US: Feds’ new rules will fight terrorism with anti-OC measures
U.S. federal agents will now use the same methods to ferret out terrorists as they use to fight organized crime, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said at a conference in
The new rules, which will take effect this autumn, will for example allow FBI agents to cultivate terror informants in the same way that they use informants to take down organized crime leaders. This from The Oregonian, which covered the conference:
Previously, terrorism suspects were arrested and prosecuted when caught. Now, federal agents are more likely to monitor them as long as possible to see whether they leave clues about their network. When suspects are brought in, agents will not immediately read them their Miranda rights but try to persuade them to turn over useful intelligence or gain their cooperation.
(FBI counterterrorism official Art) Cummings described the case of an
Cummings, Mukasey and terrorism prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald all emphasized that their agencies would pay extra attention to civil liberties after the new rules go into effect.
Czech ombudsman: Mafia, corruption involved in visa handling
Bribery is common when foreigners apply for permanent visas in the Czech Republic, and mafia structures have a hand in the visas and permanent-registry permits, the country’s ombudsman said last week.
Otakar Motejl said he began receiving complaints five years ago, but now the situation at
"We are talking about places where foreigners have their first experience with the Czech authorities. The country should present the culture of a three-star hotel here and not a dormitory," said the ombudsman.
Media rushes to blame
The shooting murders of three people at an Italian ice-cream parlor some 20 miles from
The attack occurred in Rüsselsheim – home to the Opel car factory – where many Italian workers have settled, establishing pizzerias and cafes with their savings. Three men, described as being of “Mediterranean appearance,” approached the ice cream salon just before dusk and fired rapidly at a group of three male customers. A woman standing nearby was also killed, but it was still unclear last night whether she was a target or was gunned down by accident.
The shadow of the Calabrian mafia may thus again be stretching over the industrial heartland of
A major man hunt was underway with helicopters and tracker dogs deployed around much of the surrounding area. The assassins were said by witnesses to have both pistols and knives. Plainly though, the ice-cream murders may be part of an elaborate tit-for-tat. Somebody betrayed Nirta to the police last week. That usually triggers a revenge attack.
Other press reported that the victims were indeed
Whether these latest murders in
These trials and arrests, welcome news though they may be, simply aren’t on for some “bunker bosses” who literally hide underground throughout
In Camorra news, Spanish police arrested an alleged Neapolitan mob boss who’d been sentenced to 23 years for a 1980s double homicide last week. Patrizio Bosti was arrested in a restaurant in
Stop the presses: Report says Siemens lax on anti-corruption
Siemens, the German engineering behemoth that’s been wracked by a public slush-fund-and-corruption scandal for nearly two years, apparently had less-than stellar anti-corruption procedures, according to a report by Spiegel magazine.
A network of 400 businesses that advocate good company governance found “considerable structural shortcomings” in Seimens anti-corruption rules, stated a confidential document from Siemens’s lawyers.
(The law firm) pinpointed a conflict of interest in the company’s auditing office tasked with preventing corruption and protecting the group if corruption cases were revealed, the magazine said in its edition to be published Monday.
Steps to improve the way the auditing office works also met with "considerable opposition by management," it added.
With its 80 members, the audit department was understaffed compared to its
The lack of auditors is hardly a shocker: This is a company that has acknowledged funneling $2 billion into various funds to obtain foreign contracts, and acknowledged that the practice was widespread across its numerous divisions.
OECD:
In other bribery news, Europe’s wealthy countries are slamming Great Britain for not cracking down on bribery. While other countries are vigorously pursuing their own dubious multi-national corporations,
The message suggests
One person who has seen the letter said it was “particularly undiplomatic” and laid out the “full menu” of criticisms about
The letter, signed on behalf of the anti-bribery group’s members by Mark Pieth, its chairman, was sent days before Angel Gurría, OECD secretary-general, visited
The letter attacked
Mexico police killings highlight difficulty of OC, corruption fight
The killings of four police officers in
(President Felipe) Calderon pledged to root out police corruption during appearances over the past week after public outrage over the kidnapping and slaying of the 14-year-old son of a businessman, allegedly at the hands of police. Ending police involvement with organized crime is difficult because of low salaries and threats to the lives of honest cops, said Jorge Chabat, a professor at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching in
``It’s hard to fight narco corruption because police have positive incentives -- money -- and also negative incentives — they’ll kill you if you don’t go along,’’ Chabat said.
The universal idea that can be taken from this horrible incident and Mexico’s other troubles of late is that if your anti-organized crime police are themselves close to OC figures and leaking them information, that’s not optimal.