Former Greek bank chief jailed in anti-fraud drive

Reuters, Athens, Mon Apr 30, 2012

(Reuters) - A former bank chief was sentenced to eight years jail on Monday for fraud and forgery, court officials said, the first major conviction resulting from an anti-corruption drive ahead of a parliamentary election on Sunday.

Pavlos Psomiadis, former President &

CEO of the Aspis Group of Companies

(Photo: May 20, 2001)

An Athens court convicted Pavlos Psomiadis, former chief of small banking and insurance group Aspis, on charges of forging documents to keep his business afloat.

Corruption and cronyism are endemic in Greece. But no politician or senior businessman had been convicted in recent years, fuelling popular frustration with mainstream parties that pledge to uphold the debt-laden country's international bailout and remain in the euro zone.

"He was found guilty of fraud and forgery," a court official said. The conviction stemmed from a forged letter of credit for over 550 million euros ($729 million) that Psomiadis submitted to regulators in 2009.

Aspis was one of the first business groups to fall prey to the country's economic crisis. T-bank (AMBr.AT), a small lender that emerged from the wreckage of the group, was nationalized late last year under the terms of the country's EU/IMF bailout.

Monday's decision was the latest in a string of judicial moves as angry voters turn to smaller parties to punish the main conservatives and socialists whom they blame for the economic crisis and chronic corruption.

Earlier in April, a former defense minister was jailed pending trial on money laundering and bribery charges.

Last month, a Greek prosecutor filed felony charges against a prominent banker over a financial scandal that led to the EU/IMF-funded nationalization of small lender Proton Bank (PRBr.AT).

(Reporting by Harry Papachristou; editing by Stephen Nisbet)

Related Articles:

Four Priests Charged In Vatican Banking Scandal

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Based in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to built Africa to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - New !

Letterbox in Luxembourg one way Apple avoids paying billions in worldwide tax

Smh.com.au, Charles Duhigg, David Kocieniewski, April 30, 2012

RENO, Nevada: Apple, the world's most profitable technology company, doesn't design iPhones in Nevada. It doesn't run AppleCare customer service from Reno. And it doesn't manufacture MacBooks or iPads anywhere nearby.

Yet, with a handful of employees in a small Reno office in a company subsidiary named Braeburn Capital, Apple has done something central to its corporate strategy: it has avoided millions of dollars in taxes in California and 20 other US states.

Apple's headquarters are in Cupertino, California. By putting an office to collect and invest the company's profits in Reno, just 350 kilometres away, Apple sidesteps state income taxes on some of those gains.

California's corporate tax rate is 8.84 per cent. Nevada's, zero.

Setting up an office in Reno is one of many legal methods Apple uses to reduce its worldwide tax bill by billions of dollars a year.

As it has in Nevada, Apple has created subsidiaries in low-tax countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands - some little more than a letterbox in Luxembourg or an anonymous office in Nevada - that help cut the taxes it pays.

Almost every large corporation tries to minimise taxes. For Apple, the savings are especially alluring because the company's profits are so high. Wall Street analysts predict Apple could earn up to $US45.6 billion ($43.5 billion) this fiscal year - a record for a United States business.

Braeburn is a variety of apple that is simultaneously sweet and tart. When someone in the US buys an iPhone, iPad or other Apple product, a portion of the profits from that sale is often deposited into accounts controlled by Braeburn, and then invested in stocks, bonds or other financial instruments, company executives say. Some profits from those investments are shielded from California tax authorities by virtue of Braeburn's Nevada address.

Since founding Braeburn in 2006, Apple has earned more than $US2.5 billion in interest and dividend income on its cash reserves and investments around the globe. What's more, Braeburn allows Apple to lower its taxes in other states because many of those jurisdictions use formulas that reduce what is owed when a company's financial management occurs elsewhere.

While Apple's Reno office helps the company avoid state taxes, its international subsidiaries - particularly the company's assignment of sales and patent royalties to other nations - help reduce taxes owed to the US and other governments.

The Luxembourg subsidiary, named iTunes S.ar.l., has just a few dozen employees, according to corporate documents filed in that nation and an executive. But when customers across Europe, Africa or the Middle East - and potentially elsewhere - download a song, television show or app, the sale is recorded in this small country, present and former executives say.

In 2011, iTunes S.ar.l.'s revenue exceeded $US1 billion, an Apple executive said, representing about 20 per cent of iTunes' worldwide sales.

Apple, say former executives, has been particularly talented at identifying legal tax loopholes.

Apple was a pioneer of an accounting technique known as the ''Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich'', which reduced taxes by routing profits through two Irish subsidiaries - Apple Operations International and Apple Sales International - and the Netherlands and the Caribbean.

Without such tactics, Apple's federal tax bill in the US would have been $US2.4 billion higher last year, a recent study by a former Treasury Department economist, Martin Sullivan, said. As it stands, the company paid cash taxes of $US3.3 billion around the world on its reported profits of $US34.2 billion last year, a tax rate of 9.8 per cent.

Apple, in a statement, said it ''pays an enormous amount of taxes which help our local, state and federal governments. In the first half of fiscal year 2012, our US operations have generated almost $US5 billion in federal and state income taxes, including income taxes withheld on employee stock gains, making us among the top payers of US income tax''.

The New York Times

Israeli ex-spy boss: no trust in leadership over Iran (+video)

guardian.co.uk, Saturday 28 April 2012

The former head of Israel's internal intelligence agency Shin Bet, Yuval Diskin, denounces Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak for their posturing and policies on Iran which he says are based on 'messianic feelings'. Diskin says he would not trust the Israeli leaders in the event of a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear sites

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Brooklyn DA refuses to release details of Orthodox sex abuse suspects

Charles Hynes's refusal comes as New York

 judges ruled for a mistrial in the case of

Baruch Lebovits (above). Photograph: New

York Daily News/Getty Images

(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It can be no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe. As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with low vibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty, unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Moving on, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replaced by universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that science and spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated by early leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whose consciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere to the spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised, controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One of the truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been made synonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within the Illuminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflict and instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerful influence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOT represent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all other Illuminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of global domination.

12. Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionists have been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusively prejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defend itself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtained not only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies, most especially the United States, all of which served to increase the Illuminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In addition to controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served the dark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries of trauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics and Protestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals who refused to “recant.”  (Read More …)

"Matthew preparing us for the Golden Age." -  Jan 19, 2012 (Channelled by Suzy Ward)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

US Catholic nuns group "stunned" by Vatican slap

Reuters, by Andrew Stern, CHICAGO, Fri Apr 20, 2012

(Reuters) - A prominent U.S. Catholic nuns' group said on Thursday it was "stunned" that the Vatican reprimanded it for spending too much time on poverty and social justice concerns and not enough on abortion and gay marriage.

In a stinging report on Wednesday, the Vatican said the Leadership Conference of Women Religious had been "silent on the right to life" and had failed to make the "Biblical view of family life and human sexuality" a central plank in its agenda.

It also reprimanded American nuns for expressing positions on political issues that differed, at times, from views held by American bishops. Public disagreement with the bishops - "who are the church's authentic teachers of faith and morals" - is unacceptable, the report said.

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a "doctrinal assessment" saying the Holy See was compelled to intervene with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to correct "serious doctrinal problems."

The nuns' group said in a statement on its website, "The presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was stunned by the conclusions of the doctrinal assessment."

It added the group may give a lengthier response at a later date.

The conference said it represented 80 percent of America's 57,000 Catholic nuns. It is influential both in the United States and globally.

Academics who study the church said the Vatican's move was predictable given Pope Benedict's conservative views and efforts by Rome to quell internal dissent and curtail autonomy within its ranks.

"This is more an expression of the Church feeling under siege by trends it cannot control within the Church, much less within the broader society," University of Notre Dame historian Scott Appleby said.

That includes a steady drumbeat of calls to ordain women as priests, which the pope has reasserted was an impossibility.

The Vatican named Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain and two other U.S. bishops to undertake the reforms of the conference's statutes, programs and its application of liturgical texts, a process it said could take up to five years. 

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Simon; Editing by Peter Cooney)

The Pope said the Church had no authority from God
to admit women priests.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Based in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to built Africa to develop), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - New !


"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience?

(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It can be no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe. As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with low vibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty, unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Moving on, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replaced by universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that science and spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated by early leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whose consciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere to the spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised, controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One of the truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been made synonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within the Illuminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflict and instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerful influence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOT represent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all other Illuminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of global domination.

12. Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionists have been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusively prejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defend itself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtained not only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies, most especially the United States, all of which served to increase the Illuminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In addition to controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served the dark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries of trauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics and Protestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals who refused to “recant.”  (Read More …)

"Matthew preparing us for the Golden Age." -  Jan 19, 2012 (Channelled by Suzy Ward)

(SaLuSa channelled by Mike Quinsey, March 16, 2012)

“…. Each project is underway and that will result in a sudden wealth of information reaching you. Events are such that the facts can no longer be kept hidden, and with that there will be an explosion of people coming forward to tell what they know. It may take longer where the Vatican is concerned, as it is akin to a secret society that has kept its dark secrets hidden well away. However, nothing will remain concealed for too long, as you are entitled to know the truth and the extent to which you have been deceived….”  

Christ Consciousness Is The Energy of The New World – Mar 7, 2012  (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

Bradley Manning judge warns military prosecutors in WikiLeaks case

Judge refuses to dismiss most serious charge but tells prosecution it must prove private knew he was aiding the enemy

guardian.co.uk, Ed Pilkington and agencies, Thursday 26 April 2012

Bradley Manning will go on trial on 21 September. Photograph: Cliff Owen/AP

The military judge in the court-martial of the US soldier accused of handing WikiLeaks the biggest trove of unauthorised state secrets in American history has put army prosecutors on notice that they must prove Bradley Manning knew he was helping the enemy or face the possibility that the most serious charge against him be dismissed.

Colonel Denise Lind refused to throw out the charge – "aiding the enemy" – as had been requested by Manning's defence lawyers. But she told the military prosecution that during the trial, now scheduled for the end of September, that they would have to prove that the intelligence analyst was fully aware that he was helping the enemy when he allegedly handed hundreds of thousands of secret US documents to WikiLeaks.

Aiding the enemy is the most serious in the list of 22 charges that have been brought against Manning. It carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The trial will start on 21 September and is expected to last three weeks. It is certain to be closely followed in America and around the world, both by those who see Manning as a traitor to his country and military superiors, and by those who believe he was a hero who is being punished for being a whistleblower.

In seeking dismissal of the most serious offense, defense attorney David Coombs had argued that the charge did not properly allege that Manning intended to help al-Qaida when he allegedly sent hundreds of thousands of classified Iraq and Afghanistan war reports and state department diplomatic cables to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Manning stated in an online chat with a confidant-turned-informant that he leaked the information because "I want people to see the truth".

Prosecutors had argued that Manning knew the enemy would see the material when it appeared on WikiLeaks, regardless of his intentions.

Manning hasn't entered a plea to any of the charges. He also hasn't yet decided whether he will be tried by a judge or a jury.

Earlier Thursday, Lind rejected a motion to consolidate some charges that the defense said were duplicative. She said the defense could raise the motion again for sentencing purposes if Manning is convicted.

She denied another defense motion seeking to dismiss a count on the grounds that it was improperly charged. That count alleges that Manning wrongfully and wantonly caused intelligence to be published on the Internet, knowing it would be accessible to the enemy.

Lind also heard arguments on a government motion to bar any discussion at trial of whether the leaked material harmed US interests. Prosecutor major Ashden Fein said the government must prove only that Manning leaked the material knowing it could cause harm, regardless of whether it did.

The motion appeared to be aimed at blocking the defense's attempts to obtain classified reports compiled by the departments of defense, state and justice assessing the damage done by the WikiLeaks disclosures. Defense attorney David Coombs said the reports probably say the leaks did little or no damage; otherwise, he said, the prosecution would be eager to discuss them.

Fein said that since the government doesn't have to prove damage, any courtroom discussion of damage assessments would waste the court's time.

"Just because a damage assessment might say damage did occur or didn't occur, it's completely irrelevant" to proving the charges, Fein said.

The 24-year-old Oklahoma native was ordered court-martialed after he was accused of downloading the war logs, cables and video clips and then sending them to WikiLeaks. He was working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad when authorities say he copied classified material from government computers in late 2009 and early 2010.

The material WikiLeaks published included cockpit video of a 2007 US Apache helicopter attack that killed a number of civilians, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver. The US government says the civilian deaths were accidental.

Prosecutors acknowledged in court Wednesday that the helicopter video was not classified, although Manning allegedly got it from a military computer network reserved for classified material. He is charged with "having unauthorized possession" of the video clip.

Manning has been in pretrial confinement since he was charged in May 2010. He has been held since last April at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

His earlier treatment at a marine corps base caused support for him to swell. The Quantico, Virginia, brig commander kept Manning confined 23 hours a day in a single-bed cell, citing safety and security concerns. For several days in March 2011, he was forced to sleep naked, purportedly for injury prevention, before he was issued a suicide-prevention smock.

Manning's supporters have raised funds to place posters in the Washington metro subway system this week portraying him as a whistleblower, patriot and hero.

Brooklyn DA refuses to release details of Orthodox sex abuse suspects

Refusal to grant FOI request marks admission by Charles Hynes that suspected Orthodox child abusers receive special treatment

guardian.co.uk, Zoë Blackler in New York, Thursday 26 April 2012

Charles Hynes's refusal comes as New York judges ruled for a mistrial
 in the case of Baruch Lebovits (above). Photograph: New York Daily
News/Getty Images

Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes has refused a freedom of information request for details of child sex abuse prosecutions in the Orthodox Jewish community, amid questions over the veracity of his arrest figures.

The refusal coincides with the collapse of his most vaunted prosecution after appellate court judges ruled on Thursday for a mistrial in the case of Baruch Lebovits, sentenced in 2010 to a maximum 32-year jail term.

Lebovits was convicted in March 2010 of abusing a 16-year-old boy. The DA's office said it is prepared to retry the case. But victims' advocates say his mistrial is a major setback in their efforts to encourage other child sex victims to risk community censure and come forward. Advocate Joel Engelman said the decision was "extremely demoralising".

The Guardian reported last month that the DA was facing accusations that he has failed to tackle up the cover-up of abuse in Brooklyn's Orthodox community – the largest Orthodox community in the world outside Israel. Rabbinic leaders are accused of hampering efforts to uncover abuse, and many victims face intimidation and threats to prevent them pressing charges.

The Guardian and the Jewish Forward paper had submitted freedom of information (FOI) requests for details of cases. But this week Hynes's office informed the Forward that it was denying its request, because the close-knit nature of the Orthodox community meant disclosing the names of defendants would reveal the identities of the victims. The DA's spokesman, Jerry Schmetterrer, confirmed that the Guardian's request would also be refused on the same grounds.

The statement refusing the FOI request marks the first admission by Hynes that suspected child abusers from the Orthodox Jewish community receive exceptional treatment.

Hynes's policy clarification follows recent claims to have radically increased prosecutions through his Kol Tzedek outreach effort. Kol Tzedek, which features a victims' hotline staffed by a culturally sensitive social worker, aims to encourage reporting of sexual assaults and to break the cover-up of child sex abuse by the Orthodox Jewish community.

The DA credits the initiative, which began in April 2009, with a surge in arrests. In January, the DA said the tally now stood at "over 90" arrests, a figure confirmed again this week by his spokesman.

Of the 38 cases closed by November last year, 23 had concluded in guilty pleas and six in trial convictions with nine dismissals and acquittals, Schmetterer said. Fourteen of the convictions resulted in jail time. But at least nine of the arrests ascribed to Kol Tzedek were in fact made before April 2009.

The Guardian has learned of five: Stefan Colmer, extradited from Israel in 2008, Yona Weinberg, indicted in 2008, Emanuel Yegutkin, arrested in January 2009, Moshe Spitzer, arrested in March 2009, and Baruch Lebovits, whose landmark conviction was overturned this week and who was indicted in 2008. The DA's spokesperson confirmed in writing last month that all five men were being counted as Kol Tzedek arrests.

The Jewish Week knows of a further four arrests inaccurately credited to Kol Tzedek: one convicted of attempting to kidnap an Hispanic girl, arrested in 2007; another in mental health facility and unfit to proceed, arrested 2008; a third who violated his probation and was reconvicted in 2009, first arrested 2002; and Yehuda Kolko, whose case in 2008 saw him plead guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment, not a sex crime. Kolko is currently being prosecuted for criminal contempt.

Schmetterer refused to answer questions from the Guardian. "I have nothing to say to you," he said. "You have the (FOI) letter. I have nothing to add."

The FOI response – set out in a letter signed by assistant district attorney Morgan Dennehy – appears to explain an apparent misinterpretation of a civil rights statute previously used by the DA to explain why case information was being withheld from public scrutiny.

Earlier responses from the DA's office have cited New York Civil Rights Law 50B, which protects the privacy of sex crime victims. 50B prohibits the release of documents that could identify a victim. It does not, however, restrict the release of case files in which the victims' names or other revealing information has been redacted, said Martin Guggenheim, professor of clinical law at NYU. "To my knowledge," Guggenheim said, "the law permits the disclosure of reports so long as the public official does so in a manner that ensures that the identity of the victim cannot be obtained from the report."

Hynes's argument – that the "unique" circumstances in the Orthodox community prohibits release of any and all information, since to name the defendant is to name the victim – apparently explains his over-stringent response to 50B.

Dennehy's letter goes on to say that sex crime victims from the Orthodox community, if identified, face unique challenges that will make them likely to withdraw co-operation "making the prosecution of the defendants extremely difficult". It would also prevent victims of unreported crimes coming forward in the future if they feared their names would become known. Under New York's FOI law, documents which could "interfere with law enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings" are exempt from disclosure.

Roger Canaff, a former sex crimes prosecutor in the Bronx, said he thought the reason for the DA's silence was justified.

"There are some situations where releasing suspect information could lead to unfairly revealing victim information," Canaff said. "I can imagine a situation where that could happen. So for the sake of the victims I think it's OK to make an exception.

"I haven't dealt with it myself, or seen it anywhere else, but I can understand an office being concerned with that. I can't say whether that's what is going on here, or something else, but I think it's a plausible explanation."

Community activist Isaac Schonfeld, an Orthodox Jew from Borough Park, said the DA's position was illogical because if the everybody in the community really did know everybody else's business, the victims' identities woul already be known. "I don't find the argument compelling," Schonfeld said.

"We have this wonderful compassion in our community. Rather than channelling that into covering up [child abuse], we should be using it to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the problem, and giving the victims tools to deal with it rather than just sweeping it under the rug."

"The DA should be challenging the community to bring these issues into the open and to bring the perpetrators into public view," he added.

The ultra-Orthodox Jewish community has been a strong

 supporter of Charles J. Hynes, the Brooklyn district attorney, 

pictured in 1994 in Borough Park. (Ozier Muhammad/ 

The New York Times)

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News Corp dossier appears to show contacts with minister over BSkyB bid

Jeremy Hunt urges Leveson inquiry to give him a chance to clear his name as Labour leader calls for him to resign

guardian.co.uk, Patrick Wintour and Dan Sabbagh, Tuesday 24 April 2012

Jeremy Hunt has urged the Leveson inquiry to allow him to clear
his name. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, has begged the Leveson inquiry to give him a chance to salvage his reputation after emails released by News Corp appeared to show that Hunt and his office passed confidential and market-sensitive information to the Murdoch empire to support its takeover of BSkyB.

Facing calls from the Labour leader Ed Miliband to resign, Hunt urged Lord Justice Leveson to change his hearings timetable and give him a chance to clear his name.

As the day-long questioning of James Murdoch ended, Hunt rushed to a meeting with David Cameron and the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, to explain the emails and texts that appeared to show he ignored his commitment to MPs to act in a quasi-judicial and impartial capacity over the £8bn bid, one that only failed in the wake of the Milly Dowler phone-hacking furore.

In the most dramatic day of hearings at Leveson yet, the inquiry was shown emails written by James Murdoch's chief lobbyist, Frédéric Michel, written the day before Hunt was due to make a market-sensitive statement to parliament, which appeared to indicate that he was minded to approve the bid in negotiation with News Corp. The statement came just a couple of days after the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson was forced to resign as communications chief at No 10 amid mounting hacking allegations.

Michel told Murdoch at 3.21pm on Monday 24 January, with stock markets in London and New York open, that he had "managed to get some infos [sic] on the plans for tomorrow (although absolutely illegal!)" which set out the timetable of Hunt's announcement due next morning and quoted from the planned announcement. Hunt said that he wanted to negotiate with News Corp over potential undertakings in lieu (UIL) of a referral to the Competition Commission. Murdoch said on Tuesday that the reference to "illegal" material was a joke.

A day earlier, Michel explained in an email to Murdoch what he understood to be the culture secretary's true thinking behind his public remarks. "His view is that once he announces publicly he has a strong UIL, it's almost game over for the opposition … He very specifically said he was keen to get to the same outcome and wanted JRM [James Murdoch] to understand he needs to build some political cover on the process."

In another email, Michel reported a request from the Hunt team that News Corp "try and find as many legal errors as we can" in the Ofcom report on the public interest implications of the bid. When Hunt cancels a meeting with James Murdoch in November 2010 because he has received "very strong legal advice not to meet us today as the current process is treated as a judicial one", Michel reports to his boss that he can still talk to him on his mobile phone "which is completely fine".

James Murdoch confirmed on Tuesday that Hunt had called him following this exchange.

The emails were handed over by News Corporation on the order of the Leveson inquiry in a 163-page disclosure that had the effect of deflecting attention from James Murdoch's testimony, and even threatening to overshadow Rupert Murdoch's evidence on Wednesday.

James Murdoch told Leveson that Michel was simply "doing his job" in trying to get the bid approved, and that in any event he took all communications with politicians with a "grain of salt". Hunt was co-operative because "he didn't want to take any heat alone" and that "I have never met a politician who did".

The emails appear to show how News Corp expected Hunt to push for the BSkyB deal to be approved. After speaking to Hunt or a member of his team "before he went in to see Swan Lake" in February 2011, Michel told his boss: "I told him he had to stand for something ultimately … and show he had some backbone." Cameron's spokeswoman robustly defended Hunt, saying he had acted throughout on the basis of independent advice, in a process Hunt repeatedly described as "quasi-judicial". But Robert Jay, the QC for Leveson, suggested to Murdoch that the communications revealed amounted to the judge in a case "telling you behind the scenes ... that you're going to win".

In a statement on Tuesday, Hunt pleaded for time, saying: "Now is not a time for kneejerk reactions. We've heard one side of the story today but some of the evidence reported meetings and conversations that simply didn't happen. Rather than jump on a political bandwagon, we need to hear what Lord Justice Leveson himself thinks after he's heard all the evidence.

"Let me be clear: my number one priority was to give the public confidence in the integrity of process. I asked for advice from independent regulators – which I didn't have to do – and after careful consideration I followed that advice to the letter. I would like to resolve this issue as soon as possible which is why I have today written to Lord Justice Leveson asking if my appearance can be brought forward. I am very confident that when I present my evidence the public will see that I conducted this process with absolute objectivity and scrupulous fairness."

His statement implies he believes he has Cameron's support to cling to office for months including through the Olympics since Justice Leveson is unlikely to report in the short term.

Hunt was resting his defence partly on the admission by Michel that some of his internal emails referring to contacts with JH were in fact "no more than shorthand for what I was told by someone within Jeremy Hunt's office, almost invariably his special adviser Adam Smith".

But Michel states: "His advisers were there to assist and advise Jeremy Hunt and it was my understanding that when they told me something, it was always on behalf of the minister and after having conferred with him."

Hunt's aides were refusing to blame Smith, or accuse him of acting as a rogue operator, suggesting Hunt may have been aware of the content of these contacts.

But Hunt's aides insisted the culture secretary will give evidence under oath and reveal his phone records.

Miliband said: "Hunt should have been standing up for the interests of the British people. In fact it now turns out he was standing up for the interests of the Murdochs. He himself said that his duty was to be transparent impartial and fair in the BSkyB takeover. But now we know that he was providing advice guidance and privileged access to News Corporation. He was acting as a back channel for the Murdochs."

Rupert Murdoch is driven from the Leveson inquiry after

 giving evidence. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

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$1.6 billion in missing MF Global funds traced

CNN News, By James O'Toole @CNNMoney April 24, 2012

Terry Duffy, the head of exchange operator CME Group, testifies about
the collapse of MF Global on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

NEW YORK (CNN Money) -- Investigators probing the collapse of bankrupt brokerage MF Global said Tuesday that they have located the $1.6 billion in customer money that had gone missing from the firm.

But just how much of those funds can be returned to the firm's clients, and who will be held responsible for their misappropriation, remains to be seen.

James Giddens, the trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Global Inc, told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that his team's analysis of how the money went missing "is substantially concluded."

"We can trace where the cash and securities in the firm went, and that we've done," Giddens said.

MF Global failed last year after its disclosure of billions of dollars worth of bets on risky European debt sparked a panic among investors. About $105 billion in cash left the firm in its last week, Giddens said, as clients withdrew their funds and trading partners called for increased margin payments, leaving the firm scrambling to make good on its obligations.

It has since emerged that MF Global tapped customer funds for its own use during this crisis and failed to replace them, in violation of industry rules.

Roughly $700 million of the missing money is now locked up with MF Global's subsidiary in the United Kingdom, where Giddens and his team are engaged in litigation to have it returned to U.S. customers. Giddens said he is "reasonably confident" that these funds will be recovered, though he added that it will be a lengthy process with no guarantee of success.

Another $220 million was transferred inadvertently from the accounts of securities customers to those of commodities customers. That money is now in limbo amid a dispute over which customers it belongs to, said Kent Jarrell, a spokesman for Giddens.

The final $680 million or so was transferred to other financial institutions with which MF Global did business, including a substantial portion that went to JPMorgan.

Giddens said his team has "a solid basis for seeking the recovery of some of the funds that were transferred to JPMorgan," and is engaged in ongoing talks on the issue. JPMorgan did not immediately return a request for comment.

Sorting through the MF Global debacle

Giddens' team is just one among a number of groups probing MF Global's collapse. There's also Louis Freeh, the trustee for MF Global's parent company, as well as the Department of Justice and federal regulators including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Jill Sommers, a commissioner with the CFTC, told the hearing Tuesday that she could not disclose details of the commission's investigation, but said the case could lead to enforcement actions against the company or the individuals involved.

The SEC and CFTC can only seek civil penalties and restitution for customers, but their findings could help form the basis of a criminal case brought by the Justice Department.

Giddens, for his part, has said he may file civil claims against MF Global executives alleging breach of fiduciary duties and violations of federal law governing commodities trading. A person familiar with the trustee's probe said Jon Corzine, a former U.S. senator and Democratic governor from New Jersey who was CEO of MF Global when it collapsed, is among those against whom Giddens is considering action.

So far, most of MF Global's thousands of former customers have recovered about 70% of their money, while those that traded on foreign exchanges are missing nearly all of it.

On Tuesday, a bankruptcy judge in Manhattan authorized an additional distribution of $685 million that will bring most customers up to around 80% of what they're owed. Six months after the firm's failure, however, they're still waiting for someone to be held accountable.

"Crimes have been committed here without a doubt," said James Koutoulas, an attorney and trader who has been advocating on behalf of MF Global customers.

"We think there are enough facts out here to start arresting people and start filing charges."  

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