conduct business in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions and with misleading banks in order to facilitate more than $100 million in illegal money transfers.

Additionally, the indictment alleges that Huawei engaged in racketeering to expand its global brand.

Representatives of Huawei did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times by publication time.

In November 2024, Huawei pleaded not guilty and called itself “a prosecutorial target in search of a crime.”

The upcoming trial is expected to last several months and could have significant implications for the ongoing tensions between the United States and China over technology, trade, and national security.

As part of the long-running federal investigation into Huawei’s business dealings, Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, also the daughter of the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, was previously charged and detained in Canada for nearly three years before the charges against her were dismissed in 2022 as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

Huawei, based in Shenzhen, China, operates in more than 170 countries and employs approximately 208,000 people worldwide. The U.S. government has imposed restrictions on Huawei’s access to U.S. technology since 2019, citing national security concerns; Huawei has denied those accusations.

Along with manufacturing smartphones and consumer technolog

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