Tag: theft

Mississippi AG Says Police Killing of One Year Old Kohen Wiley “Was Justified”

How can any sensible human being with a beating heart bring themselves to say that shooting and killing a one-year-old baby is in any way justifiable? Apparently as far as the state of Mississippi is concerned, it is.

Earlier this summer, officers of the Senatobia Police Department responding to a call of suspected shoplifting opened fire on a vehicle occupied by two adults and one infant. Two occupants suffered gunshot wounds, with a one year old boy, identified as Kohen Wiley, dying from his injuries and his mother suffering non life threatening wounds that required hospitalization.

The shooting sparked outrage in the community and across the country, with protesters demanding justice for the slain infant. Justice, it seems, that will not come.

According to a statement released by the office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch on Monday:

Today, the Office of the Attorney General announced it has completed the review of a June 14, 2026 incident in Senatobia involving one officer with the Senatobia Police Department. In this incident, the Attorney General’s Office found the use of force was justified. Pursuant to Section 45-1-6 of the Mississippi Code, the review followed an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

The City of Senatobia would also release the following statement,

The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office has concluded its review of the June 14, 2026, officer-involved shooting in Senatobia, finding the use of force justified and declining prosecution. The state’s criminal case is now closed.

The City of Senatobia continues to extend its deepest sympathy to Kohen Wiley’s family and all those affected by this tragedy.

The shooting took place on June 14th of this year, in the parking lot of a Walmart in Tate County, Mississippi, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. As The Free Thought Project reported at the time, at approximately 2:00 PM officers of the Senatobia Police Department and Tate County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call of a potential shoplifter. Whereupon their arrival, reports allege the officers witnessed two women, the young boy’s mother Vellesiya Wiley, and Latoya Ferrell, carrying a package of diapers and one year old Kohen Wiley to their vehicle.

A statement from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation at the time alleges that as the vehicle fled the scene it swerved towards officers, prompting them to discharge their weapon. This claim, however, remains unverified. In the months since the shooting video footage of the incident either in the form of police body camera footage, or surveillance footage from the parking lot, has yet to be released to the public.

Notably, neither woman has been charged with a crime in the months since the shooting.

The officer responsible for the death of the child was identified as 32 year old Sgt. Hunter Foster of the Senatobia Police Department. He will face no criminal charges.

According to reports from Mississippi Today, Sgt. Foster has a known history of misconduct, including using racist rhetoric towards his co-workers.

Additionally, court records show that in 2019 Foster, then employed by the Southaven Mississippi Police Department, was involved in an excessive use of force incident in which Foster later falsified police reports, exaggerating the threat of a vehicle and falsely claiming that the driver attempted to swerve towards officers.

Foster, however, is far from the only “bad apple” employed at the Senatobia PD.

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WTH? Door Knocker for Democrat AZ Governor Katie Hobbs Caught on Camera Stealing Package From Voter’s Front Porch

A volunteer canvasser for a leftwing group backing Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs’ reelection campaign was caught on a doorbell camera, appearing to snatch a package while leaving flyers for Democratic candidates.

They’re not just stealing votes anymore.

The apparent porch pirate is seen on doorbell camera footage approaching the home and leaving a flyer at the door before closely examining a package for a moment.

She then takes the package and walks away.

As also seen in the clip, the woman left a flyer that read “paid for by Victory PAC (www.luchaaz.org/lucha-blue),” which links to the progressive group Living United for Change in Arizona’s 2026 voter guide.

The page urges voters to reelect Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes. “Governor Katie Hobbs is delivering for Arizona families. Fighting to lower everyday costs, protecting our freedoms, keeping communities safe, safeguarding our water, and holding powerful interests accountable. She puts Arizona first and is focused on getting results that make a real difference in people’s lives,” the page reads.

The person who discovered their package was missing got a firsthand look at the governor’s socialist policies.

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NGO’s Expose Mexico’s Political Elite Over Stolen Money Destined For Children’s Cancer Medication

A group of private organizations filed a series of complaints with Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office accusing key members of Mexico’s ruling party of receiving stolen federal funds destined for pediatric cancer treatments. The groups claim theft of the missing funds led to the deaths of more than 5,000 children with cancer.

Those named in the complaint include Andres Lopez Beltran, the son of former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and his close business associates.

This week, the organizations Parents of Children with Cancer, De Corazon AC, and Fundacion Nicoatole went to the FGR where they filed a formal complaint against Lopez Beltran and Jorge Amilcar Olan, accusing them of genocide, murder, and organized crime.

In a prepared statement, the organizations point to a series of illegally obtained contracts by Amilcar Olan’s companies, which relied on Lopez Beltran’s connections and funneled millions in federal funding into ghost companies that allegedly embezzled the money. As a result of the scheme, thousands of children throughout Mexico went without cancer medicines, with over 5,000 of them dying, the statement alleges.

It remains unclear whether Mexican authorities will act on the complaint, since in recent months Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her government have publicly defended Lopez Beltran and claimed he is not under investigation. This despite being publicly linked to large-scale cartel-fuel smuggling operations. As Breitbart Texas reported, the U.S. government revoked Lopez Beltran’s tourist visa and is reportedly investigating him over those allegations.

A series of news articles and statements from rival politicians in Mexico claim that Lopez Beltran relied on Amilcar Olan not only to move money from illegal fuel, but also to embezzle government funds through a series of government contracts moved into shell companies. Despite the allegations, Mexico’s government is also protecting Amilcar Olan, who has since fled the country and has been spotted living in Europe.

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Former Senior CIA Officer Pleads GUILTY to $194 MILLION Taxpayer Heist — Fake Classified Programs, 298 Gold Bars, Florida Luxury Homes, Rolexes

A former senior CIA officer who held a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance pleaded guilty Tuesday to a scheme that prosecutors say drained approximately $194 million from the federal government, money he converted into gold bars, Florida luxury properties, Rolex watches, and high-end cars.

David J. Rush, 49, of Ashburn, Virginia, admitted the fraud in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Justice Department said he fraudulently obtained approximately $193,590,400 by misusing his senior executive-level position and inventing fictitious government authorities, including a fabricated Special Access Program, to pull U.S. funds for his own use.

According to the Department of Justice, Rush reached that trusted post in part by lying about his education and military experience. Once inside, he used the clearance and the authority that came with it to move money that never belonged to him.

The scheme split into two tracks that prosecutors described as the same overarching fraud. Rush directed approximately $145 million in wire transfers that he used to buy luxury real estate, watches, and at least one car. Separately, he obtained gold bars at an approximate cost to the government of $46 million.

Court filings reported by CBS News say he invented a fake classified program to steer the real-estate money through a front company and a holding company he controlled, then bought properties in Palm Beach and Hobe Sound, Florida, that he intended to resell for profit. He also fabricated a separate purported sensitive government activity to justify the gold.

The FBI search of his Virginia home on May 19 recovered 298 gold bars, approximately $2,106,550 in cash, €104,795, and numerous luxury watches.

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Chainalysis Used Ai To Trace The $387m Bitget Hack Back To North Korea

In a recent blog post, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis attributed the $387 million theft from cryptocurrency exchange Bitget to North Korean state-sponsored hackers. The firm used a combination of its’ AI-powered cryptocurrency analysis and its’ traditional investigative methods to track the stolen funds, moving them across multiple blockchains. Importantly, although the firm used technology to enhance the analysis of the data, it was human investigators who ultimately attributed the theft and controlled the output of their analysis.

After the breach, the attackers had been using more sophisticated techniques for laundering the stolen assets, spreading them through cross-chain liquidity protocols, messaging platforms, instant swap services, as well as specialized laundering infrastructure. The scale of such attempts highlights the attackers’ high level of experience in managing a large-scale cybercrime operation and in evading detection by blockchain forensics experts, writes Decrypt.

Stolen XRP was handled differently by the hackers and after some time it was converted into Bitcoin through cross-chain liquidity protocol and then extracted from the pool on the other side of the trade. This cross-chain arbitrage was used by hackers not only to convert very traceable asset into something else but also to make it as anonymous as possible by hopping from one protocol to another. The activity of extracting tens of millions of dollars in assets through this method took approximately 36 hours.

We previously highlighted that the attack bore similarities to past attacks conducted by DPRK cyber crime operators, as identified by Bitget CEO Gracy Chen. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic also assessed the involvement of North Korean cyber crime operators in the theft to be “highly likely”.

The money laundering activity is very transparent and is being carried out on public blockchains. The attacker moved parts of the funds to Zcash’s shielded pool in order to use the privacy features. However, how swap services react to these transactions varies greatly. Near Intents for example rejected over $50m in hacker-linked transactions. They got hacked days later though. Thorchain on the other hand continued to process the suspect transactions.

However, stablecoin issuers such as Circle and Tether were able to prevent $318,000 in stablecoins that were siphoned off in the hack from entering circulation. The move highlights the power of centralized control of widely held stablecoins even as the broader decentralized trading environment continues to facilitate hacker activity.

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Denver Socialist Mayoral Candidate Says Prior Arrest for Theft of Food Stamp Benefits ‘Actually Qualifies’ Her to Hold Office 

Shontel Lewis, a Democratic Socialist running in the Denver mayoral election, has a unique spin on her prior arrest for the theft of food stamps. She says it makes her more qualified to hold office.

In 2008, while she worked at the Department of Human Services East Food Stamp Office, Lewis used that job to take public benefit money that belonged to other people.

According to the police affidavit reported by the Denver Post, she searched EBT systems for inactive accounts that still had money and reissued benefit cards from those accounts.

She then gave cards to a roommate to use for food and cash benefits.

Investigators tied her to at least five to seven cases accessed over about five months starting in March 2008.

Although she initially denied wrongdoing, she later admitted it and said she was struggling financially. Initially, she was charged with more serious counts, but pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft. A felony theft count was deferred and later dismissed in 2011.

She served 18 months of probation and was ordered to pay more than $6,000 in restitution.

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Illegal Alien Indicted by Federal Grand Jury for Numerous Crimes Including Voter Fraud and Theft of Government Funds

An illegal alien from Mexico was indicted by a federal grand jury this week for numerous crimes, including voter fraud, making a false statement applying for a passport, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Fredy Avila Gomez is also being indicted on wire fraud and stealing government funds.

Based on court records, from 2017 to 2026, Gomez intentionally defrauded US government agencies and the State of Idaho. The list of agencies included Health and Human Services, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.

Gomez allegedly made false claims to be a citizen of the United States in order to vote in elections.

He has his first court appearance scheduled for September 21st in the US District Court for the District of Idaho. Gomez is looking at a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if he is convicted on the charges.

The prosecutors handling the case are Assistant US Attorneys Sean Mazorol and Darci Crane.

The DOJ created the National Fraud Enforcement Division earlier this year to prosecute individuals committing fraud against the United States and its citizens.

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Maduro Ally Pleads Guilty In Miami To Scheme That Stole Venezuelan Welfare Funds

The former minister of industry for Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s regime pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a global money laundering conspiracy that skimmed millions from a Venezuelan public welfare program.

According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) news release, Alex Saab, 54, who was extradited from Venezuela in May and charged days later, conducted a decade-long scheme that defrauded a Venezuelan welfare program for food and medicine, netting hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and associates.

Saab, a Colombian businessman, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments before federal district Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years.

“Criminals like Alex Saab who stole from the people of Venezuela and worked to exploit and misuse American financial institutions to fund illicit activities will be held accountable,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in the news release.

Saab is accused of bilking the welfare program known as Local Committee for Supply and Production, or CLAP (Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción).

The ex-minister admitted to using a system of bribes and illegal payments to public officials. Entities controlled by conspirators in the scheme would be rewarded with lucrative contracts from the Venezuelan government to import food and medicine under CLAP.

Saab and his conspirators did not fulfill the contracts and would instead use fake companies, false invoices and shipping records, and other fraudulent documents to unlawfully obtain millions while concealing their association with the scheme, the DOJ said.

Saab further admitted he used shell companies outside his country to launder the illegal proceeds around the world, including in the United States.

DOJ Assistant Attorney General Andrew Duva said Saab exploited the American financial system to profit off Venezuelans, creating a “complex web of front companies, shell accounts, and false records to perpetuate his scheme.”

Saab previously was in U.S. custody until former President Joe Biden released him in December 2023 as part of a prisoner swap with Venezuela. The deal included the Venezuelan regime’s release of 30 prisoners, including 10 Americans.

“The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela celebrates with joy the liberation and return to his homeland of our diplomat Alex Saab, who until today was unjustly kidnapped in a U.S. jail,” the Venezuelan government said following the prisoner-swap deal.

Saab was removed from his position earlier this year by acting leader Delcy Rodríguez, who previously served as Maduro’s vice president until he was captured by U.S. forces in an overnight raid on Caracas in January.

Saab was initially charged in July 2019 on money laundering counts.

He was detained about a year later in the Republic of Cabo Verde at the request of the U.S. government and was eventually extradited to American custody.

“President Biden granted Alex Saab clemency while he was awaiting trial in [Miami], and Saab was released from federal custody and returned to Venezuela. But that was not the end of the story,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida.

Quiñones’s office secured a new indictment against Saab in January 2026, and by May he was back in Miami federal court.

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CIA officer found with $40 million in gold bars in his basement reaches tentative plea agreement

Federal prosecutors said on Friday that they reached a tentative plea deal with a former CIA officer who was found with more than $40 million in gold bars in the basement of his Virginia home. 

According to U.S. officials, David J. Rush, who was an officer in the agency’s science and technology division, created a false classified program that only a few people were allowed to know about. The program allowed him to accumulate the gold bars. He was arrested on May 19 after FBI agents found 303 gold bars and nearly three dozen luxury watches in his home, the New York Times reported. 

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A court filing seeking an extension of time to file an indictment states that government lawyers and Rush’s attorney told a federal district court in Virginia that a “preindictment resolution promotes the public interest.” Part of the reason, the attorneys explained, is the extensive hurdles that dealing with classified material might create to a trial.

“The parties have made significant progress and have a plea agreement in principle that would resolve the matter prior to an indictment,” the government and defense lawyers wrote in a joint filing to the court.

In a court filing, the lawyers for the government and Rush’s attorney asked the court to give them until Oct. 8 to reach an agreement. 

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US Customs supervisor busted for stealing Core i7 CPUs, RAM, and hard drives from Homeland Security PCs, damage estimated at $105,800 — stolen tech swapped with inferior hardware and cashed out on Newegg

According to a report from The Maine Wire, the FBI has arrested and charged Terry “Jiajia” Liu, a Customs and Border Protection supervisor based in Calais, Maine, for theft and damage to government property. Liu allegedly stole computer hardware, including Intel 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh processors, memory modules, and hard drives, from at least 46 Department of Homeland Security computers across three Maine border facilities. They replaced the stolen parts with inferior hardware and exchanged the stolen equipment through Newegg’s trade-in program for store credit.

Liu’s official responsibilities were limited to information-technology support, so they did not have access to modify any government computer. Port Director Theodore Cummings made the restriction abundantly clear to Liu in a written order: “Please do not move any computers or computer parts.” However, criminals rarely listen.

Hidden surveillance cameras captured Liu opening government computers and swapping hardware during the midnight shift. The perpetrator would take the systems to a training room to commit the crime. One camera recording showed Liu using a screwdriver to scrape thermal paste off a processor and installing a replacement chip in one system. Meanwhile, another recording caught Liu removing a memory module from a system and storing it in their desk drawer.

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