Credit Suisse fined over drugs gang money laundering

Yahoo = AFP, June 27, 2022 

Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, which has been rocked by a series of scandals, was slapped with a $2-million-fine Monday in a money laundering case linked to a Bulgarian cocaine network. 

Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court found that the bank failed to take steps to prevent money laundering by the criminal organisation, deeming it guilty of breaching its corporate responsibility. 

Credit Suisse was fined two million Swiss francs ($2.1 million). The Zurich-based bank intends to appeal. 

It was faulted for the failure up through its hierarchy and by its legal and compliance departments to monitor "banking relations" linked to the criminal gang, and to ensure their "compliance with anti-money laundering rules". 

A former employee was found guilty of aggravated money laundering over a number of transactions she had conducted or ordered to be conducted between July 2007 and December 2008, despite firm indications that the funds had criminal origins. 

Her actions allowed the criminal gang to stash more than 19 million Swiss francs out of reach of the authorities. 

She was given a 20-month prison sentence and a fine, both of which were suspended. 

In a brief statement, Credit Suisse said it noted the court's decision and that it intended to appeal. 

Two Bulgarians were also found guilty of participating in a criminal organisation and aggravated money laundering. 

The court also ordered the confiscation of a sum equivalent to more than 12 million francs concerning funds deposited with Credit Suisse by the criminal organisation. 

Furthermore the bank will have to compensate the more than 19 million francs in assets belonging to the criminal organisation, "which could not be confiscated due to the bank's internal failures", the court statement said.

Prince Andrew gives up military titles, patronages: palace

Yahoo – AFP, January 13, 2022

Prince Andrew has given up his honorary military titles and charitable
positions (AFP/John Thys}

Queen Elizabeth II's second son Prince Andrew, who is facing a US civil case for sexual assault, has given up his honorary military and charitable roles, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday. 

"With The Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen," a statement said. 

"The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen." 

The announcement came after a judge in New York on Wednesday ruled against the 61-year-old prince, who had tried to have the case against him thrown out. 

Andrew, a former Royal Navy helicopter pilot who flew in the 1982 Falklands War, is accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre when she was 17. 

Giuffre alleges the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein lent her out for sex with his wealthy and powerful associates. 

Andrew, who is ninth in line to the throne, was forced to step back from royal duties in late 2019, after a disastrous television interview in which he tried to defend his links to Epstein. 

Public outrage at the time saw several charities and associations distance themselves from him, and he has since repeatedly denied Giuffre's allegations. 

The Duke of York has kept a low profile since he tried to defend his links to the
disgraced US financer Jeffrey Epstein (AFP/Justin Tallis)

He has rarely been seen in public since the television interview. 

On Thursday, he was seen being driven from his house near Windsor Castle, west of London, an AFP photographer said. 

The announcement came after more than 150 Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and British Army veterans wrote to the Queen, calling on her to strip Andrew of his ranks and titles in the armed forces. 

The 95-year-old head of state is commander-in-chief of the army, navy and air force. 

"Were this any other senior military officer it is inconceivable that he would still be in post," the veterans wrote in a joint letter made public by the anti-monarchy pressure group Republic. 

"Officers of the British armed forces must adhere to the very highest standards of probity, honesty and honourable conduct. 

"These are standards which Prince Andrew has fallen well short of," they wrote, adding that he had "brought the services he is associated with into disrepute". 

Senior members of the British royal family have typically been appointed as honorary heads of military units, with the Queen's approval. 

Andrew was honorary colonel of the Grenadier Guards, whose soldiers guard Buckingham Palace in their distinctive bearskin hats and red tunics. 

Royal patronages are associations with charities and other organisations.

Maxwell-Epstein victims 'relieved and grateful' after guilty verdict

France24 – AFP, 30/12/2021 

A photo of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein presented as evidence
during her trial Handout US District Court for the Southern District of New York/AFP/File

New York (AFP) – Victims of the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and her former partner, the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein, welcomed a jury's decision Wednesday finding Maxwell guilty of child sex trafficking. 

"I am so relieved and grateful that the jury recognized the pattern of predatory behavior that Maxwell engaged in," said Annie Farmer, one of four victims to testify in the high-profile trial, in a statement on Twitter. 

"I hope that this verdict brings solace to all who need it and demonstrates that no one is above the law," said Farmer, who was the only woman not to testify under a pseudonym. 

"Even those with great power and privilege will be held accountable when they sexually abuse and exploit the young." 

The 60-year-old Maxwell, daughter of the late British media baron Robert Maxwell, was found guilty in a Manhattan federal court of a series of sex crimes, the most serious being the sex trafficking of a minor, which carries a maximum 40 year sentence. 

Four women testified that between 1994 and 2004, Maxwell recruited and groomed them for sex with Epstein. Two of the women were 14 years old at the time. 

Theresa Helm, another Epstein accuser who did not participate in the trial, described Maxwell as a "master manipulator." 

"Ghislaine Maxwell will never again have the opportunity to take anything from anyone. She will reside on the other side of freedom. Us -- survivors -- we go free," Helm said in a BBC interview. 

Epstein committed suicide in prison two years ago while awaiting his own trial for sex crimes. 

The judge has not yet set a date for Maxwell's sentencing, but the cumulative penalty for her crimes would likely amount to a life sentence. 

Her attorney, Bobbi Sternheim, has already stated that they will appeal. 

Virginia Giuffre, who alleges Epstein lent her out for sex with his wealthy and powerful associates, including Britain's Prince Andrew welcomed the verdict in a statement on Twitter. 

Praising Maxwell's conviction, Giuffre said she "will remember this day always." 

"My heart goes out to the many other girls and young women who suffered," she added. "I hope that today is not the end but rather another step in justice being served." 

The prince has repeatedly denied the allegations by Giuffre, who is sueing him in the United States, saying he does not remember meeting her and "absolutely and categorically did not have sex with her."

US judge dismisses NRA bankruptcy petition in blow to gun group

Yahoo – AFP, May 11, 2021

NRA leader Wayne LaPierre seen in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 26, 2019

A US judge rejected Tuesday a bankruptcy attempt by the National Rifle Association, ruling that the gun lobby group filed the petition to dodge a corruption probe in New York. 

The verdict is a victory for the New York investigation, which seeks to dissolve the powerful conservative organization. 

"The Court finds that the NRA did not file the bankruptcy petition in good faith because this filing was not for a purpose intended or sanctioned by the bankruptcy code," Judge Harlin Hale wrote. 

The verdict deals a blow to the NRA, which for decades has been able to shape major political races by endorsing pro-gun candidates. 

"Although we are disappointed in some aspects of the decision, there is no change in the overall direction of our Association, its programs or its Second Amendment advocacy," the NRA said in a statement. 

The NRA announced in January that it was filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors and moving its headquarters from New York to Texas. 

The organization and one of its subsidiaries filed petitions for so-called Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Dallas court. 

The NRA said its decision to reincorporate its non-profit status in Texas would ensure that in the future it is "free from the toxic political environment in New York." 

New York state announced in August of last year that it was suing the NRA and its leader Wayne LaPierre for financial fraud and misconduct, aiming to dissolve the organization. 

State Attorney General Letitia James said LaPierre and three other top NRA officials had used the dues and donations of members for years as their "personal piggy bank." 

They spent tens of millions of dollars on themselves and cronies in violation of laws governing non-profit organizations, according to Letitia's office. 

James, a Democrat, denied she was acting on political motives. 

"The @NRA does not get to dictate if and where it will answer for its actions, and our case will continue in New York court," James tweeted following Tuesday's ruling.

US sues Walmart over opioid crisis

France24 – AFP, 22 Decemberb 2020

The Justice Department sued Walmart, alleging it worsened the
opioid crisis Paul Ratje AFP/File 2 min New York (AFP)

The US Justice Department sued Walmart over its role in the opioid crisis on Tuesday, alleging the giant retailer wrongly filled prescriptions and worsened a public health disaster.

The suit accuses Walmart of irresponsible handling of orders, filling thousands of "invalid" prescriptions. 

 Authorities could seek up to billions of dollars in penalties, in the litigation that followed a multi-year investigation, the Justice Department said in a press release.

"As one of the largest pharmacy chains and wholesale drug distributors in the country, Walmart had the responsibility and the means to help prevent the diversion of prescription opioids," said Jeffrey Bossert Clark, acting head of DOJ's civil division. 

"Instead, for years, it did the opposite -- filling thousands of invalid prescriptions at its pharmacies and failing to report suspicious orders of opioids and other drugs placed by those pharmacies." 

Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company, the world's biggest retailer, filed its own lawsuit against the Justice Department in October that argued that the US crackdown put it in a no-win position. 

Pharmacists "must make a difficult decision" of either accepting a doctor's "medical judgment and fill the opioid prescription, or second-guess the doctor's judgment and refuse to fill it," Walmart said in its suit. 

"Either decision puts the pharmacist and pharmacy at great risk," the company argued. It said 

it faces potential federal action if prosecutors say an order was wrongly filled, or the chance of having a pharmacist license "stripped for the unauthorized practice of medicine, not to mention the potential harm to patients in need of their medicine."

Former ING chief should face charges over bank’s money laundering scandal: court

DutchNews, December 9, 2020 

Photo: ING.com

Former ING chief executive Ralph Hamers should face charges personally for his role in the money laundering scandal which led the financial services group to reach a €775m out of court settlement in 2018, appeal court judges in The Hague said on Wednesday. 

The case has been brought by campaign group Sobi, which says Hamers should face criminal charges. ‘The facts are serious, no settlement was reached with the management and he has never accepted public responsibility for his actions,’ campaigner Pieter Lakeman said. 

‘Managers who consciously make mistakes should not be able to buy themselves free by agreeing to very high fines while shareholders pick up the bill. It is of great importance that Hamers faces prosecution.’ 

The court said in its ruling that while it supported the public prosecution’s decision to look for a settlement, as CEO, Hammers was authorised and required to take measures to prevent criminal behaviour. ‘However, not only did he fail to do this and thereby promote this behaviour, but he also consciously accepted the risk that it would continue,’ the court said. 

ING said in a reaction it regretted the court decision. ‘We … regret the decision to order the prosecution of our former CEO, which goes against the assessment of the public prosecutors that, based on the investigation, there are no grounds for a case against ING employees or former employees,’ ING said in a statement. 

Hamers is now chief executive of Swiss bank UBS which, according to Reuters, says it is confident he will be able to remain in the job. 

The public prosecution department reached a €775m out of court settlement with ING for failing to properly monitor money transfers for potential money laundering in September 2018.

The department said between 2010 and 2016, the bank’s clients were effectively able to launder hundreds of millions of euros because ING was not doing its job properly. Banks are required by law to report suspicious transactions.

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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 (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)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Khashoggi fiancee sues Saudi prince in US over murder

Yahoo – AFP, October 20, 2020 

Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of the late journalist Jamal Khashoggi, sued Saudi
Arabia's crown prince and other Saudis in US court over the Khashoggi's
murder in October 2018

The fiancee of journalist Jamal Khashoggi sued Saudi Arabia's crown prince and other officials Tuesday in a US court, seeking damages for his brutal murder in Istanbul two years ago. 

Turkish citizen Hatice Cengiz and the human rights group Khashoggi formed before his death, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), is pursuing Mohammed bin Salman and 28 others for damages over the October 2, 2018 killing of the US-based writer. 

Cengiz claims personal injury and financial losses over Khashoggi's death, while DAWN said its operations and objectives were hampered by the loss of its founder and central figure. 

"The ruthless torture and murder of Mr. Khashoggi shocked the conscience of people throughout the world," the suit said. 

"The objective of the murder was clear –- to halt Mr. Khashoggi's advocacy in the United States, principally as the executive director of plaintiff DAWN, for democratic reform in the Arab world." 

Khashoggi was killed inside Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate and his body dismembered and disposed of by a team of Saudis allegedly directed by right-hand men of the crown prince. 

After global expressions of outrage over the case and pressure from the United States and Turkey, 13 Saudis were tried in Riyadh and sentenced to stiff prison terms. 

But two top royal aides, deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri and the royal court's media chief Saud al-Qahtani, were exonerated, despite links to the murder. 

Both of the aides, those convicted in Saudi Arabia for the murder, and others tied to the plot were named in the lawsuit. 

Cengiz and DAWN said they filed the suit in Washington federal court because they saw no chance for justice in Saudi Arabia, known for its opaque courts, and Turkish legal experts said the civil case would not go forward while Ankara pursues a criminal case over the murder. 

A prominent critic of the Riyadh regime, Khashoggi has been living near Washington and working in part for the Washington Post when he was killed. 

Cengiz said the two had wed under Islamic traditions and were preparing a civil marriage. 

The suit alleges that the plot against him involved the Saudi embassy in Washington, which directed him to travel to Istanbul to obtain the documents needed for their marriage. 

It also says his murder damaged the operations of DAWN, which is based in Washington. 

The defendants were "aware of Mr. Khashoggi's US ties and brutally killed Mr Khashoggi to silence him and prevent him from continuing in the United States his advocacy for democracy in the Arab world," the suit said.

Golden Globes voters hit with antitrust lawsuit

Yahoo – AFP, 4 August 2020

HFPA President Lorenzo Soria is named as a defendant in an antitrust lawsuit
against the group which awards the Golden Globes each year (AFP Photo/Robyn BECK)

Los Angeles (AFP) - The exclusive group of film journalists that awards the Golden Globes was accused Monday of sabotaging non-members while gorging on lavish perks and unparalleled access to Hollywood stars.

An antitrust lawsuit filed against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said the organization illegally monopolized entertainment reporting in Los Angeles while creating near-impossible barriers to entry for new members.

"All year long, HFPA members enjoy all-expenses-paid trips to film festivals around the world where the studios treat them lavishly and accommodate their every desire," said the suit brought by Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa.

"Qualified applicants for admission to the HFPA are virtually always rejected because the majority of its 87 members are unwilling to share or dilute the enormous economic benefits they receive as members," it adds.

The HFPA wields considerable power due to its annual Golden Globes -- one of Tinseltown's biggest and glitziest award shows, which is seen as a key step to success at the all-important Oscars.

Yet its membership -- which exclusively decides who walks away with the coveted Globes each year -- is shrouded in mystery.

Though some members work for well-respected foreign media outlets, many are freelancers writing for obscure publications.

The lawsuit details instances of members being wined and dined by Hollywood studios, including a Disney press trip to a Singapore five-star hotel last year.

"The studios, of course, resent having to lavish enormous sums of money on, and being required to cater to, the desires of a few dozen aging journalists who are regularly heard snoring through screenings, but given the importance of the Golden Globes, they see no way to end the farce," says the lawsuit.

Flaa, the plaintiff, applied for membership in 2018 and last year, but was rejected both times.

In her lawsuit, she accuses rival Scandinavian journalists of blocking her entry even though she is qualified to join according to HFPA criteria.

Any foreign journalist seeking entry must be sponsored by two members, and a newcomer's application can be rejected if one member of the association vetoes it.

The HFPA, which has yet to be served with the complaint, denied the allegations and accused Flaa of "ongoing attempts to shake down the HFPA."

"The HFPA has refused to pay ransom, telling Ms Flaa that membership was not gained through intimidation," the group said in a statement to AFP.

"Ms Flaa and her attorney are now asking a court to order her into the organization and pay her.

"The HFPA takes seriously its obligations as an organization and its dedication to foreign journalism and philanthropy, and it will vigorously defend against these baseless claims."

Thousands of Israelis rally against Netanyahu

Yahoo – AFP, August 1, 2020

A bandana-clad protester blows a shofar, an ancient musical horn, as he
 walks alongside others during a demonstration against Israel's Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday (AFP Photo/MENAHEM KAHANA)

Jerusalem (AFP) - Thousands protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu across Israel on Saturday night, demanding he resign over alleged corruption and a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

The protests took place at scores of intersections and bridges, where people held banners accusing Netanyahu of "failure" and calling for his resignation, as well as outside his private residence in the northern town Caesarea.

The main event took place outside the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, where organisers said thousands demanded Netanyahu step down.

In Tel Aviv, hundreds protested against rising unemployment and the government's alleged failure to support self-employed people who have lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic, media reports said.

Wearing face masks to forestall coronavirus transmission, protestors carried signs accusing Netanyahu, whose graft trial is ongoing at the Jerusalem district court, of corruption and failing to resolve the coronavirus crisis and the related economic malaise.

Israel won praise for its initial response to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the government has come under criticism amid a resurgence in cases after restrictions were lifted starting in late April. Netanyahu has himself acknowledged that the economy was re-opened too quickly.

The country of some nine million people has so far recorded over 72,000 confirmed cases, including 523 deaths.

The protests have been going on for weeks, with Netanyahu on Saturday night accusing private television channels 12 and 13 of "delivering propaganda for the anarchist Leftwing demonstrations" by providing extensive coverage of the rallies.

"They are desperately trying to brainwash the public, in order to bring down a strong prime minister from the Right," his Likud party wrote in a post re-tweeted by Netanyahu on Twitter.

Netanyahu further accused the media of "ignoring the violent nature of the protests and the calls in them to murder the prime minister and his family".

Malaysia in $3.9 bn settlement with Goldman over 1MDB

Yahoo – AFP, Sam Reeves, July 24, 2020

Factfile on the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia. (AFP Photo/John SAEKI)

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Malaysia reached a $3.9 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs Friday over the Wall Street titan's role in the 1MDB scandal in exchange for the country ending all criminal proceedings against the bank.

Billions of dollars were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad in a fraud that allegedly involved former prime minister Najib Razak and his cronies.

The cash plundered from state coffers bankrolled a global spending spree, and was spent on everything from artwork, to real estate and a super-yacht.

Goldman's role came under scrutiny over bond issues totalling $6.5 billion it helped arrange for the investment vehicle, with Malaysia claiming large amounts were misappropriated during the process.

Najib lost power in 2018 amid public anger at the scandal, and a new government charged Goldman and a string of former and current employees over the fraud, as well as demanding hefty compensation.

Malaysia and Goldman had been locked in long-running talks, and the country's finance ministry announced a breakthrough had finally been achieved.

The settlement comprises a cash payment of $2.5 billion to Malaysia and a guarantee that at least $1.4 billion in assets acquired with misappropriated funds would be recovered, it said.

"This settlement represents assets that rightfully belong to the Malaysian people," Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said.

"We are confident that we are securing more money from Goldman Sachs compared to previous attempts, which were far below expectations."

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin hailed a "victory" and said that, combined with 1MDB-linked funds already returned to Malaysia by the US, the country will receive a total of $4.5 billion.

Ex-PM Najib Razak is currently facing three, 1MDB-linked trials, and the verdict 

in the first is due to be handed down Tuesday (AFP Photo/Mohd RASFAN)

'Important step'

However, the previous Malaysian government, which lost power earlier this year, had demanded $7.5 billion in compensation from Goldman.

When they charged the Goldman, Malaysian prosecutors had accused the bank of making false statements which led to $2.7 billion being misappropriated in relation to the bond issues.

But after Malaysia announced the settlement, Goldman said the deal resolves "all the criminal and regulatory proceedings in Malaysia involving the firm".

"Today's settlement is an important step towards putting the 1MDB matter behind us and will help enable the Malaysian government to move forward with additional recovery efforts," it said.

After losing power at the 2018 elections, Najib was hit with dozens of charges linked to the controversy and is currently facing three trials. On Tuesday, a court will hand down its verdict in his first trial over the scandal.

He denies wrongdoing.

A former Goldman partner, Tim Leissner, has previously pleaded guilty in the US over his part in the controversy.

A Malaysian former managing director at the bank, Ng Chong Hwa, has also been charged in the US and Malaysia over the scandal.

The US Department of Justice, which is investigating the fraud as huge sums were allegedly laundered through the US financial system, says that about $4.5 billion was looted from 1MDB.

The scandal's alleged mastermind, jet-setting Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, has also been charged in Malaysia and the US.

Low denies any wrongdoing, and his current whereabouts are unknown.

French ex-PM Fillon gets two-year term in fake job scandal

Yahoo – AFP, Juliette MONTESSE and Joseph SCHMID, June 29, 2020

The case against the Fillons was widely seen as a test of whether French politicians 
would now be held to account after decades of getting off lightly on charges of 
nepotism or financial misconduct (AFP Photo/Thomas SAMSON)

Paris (AFP) - A Paris court on Monday sentenced French former prime minister Francois Fillon to five years in prison, three suspended, for orchestrating a fake job for his wife in a scandal that cost him his shot at the presidency in 2017.

Fillon's wife Penelope was given a suspended three-year sentence for participating in the scheme that saw her paid over one million euros in public funds over a 15-year period.

The case was widely seen as a test of whether French politicians would now be held to account after decades of getting off lightly on charges of nepotism or financial misconduct.

Fillon and his wife were also ordered to pay fines of 375,000 euros ($423,000) each.

Presiding judge Nathalie Gavarino said Fillon, 66, pursued "personal enrichment" over the common good and "contributed to an erosion of public trust" in elected leaders.

A third defendant, Marc Joulaud -- who stood in for Fillon in parliament when he was a cabinet minister and who also hired Penelope Fillon as an assistant -- was given a suspended three-year sentence.

The three were ordered to collectively reimburse one million euros to the National Assembly, where Penelope supposedly worked as Fillon's parliamentary assistant from 1998 to 2013.

Facing two years behind bars, Fillon was allowed to leave the courthouse a free man, for now, after the couple's lawyers said they would appeal.

"Obviously, this ruling is not fair," Fillon's lawyer Antonin Levy said.

The couple did not make any statement to dozens of journalists gathered as they left the courthouse.

Francois and Penelope Fillon and another defendant have been ordered to reimburse 

the National Assembly for one million euros (AFP Photo/Eric FEFERBERG)

Swift downfall

The allegations that Fillon pilfered public coffers for years pummelled his image as an upright fiscal hawk promising to right the country's finances -- and loomed large in the "yellow vest" anti-government protests that rocked the country in 2018-2019.

A newspaper report on the fake job surfaced in January 2017, just after Fillon clinched the nomination from his rightwing Republicans party for a presidential race he was widely tipped to win.

It later emerged Fillon had used public money to pay two of his children a combined 117,000 euros for sham work while he was a senator, before becoming premier in the government of then-president Nicolas Sarkozy.

The court Monday convicted the couple on this charge too, and for Penelope's receipt of 135,000 euros for largely fictitious "consulting work" for the millionaire owner of a literary magazine.

Defence lawyers struggled at the trial this year to provide documented proof that she actually did any work -- and the head of the magazine, Marc Ladreit de Lacharriere, had already pleaded guilty to the fake job charges.

The court on Monday barred Fillon from holding public office for 10 years, while Penelope received a two-year ban.

If the ruling is upheld, she will have to abandon the local council seat she was re-elected to last March in the northern town of Solesmes.

(AFP Photo/Aurelia MOUSSLY, Laetitia PERON)

'Penelopegate'

Fillon's lawyers sought to have the trial restarted after the former head of the Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), Eliane Houlette, told lawmakers this month she had met with "pressure" to bring charges quickly against the ex-premier.

But the court rejected this request Monday, even though President Emmanuel Macron -- whose path was cleared by Fillon's downfall -- has asked for an investigation into the prosecutor's claims.

"Penelopegate," as the scandal became known, torpedoed the career of one of France's right-wing stars, who was the youngest member of parliament when first elected at just 27 years old.

Fillon met his Welsh-born wife while she was studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, and the couple soon married and moved to an imposing country estate near Le Mans where they raised their five children.

Penelope Fillon told the court she spent a lot of time sorting her husband's mail, attending public events near their rural manor and gathering information for his speeches.

But investigators seized on a 2016 newspaper interview in which she said: "Until now, I have never got involved in my husband's political life."

Fillon insists he was set up for "political assassination" by his rivals and was the victim of a biased judiciary.

US police shooting of medical worker revives protest anger

Yahoo – AFP, May 13, 2020

Breonna Taylor, shown at a graduation ceremony, was shot dead by police
on March 13 (AFP Photo)

Washington (AFP) - The police killing of a 26-year-old emergency health worker in her apartment in Kentucky has triggered a fresh wave of anger in the United States over officers shooting black civilians.

Protests under the slogan "Black Lives Matter" have erupted regularly since 2012 over the shootings of unarmed African-Americans, with many accusing police of racially-biased brutality.

Breonna Taylor, an emergency medical technician (EMT) worker, and her boyfriend were asleep when police burst in and shot her eight times on March 13, her lawyer Ben Crump said.

Officers had the wrong address and used a battering ram to enter the Louisville apartment without warning and were searching for a suspect who was already in custody, Crump said.

Taylor's boyfriend is still being held after the raid, while no police officer has been charged over her death.

The police department "has not provided any answers regarding the facts and circumstances of how this tragedy occurred, nor have they taken responsibility for her senseless killing," Crump said in a statement.

A lawsuit was filed last month accusing officers of wrongful death, excessive force and gross negligence, according to The Washington Post.

"My priority is that the truth comes out, and for justice to follow," Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said Tuesday.

"The Breonna Taylor case is currently under investigation... Police work can involve incredibly difficult situations. Additionally, residents have rights."

Cases of US police brutality against people of color, and particularly black people, have become increasingly high-profile in recent years, sparking national protests.

In one of the most well-known cases, a white police officer killed Michael Brown -- an 18-year-old black man -- in Missouri in 2014.

Along with the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012 by a neighborhood watchman, the case inspired the Black Lives Matter movement.

And in recent days, although it was not a police killing, Americans have been outraged by the shooting death of a young black jogger named Ahmaud Arbery by two white men in Georgia.

Taylor "was one of the healthcare professionals helping us through this pandemic. But even as she helped to save lives, police violence took hers," said the verified Black Lives Matter twitter account.

Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for action, saying that Taylor "was killed two months ago, and nothing has happened since."