Category: Business

MIL-OSI USA: Ahead of Confirmation Vote, Warren, Kaine Call on RFK Jr. to Forfeit Stake in Anti-Vaccine Lawsuits

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

February 06, 2025

After pressure, Kennedy agreed to transfer stake in anti-vaccine lawsuits to his son, but would still have influence over those cases as HHS Secretary

“Your relationships with these entities [with business before HHS] will raise serious doubts about your impartiality if you participate in decisions about cases and other particular matters that involve them.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Pensions, and Labor, wrote to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), about his continued conflicts of interest. The senators called out Mr. Kennedy’s plan to enter office with a serious ethics conflict by keeping a financial interest in anti-vaccine lawsuits within his family, asked him to recuse himself from former clients’ matters, commit to not lobbying HHS after his tenure as Secretary, and more.

Mr. Kennedy initially had an agreement with the law firm Wisner Baum that would allow him to earn 10% of any payments awarded to plaintiffs in cases he referred to the firm, including cases against the pharmaceutical company Merck’s Gardasil vaccine. As HHS Secretary, Mr. Kennedy would have the power to influence the outcome of those vaccine cases, including influencing Merck’s willingness to settle, or influencing the jury pool. Last week, Mr. Kennedy announced he would transfer his stake in those cases to his adult son, an attorney at Wisner Baum.

“This arrangement simply does not pass the smell test. Your son is not an independent third party, and ethics experts have critiqued your plan as exploiting a loophole in the law,” wrote the senators. The lawmakers called on Mr. Kennedy to divest from cases he’s referred to the firm by either forfeiting the fee or agreeing with Wisner Baum to accept an amount not dependent on the outcome of cases during his tenure.

Mr. Kennedy has also worked with an anti-vaccine advocacy group, Children’s Health Defense, which regularly sues the agencies he’d oversee as HHS Secretary, and a number of law firms with ongoing health-related matters. Mr. Kennedy has agreed to not work on his former clients’ matters for one year. However, the senators are concerned that the cooling-off period is too short to resolve the concern that he would not be impartial when handling matters involving former clients with whom he still has fresh relationships. To address such concerns, over a dozen Biden appointees voluntarily agreed to recuse themselves from former clients’ matters for four years.

Mr. Kennedy also said he would continue to hold investments in a fund invested in multiple companies regulated by HHS, and that he would seek a waiver to work on matters that impact those investments.

“You appear to be planning to make decisions that can impact your own investments in numerous health companies. We urge you to either divest these holdings before taking office or to recuse from all particular matters that could impact those holdings,” wrote the lawmakers.

During his hearing, Mr. Kennedy committed to not working for a drug company for at least four years after leaving government service. However, he did not commit to not seeking compensation from entities that sue drug companies or that he would regulate or interact with at HHS. Numerous Biden appointees agreed to a cooling-off period of at least four years before working in the industries they regulated.

“You should commit to not lobbying HHS for at least four years after leaving office, either as a formal registered lobbyist or informal shadow lobbyist — given that former high-level officials can leverage their influence not only by directly lobbying but through facilitating others to do so,” concluded the lawmakers.

The senators asked Mr. Kennedy to make these commitments to increase American’s trust in his ability to serve the public interest during his time at HHS.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Democrats Hold Floor Overnight, Welch Speaks at 5 A.M. to Oppose Nomination of Project 2025 Author and Nominee for OMB Russell Vought

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)

Welch spoke on the Trump Administration’s lawlessness and illegal actions—from pardoning January 6th defendants to freezing federal funding and international aid
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) took to the Senate Floor at 5:00 a.m. this morning to sound the alarm on the dangers of Donald Trump’s lawlessness and to oppose the nomination of Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Senator Welch spoke for an hour.
View his remarks here:

Senate Democrats held the floor all night to oppose Russell Vought’s nomination to OMB and to slam the Trump Administration’s freeze on federal loans and grants. Vought’s radical Project 2025 would slash federal funding, and threaten the programs and services Vermonters rely on, like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. As director of the OMB, Vought will be tasked with carrying out President Trump’s federal funding freeze, which is unconstitutional. Additionally, Vought is an open election denier and told Senators in his confirmation hearing he believed the 2020 election was ‘rigged.’ The Senate is expected to vote on Vought Thursday.
Senator Welch last week convened Vermonters to discuss how the Trump Administration’s federal funding freeze has impacted communities, families and workers across the state. The federal courts temporarily blocked the order, and on Monday extended the temporary restraining order. In addition, the court has required OMB to re-open funding currently held by the government and provide the court a compliance report by the end of the week.
■■■
Senator Welch’s Committee and Subcommittee Assignments for the 119th Congress include:  

Senate Committee on Finance  

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry 

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit  

Senate Committee on the Judiciary 

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution  

Senate Committee on Rules & Administration 

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Reading Whistler’s Nocturne in Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge as a piece of music

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Frances Fowle, Personal Chair of Nineteenth-Century Art, History of Art, University of Edinburgh

Nocturne in Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1872-5). Tate/Canva, CC BY-SA

In 1877 the American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) achieved notoriety when he exhibited his recent views of the river Thames at the Grosvenor Gallery in London. He gave his paintings musical titles: Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket (1875) and Nocturne in Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge (circa 1872-5).

The view of Battersea Bridge includes Chelsea Church and the then newly constructed Albert Bridge. The lights of Cremorne Pleasure Gardens twinkle in the distance, while fireworks explode in the pale sky above.

The painting is remarkable for its intense, light blue tonality suggestive of evening, the time of day sometimes known as “the blue hour”. Painting from memory, Whistler thinned his paint with copal (a tree resin), turpentine and linseed oil. This created what he called a “sauce”, which he applied in thin, transparent layers, wiping it away until he was satisfied. He left areas of the dark preparatory layer unpainted to create the illusion of the bridge. Inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, he exaggerated its height.

This article is part of Rethinking the Classics. The stories in this series offer insightful new ways to think about and interpret classic books, films and artworks. This is the canon – with a twist.

All this was lost on the critics, however. The author Oscar Wilde reviewed the exhibition and wrote that the Battersea Bridge Nocturne was “worth looking at for about as long as one looks at a real rocket, that is, for somewhat less than a quarter of a minute”.

A few years earlier Whistler had exhibited another view of the Thames, Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Chelsea (1871), at the Dudley Gallery in London. The critic for The Times summed up Whistler’s intention, observing that the painting was:

So closely akin to music that the colours of the one may and should be used, like the ordered sounds of the other; that painting should not aim at expressing dramatic emotions, depicting incidents of history or recording facts of nature, but should be content with moulding our moods and stirring our imaginations, by subtle combinations of colour.

Arrangement in Gray: Portrait of the Painter by Whistler (1872).
Detroit Institute of Arts

Whistler’s paintings were first compared to music as early as 1863 when the French critic Paul Manz described his haunting portrait, The White Girl (1872), as a “symphony in white”. Whistler adopted the title retrospectively, creating a series of three aesthetic mood paintings or “symphonies”, featuring young women in flowing white dresses.

Press and public alike were puzzled by the artist’s insistence that his paintings lacked any specific narrative or moral message.

When he witnessed the abstraction of Whistler’s latest Nocturnes at the Grosvenor Gallery, the leading English art critic John Ruskin published a venomous review. “I have seen, and heard much of Cockney impudence before now,” he wrote, “but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask 200 guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.”

Whistler’s retort

Whistler sued Ruskin for libel and used the ensuing two-day trial to defend his views on art. He referred to his paintings throughout proceedings in musical terms, as “arrangements”, “symphonies” or “nocturnes”. When asked what the Battersea Bridge painting was intended to represent, he replied:

I did not intend it to be a ‘correct’ portrait of the bridge. It is only a moonlight scene … As to what the picture represents, that depends upon who looks at it. To some persons it may represent all that is intended; to others it may represent nothing.

Whistler won the court case, but was awarded only a farthing in damages, resulting in his bankruptcy. Undaunted, the following year (1878) he published The Red Rag, in which he articulated his aesthetic theory:

Art should be independent of all clap-trap – should stand alone, and appeal to the artistic sense of eye or ear, without confounding this with emotions entirely foreign to it, as devotion, pity, love, patriotism, and the like. All these have no kind of concern with it, and that is why I insist on calling my works “arrangements” and “harmonies”.

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In 1885 he delivered his, now famous, 10 o’clock Lecture. In it reiterated his aesthetic theory. “Nature,” he wrote, “contains the elements, in colour and form, of all pictures, as the keyboard contains the notes of all music”. He urged artists not to copy nature slavishly, as Ruskin had recommended, but to approach it more like a musician, waiting for that moment when:

The evening mist clothes the riverside with poetry, as with a veil, and the poor buildings lose themselves in the dim sky, and the tall chimneys become campanili and the warehouses are palaces in the night, and the whole city hangs in the heavens, and fairy-land is before us.

It is then, he argued, that nature “sings her exquisite song to the artist alone”.

Beyond the canon

As part of the Rethinking the Classics series, we’re asking our experts to recommend a book or artwork that tackles similar themes to the canonical work in question, but isn’t (yet) considered a classic itself. Here is Frances Fowles’ suggestion:

Whistler was not the only artist of this period to view his art as the equivalent of music. His work anticipated symbolism, a literary and artistic movement that rejected naturalistic representation in favour of more abstract concerns, such as the connections between words, colours and musical notes.

Mikalojus Čiurlionis and his 1908 painting, Stellar Sonata.
Wiki Commons

The relationship between colour, rhythm and sound was central to the work of French artist Paul Signac (1863-1935), who worked in a pointillist technique (applying dots of colour), and assigned his paintings opus numbers and tempos. The Lithuanian painter and composer Mikalojus Čiurlionis (1875-1911), too, fused music and colour and gave his artworks musical titles.

Frances Fowle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Reading Whistler’s Nocturne in Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge as a piece of music – https://theconversation.com/reading-whistlers-nocturne-in-blue-and-gold-old-battersea-bridge-as-a-piece-of-music-241075

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Crapo Statement at USTR Nomination Hearing

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo

Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) delivered the following remarks at a hearing to consider the nomination of Jamieson Greer to be United States Trade Representative (USTR), with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

As prepared for delivery:

“Mr. Greer, welcome and congratulations on your nomination.

“By traditional timelines, this is one of the earliest dates the Finance Committee has held a nomination hearing for the United States Trade Representative, or USTR.

“Your cooperation and timely responses to questions from both sides of the aisle expedited this Committee’s very demanding process.

“Mr. Greer has been nominated by the President for an incredibly important job: America’s chief trade negotiator. By statute—and frankly, in accordance with our Constitution—our negotiator must report to Congress, which means he reports to the Finance Committee.

“This week, attention fell on President Trump’s executive orders to help secure our borders from illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling. I strongly support securing our borders and fighting fentanyl trafficking.

“The executive orders rely on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, and concern drug policy and border security. The President, not USTR, invokes IEEPA, and the Department of Homeland Security, not USTR, is responsible for securing our borders. Nonetheless, I am securing briefings on these orders and, in fact, Customs and Border Protection will brief Committee staff on this matter today.

“What the President has done that is different, though, is bringing tariffs into the discussions about border security. USTR is, as I said, America’s chief trade negotiator.

“Any time the U.S. government is considering tariffs or something that implicates trade policy, he should be part of those conversations, and report to us about those conversations and solicit our input.

“Right now, Mr. Greer is not in government and not privy to various discussions.

“Confirming him will allow him to be part of the conversation and work with this Committee, ensuring Congress fulfills its constitutional responsibilities over international trade.

“When we look at whether Jamieson Greer will be a good negotiator for America’s trade interests and a partner to this committee, his experience and skillset indicate the answer is yes.

“He understands USTR’s policymaking since he served as its Chief of Staff. At USTR, he distinguished himself as an effective negotiator in his work on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which overwhelmingly passed Congress. As many of my Democrat colleagues know firsthand, he worked closely with them on their priorities for USMCA.

“As an accomplished international trade attorney, he is an expert on our trade agreements and trade laws, including the requirements to report to Congress promptly and thoroughly.

“We need an effective USTR now more than ever. The last USTR did not negotiate any agreements and we lost ground to foreign competitors. The Biden Administration walked away even from its own limited initiatives, such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Rather than forge new rules to combat China’s trade practices, the prior administration turned its back on existing rules and positions, such as our intellectual property rights under the WTO TRIPS Agreement, and support for open data flows and non-discrimination against our technology companies.

“The Biden Administration also dawdled on enforcement of our existing trade agreements, including by failing to act against protectionist measures on our U.S. agriculture and energy producers.

“Finally, there was one other major USTR failure during the last Administration: failing to report and to consult with this Committee. Both sides of the aisle expressed serious concern about the last USTR’s repeated failures to consult with the Committee—and her position that she did not need to improve consultation with the Committee or the agency’s transparency with the public.

“We should not hold Mr. Greer responsible for those failings. Mr. Greer has been crystal clear that he will consult with this Committee and respect Congress’s constitutional prerogatives over trade. I expect that some members may disagree from time to time with the Administration, but, if so, Mr. Greer has committed to make its case before us, rather than ignore us. If confirmed, I will hold him to that commitment.

“Mr. Greer, thank you for your willingness to serve, and I look forward to hearing more from you about your perspectives on international trade policy and how you plan to work with this Committee to achieve our shared priorities.

“With that, I recognize Ranking Member Wyden for his opening remarks.”

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: HSI Newark supports New Jersey Attorney General in taking down large-scale diesel fuel theft ring on the East Coast

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

NEWARK, N.J. — After an investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark with state and local partners, 25 people and four companies were charged for their alleged roles in a multimillion-dollar scheme that used stolen credit card information to fraudulently purchase tens of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel and then resell it to trucking companies and other fuel providers.

“The success of this operation is a true testament to our valued partnership with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office,” HSI Newark acting Special Agent in Charge Spiros Karabinas said. “Together we targeted members of a criminal organization suspected of using stolen credit card information to purchase diesel fuel along the East Coast and ensured many fraudsters faced justice.”

As alleged, the enterprise operated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, using credit card “skimmers” that stole financial information from credit and debit cards to create “cloned” cards that were used to make fraudulent fuel purchases. Various vehicles — some having been modified with auxiliary tanks to illegally transport fraudulently purchased diesel fuel — were loaded up with the stolen fuel and delivered it to customers, earning the enterprise illicit profits of $3.4 million during the time period of the investigation.

“These defendants allegedly developed a sophisticated system for stealing credit card information from unsuspecting victims and then used that information to make new, fraudulent cards, which they used to buy diesel fuel,” said New Jersey Attorney General Platkin. “That fuel was then allegedly sold to trucking companies and other fuel providers. Working with our local law enforcement partners, we will always be on the lookout for financial frauds and protect the public from these schemes.”

HSI Newark and the Office of the Attorney General partnered with the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), the Camden County Prosecutor’s office and the Gloucester Township Police Department in the investigation into the criminal organization resulting in the charges.

According to the investigation, in October 2023, DCJ detectives received information from the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office and Gloucester Township Police Department about an alleged diesel fuel theft enterprise operating throughout New Jersey. Participants allegedly placed skimming devices on various gas pumps when the gas stations were closed. A skimming device is a card reader that is surreptitiously placed in a location where individuals will insert their credit or debit cards and records the user’s information.

The investigation revealed that the enterprise possessed “master” keys that unlocked gas pumps, permitting them to install the skimmers inside. Some of the skimmers recovered included stolen information from victims who had used the affected gas pumps. Those devices and other electronic devices recovered during the investigation showed that the enterprise allegedly stole credit card information from thousands of victims from New Jersey and surrounding states.

The stolen financial information was allegedly used to create “cloned” cards that were used to purchase diesel fuel from other gas stations. Approximately 500 cloned cards were recovered from enterprise members during arrests by law enforcement. After purchasing the fuel, they would then deliver the fuel to trucking companies in exchange for payment. No member of the enterprise is registered with the state to sell diesel fuel.

Additional partners in the investigation include New Jersey’s Elizabeth, Bordentown, Mahwah, Roxbury Township, Mantua, Franklin Township, Cranford Township and Kearny police departments, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office – Cyber Crimes Taskforce. Out of state partners include the Bristol and Lancaster City police departments in Pennsylvania, the Colchester Police Department in New York, the East Lyme Police Department in Connecticut plus the New York, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire State Police. Miami-Dade Police Department, Broward County Sheriff’s Office, and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in Florida and the Texas Department of Public Safety assisted with the arrests.

Charges are merely accusations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSINewark to learn more about HSI’s global missions and operations.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: New York Man faces new charges for financial fraud following HSI Buffalo investigation

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A New York man who pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud in April 2024 faces new charges after an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo.

Timothy Siverd, 37, of Webster, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with wire fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,00 fine, the U.S. District Court for the District of Western New York announced Jan. 16, 2025.

“Our investigation shows Siverd, who is currently awaiting sentencing for involvement in another financial fraud scheme, allegedly continued to indulge his greed through additional involvement in fraudulent activities,” said HSI Buffalo Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan. “Together with our partner, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, we take the complaint against Siverd seriously and aim to bring justice to victims of financial fraud schemes.”

According to the investigation, in August 2024, an individual reported to law enforcement that Siverd, who owns ROC Scrubby, was using the cleaning company to over-bill customers in excess of tens of thousands of dollars. The individual, an employee of ROC Scrubby, stated that as her employment carried on, she gradually started to hear more and more complaints from customers that they were being over-billed or double-billed for services, or billed for work that was never performed. She also stated that Siverd was able to over-bill customers using the BookingKoala app, which granted Siverd access to each customer’s credit or debit card information. In addition, the individual stated that Siverd would claim to fix the issue and refund money, but customers stated that he would either not refund the money, give a partial refund, or give a full refund only to again over-bill the customers on a later date. The employee knew of at least five customers who were overbilled so often that they changed their credit or debit card numbers to stop it. The employee also reported other suspicious activity of Siverd’s to law enforcement.

In April 2024, Siverd pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud for his involvement in another financial fraud scheme and is awaiting sentencing on that charge.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Honduran national sentenced in $14+ million payroll scheme to defraud IRS, workers’ compensation insurance company

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Mexican national was sentenced to more than two years in prison and ordered to pay more than $3.5 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States following a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Jacksonville investigation.

Jose Molina-Herrera, 27, of Honduras, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison. The court also ordered Molina-Herrera to forfeit $867,005, which are proceeds of the wire fraud offense. In addition, Molina-Herrera was ordered to pay a total of $3,558,579.42 in restitution to the IRS. Molina-Herrera entered a guilty plea on Nov. 1, 2024.

“Wire fraud and the facilitation of ‘off the books’ payments not only undermine the integrity of our legal and economic systems but also supports unlawful employment activities,” said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Hemker. “Homeland Security Investigations, alongside our partners at the Internal revenue Service – Criminal Investigations and the Florida Department of Financial Services – Bureau of Insurance Fraud, is committed to holding those who facilitate these complex fraud schemes accountable for their actions.”

According to court documents, between 2019 and 2020, Molina-Herrera conspired with others to facilitate the payment of construction workers “off the books” to avoid paying premiums for workers’ compensation insurance and payroll taxes. Construction contractors and subcontractors entered arrangements with the conspirators, through which All National Remodeling LLC — a shell company formed by Molina-Herrera — facilitated both the distribution of proof of insurance and the payment of workers with cash. In exchange for 6 percent to 8 percent of the contractors’ and subcontractors’ payroll, Molina-Herrera and others caused the distribution of certificates of liability insurance in the name of All National Remodeling, which contractors and subcontractors then used as nominal proof that workers were supposedly insured. In reality, All National Remodeling’s insurance policy was issued based on a fraudulent application that never disclosed that contractors and subcontractors would be employing workers who were ostensibly insured under the shell company’s barebones insurance policy. As a result of contractors and subcontractors using All National Remodeling’s proof of insurance, but never paying any insurance premiums, the insurance company was defrauded more than $2.2 million.

Molina-Herrera and others also facilitated the deposit of checks into the shell company’s bank accounts, as well as the withdrawal of cash to be paid to workers — all without withholding, or paying over, payroll taxes to the IRS. Through these arrangements with the conspirators, the construction contractors and subcontractors could disclaim responsibility for withholding and paying payroll taxes to the IRS or ensuring that the workers were legally authorized to work in the United States. By facilitating payments to workers of over $14 million without payroll taxes being withheld, Molina-Herrera and his co-conspirators caused the U.S. Treasury to lose more than $3.5 million in tax receipts.

One of Molina-Herrera’s co-conspirators, Oscar Molina-Avila, was previously sentenced to 52 months’ imprisonment for his role in the scheme.

“Using shell companies to pay workers under the table is not only illegal, it gives an unfair competitive advantage that businesses who do things the right way can’t match,” said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Tampa Field Office. “We will continue to investigate these schemes to ensure compliance with the law and return competitive balance to the industry.”

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, HSI Jacksonville, and the Florida Department of Financial Services – Bureau of Insurance Fraud. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Coolican.

HSI Tampa’s area of responsibility, which includes 10 geographically strategic offices, covers more than 51,600 square miles of the total 65,757 square miles in the state of Florida. This region has more than 14.2 million people and includes 58 of the 67 counties. HSI Tampa also includes five of the 10 largest cities in Florida, 15 primary commercial service airports, and 11 seaports.

Learn more about HSI Tampa’s mission to increase public safety in Florida communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSITampa.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: HSI investigation leads to guilty pleas for Chinese nationals in fraudulent gift card conspiracy

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

CONCORD, N.H. — Three Chinese nationals pleaded guilty Jan. 14 for their roles in a large-scale fraud conspiracy based in China after their activity was uncovered during a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) probe.

Naxin Wu, 26, Mengying Jiang, 34, and Mingdong Chen, 28, pleaded guilty in federal court in Concord to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Judge Landya B. McCafferty scheduled Wu’s sentencing for April 8, 2025 and Jiang’s sentencing for April 22, 2025. Judge Joseph N. Laplante scheduled Chen’s sentencing for April 11, 2025.

According to HSI’s investigation, organized criminal elements in China acquire gift cards through multiple fraudulent means. For example, gift cards are obtained by hacking U.S. companies, and targeting U.S. citizens through romance and elder fraud schemes. The criminal elements then send the gift card data to multiple cells of Chinese nationals operating in the United States through a Chinese-based messaging platform.

Once U.S.-based cells receive the gift card data, they then spend the gift cards to purchase high-value electronics, principally Apple products. After purchasing the Apple products, cell members consolidate the electronics in warehouses for shipment to China, Hong Kong, or countries in Southeast Asia. The cells primarily operate in states with no sales tax, such as New Hampshire, to maximize their profits.

Wu, Jiang, and Chen are members of one cell in New Hampshire. Wu and Jiang purchased fraudulent gift cards at a discount from their face value. They then either personally used the cards or disseminated them to others, including Chen, to use. Wu was responsible for $1.4 million, Jiang for $3 million, and Chen for $400,000 of fraudulent gift cards.

The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

HSI New England’s Manchester Resident Agent in Charge office, Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Concord Police Department led the investigation. The Merrimack County Attorney’s Office has provided valuable assistance.

Gift card fraud has become a growing concern for consumers and businesses alike. Under Project Red Hook, HSI is teaming up with our law enforcement partners and businesses to raise awareness of how Chinese organized crime groups are exploiting gift cards to launder money.

Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSINewEngland to learn more about HSI’s global missions and operations.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Jeweler sentenced to 30 months for multimillion-dollar international trade fraud scheme following a multi-agency investigation

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

NEWARK, N.J. — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark led an investigation with law enforcement partners spanning from India to New York and New Jersey, resulting in the discovery of a jeweler running a multimillion-dollar international trade fraud scheme and unlicensed money transmitting.

Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah, a/k/a “Monish Doshi Shah” (Shah), 40, of Mumbai, India and Jersey City, New Jersey, who operated jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District was sentenced to 30 months for spearheading a scheme to illegally evade customs duties for more than $13.5 million of jewelry imports into the United States and for illegally processing more than $10.3 million through an unlicensed money transmitting business. He previously pleaded guilty at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to a two-count Information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.

“Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah disregarded our nation’s trade laws and defrauded the U.S. government of millions of dollars in customs duties through his brazen international financial fraud scheme,” said HSI Newark acting Special Agent in Charge Sprios Karabinas. “Through HSI’s investigation, we were able to uncover the mislabeled tracks of jewelry shipments and illegal transactions Shah hoped to conceal. We are thankful for the collaboration with partners across the globe who helped us bring this case to successful prosecution.”

According to the investigation, from approximately December 2019 to approximately April 2022, Shah engaged in a scheme to evade duties for shipments of jewelry from Turkey and India to the United States. Shah would ship and/or instruct his co-conspirators to ship goods from Turkey or India — which would have been subject to an approximately 5.5% duty if shipped directly to the United States — to one of Shah’s companies in South Korea. Shah’s co-conspirators in South Korea would change the labels on the jewelry to state that they were from South Korea instead of Turkey or India, and then ship them to Shah or his customers in the United States, thereby unlawfully evading the duty. Shah would also make and instruct his customers to make fake invoices and packing lists to make it look like Shah’s South Korean companies were actually ordering jewelry from Turkey or India. Shah also instructed a third-party shipping company to provide false information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection concerning the origin of the jewelry. During the scheme, Shah shipped approximately $13.5 million of jewelry from South Korea to the United States without paying the appropriate duty.

In addition, from approximately July 2020 through approximately November 2021, Shah owned and/or operated numerous jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District, including MKore LLC, MKore USA Inc, and Vruman Corp. Shah used these entities to conduct more than $10.3 million in illegal financial transactions for customers — including converting cash to checks or wire transfers. Shah would also collect cash from customers and use other individuals’ jewelry companies to convert the cash into wires or checks. At times, Shah and other members of the money transmitting business moved hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single day. In exchange for their services, certain members of the money transmitting business charged a fee. None of Shah’s or his associates’ companies were registered as money transmitting businesses with New York, New Jersey, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Salas ordered restitution in the amount of $742,500 for the wire fraud scheme and forfeiture in the amount of $11,126,982.33 for the wire fraud and unlicensed money transmitting schemes. In addition, the Court imposed a two-year term of supervised release.

HSI Newark partnered with HSI New York, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation in Newark, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the investigation leading to the sentence. International partners included the HSI attaché office in Seoul, and the Korea Customs Service, the Seoul Customs Special Investigation Office in South Korea. The DEA, the Parsippany -Troy Hills Police Department, the Morristown Police Department, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General and the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section assisted in the investigation.

Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSINewark to learn more about HSI’s global missions and operations.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: HSI Miami-Key West investigation leads to 2 Ukrainian nationals sentenced for $25m tax evasion, money laundering and labor exploitation conspiracy

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

MIAMI — Two Ukrainian nationals who were extradited from the Kingdom of Thailand to the United States in September 2024 were sentenced Jan. 27 on charges related to labor-staffing companies they operated in Florida.

Oleg Oliynyk and Oleksandr Yurchyk were each sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering after a joint investigation between Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami-Key West and IRS Criminal Investigation.

According to court documents, Oliynyk, Yurchyk and others owned and operated a series of labor-staffing companies in South Florida — including Paradise Choice LLC, Paradise Choice Cleaning LLC, Tropical City Services LLC and Tropical City Group LLC — from at least April 2008 and August 2021. Through these staffing companies, Oliynyk, Yurchyk and co-defendants Oleksandr Morgunov, Mykhaylo Chugay and Volodymyr Ogorodnychuk facilitated the employment of non-resident aliens in the hospitality industry who were not authorized to work in the United States and helped evade the assessment and collection of more than $25 million of federal income and employment taxes.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez ordered Oliynyk and Yurchyk to each serve three years of supervised release, pay $10,863,233.05 in restitution to the United States and to forfeit $11 million.

Oliynyk and Yurchyk are the latest defendants sentenced as part of Operation RoomKey, a joint criminal investigation initiative led by the Tax Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation.

Acting U.S. Attorney Michael S. Davis for the Southern District of Florida and acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Senior Litigation Counsel Chris Clark of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty, and Trial Attorneys Jessica A. Kraft, Matthew C. Hicks, and Wilson Rae Stamm of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida or on Pacer under case number 21-cr-10009.

Members of the public with information about criminal activity in your community are encouraged to contact the HSI Tip Line at 877-4-HSI-TIP.

Learn more about HSI’s mission to increase public safety in your community on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSI_Miami.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: HSI Los Angeles special agents arrest 8 in customs fraud scheme involving goods from China
Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

LOS ANGELES — HSI Los Angeles has arrested eight individuals for their part in an internal conspiracy among logistic companies’ executives, warehouse owners and truck drivers to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit and other illegal goods from China into the United States via the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The 15-count indictment, returned last month and unsealed on Jan. 24, charges nine defendants with conspiracy, smuggling and breaking customs seals. The defendants allegedly took containers flagged for off-site secondary inspection, unloaded the contraband, then stuffed the targeted containers with filler cargo to deceive customs officials and evade law enforcement.

According to the indictment, a search of one warehouse used by the group led to the seizure in June 2024 of $20 million worth of counterfeit items including shoes, perfume, luxury handbags, apparel and watches.

Seven defendants were arrested on Jan. 24, an eighth was taken into custody on Jan. 25, and one defendant is a fugitive. A trial date was scheduled for March 18. The eighth defendant, who was arrested on unrelated state charges, is expected to be arraigned in federal court in the coming days.

“Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles and its partners are committed to enforcing customs laws and practices, facilitating legitimate trade, and protecting the integrity of the nation’s supply chain,” said HSI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang. “The $1.3 billion dollars’ worth of contraband seized during the investigation into this type of scheme illuminates how complex smuggling schemes try to exploit our legitimate trade practices and the American consumer.”

The 15-count indictment details a conspiracy to coordinate the shipment of large quantities of contraband from China to the United States through the Port of Los Angeles from at least August 2023 to June 2024. The individuals arrested are:
- Hexi Wang, 32, of El Monte, who manages K&P International Logistics LLC, a City of Industry-based company that hires commercial truckers to transport shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles;
- Jin “Mark” Liu, 42, of Irvine, the owner of K&P International Logistics LLC and who managed the finances of one of the warehouses where contraband was unloaded and issued payments to truck drivers who transported smuggled goods;
- Dong “Liam” Lin, 31, of Hacienda Heights, who — along with Zheng — controlled and operated one of the contraband warehouses;
- Marck Anthony Gomez, 49, of West Covina, the owner and operator of Fannum Trucks LLC, a West Covina-based company that coordinated the movement of shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles, including large shipments of contraband smuggled into the United States from China;
- Andy Estuardo Castillo Perez, 32, of Apple Valley, a driver for M4 Transportation Inc., a Carson-based company that transports shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles;
- Jesse James Rosales, 41, of Apple Valley, who coordinated truckers from the ports to warehouses;
- Daniel Acosta Hoffman, 41, of Hacienda Heights, worked with Rosales to bring cargo containers from the Port of Los Angeles to warehouses; and
- Galvin Biao Liufu, 33, of Ontario, directed and managed truck drivers to bring the contraband into the warehouses.
According to the indictment, Wang, Liu and others maintained and operated warehouses to store, conceal and sell large amounts of contraband goods that were illegally imported into the United States from China. When the contraband containers were selected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for inspection, the defendants hired commercial truck drivers to transport the containers from the Port of Los Angeles to locations that the conspirators controlled, including warehouses in the City of Industry that were controlled or managed by Zheng, Wang and others.

At these locations, co-conspirators broke the security seals on the shipping containers and removed the contraband from inside. Then, they affixed counterfeit security seals onto the containers to conceal that cargo had been removed from them. After emptying some of the cargo and re-securing the containers with counterfeit seals, Wang and others then directed co-conspirators to transport the containers to CBP-authorized locations for the remaining cargo to be presented to customs officials for inspection.

Wang, Liu and others paid fees to co-conspirators, including Gomez and Castillo Perez, that were substantially above normal trucking fees to transport the contraband shipping containers.

To date, law enforcement has seized more than $1.3 billion worth of counterfeit goods associated with this and similar seal-swapping schemes.

If convicted of all charges, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each conspiracy count, up to 10 years in federal prison for each count of breaking customs seals, and up to 20 years in prison for each smuggling count.

Anyone with information on alleged customs fraud are encouraged to call the HSI Tip Line at 877-4-HSI-TIP.

Learn more about HSI’s mission to protect the U.S. economy in your community on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSILosAngeles.

MIL OSI USA News –
February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Out of state man pleads guilty to laundering email scam proceeds

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

HOUSTON – A California man has admitted to operating an illegal money transmitting business, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Victor Rubio Jr. admitted that from 2021 to 2022, he operated an unlicensed money transmitting business that received and transmitted funds from a business email compromise (BEC) scheme. Rubio ran the unlicensed money transmitting business by using shell companies that existed only on paper.

As part of the plea, Rubio acknowledged opening and maintaining bank accounts to collect money from at least two victims in a BEC scheme, including a healthcare liability insurance company headquartered in Georgia and a township in New Jersey. Then, for a fee, he transmitted the fraud proceeds to co-conspirators.

In response to fraudulent wire instructions from spoofed email accounts, victims sent interstate wire transfers for payment to Rubio instead of to the true creditors to whom the victims owed money.

More than 45 people in multiple states, including Rubio and seven others in the Southern District of Texas, have been charged in separate business email compromise schemes that affected numerous victims.

U.S. District Judge George Hanks will impose sentencing April 22. At that time, Rubio faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 maximum possible fine.

He was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.

The FBI – Bryan Resident Agency and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Belinda Beek and Thomas Carter are prosecuting the case.

MIL Security OSI –

February 7, 2025

MIL-OSI Security: Fentanyl Trafficker Sentenced to 165 Months for Bringing Thousands of Counterfeit Oxycodone Pills into the District

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

WASHINGTON – Craig Eastman, 21, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 165 months in federal prison for participating in a massive fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that distributed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills from Southern California to destinations throughout the United States, including the District. Eastman was one of more than two dozen co-defendants arrested over the course of 2023 in D.C., Virginia, Maryland, San Diego, and Los Angeles and charged in the conspiracy.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Washington Division, Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Eastman pleaded guilty on July 25, 2024, to conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. In addition to the 165-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Eastman to serve five years of supervised release.

The impetus for this investigation was the overdose death of Diamond Lynch, a young mother in Southeast D.C. In addition to investigating and prosecuting the death-resulting case,[1] law enforcement followed the evidence and uncovered a vast network of traffickers who transported fentanyl from Mexico to Los Angeles to the District of Columbia. Since then, investigators have seized more than 450,000 fentanyl pills, 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and 30 firearms.

According to court documents, Eastman entered into the conspiracy after he was introduced to a Los Angeles-based drug trafficker, who was a distributor of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. Eastman traveled to Southern California to purchase the fake oxycodone from the L.A. supplier and returned to the District with the drugs. Eastman and his co-conspirators employed two primary methods to transport the pills to the District: they smuggled them in luggage or carry-on items on airline flights, or they shipped the pills utilizing the U.S. Postal Service and commercial mail carriers

After transporting the fentanyl-laced pills back to the District of Columbia, Eastman redistributed them for profit, primarily in collaboration with a co-defendant. Two redistributors of the pills were his siblings, Larry and Justice Eastman, who later were convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Ms. Lynch was a customer of Larry and Justice Eastman.

Craig Eastman not only knew of Ms. Lynch’s overdose death, but proceeded to attempt to sell the batch of pills that included Ms. Lynch’s fatal dose at a discount rather than simply destroy them and incur the financial loss. Specifically, the month after Ms. Lynch’s overdose death, Craig Eastman marketed the same bulk supply of pills that included Ms. Lynch’s fatal dose. Craig Eastman informed a prospective customer that he “caught a bad batch of some 30s,” and asked the customer to “see if [he] got somebody to sell em to[,] I got endless.”

Craig Eastman also had been found in residences containing firearms on multiple occasions. On September 1, 2021, law enforcement searched Craig Eastman’s residence in the 2300 block of Raynolds Place SE. Agents found him inside his bedroom, along with 204 fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, multiple firearms and accompanying magazines and ammunition, as well as several thousand dollars in cash. On December 4, 2021, officers searched Eastman’s residence and recovered four firearms, about $1,700 in cash, and distribution quantities of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. In his bedroom specifically, officers found a Glock 17 equipped with a high-capacity magazine and a machine gun conversion device, along with fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. When Craig Eastman was arrested along with co-defendant Charles Taylor on March 22, 2023, in a stash house in the District, officers recovered seven firearms (including one machine gun), assorted ammunition, more than a dozen pounds of marijuana, and a pill bottle containing fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills.

DEFENDANT	AGE	LOCATION	CHARGES/SENTENCE
Hector David Valdez, aka “Curl”	27	Santa Fe Springs, California	Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.
Craig Eastman	21	Washington, D.C.	Sentenced on February 6, 2025, to 165 months for conspiracy to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl.
Charles Jeffrey Taylor	21	Washington, D.C.	Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Raymond Nava, Jr.	20	Bell Gardens, California	Sentenced September 17, 2024, to 14 years for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Ulises Aldaz	28	Bell Gardens, California	Sentenced June 28, 2024, to 95 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Max Alexander Carias Torres	27	Bell Gardens, California	Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; Conspiracy to commit international money laundering
Teron Deandre McNeil, aka “Wild Boy”	34	Washington, D.C.	Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Marvin Anthony Bussie, aka “Money Marr”	22	Washington, D.C.	Sentenced June 28, 2024, to 120 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Marcus Orlando Brown	29	Washington, D.C.	Sentenced October 3, 2024, to 108 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Columbian Thomas, aka “Cruddy Murda”	27	Washington, D.C.	Sentenced October 22, 2024, to 160 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Wayne Rodell Carr-Maiden	30	Washington, D.C.	Sentenced April 29, 2024, to 45 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Andre Malik Edmond, aka “Draco”	23	Temple Hills, Maryland	Sentenced July 22, 2024, to 130 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Treyveon James Johnson, aka “Treyski”	20	Alexandria, Virginia	Sentenced September 5, 2024, to 108 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Karon Olufemi Blalock, aka “Fat Bags”	30	Alexandria, Virginia	Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Ronte Ricardo Greene, aka “Cardiddy”	29	Washington, D.C.	Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Melvin Edward Allen, Jr., aka “21”	39	Washington, D.C.	Pleaded guilty on December 18, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Darius Quincy Hodges, aka “Brick”	34	Glen Allen, Virginia	Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Lamin Sesay, aka “Rock Star”	28	Alexandria, Virginia	Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Paul Alejandro Felix	26	Glendale, California	Sentenced November 12, 2024, to 164 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Omar Arana, aka “Frogs”	27	Cudahy, California	Pleaded guilty January 3, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Edgar Balderas, Jr., aka “Nano”	27	San Diego, California	Pleaded guilty December 19, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Raul Pacheco Ramirez	30	Long Beach, California	Sentenced November 26, 2024, to 95 months for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Giovani Alejandro Briones	30	Victorville, California	Pleaded guilty October 24, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Alfredo Rodriguez Gonzalez	26	Rosarito, Mexico	Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

These prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the DEA Washington Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The investigation had additional support from the DEA’s Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside Field Divisions, the FBI Washington Field Office, and the Charles County, Maryland, Sheriff’s Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Central and Southern Districts of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Maryland.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey, Solomon S. Eppel, and Iris McCranie of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses (VRTO) Section.

MIL Security OSI –

February 7, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: HSI San Diego, multiagency case sends trafficker to 19.5 years in prison for supplying weapons and ammunition to Sinaloa Cartel

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

SAN DIEGO — Keith Octavio Rodriguez Padilla, a prolific firearms trafficker, was sentenced in federal court Jan. 13, to 19.5 years in custody for his role in supplying weapons and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition to the Sinaloa Cartel.

This case is part of a long-running investigation targeting the Valenzuela Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO), which was a significant component of the Sinaloa Cartel. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated this case with assistance from multiple federal, state and local law enforcement partners*.

“Today’s sentencing is a direct result of the hard work and collaboration between HSI and our law enforcement partners. This extensive investigation highlights our unwavering commitment to protecting our country and communities from the dangers of illegal firearms trafficking,” said Shawn Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of HSI San Diego. “We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the drug trafficking organizations are disrupted and held accountable.”

“Guns and ammunition smuggled into Mexico support cartels and empower drug traffickers,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “This case continues to deal blow after blow to that infrastructure, sending a clear message: DOJ will prosecute every angle of cartel operations — from drug importation to money laundering to arms trafficking — to combat death and destruction on both sides of the border.”

The Valenzuela TCO was one of the largest importers of cocaine into the United States. The TCO sourced cocaine and other controlled substances (including fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana) from South America and Mexico, transported the drugs to multiple locations along the U.S.-Mexico border using commercial trucking companies, smuggled the drugs into the country, and distributed them throughout the United States. The TCO then smuggled the bulk cash proceeds from its drug trafficking activities back to the TCO’s leadership in Mexico.

According to court records, throughout 2020, the Valenzuela TCO, including one of its leaders, Jorge Alberto Valenzuela Valenzuela, was engaged in violent conflict with another component of the Sinaloa Cartel led by Ivan Archivaldo Guzman-Salazar. During this conflict, Jorge’s brother and previous TCO leader, Gabriel Valenzuela-Valenzuela, was killed. This led the Valenzuela TCO to procure large quantities of firearms, ammunition, tactical gear, armored vehicles, and ballistic vests. A considerable number of these items were sourced from within the United States and clandestinely smuggled into Mexico, using numerous arms trafficking networks.

During the multi-year investigation, agents identified Keith Octavio Rodriguez Padilla as a firearms and ammunition trafficker and broker for the TCO. Rodriguez Padilla and his co-conspirators worked with high-ranking organization members to supply firearms to the TCO. These firearms ranged from .50 caliber rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers to assault style rifles (AK-47s, AR-15s, FN SCARs) and handguns. In addition to the weapons, Rodriguez Padilla and his co-conspirators supplied tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition to the TCO. Some of these weapons and ammunition were acquired in the United States, including from California, Arizona, and Nevada, and then smuggled through the Ports of Entry in San Diego and Arizona to Mexico.

For example, on Nov. 20, 2020, DEA and HSI agents initiated surveillance at a commercial truck yard being operated by the Valenzuela TCO in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego. Agents ultimately obtained a search warrant for this truck yard and during the search, seized approximately $3,078,880 in bulk U.S. currency, approximately 685 kilograms of cocaine, 24 kilograms of fentanyl, and a pickup truck with a trap gas tank the size of half the truck bed were discovered. The truck yard contained numerous tractors-trailers, along with numerous other vehicles. Inside one of the trailers, agents seized approximately 20,000 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition, along with approximately 427 ballistic plate carriers, approximately 1,000 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition, and approximately 104 magazines for .50 caliber ammunition. Agents learned that Rodriguez Padilla had purchased the .50 caliber ammunition on behalf of the TCO.

To date, this investigation has resulted in charges against 109 defendants and the seizure of approximately 2,000 kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl, more than $16 million in cash, and 21,000 rounds of ammunition.

“Weapons trafficking fuels drug-related violence,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Clark. “Money and greed are the foundation of the Sinaloa cartel business model and Padilla provided a lifeline by trafficking firearms. This sentence underscores our commitment to aggressively pursue the Sinaloa Cartel at every level, to include all facilitators who profit from drug-related violence. Strong relationships between law enforcement agencies have proven invaluable as we work together to save lives.”

“This multi-year investigation and lengthy federal prison sentence highlights the hard work, dedication, and cooperation of multiple law enforcement agencies to disrupt and dismantle violent transnational criminal organizations,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Travis Holland. “Today’s sentence serves as a reminder, we will continue to leverage the strength of federal, state, and local law enforcement to bring justice against the Cartels and individuals working on their behalf.”

“Mr. Padilla’s role in trafficking weapons and ammunition not only facilitated violence between cartel organizations, but also facilitated the endangerment of American citizens as these transnational criminal organizations bring dangerous and deadly drugs into the United States,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. “This sentencing demonstrates the result of well-coordinated investigations and the effectiveness of our partnered investigations. Protecting American citizens is the number one priority for every law enforcement organization, and IRS-CI is proud to be a partner in this investigation.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew J. Sutton and Mikaela Weber.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

*DEA, FBI, IRS – Criminal Investigation, United States Marshals Service, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations, CBP’s Office of Border Patrol, Department of Justice (DOJ), Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, DOJ Office of Enforcement Operations, DOJ Office of International Affairs, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department, Border Crime Suppression Team and San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Columbus Man Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison for Four Armed Robberies of Postal Carriers
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 204 months in prison for four armed robberies of Postal carriers.

Thierno S. Bah, 22, of Columbus, used firearms and robbed postal carriers of their U.S. Postal Service keys on four occasions between December 2022 and May 2023. He was arrested in August 2023.

“Seventeen years in federal prison is a serious consequence in line with the seriousness of this type of violent crime. We have held numerous individuals accountable in the Southern District of Ohio in recent years for their crimes against United States Postal Service carriers who are simply doing their jobs. As a result of our focused efforts and the vigorous investigations by our federal law enforcement partners, we’ve seen a decrease in new assaults,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker.

Bah, who is also known as “Wopo” and “Wopoonese,” worked with others to steal service keys, which are then used to steal mail from USPS receptacles (a process known as “fishing”). Individuals then “cook” the mail by washing personal and business checks and other financial instruments to reflect new payees and new payment amounts. Bah and others would then recruit third parties to deposit the newly washed checks in their own accounts and split the profit.

The thefts occurred in Central Ohio on:
- Dec. 29, 2022
- Jan. 3, 2023 (two separate robberies on this date)
- May 11, 2023
Bah pleaded guilty in November 2023 and admitted to using a handgun to rob a postal carrier in German Village on Dec. 29, 2022. Bah pointed the handgun at the victim’s stomach and demanded his vehicle and service keys.

On Jan. 3, 2023, Bah pushed a postal carrier into her mail truck while she was sorting mail in the back of the truck on East Columbus Street. He then pushed a gun into the victim’s side before stealing her keys.

Later that day, Bah committed another armed postal robbery, this time in Whitehall. Bah approached the victim and pushed the handgun into her stomach before stealing her personal car keys and the USPS service keys.

On May 11, 2023, Bah robbed a Postal worker at the Post Office Retail Store on West Broad Street. Bah approached the victim while she was outside on a break. Bah asked the victim for her keys, and when she asked, “What keys?” he pistol-whipped her in the head with his handgun. Bah forcibly accompanied the victim into the post office to retrieve her service keys.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Lesley Allison, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant; Westerville Police Chief Charles Chandler; and Whitehall Police Chief Mike Crispen announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley. Assistant United States Attorney Noah R. Litton is representing the United States in this case.

# # #

MIL Security OSI –
February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Canadian Businessman Sentenced for Obstruction of Justice for Hiding and Laundering Millions After His 2020 Money Laundering Conviction

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

           WASHINGTON – Firoz Patel, 50, of Montreal, Canada, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison today in connection with his efforts to conceal and launder 450 Bitcoin, currently valued at over $43 million, that he hid from the U.S. District Court handling his 2020 conviction and sentencing for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and to commit money laundering.

           The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Kai Wah Chan of Homeland Security Investigation’s Washington, D.C., Field Office.

           Patel plead guilty on September 17, 2024, to one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich ordered three years of supervised release, a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $24,020,699.83, and forfeiture of 450 Bitcoin plus interest currently restrained at a virtual currency exchange in the United Kingdom.

           In 2020, Patel was convicted and sentenced to 36 months for operating Payza, an illegal financial payments platform that processed cryptocurrency payments.

           According to court documents, in 2004 Patel began operating his payment processing company AlertPay, which evolved into Payza. The Montreal company offered its services to customers across the United States, even though the business lacked a license to operate in any state or the District of Columbia.

            Throughout Payza’s existence, the company partnered with various money services businesses, such as OboPay in 2012, another online money services business. At Patel’s direction, merchants were not removed from Payza’s platform for being involved in high-risk activities such as Ponzi schemes, money laundering activities, multilevel-marketing (MLM) scams, money-cycler scams, pyramid schemes, and steroid distributors. Payza did not have a Bank Secrecy Act Officer, it did not conduct legally required Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money-laundering audits, and it operated in the United States at various times without registering with the U.S. Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) or state authorities.

           On July 16, 2020, Patel pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and to launder monetary instruments, based on his operation of Payza. As a condition of his plea, he was required to identify and forfeit any property involved in the offense to which he pleaded guilty. Although Patel had control over more than 450 Bitcoin in Payza’s illicit proceeds—valued at approximately $24,000,000 at the time—he provided false information to the U.S. Probation Office and the Court in an attempt to hide his illicit Bitcoin wealth, including by claiming his only assets were $30,000 in a retirement savings account.

           On November 10, 2020, then-District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson sentenced the defendant to 36 months in prison and two years of supervised release and entered an agreed-upon order requiring Patel to forfeit any property involved in his offense, as well as any property traceable to such property. Rather than comply, shortly after his sentencing but before reporting to prison, Patel began consolidating Payza’s illicit cryptocurrency proceeds and attempted to deposit them with Binance, a virtual currency exchange. On April 22, 2021, Binance informed Patel that his account was being closed for violating Binance’s terms of service and being flagged by a third-party compliance tool. Forced to withdraw 450 Bitcoin, Patel opened an offshore virtual currency account in his father’s name, listed an address in Belize linked to Payza’s operations, and transferred the same 450 Bitcoin in illicit proceeds into the account shortly before he reported to the Bureau of Prisons. This second virtual currency exchange also deemed the deposit suspicious and froze the funds.

            Patel contacted the exchange in June 2021 stating “[i]f this is about me, then realize that I am not beholden to any actions by the USA or any other government authorities. I have paid my dues and I owe nothing to anybody.” Patel tasked a Payza business associate to work on providing false Know Your Customer (KYC) information to the virtual currency exchange in an effort to unfreeze the illicit funds. Had the scheme succeeded, Patel would have successfully hid and laundered the funds and been released from prison with 450 BTC in criminal proceeds awaiting him. The Department of Justice restrained Patel’s Bitcoin through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request to the United Kingdom during the course of the investigation.

             According to the Government’s sentencing memo, Patel became aware of the investigation while serving his 36-month sentence for the 2020 conviction. As Patel neared his release date, he enlisted the assistance of C.A. to impersonate an attorney and engage in sham negotiations with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. C.A. and Patel planned to string along the assigned Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) long enough for Patel to be released on his 2020 conviction and flee the United States to Canada to avoid prosecution. The AUSA and investigators discovered the false impersonation in advance of Patel’s release date and returned an Indictment of Patel in May 2023. He has been in Bureau of Prisons custody or detained pre-trial since June 2021.

           This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin L. Rosenberg and Special Assistant United States Attorney Christopher B. Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney Jonas Lerman of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. Valuable assistance was also provided by Scott Meisler and Josh Handell of the Criminal Division’s Appellate Section, and by Trial Attorney Erin Mikita and former Trial Attorney Roberto Iraola of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs. The case was originally investigated by former Assistant United States Attorney Arvind K. Lal.

23cr166

MIL Security OSI –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI: K&F Growth Acquisition Corp. II Announces Completion of $287.5 million IPO

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Each Unit Includes One Class A Ordinary Share and One Share Right to Receive 1/15th of a Class A Ordinary Share

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA, Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — K&F Growth Acquisition Corp. II (the “Company”), today announced the closing of its initial public offering of 28,750,000 units, at a price of $10.00 per unit, which includes 3,750,000 units issued pursuant to the exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in full, resulting in gross proceeds of $287,500,000. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one right (the “Share Right”) to receive one fifteenth of one Class A ordinary share upon the consummation of an initial business combination. There are no warrants issued publicly or privately in connection with this offering. The units are listed on the Nasdaq Global Market (“Nasdaq”) and trade under the ticker symbol “KFIIU” as of February 5, 2025. After the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and Share Rights are expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “KFII” and “KFIIR,” respectively.

The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business or industry or at any stage of its corporate evolution but is focused on acquiring a compelling business in the experiential entertainment industry underpinned by strong secular growth, a skilled management team, and that is competitively positioned and capitalized to grow through organic and M&A-driven opportunities.

The Company’s management team is led by Edward King, its Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chairman, and Daniel Fetters, its Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Co-Chairman. In addition, the Board includes James J. Murren, Joyce Arpin and Geoff Freeman.

BTIG, LLC is acted as sole book-running manager for the offering.

The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. When available, copies of the prospectus may be obtained from BTIG, LLC, Attention: 65 East 55th Street, New York, New York 10022, or by email at ProspectusDelivery@btig.com.

A registration statement relating to these securities was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 4, 2025. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any State or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such State or jurisdiction.

Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements,” including with respect to the Company’s search for an initial business combination. No assurance can be given that the proceeds of the offering will be used as indicated. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company’s registration statement for the initial public offering filed with the SEC. Copies are available on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.

Company Contact:

K&F Growth Acquisition Corp. II
1219 Morningside Drive, Suite 110
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
www.kfgrowthcapital.com
email: contact@kfgrowth.com
Attention: Daniel Fetters, Co-CEO
(310) 545-9265

The MIL Network –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Canadian supply chains are at the epicentre of Trump’s potential trade war

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Hassan Wafai, Associate Professor, Faculty of Management, Royal Roads University

United States President Donald Trump has temporarily halted his trade war with Canada and Mexico, agreeing to pause his proposed tariffs for at least 30 days.

Regardless of whether Trump will impose the tariffs once the 30 days are up, Canadian supply chains have become the epicentre of these looming disruptions. The country urgently needs to strengthen its supply chain resilience.

If the tariffs were to go into effect, they would reshape the geo-political ecosystem of North America and beyond by disrupting global supply chains. These supply chains are a direct reflection of the geo-political ecosystem in which they operate, and they require stability to establish and thrive.

With approximately $3.6 billion in trade crossing the U.S.-Canada border daily, a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on non-energy goods would have catastrophic effects on the Canadian economy, including shaving 2.6 per cent off Canada’s GDP.

Read more:
U.S. tariff threat: How it will impact different products and industries

While the list of affected goods and services would be long, the auto industries are likely to be among the hardest hit sectors. Businesses on both sides of the border would be seriously hurt, including major U.S. automakers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.

The outlook is equally bleak for Mexico, where 83 per cent of exports go to the U.S.

Canadian supply chain resilience

Trump’s potential trade war represents an unconventional, top-down approach to redesigning North American supply chains, which took decades to establish. His aggressive trade policies are disrupting the status quo with devastating and irreversible effects.

Canadian supply chains have historically been prone to major disruptions. Past responses to these disruptions have focused on helping firms build resilience. While this is important, insufficient attention has been given to establishing effective provincial and national governance structures to support and guide supply chain resilience.

There is growing recognition that supply chain resilience should be addressed at the system level. This resilience emerges from both the actions of individual organizations and from the relationships and interactions between them.

System-level supply chain resilience is influenced by governmental or regulatory bodies that set policies to manage long-term supply risks. These are known as governance structures or mechanisms.

Canada’s long-term strategic response must go beyond helping Canadian companies integrate into alternative global supply chains outside the U.S. The country must also explore new governance structures that can strengthen the collective resilience of Canadian firms.

Improving supply chain resilience

Trump has been a destabilizing force for international trade and free trade agreements, particularly the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, which may have a shorter lifespan than initially agreed upon.

One of the most effective ways for Canada to strengthen its supply chain resilience is to reduce its heavy trade reliance on the U.S., which can be done through free trade agreements. Despite this, Canada has been slow to diversify beyond the U.S., which remains its largest trading partner, accounting for 76 per cent of exports and 64 per cent of imports.

Read more:
Trump’s tariff threat is a sign that Canada should be diversifying beyond the U.S.

Canada is currently part of 15 free trade agreements that collectively cover 61 per cent of the world’s GDP and provide access to 1.5 billion consumers globally. However, it’s not yet clear how free trade agreements can enhance supply chain resilience.

Canada must look beyond its existing free trade agreements and pursue new markets such as the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the Pacific Alliance. Expanding into these regions would allow Canadian companies and supply chains to join global value chains, creating opportunities for knowledge spillovers and productivity boosts.

As Canada diversifies its trade, it must do so with a supply chain mindset, carefully considering the implications of specific trade policies and how they will enhance the resilience of Canadian supply chains.

Future free trade agreements should incorporate clear and specific clauses that anticipate disruptions and help with swift supply chain recovery. A prime example of such an agreement is the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, which came into effect in October 2024.

Beyond international trade, Canada should also eliminate interprovincial trade barriers to facilitate easier business operations across Canadian provinces and territories.

Stronger supply chain governance

More research is needed to determine exactly which governance structures should be put in place to support Canada’s supply chain resilience.

The Canadian government may need to establish a multi-level governance structure encompassing sectoral, provincial and national levels, such as supply chain councils.

Supply chain councils could connect supply chains with small and medium-sized enterprises, leverage existing networks, co-ordinate resilience strategies and address supply chain and trade policy issues of national significance.

With Trump back in the White House, Canada must be prepared to protect its supply chains against an evolving trade war. Whether his policies are driven by his imperialist ideology, a protectionist agenda, border security concerns or the pursuit of more revenue from slapping tariffs on America’s closest allies, the threat to Canadian supply chains is real.

To withstand these pressures, Canada must build resilience at the systemic level, where top-down governance ensures the private sector can respond quickly and effectively to disruptions. It is never too late to start, but waiting any longer is no longer an option for Canada.

Juan Navarro is the president and principal researcher of CMX Partnerships, a business and research consultancy that provides advice and conducts studies for companies, institutions, and governments.

Kimberly Tholl consults for Nexus Insights Consulting Ltd. and is a member of the non-profit Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM).

Hassan Wafai does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Canadian supply chains are at the epicentre of Trump’s potential trade war – https://theconversation.com/canadian-supply-chains-are-at-the-epicentre-of-trumps-potential-trade-war-248987

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: The hidden truth about migrant deaths at the Canada-U.S. border

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Julie Young, Canada Research Chair in Critical Border Studies and Associate Professor of Geography and Environment, University of Lethbridge, University of Lethbridge

The return of Donald Trump as United States president has sparked new security measures along the Canada-U.S. border.

After Trump threatened to slap tariffs on Canadian imports if irregular migration and illegal drugs were not curtailed, Canadian federal and provincial governments pledged new border enforcement resources. Trump may still go ahead with his tariff threats despite a reprieve.

Research shows that tighter border policies don’t deter migration. Policing borders pushes migrants into more remote and dangerous crossing points, and difficult crossings lead migrants to rely more heavily on human smuggling operations. One outcome of heightened border security is clearly an increase in human suffering and death.

Asylum-seekers from Congo cross the border at Roxham Road into Québec in February 2023 in Champlain, N.Y.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Our work documenting deaths at the Canada-U.S. border shows that irregular crossings have taken the lives of at least 38 people. The actual number of migrant fatalities is likely much higher.

We’re concerned that additional border security measures will lead to more danger and death for migrants attempting to cross between the two countries. Recent incidents lend weight to these concerns: one migrant died in a car chase with RCMP on Feb. 4, while another nine people were arrested as they tried to cross into Canada in dangerous winter conditions on Feb. 3.

Crossing the Canada-U.S. border

People from around the world cross the Canada-U.S. border daily. Most people enter Canada and the United States formally through official ports of entry. Still, some migrants also travel across the border, in both directions, without official permission.

Because irregular border crossings are hidden by nature, we will never know how many people enter Canada or the U.S. unofficially. Agencies charged with border security track “encounters” and “apprehensions” in the U.S. and the “interception” of asylum-seekers in Canada. But there is no common measurement used to estimate irregular crossing in either country.

Irregular border crossing cases are affected by policy changes in both countries. In recent years, they appear to have been affected by migrants’ perceptions of American immigration policy and changes to the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement.

Read more:
Tragedies, not accidents: Tougher Canadian and U.S. border policies will cost more lives

Death at the border

Our research identified 15 deaths at the Canada-U.S. border between 2020 and 2023, and another 23 deaths going back to 1989. Given the lack of official records, the actual number is likely higher.

We filed access-to-information requests on both sides of the border. The RCMP acknowledged just one death in Canada, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) produced no results. Instead, we systematically collected media reports on border deaths and analyzed that data.

Roughly three-quarters of migrants whose deaths were covered in news reports were travelling towards the U.S. Their remains were mainly recovered on the Canadian side of the border.

Read more:
Roxham Road: Asylum seekers won’t just get turned back, they’ll get forced underground — Podcast

Migrants face a range of dangers when crossing the Canada-U.S. border irregularly, but drowning represents the most significant threat, followed by hypothermia — 23 and six of the 38 recorded deaths, respectively.

Three people died in encounters with border patrol agents, with two fatally shot on the American side and one dying in a car crash while being chased by Canadian agents.

An RCMP officer stops people as they enter Canada via Roxham Road near Hemmingford, Que., hours after amendments to the Safe Third Country agreement enabled authorities to turn asylum-seekers away from unofficial border crossings.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Invisible deaths

Our requests for official data on border deaths in both the U.S. and Canada came up empty-handed. After more than a year and the conclusion of an independent complaint investigation into the RCMP’s lack of response to our Canadian request, we were provided with information on one single death. The request filed in the U.S. returned no information.

Researchers in both countries regularly report frustration with slow processes and a lack of results from such requests.

This experience led us to believe that border enforcement agencies do not track deaths along the Canada-U.S. border in either country. This is a problem. The public is left in the dark, while potential migrants are not provided with information about the dangers of irregular crossings.

It is particularly odd that American authorities don’t provide information on deaths at this border, given that deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border are tracked and publicly reported.

If there’s been a policy decision not to track deaths at the Canada-U.S. border, it reveals a lack of concern and a willingness to obscure the full picture from the public. Both the Canadian and American governments need to change their approach to documenting border deaths, detailing all known cases publicly.

More death on the horizon

Trump’s return to the American presidency might lead to an increase in irregular migration between Canada and the U.S. The Canadian government’s move to beef up border security enforcement, in turn, makes it more likely that migrants will perish after choosing dangerous crossing points.

Even when migrants die amid human smuggling operations, a lot of the responsibility lies with government decisions.

As Public Safety Canada warned in 2023, more difficult border crossings lead to increased criminality in human smuggling. Government decisions drive people away from safer crossing points and into the influence of criminal organizations.

The governments of Canada and the United States have a moral obligation to inform the public about deaths — and do everything in their power to prevent further tragedies.

Julie Young receives funding from the Canada Research Chairs Program.

Daniel E. Martinez, Dylan Simburger, and Simon Granovsky-Larsen do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The hidden truth about migrant deaths at the Canada-U.S. border – https://theconversation.com/the-hidden-truth-about-migrant-deaths-at-the-canada-u-s-border-247782

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Anti-LGBTQ+ policies harm the health of not only LGBTQ+ people, but all Americans

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Nathaniel Tran, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Administration, University of Illinois Chicago

Courts across the nation are debating whether LGBTQ+ people should be protected from discrimination. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

In 2024, state legislatures introduced an all-time record of 533 bills targeting LGBTQ+ populations. These policies create a patchwork of legal landscapes that vary widely between and within states, affecting aspects of everyday life ranging from how kids learn and play to where adults live and work.

All of these policies have implications for the health of not only LGBTQ+ people but also the general public.

I am a health policy researcher who studies how state and federal legislation affect public health. Research has shown that the social determinants of health – the opportunities and resources that affect how people live, learn, play, work and age – play a significant role in LGBTQ+ well-being. Newly published work from my colleagues and I show how anti-LGBTQ+ public policies can have lasting effects on everyone’s health.

Existing policies and LGBTQ+ health

Same-sex marriage provides a clear example of the direct and indirect ways public policies affect LGBTQ+ health.

Most people in the U.S. have health insurance through their employer, which usually offers coverage for employees and their family, including a spouse and children. A landmark 2015 study found that health coverage significantly increased for adults in same-sex marriages after its legalization in New York state. After same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide, a follow-up study also showed an increase in health insurance coverage among gay and lesbian couples.

Even among single LGBTQ+ people who did not get married, same-sex marriage may have also improved their health by improving social attitudes toward LGBTQ+ people overall. Researchers found that gay and bisexual men, regardless of whether they were single or married, spent less on medical visits, mental health visits and overall health care spending after Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004.

Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Victoria Arocho/AP Photo

Access to gender-affirming care provides another example of how public policies affect the health of LGBTQ+ people.

A 2020 national study of nearly 30,000 transgender and nonbinary people found that suicide attempts and mental health hospitalizations declined in states that passed policies requiring private insurers to equally cover services they already provide for cisgender people for transgender people. No other studies directly analyze how policies regulating access to care affect the health of trans and nonbinary people.

However, a large body of clinical research supports the health benefits of gender-affirming care. A randomized clinical trial and prospective study found that starting gender-affirming hormone therapy reduced depression and suicidality in transgender and nonbinary people. Several recent systematic reviews analyzing 124 peer-reviewed studies conducted over the past 50 years also found that gender-affirming surgery and hormone therapy improved quality of life and mental health.

Policies outside health affect LGBTQ+ well-being

Policies outside of health care – such as nondiscrimination, education and workplace protections – also affect LGBTQ+ well-being.

For example, transgender and nonbinary people living in states with policies that specifically include gender identity in hate crime and discrimination protections reported better mental health than those in states without protections. Similarly, LGBTQ+ students in schools with designated safe spaces reported lower rates of suicidal thoughts.

However, the surge in anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the U.S., initially focusing on youth, has significantly increased polarization between and within states. For example, while 17 states have implemented guidances to make schools safer and more inclusive for transgender youth, 25 states have banned transgender youth from using bathrooms and playing on sports teams that align with their gender. Meanwhile, South Dakota and Missouri have enacted laws to preempt progressive schools and districts from adding LGBTQ+ student protections and supportive resources.

The Trump administration is also actively targeting resources that support LGBTQ+ students by reducing funding to schools that offer these programs.

Inclusive spaces can help support the health of LGBTQ+ students.
Jessica Hill/AP Photo

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Bostock v. Clayton County that federal sex-based nondiscrimination protections in the workplace included discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Researchers found that LGBTQ+ older adults with co-workers supportive of their gender and sexuality experienced less workplace conflict and cognitive health problems compared with those who did not.

The Trump administration is working to restrict the scope of federal antidiscrimination protections to exclude LGBTQ+ people.

Harms of emerging anti-LGBTQ policies

Emerging anti-LGBTQ+ policies could also have consequences for large swaths of the population beyond LGBTQ+ people.

In 2025, the Supreme Court will hear Braidwood v. Becerra, a case arguing that requiring employers to cover PrEP – a once-a-day pill that is highly effective at preventing HIV infection – as part of the insurance plan they offer employees violates their religious freedom. Texas District Judge Reed O’Connor agreed that mandating PrEP coverage requires the plaintiffs to “facilitate and encourage homosexual behavior.”

O’Connor ruled in 2023 to overturn the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurers fully cover preventive care. He argues this can be done on the grounds that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force – a group of physicians and researchers that evaluates the quality and efficacy of preventive services – is unconstitutional. This legal challenge puts free coverage of mammograms, vaccinations and other preventive services into limbo for millions of Americans.

The Trump administration has taken down CDC pages providing information about HIV.

The Trump administration has scrubbed federal web pages of resources, programs and documents that reference gender and LGBTQ+ people. This order includes removing datasets that have been continuously updated since the 1980s to track public health issues such as homelessness, bullying in schools, and smoking and drinking, likely because they include LGBTQ+ demographic information.

The administration has also ordered federal health agencies to retract scientific research that may be inclusive of LGBTQ+ people by searching for specific keywords, such as “gender.” The National Science Foundation is also screening active scientific research projects that use words like “women,” “trauma” and “disability.” Removing this data not only hamstrings public health research and programming for LGBTQ+ populations, but also restricts it for all Americans.

These decisions are in stark contrast to countries such as England, Wales, New Zealand and Australia, which have collected or are planning to collect LGBTQ+ demographic data as part of their national census. Including LGBTQ+ people in demographic data reflects best practices that were outlined in the Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQI+ Equity issued under the Biden administration. These guidelines have since been removed.

Far-reaching consequences

The rapid escalation of anti-LGBTQ+ policies in recent years is already taking its toll on youth, with negative news coverage of LGBTQ+ issues causing spikes in suicidal thoughts.

These policies also have far-reaching consequences for the broader public. Rigorous and long-standing research demonstrates that LGBTQ+-inclusive policies support safer communities and stronger economies for everyone, while exclusionary laws worsen and limit access to essential services.

Ongoing legal battles and policy shifts will shape the future of LGBTQ+ rights, with rippling effects on public health, workplace protections and health care access for all Americans.

Nathaniel Tran does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Anti-LGBTQ+ policies harm the health of not only LGBTQ+ people, but all Americans – https://theconversation.com/anti-lgbtq-policies-harm-the-health-of-not-only-lgbtq-people-but-all-americans-248992

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 7, 2025

MIL-OSI: Glen Burnie Bancorp Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

GLEN BURNIE, Md., Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Glen Burnie Bancorp (“Bancorp”) (NASDAQ: GLBZ), the bank holding company for The Bank of Glen Burnie (“Bank”), announced today net loss of $39,000, or -$0.01 per basic and diluted common share, for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, compared to net income of $167,000, or $0.06 per basic and diluted common share, for the three-month period ended December 31, 2023. Bancorp reported a net loss of $112,000, or -$0.04 per basic and diluted common share, for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2024, compared to net income of $1.4 million, or $0.50 per basic and diluted common share, for the same period in 2023. On December 31, 2024, Bancorp had total assets of $358.9 million. Bancorp is the oldest independent commercial bank in Anne Arundel County.

“Our financial performance in 2024 is disappointing and represents the challenges inherent in navigating the interest rate environment of the last several years. The Company’s focus on generating additional interest-earning assets at higher current market interest rates and rebuilding our base of core, low-cost deposits was moderately successful,” said Mark C. Hanna, President, and Chief Executive Officer. “Despite the challenges of declining net interest income, the Company’s financial strength is reflected in a strong capital position, available liquidity, and prudent expense management. Although interest expense increased significantly in year over year comparisons, loan growth of $28.9 million and higher yields on earning assets contributed to expanded interest income that partially offset higher interest expense and helped mitigate margin compression.”

In closing, Mr. Hanna added, “To invest in strategic opportunities that will benefit the long-term performance of the Bank, the difficult decision was made to change the longstanding practice of approving quarterly cash dividends for shareholders. As the Bank evaluates our next 75 years, we are committed to our business model and the economic strength of the communities we serve. To better serve the evolving needs of our clients, there is a need to reinvest in our people, technology, products, and facilities. Based on our capital levels, conservative underwriting policies, on- and off-balance sheet liquidity, strong loan diversification, and current economic conditions within the markets we serve, management expects to navigate the uncertainties and remain well-capitalized. Our focus remains continued execution on our strategic priorities to generate organic loan and deposit growth.”

Highlights for the Quarter and Year ended December 31, 2024

Despite growth in loans and deposits for the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2024, net interest income decreased $1.2 million, or 9.84% to $10.9 million through December 31, 2024, as compared to $12.1 million during the same period of 2023. The decrease resulted primarily from a $3.1 million increase in interest expenses, offset by a $1.9 million increase in interest and fees on loans. The $2.0 million increase in interest on deposits was driven by the higher cost of money market deposit balances. The $1.0 million increase in interest on borrowings was driven by a $20.1 million increase in the average balance of borrowed funds due to the elevated level of deposit runoff that occurred in 2023.

Total interest income increased $1.9 million to $15.2 million for the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2024, compared to the same period in 2023 as the result of a $1.9 million increase in interest and fees on loans. The increase in interest income was driven by rate adjustments on loans offerings consistent with the higher interest rate environment. However, loan pricing pressure/competition will continue to place pressure on the Company’s net interest margin.

The Company expects that its strong liquidity and capital positions, along with the Bank’s total regulatory capital to risk weighted assets of 16.40% on December 31, 2024, compared to 18.40% for the same period of 2023, will provide ample capacity for future growth.

Return on average assets for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, was -0.04%, compared to 0.19% for the three-month period ended December 31, 2023. Return on average equity for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, was -0.75%, compared to 4.65% for the three-month period ended December 31, 2023. Lower net income and higher average balances drove the lower return on average assets and the lower return on average equity.

The cost of funds was 1.38% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to 0.64% for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The 0.74% increase was primarily driven by the increase in the cost of money market deposits and borrowed funds.

The book value per share of Bancorp’s common stock was $6.14 on December 31, 2024, compared to $6.70 per share on December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to the increase in unrealized losses on available for sale securities caused by higher market interest rates.

On December 31, 2024, the Bank remained above all “well-capitalized” regulatory requirement levels. The Bank’s tier 1 risk-based capital ratio was approximately 15.15% on December 31, 2024, compared to 17.37% on December 31, 2023. Liquidity remained strong due to managed cash and cash equivalents, borrowing lines with the FHLB of Atlanta, the Federal Reserve and correspondent banks, and the size and composition of the bond portfolio.

Balance Sheet Review

Total assets were $358.9 million on December 31, 2024, an increase of $7.1 million or 2.03%, from $351.8 million on December 31, 2023. Investment securities decreased by $31.5 million or 22.58%, to $107.9 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to $139.4 million for the same period of 2023. Loans, net of deferred fees and costs, were $205.2 million on December 31, 2024, an increase of $28.9 million or 16.40%, from $176.3 million on December 31, 2023. Cash and cash equivalents increased $9.2 million or 60.51%, from $15.2 million on December 31, 2023, to $24.4 million on December 31, 2024.

Total deposits were $309.2 million on December 31, 2024, an increase of $9.1 million or 3.04%, from $300.1 million on December 31, 2023. Noninterest-bearing deposits were $100.7 million on December 31, 2024, a decrease of $16.2 million or 13.83%, from $116.9 million on December 31, 2023. Interest-bearing deposits were $208.4 million on December 31, 2024, an increase of $25.3 million or 13.81%, from $183.1 million on December 31, 2023. Total borrowings were $30.0 million on December 31, 2024, unchanged from December 31, 2023.

As of December 31, 2024, total stockholders’ equity was $17.8 million (4.96% of total assets), equivalent to a book value of $6.14 per common share. Total stockholders’ equity on December 31, 2023, was $19.3 million (5.49% of total assets), equivalent to a book value of $6.70 per common share. The decrease in the ratio of stockholders’ equity to total assets was primarily due to the $1.5 million decline in net earnings for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the prior year, the $0.6 million after-tax increase in market value loss on the Company’s available-for-sale securities portfolio and a $7.1 million increase in total assets. The increase in unrealized losses primarily resulted from increasing market interest rates year-over-year, which decreased the fair value of the investment securities.

Asset quality, which has trended within a narrow range over the past several years, remained sound on December 31, 2024. Nonperforming assets, which consist of nonaccrual loans, loans to borrowers experiencing financial difficulty, accruing loans past due 90 days or more, and other real estate owned (“OREO”), represented 0.10% of total assets on December 31, 2024, compared to 0.15% on December 31, 2023. The $7.1 million increase in total assets from December 31, 2023, to December 31, 2024, and the $167,000 decrease in nonperforming assets drove the 0.05% decline. The allowance for credit losses on loans was $2.8 million, or 1.38% of total loans, as of December 31, 2024, compared to $2.2 million, or 1.22% of total loans, as of December 31, 2023. The allowance for credit losses for unfunded commitments was $584,000 as of December 31, 2024, compared to $473,000 as of December 31, 2023.

Review of Financial Results

For the three-month periods ended December 31, 2024, and 2023

Net loss for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, was $39,000, compared to net income of $167,000 for the three-month period ended December 31, 2023.

Net interest income for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, totaled $2.8 million, a decrease of $128,000 from the three-month period ended December 31, 2023. Despite a $520,000 increase in interest income, the decrease in net interest income was primarily due to a $648,000 increase in interest expenses predominantly related to the advantage money market deposit product.

Net interest margin for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, was 2.98%, compared to 3.17% for the same period of 2023. Higher average yields and balances on interest-earning assets combined with higher average interest-bearing funds, lower average noninterest-bearing funds, and higher cost of funds were the primary drivers of year-over-year results.

The average balance of interest-earning assets increased $7.1 million while the yield increased 0.50% from 3.77% to 4.27%, when comparing the three-month periods ending December 31, 2023, and 2024, respectively. The average balance of interest-bearing funds increased $28.9 million, the average balance of noninterest-bearing funds decreased $21.3 million, and the cost of funds increased 0.74%, when comparing the three-month periods ending December 31, 2023, and 2024, respectively.

The average balance of interest-bearing deposits in banks and investment securities decreased $22.1 million from $185.9 million to $163.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to the same period of 2023 while the yield increased 0.01% from 2.68% to 2.69% during that same period.

Average loan balances increased $29.2 million to $204.7 million for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, compared to $175.5 million for the same period of 2023, while the yield increased from 4.96% to 5.54% during that same period. The increase in loan yields for the fourth quarter of 2024 reflected continued runoff of the low-yielding indirect automobile loan portfolio and new loan originations at higher yields.

The provision of allowance for credit loss on loans for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, was $71,000, compared to $103,000 for the same period of 2023.

Noninterest income for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, was $332,000, compared to $299,000 for the three-month period ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $33,000 or 11.04%. The increase was primarily driven by a $31,000 casualty gain due to insurance proceeds exceeding the book value of assets destroyed by water damage.

For the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, noninterest expense was $3.1 million, compared to $2.9 million for the three-month period ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $171,000 or 5.82%. The primary contributors to the $171,000 increase, when compared to the three-month period ended December 31, 2023, were increases in salary and employee benefits, legal, accounting, and other professional fees, data processing and item processing services and other expenses.

For the twelve-month periods ended December 31, 2024, and 2023

Net loss for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2024, was $112,000, compared to net income of $1.4 million for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2023.

Net interest income for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2024, totaled $10.9 million, a decrease of $1.2 million from $12.1 million for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in net interest income was primarily due to a $3.1 million increase in interest expenses related to growth of the advantage money market deposit product balances and short-term borrowings necessitated by the deposit runoff during 2023, offset by $1.9 million higher interest and fees on loans.

Net interest margin for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2024, was 2.98%, compared to 3.31% for the same period of 2023. Higher average yields and lower average balances of interest-earning assets combined with higher average interest-bearing funds, lower average noninterest-bearing funds, and higher cost of funds were the primary drivers of year-over-year results.

The average balance of interest-earning assets decreased $252,000, while the yield increased 0.52% from 3.63% to 4.15%, when comparing the twelve-month periods ending December 31, 2023, and 2024, respectively. The average balance of interest-bearing funds increased $20.2 million, the average balance of noninterest-bearing funds decreased $20.3 million, and the cost of funds increased 0.90%, when comparing the twelve-month periods ending December 31, 2023, and 2024, respectively.

The average balance of interest-bearing deposits in banks and investment securities decreased $13.1 million from $187.4 million to $174.3 million for the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2024, compared to the same period of 2023. The yield increased 0.16% from 2.55% to 2.71% during that same period. The increase in yields for the twelve-month period can be attributed to the change in the mix of cash balances held in interest-bearing deposits in banks and investment securities available for sale and increases in the overnight federal funds rate between the years.

Average loan balances increased $12.8 million to $192.6 million for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2024, compared to $179.8 million for the same period of 2023. The yield increased 0.69% from 4.76% to 5.45% during that same period. The increase in loan yields for the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2024, reflected continued runoff of the low-yielding indirect automobile loan portfolio and new loan originations at higher yields.

The Company recorded a provision of allowance for credit loss on loans of $844,000 for the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2024, compared to $96,000 for the same period in 2023. The $748,000 increase in the provision in 2024 compared to 2023, primarily reflects a $61,000 increase in net charge offs, a $28.2 million increase in the reservable balance of the loan portfolio and a 0.16% increase in the current expected credit loss percentage. As a result, the allowance for credit loss on loans was $2.8 million on December 31, 2024, representing 1.38% of total loans, compared to $2.2 million, or 1.22% of total loans on December 31, 2023.

Noninterest income for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2024, was $1.2 million, compared to $1.1 million for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $57,000 or 5.20%. The increase was driven primarily by a $52,000 increase in other fees and commissions which included a $31,000 casualty gain due to insurance proceeds exceeding the book value of assets destroyed by water damage.

For the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2024, noninterest expense was $11.9 million, compared to $11.6 million for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2023. The primary contributors to the $253,000 increase when compared to the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2023, were increases in legal, accounting, and other professional fees, occupancy and equipment expenses, and other expenses which included the allowance for unfunded commitments, partially offset by decreases in salary and employee benefits costs.

Glen Burnie Bancorp Information

Glen Burnie Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Founded in 1949, The Bank of Glen Burnie® is a locally owned community bank with seven branch offices serving Anne Arundel County. The Bank is engaged in the commercial and retail banking business including the acceptance of demand and time deposits, and the origination of loans to individuals, associations, partnerships, and corporations. The Bank’s real estate financing consists of residential first and second mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit and commercial mortgage loans. The Bank also originates automobile loans through arrangements with local automobile dealers. Additional information is available at www.thebankofglenburnie.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements contained herein that are not historical financial information may be deemed to constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause the company’s actual results in the future to differ materially from its historical results and those presently anticipated or projected. These statements are evidenced by terms such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “should,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” and similar expressions. Although these statements reflect management’s good faith beliefs and projections, they are not guarantees of future performance and they may not prove true. For a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, please see the company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


GLEN BURNIE BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARY
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(dollars in thousands)


	December 31,			September 30,			December 31,
	2024			2024			2023
	(unaudited)			(unaudited)			(audited)
ASSETS
Cash and due from banks	$	2,012		$	2,255		$	1,940
Interest-bearing deposits in other financial institutions		22,452			20,207			13,301
Total Cash and Cash Equivalents		24,464			22,462			15,241

Investment securities available for sale, at fair value		107,949			119,958			139,427
Restricted equity securities, at cost		1,671			246			1,217

Loans, net of deferred fees and costs		205,219			206,975			176,307
Less: Allowance for credit losses		(2,839	)		(2,748	)		(2,157	)
Loans, net		202,380			204,227			174,150

Premises and equipment, net		2,630			2,723			3,046
Bank owned life insurance		8,834			8,789			8,657
Deferred tax assets, net		8,548			6,879			7,897
Accrued interest receivable		1,345			1,478			1,192
Accrued taxes receivable		148			497			121
Prepaid expenses		471			486			475
Other assets		516			614			390
Total Assets	$	358,956		$	368,359		$	351,813

LIABILITIES
Noninterest-bearing deposits	$	100,747		$	115,938		$	116,922
Interest-bearing deposits		208,442			198,335			183,145
Total Deposits		309,189			314,273			300,067

Short-term borrowings		30,000			30,000			30,000
Defined pension liability		330			329			324
Accrued expenses and other liabilities		1,620			2,597			2,097
Total Liabilities		341,139			347,199			332,488

STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Common stock, par value $1, authorized 15,000,000 shares, issued and outstanding 2,900,681; 2,900,681; 2,882,627; shares as of December 31, 2024, September 30, 2024, and December 31, 2023 respectively.		2,901			2,901			2,883
Additional paid-in capital		11,037			11,037			10,964
Retained earnings		22,882			22,921			23,859
Accumulated other comprehensive loss		(19,003	)		(15,699	)		(18,381	)
Total Stockholders’ Equity		17,817			21,160			19,325
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	$	358,956		$	368,359		$	351,813

GLEN BURNIE BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARY
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
(unaudited)

	Three Months Ended December 31,						Twelve Months Ended December 31,
		2024			2023			2024			2023
Interest income
Interest and fees on loans	$	2,851		$	2,192		$	10,498		$	8,559
Interest and dividends on securities		773			1,082			3,379			4,147
Interest on deposits with banks and federal funds sold		332			162			1,335			631
Total Interest Income		3,956			3,436			15,212			13,337

Interest expense
Interest on deposits		818			176			2,533			513
Interest on short-term borrowings		375			369			1,738			689
Total Interest Expense		1,193			545			4,271			1,202

Net Interest Income		2,763			2,891			10,941			12,135
Provision of credit loss allowance		71			103			844			96
Net interest income after release of credit loss provision		2,692			2,788			10,097			12,039

Noninterest income
Service charges on deposit accounts		42			39			150			159
Other fees and commissions		245			217			829			777
Income on life insurance		45			43			178			164
Total Noninterest Income		332			299			1,157			1,100

Noninterest expenses
Salary and employee benefits		1,708			1,621			6,580			6,710
Occupancy and equipment expenses		330			339			1,325			1,294
Legal, accounting and other professional fees		346			301			1,115			993
Data processing and item processing services		260			250			1,016			1,005
FDIC insurance costs		42			40			161			163
Advertising and marketing related expenses		29			25			117			97
Loan collection costs		13			8			25			22
Telephone costs		44			39			154			151
Other expenses		346			324			1,398			1,203
Total Noninterest Expenses		3,118			2,947			11,891			11,638

(Loss) income before income taxes		(94	)		140			(637	)		1,501
Income tax (benefit) expense		(55	)		(27	)		(525	)		72

Net income (loss)	$	(39	)	$	167		$	(112	)	$	1,429

Basic and diluted net income (loss) per common share	$	(0.01	)	$	0.06		$	(0.04	)	$	0.50

GLEN BURNIE BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARY
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023
(dollars in thousands)
(unaudited)

								Accumulated
			Additional					Other			Total
	Common		Paid-in		Retained			Comprehensive			Stockholders’
	Stock		Capital		Earnings			(Loss) Income			Equity
Balance, December 31, 2022	$	2,865	$	10,862	$	23,579		$	(21,252	)	$	16,054

Net income		–		–		1,429			–			1,429
Cash dividends, $0.40 per share		–		–		(1,149	)		–			(1,149	)
Dividends reinvested under dividend reinvestment plan		18		102		–			–			120
Other comprehensive income		–		–		–			2,871			2,871
Balance, December 31, 2023	$	2,883	$	10,964	$	23,859		$	(18,381	)	$	19,325


								Accumulated
			Additional					Other			Total
	Common		Paid-in		Retained			Comprehensive			Stockholders’
	Stock		Capital		Earnings			Loss			Equity
Balance, December 31, 2023	$	2,883	$	10,964	$	23,859		$	(18,381	)	$	19,325

Net loss		–		–		(112	)		–			(112	)
Cash dividends, $0.30 per share		–		–		(865	)		–			(865	)
Dividends reinvested under dividend reinvestment plan		18		73		–			–			91
Other comprehensive loss		–		–		–			(622	)		(622	)
Balance, December 31, 2024	$	2,901	$	11,037	$	22,882		$	(19,003	)	$	17,817

THE BANK OF GLEN BURNIE
CAPITAL RATIOS
(dollars in thousands)
(unaudited)

									To Be Well
									Capitalized Under
					To Be Considered				Prompt Corrective
					Adequately Capitalized				Action Provisions
	Amount		Ratio		Amount		Ratio		Amount		Ratio
As of December 31, 2024:
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital	$	36,481	15.15	%	$	10,837	4.50	%	$	15,653	6.50	%
Total Risk-Based Capital	$	39,496	16.40	%	$	19,265	8.00	%	$	24,082	10.00	%
Tier 1 Risk-Based Capital	$	36,481	15.15	%	$	14,449	6.00	%	$	19,265	8.00	%
Tier 1 Leverage	$	36,481	9.97	%	$	14,640	4.00	%	$	18,300	5.00	%

As of September 30, 2024:
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital	$	36,755	15.47	%	$	10,691	4.50	%	$	15,443	6.50	%
Total Risk-Based Capital	$	39,729	16.72	%	$	19,006	8.00	%	$	23,758	10.00	%
Tier 1 Risk-Based Capital	$	36,755	15.47	%	$	14,255	6.00	%	$	19,006	8.00	%
Tier 1 Leverage	$	36,755	10.11	%	$	14,539	4.00	%	$	18,173	5.00	%

As of December 31, 2023:
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital	$	37,975	17.37	%	$	9,840	4.50	%	$	14,213	6.50	%
Total Risk-Based Capital	$	40,237	18.40	%	$	17,493	8.00	%	$	21,867	10.00	%
Tier 1 Risk-Based Capital	$	37,975	17.37	%	$	13,120	6.00	%	$	17,493	8.00	%
Tier 1 Leverage	$	37,975	10.76	%	$	14,113	4.00	%	$	17,641	5.00	%

GLEN BURNIE BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARY
SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)


	Three Months Ended									Twelve Months Ended
	December 31			September 30			December 31			December 31			December 31
	2024			2024			2023			2024			2023
	(unaudited)			(unaudited)			(unaudited)			(unaudited)			(audited)

Financial Data
Assets	$	358,956		$	368,359		$	351,813		$	358,956		$	351,813
Investment securities		107,949			119,958			139,427			107,949			139,427
Loans, (net of deferred fees & costs)		205,219			206,975			176,307			205,219			176,307
Allowance for loan losses		2,839			2,748			2,157			2,839			2,157
Deposits		309,189			314,273			300,067			309,189			300,067
Borrowings		30,000			30,000			30,000			30,000			30,000
Stockholders’ equity		17,817			21,160			19,325			17,817			19,325
Net income		(39	)		129			167			(112	)		1,429

Average Balances
Assets	$	366,888		$	364,127		$	353,085		$	363,994		$	361,731
Investment securities		136,868			142,972			174,581			148,037			173,902
Loans, (net of deferred fees & costs)		204,703			203,316			175,456			192,646			179,790
Deposits		314,046			312,019			310,168			309,838			330,095
Borrowings		30,323			30,001			26,579			32,720			12,580
Stockholders’ equity		20,664			19,559			14,253			19,169			17,105

Performance Ratios
Annualized return on average assets		-0.04	%		0.14	%		0.19	%		-0.03	%		0.40	%
Annualized return on average equity		-0.75	%		2.63	%		4.65	%		-0.58	%		8.35	%
Net interest margin		2.98	%		3.06	%		3.17	%		2.98	%		3.31	%
Dividend payout ratio		0	%		224	%		172	%		-773	%		80	%
Book value per share	$	6.14		$	7.29		$	6.70		$	6.14		$	6.70
Basic and diluted net income per share		(0.01	)		0.04			0.06			(0.04	)		0.50
Cash dividends declared per share		0.00			0.10			0.10			0.30			0.40
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding		2,900,681			2,897,929			2,880,398			2,893,871			2,873,500

Asset Quality Ratios
Allowance for loan losses to loans		1.38	%		1.33	%		1.22	%		1.38	%		1.22	%
Nonperforming loans to avg. loans		0.18	%		0.14	%		0.30	%		0.19	%		0.29	%
Allowance for loan losses to nonaccrual & 90+ past due loans		789.1	%		937.5	%		409.3	%		789.1	%		409.3	%
Net charge-offs annualize to avg. loans		-0.04	%		-0.09	%		0.08	%		0.08	%		0.06	%

Capital Ratios
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital		15.15	%		15.47	%		17.37	%		15.15	%		17.37	%
Tier 1 Risk-based Capital Ratio		15.15	%		15.47	%		17.37	%		15.15	%		17.37	%
Leverage Ratio		9.97	%		10.11	%		10.76	%		9.97	%		10.76	%
Total Risk-Based Capital Ratio		16.40	%		16.72	%		18.40	%		16.40	%		18.40	%

The MIL Network –

February 7, 2025

MIL-OSI: Real Matters Announces Election of Directors

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

TORONTO, Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Real Matters Inc. (“Real Matters”), a leading network management services platform for the mortgage and insurance industries, today announced that all of the nominees listed in Real Matters’ management information circular dated December 13, 2024, were elected as directors of Real Matters. The detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at Real Matters’ Annual Meeting of Shareholders are set out below:

Each of the following six nominees proposed by management was elected as a director of Real Matters:

Nominee	Votes For	% Votes For	Votes Against	% Votes Against
Kay Brekken	42,303,499	84.11%	7,994,373	15.89%
Garry Foster	41,379,919	82.27%	8,917,953	17.73%
Brian Lang	50,252,277	99.91%	45,595	0.09%
Karen Martin	50,282,787	99.97%	15,085	0.03%
Frank McMahon	41,488,620	82.49%	8,809,252	17.51%
Peter Vukanovich	50,262,177	99.93%	35,695	0.07%

Final voting results on all matters voted on at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held earlier today will be published on www.realmatters.com, and filed with the Canadian securities regulators.

About Real Matters
Real Matters is a leading network management services provider for the mortgage lending and insurance industries. Real Matters’ platform combines its proprietary technology and network management capabilities with tens of thousands of independent qualified field professionals to create an efficient marketplace for the provision of mortgage lending and insurance industry services. Our clients include top 100 mortgage lenders in the U.S. and some of the largest banks and insurance companies in North America. We are a leading independent provider of residential real estate appraisals to the mortgage market and a leading independent provider of title services in the U.S. Headquartered in Markham (ON), Real Matters has principal offices in Buffalo (NY) and Middletown (RI). Real Matters is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol REAL. For more information, visit www.realmatters.com.

For more information:
Lyne Beauregard
Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Real Matters
lbeauregard@realmatters.com
416.994.5930

The MIL Network –

February 7, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: Development Asia: Strengthening Digital Safety Systems for Children in Nepal

Source: Asia Development Bank

This participative research was initiated under the Safety for Children and their Rights OnLine (SCROL) project in Nepal led by Terre des Hommes Netherlands in partnership with the Center for Legal Research and Resource Development (CeLRRD), Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), and Women Youth in Social Service Human Rights (WYESHR).

The research was conducted in the Gandaki and Bagmati provinces in 2024 by 162 children through voluntary participation and a simple random sampling method. A total of 443 children and 213 parents responded to a questionnaire designed by children.

The following findings, based on children’s insights, highlight critical trends in online experiences that have the potential to shape effective solutions.

Social media usage patterns: According to the survey results, Facebook emerged as the dominant social media platform, with 42% of respondents indicating it as their primary choice for online engagement. YouTube is the second most popular platform, capturing 26% of user preferences, while Instagram maintains a significant presence, with 14% of users favoring it as their main social platform.

Response to online negativity: The data reveals essential insights into youth coping mechanisms when encountering harmful online content. A plurality of young users (31.6%) prioritize peer support by confiding in friends, while a slightly smaller proportion (27.5%) choose to discuss these issues with their parents. Notably, a concerning 20% of respondents internalize these experiences by keeping them private. This isolation can increase the risk of revictimization and lead to mental health issues among children, highlighting potential areas for intervention.

Digital safety practices: Most users (78.6%) demonstrate awareness of basic online safety measures by consistently declining friendship requests from unknown individuals on Facebook, indicating a strong foundation of protective behaviors.

Social media perception: The survey reveals a notable division in attitudes toward social media engagement. Nearly half (49.2%) of respondents express caution by discouraging peers from joining social platforms, while 40.2% maintain a positive outlook and actively encourage participation.

Mental health impact: The research identifies that approximately one in six respondents (17%) acknowledge experiencing psychological distress related to their online activities, highlighting the importance of mental health support in digital spaces.

Digital account security: Most users (90.7%) demonstrate strong ethical digital practices by maintaining strict account security, specifically avoiding trading or sharing their online and gaming accounts.

Parental oversight acceptance: The data shows that slightly more than half of young users (53%) have a positive attitude toward parental monitoring and established online boundaries, suggesting a balanced approach to digital supervision.

“Monitoring and setting boundaries are good—they protect us from OCSE. However, they [parents] shouldn’t interfere with our studies, privacy, or personal life.” – Rima (name changed)

Parental control approaches: Regarding social media access, most parents (61%) opt for an open approach with unrestricted usage, while approximately one-quarter (26.5%) implement complete restrictions, revealing diverse parenting strategies in digital supervision.

Parent-child digital dynamics: The survey indicates that approximately half of the children (50.7%) feel comfortable using their devices in their parents’ presence, suggesting a relatively balanced level of trust and openness in digital behavior.

Child protection awareness: A significant finding reveals that more than half of parents (55%) lack knowledge about available reporting mechanisms for Online Child Sexual Exploitation (OCSE), indicating a crucial gap in child safety awareness.

Parental acceptance of children’s display of alternative gender and sexual identity online: Parental acceptance of their children’s alternative gender and sexual identity, such as LGBTQ+, discovered through social media use varies across Nepal’s regions. The Bagmati region shows higher acceptance (53.91%) than Gandaki (24.10%), with combined acceptance at 42.18%. Resistance is higher in Gandaki (45.78%) than in Bagmati (29.69%), showing more progressive thinking in Bagmati. The remaining parents are uncertain (21.33%) or would seek specialist help (0.47%).

MIL OSI Economics –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: News 02/6/2025 Blackburn Celebrates Her Legislation Passing Out of Commerce Committee
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) released the following statement after five bills that she sponsored or co-sponsored passed out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This includes the American Music Tourism Act, the Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act, the Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act, the She DRIVES Act, and the TORNADO Act.

“The 119^th Congress is already off to a productive start, and I am pleased that five of my bills have moved forward out of the Commerce Committee to the full Senate for a vote,” said Senator Blackburn. “I urge my Senate colleagues to support this legislation, which will promote American music tourism, strengthen U.S. supply chains for emerging technologies, boost domestic manufacturing, enhance vehicle safety standards, and improve the forecasting of hazardous weather.”

BACKGROUND:

See below for more information on each piece of legislation.
- The American Music Tourism Act, sponsored by Senator Blackburn, would leverage the existing framework within the Department of Commerce to highlight and promote music tourism in the United States. It would require the Department of Commerce’s Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism to implement a plan to support and increase music tourism for both domestic and international visitors as well as a report to Congress on the successes and vulnerabilities of the Assistant Secretary’s goals to increase travel and tourism.
- The Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act, co-led by Senator Blackburn, would authorize the Department of Commerce to strengthen American supply chains for critical industries and emerging technologies by working with the private sector and U.S. government partners to anticipate and prevent future supply chain disruptions before they happen.
- The Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act, co-led by Senator Blackburn, would streamline federal efforts to boost domestic manufacturers and support workers. It would also assess the Department of Commerce’s efforts to support manufacturers and suggest solutions to improve the Department’s manufacturing programs to better serve manufacturers – many of which are small businesses.
- The She Develops Regulations in Vehicle Equality and Safety (She DRIVES) Act, co-led by Senator Blackburn, would enhance passenger vehicle safety by updating U.S. crashworthiness testing procedures. It would require the use of the most advanced testing devices available, including a female crash test dummy.
- The Tornado Observation Research Notification and Deployment to Operations (TORNADO) Act, co-sponsored by Senator Blackburn, would improve the forecasting of tornadoes and other hazardous weather by requiring the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to prepare and submit an action plan for the national implementation of high-resolution probabilistic guidance for tornado forecasting and prediction.
MIL OSI USA News –
February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Kennedy, Cramer reintroduce bill to prevent banks from discriminating against law-abiding businesses
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator John Kennedy (Louisiana)

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) in reintroducing the Fair Access to Banking Act to prevent banks from denying services to law-abiding businesses for political purposes.

“Banks shouldn’t stop customers from accessing accounts or services based on political affiliation or industry. I’m proud to help introduce the Fair Access to Banking Act to make sure financial institutions aren’t working as political activists against law-abiding Americans,” said Kennedy.

“When progressives failed at banning these entire industries, what they did instead is they turned to weaponizing banks as sort of a backdoor to carry out their activist goals. Financial institutions are backed by taxpayers, for crying out loud! They should be obligated to provide services in an unbiased, risk-based manner. The Fair Access to Banking Act ensures that banks provide fair access to services and enacts strict penalties for categorically discriminating against legal industries and individuals,” said Cramer.

In 2021, the Trump administration finalized its Fair Access Rule to require banks to make individual risk assessments and stop broad discrimination against customers. However, the Biden administration paused the rule’s implementation.

The Fair Access to Banking Act would penalize banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets for refusing services to law-abiding companies or people. The bill also requires banks to give a written explanation for denying services to a customer.

Background:
- The Fair Access to Banking Act would protect Americans in the wake of major banks’ move to discriminate against legal businesses. Some of the largest U.S. banks have blocked businesses and consumers from accessing financial services based on political ideology.
- In 2020, five of the country’s largest banks announced they will not provide loans or credit to support oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge even though Congress explicitly authorized it.
- In 2021, JPMorgan Chase declared it would refuse financial services to coal producers. Bank of America also began a politically motivated effort to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from its financing activities by 2050, an effort directly targeting producers of reliable American energy. Earlier this year, however, Bank of America quietly withdrew from a climate alliance seeking net-zero emissions.
- Payment services like Apple Pay and PayPal have denied their services for transactions involving firearms or ammunition.
Sens. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Curtis (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) also cosponsored the bill.

The full bill text is available here.
MIL OSI USA News –
February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Home Secretary hosts summit on mobile phone theft
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

The Home Secretary brought together law enforcement and leading tech companies to drive new action to tackle mobile phone thefts.
Yvette Cooper and Diana Johnson host phone theft summit.

Today the Home Secretary brought together policing leaders, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London and leading tech companies to drive new action to tackle mobile phone thefts and secure a collective effort to grip this criminality.

The summit comes as street crime has soared by 43% nationwide, driven by a significant rise in snatch theft, including of mobile phones.

For too long crimes like these have been neglected, which is why as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, the Home Secretary says she will legislate where necessary to ensure police have the powers they need to treat this with the seriousness it warrants, and police are expected to agree to step up enforcement activity nationwide.

This will include better use of intelligence to drive more hotspot policing and targeted operations, particularly around high-risk periods such as Christmas and when a new phone is released.

The Home Secretary urged companies including Apple, Google and Samsung, and law enforcement to join forces to build on existing anti-theft security measures and help design out and disincentivise phone theft, by making phones effectively worthless to criminals.

She called for a much deeper dive on all available sources of data and intelligence to build a much more comprehensive diagnosis of the problems and scale of the criminal market, to drive joint solutions.

All in attendance agreed to greater collaboration between police and tech by significantly boosting intelligence sharing, on both sides, and to reconvene in 3 months’ time.

It follows the government kickstarting the recruitment of 13,000 neighbourhood police officers, police community support officers and specials with £200 million investment so that every community will have a named, contactable officer who knows their patch.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

Over the last few years, mobile phone thefts have shot up – often driven by organised crime – leaving our streets feeling less safe. That has to change.

I brought together tech companies and law enforcement today to pursue stronger action against organised criminality and to prevent phone theft on our streets. It was a significant step forward in addressing the need to come together as partners to disrupt, design-out and disincentivise these damaging crimes.

At the same time, this government is doubling new investment into neighbourhood policing to tackle theft on high streets and in our communities, to keep our streets safe.

The commitment follows the Met Police’s significant recent intensification operation, which led to 1,000 phones seized and 230 arrests.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:

I’m really pleased to have joined today’s roundtable discussion with mobile phone firms, the Home Secretary, Met Police and National Crime Agency to discuss our ongoing partnership-led approach to tackle mobile phone crime.

The Met’s hard-working officers have stepped up their work in London to prevent and tackle mobile phone theft – with patrols and plain-clothed operations in hotspot areas and are increasingly using phone-tracking data and intelligence. This work is being backed up with record funding from City Hall which is boosting neighbourhood policing in our communities.

But we know that we can’t arrest our way out of mobile phone crime – which has become a national and international issue and needs innovative solutions. I welcome recent security updates by leading mobile phone companies that we supported and we spoke today about how we can build on those and work together to ‘design out’ the scourge of mobile phone crime to build a safer London for all.

Aleyne Johnson, Director of Government and External Relations, Samsung UK, said:

Samsung is deeply committed to working closely with the Home Office, Mayor’s Office, the Met Police and authorities in London on the issue of mobile phone theft and related crimes and are encouraged by collaborative discussions held at the Mobile Phone Theft Summit today, to look at existing and potential new solutions to help combat this complex issue and improve the safety of mobile phone users.

We encourage all of our customers to protect their devices by setting up existing Android security and privacy features, like Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock and Remote Lock and our recent One UI 7 update has built further on those protections with new anti-theft features such as identity check, biometric authentication and security delay, all featured in our latest Galaxy S25 series.

Alex Rawle, Safety and Security Lead, Google UK said:

Android devices offer added protection for millions around the UK. We encourage users to make use of existing security and privacy features, like Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock and Remote Lock, to improve the safety of their devices and data.

We welcome today’s summit and are committed to continue working with our partners to support efforts against mobile phone theft.

Gary Davis, Senior Director, Regulatory Legal, Apple, said:

Apple works closely with law enforcement bodies in the UK and globally to fight phone theft, and we welcome the opportunity to further collaborate at today’s event.

Apple has industry leading features that help users keep their devices and data safe. These include Activation Lock, a feature that is enabled automatically when Find My is activated and works in the background to make it more difficult for someone to use or sell your iPhone or iPad if it’s ever lost or stolen.

Stolen Device Protection adds additional security if a device is away from familiar locations. These are complemented by tools such as Recovery Key, a method to regain control if you lose access to your account and Find My, a tool that you can use to locate the device and protect your personal information.

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Published 6 February 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James Secures Prison Sentence for Serial Health Care Fraudster

Source: US State of New York

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced the sentencing of Imran Shams, 66, of California, to eight and one third to twenty-five years in state prison for his role in a scheme that wrongfully billed Medicaid millions of dollars for fraudulent medical testing services. On March 6, 2020, Shams pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the First and Second Degrees and agreed to pay restitution of $7 million. Shams is currently serving a 13-year federal prison sentence following convictions in the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of New York and the Central District of California for conduct related to his New York scheme, as well as other health care fraud schemes.

“When criminal organizations abuse our health care system, the most vulnerable patients suffer,” said Attorney General James. “Imram Shams and his accomplices ran a despicable scheme that used vulnerable New Yorkers to steal millions of dollars meant to provide care for low-income patients. My office will continue to go after those who try to profit by undermining the Medicaid program and bring bad actors to justice.”

Shams’ sentencing is the culmination of a multi-year investigation and prosecution of the illegal activity of Multi-Specialty, a fraudulent medical clinic secretly owned by Shams, who was banned from billing Medicaid as a provider due to a previous health care fraud conviction. Multi-Specialty illegally paid Medicaid recipients a kickback of $20 to $50 to enter the clinic and submit to unnecessary and usually fraudulent evaluations and tests. These were often administered by untrained and incompetent individuals recruited to dress like health care professionals in order to lend an appearance of legitimacy to the fraud.

Soliciting Medicaid recipients by offering to pay them to accept medical services paid for by Medicaid is unlawful under state and federal law. After bribing recipients to enter his clinic, Shams used licensed health care providers complicit in the scheme to submit fraudulent claims to Medicaid and to Medicaid-funded Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) for unnecessary or nonexistent services. Shams also received millions of dollars in kickbacks for exclusively referring patients for diagnostic testing, regardless of medical need, to companies owned by other participants in the scheme, Tea Kaganovich and Ramazi Mitaishvili, both of Brooklyn.

Shams was sentenced today to eight and one third to twenty-five years in prison, to run concurrent with his federal sentence, by Judge Michele Rodney of the New York County Supreme Court, and is the last defendant to be sentenced in this scheme. His sentence follows the convictions and sentencings of Kaganovich and Mitaishvili on charges of Grand Larceny in the First Degree. Both received a sentence of one and a half to four and a half years in state prison in November 2023. In addition, a radiologist complicit in the scheme, Bernard Bentley of East Hampton, New York received a sentence of three years of probation on charges of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree for his role in fraudulently billing Medicaid over eight million dollars for fraudulent diagnostic testing services.

Kaganovich and Mitaishvili were prosecuted in a related criminal case in the Eastern District of New York, and as part of that case, were ordered to pay over $18 million of restitution to the New York Medicaid Fraud Restitution Fund, and it is expected that more than seven million dollars in assets seized from those defendants as part of the federal case will be remitted to New York.

The Attorney General would like to thank the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG), the U.S. Department of Justice Medicare Strike Force, which operates from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York; the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS OIG); the New York City Human Resources Administration, Medicaid Provider Investigations and Audit Unit, and HealthFirst for their assistance and cooperation in this investigation.

Senior Detective Stanislav Tabakov investigated the case with the assistance of Detective Supervisor Dominick DiGennaro. Senior Auditor Investigator Lisandra Defex conducted the financial analysis with the assistance of MFCU New York City Regional Chief Auditor Investigator Thomasina Smith and Deputy Regional Chief Auditor Jonathan Romano.

Special Assistant Attorney General Chase Ruddy prosecuted the criminal case under the supervision of NYC Regional Director Twan V. Bounds. Deputy Chief of MFCU’s Civil Enforcement Division, Konrad F. Payne, negotiated monetary settlements attendant to each defendant’s guilty pleas that recovered millions of dollars for the state. Alee Scott is the Chief of MFCU’s Civil Enforcement Division. Thomas O’Hanlon is MFCU’s Chief of Criminal Investigations. MFCU is led by Director Amy Held and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Paul Mahoney. The Division of Criminal Justice is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado under the oversight of First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.

MFCU defends the public by addressing Medicaid provider fraud and protecting nursing home residents from abuse and neglect. If an individual believes they have information about Medicaid provider fraud or about an incident of abuse or neglect of a nursing home resident, they can file a confidential complaint online or call the MFCU hotline at (800) 771-7755. If the situation is an emergency, please call 911.

New York MFCU’s total funding for federal fiscal year (FY) 2025 is $70,502,916. Of that total, 75 percent, or $52,877,188, is funded from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $17,625,728 for FY 2025, is funded by New York State.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James Demands Refunds for Optimum Customers Facing MSG Blackouts

Source: US State of New York

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, and New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin today took action to secure automatic refunds for customers of Altice USA (Altice), the owner of Optimum, who have been denied access to MSG Networks (MSG) cable channels as a result of Optimum’s blackouts. In January, Attorney General James called on Optimum and MSG to quickly resolve contract negotiations so New Yorkers would not be impacted by service disruptions. As a result of a contract dispute between Altice and MSG, Optimum cable consumers have been blocked from accessing MSG stations, leaving residents in the tri-state area who paid extra for these sports channels unable to watch them. In a letter to Optimum’s owner, Altice, the attorneys general demanded automatic refunds for customers who have been denied access to the MSG channels they paid for as part of their cable plans.

“New York sports fans are being put in the penalty box, forced to shell out their hard-earned money for television channels they cannot even watch,” said Attorney General James. “Optimum customers have paid for channels to watch their home sports teams, but their cable company is not offering these channels while charging them anyway. I am determined to secure a solution for New Yorkers who have had to endure these unfair blackouts and I urge Optimum and MSG to finally reach a deal so New Yorkers can watch their home teams.”

“We urge Optimum and MSG to resolve their dispute and end the blackout so that New Jersey consumers can once again access the services they paid for to watch their favorite local teams play,” said Attorney General Platkin.

“Optimum and MSG need to stop the posturing and get back to the table. Figure it out and let us watch our sports in peace,” said Attorney General Tong. “In the meantime, consumers are paying for sports they can’t watch and they are owed immediate refunds without hassle.”

Altice removed access to MSG channels for its Optimum cable plan customers beginning in January 2025. MSG channels, which provide exclusive coverage of the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres have remained blacked out since January 1. In January, Attorney General James alerted both Optimum and MSG that the Office of the Attorney General would be monitoring the ongoing contract situation closely to ensure New York customers received the services they were paying for.

In the letter to Altice, the attorneys general demand automatic refunds for impacted customers who paid for Optimum cable plans and were denied access to the channels they paid for.

This is the latest example of Attorney General James taking action to protect consumers who are unfairly charged for goods and services. In December 2024, Attorney General James secured refunds for former customers of telehealth company SmileDirectClub who were charged for services they never received after the company declared bankruptcy. In October 2024, Attorney General James secured refunds for consumers whose hotel reservations in Buffalo were canceled before the solar eclipse. In February 2024, Attorney General James secured refunds for New Yorkers who were wrongfully charged for COVID-19 vaccines.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Company penalized for workplace injuries
Source: Government of Canada regional news (2)
Graham Construction and Engineering Inc., as an employer, pleaded guilty to one count under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code for failing to ensure that a temporary cover used to protect an opening was clearly marked to indicate the nature of the hazard. The company was sentenced on Jan. 31 in the Calgary Court of Justice. The Crown withdrew six other charges under OHS legislation. The Crown also withdrew seven charges each against two other Graham-related entities.

The charges stem from an incident at a Calgary construction site on Dec. 10, 2021. A worker was on a roof and plywood that covered an opening had been removed. The worker fell 4.5 metres through the opening, suffering serious injuries.

Graham Construction and Engineering Inc. was ordered to pay $110,000 in total penalties, including a $1,000 fine inclusive of the 20 per cent victim fine surcharge. Under a creative sentence, the company was ordered to pay $109,000 to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) to subsidize safety-related construction courses.

The OHS Act provides a creative sentence option in which funds that would otherwise be paid as fines are directed to an organization or project to improve or promote workplace health and safety.

Both the company and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalties.

Alberta’s OHS laws set basic health and safety rules for workplaces across the province. They provide guidance for employers to help them ensure their workplaces are as healthy and safe as possible while providing rights and protections for workers. Charges under OHS laws may be laid when failing to follow the rules results in a workplace fatality or serious injury.

Quick facts
- Jobs, Economy and Trade does not provide sentence documents. These are available through the Calgary Court of Justice.
- Victim fine surcharges apply to fines payable to the Crown.
- Surcharges are not applied to payments to other entities, in this case the $109,000 paid to SAIT, under creative sentences.
Related information
- Convictions under OHS legislation
- Charges under OHS legislation
- OHS incident investigations
MIL OSI Canada News –
February 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Polis Administration Announces Higher Purpose Homes and VeroTouch as Latest IHIP Grant Recipients

Source: US State of Colorado

VeroTouch Unveils First Homes 3D Printed in Colorado

DENVER – Today, Governor Polis and the Business Funding & Incentives division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced two new recipients of the Innovative Housing Incentive Program (IHIP) grant to support the development of the off-site construction industry and create more housing at a lower cost across the state: Higher Purpose Homes and VeroTouch. The announcement comes the same day VeroTouch unveils the first houses 3D-printed in Colorado.

“We are proud to accelerate innovation in housing to better address Colorado’s housing needs,” said Governor Jared Polis. “The unveiling of the first 3D-printed homes in the state is a great example of our state’s efforts to support new construction methods and create more housing now.”

Compared to traditional building practices, off-site construction can produce housing more efficiently and at a lower cost while creating stable, year-round, high-quality jobs. Early results suggest that state support of construction methods like modular, manufactured, panelized and 3-D printed homes are growing the industry and generating new homes in Colorado. The annual percentage of Colorado’s modular housing units produced by out of state manufacturers has decreased from 91% to less than 50%.

The funding announced today will directly incentivize the creation of over 160 attainable housing units. With this latest round of grants, the Polis Administration has awarded 14 IHIP grants directly incentivizing the creation of 2,300 attainable housing units across Colorado and contributing to the recipients’ work to create more than 7,500 units over three years. To date, 705 housing units have been produced with support from IHIP.

“It’s exciting to see the statewide impact of the Innovative Housing Incentive Program as it continues to support the growth of innovative housing manufacturers located across the state, including the Buena Vista and Durango recipients announced today,” said Eve Lieberman, Executive Director of OEDIT. “We commend these companies for their efforts to help increase the supply of housing which, over time, will enable more Coloradans to live in the communities they love and be close to their jobs”

The recipients announced today include:

Higher Purpose Homes – Durango – This panelized housing manufacturer constructs floors, walls and roofs in a manufacturing facility and then uses a crane to place the pieces. The company estimates that 30% of its homes will be deed-restricted and affordable. In 2023, the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved Higher Purpose Homes for the Rural Jump-Start program, which encourages economic development and job creation in rural communities across the state. Through IHIP, Higher Purpose Homes is approved for up to $590,000 for constructing a projected 95 units over three years.

VeroTouch Construction – Buena Vista – This 3D printed housing manufacturer uses robots to print single- and multi-family concrete homes on-site. Today, the company is unveiling the first two homes 3-D printed in Colorado: two-bed, two-bath, 1,100 square foot units in downtown Buena Vista as part of a 31-unit development. VeroTouch Construction is approved for up to $618,000 for constructing a projected 67 units over three years.

About the Innovative Housing Incentive Program

The Innovative Housing Incentive Program (IHIP) helps address Colorado’s housing shortage by supporting the development and expansion of the state’s innovative housing manufacturing businesses. IHIP is part of an emerging suite of OEDIT-affiliated programs that offer housing financing tools to help increase the supply of affordable and attainable housing across Colorado. These programs include the Proposition 123 Affordable Housing Financing Fund, staffing of the Middle Income Housing Authority, work by the Colorado Creative Industries Division via the Community Revitalization and Space to Create programs and incentivizing housing units with the Historic Preservation Tax Credit.

About Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT)

The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) works with partners to create a positive business climate that encourages dynamic economic development and sustainable job growth. Under the leadership of Governor Jared Polis, we strive to advance the State’s economy through financial and technical assistance that fosters local and regional economic development activities throughout Colorado. OEDIT offers a host of programs and services tailored to support business development at every level including business retention services, business relocation services, and business funding and incentives. Our office includes the Global Business Development division; Colorado Tourism Office; Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office; Colorado Creative Industries; Business Financing & Incentives division; the Colorado Small Business Development Network; Cannabis Business Office; Colorado Office of Film, TV & Media; the Minority Business Office; Employee Ownership Office; and Rural Opportunity Office. Learn more at oedit.colorado.gov.

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MIL OSI USA News –

February 7, 2025

Category: Business

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Far-reaching consequences

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