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Wall Street banker arrested in Midtown rape case loses job offer from top firm

2025-03-20T18:32:00.002-04:00

A Wall Street banker lost out on a job from a top insurer after he was slapped with criminal charges that he raped a 25-year-old woman in New York City last month,

Mark Harris, a 38-year-old infrastructure and energy finance specialist, was set to start a new job on April 7 with Global Atlantic Financial Group, which is owned by the private equity giant KKR, according to company insiders.

Harris signed the deal to join the firm on March 4, just two days before his arrest over the accusations which he has vigorously denied, Global Atlantic sources said.

But the KKR-owned insurer and private credit provider axed the six-figure contract offer after The Post broke the news of the charges in Manhattan Criminal Court, according to Harris’s lawyer Jason Goldman.

“Mr. Harris has not been indicted on these outlandish and demonstrably false allegations,” Goldman said, noting that prosecutors haven’t yet laid out a case to a grand jury.

“It’s beyond unfortunate that someone of Mr. Harris’ character can even be arrested, subjected to recklessly sanctionable articles, and have his job rescinded based on a fictitious rape claim. We expect this matter to soon be dismissed,” the defense attorney added.

A spokesperson for Global Atlantic declined to comment.The Post first reported how prosecutors accused the ex-Investec financier of raping the woman at her Midtown Manhattan apartment while allegedly calling her a “f–king bitch” and telling her that she “had this coming.”

Harris allegedly pulled the victim’s pants down before he held her down against a mattress and raped her, according to New York prosecutors.

The woman then tried fighting off the alleged sexual predator by repeatedly pleading for him to stop before she was able to kick him off of her, according to a criminal complaint.

Harris, who denies the allegations, paid a $150,000 bail bond when he first appeared in court on March 6 on two charges of rape and one of sexual abuse.

He is due back in court on May 1 where the case is being brought by the New York County district attorney, legal filings show. The woman’s identity has not been revealed.

The banker left Investec in November last year, and his broker profile with US regulator FINRA shows he is no longer registered with any firm. A spokeswoman for his former employer declined to comment.

Former chief rabbi grilled over suspected blackmail case — reports

2025-03-20T12:28:00.002-04:00

A former chief rabbi has been summoned for questioning by the police in a case surrounding blackmail suspicions in the state’s rabbinical court system, Hebrew media reports.

The move was approved by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The name of the former chief rabbi is gagged by court order.

He is questioned under caution, meaning he could face charges, in connection with suspicions that a rabbinical judge closely associated with the former chief rabbi blackmailed a subordinate to influence his rulings.

According to the Walla website, investigators from the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit raided the offices of the Grand Rabbinical Court this morning in search of emails and documents.

Turkey Arrests Istanbul Mayor, Erdogan’s Top Political Rival

2025-03-20T12:18:00.002-04:00

ISTANBUL, - Thousands of Turks were expected to ramp up protests on Thursday over what they called the undemocratic detention of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu despite a ban on gatherings, police barricades and dozens of detentions over social media posts.

Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, was taken in on Wednesday facing charges of graft and aiding a terrorist group, a move that the opposition condemned as a "coup attempt" and that sparked an initial round of demonstrations.

The move against the popular two-term mayor caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures across the country which has been criticised as a politicised attempt to hurt their electoral prospects and silence dissent.

"We must stand against this evil as a nation," Imamoglu said on social media platform X, calling on members of the judiciary and Erdogan's ruling party to fight injustice.

"These events have gone beyond our parties, political ideals. The process is now concerning our people, namely your families. It is time to raise our voices," he said.

The government denies the accusations and has warned against tying Erdogan or politics to Imamoglu's arrest, after which it imposed a four-day ban on gatherings and restricted access to some social media to restrict communications.

Police on Thursday blocked off roads and stationed trucks with water cannons near the police station where the mayor is held and other areas of Turkey's largest city.

"They hastily detained our mayor, whom we elected with our votes," said Ali Izar, an opposition supporter on his way to work in central Istanbul. "I do not think this is a democratic practice and I condemn it."

Though civil disobedience has been dramatically curbed in Turkey since the nationwide Gezi Park protests against Erdogan's government in 2013, which prompted a violent state crackdown, thousands of protesters took to the streets and university campuses on Wednesday in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities.

Crowds had chanted anti-government slogans and, at the main municipality building in Istanbul, they hung banners of Imamoglu and the nation's founding leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk alongside Turkish flags.

SOCIAL MEDIA CRACKDOWN

The detention of Imamoglu, 54, who leads Erdogan in some opinion polls, came days before his Republican People's Party (CHP) was set to elect him its next presidential candidate.

"The people will give their response again," said another Imamoglu supporter, Yusuf Demirci, 34, in Istanbul. "As you saw yesterday, everyone is on the streets and in the squares. The squares and the ballot box will be the result of this. I say, the righteous one will win."

The detention sparked a crash and partial recovery in the lira currency on Wednesday, which by Thursday was worth 38 to the dollar, compared to 36.67 beforehand. Amid worries about eroding rule of law and concerns over slower rate cuts, bank shares in particular tumbled on the Istanbul bourse.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that 37 people had been detained and accused of "provocative social media posts inciting crime and hatred" after the detention, adding some 261 social media accounts, including 62 based abroad, were also identified.

Authorities also seized a construction company co-owned by Imamoglu - Imamoglu Construction, Trade and Industry - and handed control over to a court, according to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's office and financial crime investigation reports.

Istanbul municipality staff made up the bulk of the 105 people arrested along with Imamoglu.

Reporting by Ece Toksabay, Mert Ozkan, Mehmet Emin Caliskan and Ali Kucukgocmen; Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Alex Richardson, Andrew Cawthorne, Alexandra Hudson

Alleged Russian Arms Seller’s Extradition Delayed

2025-03-18T16:39:00.003-04:00

Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has announced that the extradition of alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to face terrorism charges in the United States has been delayed.

The prime minister is quoted as saying said the delay is due to what he described as a continuing "legal process" in the case.

Reports say the delay apparently concerns extra charges of money-laundering and fraud submitted by U.S. prosecutors.

It was not immediately clear when the extradition might occur.

Thai authorities had earlier said that Bout, who faces U.S. charges of selling weapons to terrorists, would be taken on August 25 from his jail to a Bangkok airport, where U.S. officials planned to fly him to America.

Bout has proclaimed his innocence, while the Russian government has voiced opposition to his transfer to U.S. custody.

Bout is reputed to be one of the world's major illegal arms dealers, allegedly supplying weapons that were used in civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted in the United States on charges including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.

Bout has been fighting extradition since his March, 2008, arrest in a sting operation in Bangkok by U.S. agents posing as Colombian rebels.

Art collector James Stunt found not guilty of money-laundering

2025-03-18T16:29:00.003-04:00

After a five-month trial in Leeds, UK, the bankrupt socialite and former art collector James Stunt was found not guilty of taking part in a £266m money-laundering operation. He was accused, along with four other co-defendants, of washing “dirty” cash through their companies to buy gold, which was shipped to Dubai and sold there.

The case was initially heard in 2022 but the jury failed to reach a verdict, and it was retried in March this year.

The four other men—Gregory Frankel, 47, Daniel Rawson, 47, Haroon Rashid, 54, and Arjun Babber, 32—were convicted in the same trial: only Rawson was present in court, and the other three are believed to have fled the country.

The prosecution argued that Stunt’s office in London was used to launder cash; he built a gold refinery at Sheffield Assay Office to turn scrap gold into ingots, which is how, he said, he met the other four men. In court he claimed he had no idea he was entering into a criminal conspiracy with them, although his company, Stunt & Co, took 70% of the profits from the scheme.

Stunt always denied the charges. He was previously the husband of the heiress Petra Ecclestone, daughter of Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, and notorious for his gambling and highly ostentatious lifestyle. He was also at one point a prominent and aggressive collector of British portraiture, notably by Peter Lely and Anthony van Dyck, and lent a group of his early Lelys to the Courtauld Institute in 2012.

In 2017 he sent 17 paintings to Dumfries House in Scotland, now owned by King Charles III’s charitable foundation; in 2022 The Art Newspaper questioned the authenticity of a number of paintings by Van Dyck owned by Stunt, and authenticated by Malcolm Rogers, the former director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

However, after his 2017 divorce, Stunt was eventually declared bankrupt. In 2024 he tried to claim that a Van Dyck double portrait, The Cheeke Sisters: Essex, Countess of Manchester and Anne, Lady Rich, painted around 1640, belonged to his father Geoffrey and so should not be included in his estate. But the insolvency and companies court judge Clive Jones dismissed his suit.

The Dumfries House loans is the subject of a film, The Royal Stunt, directed by Kief Davidson and due to be released this year. It was made after an intensive three-year investigation but the release was delayed pending the result of the Stunt trial.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov back in Dubai after Paris arrest over criminal activity on app

2025-03-17T12:07:00.002-04:00

Telegram founder Pavel Durov on Monday said he has returned to Dubai after his stunning arrest near a Paris airport last year tied to a French probe of criminal activity on his app.

Durov – who left his native Russia years ago after tangling with the Kremlin over free speech – was arrested last August and banned from leaving France.

He was quickly released on a $5.6 million bail and required to report to a police station twice a week.

In a post on Telegram on Monday, his encrypted messaging app, the tech billionaire said he was detained in France “due to an investigation related to the activity of criminals on Telegram. The process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home.”

“I want to thank the investigative judges for letting this happen, as well as my lawyers and team for their relentless efforts in demonstrating that, when it comes to moderation, cooperation, and fighting crime, for years Telegram not only met but exceeded its legal obligations,” he added.

Durov has been allowed to leave France only temporarily, after an investigating judge days ago authorized him to depart for “several weeks,” sources told French news agency AFP.

Last summer, French authorities said they charged the 40-year-old tech tycoon with being complicit in pervasive crime across the popular messaging app, including child sex abuse and drug trafficking.

Investigators questioned Durov for four days after apprehending him at Le Bourget airport in August, according to the Associated Press.

In September, Durov defended himself against the investigation and argued that he should not be held responsible for crimes committed on his app.

“Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,” he wrote in a post on Telegram at the time.

“Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools,” he continued.

Durov’s Telegram has become an indispensable communication tool during the Russia-Ukraine war.

The messaging app has been used by government officials to send out air raid warnings, citizens to document war horrors firsthand and as a last news link between Russia and Ukraine.

Pro-democracy groups around the world have also used Telegram to organize demonstrations.

But the app has also come under fire for being used by extremist groups like the Islamic State, white nationalists and COVID-19 and QAnon conspiracy theorists.

Durov has also been the target of Russian state blacklisting after he refused to shut down activist groups on VKontakte – another popular app he founded known as the Russian version of Facebook – despite pressure from the Kremlin.

The groups — including one led by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny — had organized protests over the 2011 parliamentary election that claimed a victory for Putin’s United Russia party.

The ban, which a Russian state spokesperson called a “mistake,” was lifted hours later.

A month before the blacklisting incident, Durov was reportedly involved in a traffic accident that left a police officer slightly injured. The tech CEO refused to testify as a witness and instead fled the country, sources who knew him said.

Around the same time, a private equity firm connected to the Kremlin bought a 48% stake in VK – pushing out the founding partners who backed Durov, according to The Moscow Times.

Durov obtained citizenship in Saint Kitts and Nevis, living in self-imposed exile. He moved himself and Telegram headquarters to Dubai in 2017, and was later granted French citizenship in 2021.

Washington man accused of having enough fentanyl to kill 278,000 people after getting clemency from Dem gov

2025-03-17T12:03:00.000-04:00

A Washington man arrested on nearly a dozen drug and weapons charges on Thursday had been granted clemency by former Gov. Jay Inslee in 2019.

The arrest of Percy Levy, 54, was first reported in the Lynwood Times, a Snohomish County newspaper.

The Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force made the arrest after a 16-month investigation. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect was apprehended during a traffic stop in Everett.

A warrant was later served on the suspect’s home, where authorities said detectives recovered 2,818 grams of powder cocaine, 14.7 grams of rock cocaine and 556 grams of fentanyl. That is enough fentanyl to kill approximately 278,000, according to the US Drug Enforcement Agency, which says just 2 milligrams of the substance could be deadly.

Detectives also found packaging material, a digital scale and a handgun inside the home.

The suspect was arrested for unlawful possession of firearm, possession of stolen firearm and multiple counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Levy was charged with 11 Class B Felony charges, according to online inmate records of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Bureau. He is being held on a $1.5 million bond.

Inslee granted Levy clemency in 2019, according to a document from the state Clemency and Pardons Board.

Levy has a criminal history dating back to when he was 13 years old, according to the Lynwood Times. He spent 17 years in prison after a 2002 arrest for a drug house robbery.

Inslee’s decision regarding Levy in 2019 came after the 2021 of State v. Blake ruling that reclassified possession of controlled substances as a misdemeanor, the paper reported.

In the six years following his clemency, Levy dedicated himself to criminal justice reform, according to the newspaper.

He worked as a community outreach specialist for the Washington Defender Association and founded Redemption Auto, a car dealership in Everett. Levy is also treasurer on the Board of the Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County chapter.

The sheriff’s office said the matter remains under investigation.

Convicted killer in slaying of rabbi that shook New York tries to clear his name

2025-03-17T11:52:00.001-04:00

Carl Miller insists he wasn’t in Brooklyn the morning of Oct. 25, 1979, the day he turned 19 and Rabbi David Okunov was killed in Crown Heights by a gunman who shot him from 6 inches away before fleeing with his prayer bag.

Nearly 46 years later, Miller, who was convicted of murder and served 30 years in state prison, is hoping to clear his name.

“I don’t know anything about what happened,” Miller, now 64, told the Daily News in an interview at his lawyer’s office. ” And I wasn’t even near where it happened.”

Okunov, 68, who had recently emigrated from Russia to avoid religious persecution, was killed on his way to morning prayers. He left his home on Crown St., turned left onto Troy Ave., then turned right onto Montgomery St. Moments later, he was confronted and shot by a gunman armed with a .32-caliber handgun, the bullet striking him in his right eyebrow.

Hours later, at least 2,000 mourners marched through the streets for Okunov’s funeral, according to media reports at the time. Then-Gov. Hugh Carey said he was “horrified” by the murder, which occurred at a time of inflamed tensions between Hasidic and Black residents.

The Brooklyn DA’s office believes they got the right guy and is fighting Miller’s effort. Okanuv’s family members could not be reached for comment.

In court papers, Miller’s lawyer. James Henning, said the case against his client was built on the constantly changing story provided by Darryl Brown, who was 16 at the time of the murder and lived in the same Crown Heights building as Miller. In fact, the court papers said, Brown first told police he woke at 8 a.m. the day of the murder, 80 minutes after Okunov was shot.

“Miller was prosecuted on the scantest of evidence,” Henning wrote in the motion to vacate, filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court May 9, 2024. “There is no dispute that the investigative focus on Miller and his arrest, indictment and conviction were based entirely on the word of Darryl Brown, an inconsistent witness, who was initially a suspect in Rabbi Okunov’s murder and whose story changed repeatedly.”

The motion claims that prosecutors failed to turn over exculpatory evidence — that Brown himself was at some point considered a suspect and stood in a lineup. It also says Miller stood in two lineups but was not picked by either witness, both of whom had described a man roughly 5 feet 9 inches tall and slim, about 150 pounds, running from the crime scene holding the prayer bag. Miller at the time was recorded as 6 feet 1 inch tall and 174 pounds.

One of those witnesses, a retired dress cutter who was walking his dog, has since died. The other, Chanina Sperlin, who was 16 at the time, saw the man with the prayer bag run to a building on Crown St. inside which police later found property belonging to Brown, according to court papers. The prayer bag was never found.

Henning told The News that of the six exoneration cases he’s worked on the evidence in this case “is the weakest I’ve ever seen.”

The office of Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez argues in court papers that the conviction should stand.

The papers noted that the DA’s Conviction Review Unit twice looked over the case — even investigating, following a tip, that a woman had killed the rabbi — and both times closed out its probe.

The court papers noted that Brown and Sperlin wouldn’t cooperate with its review.

At a Feb. 19 hearing, Miller’s trial lawyer, Howard Weiswasser, said he was not aware during the trial that two witnesses had viewed a lineup with Brown in it. He also said he did not believe he had been given by trial prosecutors a statement in which Brown the day before the murder said he wanted to rob an old Jewish man.

“Because had I had the statement at the time of trial, I would have cross-examined [Brown] on it,” Weiswasser said at the hearing. “And having reviewed the trial transcript I did not cross examine on it.”

The same day, the long-retired lead detective on the case, Thomas Sorrentino, could not recall much about the investigation, including specific names as well as his interview of Brown.

He remembers a few days later being picked up on a warrant related to an assault case for which he missed a court appearance, remembers detectives telling him he had been picked out of a lineup — which it turned out he hadn’t — and remembers that police were certain he was the killer.

“‘You might as well confess.'” Miller said he recalls being told. “I said, ‘Confess about what? I wasn’t there.’

“They were trying to put me some place I wasn’t.”

Miller was charged then convicted on Sept. 18, 1980. A month later he was sentenced to 25 years to life.

He said he was determined from the start to clear his name, but various attempts to get lawyers to take his case and to get records and documents through the Freedom of Information Law failed until he met Henning. Miller’s motion to vacate his conviction was given a boost when Judge Guy Mangano on Jan. 10 ordered a hearing, though a decision in the case is not expected any time soon.

Miller said he is trying to clear his name so his two grandchildren can know the truth.

“They need to know who their grandfather is,” Miller said. “This is something I don’t want them to be a part of, knowing their grandfather is a convicted murderer.

“That’s why I’m fighting for this.”

Brazil’s Lava Jato investigation: the biggest corruption scandal of the last decade

2025-03-12T16:15:00.002-04:00

The largest and most infamous corruption scandal of the last decade began with a criminal investigation into the operations of Brazil’s largest corporation: Petrobras. The scandal got its name because the organizers of the bribery, kickback and money laundering scheme used a financial services company in Brasília located next to a gas station and car wash (Lava Jato). The investigation started with a seemingly minor complaint made in 2009 to the Federal Prosecutor’s office in Curitiba, Paraná, by a businessman concerned that somebody was using his company to launder money. Prosecutors followed this lead and discovered that political operators affiliated with the government had been funneling illegal campaign contributions from companies doing business with Petrobras in exchange for favourable treatment in construction contracts and in the procurement of goods and services.

The scandal exploded onto the national scene in 2014, when a team of highly motivated federal prosecutors mounted an aggressive investigation under the supervision of a judge with experience in public corruption cases (Sergio Moro). Unlike most corruption scandals, which typically lead to prolonged investigations and inconsequential legal outcomes, this scandal triggered an avalanche of information which destabilized governments in Brazil, Peru and Ecuador.

The first accusations centred on the construction of an oil refinery in Pernambuco, but the probe soon revealed it extended to other projects and every major construction company in Brazil. Unsurprisingly, the recipients of the bribes were high-level government functionaries, including both allies and opponents of the governing coalitions of President Lula da Silva and his successor Dilma Rousseff. The evidence extracted from the plea bargains negotiated by the prosecutors was unprecedented and, because shares of Petrobras are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the indictments triggered investigations by regulatory and judicial authorities in the United States. Eventually, the sworn testimony of business executives collaborating in exchange for leniency forced the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) to accelerate the prosecution of influential elected officials, including governors, members of Congress and eventually, of a sitting president (Temer).

The criminal investigation demonstrated how bribes distorted investment decisions by public officials. Reportedly, companies paid between one and three per cent of a contract’s gross value for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of overpriced construction projects. The kickbacks were laundered through domestic and offshore bank accounts, which allowed companies to camouflage the bribes as fees paid to legal firms and consulting companies or as the procurement of (overpriced) goods and services.

Petrobras officers benefited in exchange for their willingness to manipulate the terms of a public bidding process to favour a specific company, while companies conspired to divide up the lucrative contracts among themselves. Politicians were rewarded for their votes in Congress, while high-level functionaries in state ministries and regulatory agencies were rewarded for their loyalty to a political party. The task force eventually arrested 292 individuals, of whom 278 either pleaded guilty or were convicted of crimes that included fraud, bribery and money laundering. Prominent individuals from five of the country’s largest political parties were found guilty in a court of law, while persons from an additional thirteen parties were indicted for illegal activities and representatives from another fifteen parties were investigated for questionable behavior.

The cost to Petrobras was reflected in its balance sheet of 2014 when it registered a US$2 billion write-down to offset the bribes paid to the companies that had participated in the bid-rigging scheme. The investigation in the United States led to a 2018 settlement in which Petrobras agreed to pay US$853 million in fines levied by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), of which about 80% was returned to the Brazilian state. Shortly thereafter, the company settled a class-action civil suit filed on behalf of investors for an additional US$2.6 billion. A criminal investigation brought by the DOJ in Manhattan led to the arrest and conviction of the CEO of Odebrecht, Brazil’s largest construction company and, at the time, the country’s second-largest privately held company.

At the heart of the scandal was a secret agreement among thirteen construction companies, known as the Cartel de Empreiteiros, who agreed not to compete on individual Petrobras contracts. The conspiracy to defraud the government went well beyond the cartel’s business transactions with Petrobras and infected the Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), a national programme to improve basic infrastructure and stimulate the national economy via public works projects. Between 2007 and 2015, the program allocated about R$2.1 trillion (about US$500 billion) to projects across the country. Assuming the custom of paying a bribe of between one and three per cent, the graft associated with the PAC could be as high as US$5 billion to US$15 billion. If those practices led to overbilling, however, then the total cost to the nation probably exceeded US$50 billion.

The impacts of the Lava Jato scheme are still reverberating through the Brazilian economy. Government resources were wasted on non-productive expenditures, and the scandal also delayed strategic investment in several key sectors. According to a study by a policy institute linked to labor unions, the Lava Jato scandal reduced investments, leading to a net loss of about 4.4 million jobs and a reduction of R$172 billion (US$34 billion) in investments in energy production and construction. An environmental activist might not bemoan the loss of those types of investments, but the Fundação Getulio Vargas estimated it reduced national GDP by about 3.5 per cent each year between 2014 and 2017 (US$ 10 billion to US$ 20 billion per year). This is a conservative estimate, however, because losses compound over time and inflict permanent damage on Brazilian society.

Arguably, the Lavo Jato scandal and the disillusionment with the political elite set the stage for the election of Jair Bolsonaro, whose actions threatened democratic institutions and led to a rollback of environmental regulations key to the conservation of the Amazon and the welfare of Indigenous communities. Bolsonaro was narrowly defeated by Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 elections; however, Lula must now govern a country where a significant share of the population sees him as a corrupt politician who is free thanks to a dubious decision by the Supreme Court.

Lava Jato in the Legal Amazon

The scandal has impacted the Pan Amazon in multiple ways, particularly by the construction of numerous infrastructure projects executed by the PAC and financed by SUDAM.

Many of these investments were controversial because their environmental and social impacts were not given appropriate due diligence as the decision-making process was tainted by conflicts of interest, including:

Urucu – Coari – Manaus Natural Gas Pipeline System: A construction consortium composed of Camarga Correa, OAS and Andrade-Gutiérrez admitted to paying kickbacks of R$ 15 million on total contracts of approximately R$ 1.5 billion. The total amount of fraud might be larger, however, because in 2007 a Petrobras petroleum engineer, now deceased, denounced over-billing equivalent to 50% of the total budget of R$2.5 billion, which by 2014 had increased to more than R$4.5 billion.
Madeira hydropower complex: These two dams were built and operated by two separate consortia. Energia San Antonio was built largely by Odebrecht, which has admitted paying bribes to politicians who supported the project. Energia Sustentável do Brasil was built by Tractebel, a French company that was not directly implicated in the Lava Jato scandal. Nonetheless, the fair value of the contract has been questioned following the revelation of campaign contributions of approximately R$1.8 million made by Tractabel to the Rousseff re-election campaign in 2014.
Belo Monte hydropower facility on the Xingu: Andrade Gutiérrez, Camargo Corrêa and Odebrecht pleaded guilty to kickbacks of R$ 150 million out of a R$ 2.6 billion contract. Payments were funneled to Senators Renan Calheiros (PMDB), Edison Lobão (PMDB), Valdir Raupp (PMDB), Romero Jucá (PMDB), Jader Barbalho (PMDB) and Delcídio do Amaral (PT). The charges against all five defendants were dismissed in 2023 following a judgment by the Tribunal Supremo Federal that prosecutors had acted inappropriately during the investigative phase of the prosecution.
Amazonian Highways: The Cuiabá – Santarem highway (BR-163) was paved at a cost of ~R$2 trillion (US$ 400 million); the ongoing improvement of the Transamazônica (BR-230) was budgeted at ~R$1.3 trillion (US$ 260 million); BR-364 in Acre was allocated R$1.1 trillion (US$230 million), and the ongoing pavement of BR-319 between Humaitá and Manaus received ~R$466 million (US$95 million).

Lava Jato in the Andean Amazon

The infrastructure investments in Brazil occurred simultaneously with a similar construction boom in Peru financed by multilateral investment banks via the Iniciativa para la Integración de la Infraestructura Regional Sudamericana (IIRSA). These investments in basic infrastructure were built by five members of the Brazilian cartel (Odebrecht, Andrade-Gutiérrez, Camargo-Corrêa, OAS, Queiroz Galvão), and Peru’s largest domestic construction company (Graña & Montero).

Odebrecht was the most active and participated in several high-profile projects not only as a contractor but also as an investor and concessionaire. These investments were made using the public-private partnership model promoted by the IDB, where the corporate partner raises the financial capital for construction in exchange for long-term management contracts. The companies met their investment obligations by borrowing money; because of an idiosyncrasy of international bond markets, however, the securities were classified as sovereign debt. Cost overruns plagued every project, and at least one was canceled, which has piled billions of dollars of debt onto the country’s sovereign balance sheet.

The Peruvian government estimates Odebrecht overcharged by at least US$283 million on contracts between 1998 and 2015; however, independent sources place that number at ~US$1.3 billion – approximately nine per cent of the debt associated with the various projects worth US$17 billion. The scandal calls into question multiple contracts over several decades, among them high-profile infrastructure projects in the Peruvian Amazon, including:

Corredor Interoceánico Sur. Built between 2005 and 2008 at approximately double the estimated cost of US$1.2 billion; this IIRSA-sponsored initiative was financed by the IDB, BNDES and Odebrecht, which was awarded a 25-year operating concession.
Corredor Interoceánico Norte. Built between 2005 and 2013 at a cost of US$1.2 billion; this IIRSA initiative was financed by the IDB, CAF and Odebrecht, which was awarded an operating concession lasting 25 years.

Both contracts were awarded during the administration of President Alejando Toledo (2001–2006), who has been accused of accepting a US$20 million bribe. Odebrecht (now Novonor) continues to operate both concessions, one of which is profitable (Norte) and one of which is not (Sur).

Central Hidroeléctrica Chagalla. This hydropower facility on the upper Huallaga River was built between 2010 and 2016 with a total investment of US$1.2 billion. The project was approved during the government of Alan García and financed by the IDB and BNDES. In 2017, Odebrecht sold its interest to a Chinese company for US$1.3 billion, presumably to reduce the debt on its balance sheet and prepare for its reorganisation under Brazil’s bankruptcy laws.
Gasoducto Sur Peruano was a US$7.4 billion project that was supposed to integrate southern Peru and northern Chile with the gas fields of Camisea. The concession was awarded in 2015 to a consortium composed of Odebrecht, Graña & Montero, and a Spanish energy company (ENEGAS). Odebrecht pled guilty to paying a US $5 million bribe to an executive of Petroperú and, allegedly, to then President Ollanta Humala (2011–2016). The allegations of graft forced the government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to cancel the project in 2017. In an audacious move, Odebrecht (now Novonor) sued the Peruvian state in 2020 for breach of contract and is demanding indemnification of US$ .2 billion.

According to the US Department of Justice, Odebrecht paid US$29 million in bribes to at least two and possibly four of Peru’s recent presidents. In 2018, Alejandro Toledo was indicted on charges of extortion and bribery, followed by similar charges against Alan García, Ollanta Humala and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. Odebrecht also made contributions to the leading opposition candidate, Keiko Fujimori, who is being tried for money laundering and other crimes.

Ecuador terminated all government contracts with Odebrecht in 2008 following a dispute related to overbilling on the San Francisco Hydroelectric Power Plant; the company negotiated a return in 2010 by bribing the vice president with US$33.5 million, a sum hidden within its contract bid to construct a refinery for Petroecuador. The payoff, which was revealed in a US courtroom, was a precursor of an additional US$150 million in fraudulent charges between 2011 and 2015 at five mega-projects that were originally contracted at US$1.4 billion. These and other bribes were revealed in 2017 in the Escándalo de Sobornos, which led to the incarceration of the Odebrecht’s chief of operations and the former vice president who had solicited the bribe (Jorge Glas); the graft was approved with the knowledge and assent of then-President Rafael Correa, who was convicted in absentia and is currently living in exile in Belgium.

Brazilian construction companies began operating in Bolivia in 1987 as the country emerged from a period of economic instability when multilateral agencies provided special assistance loans for infrastructure projects. Andrade Gutiérrez was awarded several contracts that, although never subject to a serious investigation, were reported to have been awarded via a flawed, non-transparent bidding process. Odebrecht has adjudicated only one small project in Bolivia, and it was not implicated in the criminal case brought by the US Department of Justice. Nonetheless, declarations by defendants employed by Odebrecht in Peru and OAS in Brazil have alluded to payments made to Bolivian officials.

The most controversial project was awarded to OAS, which submitted an uncontested US$400 million bid to build a road that would transect the Territorio Indígena y Parque Nacional Isiboro-Sécure (TIPNIS). This project, which was to be financed by BNDES, was put on hold when the Indigenous inhabitants of TIPNIS voted to reject the project. The government continues to insist that construction will move forward and has worked to change the decision made by the communities within the TIPNIS.

Law firm Simpson Thacher agrees to UK fine over money laundering rule breaches

2025-03-12T16:07:00.002-04:00

U.S. law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was fined 300,000 pounds ($389,069) on Wednesday over breaches of anti-money laundering rules at its London office.

The firm agreed to a settlement with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which regulates solicitors in England and Wales, under which Simpson Thacher will also pay 62,000 pounds towards the SRA's legal costs.

Simpson Thacher admitted failing to have a firm-wide risk assessment between June 2017 and March 2020, as required by British money laundering regulations.

It also accepted not having a fully-compliant firm-wide risk assessment from March 2020 until February 2023, after the SRA announced it was bringing a regulatory case in August.

The SRA did not allege Simpson Thacher's admitted breaches led to any money laundering, but the regulator said in court filings, opens new tab that they created "an increased risk of money laundering".

A spokesperson for Simpson Thacher said in a statement that the firm's London office "acknowledges and regrets certain historic shortcomings in some of our UK AML (anti-money laundering) written policies".

The spokesperson added that the firm has "made significant investments to enhance our robust compliance function".

An SRA spokesperson said in a statement: "Money laundering is not a victimless crime and can have detrimental effects on many, many people.

"Solicitors have an important role to play in keeping the profits of crime out of the profession and the wider UK economy."

Simpson Thacher is the latest major law firm to face disciplinary action over alleged breaches of money laundering regulations.

Global law firm Clyde & Co was last year fined 500,000 pounds after admitting multiple breaches of money laundering regulations relating to a long-standing client.

The SRA's prosecution of fellow global firm Dentons was dismissed by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in March. But that decision was overturned on appeal on Tuesday and the SRA's case was sent back to the tribunal.

Woman who accused Jay-Z of rape heard on recording saying lawyer pushed her to sue

2025-03-12T15:54:00.002-04:00

The unnamed woman who alleged that Jay-Z raped her has been heard stating that he never sexually assaulted her in a new audio recording.

In a lawsuit filed last year, the rapper – real name Shawn Carter – was accused of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl at a VMAs after-party in 2000, along with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

The 55-year-old fiercely denied all allegations and the lawsuit was recently dropped, with the star now taking legal action against his accuser’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee.

In new audio obtained by ABC News, the woman, known only as Jane Doe, appeared to be heard during an interview with two private investigators, where she detailed her allegations.

A male official clarified the alleged assault, questioning: ‘But Jay-Z, you’re saying he was definitely there? But he had no part in it? Or he was just…’

‘He was there,’ Doe interjected.

A female investigator then asked: ‘He was just there, but he didn’t have anything to do with any sexual acts towards you, it was strictly…’

‘Yeah,’ she simply replied.

In a twist, she also alleged that it was Buzbee that ‘pushed her’ towards going forward with the allegations against Carter, having previously only named Combs in her initial lawsuit in October.

‘He was the one that kind of pushed me towards going forward with him, with Jay-Z,’ Doe said.

When the investigators clarified that she was referring to Buzbee, she said, ‘Yeah’, adding that she did not know why.

Buzbee hit back at her claims, branding it a ‘blatant lie’ that he spurred her to sue Carter.

‘As far as the suggestion that I pushed Jane Doe to bring a case against Jay Z – That is a blatant lie that is directly contrary to all the documentary evidence,’ he told the outlet in a statement.

The lawyer also shared his own audio footage with ABC News, in which he told his client: ‘They say they have you on tape denying that Jay-Z assaulted you. Is that true?’

Doe replied: ‘No, no. I don’t… I never said that.’

‘They also say that you told them – and they have it on tape – that I, Tony Buzbee, came up with this plan and told you to say that Jay-Z assaulted you so you would get more money,’ he responded.

‘No,’ she added.

Carter’s attorney, Alex Spiro, insisted that the first tape ‘speaks for itself’ in an interview with the publication.

‘She says in no uncertain terms Mr Carter did not do this,’ he added. ‘It’s effectively a lie and the only reason Mr Carter is even involved in this is because she was pushed to involve him.’

Doe filed a lawsuit in October, alleging that Combs sexually assaulted her as a teenager, in 2000 – the documents were refiled in December to include Carter.

According to the paperwork, obtained by NBC, she claimed that a friend dropped her off at the VMAs, which was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York, and she attempted to get a ticket to the ceremony, or an invite to an after-party.

She was reportedly driven to an after-party held at a white house with a U-shaped driveway, where she saw celebrities, and people doing drugs – she was offered a drink which made her feel ‘woozy, lightheaded and felt [like] she needed to lie down.’

After consuming the drink, she claims Carter and Combs entered the room she was resting in, when the latter told her: ‘You are ready to party.’

Doe alleges Carter then removed her clothes and they both raped her while an unnamed female celebrity watched – they have denied all the allegations.

After inconsistencies were discovered in Doe’s story, Carter’s lawsuit was dropped earlier this year – he is now suing Doe and Buzbee for defamation, civil extortion, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

He claimed that the allegations caused him severe financial damage, including the loss of $20million in business contracts.

NJ cop stole huge stash of drugs from evidence room and made $600K in questionable bank deposits

2025-03-12T12:37:00.002-04:00

A New Jersey police lieutenant arrested for allegedly swiping narcotics from the county prosecutor’s evidence room was slapped with a 50-count indictment that detailed the fallen cop’s misdeeds — including $600,000 in bank deposits that didn’t come from his cop salary.

Kevin T. Matthew, 48, of Cedar Grove, has been suspended from his job at the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office since his December 2023 arrest.

On Wednesday, the state attorney general’s office announced a wide-ranging indictment that charged Matthew with stealing cocaine, heroin and fentanyl marked as evidence — and in quantities “consistent with an intent to distribute those substances,” officials said in a statement.

Matthew’s alleged crimes — which happened between January 2019 and November 2023 — included big bank deposits that added up to about $600,000.

This money — deposited in small increments to not trip the banks’ federal requirement to report transactions of more than $10,000 daily — was “not derived from or traceable to his salary and compensation as a sworn law enforcement officer,” the statement said.

“The alleged misconduct by the defendant represents a stunning, tremendous disservice to the public,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in the statement.

“This case highlights the corrosive effects that corruption can have on public safety and trust,” he continued. “Instead of making Bergen County safer, the indictment alleges the defendant repeatedly withdrew from the evidence vault large amounts of dangerous drugs that had already been seized by law enforcement.

“This alleged conduct was a betrayal of this officer’s colleagues, his agency, his community, and his oath, and the grand jury’s findings reflect the severity of this alleged behavior.”

The drugs Matthew allegedly stole were related to nine different criminal cases, the attorney general said.

Matthew has been charged with financial facilitation of a criminal activity, possession with intent to distribute, official misconduct, tampering with public records and other drug and financial crimes.

Chief of Police John Pelletier is accused of of helping cover up gang rape

2025-03-12T12:32:00.002-04:00

Maui’s police chief has been accused in a bombshell court filing of helping to cover up a gang rape allegedly carried out by Sean “Diddy” Combs, NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. and comedian Druski.

Police Chief John Pelletier is accused of trying to conceal the violent attack on one of Combs’ accusers, Ashley Parham, after it was reported in 2018, according to an amended lawsuit filed in Northern California federal court.

The police chief and the celebrities accused of carrying out the attack have all strenuously denied the allegations.

Then a police captain in Las Vegas, Pelletier is accused of posing as a Contra Costa sheriff’s deputy when he responded to a 911 call about the alleged sexual attack at a home in Orinda, Calif., the court papers charge.

The accuser claims a neighbor — who she believed at the time was a good Samaritan — called cops after she fled the home in the wake of the alleged gang rape.

“Pelletier, falsely posing as a Contra Costa Sheriff, told [the alleged victim] and the neighbor that they had received several noise complaints prior to the neighbor’s call and instructed [Parham] to find a way to get home,” the filing states.

Pelletier allegedly didn’t offer to take the woman home, call an ambulance, take her to the hospital or help retrieve her belongings from the home she’d just fled, according to the suit.

The accuser alleges seeing the top cop hand what appeared to be an envelope to the neighbor.

“The neighbor went to a nearby room and quickly returned empty-handed,” the filing states, adding the alleged victim “believes the envelope contained cash.”

Parham’s initial lawsuit detailing the alleged assault, which was first filed last October, didn’t identify Pelletier by name. The initial suit also didn’t name Beckham Jr. or Druski.

Pelletier, Beckham Jr. and Druski have all strenuously denied the allegations now in the amended filing.

“We are confident that the evidence will demonstrate these claims to be false and will expose those who are deliberately trying to manipulate the legal system to spread misleading narratives,” a spokesperson for Pelletier said.

The initial suit claimed Combs threatened her with a knife and used a TV remote to rape the alleged victim in an apparent revenge attack after the woman had suggested a month earlier that the disgraced music mogul was involved in Tupac Shakur’s murder.

She alleges in the suit that a handful of other men then took turns raping her.

The attackers allegedly referred to Beckham as “Cornelius,” the amended lawsuit states, noting the 32-year-old athlete’s middle name is Cornelious.

“[The alleged victim] has come to discover the Defendant Doe Cornelius who raped her was Defendant Odell,” the lawsuit alleges.

Beckham said in a statement on X late Tuesday that he couldn’t “even believe that my name is mentioned in that matter.”

“There is absolutely no truth to those allegations,” he stated firmly. “I do not know and have never met the person that filed the suit.”

“I have never done anything like that, and I would never do anything like that to anyone,” he added. “I’m confident that these ridiculous claims against me will be dismissed.”

Elsewhere, Druski, whose real name is Drew Desbordes, is accused of putting oil on Parham’s naked body before “treating it like a slip and slide and knocking the wind out of [Parham] due to his enormous size,” the filing claims.

Druski then stopped himself from falling off the bed and allegedly raped Parham, the papers state.

Druski called it a “fabricated lie.”

“I wasn’t even a public figure in 2018 — I was broke living with my mom without any connections to the entertainment industry at the time of this allegation, so the inclusion of my name is truly outlandish,” he wrote on X.

“My heart breaks for actual victims of abuse, but I’m fully confident that the evidence will expose this falsehood and the individuals who are maliciously trying to game the legal system to peddle false narratives.”

Combs, for his part, has long denied the numerous claims leveled against him.

“This new complaint — brought by an attorney who has already been sued for defaming Mr. Combs — demonstrates the depraved lengths plaintiffs will travel to garner headlines in pursuit of a payday,” the rapper’s attorneys said in the wake of the amended suit.

“Mr. Combs was nowhere near Orinda, California on the day Ms. Parham claims she was assaulted there, and the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department has already confirmed Ms. Parham’s claims were determined to be unfounded following a thorough investigation.”

“In an attempt to salvage her claims following the investigation debunking them, Ms. Parham has now invented an even wilder narrative, alleging a vast [and facially implausible] conspiracy between law enforcement, local civilians, and media industry players,” the attorneys added.

“Mr. Combs looks forward to having his day in court where these lies — and the perverse motives of those who told them — will be revealed.”

Showing Her True Colors ...Letitia James ‘Extremely Concerned’ About Arrest of Man Accused of Leading Jew-Hatred at Columbia

2025-03-12T07:20:00.003-04:00

Letitia James, the New York attorney general, defended the former Columbia University student, whom federal agents arrested on Saturday night for allegedly supporting Hamas and who reportedly let anti-Israel protests on the Ivy League campus.

“I am extremely concerned about the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, an advocate and legal permanent resident of Palestinian descent,” James stated on Monday.

She added that her office “is monitoring the situation” and has been in contact with Khalil’s lawyer.

Missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki’s hometown sheriff names person of interest five days into search

2025-03-12T07:14:00.002-04:00

Authorities in Virginia have identified a 24-year-old man as a person of interest in connection to University of Pittsburgh student SudikshaKonanki’s mysterious disappearance last week in the Dominican Republic, according to a report.

The sheriff’s office in Loudoun County, where the missing college student is from, told Fox News Digital that Iowa resident Joshua Ribe “has been interviewed at length” but has not been accused of foul play in what remains a missing persons case.

“Sheriff [Michael] Chapman wants to make sure the investigation is comprehensive and includes all possible assets and techniques,” a spokesperson for the sheriff, Thomas Julia, told Fox News Digital.

“We are working closely with the FBI on all of this, and they are working with the Dominican National Police.”

The 20-year-old pre-med student was on spring break with five friends at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana on March 6 when she vanished. She was last seen on the beach and Ribe is believed to be the last person to see her alive.

The pair was last captured on surveillance footage walking with a group of friends toward the beach area around 4:15 a.m. Thursday, according to the Dominican Republic National Police.

Footage obtained by Noticias SIN showed Konanki seemingly clinging to Ribe, a fellow guest at the Caribbean resort, as the group walked onto the beach.

Konanki and several friends were on the beach before most of the group called it a night and headed back to their hotel, leaving the young woman on the sand along with her male companion, according to Dominican media.

Ribe, who traveled to the Dominican Republic from Iowa, gave authorities three different accounts of what happened after the two were alone on the beach, first telling cops he threw up from the rough surf and went back to shore — but asked Konanki if she was OK, according to local reports.

In the second version, he allegedly said he felt sick to his stomach and left the water, at which point he last saw the missing woman in knee-deep surf before he passed out.

He then told authorities he saw the Indian citizen and permanent US resident walking along the shore before he passed out on the sand.

Dominican police have not said if they suspect foul play, but said Ribe is cooperating with their investigation.

Local authorities have speculated that the spring breaker from Chantilly, Virginia, likely drowned after jumping into the ocean.

Jes Staley admits Jeffrey Epstein ‘became a friend’

2025-03-12T07:09:00.002-04:00

The former bank boss Jes Staley pushed JP Morgan to keep Jeffrey Epstein as a client despite human trafficking concerns and told him suspicious withdrawals from his account were being investigated, a court has heard.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) put the allegations to the ex-chief executive of Barclays during his second day of witness testimony at the upper tribunal in London.

Staley, who resigned from Barclays in 2021, is trying to overturn the regulator’s decision to ban him from taking any senior roles in the UK financial sector after claiming he lied about the depth of his relationship with Epstein. Barclays declared to the regulator in a letter in 2019 that the two men “did not have a close relationship”.

Staley originally met Epstein in 2000 after he became head of JP Morgan’s private bank, where Epstein was a client, and continued their relationship after Staley was appointed to lead the investment bank in 2009.

The FCA’s lawyer Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC presented the tribunal with a series of internal emails and notes from JP Morgan bosses, who were considering dumping Epstein as a client in 2011. The financier had been released from prison after being convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

In one, a senior boss in the compliance team said he had held a meeting with colleagues “to determine how to approach the issue with Jes Staley who is friends with Mr Epstein. He needs to understand the potential backlash to the firm given all the work done to root out clients involved in human trafficking”.

The court was also showed another note produced by JP Morgan bosses which said Staley had asked the bank’s top lawyer, Stephen Cutler, to “hear [Epstein] out”.

Mulcahy put to Staley that others at JP Morgan “appeared to be of the view … that you were the one pushing to retain Mr Epstein as a client”.

Staley denied the allegations saying “I don’t think that’s fair”, adding that while JP Morgan knew the two men had a relationship, the decision to exit a client such as Epstein was not his to make.

He admitted to putting Cutler in contact with Epstein’s lawyer, but said that if JP Morgan’s top lawyer “had wanted to let Epstein go as a client he had full latitude to do that and I would never stand in his way”.

Mulcahy also accused Staley of sharing confidential information with Epstein, particularly about how JP Morgan had concerns over human trafficking allegations against the financier and suspicious cash withdrawals from his account. She pointed to an email that Epstein subsequently sent to a senior boss in the private bank in September 2011, saying “Jes told me that there was [an issue] with reg cash with drawals [sic].”

Staley said that while he “was not part of managing the account” he did not deny that he told Epstein there were concerns about cash withdrawals.

Epstein died in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial over charges on trafficking underage girls for sex.

Canada Prime Minister-elect Mark Carney looks chummy with Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell

2025-03-12T07:06:00.002-04:00

Canada’s incoming prime minister, Mark Carney, has some photos with Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell that he’d rather you not see.

Opponents are circulating the 2013 photos, which show Carney smiling alongside Maxwell — who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021. The shots were taken at a music festival in the UK.

Carney’s camp says that the images are nothing more than a political ploy ahead of the Canadian federal election later this year.

In the photos, the 59-year-old was joined by his wife and another man, all of whom appeared friendly with Maxwell as they laughed and gestured at the stage.

The images first recirculated online in January after Carney —a former governor of the central banks for both Canada and the UK — announced his bid to replace outgoing Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

They got a fresh airing after he was picked to lead the Liberal Party on Sunday and become the next prime minister.

But Carney’s camp insists there’s nothing to see in the photos, claiming he and Maxwell barely know each other.

“This is another example of how [Conservative leader] Pierre Poilievre and [his PR head] Jenni Byrne have always played politics and it shows again how terrified they are to fight Mark Carney,” a source told the Toronto Sun in January.

Carney’s connection to Maxwell was extremely removed, the source said, explaining she went to high school with his sister-in-law.

“They have bumped into each other in public settings,” the source said. “They are not friends.”

Bob Levinson's South Florida family marks another year without answers on his birthday

2025-03-11T12:32:00.002-04:00

The South Florida family of Bob Levinson, the retired FBI agent and Coral Springs resident who was abducted in Iran 18 years ago, continues to search for answers as they mark another difficult milestone.

Levinson's son, Daniel, reflected on the pain of his father's disappearance, which happened just one day before his birthday.

"Today would be my dad's 77th birthday," Daniel Levinson said. "Back in 2007, we were going to have a big celebration, but we never heard from him again. This time of year is always difficult."

Family keeps Levinson's memory alive

Levinson was working with a private company in Iran when he was taken and he is now presumed dead. Despite the years of uncertainty, his family continues to honor him.

"We always make sure to have a family FaceTime where everyone gathers," Daniel said. "We have a quick toast in honor of my dad."

FBI pledges to keep investigating

The FBI has vowed to continue its efforts to determine what happened to Levinson. Brett Skiles, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Miami field office, said the case remains a priority.

"There are cases we're famous for staying on until we get answers," Skiles said. "Don't think for one minute that we're going to rest or let this go."

The FBI is currently searching for two Iranian intelligence officers believed to have played a role in Levinson's kidnapping.

Push for justice continues

Despite nearly two decades without closure, the Levinson family remains determined to hold those responsible accountable.

"We're going to keep trying to find out who was ultimately responsible, how we can get justice for my dad and how we're going to hold the Iranians accountable," Daniel said.

Members of the Levinson family recently met with new FBI Director Kash Patel, who assured them that the agency remains committed to the case and continues to pursue new leads.

Russian billionaire Vlad Doronin has sold his Miami home

2025-03-11T08:04:00.002-04:00

A Russian billionaire has set a new record for Miami-Dade county with the $120 million sale of his Star Island estate — but the home may not be around for much longer.

The residence, which once belonged to retired NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, is rumored to be a teardown purchase.

Developer Vladislav Doronin bought the home from O’Neal for $16 million in 2009. The Real Deal and the South Florida Business Journal reported news of the sale.

The rare slice of Miami Beach’s Star Island takes up a coveted corner lot.

A small part of it was built in 1924, the South Florida Business Journal reported, but a majority of the home went up in 1992. Doronin’s company made renovations nearly 20 years later in 2011.

The sprawling abode includes eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms and three half-bathrooms, not to mention a pool, a private dock and a tennis court.

But despite the luxurious digs, The Post has learned that the next owner may be planning to tear down the waterfront estate, which sits on increasingly valuable land.

Star Island, a man-made isle in Miami Beach, is a star-studded locale with little more than 30 properties that rarely list. Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias are among those who have called the small island home over the years. Star Island became the country’s most expensive neighborhood in 2023.

'Ghost Adventures' Aaron Goodwin's Wife Victoria, Arrested, Allegedly Tried to Hire Hitman

2025-03-11T07:57:00.001-04:00

In a shocking turn of events, Ghost Adventures star Aaron Goodwin's wife, Victoria Goodwin, has been arrested on charges of plotting to have him murdered. The 48-year-old paranormal investigator was reportedly the target of a disturbing scheme involving an inmate in a Florida prison, authorities confirmed.

Victoria, 31, was taken into custody last week following an investigation that uncovered her attempts to hire a hitman to kill her husband. According to reports from TMZ, Victoria sought out a prison inmate in October 2024 to arrange for the murder, offering a total payment of $11,515 for the job.

Police also discovered a disturbing exchange of text messages, where Victoria allegedly asked, "Am I a bad person? Because I chose to end his existence. Not divorce."

The authorities uncovered the plot when prison officials discovered messages on the inmate's phone. Victoria was arrested on charges of solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit murder. At the time of the arrest, she was being held on $100,000 bail.

Victoria allegedly initiated the discussions about ending her marriage after it became apparent she was unhappy with her relationship. In one message, she admitted to the inmate that her marriage was in distress, and said, "I told him I was unhappy, but I just want out."

Victoria’s shocking plan came to light while Aaron was filming Ghost Adventures in California, and she had provided the inmate with details of his whereabouts during his travels. The alleged plot involved Victoria sending a down payment of $2,500 to the hitman. Police are investigating further as they piece together the details of the scheme.

While the situation unfolded, Aaron had no knowledge of his wife’s alleged intentions. In fact, he appeared to be enjoying a happy marriage, recently sharing a picture on Instagram from a Valentine’s Day outing with Victoria. Fans were left stunned as they speculated over the irony of his post amidst the unfolding news.

“Sending you love and light Aaron you’re a great guy,” one user commented on his Instagram, while another expressed shock saying, “What an awful thing for your wife to do. I’m so sorry.”

Victoria has denied the accusations, claiming the messages were the result of "daydreaming or fantasizing about being without her husband." She insists she never had any intention to follow through with the plot and attributed the communication to moments of distress.

As the investigation continues, fans and loved ones have rallied behind Aaron, with many expressing their disbelief and offering support through social media.

Victoria's arrest has shaken the Ghost Adventures community, and Zak Bagans, Aaron's co-host, has stated that the situation has been emotionally taxing for the TV star, adding that he is “trying to give him love and support.”

Fans are left reeling as this unsettling story continues to unfold, leaving many to wonder what the true nature of the couple’s relationship was like behind the scenes.

Danit Ehrlich's Body Found in Montana after two weeks of searches

2025-03-11T07:37:00.003-04:00

The body of Danit Ehrlich, a 33-year-old American-Israeli woman, was recovered on Monday according to CBS News.

Ehrlich's body was found just hours after her family held a memorial for her in F
lorida. Her family and friends were still gathered when they received the call that her body had been found, according to statements on Facebook.

Ehrlich and her dog Bamba were reported missing two weeks ago on February 21 at a dog park in Missoula, Montana, and authorities have been searching for them ever since.

On Monday, CBS NEWS reported that her body was found by a passerby who spotted her in Clark Fork River in Montana. A preliminary coroner's exam identified the body to be Ehrlich.

Bamba has not been found.

"She was a lovely, lovely girl. She really, she touched people," said Ehrlich's father, Simon Ehrlich.

Ehrlich's boyfriend told CBS Colorado, that "It hurts really bad to know my love, my soulmate isn't here."

"I didn't realize how much I was hanging on to the small sliver of hope I had about her possibly being alive. It brings closure and it brings a sense of finality. It's broken me to know the truth… she was the love of my life, she was the most beautiful woman and caring woman I've ever known.

She has an amazing family… She was loved so loudly in death. So many of us will carry Danit and her love of animals and her friends with us. Pictures can only do so much justice to the amazing spirit that she was."

InfoWars reporter Jamie White ‘brutally murdered’

2025-03-11T07:33:00.000-04:00

Jamie White, who worked for the controversial InfoWars site, was killed Sunday night in Texas, according to multiple reports.

InfoWars founder Alex Jones said Monday that White was a reporter for his network and site, and told his viewers that he was “brutally murdered.”

Jones blamed George Soros, Austin’s District Attorney and Democrats for White’s death, although he didn’t exactly explain why or how they were responsible.

Reports stated that police said the incident took place in a residential neighborhood of South Austin Sunday night.

Austin Police said they arrived on the scene at around 11:59 p.m. to find “an adult male with obvious signs of trauma.” He was reportedly transported to the hospital where he later died.

His death is being investigated as a homicide.

Jones said Monday on air that White worked on Sunday before he was killed.

Two men face US trial over Iran-backed plot to kill dissident

2025-03-10T16:45:00.002-04:00

Two men accused of being members of a Russian organized crime group will face trial in the United States on Monday over what prosecutors call an unsuccessful Tehran-backed attempt to kill an Iranian dissident living in New York.

Federal prosecutors say Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2021 hired Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, members of a "Russian mob" sub-group, to kill an Iranian American journalist and activist who has spoken out against the Iranian government's treatment of women.

Amirov, 45, and Omarov, 40, have pleaded not guilty to murder for hire and attempted murder in aid of racketeering.

Omarov's lawyer, Elena Fast, said in a statement, "Mr. Omarov is presumed innocent." Amirov's lawyers did not respond to a request for comment. In court papers, lawyers for both men have said it was "inaccurate" to refer to them as members of the Russian mob.

Prosecutors have not named the target of the alleged plot, who they have said in court papers is expected to testify at the trial.

Masih Alinejad, a journalist who left Iran in 2009, has told Reuters she was the target of both the alleged murder plot and a previous alleged attempt by Iranian intelligence officers to kidnap her and take her to Iran.

Alinejad has brought attention to women in Iran protesting laws requiring head coverings, as well as accounts of Iranians killed in demonstrations in 2019.

"I am very excited to join the public trial as a witness to testify against those who were hired by the Islamic Republic to kill me," Alinejad said in an interview on Friday. "It's like I've been given a second life."

The trial, before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon, kicks off with jury selection on Monday in Manhattan federal court.

The charges were part of a broader push by the Justice Department during former President Joe Biden's administration to crack down on transnational repression, or efforts by U.S. adversaries like Iran and China to silence dissidents on American soil.

The two-week trial could provide a window into alleged ties between Iran's government and criminal organizations prosecutors say it hires to do its "dirty work."

A representative of Iran's U.N. mission did not respond to a request for comment on the trial of Amirov and Omarov.

U.S. prosecutors in 2021 brought charges against four Iranian intelligence officers over the alleged kidnapping plot. They are at large, and Tehran has called the allegations baseless.

The alleged murder plot came to light in 2022, when Khalid Mehdiyev - an alleged co-conspirator of Amirov and Omarov - was arrested outside Alinejad's New York home with an AK-47 rifle.

Prosecutors say a Revolutionary Guard brigadier general named Ruhollah Bazghandi began monitoring Alinejad in July 2021. They say Bazghandi later hired Amirov, an alleged Russian mob leader living in Iran at the time, to kill her. Omarov and Mehdiyev are also part of the mob, prosecutors said.

Bazghandi was also charged, but is not in U.S. custody.

Mehdiyev, 26, pleaded not guilty to murder-for-hire charges in February 2023, but the status of his case is unclear. Prison records show he was released from U.S. custody on May 19, 2023.

Neither a Justice Department spokesperson nor a lawyer for Mehdiyev responded to requests for comment.

Israel among the world's top arms traders, SIPRI report finds

2025-03-10T14:06:00.002-04:00

Israel is one of the world's largest arms importers and exporters, according to a report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The data, covering the years 2020-2024, ranks Israel as the world's 15th-largest arms importer during this period, down one spot from 2015-2019. Israel accounts for 1.9% of global arms imports. The United States is Israel's largest arms supplier, accounting for 66% of its imports, followed by Germany with 33% and Italy with 1%. According to data published by the U.S. State Department in January, U.S. arms exports to Israel in 2024 included an $18.8 billion deal for F-15 aircraft.

In addition to its imports, Israel is also the world’s eighth-largest arms exporter, responsible for 3.1% of global arms sales during this period. Among the countries to which Israel exports weapons are the U.S., India, and Germany, where it supplies 13% of arms imports. Israel is also a major supplier to Morocco, the UK, and the Philippines, where it accounts for 27% of imports.

Globally, the U.S. remains the largest arms exporter, with its market share continuing to grow. From 2015-2019, it accounted for 35% of global arms exports, a figure that has risen to 43% for the period 2020-2024. The U.S. supplied arms to 107 countries during this time. However, for the first time in over 20 years, Europe has overtaken the Middle East as the largest recipient of U.S. arms exports, largely due to the war in Ukraine. Despite this shift, Saudi Arabia remains the single largest buyer of U.S. weapons.

"The U.S. is in a unique position when it comes to arms exports. At 43%, its market share is four times higher than that of the second-largest exporter, France," said Mathew George, one of the report’s authors.

In contrast, Russia’s arms exports declined sharply, falling by 64% during the period examined. This downward trend began even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is now the world’s third-largest arms exporter, behind the U.S. and France, followed by China, Germany, Italy, the UK, and Israel. Spain and South Korea round out the top ten.

On the import side, Ukraine became the world’s largest arms importer during the period under review, with its imports increasing nearly 100-fold compared to the previous period. This surge is directly linked to the war with Russia, which began in 2022. Since the invasion, approximately 35 countries have supplied weapons to Ukraine, and additional shipments are still in progress. As a result, Ukraine accounted for 8.8% of global arms imports between 2020 and 2024. The United States was Ukraine’s primary supplier, providing 45% of imported weapons—a trend that may shift in the next reporting period due to the hostile stance taken by U.S. President Donald Trump toward Ukraine.

Other key suppliers to Ukraine include Germany (12%) and Poland (11%). Ukraine is also the only European country among the world's top ten arms importers, though many other European nations have significantly increased their arms purchases. Arms imports by European NATO member states more than doubled during the period in question. The United States was the largest supplier, followed by France, South Korea, Germany, and Israel. These figures underscore the challenge facing European leaders as they seek to reduce their military dependence on the U.S. amid shifting American foreign policy. European nations remain major buyers of F-35 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems.

Other major arms importers include India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Japan, Australia, Egypt, the U.S., and Kuwait.

“Regional conflicts and geopolitical tensions continue to drive up demand for arms in the Middle East,” said Zain Hussain of SIPRI. “Given the scale of future arms deliveries, the Middle East will remain a key region for arms imports.”

Top 10 Arms Exporters in the World

10. South Korea

9. Spain

8. Israel

7. United Kingdom

6. Italy

5. Germany

4. China

3. Russia

2. France

1. USA

Top 10 Arms Importers in the World

10. Kuwait

9. USA

8. Egypt

7. Australia

6. Japan

5. Pakistan

4. Saudi Arabia

3. Qatar

2. India

1. Ukraine

Trump Justice Department fires head of organized crime drug task force

2025-03-10T14:01:00.002-04:00

The head of a key U.S. Justice Department task force that combats drugs and organized crime was fired on Friday, amid a move by President Donald Trump's administration to purge or sideline career officials.

Adam Cohen, who was director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, in a social media post said he had been fired by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former criminal defense attorney who was confirmed to the department's No. 2 role by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.

Cohen's firing came just 18 hours after Blanche released a memo that Cohen had helped him draft which announced that the task force he led would be playing a new leading role in combating illegal immigration, as part of an initiative dubbed "Operation Take Back America."

"It was a shock," Cohen wrote of his firing on LinkedIn, noting he had been meeting regularly with leadership to discuss violent crime initiatives.

"Putting bad guys in jail was as apolitical as it gets," he wrote. "My personal politics were never relevant. Not until yesterday."

Cohen's firing is one of the latest examples of the Trump administration removing or sidelining career Justice Department officials, who typically keep their positions across presidential administrations.

Also on Friday, three assistant U.S. attorneys in the Southern District of New York, including two who were involved in prosecuting the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, were placed on administrative leave, according to an internal email by acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky that was seen by Reuters.

The three attorneys' removal comes after eight Justice Department attorneys in Washington and New York resigned in protest after refusing to file a motion to dismiss the corruption charges against Adams.

The email identified the prosecutors involved in Adams' case as Celia Cohen and Andrew Rohrbach.

"We were given no notice, nor asked for our views on this decision, with which I disagree," Podolsky wrote.

"On that case and others, Celia and Andrew did the right thing, for the right reasons, in the right way - every single day."

The third, Alex Kristofcak, who works on civil litigation, was also placed on leave in response to comments he made on social media, the email said.

In those comments, Kristofcak criticized Washington, D.C.'s interim U.S. attorney, Ed Martin, after he warned Georgetown University Law School that he would not hire its students unless the school removed diversity, equity and inclusion from its curriculum.

"This is a grotesque abuse of power," Kristofcak wrote of Martin.

"I am so sorry for my colleagues in DC who have this thug of a boss."

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

Other career department officials were also fired Friday, including pardon attorney Liz Oyer and Bobak Talebian, who oversaw the handling of Freedom of Information Act requests.