NewzIntel.com

Category: Crime

  • MIL-OSI Security: Continued appeal following death of man in Islington

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Officers investigating the death of Fredi Rivero in Islington last week are continuing to appeal for witnesses.

    Police were called to Seven Sister’s Road, close to the junction of Holloway Road at 23:35hrs on Thursday, 27 February following reports of Fredi being located with serious injuries.

    Fredi, 75 was taken to hospital where he sadly died on Friday, 28 February. His family continue to be supported by specialist officers.

    Three teenage girls, aged 14, 16 and 17 have been charged with manslaughter in connection with Fredi’s death.

    Investigating officers are now in the positon to release a CCTV image of Fredi Rivero, showing what he was last seen wearing.

    Detective Inspector Devan Taylor from Specialist Crime North said:

    “Fredi Rivero was a much loved father, whose family are devastated by his death. I also know his death has also shocked this tight-knit community.

    “Three girls have been charged in connection with this investigation and we continue at pace with our enquiries.

    “If you remember seeing Fredi or have any information which could support with the investigation, please contact us.

    Information can be submitted via the Major Incident Public Portal using the following link: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/01MPS25X45-PO1

    Alternatively, please call police on 101 with the reference CAD8184/27 Feb.

    You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 if you want to remain anonymous.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Watson Lake — Watson Lake RCMP locate stolen vehicle, make an arrest

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    Following an investigation involving collaboration between the Whitehorse, Teslin and Watson Lake RCMP detachments, an RCMP officer from Watson Lake successfully used a tire deflation device, resulting in the arrest of a suspect in a vehicle theft.

    On March 3, 2025 at 3:28 pm Whitehorse RCMP received a report of a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was located on the Alaska Highway driving south through Teslin. Traffic stops were initiated by both the Teslin and Watson Lake RCMP however the vehicle failed to stop for police.

    A Watson Lake officer set up a tire deflation device at the Alaska and Cassiar Highway Junction in order to stop the vehicle safely. While in the action of deploying the device, the suspect vehicle swerved at the officer who was able to escape from the path of the vehicle. The suspect vehicle continued south and the driver attempted to flee once the vehicle was disabled; he eventually gave up to police commands when hampered by the deep snow. He was taken into custody without further incident.

    38-year-old Corey Letendre, a resident of Alberta was charged with the following offences under the Criminal Code of Canada: Theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, assault on a police officer with a weapon (a motor vehicle) and pursuit involved flight from the police. Mr. Letendre has been remanded and set to attend court in Whitehorse on March 6, 2025.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two men charged with murder of man in 1984

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Two men have been charged with murder in connection with an investigation into the death of Anthony Littler in 1984.

    Anthony Littler, 45 was found with serious injuries close to East End Road, Each Finchley on 1 May 1984. He sadly died at the scene.

    Enquiries into Anthony’s death have remained ongoing within Met Police’s Specialist Crime Unit and his family continue to be supported.

    Two men were originally arrested on Thursday, 21 March 2024.

    Michael Stewart, 55 (11.04.1969) of Station Road, EN5 and Anthony Stewart, 59 (19.11.1965) of Old Farm Road, N29 have since been charged with murder.

    They have been remanded into custody and will appear at Willesden Magistrates Court on Thursday, 6 March.

    Three men who were previously arrested on suspicion of murder remain under investigation.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Methane emissions are turbocharging climate change – these quick fixes could slow it down

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Euan Nisbet, Professor of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London

    Rotting food is a major source of world-warming methane. Roman Mikhailiuk/Shutterstock

    The biggest challenge to limiting climate change to 2°C, the upper target of the 2015 Paris agreement, is this: methane emissions are rising very fast.

    Methane is a greenhouse gas that, molecule for molecule, traps heat in the atmosphere more effectively than carbon dioxide, though over a much shorter timescale (decades versus centuries). Reducing emissions of methane to the atmosphere could drastically slow the rate at which Earth’s climate is warming.

    Unfortunately, a warmer and wetter atmosphere is already causing wetlands to make more methane and so exacerbate climate change. This feedback loop makes the task of cutting methane from sources under our immediate control, like agriculture, more urgent. The good news is, my colleagues and I showed that there are lots of ways we can do this in a recent study.

    Each year, about 600 million tonnes of methane are emitted to the air, very roughly 40% from natural sources and 60% from human activities. Of this latter portion, fossil fuels contribute 120-130 million tonnes. This is methane that leaks from gas pipelines, coal mines and oil wells. There has at least been some progress towards controlling these leaks: new satellite technology has excelled at finding them, while 159 countries have pledged to cut emissions by 30% by 2030.

    In contrast, roughly 210-250 million tonnes of methane come from agriculture and its products, but these emissions are much tougher to tackle. It’s easier to spot a leaky gas well from space than farm leaks that are collectively large but individually small.

    These sources include the breath of livestock animals and their manure (roughly 120 million tonnes), rice fields (about 30 million tonnes), crop waste fires (about 20 million tonnes) and organic matter rotting in landfills (about 70 million tonnes).

    Shrinking the number of animals reared for food would benefit the climate.
    Andreas Bayer/Shutterstock

    Since 2000, the UK has slashed total methane emissions, especially by covering landfills and piping out gas, but farming emissions, from manure stores for instance, have hardly changed. The methane is made by methanogens, which are microbes that live in oxygen-poor environments, like the stomachs of cows, and biodigesters (which grow bacteria to convert organic waste into fertiliser, oils and gas) and landfills.

    If the UK cuts its own agricultural emissions by importing more food from tropical nations like Brazil it may still increase climate damage on a global scale. The problem is a global one, and very few countries are successfully reducing methane emissions from farming.

    Where there’s muck, there’s methane

    Cows, pigs and chickens make vast amounts of manure. In the US, Europe and East Asia, manure is often kept in big tanks or lagoons. These are usually under covers, but still release a lot of methane.

    Gas-tight coverings can prevent this, and the captured methane can be harvested and then burned to generate electricity. This still produces CO₂, but the warming impact is smaller, while the electricity can replace new natural gas in the national grid.

    The remaining slurry can be turned into fertiliser. Though it’s not commercially feasible now, it may one day be possible to turn it into aviation fuel.

    Biodigesters are becoming common in towns and on farms, but are often very leaky. Methane doesn’t smell, but if a biodigester is releasing other gases that stink, it’s probably also releasing methane. Leaks are easily controlled but much tighter regulation is needed to ensure this happens.

    Most of the world’s cattle are in India, Africa and South America. In large parts of the tropics, rain-fed crops aren’t enough to sustain people. The difference is made up by meat and milk from cows and goats that browse trees and bushes and graze seasonal grasses.

    Smaller herds can produce the same amount of food if cattle diseases are reduced. Bovine mastitis, East Coast fever and African trypanosomiasis can be vaccinated against, for example and agricultural experts in India have even used artificial insemination to make more calves female, and so slash dairy cattle numbers. It’s possible to give drugs to cattle to reduce methane emissions, but poor countries would struggle to cover the expense.

    Rice paddies emit methane, but rice is essential for nutrition, especially in East and South Asia, and increasingly in Africa. Flooding paddies only when and for how long it is needed during the year may cut emissions by as much as a quarter.

    In China, India, Africa and many parts of the US and Europe, landfills are major methane emitters. This is where wasted food ends up. But as the UK has shown, emissions can be sharply reduced by good landfill design and gas extraction.

    Simply adding a metre of soil to the surface of a landfill creates habitat for methane-eating bacteria, and also prevents landfill fires, which are very common in Africa and India. Still inexpensive is putting a plastic liner between the waste and soil and inserting pipes to extract gas that can generate electricity.

    The widespread burning of crop waste that pollutes skies in India and tropical Africa has terrible consequences for human health, but it also includes methane emissions that contribute to climate change.

    After a harvest, farmers may burn crop residues to cheaply prepare the land for future cultivation.
    RGtimeline/Shutterstock

    Crop waste fires were once a major source of air pollution in the UK and Europe. Today they are minimal thanks to better farming practice and straw processing. To cut burning, farmers need good advice, good management, good regulation and targeted financial help.

    Cutting agricultural methane emissions involves a wide range of relatively cheap measures that need good design and management, but could cut food-related emissions substantially over the next decade. High on the list should be tackling landfills and crop waste fires in India and Africa. In the US, Europe and China, it is manure storage facilities and biodigesters. With determination and inexpensive financial carrots and sticks, much could be accomplished.

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Euan Nisbet is an honorary fellow of Darwin College at the University of Cambridge. He is a member of the science panel of the UN International Methane Emissions Observatory.

    – ref. Methane emissions are turbocharging climate change – these quick fixes could slow it down – https://theconversation.com/methane-emissions-are-turbocharging-climate-change-these-quick-fixes-could-slow-it-down-246192

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Convicted Felon Sentenced to 2 1/2 Years in Prison for Gun Crime Related to Road Rage Incident

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A convicted felon has been sentenced for illegal possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples.

    U.S. District Court Judge Ann Marie Axon sentenced David Lee Hooker, 53, to 30 months in prison.  In November 2024, Hooker pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm stemming from a road rage incident in Jefferson County.

    This sentence sends a clear message that violent and reckless behavior on our roads will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Escalona said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who threaten the safety of our communities and endanger innocent lives.”

    “The safety of our communities is a priority,” said Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples, Birmingham Division. “The strong collaboration between FBI Birmingham and our state and local law enforcement partners works as a force multiplier to remove violent offenders from the communities we protect and serve.”

    According to the plea agreement, on April 4, 2023, Hooker was involved in a road rage incident at the intersection of Bessemer Road and BY Williams Sr. Drive. Hooker’s vehicle remained stationary during two cycles of the traffic light, and the individual in the vehicle behind Hooker continued to blow their horn.  When Hooker made a left turn, he pulled to the right side of the roadway. As the driver of the second vehicle drove by, Hooker drove up beside the vehicle and pointed a firearm at the driver.  The driver of the second vehicle then pulled into a nearby parking lot. Hooker followed the driver into the parking lot where he got out of his vehicle and proceeded to walk toward the second vehicle.  A Jefferson County Sherriff’s Office Task Force Officer witnessed this and activated his emergency lights to intervene. Hooker placed the firearm into his front pocket and raised his hands above his head.  The officer recovered a Smith &Wesson 9mm pistol from Hooker.     

    The FBI investigated the case along with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Keown, Sr., prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Justice Department Charges 12 Chinese Contract Hackers and Law Enforcement Officers in Global Computer Intrusion Campaigns

    Source: US State of California

    Chinese Law Enforcement and Intelligence Services Leveraged China’s Reckless and Indiscriminate Hacker-for-Hire Ecosystem, Including the ‘APT 27’ Group, to Suppress Free Speech and Dissent Globally and to Steal Data from Numerous Organizations Worldwide,

    Note: View the indictments in U.S. v. Wu Haibo et al., U.S. v. Yin Kecheng, U.S. v. Zhou Shuai et al. here.

    The Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Departments of State and the Treasury announced today their coordinated efforts to disrupt and deter the malicious cyber activities of 12 Chinese nationals, including two officers of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of Public Security (MPS), employees of an ostensibly private PRC company, Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd. (安洵信息技术有限公司) also known as “i-Soon,” and members of Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (APT27).

    These malicious cyber actors, acting as freelancers or as employees of i-Soon, conducted computer intrusions at the direction of the PRC’s MPS and Ministry of State Security (MSS) and on their own initiative. The MPS and MSS paid handsomely for stolen data. Victims include U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in late 2024.

    “The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue those who threaten our cybersecurity by stealing from our government and our people,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today, we are exposing the Chinese government agents directing and fostering indiscriminate and reckless attacks against computers and networks worldwide, as well as the enabling companies and individual hackers that they have unleashed. We will continue to fight to dismantle this ecosystem of cyber mercenaries and protect our national security.”

    “The FBI is committed to protecting Americans from foreign cyber-attacks,” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “Today’s announcements reveal that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been paying hackers-for-hire to inflict digital harm on Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). To those victims who bravely came forward with evidence of intrusions, we thank you for standing tall and defending our democracy. And to those who choose to aid the CCP in its unlawful cyber activities, these charges should demonstrate that we will use all available tools to identify you, indict you, and expose your malicious activity for all the world to see.”

    According to court documents, the MPS and MSS employed an extensive network of private companies and contractors in China to hack and steal information in a manner that obscured the PRC government’s involvement. In some cases, the MPS and MSS paid private hackers in China to exploit specific victims. In many other cases, the hackers targeted victims speculatively. Operating from their safe haven and motivated by profit, this network of private companies and contractors in China cast a wide net to identify vulnerable computers, exploit those computers, and then identify information that it could sell directly or indirectly to the PRC government. The result of this largely indiscriminate approach was more worldwide computer intrusion victims, more systems worldwide left vulnerable to future exploitation by third parties, and more stolen information, often of no interest to the PRC government and, therefore, sold to other third-parties. Additional information regarding the indictments and the PRC’s hacker-for-hire ecosystem is available in Public Service Announcements published by the FBI today.

    U.S. v. Wu Haibo et al., Southern District of New York

    Today, a federal court in Manhattan unsealed an indictment charging eight i-Soon employees and two MPS officers for their involvement, from at least in or around 2016 through in or around 2023, in the numerous and widespread hacking of email accounts, cell phones, servers, and websites. The Department also announced today the court-authorized seizure of the primary internet domain used by i-Soon to advertise its business.

    “State-sponsored hacking is an acute threat to our community and national security,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky for the Southern District of New York. “For years, these 10 defendants — two of whom we allege are PRC officials — used sophisticated hacking techniques to target religious organizations, journalists, and government agencies, all to gather sensitive information for the use of the PRC. These charges will help stop these state-sponsored hackers and protect our national security. The career prosecutors of this office and our law enforcement partners will continue to uncover alleged state-sponsored hacking schemes, disrupt them, and bring those responsible to justice.”

    The defendants remain at large and wanted by the FBI. Concurrent with today’s announcement,  the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, engages in certain malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The reward is offered for the following individuals who are alleged to have worked in various capacities to direct or carry out i-Soon’s malicious cyber activity:

    • Wu Haibo (吴海波), Chief Executive Officer
    • Chen Cheng (陈诚), Chief Operating Officer
    • Wang Zhe (王哲), Sales Director
    • Liang Guodong (梁国栋), Technical Staff
    • Ma Li (马丽), Technical Staff
    • Wang Yan (王堰), Technical Staff
    • Xu Liang (徐梁), Technical Staff
    • Zhou Weiwei (周伟伟), Technical Staff
    • Wang Liyu (王立宇), MPS Officer
    • Sheng Jing (盛晶), MPS Officer

    i-Soon and its employees, to include the defendants, generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue as a key player in the PRC’s hacker-for-hire ecosystem. In some instances, i-Soon conducted computer intrusions at the request of the MSS or MPS, including cyber-enabled transnational repression at the direction of the MPS officer defendants. In other instances, i-Soon conducted computer intrusions on its own initiative and then sold, or attempted to sell, the stolen data to at least 43 different bureaus of the MSS or MPS in at least 31 separate provinces and municipalities in China. i-Soon charged the MSS and MPS between approximately $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox it successfully exploited. i-Soon also trained MPS employees how to hack independently of i-Soon and offered a variety of hacking methods for sale to its customers.

    The defendants’ U.S.-located targets included a large religious organization that previously sent missionaries to China and was openly critical of the PRC government and an organization focused on promoting human rights and religious freedom in China. In addition, the defendants targeted multiple news organizations in the United States, including those that have opposed the CCP or delivered uncensored news to audiences in Asia, including China and the New York State Assembly, one of whose representatives had communicated with members of a religious organization banned in China.

    The defendants’ foreign-located targets included a religious leader and his office, and a Hong Kong newspaper that i-Soon considered as being opposed to the PRC government. The defendants also targeted the foreign ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea, and Indonesia.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan B. Finkel, Steven J. Kochevar, and Kevin Mead for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    U.S. v. Yin Kecheng and U.S. v. Zhou Shuai et al., District of Columbia

    Today, a federal court unsealed two indictments charging APT27 actors Yin Kecheng (尹可成) and Zhou Shuai (周帅) also known as “Coldface” for their involvement in the multi-year, for-profit computer intrusion campaigns dating back, in the case of Yin, to 2013. The Department also announced today court-authorized seizures of internet domains and computer server accounts used by Yin and Zhou to facilitate their hacking activity.

    The defendants remain at large. View the FBI’s Wanted posters for Shuai and Kecheng here.

    Concurrent with today’s announcement, the Department of States State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is announcing two reward offers under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) of up to $2 million each for information leading to the arrests and convictions, in any country, of malicious cyber actors Yin Kecheng and Zhou Shuai, both Chinese nationals residing in China.

    “These indictments and actions show this office’s long-standing commitment to vigorously investigate and hold accountable Chinese hackers and data brokers who endanger U.S. national security and other victims across the globe,” said Interim U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia. “The defendants in these cases have been hacking for the Chinese government for years, and these indictments lay out the strong evidence showing their criminal wrongdoing. We again demand that the Chinese government to put a stop to these brazen cyber criminals who are targeting victims across the globe and then monetizing the data they have stolen by selling it across China.”

    The APT27 group to which Yin and Zhou belong is also known to private sector security researchers as “Threat Group 3390,” “Bronze Union,” “Emissary Panda,” “Lucky Mouse,” “Iron Tiger,” “UTA0178,” “UNC 5221,” and “Silk Typhoon.” As alleged in court documents, between August 2013 and December 2024, Yin, Zhou, and their co-conspirators exploited vulnerabilities in victim networks, conducted reconnaissance once inside those networks, and installed malware, such as PlugX malware, that provided persistent access. The defendants and their co-conspirators then identified and stole data from the compromised networks by exfiltrating it to servers under their control. Next, they brokered stolen data for sale and provided it to various customers, only some of whom had connections to the PRC government and military. For example, Zhou sold data stolen by Yin through i-Soon, whose primary customers, as noted above, were PRC government agencies, including the MSS and the MPS.

    The defendants’ motivations were financial and, because they were profit-driven, they targeted broadly, rendering victim systems vulnerable well beyond their pilfering of data and other information that they could sell. Between them, Yin and Zhou sought to profit from the hacking of numerous U.S.-based technology companies, think tanks, law firms, defense contractors, local governments, health care systems, and universities, leaving behind them a wake of millions of dollars in damages.

    The documents related to the seizure warrants, also unsealed today, further allege that Yin and Zhou continued to engage in hacking activity, including Yin’s involvement in the recently announced hack of Treasury between approximately September and December 2024. Virtual private servers used to conduct the Treasury intrusion belonged to, and were controlled by, an account that Yin and his co-conspirators established. Yin and his co-conspirators used that same account and other linked accounts they controlled to lease servers used for additional malicious cyber activity. The seizure warrant unsealed today allowed the FBI to seize the virtual private servers and other infrastructure used by the defendants to perpetrate these crimes.

    On Jan. 17, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Yin for his role in hacking that agency between September and December 2024. Concurrent with today’s indictments, OFAC also announced sanctions on Zhou and Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Company Ltd., a company operated by Zhou for purposes of his hacking activity.

    Private sector partners are also taking voluntary actions to raise awareness and strengthen defenses against the PRC’s malicious cyber activity. Today, Microsoft published research that highlights its unique, updated insights into Silk Typhoon tactics, techniques, and procedures specifically its targeting of the IT supply chain.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack F. Korba and Tejpal S. Chawla for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Tanner Kroeger of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    ***

    The above disruptive actions targeting PRC malicious cyber activities were the result of investigations conducted by FBI New York and Washington Field Offices, FBI Cyber Division, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of New York and District of Columbia and the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    The Department acknowledges the value of public-private partnerships in combating advanced cyber threats and recognizes Microsoft, Volexity, PwC, and Mandiant for their valuable assistance in these investigations.

    The details in the above-described indictments and warrants are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Chinese Nationals with Ties to the PRC Government and “APT27” Charged in a Computer Hacking Campaign for Profit, Targeting Numerous U.S. Companies, Institutions, and Municipalities

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Department Seizes Virtual Private Server Account and Domains Tied to Malicious Activity to include the U.S. Department of Treasury Hack

                WASHINGTON – A federal judge in Washington, D.C., today, unsealed two separate indictments that allege Chinese nationals Yin Kecheng, 38, (尹 可成) a/k/a “YKC” (“YIN”) and Zhou Shuai, 45, (周帅) a/k/a “Coldface” (“ZHOU”) violated various federal statutes by participating in years-long, sophisticated computer hacking conspiracies that successfully targeted a wide variety of U.S.-based victims from 2011 to the present-day. According to the documents unsealed today, the defendants targeted a multitude of U.S. victim companies, municipalities, and organizations for profit, causing millions of dollars’ worth of damages. YIN and ZHOU, who have ties to the government of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), are alleged to have stolen and exfiltrated data from numerous U.S.-based technology companies, think tanks, defense contractors, government municipalities, and universities that they later brokered for sale. Arrest warrants have been issued for YIN and ZHOU, who both remain fugitives.

                The unsealing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is part of the coordinated effort by Department of Justice (the “Department”), other U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”), and private sector partners that highlights the Chinese government’s unique role in intentionally promoting and protecting the wide-scale computer hacking activity by its citizens. According to court documents unsealed today, the PRC Ministry of Public Security (“MPS”) and Ministry of State Security (“MSS”) directed or financed Chinese hackers, such as the defendants, to conduct computer intrusions against high-value targets in the United States and elsewhere. Victims include U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including most recently in 2024.

                According to court documents, the MPS and MSS employed an extensive network of private companies and contractors in China to hack and steal information in a manner that obscured the PRC government’s direct involvement. By employing these hackers-for-hire, the PRC government further allowed these same hackers to profit by committing additional computer intrusions around the world with impunity, and then to sell stolen data through Chinese data brokers. The PRC government’s state-sponsorship and protection of these hackers resulted in the loss of sensitive, valuable and personal identification information that was a direct harm to U.S. entities and other foreign governments and victims.

                In conjunction with the unsealing, the Department announced the judicially authorized seizure of internet domains linked to YIN that he used in facilitating the conspiracy’s network intrusion activity. In addition, the Department announced the judicially authorized seizure of a Virtual Private Server (“VPS”) account linked to ZHOU that he used to facilitate network intrusion activity. In conjunction with these actions, the Treasury announced sanctions against ZHOU and his company Shanghai Heiying Information Technology company, Limited (“Shanghai Heiying”).  YIN was previously sanctioned for his role in the recent Treasury network compromise in January 2025.

    “These indictments and actions show this Office’s long-standing commitment to vigorously investigate and hold accountable Chinese hackers and data brokers who endanger U.S. national security and other victims across the globe,” said U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. “The defendants in these cases have been hacking for the Chinese government for years, and these indictments lay out the strong evidence showing their criminal wrongdoing. We, again, demand that the Chinese government put a stop to these brazen cyber criminals who are targeting victims across the globe and then monetizing the data they have stolen by selling it across China.”

                “The defendants allegedly waged a yearslong hacking campaign against U.S.-based organizations to steal their data and sell it to various customers, some of whom had connections to the Chinese government,” said FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Today’s indictment is the first step toward bringing these perpetrators to justice for endangering U.S. national security and causing significant financial losses for both U.S. and foreign companies. The FBI and our partners will continue to pursue these hostile cyber actors to the full extent of the law.”

                “The defendants’ years-long hacking conspiracy to steal data from Cleared Defense Contractors that support the U.S. military—among many other U.S.-based victims—and sell it to customers with ties to the Chinese government poses a significant threat to our national security,” said NCIS Cyber Operations Field Office Special Agent in Charge Josh Stanley. “NCIS remains committed to working with the FBI and our law enforcement partners around the world to expose malicious actors who seek to undermine the cybersecurity of the Department of the Navy.”

                “The Department of State appreciates the opportunity to collaborate with the Department of Treasury, FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia in announcing today’s actions,” said Senior Bureau Official F. Cartwright Weiland of the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). “With reward offers up to $2 million each for malicious cyber actors Zhou Shuai and Yin KeCheng under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program, we ask the public to contact the FBI with tips to help bring these cybercriminals to justice.”

    Overview

                Today’s announcement reflects nearly a decade-long effort by the Department and the FBI.   The action targets actors that various security researchers have historically referred to as “APT27,” “Threat Group 3390,” “Bronze Union,” “Emissary Panda,” “Lucky Mouse,” and “Iron Tiger,” and more recently referred to as “UTA0178,” “UNC 5221,” and “Silk Typhoon.” 

                The Department obtained a 19-count indictment against YIN on May 2, 2018 (the “2018 Indictment”) from a grand jury sitting in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The 2018 Indictment, which alleges conduct between August 2013 and December 2015, charges wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”).

                Another federal grand jury in the District of Columbia indicted both YIN and ZHOU on March 28, 2023 (the “2023 Indictment”), with similar offenses.  Specifically, the 2023 Indictment, which alleges conduct between June 2018 and November 2020, charges conspiracy, wire fraud, various violations of the CFAA, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. 

                On March 4, 2025, a federal magistrate judge sitting in the District of Columbia authorized FBI to seize a VPS account and multiple internet domains involved in the criminal activity.  According to the unsealed affidavits in support of those warrants, ZHOU utilized the VPS account to create additional accounts used to facilitate computer intrusion activity and to discuss the sale of access to compromised computer networks. Separately, YIN utilized his own servers and stood up the seized domains to exploit victim computer networks to include networks at Treasury.

    Computer Hacking Scheme

                As alleged in the documents unsealed today, at various points between August 2013 and December 2024, YIN, ZHOU, and their unindicted co-conspirators used sophisticated hacking tools and techniques in their efforts to overcome network defenses and avoid detection of numerous hardened targets in the United States and around the world. The defendants and their co-conspirators would routinely scan victim networks for vulnerabilities, exploit those vulnerabilities with sophisticated hacking techniques, and conduct reconnaissance once inside a victim’s network. The defendants and their co-conspirators and would install malware that would allow them to maintain persistent access and enable them to communicate with malicious external servers and other hacking infrastructure. The defendants and their co-conspirators would identify and steal data from the compromised networks by exfiltrating the data to servers under their control. The stolen data was then brokered for sale and provided to various customers, some of whom had connections to the PRC government and military.

    Targeting of U.S. Victims

                According to the 2018 Indictment, YIN targeted U.S.-based defense contractors, technology firms, and think tanks, among other victims. The 2018 Indictment alleges YIN openly discussed his preference for targeting American victims. For example, on one occasion in September 2013, YIN told an associate he wanted to “mess with the American military” and “break into a big target” so that he could earn enough money to buy a car. YIN used mapping software to identify network vulnerabilities for the purpose of gaining unlawful access to victim computer and installing malware. YIN used stolen network credentials to maintain persistent access to victim networks and utilized intermediary servers or “hop points” and malicious domains to remotely access and exfiltrate victim computer data.

                According to the 2023 Indictment, YIN, ZHOU, and others targeted U.S.-based companies like technology and defense contractors, law firms, communication service providers, local governments, health care systems, and think tanks. The 2023 Indictment charges YIN and ZHOU with scanning victim networks for access points and also exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities. Once inside the networks, YIN other conspirators would then install malware such as web shells to maintain persistent access. YIN and other conspirators would then use hop point servers to exfiltrate stolen data to servers under YIN’s control. ZHOU then brokered access to such stolen data to interested third parties for a financial profit. The indictment further alleged that YIN, ZHOU, and other conspirators laundered cryptocurrency payments for their operational infrastructure from locations outside of the United States through the U.S. financial system.

                The affidavit in support of the seizure warrant for the VPS account alleges that ZHOU used servers created by the account in order to establish a virtual private network (“VPN”) that would encrypt network traffic such that the true location and IP address of the actor or actors would be obfuscated. ZHOU also used the VPS accounts to create other accounts through which he communicated with buyers who were interested in obtaining access to computer networks compromised by YIN. ZHOU also used the accounts for victim reconnaissance purposes.

                The affidavit in support of the seizure of the domains alleges that funds used to purchase computer network infrastructure used in numerous victim network breaches ultimately connected to an account registered in YIN’s name, from China, using an email address and phone number belonging to YIN. Of particular note, a virtual private server account controlled by YIN was associated with the compromise at Treasury.

                This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) who continue to investigate malicious cyber activity associated with these defendants and threat actors and continue to notify affected victims immediately once any networks intrusions are discovered. The FBI’s Cyber Division and Department of Defense’s Cyber Crimes Center provided valuable assistance to the investigation.  Private partners from Microsoft, Volexity, Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, and Mandiant also provided valuable assistance with this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack F. Korba, and Tejpal S. Chawla, and National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section Trial Attorney Tanner Kroeger. Paralegal Specialist Michael Watts and former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Demian Ahn and Opher Shweiki for the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia provided assistance on this case.

                An indictment is merely an allegation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.  

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Clovis CPA Pleads Guilty to Stealing Over $800,000 From a Bank

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    FRESNO, Calif. — Kenneth Gould, 68, formerly of Clovis, pleaded guilty to bank larceny for stealing more than $800,000 from a bank, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced today.

    According to court records, Gould was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and operated a payroll services company in Clovis. From October 2017 through March 2018, he initiated several fraudulent electronic payments from one of his clients’ accounts to his payroll company’s account at the bank. Gould then withdrew the money in cashier’s checks while the payments were pending. After the bank had credited the fraudulent payments to the payroll company’s account for a short period of time, it realized there were insufficient funds to cover the payments, denied the payments, and attempted to recover its money, but it was too late. Approximately $830,000 of the credited funds was already gone. Gould gave the funds to the client from whose account he initiated the fraudulent payments because he had loaned that individual money and was hopeful that the individual would pay him back. Instead, the client gambled the money away.

    This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.

    Gould is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on June 2, 2025. Gould faces maximum statutory penalties of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Stockton Man Pleads Guilty for His Role in Large-Scale Methamphetamine Distribution Conspiracy

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jose Manuel Ontiveros Verdugo, 39, of Stockton, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to possess and distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced.

    According to court documents, between July 2019 and December 2019, Verdugo conspired with his co-defendants and others to distribute methamphetamine both in Stockton and throughout the country. During the investigation, an undercover source bought a total of 11 pounds of methamphetamine and a half pound of heroin from this drug trafficking organization. Law enforcement interdicted the group’s shipments of 50 pounds of methamphetamine destined for Nebraska, as well as a 21‑pound shipment destined for Pennsylvania.

    This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, San Joaquin County Probation, the Stockton Police Department, and the Tracy Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian T. Kinsella is prosecuting the case.

    Charges are pending against co-defendants Jorge Omar Arredondo Garcia, 46, of Lodi; Gregorio Ontiveros Verdugo, 41, of Morada; Alberto Navarro Zapata, 50, of Stockton; and Wilfredo Reyes, 48, of Manteca. The charges against them are only allegations; they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Verdugo is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on June 16, 2025. Verdugo faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

    The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF. 

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to 210 Months for Drug Distribution Conspiracy

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    SAN DIEGO – Rodolfo Benjamin Silva, a prolific cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl trafficker who called himself the “King of Coke,” was sentenced in federal court today to 17.5 years in prison for distributing large quantities of illicit drugs in the U.S. and for facilitating the movement of cartel hitmen into the United States.

    At today’s hearing, prosecutors described Silva as a long-time San Diego-based drug distributor who worked directly with Mexican counterparts to receive narcotic shipments from Mexico. According to his plea agreement, in October 2022, Silva provided a drug courier with 114 pounds of methamphetamine and a kilogram of fentanyl for transport to Indianapolis, but it was interdicted in Oklahoma.

    Silva also admitted in his plea agreement to threatening, directing or using violence as part of his drug trafficking activities. Prosecutors told the court today that Silva assisted in bringing assassins known as “sicarios” from Mexico into the San Diego area for cartel enforcement operations. On one occasion, Silva hired a sicario from Mexico to come to San Diego where that individual attempted to fatally shoot one of Silva’s rivals, prosecutors said.

    This investigation was led by FBI and DEA in San Diego with integral assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Indiana and FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office.

    This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Goff.

    This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) 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.

    DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 23CR02513-WQH                            

    Rodolfo Benjamin Silva, aka “Rudy”            Age: 44                       San Diego, CA

    SUMMARY OF CHARGES

    Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 841(a)(1) and 846

    Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison, $10 million fine

    INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

    Federal Bureau of Investigation

    Drug Enforcement Administration

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New York Man Who Ran Multimillion-Dollar Cryptocurrency Investment Scheme Found Guilty of Wire Fraud and Money Laundering

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    SAN FRANCISCO – A federal jury convicted Douglas Jae Woo Kim, 32, of New York, New York, on 14 counts of wire fraud, international money laundering, and money laundering.  The jury reached its verdict yesterday afternoon, following a three-week trial before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer.  

    According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between October 2017 and June 2020, after moving to San Francisco, Kim engaged in a scheme to defraud investors, many of whom were friends and acquaintances, of over $7 million in money and cryptocurrency by holding himself out as a legitimate trader of cryptocurrency, a form of virtual currency.  Kim falsely represented that he was seeking short-term liquidity in the form of loans or investments for cryptocurrency trading or other legitimate business purposes and promised to trade or invest the cryptocurrency provided by investors and lenders to make a profit.  He also told victims that the loans carried no or very low risk, promised high rates of return on their loans, and claimed that he had sufficient funds to personally guarantee the loans.  

    “This case may involve the new world of virtual currency, but there’s nothing new about the defendant’s scheme to defraud,” said Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins.  “Douglas Kim made bogus promise after promise to investors and lenders, only to cheat them and send their money to offshore gambling sites.  Today’s verdict sends a clear message to anyone who engages in fraud in the Northern District of California: you will be prosecuted, and you will face serious consequences.”

    “Mr. Kim deceived those who trusted him, exploiting their confidence to fund his personal gambling activities rather than the legitimate investments he offered his victims. The FBI remains committed to identifying and bringing to justice individuals who manipulate and defraud others for financial gain,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Dan Costin.

    In October 2017, Kim contacted a victim by text message and said he was looking for investors interested in making what he called a short-term loan for a “fairly modest operation.”  Kim represented that he was investing in a cryptocurrency operation in which he would make a profit from fees charged to a peer-to-peer network and from exchange transactions, and informed the victim that the operation “isn’t very risky to me.”  Within days of receiving cryptocurrency from the victim to finance the investment, Kim transferred almost all of it to bitcoin sports betting sites located outside the United States.  Kim went on to obtain over a million dollars’ worth of funds from this victim over the course of the scheme, the majority of which went to offshore sports betting sites.

    In November 2017, Kim contacted another victim by email and said he was looking for cryptocurrency for a trading strategy.  Kim assured that the victim that “my activities are fairly low risk.”  On Dec. 1, 2017, Kim obtained a cryptocurrency loan from this victim worth approximately $186,000 at the time. Once the cryptocurrency was obtained, Kim immediately sent all of it to offshore sports betting sites. In total, Kim obtained over $500,000 in funds from this victim.

    In an agreement dated Jan. 1, 2018, Kim set out the terms of a similar investment with a third victim.  The agreement called for the victim to provide cryptocurrency valued at approximately $200,000 at the time.  The same day, Kim converted more than half of the funds to bitcoin and, in the following days, transferred substantially all the converted cryptocurrency to his account with an offshore casino.  Kim went on to obtain over $4 million in funds from this victim.

    Kim defrauded numerous other victims, including nine who testified at trial, until at least July 2020, when he was charged by federal complaint.  In 2023, while he was out on pretrial release, Kim allegedly renewed his scheme to defraud.  One count related to this renewed period of fraud remains pending.  

    The jury acquitted Kim of one count of international money laundering.

    Kim is scheduled to appear on June 25, 2025, to set a date for sentencing.  He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and international money laundering, and 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering.  Any sentence will be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.  

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Noah Stern and Maya Karwande are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Veronica Hernandez, Maryam Beros, Andy Ding, Lynette Dixon, and Christine Tian. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. 
     

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Justice Department Charges 12 Chinese Contract Hackers and Law Enforcement Officers in Global Computer Intrusion Campaigns

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Chinese Law Enforcement and Intelligence Services Leveraged China’s Reckless and Indiscriminate Hacker-for-Hire Ecosystem, Including the ‘APT 27’ Group, to Suppress Free Speech and Dissent Globally and to Steal Data from Numerous Organizations Worldwide,

    Note: View the indictments in U.S. v. Wu Haibo et al., U.S. v. Yin Kecheng, U.S. v. Zhou Shuai et al. here.

    The Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Departments of State and the Treasury announced today their coordinated efforts to disrupt and deter the malicious cyber activities of 12 Chinese nationals, including two officers of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of Public Security (MPS), employees of an ostensibly private PRC company, Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd. (安洵信息技术有限公司) also known as “i-Soon,” and members of Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (APT27).

    These malicious cyber actors, acting as freelancers or as employees of i-Soon, conducted computer intrusions at the direction of the PRC’s MPS and Ministry of State Security (MSS) and on their own initiative. The MPS and MSS paid handsomely for stolen data. Victims include U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in late 2024.

    “The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue those who threaten our cybersecurity by stealing from our government and our people,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today, we are exposing the Chinese government agents directing and fostering indiscriminate and reckless attacks against computers and networks worldwide, as well as the enabling companies and individual hackers that they have unleashed. We will continue to fight to dismantle this ecosystem of cyber mercenaries and protect our national security.”

    “The FBI is committed to protecting Americans from foreign cyber-attacks,” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “Today’s announcements reveal that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been paying hackers-for-hire to inflict digital harm on Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). To those victims who bravely came forward with evidence of intrusions, we thank you for standing tall and defending our democracy. And to those who choose to aid the CCP in its unlawful cyber activities, these charges should demonstrate that we will use all available tools to identify you, indict you, and expose your malicious activity for all the world to see.”

    According to court documents, the MPS and MSS employed an extensive network of private companies and contractors in China to hack and steal information in a manner that obscured the PRC government’s involvement. In some cases, the MPS and MSS paid private hackers in China to exploit specific victims. In many other cases, the hackers targeted victims speculatively. Operating from their safe haven and motivated by profit, this network of private companies and contractors in China cast a wide net to identify vulnerable computers, exploit those computers, and then identify information that it could sell directly or indirectly to the PRC government. The result of this largely indiscriminate approach was more worldwide computer intrusion victims, more systems worldwide left vulnerable to future exploitation by third parties, and more stolen information, often of no interest to the PRC government and, therefore, sold to other third-parties. Additional information regarding the indictments and the PRC’s hacker-for-hire ecosystem is available in Public Service Announcements published by the FBI today.

    U.S. v. Wu Haibo et al., Southern District of New York

    Today, a federal court in Manhattan unsealed an indictment charging eight i-Soon employees and two MPS officers for their involvement, from at least in or around 2016 through in or around 2023, in the numerous and widespread hacking of email accounts, cell phones, servers, and websites. The Department also announced today the court-authorized seizure of the primary internet domain used by i-Soon to advertise its business.

    “State-sponsored hacking is an acute threat to our community and national security,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky for the Southern District of New York. “For years, these 10 defendants — two of whom we allege are PRC officials — used sophisticated hacking techniques to target religious organizations, journalists, and government agencies, all to gather sensitive information for the use of the PRC. These charges will help stop these state-sponsored hackers and protect our national security. The career prosecutors of this office and our law enforcement partners will continue to uncover alleged state-sponsored hacking schemes, disrupt them, and bring those responsible to justice.”

    The defendants remain at large and wanted by the FBI. Concurrent with today’s announcement,  the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, engages in certain malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The reward is offered for the following individuals who are alleged to have worked in various capacities to direct or carry out i-Soon’s malicious cyber activity:

    • Wu Haibo (吴海波), Chief Executive Officer
    • Chen Cheng (陈诚), Chief Operating Officer
    • Wang Zhe (王哲), Sales Director
    • Liang Guodong (梁国栋), Technical Staff
    • Ma Li (马丽), Technical Staff
    • Wang Yan (王堰), Technical Staff
    • Xu Liang (徐梁), Technical Staff
    • Zhou Weiwei (周伟伟), Technical Staff
    • Wang Liyu (王立宇), MPS Officer
    • Sheng Jing (盛晶), MPS Officer

    i-Soon and its employees, to include the defendants, generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue as a key player in the PRC’s hacker-for-hire ecosystem. In some instances, i-Soon conducted computer intrusions at the request of the MSS or MPS, including cyber-enabled transnational repression at the direction of the MPS officer defendants. In other instances, i-Soon conducted computer intrusions on its own initiative and then sold, or attempted to sell, the stolen data to at least 43 different bureaus of the MSS or MPS in at least 31 separate provinces and municipalities in China. i-Soon charged the MSS and MPS between approximately $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox it successfully exploited. i-Soon also trained MPS employees how to hack independently of i-Soon and offered a variety of hacking methods for sale to its customers.

    The defendants’ U.S.-located targets included a large religious organization that previously sent missionaries to China and was openly critical of the PRC government and an organization focused on promoting human rights and religious freedom in China. In addition, the defendants targeted multiple news organizations in the United States, including those that have opposed the CCP or delivered uncensored news to audiences in Asia, including China and the New York State Assembly, one of whose representatives had communicated with members of a religious organization banned in China.

    The defendants’ foreign-located targets included a religious leader and his office, and a Hong Kong newspaper that i-Soon considered as being opposed to the PRC government. The defendants also targeted the foreign ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea, and Indonesia.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan B. Finkel, Steven J. Kochevar, and Kevin Mead for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    U.S. v. Yin Kecheng and U.S. v. Zhou Shuai et al., District of Columbia

    Today, a federal court unsealed two indictments charging APT27 actors Yin Kecheng (尹可成) and Zhou Shuai (周帅) also known as “Coldface” for their involvement in the multi-year, for-profit computer intrusion campaigns dating back, in the case of Yin, to 2013. The Department also announced today court-authorized seizures of internet domains and computer server accounts used by Yin and Zhou to facilitate their hacking activity.

    The defendants remain at large. View the FBI’s Wanted posters for Shuai and Kecheng here.

    Concurrent with today’s announcement, the Department of States State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is announcing two reward offers under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) of up to $2 million each for information leading to the arrests and convictions, in any country, of malicious cyber actors Yin Kecheng and Zhou Shuai, both Chinese nationals residing in China.

    “These indictments and actions show this office’s long-standing commitment to vigorously investigate and hold accountable Chinese hackers and data brokers who endanger U.S. national security and other victims across the globe,” said Interim U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia. “The defendants in these cases have been hacking for the Chinese government for years, and these indictments lay out the strong evidence showing their criminal wrongdoing. We again demand that the Chinese government to put a stop to these brazen cyber criminals who are targeting victims across the globe and then monetizing the data they have stolen by selling it across China.”

    The APT27 group to which Yin and Zhou belong is also known to private sector security researchers as “Threat Group 3390,” “Bronze Union,” “Emissary Panda,” “Lucky Mouse,” “Iron Tiger,” “UTA0178,” “UNC 5221,” and “Silk Typhoon.” As alleged in court documents, between August 2013 and December 2024, Yin, Zhou, and their co-conspirators exploited vulnerabilities in victim networks, conducted reconnaissance once inside those networks, and installed malware, such as PlugX malware, that provided persistent access. The defendants and their co-conspirators then identified and stole data from the compromised networks by exfiltrating it to servers under their control. Next, they brokered stolen data for sale and provided it to various customers, only some of whom had connections to the PRC government and military. For example, Zhou sold data stolen by Yin through i-Soon, whose primary customers, as noted above, were PRC government agencies, including the MSS and the MPS.

    The defendants’ motivations were financial and, because they were profit-driven, they targeted broadly, rendering victim systems vulnerable well beyond their pilfering of data and other information that they could sell. Between them, Yin and Zhou sought to profit from the hacking of numerous U.S.-based technology companies, think tanks, law firms, defense contractors, local governments, health care systems, and universities, leaving behind them a wake of millions of dollars in damages.

    The documents related to the seizure warrants, also unsealed today, further allege that Yin and Zhou continued to engage in hacking activity, including Yin’s involvement in the recently announced hack of Treasury between approximately September and December 2024. Virtual private servers used to conduct the Treasury intrusion belonged to, and were controlled by, an account that Yin and his co-conspirators established. Yin and his co-conspirators used that same account and other linked accounts they controlled to lease servers used for additional malicious cyber activity. The seizure warrant unsealed today allowed the FBI to seize the virtual private servers and other infrastructure used by the defendants to perpetrate these crimes.

    On Jan. 17, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Yin for his role in hacking that agency between September and December 2024. Concurrent with today’s indictments, OFAC also announced sanctions on Zhou and Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Company Ltd., a company operated by Zhou for purposes of his hacking activity.

    Private sector partners are also taking voluntary actions to raise awareness and strengthen defenses against the PRC’s malicious cyber activity. Today, Microsoft published research that highlights its unique, updated insights into Silk Typhoon tactics, techniques, and procedures specifically its targeting of the IT supply chain.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack F. Korba and Tejpal S. Chawla for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Tanner Kroeger of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    ***

    The above disruptive actions targeting PRC malicious cyber activities were the result of investigations conducted by FBI New York and Washington Field Offices, FBI Cyber Division, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of New York and District of Columbia and the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    The Department acknowledges the value of public-private partnerships in combating advanced cyber threats and recognizes Microsoft, Volexity, PwC, and Mandiant for their valuable assistance in these investigations.

    The details in the above-described indictments and warrants are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Former Alabama Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Federal Civil Rights Violation and Child Sexual Exploitation

    Source: US State Government of Utah

    A former Killen, Alabama, Police Department officer pleaded guilty yesterday for sexually assaulting a woman while on duty and for receiving sexually explicit photos of a minor.

    As part of the plea agreement, Jarrod Gailen Webster admitted that, on Nov. 12, 2023, he violated the civil rights of a woman after initiating a traffic stop on the woman’s vehicle. Webster asked the woman to step out of her vehicle and he asked her what she wanted to do to “get out of this.” When the woman told Webster that she was not going to do anything for him, Webster handcuffed the woman and sexually assaulted her.

    Further, Webster admitted that, between June 2016 and October 2018, he communicated with a minor by phone. Webster asked the minor to produce and send him sexually explicit images of herself. The minor victim sent multiple photos to Webster at his request, at least one of which constituted child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

    “Jarrod Webster took an oath to protect and serve citizens of his community. He violated that oath when he sexually assaulted a woman and exploited a minor to produce and send sexually explicit images,” said U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who violate positions of public trust are held accountable for their actions.”

    “Police officers are given immense trust and responsibility to serve and protect, and are therefore held to a higher standard, so there are serious consequences when one tarnishes the badge by breaking the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples of the FBI Birmingham Field Office. “Jarrod Gailen Webster disgraced the uniform when he abused his authority, his sentencing affirms that the FBI has zero tolerance for officials who prey on the citizens they have sworn to protect.”

    Webster pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of sexual exploitation of children. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20.

    Webster faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for the count of deprivation of rights under color of law. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, supervised release for life, and a fine of up to $250,000 for the count of sexual exploitation of children. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI Birmingham Field Office investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Royster for the Northern District of Alabama and Senior Sex Crimes Counsel Maura White and Trial Attorney Sarah Howard of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Alabama Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Federal Civil Rights Violation and Child Sexual Exploitation

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    A former Killen, Alabama, Police Department officer pleaded guilty yesterday for sexually assaulting a woman while on duty and for receiving sexually explicit photos of a minor.

    As part of the plea agreement, Jarrod Gailen Webster admitted that, on Nov. 12, 2023, he violated the civil rights of a woman after initiating a traffic stop on the woman’s vehicle. Webster asked the woman to step out of her vehicle and he asked her what she wanted to do to “get out of this.” When the woman told Webster that she was not going to do anything for him, Webster handcuffed the woman and sexually assaulted her.

    Further, Webster admitted that, between June 2016 and October 2018, he communicated with a minor by phone. Webster asked the minor to produce and send him sexually explicit images of herself. The minor victim sent multiple photos to Webster at his request, at least one of which constituted child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

    “Jarrod Webster took an oath to protect and serve citizens of his community. He violated that oath when he sexually assaulted a woman and exploited a minor to produce and send sexually explicit images,” said U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who violate positions of public trust are held accountable for their actions.”

    “Police officers are given immense trust and responsibility to serve and protect, and are therefore held to a higher standard, so there are serious consequences when one tarnishes the badge by breaking the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples of the FBI Birmingham Field Office. “Jarrod Gailen Webster disgraced the uniform when he abused his authority, his sentencing affirms that the FBI has zero tolerance for officials who prey on the citizens they have sworn to protect.”

    Webster pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of sexual exploitation of children. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20.

    Webster faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for the count of deprivation of rights under color of law. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, supervised release for life, and a fine of up to $250,000 for the count of sexual exploitation of children. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI Birmingham Field Office investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Royster for the Northern District of Alabama and Senior Sex Crimes Counsel Maura White and Trial Attorney Sarah Howard of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Eielson Airman Sentenced to Five Years for Possessing Child Pornography

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    FAIRBANKS, Alaska – An Eielson Airman was sentenced today to five years in prison and will serve 15 years on supervised release for paying to receive child pornography.

    According to court documents, on Nov. 7, 2023, Kyle Cozens, 32, who was stationed on Eielson Air Force Base, was interviewed by the FBI in a related case from Illinois involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Cozens allowed agents to review messages on his phone and they observed CSAM images of a known victim. Agents obtained a search warrant for Cozens’ phone and discovered he was communicating with individuals on messaging apps and buying CSAM images from them. Agents discovered multiple CSAM images and videos on his phone, with some visuals depicting prepubescent females.

    On March 1, 2024, law enforcement searched Cozens’ residence and seized over 30 electronic devices. To date, law enforcement has identified over 80 videos and over 680 images depicting child sexual abuse on Cozens’ devices.

    On Nov. 15, 2024, Cozens pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography. In addition to prison time and supervised release, Cozens is required to register as a sex offender upon release from prison as part of his sentence.

    “The widespread dissemination of images of children forced to endure sexual abuse is a horrific crime that law enforcement fights every day. Mr. Cozens contributed to the revictimization of those children by paying for visuals of child sexual abuse,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn R. Vogel for the District of Alaska. “My office will continue to protect our most vulnerable by partnering with law enforcement to find and prosecute anyone who targets children for nefarious purposes.”

    “The defendant purchased and possessed large amounts of CSAM, directly contributing to online child exploitation and the re-victimization of young children,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “This sentencing underscores the FBI’s commitment to ensuring child predators are identified and held accountable for their crimes against children.”

    “Interagency partnerships, like the ones utilized in this case, are vital to fighting child exploitation,” said Special Agent Tyler Pierson, Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 632.  “AFOSI is committed to these partnerships and our mission of protecting the Department of the Air Force from criminal behavior that threatens the mission, equipment and people of the Department.”

    The FBI Anchorage Field Office, Fairbanks Resident Agency, and U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations investigated the case, with assistance from the FBI Springfield Field Office.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Vosacek prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Large-scale cocaine importers sentenced to federal prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    STATESBORO, GA:  Two men who supplied kilograms of cocaine for a major drug trafficking conspiracy have been sentenced to federal prison.

    Pedro Castro-Vasquez, a/k/a “Chipo,” 53, of Puerto Rico, and Sonic Torres-Garcia, 27, of Kissimmee, Florida,  were each sentenced after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, Cocaine, said Tara M. Lyons, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall sentenced Castro-Vasquez to 180 months in prison and a fine of $1,500, followed by three years of supervised release, and sentenced Torres-Garcia to 180 months in prison, consecutive to other pending state and federal cases, and a fine of $2,500, followed by three years of supervised release.

    There is no parole in the federal system.

    “The conspiracy identified in this multi-year investigation was responsible for importing and distributing large quantities of drugs in the Southern District,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lyons. “Multiple law enforcement agencies persisted through this lengthy investigation in identifying the key players in this drug trafficking operation, holding them accountable for spreading misery in the Southern District.”

    As described in the 49-count indictment unsealed in November 2022, Operation Carpet Ride identified a drug trafficking conspiracy operating in Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Effingham, Evans, Liberty, Richmond, and Tattnall counties, and elsewhere, from as early as January 2016. Led by Daniel Morales-Jimenez, a/k/a “Danny Hill,” 48, of Puerto Rico, the conspiracy imported large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs from and through Puerto Rico, into Florida and the Southern District. Morales-Jimenez pled guilty to federal conspiracy charges in both the Southern District and in Puerto Rico and awaits sentencing.

    Castro-Vasquez was identified as a kilo-quantity distributor who obtained cocaine from Morales-Jimenez, arranging importation into the continental United States for distribution in the Southern District. Torres-Garcia supplied kilos of cocaine to Demarr Clayton Lee, 55, of Miami, Florida, while also arranging to deliver cocaine to the Southern District using members of his family. Lee, who pled guilty in the conspiracy, is serving a sentence of 98 months in federal prison, while 26 other defendants in Operation Carpet Ride are serving sentences of up to 240 months in prison after pleading guilty. 

    “This case represents the continued commitment of the Drug Enforcement Administration to identify and hold accountable those who engage in the distribution of dangerous drugs,” said Jae W. Chung, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division.

    “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service employs a whole-of-government approach to combatting illicit drugs in the mail,” said Steven Hodges, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Division. “This case, and our partnerships, illustrate our strategy in action. Protecting the American public through criminal investigations like this is a top priority of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.”

    The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

    The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Homeland Security Investigations; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; the Puerto Rico State Police; the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles; the Georgia Department of Community Supervision; the Tattnall County Sheriff’s Office; the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office; the Evans County Sheriff’s Office; the Barceloneta Police Department; the Claxton Police Department; and the Glennville Police Department; and prosecuted for the United States by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank M. Pennington II and OCDETF Coordinator Marcela C. Mateo. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: 4 sentenced to federal prison for cocaine conspiracy involving 89 kilograms

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    ORLANDO, Fla. – Four individuals from Central Florida were sentenced March 4 to a combined 32 years and three months in federal prison for their roles in conspiring to distribute more than 89 kilograms of cocaine in the Orlando region following a joint Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation with the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    Each previously pleaded guilty. The conspirators also forfeited $464,031 in cash seizures in the case:

    • Israel Miranda, 36, of Kissimmee, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
    • Abiezer Laboy Lozada, 36, of Orlando, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
    • Jorge Antonio Gonzalez de la Fuente, 31, of St. Cloud, was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison.
    • Carlos Antonio Garcia Garcia, 35, of Kissimmee, was sentenced to five years in federal prison.

    According to the plea agreements, the Drug Enforcement Administration identified a group of individuals working to distribute kilogram quantities of cocaine and the proceeds of those sales during 2022. On May 1, 2023, the DEA surveilled Miranda as he distributed drugs to Laboy Lozada in a parking lot. In this and similar meetings during the conspiracy, Laboy Lozada admitted to obtaining 20-30 kilograms of cocaine from Miranda. On Oct. 4, 2023, Miranda delivered a shoe box to Gonzalez de la Fuente, who delivered it to Garcia Garcia. When law enforcement stopped Garcia Garcia’s vehicle, he was found to be carrying that same box containing a kilogram of cocaine.

    Over the course of the conspiracy, Gonzalez de la Fuente met with his conspirators two or three times a month and was involved in distribution of 15-50 kilograms of cocaine. Gonzalez de la Fuente continued to engage in drug distribution after being charged federally and was detained when this was discovered.

    On Oct. 13, 2023, Miranda delivered drug proceeds to an individual who was found to be transporting $262,257 in a brown paper bag. At the same time, Miranda texted a conspirator an image of the stacks of bills he was distributing with the message “should be 110k.” Similar enforcement actions resulted in the seizure of $51,989 from Miranda on Nov. 7, 2023, and $149,785 from Miranda on March 6, 2024. Over the course of the conspiracy, Miranda distributed drugs or drug proceeds reflecting distribution of more than 89 kilograms of cocaine.

    This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Florida Highway Patrol, ICE Orlando, U.S. Secret Service, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana E. Hill. This case was part of an OCDETF investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE arrests 9 Houston area criminal aliens in past week convicted or charged with sex offenses

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    March 5, 2025Houston, TX, United StatesChild Exploitation

    HOUSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nine criminal aliens in the Houston area between Feb. 24 – 28 charged with, or have been convicted of, a sex offense and are amenable to removal from the U.S.

    The arrests were part of a multi-agency enforcement effort conducted by ICE, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety – Criminal Investigation Division, and the Texas Office of Attorney General.

    “Our local communities are safer as a direct result of this targeted enforcement effort,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Houston Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz. “In just five days, working alongside our federal and state partners, and leveraging HSI’s unique investigative authorities and extensive expertise investigating child exploitation crimes, we were able to quickly locate and remove these criminal aliens from the community before they could reoffend.”

    The arrests made during the targeted enforcement effort included:

    • A 39-year-old three-time deported criminal alien from El Salvador arrested Feb. 24 who is charged with for continuous sexual assault of a minor.
    • A 61-year-old three-time deported criminal alien from Mexico arrested Feb. 26 who was previously convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a minor, driving while intoxicated, and illegal entry.
    • A 55-year-old criminal alien from Cuba arrested Feb. 25 who was previously convicted of aggravated sexual assault.
    • A 61-year-old criminal alien from Cuba arrested Feb. 26 who was previously convicted of sexual battery with a weapon, sexual assault, kidnapping, and failure to register as a sex offender.
    • A 57-year-old criminal alien from Vietnam arrested Feb. 24 who was previously convicted of abduction with intent to extort money for an immoral purpose, illegal possession of a weapon, and burglary.
    • A 57-year-old criminal alien from Vietnam arrested Feb. 25 who was previously convicted of gross sexual imposition with a minor under the age of 13, failure to register as a sex offender, aggravated assault, carrying a prohibited weapon, and prostitution.
    • A 41-year-old criminal alien from Mexico arrested Feb. 26 who was previously convicted of indecency with a minor by contact, DWI, and marijuana possession.
    • A 72-year-old criminal alien from the Philippines arrested Feb. 25 who was previously convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a minor and cocaine possession.
    • A 71-year-old criminal alien from Cuba arrested Feb. 27 who was previously convicted of sexual battery of a minor.

    To learn more about ICE’s mission to combat child exploitation in the Houston-area follow us on X at @HSIHouston.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Detectives name teenager shot in Stockwell

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Detectives investigating the murder of a boy shot in Stockwell have named him, while they continue appeals for witnesses and information.

    Lathaniel Burrell from Stockwell sadly died at the scene following yesterday’s shooting. He was 16-years-old.

    Officers are now asking for the public’s help to track down those responsible.

    Police were alerted at 15:21hrs on Tuesday, 4 March to reports of a shooting at Paradise Road, SW4, and attended with emergency services colleagues.

    London’s Air Ambulance and London Ambulance Service treated Lathaniel at the scene but despite their best efforts, he died. His family are being supported by specialist officers.

    The investigation is being led by a homicide team.

    Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lee said: “This is a horrendous crime, which has shocked the local community and beyond. Our thoughts are with Lathaniel’s family and friends at this devastating time.

    “Our investigation is continuing at pace, examining CCTV and collecting witness statements.

    “We have deployed officers to the area on reassurance patrol, and have officers on the ground engaging with the local schools.

    “We need the help of the public too – if you were in the local area please think remember back to yesterday afternoon and come forward with any information, no matter how small.

    “We are particularly keen to speak to anyone who has any mobile phone or dash cam footage from the area surrounding Paradise Road.”

    No arrests have been made at this stage, and detectives are keeping an open mind about the possible motive for the attack.

    If you were a witness or have any information, please call police on 101 with the reference 4116/4MAR.

    You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 if you want to remain anonymous.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Florida Dentist Sentenced for Threatening Public Figures and an Election Official

    Source: US State of Vermont

    A Florida dentist was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for threatening public figures, an election official, and others between 2019 and 2024.

    According to court documents, from September 2019 to July 2020, Richard Glenn Kantwill, 61, of Tampa, sent over 100 threats via Facebook and Instagram messages, email, and text to various public figures based on their political commentary. As charged in the superseding information, those communications included threats to an author, a religious figure, and a television personality. Kantwill also sent at least seven additional threats to four public figures via Facebook from April 2022 to April 2024, including a threat to an election official in another state in February 2024.

    Kantwill pleaded guilty in November 2024 to four counts of interstate transmission of a threat.

    Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Sara C. Sweeney for the Middle District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew Fodor of the FBI Tampa Field Office made the announcement.

    The FBI investigated the case.

    Trial Attorney Aaron L. Jennen of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Abigail K. King for the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two Venezuelan Gang Members Arrested, Charged with Bank Theft and Conspiracy

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    BUFFALO, N.Y. –U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that David Jose Gomez Cegarra, 24, and Jesus Segundo Hernandez-Gil, 19, both of Venezuela, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint with bank theft and conspiracy to commit bank theft. The charges carry a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey E. Intravatola and Douglas A.C. Penrose, who are handling the case, stated that the defendants are members of the Tren de Aragua Gang, which has been designated by the White House as a Global Terrorist Organization. They are accused of participating in an ATM Jackpotting scheme. ATM Jackpotting involves removing an ATM’s cover and infecting the ATMs hard drive with malware or removing the hard drive and replacing it with an infected hard drive, which allows the operator to assume control of the ATM and cause it to dispense currency.

    According to the complaint, Gomez-Cegarra, Hernandez-Gil, and other co-conspirators successfully completed an ATM Jackpotting scheme at a Radius Federal Credit Union in Kenmore, NY, on October 5, 2024. Video surveillance shows that at approximately 4:05 p.m., a vehicle, driven by Gomez-Cegarra,  approached the drive-up ATM, a co-conspirator exited the vehicle and opened the ATM utilizing a key, appeared to install something in the ATM, pressed buttons, and closed the ATM. The vehicle then left the area. Over the next several hours, the vehicle re-appeared multiple times at the ATM and conducted illegal withdrawals. Radius Federal Credit Union reported that $110,440.00 was stolen from the ATM during this ATM Jackpotting event.

    Gomez-Cegarra, Hernandez-Gil, and other co-conspirators are also believed to be responsible for ATM Jackpotting events St. Maly’s Federal Credit Union in Framingham, Massachusetts, on October 6, 2024, at First National Bank of Dryden in Dryden, NY, on October 17, 2024, and at two Community First Bank locations in Mount Vernon, Illinois, on November 11, 2024. During these events, approximately $187,000 was reported stolen.

    On November 11, 2024, the Mahomet, Illinois Police Department stopped Gomez-Cegarra and Hernandez-Gil in a vehicle together for suspicious activity. Both men presented Venezuelan identifications. They were arrested by the Mahomet Police Department, and ultimately charged by the Mount Vernon Police Department in relation to the incidents that occurred at the Community First Bank locations in Mount Vernon, IL.

    The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, the Kenmore Police Department, under the direction of Chief Thomas Phillips, the Homer, NY, Police Department, under the direction of Chief Robert Pitman, the Framingham, MA, Police Department, under the direction of Chief Lester Baker, and the Mahomet, Illinois, Police Department.

    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 Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Chinese student convicted of drugging and raping 10 women

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Met detectives appeal for victim-survivors to come forward after serial rapist convicted

    A serial rapist – who drugged and raped a number of women both in the UK and China – has been convicted, following one of the most complex investigations carried out by detectives in the Met.

    Zhenhao Zou, 28 (20.02.97), of Churchyard Row, Elephant and Castle, was today (Wednesday, 5 March) found guilty of a total of 28 offences, including 11 counts of rape against 10 different women.

    A jury found Zou guilty after a five-and-a-half-week trial at Inner London Crown Court. He will be sentenced at the same court on Thursday, 19 June.

    Following the conclusion of today’s court proceedings, detectives can now share they believe the scale of Zou’s offending may be much wider and are making a direct appeal for any victim-survivors who have not yet been identified to come forward and seek specialist support.

    While detectives have identified two victim-survivors, eight of the women who Zou was convicted of raping remain unidentified. Beyond this, detectives believe there may be more than 50 other women who may have been a victim and have not yet been identified by police.

    The investigation

    Zou is originally from Dongguan in the Guangdong Province of China and is believed to have lived in the UK since 2017.

    Before his arrest in January 2024, Zou was a student at University College London (UCL) since 2019 and prior to that studied at Queen’s University Belfast.

    Zou met women using online platforms and dating apps, inviting them to his home under the guise of studying or to have drinks. Officers have established that he invited women back to his address – one in central London and another in Elephant and Castle.

    Once inside he would offer them a drink which contained a substance – believed to be butanediol, which converts to GHB once in the human body.

    This would leave the victim-survivors drifting in and out of consciousness. While unconscious, he filmed himself as he raped and sexually assaulted them.

    Zou also kept items from victim-survivors, such as jewellery and clothing.

    After a woman came forward to report Zou, police searched his home and found the drugs butanediol and ketamine, as well as a number of hidden cameras. They also seized a number of laptops and mobile phones, which later uncovered the true scale of Zou’s offending.

    Officers downloaded the digital devices amounting to six and a half trillion bytes of data, which included around nine million WeChat messages.

    Met investigators spent months trawling through messages to understand Zou’s pattern of offending, painstakingly translating them into English from Simplified Chinese.

    They also watched hundreds of videos stored on his devices, which appear to show Zou filming himself raping and sexually assaulting women. It was after analysis of this graphic and disturbing material that it became apparent that he had not only committed offences in London, but also in his home country of China too.

    During the trial, officers were assisted by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, who helped to facilitate one of the brave victim-survivors giving evidence against Zou.

    As part of the investigation, the Met has also been supported by the Crown Prosecution Service, National Crime Agency and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

    The appeal

    To protect the integrity of ongoing legal proceedings after Zou was first charged with offences, detectives have not been able to publicly appeal for further potential victim-survivors until this time.

    The Metropolitan Police is now asking anyone who thinks they may have been a victim to come forward and speak with police.

    Specialist officers work closely with victim-survivors to seek justice and are available to offer support and signpost to external partners, so they can get help.

    Officers are keeping an open mind about the identities of unidentified victim-survivors, but are particularly keen to hear from women from the Chinese student community who may have met Zou and were living in and around London between 2019-2024. They also would like to speak to potential victims-survivors who may have met Zou while he was living in China.

    Women may have met Zou via online platforms, including student forums on the Chinese social media apps WeChat or Little Red Book, or may have spoken to him on dating apps, such as Bumble.

    Victim-survivors may have visited Zou at his accommodation in Woburn Place in central London or his address in Churchyard Row in Elephant and Castle in London. Others may have met Zou when he was living in China.

    Due to the nature of Zou’s offending, detectives believe that some women may not know they have been a victim-survivor and do not underestimate how distressing and difficult it may be to read or hear about his crimes following this verdict. They are reassuring potential victim-survivors that any reports will be fully investigated and dealt with the utmost sensitivity, care and compassion.

    Officers also understand that not every victim-survivor may wish to speak with the police to get support. Therefore, the charity Rape Crisis is also offering support for women to seek help and guidance from advisors who are independent to the police.

    As part of their appeal, detectives are also keen to speak to any witnesses who might have helpful information, in particular anyone who might have met Zou at parties or spoke to him on social media apps and has any concerns.

    Commander Kevin Southworth, lead for public protection at the Metropolitan Police, said: “Zhenhao Zou is a dangerous and prolific sexual predator, who manipulated and drugged women in order to prey on them in the most cowardly way.

    “I’d like to acknowledge the two women who bravely gave evidence against Zou in court – their courage and resilience has been unwavering.

    “We are determined to support all victim-survivors and are now asking women who believe they may have concerns about Zou to please come forward. I want to reassure anyone impacted that you are not alone and can seek specialist support and guidance, not only from the police, but also from independent charities and services.

    “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the investigation team, who have shown professionalism, compassion and determination in their pursuit for justice.”

    The Met recognises the impact that this horrific case will have on Londoners, in particular Chinese students who may have lived in and around Southwark and Lambeth. Officers continue to liaise with partners to ensure anyone with concerns can access advice and specialist support from local police teams.

    How to contact the police and independent support agencies:

    Reports relating to Zhenhao Zou can be made online via the Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP): https://mipp.police.uk/operation/01MPS25X38-PO1. The MIPP is also available in Simplified Chinese (https://mipp.police.uk/operation/01MPS25X38-PO2 ), so it is as accessible as possible for potential victims and survivors.

    If you wish to speak to Met detectives or make a report relating to Zou, you can also contact police via email on survivors@met.police.uk

    You can also make a report to police by calling 101 from within the UK, quoting reference 2904/04FEB25.

    If you live in England or Wales and have been affected by this case and would like to seek support from specialist agencies, please contact the independent charity Rape Crisis via their 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line or call them on 0808 500 2222. Specially trained staff are there to listen, answer questions and offer emotional support.

    Background

    • Please consult ‘Document 1’ for a full breakdown of offences, including information relating to locations of offences
    • Please consult ‘Document 2’ for a timeline of offences

    Tackling Violence against Women and Girls

    • In 2023, the Met launched its new Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Action Plan, working with women and girls across London to shape a new approach to keep them safe.
    • The Met has transformed the way it investigates rape and serious sexual offences. Under Operation Soteria, the Met is doing more to put victim-survivors at the heart of its response to these crimes.
    • As part of its commitment to tackling violence against women and girls, caused largely at the hands of predatory men, officers are placing more focus on suspects and offering support to those impacted alongside specialist partners.
    • Since 2021, the Met has more than doubled its charge rate for rape.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Florida Dentist Sentenced for Threatening Public Figures and an Election Official

    Source: United States Attorneys General 1

    A Florida dentist was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for threatening public figures, an election official, and others between 2019 and 2024.

    According to court documents, from September 2019 to July 2020, Richard Glenn Kantwill, 61, of Tampa, sent over 100 threats via Facebook and Instagram messages, email, and text to various public figures based on their political commentary. As charged in the superseding information, those communications included threats to an author, a religious figure, and a television personality. Kantwill also sent at least seven additional threats to four public figures via Facebook from April 2022 to April 2024, including a threat to an election official in another state in February 2024.

    Kantwill pleaded guilty in November 2024 to four counts of interstate transmission of a threat.

    Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Sara C. Sweeney for the Middle District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew Fodor of the FBI Tampa Field Office made the announcement.

    The FBI investigated the case.

    Trial Attorney Aaron L. Jennen of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Abigail K. King for the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Detectives name teenager shot in Stockwell with continued appeal for witnesses

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Detectives investigating the murder of a boy shot in Stockwell have named him, while they continue appeals for witnesses and information.

    Lathaniel Burrell from Stockwell sadly died at the scene following yesterday’s shooting. He was 16-years-old.

    Officers are now asking for the public’s help to track down those responsible.

    Police were alerted at 15:21hrs on Tuesday, 4 March to reports of a shooting at Paradise Road, SW4, and attended with emergency services colleagues.

    London’s Air Ambulance and London Ambulance Service treated Lathaniel at the scene but despite their best efforts, he died. His family are being supported by specialist officers.

    The investigation is being led by a homicide team.

    Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lee said: “This is a horrendous crime, which has shocked the local community and beyond. Our thoughts are with Lathaniel’s family and friends at this devastating time.

    “Our investigation is continuing at pace, examining CCTV and collecting witness statements.

    “We have deployed officers to the area on reassurance patrol, and have officers on the ground engaging with the local schools.

    “We need the help of the public too – if you were in the local area please think remember back to yesterday afternoon and come forward with any information, no matter how small.

    “We are particularly keen to speak to anyone who has any mobile phone or dash cam footage from the area surrounding Paradise Road.”

    No arrests have been made at this stage, and detectives are keeping an open mind about the possible motive for the attack.

    If you were a witness or have any information, please call police on 101 with the reference 4116/4MAR.

    You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 if you want to remain anonymous.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Operation Protego

    Source: Australian Department of Revenue

    About Operation Protego

    Operation Protego is an ATO-led investigation into large-scale GST fraud that was promoted particularly on social media. The attempted fraud involves an individual:

    • inventing a fake business
    • lodging a fraudulent Australian business number (ABN) application, and
    • submitting fictitious business activity statements (BAS) to attempt to gain a false GST refund.

    In May 2022 we issued warnings to the community to be on the lookout for fraud schemes being promoted through social media and other channels. We advised those who were involved to come forward.

    The most serious offenders of financial crime are referred to the ATO-led Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT), including individuals involved in Operation Protego. The SFCT is taking firm action against individuals, facilitators and promoters suspected of defrauding the community by inventing fake businesses to claim false GST refunds.

    You need to check the facts – nobody is giving money away for free or offering loans that don’t need to be paid back. Simply speaking, if you don’t operate a business, you don’t need an ABN, and you shouldn’t lodge a BAS. This is fraud.

    For those who may be tempted by the promise of big gains, the ATO has sophisticated risk models. We work with banks, law enforcement agencies and other organisations to share information and detect fraud. We also have access to intelligence through community tip offs, and other information sources. The SFCT brings together the knowledge, resources and experience of relevant law enforcement and regulatory agencies to identify and address the most serious and complex forms of financial crime.

    Latest news

    25 February 2025 – Benjamin West sentenced to 2 years jail

    Benjamin West has been sentenced to 2 years jail. He is to be released after serving 6 months in custody, on a recognisance release order of $500, and to be of good behaviour for 2 years. Mr West was also ordered to pay reparation of $49,226.

    In February 2022, Mr West applied for an Australian Business Number claiming he was providing garden and lawn maintenance services. He then knowingly provided his myGov login details to a third party who lodged 6 business activity statements, allowing Mr West to fraudulently obtain $49,226 in GST refunds before attempting to obtain a further $25,060 which was stopped by the ATO.

    An audit by the ATO determined that he was not operating a legitimate business, and therefore not entitled to the GST refunds he had claimed.

    17 February 2025 – Adam Hohenberger sentenced to 2 years and 3 months jail

    Adam Hohenberger was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in jail for committing GST fraud. He is to be released after serving 8 months in custody, on a recognisance release order. He must be of good behaviour and be supervised by a probation officer for 19 months.

    Mr Hohenberger was charged with 22 counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and 16 counts of attempting to obtain a financial advantage by deception.

    In May 2020, an Australian business number (ABN) was created for a construction repair business in Mr Hohenberger’s name. In 2022, he lodged 98 business activity statements (BAS) receiving over $108,000 he was not entitled to.

    During the audit process it was discovered that Mr Hohenberger did not have the skills required to repair construction machinery and therefore he was not operating a legitimate business.

    Mr Hohenberger was also ordered to repay $108,451 to the ATO.

    29 November 2024 – Thitikorn Thanawong sentenced to 2 years and 8 months jail

    Thitikorn Thanawong recklessly dealt with $296,212 that was the proceeds of indictable crime. She spent the entire amount on holiday expenses, transfers to associates and luxury retail purchases.

    She was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in jail, to be released on a recognisance release order after serving 10 months, upon entering recognisance of $2,000 and to be of good behaviour for 2 years.

    For more information, see Luxury spender jailed through Operation Protego.

    28 October 2024 – Craig Hamilton sentenced to 2 months and 2 weeks jail

    Craig Hamilton was sentenced to 2 months and 2 weeks jail, released immediately on a security of $500 and to be of good behaviour for 2 years for dealing with the proceeds of indictable crime. Mr Hamilton obtained and dealt with $80,000 of fraudulent funds.

    Mr Hamilton reactivated a past Australian business number (ABN) operating as a construction project manager. In February 2022, 4 business activity statements (BAS) were lodged for the business and he claimed GST refunds that he was not entitled to.

    During the audit process, several red flags were identified:

    • No website or social media presence existed for the business.
    • Reported expenses exceeded his actual earnings.
    • Identical expense amounts were reported every quarter.
    • 80% of his income came from government benefits.

    Mr Hamilton’s bank records also didn’t indicate any business expenses or wages being paid. Instead, his expenses were largely spent on fines and fees, takeout, and supermarket purchases.

    Of the $80,000 obtained, $72,905 was recovered from the bank after Mr Hamilton’s account was frozen. This left a balance of $7,094 which he was ordered to repay.

    16 October 2024 – Tahra Wyntjes sentenced to 4 years jail

    Tahra Wyntjes was sentenced to 4 years jail with a non-parole period of 2 years and 4 months. She was charged with one count of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and one count of attempting to obtain a financial advantage by deception.

    Ms Wyntjes obtained $599,349 in fraudulent GST refunds she was not entitled to and attempted to obtain a further $259,976, which was stopped by ATO officers.

    Ms Wyntjes registered for both an ABN and for GST in November 2021 for a residential cleaning business. Between November 2021 and March 2022, she lodged fraudulent BAS, which ATO officers quickly noticed and began investigating.

    Ms Wyntjes was ordered to repay $599,349 by the court.

    For more information, see Victorian woman sentenced over GST fraud.

    9 October 2024 – Aman Akol sentenced to 6 months jail

    Aman Akol was sentenced to 6 months jail, released on a security of $1,000 and good behaviour for one year. She was charged with one offence of obtaining a financial advantage by deception, and one offence of attempting to obtain a financial advantage by deception.

    Between 20 October 2021 and 2 March 2022, Ms Akol conspired with an online associate to dishonestly lodge 7 BAS for a cleaning business that did not exist. These lodgments resulted in Ms Akol fraudulently obtaining $85,759 in GST refunds she was not entitled to and attempting to obtain a further $27,960.

    Aman Akol is the sister of Arec Akol who was charged and sentenced with similar offences in January 2024.

    6 September 2024 – Lee Sheridan sentenced to 2 years jail

    On 6 September 2024, Lee Sheridan was sentenced to 2 years in jail, to be released after having served 6 months, for dealing with the proceeds of crime (GST fraud).

    Mr Sheridan received and spent fraudulent GST refunds totalling $377,820 after he provided his personal details to an individual who lodged 38 original and revised monthly BAS on his behalf.

    For more information, see Operation Protego holds Perth offender to account.

    31 May 2024 – Joshua Mitchell sentenced to 18 months in jail

    On 31 May 2024, 33-year-old Joshua Mitchell was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, partially suspended with a $2,000 recognisance, under supervision and good behaviour. Mr Mitchell was also ordered to pay reparation of $24,200.

    Between 11 March 2022 and 2 April 2022, Mr Mitchell dishonestly lodged one original and one revised BAS, for a business that did not exist. He fraudulently obtained a total of $24,200.

    During the same period, he disposed of almost all the proceeds he had fraudulently obtained through payments to associates, streaming services and restaurants.

    26 March 2024 – Lisa McCormick sentenced to 2 years 6 months jail

    Lisa McCormick was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months jail and ordered to repay $39,600 in fraudulent funds. After serving 12 months, she will be released on a security of $5,000 and good behaviour for 18 months.

    Between 3 March 2022 and 30 April 2022, Mrs McCormick lodged 3 fraudulent BAS and as a result, received a GST refund of $39,600 which she was not entitled to. She also tried to obtain a further $9,820.

    While undergoing investigation, Mrs McCormick sent 8 false documents to the ATO which she was later charged over.

    She was charged with 2 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception, one count of attempt to obtain financial advantage by deception, and one count of using a false document with the intention of dishonestly inducing a Commonwealth public official.

    22 January 2024 – Arec Akol sentenced to 3 months jail

    Arec Akol was sentenced to 3 months jail, released on a security of $5,000 and good behaviour for a year. She was charged with one count of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

    Ms Akol had registered an ABN for a cleaning business which didn’t exist. Seven fraudulent BAS were then lodged between 1 April 2021 and 28 February 2022.

    In total, Ms Akol claimed a GST refund of $69,461 which she was not entitled to. She was ordered to repay this amount in full.

    12 January 2024 – Adam Mitchell sentenced to a community corrections order of 15 months

    Adam Mitchell was sentenced to a community corrections order of 15 months after being charged with one offence of dealing in money or property that was the proceeds of crime worth $10,000 or more.

    Mr Mitchell had registered an ABN in 2017 and registered for GST reporting on 8 April 2022. On 22 April 2022, he lodged a fraudulent BAS claiming a GST refund of $18,000.

    In addition to the community corrections order, Mr Mitchell was ordered to repay the Commonwealth the full amount he had fraudulently claimed.

    17 November 2023 – Wayne Garrett sentenced to 3 years and 4 months jail

    Wayne Garrett was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in jail with a non-parole period of 1 year and 9 months and ordered to repay $180,095 for GST fraud. He was charged with one count of obtaining a financial advantage by deception, one count of attempting to obtain a financial advantage by deception and one count of joint commission with a person of interest.

    Mr Garrett received $180,095 in GST refunds he was not entitled to. He also attempted to obtain a further $50,644.

    23 October 2023 – Rachel Saville sentenced to 1 year and 8 months jail

    Rachel Saville was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months jail after being charged with 4 counts of obtaining benefit by deception.

    Ms Saville reactivated an ABN for a jewellery and silver manufacturing business on 7 February 2022. Between 21 February 2022 and 26 July 2023, she lodged 63 fraudulent BAS obtaining $73,650 that she was not entitled to.

    Ms Saville also attempted to claim a further $192,983 in fraudulent GST refunds.

    For more information, see Wollongong woman jailed for GST fraud.

    30 August 2023 – Linden Phillips sentenced to 7 and a half years jail

    Linden Phillips was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison with a non-parole period of 5 years. He was changed with obtaining financial advantage by deception, attempt to obtain financial advantage by deception, and deal with the proceeds of crime.

    Mr Phillips lodged false BAS which saw him fraudulently receive more than $830,000.

    For more information, see Mildura man jailed for 7 years for GST fraud.

    Update: Upon appeal, the sentence was reduced on 13 June 2024 to 6 years and 3 months with a non-parole period of 4 years.

    29 August 2023 – Justin McCormick sentenced to 2 years jail

    Justin McCormick was sentenced to 2 years jail with a 12-month non-parole period and ordered to repay almost $110,000 of funds fraudulently obtained. He was charged with 5 offences of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception from the Commissioner of Taxation.

    Mr McCormick had an ABN which had been registered between 28 March 2009 and 13 February 2015. He then re-registered this ABN on 11 February 2022 with the intent to lodge BAS for a business that did not exist and to claim GST on purchases that were never made.

    As a result of the false information reported in each BAS, McCormick obtained $109,278 in GST refunds, an amount to which he was not entitled.

    For more information, see Perth man jailed as Protego enforcement action continues.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Policing Minister Celebrates the Role of Police Staff

    Source: United Kingdom National Police Chiefs Council

    “Regardless of the role, there is no force in the country that can do what it needs to do to keep the public safe without police staff.” 

    Those are the words of the Home Office Minister of State (Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire) the Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson, with respect to the Police Staff Week of Celebration and Recognition.

    We’re extremely grateful that the Minister took the time to record this video, and thankful for her kind words about the important role that police staff play. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Lebanon: Israeli attacks on health facilities, ambulances and paramedics must be investigated as war crimes

    Source: Amnesty International –

    The Israeli military’s repeated unlawful attacks during the war in Lebanon on health facilities, ambulances and health workers, which are protected under international law, must be investigated as war crimes, Amnesty International said today.

    The Lebanese government should provide the International Criminal Court (ICC) the jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes within the Rome Statute committed on Lebanese territory, and ensure victims’ right to remedy, including by calling on Israel to provide reparation for serious violations of international humanitarian law.

    In findings released today, Amnesty International presents the results of its investigations into four Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities and vehicles in Beirut and in south Lebanon between 3 and 9 October 2024, which killed 19 healthcare workers, wounded 11 more, and damaged or destroyed multiple ambulances and two medical facilities in a one-week period in October 2024.

    During the war in Lebanon in 2024, the Israeli military repeatedly attacked health facilities and medical vehicles. The Israeli military has not provided sufficient justifications, or specific evidence of military targets being present at the strike locations, to account for these repeated attacks, which weakened a fragile healthcare system and put lives at risk.

    “Israel’s unlawful attacks on medical facilities and personnel are not only serious violations of international humanitarian law and likely war crimes but also have devastating consequences for civilians more broadly. We call for the government of Lebanon, with the support of the international community, to step up and act to ensure that suspected perpetrators of war crimes can be held accountable. The new Lebanese government must grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over all Rome Statue crimes committed on or perpetrated from its territory,” said Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas.

    “Israel’s unlawful attacks on medical facilities and personnel are not only serious violations of international humanitarian law and likely war crimes but also have devastating consequences for civilians more broadly” – Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns

    Lebanon must urgently accede to the Rome Statute of the ICC and make a declaration granting the Court jurisdiction from 2002. In the interim, Lebanon should make an ad hoc declaration accepting the exercise of the ICC’s jurisdiction with respect to all Rome Statute crimes committed on or perpetrated from Lebanese territory.

    The Israeli military repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using ambulances to transport fighters and weapons, and of using medical centres affiliated with the Islamic Health Association (IHA) as a “cover for terrorist activities”. In the four attacks investigated, however, Amnesty International did not find evidence that the facilities or vehicles were being used for military purposes at the time of the attacks.

    “When a health system is attacked, civilians suffer. Even when hospitals are thought to be used for military purposes and lose their protected status under international law, they can only be attacked after a warning that gives sufficient time for the evacuation of patients and staff goes unheeded. An attacking party remains at all times bound by the principle of proportionality, weighing the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from an attack against the expected harm to civilians and civilian objects, including the reverberating humanitarian consequences resulting from the attack,” said Erika Guevara Rosas.

    Amnesty International interviewed 17 people, including medical workers, witnesses to the attacks, local officials, and family members of the victims. Researchers also visited the site of the attack on the IHA’s centre in Bachoura, Beirut. In addition, Amnesty International verified 46 photographs and videos from the attacks shared directly with the organization or published in the media and on social media. Amnesty International wrote to the Israeli military with its findings on 11 November 2024 but had not received a response by the time of publication.

    Medical personnel, hospitals, and other medical facilities are protected under international humanitarian law.  According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), people who have exclusively non-combat functions in armed groups or are merely members of or affiliated with political entities with an armed component, such as Hezbollah, may not be targeted unless and for such time that they are directly participating in hostilities. Medical personnel affiliated with Hezbollah, including those assigned to civil defence organizations, exclusively assigned to medical or humanitarian duties are protected from attack.

    A ceasefire was announced in Lebanon in late November 2024. In early 2025, healthcare workers impacted by the four Israeli attacks said they were doing their best to provide care while still grappling with damaged or destroyed facilities and vehicles and the loss of their colleagues. One civil defence team member, whose centre was destroyed in an Israeli attack, said the team was now working from a local villager’s home, which he said they had “offered to us, on temporary basis… until we find and move to a new locale.”

    “It is crucial that all attacks against medical staff and facilities are investigated to ensure that perpetrators are punished, victims receive reparations, and these crimes are never repeated” – Erika Guevara Rosas

    “It is crucial that all attacks against medical staff and facilities are investigated to ensure that perpetrators are punished, victims receive reparations, and these crimes are never repeated. A ceasefire is only the first step to ending and preventing harm. To move forward, victims of serious violations by all parties must see justice and receive redress,” said Erika Guevara Rosas.

    Before Israel launched its operation Northern Arrows on 23 September 2024, Amnesty International had verified over 80 photos and videos from 11 attacks that hit medical crews and facilities in Lebanon between 8 October 2023 and 24 June 2024.

    According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, between October 2023 and November 2024 the Israeli military attacked 67 hospitals, 56 primary health care centres, and 238 emergency medical teams, killing at least 222 medical and emergency relief workers.

    According to the World Health Organization, as of 21 November 2024, “47% of the attacks on health care – 65 out of 137 – have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient in Lebanon”.

    The Lebanese healthcare sector was already straining due to multiple, ongoing and compounding crises, including a massive economic crisis that spiralled in late 2019, followed by the Beirut Port explosion in 2020, while the country tried to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

    On 27 November, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 60-day ceasefire deal. Within days, numerous violations of the ceasefire deal were reported. On 27 January, the ceasefire got extended for another few weeks. Israel later announced it intended to remain in a number of positions in Lebanon’s territory.

    Amnesty International has also documented evidence of unlawful airstrikes that killed and injured civilians. In a briefing published in December 2024, Amnesty International documented four air strikes by Israeli forces across Lebanon which killed at least 49 civilians and killed entire families and that must be investigated as war crimes. 

    During the war, Hezbollah repeatedly fired unguided rocket salvos into northern Israel, including carrying out attacks that killed and injured civilians. In some cases, they insisted they were aiming at military targets, but in others said they were attacking the civilian city or town generally.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Fraudulent website and phishing instant messages related to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    Fraudulent website and phishing instant messages related to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
    ******************************************************************************************

    The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited relating to a fraudulent website and phishing instant messages, which have been reported to the HKMA. A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.           The HKMA wishes to remind the public that banks will not send SMS or emails with embedded hyperlinks which direct them to the banks’ websites to carry out transactions. They will not ask customers for sensitive personal information, such as login passwords or one-time password, by phone, email or SMS (including via embedded hyperlinks).           Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the website or instant messages concerned, should contact the bank using the contact information provided in the press release, and report the matter to the Police by contacting the Crime Wing Information Centre of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

    Ends/Wednesday, March 5, 2025Issued at HKT 17:25

    NNNN

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 05.03.2025, 14-15 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the SU26231RMFS9 security (OFZ 26231) were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    05.03.2025

    14:15

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on 05.03.2025, 14-15 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 13.39) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 154.56 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 50.0%) of the SU26231RMFS9 security (OFZ 26231) were changed.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.M.M.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Illegal Alien Indicted for Conspiracy to Transport Other Aliens and Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin

    Source: United States Department of Justice (Human Trafficking)

    PHOENIX, Ariz. – Last week, a grand jury returned an indictment against Edgar Guadalupe Jimenez-Aguilar, an illegal alien living in Phoenix, for Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens and Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin.

    After an investigation, agents from Homeland Security Investigations and United States Border Patrol identified Jimenez-Aguilar as a load driver who picked up aliens in desert areas in Pinal and Pima Counties and transported them to Phoenix. Jimenez-Aguilar also operated a stash house in Phoenix used to harbor the aliens and assumed a coordinator role by recruiting others to act as load drivers.

    From late 2024 through January 2025, agents interviewed other load drivers arrested for transporting aliens, who admitted Jimenez-Aguilar had recruited them. The agents also conducted surveillance on Jimenez-Aguilar and his stash house. On October 3, 2024, officers with the Tohono O’odham Police Department stopped a vehicle and determined four passengers, including two in the trunk of the vehicle, were aliens unlawfully present in the United States. 
     

    Officers learned that the driver had been recruited on social media, had participated in multiple prior smuggling ventures, and had been to Jimenez-Aguilar’s stash house to unload the aliens. On January 28, 2025, agents stopped a Jeep Grand Cherokee in Mesa and identified the driver as Jimenez-Aguilar via his Sonoran driver’s license. Inside the vehicle, agents located approximately 297 grams of black tar heroin.

    Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin carries a minimum penalty of five years and up to 40 years in prison, as well as a fine of up to $5,000,000. Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

    An indictment is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

    The United States Border Patrol, Alien Smuggling Unit – Tucson Sector and Homeland Security Investigations – Casa Grande, Pinal and Pima County Sheriff Departments, Tohono O’odham Police Department, and Arizona Department of Public Safety conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Kubota, District of Arizona, Phoenix, is handling the prosecution.
     

    CASE NUMBER:           CR-25-00284-PHX-DJH
    RELEASE NUMBER:    2025-027_Jimenez-Aguilar

     

    # # #

    For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
    Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on X @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

     

    MIL Security OSI –