NewzIntel.com

Category: KB

  • MIL-OSI Security: Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim Remarks at the American Bar Association Antitrust Section Fall Forum

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    “November Rain”: Antitrust Enforcement on Behalf of American Consumers and Taxpayers

    Good morning, and thank you for the kind introduction.  I’d like to thank the American Bar Association for your invitation to this year’s Fall Forum and Deb Garza for her leadership of the Section this year. 

    I find it hard to believe it’s been only a little more than a year since I was confirmed as AAG and spoke at last year’s Fall Forum.  Over the past year, the Antitrust Division has been hard at work on behalf of American consumers. We made a number of significant enforcement actions this week, but before I turn to those, I’d like to update you on a few recent changes in the Front Office. 

    First, Michael Murray recently joined us from the Deputy Attorney General’s office, where he served as Associate Deputy Attorney General.  Mike now will be a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Front Office, where he will be overseeing our Appellate Section and our 4A damage actions on behalf of the American taxpayer.  Mike has significant appellate experience, including as a law clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy. 

    In addition, our new acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economics is Jeff Wilder.  Jeff received his Ph.D. from MIT and has distinguished himself as an outstanding economist serving as one of the leaders in the Division’s Economic Analysis Group, and we’re happy to have him join us in the Front Office.

    Some of you may remember that at last year’s Fall Forum, I spoke about antitrust and deregulation.  In those remarks, I focused on remedies, including our preference for structural remedies and our emphasis on making consent decrees more enforceable.  I also discussed our commitment to the view that antitrust enforcement is law enforcement, not industrial regulation, and that the Antitrust Division should strive to accomplish its law enforcement mission in the most efficient and effective way possible.  The Division has stood by those principles. 

    More recently, in a speech at Georgetown, I announced several improvements to the merger review process.  We are making good on those changes as well.  Today, we posted a model timing agreement and a model voluntary request letter on our website.  Those documents increase transparency and predictability and will help merging businesses and their counsel know what to expect as part of the merger review process.  We’ve also begun tracking the duration of merger reviews more carefully, so that we can monitor our performance and factors affecting it.  You will recall our goal is to resolve investigations within six months of filing, provided that the parties cooperate and comply with our document and data requests during the entire process.

    I would like to focus the remainder of my remarks today on four important settlements in the last week that reflect the Antitrust Division’s commitment to vigilant and effective antitrust enforcement. 

    As some of you may have seen, the Division announced just yesterday a set of global settlements with three South Korean companies.  Those unprecedented settlements resolve criminal charges and civil claims arising from a bid-rigging conspiracy that targeted fuel supply contracts to U.S. military bases in South Korea.  They are the result of tremendous hard work in parallel criminal and civil investigations by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section, the Transportation, Energy, and Agriculture Section, and the Fraud Section of the Civil Division.  We were assisted ably by our partners at the FBI and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.

    The United States currently maintains numerous military bases in South Korea, housing American soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors in the region.  These military bases need fuel for various purposes, and two Department of Defense agencies, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), contract with South Korean companies to supply fuel to the numerous U.S. military bases throughout South Korea. 

    Our investigation, which is ongoing, revealed that SK Energy, GS Caltex, Hanjin Transportation, along with other co-conspirators, rigged bids and fixed prices for fuel supply contracts issued by the U.S. military in South Korea for over a decade.  They cheated the Military and American taxpayers out of precious limited resources.  As a result of the conspiracy, the Department of Defense paid substantially more for fuel supply services.  Although the immediate victim here was the U.S. military, the American taxpayer, you and me, ultimately footed the bill. 

    The three companies agreed yesterday to plead guilty to criminal charges under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, and they will pay at least $82 million in criminal fines for their involvement in the conspiracy.  Importantly, the three defendants have also agreed to cooperate with the ongoing criminal investigation of the conduct. 

    Robert Jackson, who is one of my legal heroes, recognized that bid rigging is particularly harmful to government purchasers.  When he served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division, Jackson broadly denounced arrangements that “compel purchasers to pay a price based on calculation, not competition,” and specifically emphasized that “[w]hatever the effect of this on private buyers, it completely destroys the mechanism set up by federal, state, and municipal governments to keep favoritism and corruption out of public buying.”

    The harm Jackson recognized still exists today, and these settlements serve as an important reminder that the Justice Department and its law enforcement partners will investigate aggressively and prosecute without hesitation companies who cheat the United States government and the American taxpayer. 

    We did not stop there.  We are committed to using all authorities Congress has granted to us to remedy antitrust injuries to the American taxpayer.  Those tools include the authority conferred in Section 4A of the Clayton Act.  Section 4A is an important but underused enforcement tool that allows the government to recover treble damages for antitrust violations when the government itself is the victim. 

    To that end, the Division established a parallel civil enforcement team, led by Kathy O’Neill and a group of capable litigators from the Transportation, Energy, and Agriculture Section to pursue parallel civil actions for damages.  We negotiated separate civil resolutions with each of the three defendants on behalf of American taxpayers.  We also worked alongside our partners in the Civil Division’s Fraud Section, who pursued charges against the defendants under the False Claims Act for making false statements to the government in connection with their conspiracy. 

    To resolve both the civil antitrust and the False Claims Act violations, these three defendants have agreed to pay an additional $154 million in total.  They also have agreed to cooperate fully with the Division’s ongoing civil investigation and to implement effective antitrust compliance programs.

    These historic cases mark the first significant settlements under Section 4A in many years.  In fact, as far as we can tell based on our records, they are the largest settlements the government has ever recovered since the enactment of Section 4A.    

    Let me take a step back to review the history of Section 4A. 

    When Congress enacted the Sherman Act in 1890 and the Clayton Act in 1914, neither statute contained a provision specifically allowing the government to recover damages it suffered as a result of an antitrust violation.  In 1939, the United States, led by Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold, brought its first-ever antitrust suit for damages on its own behalf.   The government claimed authority to do so under Section 7 of the Sherman Act, which was the predecessor of Section 4 of the Clayton Act.  As most of you know, Section 4 permits “any person” injured by an antitrust violation to recover the damages they suffered. 

    In that pioneering case, United States v. Cooper, the government alleged that eighteen defendants had “collusively fixed” bids that were “identical to the penny on eighty-two different sizes of tires” sold to the United States.  The defendants successfully moved to dismiss the action on the question of whether the government is a “person” entitled to bring an action for damages under the statute.  The Second Circuit affirmed, and the Supreme Court ultimately held that the United States is not a “person” entitled to sue. 

    In 1955, Congress amended the Clayton Act in response to the Court’s ruling in Cooper by adding Section 4A.  As originally enacted, Section 4A allowed the government to recover only single damages, so that the government could recover damages where it was the victim of an antitrust violation. 

    At first, the Division used Section 4A aggressively, filing numerous cases for damages throughout the 1960s and 1970s.  In the 1980s, however, the government brought only four cases under Section 4A—a remarkable decline from the prior two decades.  Some attributed this drop, in part, to the Supreme Court’s Illinois Brick decision in 1978, because many of the cases brought in the ‘60s and ‘70s involved claims by the United States as an indirect purchaser.  The government, however, increasingly purchases goods and services directly.

    The next milestone came in 1990, when Congress amended the Clayton Act again to allow the government to seek treble damages in Section 4A cases. 

    Since 1990, a span of nearly thirty years, only three Section 4A cases have been filed.  In 1991, the Division recovered $250,000 from two companies for rigging bids to purchase surplus gunpowder.  In 1994, the Division filed suit against two defense contractors for entering into a “teaming” arrangement that eliminated competition in supplying the Department of Defense with cluster bombs.  In that case, the Division recovered $4 million on behalf of American taxpayers and obtained an $8 million discount on the bid price.  In 2012, the Division challenged collusion between two companies bidding on four natural gas leases at auctions run by the Bureau of Land Management.  The Division recovered $275,000 from each company. 

    The American Taxpayer deserves to see a revitalization of the government’s Section 4A authority.  This week’s settlements are only the first in that direction.  Going forward, the Division will exercise 4A authority to seek compensation for taxpayers when the government has been the victim of an antitrust violation.  We hope that these efforts will also deter future violations. 

    In light of our policy of seeking damages under Section 4A where available, I would like to address how parallel criminal and civil enforcement will proceed going forward. 

    First, the Division’s new focus on Section 4A enforcement will not require any changes to the Division’s leniency policy.  The Division offers strong incentives to come forward to report criminal antitrust violations in exchange for leniency, and those incentives do not change when the government is harmed by the violation. 

    The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004, better known as ACPERA, created another valuable incentive for leniency applications.  Under ACPERA’s detrebling provision, those who successfully qualify for leniency will be subject only to single damages in follow-on civil suits, rather than treble damages.  In addition, those who successfully qualify for leniency are not subject to joint and several liability.

    This detrebling incentive will apply to any Section 4A claims brought by the government.  We will also follow the underlying requirements for ACPERA in Section 4A cases: companies will need to cooperate with the civil team, as they would with any private plaintiff, in order to reap the detrebling benefits.

    The bottom line is that the Division’s enforcement of Section 4A will increase the incentive for co-conspirators in cartel cases to come forward. 

    Separately, I should note that global resolutions like the ones announced yesterday should serve the interests of the parties as well.  Cooperating companies subject to penalties under multiple statutes can gain certainty and finality.  Employees, customers, and investors can resolve the problem and move on. This is consistent with the Department’s broader policies on coordination of corporate penalties.

    Next, as we pursue Section 4A damages going forward, global resolutions of criminal and civil antitrust liability will help maintain a consistent policy on how to calculate civil damages.  Yesterday’s settlements underscore this point.  They provide that SK Energy, GS Caltex, and Hanjin each will pay an amount calculated to exceed the overcharge paid by the government.  At the same time, the amount reflects both the value of the cooperation commitments each defendant made as a condition of settlement and the cost savings the Division realized by avoiding extended litigation.  

    As a general matter, if the government is required to litigate claims it brings under Section 4A, the government will seek treble damages.  In addition, we anticipate that earlier cooperators will benefit by paying a lower multiple of damages, because the value of their cooperation is higher earlier in our investigation. 

    I will turn now to another significant settlement the Division filed this week, one which resolves a complaint against six broadcast television companies alleging that they engaged in widespread, unlawful sharing of non-public, competitively sensitive information.  Along with the complaint, the Division filed proposed final judgments requiring the companies to cease such conduct and to undergo rigorous compliance and reporting measures for the next seven years.

    We uncovered this conduct during our investigation into Sinclair Broadcasting Group’s proposed acquisition of Tribune Media Company, which has since been abandoned. 

    As we allege in the complaint, the defendants agreed in local broadcasting markets throughout the United States to exchange revenue pacing information and other competitively sensitive information.  “Pacing” compares a broadcast station’s revenues booked for a certain time period to the revenues booked in the same point in the previous year.  Pacing indicates how each station is performing versus the rest of the market and provides insight into each station’s remaining spot advertising for the period. 

    We discovered that the defendants had been exchanging pacing information either directly between stations or corporate headquarters, or indirectly through national representatives that help local stations sell advertisements to national advertisers.  By exchanging this information, the broadcasters were better able to anticipate whether their competitors were likely to raise, maintain, or lower spot advertising prices, which in turn helped inform the stations’ own pricing strategies and negotiations with advertisers.  As a result, the information exchanges harmed the competitive price-setting process.

    We have not heard any legitimate pro-competitive justification for this conduct.  We are therefore pleased that these companies recognized that a protracted investigation and litigation would serve no purpose, and we welcome their cooperation as our investigation continues.  We also want to remind businesses, as well as the antitrust practitioners that advise them, that agreements between competitors to exchange competitively sensitive information can violate the antitrust laws and lead to a civil enforcement action even if the conduct does not amount to the type of hard core cartel conduct that the Antitrust Division prosecutes criminally.

    Finally, this morning we announced the third significant enforcement resolution this week—a settlement with Atrium Health, formerly known as Carolinas Healthcare System.  We were joined in the settlement by the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office, and we thank them for their partnership in this action.  The settlement resolves over two years of civil antitrust litigation challenging the hospital system’s use of anticompetitive steering restrictions in its contracts with major health insurers.  These steering restrictions prevented health insurers from promoting innovative health plans and more cost-effective healthcare providers.  

    Atrium is the dominant hospital system in the Charlotte, North Carolina metropolitan area.  It used its market power to limit major health insurers’ ability to introduce plans designed to encourage consumers to choose cost-effective healthcare providers.  Specifically, Atrium would agree to participate in a broad network plan only if the insurer would commit not to introduce other plans that would steer patients away from Atrium.  The steering restrictions also deliberately constrained insurers from providing consumers with transparency into the comparative cost and quality of their healthcare alternatives.

    Because the steering restrictions were in place, insurers could not introduce more innovative health insurance plans that create financial incentives for patients to use lower-cost healthcare services.  Needless to say, competition for patients encourages healthcare providers to reduce costs, lower prices, and increase quality.  These steering restrictions inhibited competition among healthcare providers to provide higher quality, lower-cost services.  

    The resolution prevents Atrium from enforcing the steering restrictions in its contracts with major health insurers.  If approved by the Court, it will restore competition between healthcare providers in Charlotte, North Carolina.

    I would like to make a broader point about the Division’s settlements this week.  The consent decrees in all three cases, like all other decrees the Division has entered into the past 13 months, include specific new provisions designed to improve their enforceability. 

    These provisions (i) address the burden of proof in a civil contempt action by providing that the preponderance standard will apply; (ii) make defendants responsible for reimbursing the government for all costs it incurs in connection with enforcing the decree; (iii) allow the United States to seek a one-time extension of the term of the decree in the event of a violation, or to terminate the decree early if continuation is no longer necessary or in the public interest.  Another provision addresses interpretation of the decree by stating that courts can enforce any provisions that are stated specifically and in reasonable detail, whether or not they are clear and unambiguous on their face.

    The Division serves as a guardian of American consumers, and we act in the public’s trust.  When the Division enters into a consent decree to resolve charges of anticompetitive conduct, we will hold parties’ feet to the fire and enforce the decrees. 

    Finally, last Friday, three defendants pled guilty to conspiring to rig bids and allocate the market in auctions of foreclosed properties in Palm Beach County, Florida.  This case is unlike the Division’s prior foreclosure auction prosecutions because the auction occurred online rather than in-person, and the collusion occurred primarily by text message rather than in-person.  It is a good illustration of the fact that while defendants may use new platforms and technologies to commit antitrust crimes, the Division too is evolving and stands ready to prosecute these crimes in the digital age.

    The conspiracy took place in the aftermath of the financial crisis, which affected the housing market nationwide and the Florida real estate market in particular.  Defendants and their affiliated business entities were the largest buyers of foreclosed properties in Palm Beach County.  Together, the commerce affected by the defendants’ collusion was $25 million. 

    The Division began an investigation into possible collusion in online foreclosure auctions in Palm Beach County, Florida after receiving an anonymous citizen complaint that included a link to a YouTube video detailing the collusion. 

    Co-conspirators texted each other to coordinate their bidding and facilitate the conspiracy to obtain foreclosed homes at suppressed prices.  Most commonly, bidders would agree to stop bidding or to refrain from bidding at their co-conspirators’ request.  In some instances, they lowered bids for each other’s benefit. 

    After learning of the investigation, one of the defendants used and encouraged other co-conspirators to use a text messaging application to continue colluding.  He believed that law enforcement would be unable to read or trace any messages sent through the application.

    The three defendants were indicted by a grand jury in November 2017.  Since then, all three have pleaded guilty.

    I will conclude by taking this opportunity to highlight the outstanding attorneys and economists at the Antitrust Division.  They are the core of executing the Division’s mission and work tirelessly in their commitment to protect competition and consumers.    

    It has been a busy year at the Antitrust Division.  We have been working hard on behalf of America’s consumers and taxpayers, and look forward to continuing our efforts on their behalf in the year to come. 

    Thank you.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Delivers Remarks at the Interpol 87th General Assembly

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    Remarks as prepared for delivery

    It is a privilege to join you at this 87th INTERPOL General Assembly.  I am grateful to the United Arab Emirates for hosting our conference. Thank you President Kim Jong Yang for your exceptional leadership and for providing stability to INTERPOL.  

    Our theme this year is innovation.  Many digital innovations affect law enforcement, from the rise of cybercrime, to the increasing importance of electronic evidence, to encryption and the dark net. 

    In addressing these innovations, we must respect the primary value that is constant in our work: the rule of law.  Law provides the framework for civilized people to conduct their lives.  At its best, law reflects moral choices; principled decisions that promote the best interests of society, and protect the fundamental rights of citizens. 

     The term “rule of law” describes the government’s obligation to follow neutral principles and fair processes. The ideal dates at least to the time of Greek philosopher Aristotle, who wrote, “It is more proper that law should govern than any one of the citizens: upon the same principle, if it is advantageous to place the supreme power in some particular persons, they should be appointed to be only guardians, and the servants of the law.”

    The rule of law is indispensable to a thriving and vibrant society.  It shields citizens from government overreach.  It allows businesses to invest with confidence.  It gives innovators protection for their discoveries.  It keeps people safe from dangerous criminals.  And it allows us to resolve differences peacefully through reason and logic.

    When we follow the rule of law, it does not always yield the outcome that we prefer. In fact, one indicator that we are following the law is when we respect a result although we do not agree with it. We respect it because it is required by an objective analysis of the facts and a rational application of the rules.

    The rule of law is not simply about words written on paper.  The culture of a society and the character of the people who enforce the law determine whether the rule of law endures.

    Since we met last year in Beijing, the news media has reported several prominent challenges to the rule of law, including the lawless attacks on Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Jamal Khashoggi.  Last month, international attention focused on INTERPOL, as a result of the disappearance of President Meng Hongwei.  Such events give rise to questions about whether our member countries abide by shared principles.  In evaluating our actions at this General Assembly, observers may ask whether our votes reflect the values that we profess. We must stand for the rule of law.  

    INTERPOL exists to promote international police coordination and discourage departures from the law. We represent diverse forms of government. But if we serve with integrity, each of us functions as a trustee for our fellow citizens.

    When our successors look back on how we dealt with the issues of our era, they will ask whether we honored our fiduciary duties.

    First, did we develop the knowledge to understand our challenges?

    Second, did we inculcate the wisdom to solve them?

    Third, did we demonstrate the courage to defend our principles?

    Fourth, did we maintain the resolve to achieve our goals?

    I traveled here to speak about INTERPOL’s role in responding to the major innovation of our lives: the rise of a cyber-connected world. 

    The Internet holds immeasurable promise as a repository of ideas, and as a forum for speech and commerce.  It connects citizens across cultures and countries.  It is accessible to the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless.  It creates efficiencies and innovations that immensely improve our lives.

    But like every innovation that offers opportunities for good, the Internet also can be exploited by wrongdoers. Today, there is a growing divergence between the Internet as it is, and the Internet as it could be.

    Malicious actors use the Internet for evil ends.  Cyber criminals employ modern technologies to damage information systems, steal data, commit fraud, violate privacy, attack critical infrastructure, and sexually exploit children. They also launch misleading schemes to influence people’s opinions, seeking to foment division and disrupt democratic processes.

    The Internet enables attacks on businesses, government agencies, and individual citizens that cause damage costing billions of dollars.  And new technologies allow criminals to conceal themselves, which frustrates law enforcement’s efforts to keep honest citizens safe. 

    We must acknowledge the divergence between the Internet in theory and the Internet in practice. Closing that gap will ensure the viability of an open Internet governed by the rule of law.

    Enforcing the law on the Internet requires rapid and accurate detection of criminal activity; cooperation among law enforcers from different nations; prosecution of accused criminals in judicial systems that provide due process of law; and just punishment of guilty offenders.  It means not tolerating virtual online locations where crime is unchallenged.  It means not condoning physical safe havens for cyber criminals.

    Detecting, disrupting, deterring, and prosecuting malicious cyber activity are among our highest law enforcement priorities in the United States.  The cyber threats we face are varied and evolving, and our resolve to keep our people safe must extend to every corner of the Internet.

    My office recently issued a comprehensive report about our work to combat cybercrime.  It describes the global challenges posed by cyber-enabled crime.  It explains how hostile cyber actors damage computer systems, steal data, engage in cyber fraud, violate personal privacy, infiltrate critical infrastructure, and pursue malign foreign influence operations.  The report also details our efforts to detect and disrupt those threats, and our commitment to inform citizens about the dangers.

    The perceived anonymity of the Internet attracts many criminals, including terrorists and those trafficking in child pornography, illicit weapons, illegal and deadly drugs, murder-for-hire, malware, and stolen identities.  The barriers to entry are low.  Criminal opportunities are on offer for anyone with an Internet browser and an inclination to break the law.  

    Yet our police agencies repeatedly demonstrate that with the support of international partners, we can find and dismantle malign internet operations.  We identify anonymous users who commit illegal activity, seize their infrastructure and proceeds, and pursue criminal charges against them.  Criminals operating on the dark web should be on notice that our investigative tools allow us to expose them.

    We must not allow cybercriminals to hide behind cryptocurrencies.  Virtual currencies have some legitimate uses.  But bad actors are using them to fund crimes and to hide illicit proceeds.  For example, Bitcoin was the exclusive method of payment for the WannaCry ransomware attack that spread around the globe, causing billions of dollars in losses. 

    In addition, fraudsters use the lure of coin offerings and the promise of new currencies to bilk unsuspecting investors, promote scams, and engage in market manipulation.  The challenges of regulating, seizing, and tracing virtual currencies demand a multinational response.  We must work together to make clear that the rule of law can reach the entire blockchain.

    To that end, last year, prosecutors in the United States announced the indictment of Alexander Vinnick and the virtual currency exchange he allegedly operated. That exchange received more than $4 billion of virtual currency. It was designed without any means to control money laundering, so predictably it served as a hub for international criminals seeking to hide and launder ill-gotten gains. 

    We filed criminal charges and assessed a $110 million civil penalty against the exchange for willfully violating our anti-money laundering laws, as well as a $12 million penalty against Vinnick.

    To prevent virtual currency from being abused by criminals, terrorist financiers, or sanctions evaders, all of us must implement policies that mitigate the risks posed by the new technology.  My country includes virtual currencies in our anti-money laundering regulations.  And the Financial Action Task Force urges all nations to make clear that global anti-money laundering standards apply to virtual currency products and service providers. We must guard against abuses of digital currency.

    We also need to protect against abuses of encrypted communications.  Encryption can be useful in the fight against cybercrime.  Encrypting data makes it more safe and secure.  But the proliferation of warrant-proof encryption also poses a challenge to effective law enforcement. 

    Encryption technologies designed to be impervious to legal process impede our ability to access investigative data.  In September, the chief law enforcement officials of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand joined together to issue a “Statement of Principles on Access to Evidence and Encryption.”

    While acknowledging the benefits of encryption, they called for urgent, sustained attention and informed discussion about the increasing difficulty law enforcement agencies face in accessing evidence of criminal conduct.

    We will continue to work closely with technology companies to establish responsible practices that consider both privacy concerns and public safety imperatives.

    On the Internet, data is decentralized, information flows across continents, and online activities are dispersed across global networks. Cybercrime knows no borders.  As a result, international cooperation is indispensable.  INTERPOL is central to that cooperation.

    We must ensure that appropriate criminal laws are enforced.  Each of us must do our part to bring malicious actors to justice.  We rely on international partners to locate, arrest, and extradite cybercriminals so that they may be held accountable.  Cybercriminals should find no safe haven, either on the dark web or within national borders.

    In the United States, we continue to faithfully discharge our responsibility to extradite fugitives. In the last five years, we extradited 95 Americans, honoring inquiries whenever the requesting state presents sufficient evidence of criminality.

    For example, last year the United States sent Shawn Gregory Towner to Ireland.  Towner was arrested in Ireland in 2006 after authorities found him watching images of child sexual abuse on his laptop in Dublin, but he fled to the United States after being released on bail.  My country located Towner and sent him to Ireland to stand trial. 

    We process extraditions without regard to the nationality of the offender. 

    But that cooperation must be reciprocated.

    International cooperation was essential to our successful dismantlement of the Kelihos botnet, a global network of tens of thousands of infected computers.  Criminals used the network to harvest login credentials, distribute hundreds of millions of spam e-mails, and install ransomware and other malicious software. 

    In 2017, prosecutors obtained judicial orders authorizing law enforcement to neutralize the botnet by seizing control of malicious domains and redirecting traffic to servers we controlled. 

    Disabling the botnet was only part of the equation. The criminals responsible for creating and administering the botnet also should be held accountable. American prosecutors charged Peter Levashov of St. Petersburg, Russia for multiple offenses stemming from his control and operation of the Kelihos botnet.  Levashov is a cybercriminal who operated multiple botnets with impunity for nearly two decades. 

    Spanish authorities arrested Levashov and extradited him to the United States. In September, Levashov was found guilty in a fair and public judicial proceeding.

    Levashov’s extradition represented effective coordination with our foreign partners.  Unfortunately, not every case is a success story.  In some instances, nations shield their citizens from the rule of law with schemes that waste resources, cause needless delay, thwart investigative efforts, and undermine justice. 

    Consider the prosecution of accused hacker Aleksey Belan.  Belan is a Russian national who was indicted in the United States for massive computer breaches on American companies.  After the United States issued an arrest warrant, Belan was reportedly arrested in 2013.  But he was permitted to return to Russia. 

    A second indictment alleges that in 2014, after Belan returned to Russia, Russian intelligence agents recruited him to carry out one of the largest data breaches in history, stealing information from more than 500 million individual email accounts of people around the world. 

    The rule of law suffers when cybercriminals are given safe havens.  The United States will continue to promote the rule of law by identifying, exposing, and seeking to extradite perpetrators who harm innocent people.  And we will continue to support legitimate investigations and prosecutions conducted by our INTERPOL partners. 

    At the same time, we will expose schemes to manipulate the extradition process.  We will identify nations that routinely block the fair administration of justice and fail to act in good faith, with a sincere commitment to holding criminals accountable.

    As cyber threats grow in scale and sophistication, we increasingly need to search throughout the world for evidence, witnesses, and defendants.  Our responses must be as innovative as the criminal activity. We depend on expeditious international cooperation and coordination in dismantling malicious criminal operations. 

    Child exploitation cases provide a useful model for international coordination.  INTERPOL’s International Child Sexual Exploitation image and video database uses image and video comparison software to identify and locate child sexual exploitation victims and their abusers.  The database has led to the arrest of nearly 6,300 offenders. Recently, it helped authorities rescue five victims in Spain.  That is a superb example of innovative law enforcement.

    In my country, we play a leading role by identifying cases in which child exploitation materials are generated from or hosted in other countries.  Then we disseminate the information to the appropriate INTERPOL member countries. Our partners often request follow-up information to assist in their own investigations. Last year, almost nine million investigative leads were distributed through this program, resulting in many arrests and prosecutions. 

    Children around the world are safer when our law enforcement agencies work together – quickly, and with methods like those pioneered by INTERPOL.

    Finally, I am proud that the United States takes seriously our responsibility to help secure evidence that our international partners need for their investigations.  We receive thousands of requests for mutual legal assistance each year, and we do all that we can to comply.  We employ expert attorneys and staff dedicated to assisting with foreign requests for electronic evidence.  We devote additional resources when necessary to meet your needs.

    We call upon each of you to do the same.  By devoting appropriate resources to international cooperation efforts, we can properly address the increasing threat of cybercrime.

    My country recently enacted a new law to remove legal impediments to compliance with foreign court orders in cases that involve serious crimes.  The legislation demonstrates our commitment to the vision of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the primary treaty for harmonizing national interests and enhancing international cooperation against cybercrime.  Sixty-one nations have fully ratified the treaty, agreeing that national laws should include authority to compel providers to disclose data they control, even when it is held elsewhere. 

    New cyber conventions are sometimes proposed that would limit the free flow of information between nations. But that would dangerously impede efforts to investigate cybercrime. It would protect criminals and allow cyber threats to proliferate and grow in scale and sophistication.  That is untenable in a world in which criminals using computers shielded by layers of anonymity can harm innocent victims in any one of our nations, anywhere in the world. Such limitations would be a step backward, not an innovative law enforcement approach.

    No nation should exempt itself from just and reasonable law enforcement cooperation. No nation will be more prosperous, more secure, or more respected because it supports cybercriminals. 

    My fellow delegates, there is a parable about three stonecutters asked to describe what they are doing.  They answer in varying ways. The first stonecutter focuses on how the job benefits him. He says, “I am earning a living.” The second man narrowly describes his personal task: “I am cutting stone.” The third man has a very different perspective. Instead of focusing solely on his work, he explains what it means to others: “I am helping these stonecutters build a shrine.”

    Similarly, each of us helps to construct a legacy. INTERPOL delegates should always support leaders and policies that promote international police coordination and preserve the rule of law – in practice, and not just in theory. We must uphold the rule of law, so it will be there for us when we need it.

    When our successors speak of our time here, give them reason to say that we understood the challenges; we found the solutions; we defended our principles, and we stayed the course to support liberty and justice for all. 

    I am honored to work with you in advancing the INTERPOL mission and making the world safer and more prosperous for all law-abiding citizens. Shukran.  Thank you very much.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker Delivers Remarks to the Joint Terrorism Task Force

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    NOTE: The remarks originally included a case that was scheduled to be sentenced but was continued, and so that case was removed from the speech. However, a reference to the case was inadvertently left in. As such, there is no extradition relating to the Chelsea bomber case.

    Remarks as prepared for delivery

    Thank you, Geoff (Berman), for that kind introduction, and thank you for your leadership as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. And thank you also to United States Attorney Richard Donoghue from the Eastern District of New York.

    It is wonderful to be in New York during the holiday season.  I’m told that this is the best time of year to visit—but I must say I am looking forward to Thanksgiving in Des Moines.

    But before I say anything else, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that the law enforcement community is in mourning today.

    Chicago police officer Samuel Jimenez was shot and killed during Monday’s shooting at Mercy hospital. Officer Jimenez had just joined the force in 2017 and he was only 28 years old.  He leaves behind a wife—his high school sweetheart—and three young children.

    Officer Jimenez was on his way to respond to a different call when he heard of shots fired at the hospital.  Then he did what police officers do every day in America: he went toward the danger, so that the rest of us could run away from it.  He and his fellow officers saved a lot of lives that day.

    This tragedy is another reminder of both the danger and the nobility of police work.  Today, as we prepare for Thanksgiving Day, we should all be especially grateful for our police officers.

    It is an honor to be here in the J.O.C., where so many consequential law enforcement decisions have been made—so many decisions that have saved American lives.

    This is where a number of terrorism investigations have begun—and it’s where security is monitored for events like the Thanksgiving Day parade or New Year’s Eve.

    And it is an even greater honor to be with some of the most respected law enforcement leaders in the world.  Thank you to:

    • Commissioner O’Neill,
    • FBI Assistant Director in Charge, William Sweeney,
    • Deputy Commissioner Miller,
    • NYPD Chief Paul Ciorra,
    • Chief Owen Monaghan,
    • Ashan Benedict of ATF,
    • Michael Greco with the Marshals Service,
    • Troy Miller with CBP,
    • Director Frank Russo,
    • Phil Bartlett and our Postal Inspectors, and
    • Scott Sarafian with Secret Service.

    It is an honor to be with all of you.

    NYPD in particular has earned a reputation as perhaps the greatest police department on Earth.

    There are more NYPD officers than there are members of the military in entire nations, like Belgium or Ireland.

    But even more impressive than the quantity of your officers is the quality of your officers.

    You are known all over the country for your Compstat program, which enables you to monitor crime rates in real time and to quickly reallocate officers when crime begins to rise.

    And over the past three decades, your achievements have been staggering.  In 1990, there were 2,245 murders in New York City.  Last year there were 292.  Since 2000, burglaries are down by nearly two-thirds and robberies have been cut in half.  One weekend in October there were zero murders or shootings in New York City for the first time in 25 years.

    These results are a testament to the effectiveness of NYPD, and of many people in this room.  You’ve been able to start a virtuous cycle of safety, prosperity—and more safety.  That is what we want to achieve all across America.

    President Donald Trump is a lifelong New Yorker.  He invested in this city when its future was in doubt.  He bet on this city—and that proved to be a smart bet. 

    The President witnessed New York’s transformation firsthand. I think that made his support for law enforcement even stronger.

    One of his very first Executive Orders was to tell the Department of Justice to improve the safety of state and local law enforcement officers.  And over these past two years, we have followed that order.

    Today I am announcing our next step to carry out that order.  Today I am announcing that the Department of Justice is providing $56 million in grant funding to support law enforcement all across America.

    That includes $29 million for bulletproof vests, $12.2 million for body-worn cameras, and $2 million in health and safety research.

    This is just a small way of saying thank you to the officers who take care of us every day.  We understand the sacrifices that you make—and so we want you to have the right equipment and the right training.

    If anybody out there doesn’t appreciate the role of law enforcement officers in our society, then I would tell them to come to New York.

    Earlier today I visited the 9/11 Memorial.  It was an extremely moving experience.

    We all remember where we were when we heard the news.  I know I do.

    Some of you were here.  Some of you were at Ground Zero.

    It was the worst terrorist attack in American history and the most shocking attack on our soil since Pearl Harbor.  It led to the largest investigation in FBI history.

    None of us have ever been the same.  Speaking for myself, 9/11 strengthened my appreciation for our servicemembers and our first responders and law enforcement officers.

    More than 70 police officers were killed in New York City that day.  Dozens more died of illnesses related to their service at Ground Zero.  Some of you knew them.

    The Department of Justice honors their memory and law enforcement holds them up as examples of our highest ideals.  They died in a rescue mission that saved thousands of lives.

    We are indescribably proud of our federal officers.  But we recognize that the vast majority of the officers in American law enforcement is at the state and local levels.  We cannot succeed without you.

    We’re at our best when we work together—and that’s what the JTTF is all about.

    This is the oldest JTTF in America.  Today there are more than 100 JTTFs nationwide, including at least one in each of our FBI field offices.  The vast majority of these were created in response to 9/11.

    This JTTF set the model for the rest to follow.  You bring together 500 employees from 50 different partner agencies.

    And you’ve achieved so much for this city and for this country.

    You investigated the 2007 JFK bomb plot, the 2009 Subway bomb plot, and the 2010 attempted bombing of Times Square.

    And I am well aware that, under this administration, you’ve continued to have success in investigating terrorism.

    Three times a week, I receive a threat briefing where the FBI and the National Security Division tell me about the national security investigations that we are working on in our United States Attorneys’ offices.  We’ve talked about the work done here.

    People in this room have achieved successes that have made this country safer.

    This February, prosecutors in Geoff’s office secured a life sentence for the Chelsea bomber, Ahmad Rahimi. He planted nine improvised explosive devices in New Jersey and New York, including two not far from here in Chelsea.  He detonated one of them and injured more than 30 people.  The bomb was so powerful that it launched a 100-pound dumpster more than 120 feet.  It shattered windows 400 feet away and three stories above ground level.

    Another bomb here in Chelsea was rendered safe by law enforcement before it was detonated.

    That investigation started right here in this room.

    And so to all of the agents, officers, and the AUSAs who worked on this case—Emil Bove, Andrew DeFilippis, and Shawn Crowley—thank you for this outstanding work.

    People in this room also worked to convict the Bangladeshi national who detonated a bomb near the Port Authority bus terminal last December. The explosion was caught on surveillance video and the defendant was found lying on the ground with parts of a pipe bomb on and around his body.  After he was arrested, he admitted that he detonated the bomb to express his support for ISIS.  He attempted to make the bomb as dangerous as he could and to target a public place during rush hour.

    Just two weeks ago, thanks to the hard work of Geoff’s Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shawn Crowley, Rebekah Donaleski, and George Turner, he was convicted on six counts.  Now he is facing a potential life sentence.

    These are terrific accomplishments.  The dangerous terrorists in these cases can’t hurt anyone now—and that’s because of your hard work.

    But these cases are also a reminder that the terrorist threat is not going away on its own.  Sadly, our work is not finished.

    Terrorists are going to continue to target us.  So we’ve got to keep targeting them—during this holiday season and all year round.

    And so I want to assure all of you that this work remains the top priority of the Department of Justice.  We will not let up.

    We will continue to support you with resources—like the grant funding that I mentioned—with personnel, and with intelligence.

    I want to conclude with something a mentor of mine used to say every time he spoke to law enforcement, and I believe it too: we have your back, and you have our thanks.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker Delivers Remarks at John F. Kennedy International Airport’s International Mail Distribution Center

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    Remarks as prepared for delivery

    Thank you, Director Russo, for that kind introduction.  I especially want to thank you and your brother for following in your Dad’s footsteps and going into law enforcement.  Thank you for 23 years of service.

    I also want to thank:

    • Rich Donoghue, our U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York,
    • Phil Bartlett and our postal inspectors,
    • Keith Kruskall and Michael Abraham with DEA,
    • Port Director Frank Russo,
    • Director of Operations Troy Miller, and
    • Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Lau.

    Thank you all for the tour and for the briefing. 

    But most of all, thank you to our CBP, DEA, Postal Inspection Service Agents who are here for the interdiction work you do every day.

    Your work is more important than ever—because today we are facing the deadliest drug crisis in American history.  Last year 72,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses.  That’s the highest drug death toll in American history.  More Americans died of drug overdoses last year than from car crashes or from AIDS at the height of the AIDS epidemic.

    Despite rising prosperity and better technology, life expectancy in the United States actually declined over the last two years in a row.  The last time that happened was 55 years ago.

    Millions of people are living with the painful consequences of a family member’s addiction or an addiction of their own.  I personally know people whose families have been torn apart by drug addiction.  These days, it is likely that most of you do, too.  We all do.

    New York has not been immune to this problem.  No one has. 

    Drug overdose deaths in New York City have gone up by 81 percent in just the last three years.

    The situation is daunting.  But law enforcement has a unique opportunity to reverse these trends.

    President Trump has a comprehensive plan to end this crisis.  The three parts of the plan are prevention, treatment, and enforcement.

    The President has improved our prevention efforts by launching a national awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid abuse—a campaign I strongly support.  In the long run, getting more and more people to reject drug abuse in the first place will stop addiction from spreading.

    The drugs on the street today are as potent and as dangerous as they have ever been.  That is because of synthetic opioids—drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil. 

    These drugs killed 20,000 Americans last year—more than any other kind of drug.  Three milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal.  That’s equivalent to a pinch of salt.

    And you don’t have to go to a street corner to buy these drugs.  With a few clicks of a button you can go online and have them shipped from overseas right to your door.  The odds are good that those packages come through this room.

    I’m told that you process more than 800,000 pieces of mail every day just at this airport, including a majority of international mail entering the United States.  I’m also told that you intercepted dozens of packages of fentanyl just in this last fiscal year.  That is incredible work and I have no doubt that it has saved lives.

    Just last month, the President signed into law major legislation that I believe will make you more effective.  Under the new law, the Postal Service must share electronic information with CBP about packages coming into the United States.  That information includes where it’s from, where it’s going, and what’s in it.  That will help law enforcement track suspicious packages, find criminals, and it will help us prove our case at trial.

    And that is critical.  You are our strong first line of defense against these drugs.  But you need a strong offense, too. 

    And that’s where we come in.

    We don’t just want to stop packages once they get here—we want to prevent them from being sent in the first place.

    By prosecuting traffickers and breaking up the supply chain, our work ultimately will make your work safer and easier.

    One of President Trump’s first Executive Orders was to the Department of Justice, telling us to dismantle the networks of transnational organized crime.  We have been faithful to that order.

    In fact, the Trump administration is the first administration to prosecute Chinese fentanyl traffickers.  We know that China is responsible for the vast majority of fentanyl in this country.

    Last October, we announced the first two indictments against Chinese nationals for trafficking synthetic drugs in the United States.  Over the summer we announced our third case—a 43-count indictment against a drug trafficking organization based in Shanghai.

    This summer I went to China and I spoke with Chinese officials about this exact problem.  I made it clear to them that we need better information from them on packages coming to this country.  Just like we want to improve our law enforcement cooperation with them, we need their cooperation on this issue, as well.  This administration is paying very close attention to this problem.

    Nevertheless, with your help, the United States is interdicting drugs coming into this country at record levels.

    In just the first three months of 2018, the DEA seized a total of more than 200 pounds of suspected fentanyl in cases from Detroit to New York to Boston.  Depending on its purity, that can be enough to kill tens of millions of people.

    In fiscal year 2017, we broke the record for fentanyl prosecutions at the federal level—and in fiscal year 2018, we broke that record again.

    Last July, the Department announced the seizure of the largest dark net marketplace in history – AlphaBay.  This site allowed you to send packages of drugs from China straight to your door.  They hosted some 220,000 drug listings and was responsible for countless synthetic opioid overdoses, including the tragic death of a 13 year old in Utah.

    Earlier this year we filed charges against a married couple who we believe were once the most prolific synthetic opioid traffickers on Alpha Bay and on the darknet in North America in general.  We also worked with our partners in Canada to help them indict a man we believe was the third most prolific darknet synthetic opioid dealer in North America.

    And we have new weapons to be even more effective in the future.  In January we began J-CODE, a new team at the FBI that focuses specifically on the threat of online opioid sales—the sales that are so often sending packages through this building.  J-CODE has already begun carrying out enforcement actions nationwide, arresting dozens of people across the country.

    And in the districts where drug deaths are the highest, we are now prosecuting synthetic opioid trafficking cases, even when the amount is small.  We have sent 10 more prosecutors to help implement this strategy in those 10 districts.  We call this effort Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge—or Operation S.O.S.

    We tried this strategy in Manatee County, Florida—which is just south of Tampa—and it worked.  This past January, they had half the number of overdose deaths as the previous January.  We want to replicate those results across the country.

    We have also sent more than 300 new federal prosecutors to our U.S. Attorneys offices across America.  This is the largest surge in prosecutors in decades.

    We have also hired more than 400 DEA task force officers this year alone.  That is a record increase.

    All of these efforts are delivering results. 

    Federal drug prosecutions overall went up by six percent over the last fiscal year, and fentanyl prosecutions have increased dramatically for two years in a row.

    Most importantly, we are seeing an impact on people’s lives.  While 2017 saw more overdose deaths than 2016, data for the last months of the year show that the increases may have finally come to an end.  Drug overdose deaths fell by two percent from September 2017 to March 2018.

    We are right to celebrate these accomplishments, but we have to acknowledge that we still have a lot more work to do—and the stakes have never been higher.

    That is why I am so glad that we have this incredible facility and the dedicated professionals who make it a success.  You are our strong first line of defense—and we appreciate you.

    And so I want each of you to know: we have your back and you have our thanks.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein Delivers Remarks at the Department of Justice American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month Observance Program

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    Remarks as prepared for delivery

    Thank you, Tracy, for your kind introduction. I appreciate your devoted service as Director of the Office of Tribal Justice. I first met Tracy more than 20 years ago when we were young attorneys in the Criminal Division.  I am grateful to the employees of the Office of Tribal Justice for everything that they do to promote public safety in Indian Country.

    I also want to thank everyone throughout the Department who works to improve our relationship with tribes and to further tribal justice, as well as those who worked to create today’s event.

    It is my great privilege to join you in celebrating American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.

    The theme for this year’s observance is, “Sovereignty, Trust and Resilience.” It encourages us to reflect on the important contributions of Native Americans and Alaska Natives to the Department, and to our nation’s economic, academic, and cultural institutions.

    American Indians and Alaska Natives are an indispensable part of our national fabric. They are business owners, teachers, first responders, law enforcement offices, and community leaders. They serve with honor in our Armed Forces. And they work proudly in the Department of Justice.

    President Donald Trump said last month, “Native Americans have fortified our country with their traditions and values, making tremendous contributions to every aspect of our national life.  We remain committed to preserving and protecting Native American cultures, languages, and history, while ensuring prosperity and opportunity for all Native Americans.”

    Consistent with the President’s words, we recognize the many contributions and sacrifices by members of this community. Today, we recommit ourselves to ensuring opportunities for all Americans. Every American enriches the quality and character of our great nation.

    The Department of Justice plays a unique role in the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Tribal Nations.

    Our U.S. Attorney’s Offices and law enforcement components, such as the FBI and the DEA, are responsible for investigations, prosecutions, and victim services in 51 judicial districts that include Indian country. Federal prosecutors exercise criminal jurisdiction over 250 distinct regions of Indian country, covering more than 55 million acres of land.

    Our offices work together with Tribal law enforcement, state and local law enforcement agencies, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to improve the safety and security of Native American and Alaska Native communities.

    The Justice Department also handles a large caseload of civil litigation in Indian country. Our civil cases include matters relating to environmental and natural resources, Tribal treaty rights, and Native Americans’ civil rights.

    Our grant making components provided over $259 million to Tribes last year. Those components include the Office of Justice Programs, the Office for Victims of Crime, the Office on Violence Against Women, and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Their grants support police, serve victims, combat domestic violence and sexual abuse, and strengthen tribal justice systems.

    We are particularly proud of the Tribal Access Program. That effort is coordinated by the Office of Tribal Justice and the Department’s Chief Information Officer. It provides computer kiosks that allow Tribes to access federal crime databases. The kiosks allow Tribes to protect victims of domestic violence, identify sex offenders, keep guns out of criminals’ hands, and help locate missing people.

    There are many success stories involving the kiosks.

    Last year, the Gila River Police Department received a report about a sexual assault against a juvenile. Police quickly identified a suspect, and a warrant followed. But the suspect fled.

    Using a kiosk, tribal police entered the warrant into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, which we call NCIC. NCIC is a computerized index of criminal justice information. One of its most important functions is to help police apprehend fugitives.

    When police encountered the suspect outside Tribal territory, an NCIC check revealed the tribal warrant. Police took the suspect into custody and transported him to the tribal jail where he was booked using a federal workstation.

    Successes likes that would not be possible without the kiosk system. Since the program started in 2015, 47 participating Tribes have entered more than 600 sex offender registrations into the system. Participating Tribes also have entered arrest data that prevents criminals from purchasing firearms. And Tribes have conducted more than 4,500 fingerprint-based record checks for civil purposes, including employment.

    The total number of tribes with kiosk access will expand to 114 by the end of 2019.

    We are also proud of the Department’s new program to appoint Special Assistant United States Attorneys to work on Tribal issues. The initiative, funded through the Office on Violence Against Women, hires prosecutors to bring cases in both tribal and federal courts. That increases prosecution capacity and helps to prevent criminals from avoiding prosecution because of jurisdiction or sovereignty issues. It will promote the goal of ensuring that every perpetrator of domestic or sexual violence is brought to justice.

    These initiatives demonstrate our Department’s steadfast commitment to improving public safety in Indian country by promoting coordination among tribal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

    As part of our observance today, we are fortunate that John Tahsuda is here as a guest speaker.

    Mr. Tahsuda is an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University, and a law degree from Cornell Law School.

    Mr. Tahsuda then worked as the acting general counsel of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York. He also taught classes at Cornell Law School about federal Indian law, policy, and history.

    Mr. Tahsuda later served as general counsel and legislative director of the National Indian Gaming Association, where he monitored legislation and policy issues affecting the organization’s 180 member tribes and assisted with their lobbying efforts.

    In 2002, Mr. Tahsuda joined the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, first as senior counsel and later as staff director. He handled policy and legislation affecting gaming, federal recognition, self-governance, and Indian health care.

    From 2007 through 2017, Mr. Tahsuda worked in the private sector, providing clients with advocacy and counsel services about tribal affairs policy issues.

    Last year, Mr. Tahsuda was appointed as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior. Indian Affairs manages Federal trust, treaty, and other responsibilities to 573 federally recognized Indian Tribes. Mr. Tahsuda helps to develop and interpret policies affecting Indian Affairs bureaus, offices, and programs.

    He is a strong advocate for Indian country issues, and we are grateful to him for joining us today. Please welcome John Tahsuda.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein Delivers Remarks at the “SamSam” Ransomware Press Conference

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    Remarks as prepared for delivery

    Good morning. I am joined by Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, and FBI Executive Assistant Director Amy Hess.

    Also on stage are the two prosecutors handling this matter: Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Herring, and Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section Senior Counsel William Hall Jr.

    A federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted two Iranian citizens for a three-year scheme that involved hacking into computers of hospitals, municipalities, public institutions, and businesses. It involved a high-tech, sophisticated extortion plot.

    The defendants allegedly hijacked victims’ computer systems and shut them down until the victims paid a “ransom.”

    The conspirators collected more than $6 million in extortion payments and caused more than $30 million in losses.

    Many of the victims were public agencies with missions that involve saving lives and performing other critical functions for the American people. 

    The indictment was returned on November 26, and unsealed today in Newark, New Jersey. It alleges that Faramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri used sophisticated software to execute their computer hacking and extortion scheme.

    Acting from inside Iran, the men developed and deployed a form of ransomware that they named “SamSam.”  Ransomware is a destructive computer code that encrypts victims’ computers and then holds the computers “hostage” until a “ransom” fee is paid.

    Starting in January 2016, the defendants gained access to victims’ computers by exploiting cyber security weaknesses.  After gaining access to the computers, they remotely installed ransomware.  The ransomware encrypted computer data, crippling the ability of the victims to operate their businesses and provide critical services to the public. 

    The victims included two major municipalities – the City of Atlanta, Georgia and the City of Newark, New Jersey.  The defendants also sought to interrupt critical transportation infrastructure by infiltrating the Port of San Diego, California, and the Colorado Department of Transportation. 

    In addition, the defendants infected the computers of six health-care related entities from across the country, impairing the ability of these businesses to provide health care to sick and injured people. 

    The defendants chose to focus their scheme on public entities, hospitals, and municipalities.  They knew that shutting down those computer systems could cause significant harm to innocent victims.

    The indictment alleges that the defendants demanded payment from their victims in the form of the virtual currency known as Bitcoin.  Bitcoin contributes to the increasing sophistication of criminal schemes.  It is a common currency for criminal schemes, including websites that distribute child pornography and deadly opioid drugs, and ransomware and other tools of extortion.

    The defendants allegedly communicated with victims using Tor, an encrypted computer network designed to facilitate anonymous communication over the Internet. 

    We support the use of encryption to safeguard private information and strengthen cybersecurity.  But this case highlights another example of the challenges posed to law enforcement by encryption designed to resist law enforcement. 

    Sophisticated encryption technologies like the Tor network are used by cybercriminals to commit serious offenses.  These sophisticated technologies pose a real threat to the government’s ability to keep people safe and ensure that criminals and terrorists are caught and brought to justice.

    Every sector of our economy is a target of malicious cyber activity.  But the events described in this Indictment highlight the urgent need for municipalities, public utilities, health care institutions, universities and other public organizations to enhance their cyber security. 

    Publicly revealing this nefarious hacking scheme makes it harder for the perpetrators, and others like them, to do business in the future.  As a result of the Indictment, the defendants are now fugitives from justice.  They face arrest and extradition to the United States in many nations that honor the rule of law. 

    We call on all civilized nations to prevent their citizens from using the internet to perpetrate fraud schemes in foreign countries.

    By making clear that criminal actions have consequences, we deter schemes to victimize the United States government, businesses, and citizens, and we help to protect foreign allies.

    This case demonstrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to identifying and prosecuting cybercriminals, regardless of where they base their operations. 

    We are grateful for outstanding work and collaboration between American and international law enforcement partners in this investigation.  In particular, I want to thank two United Kingdom agencies – the National Crime Agency, and the West Yorkshire Police – and two Canadian agencies, the Calgary Police Service, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

    Our National Security Division and our Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided critical support.

    Next, I want to invite Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski to provide some remarks. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Assistant Attorney General Delrahim Delivers Remarks at the Antitrust Division’s Seventh Annual Diversity Celebration

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    Thank you, Matthew, for that kind introduction.

    And good afternoon everyone.  It is great to be joined by so many colleagues from across the Antitrust Division and beyond. 

    I would also like to acknowledge our special guest from the FBI, Special Agent Voviette Morgan.  I’m honored to be introducing Ms. Morgan and grateful she accepted my invitation to this year’s Annual Diversity Celebration. 

    This is my fourth Annual Diversity Celebration as Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division.  In my tenure, we have had some incredibly inspiring speakers: former Treasurer of the United States Anna Cabral, former FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie Liu. This annual event complements the regular opportunities we have throughout the year to discuss diversity and inclusion with distinguished guests.  Some of those outstanding events included Roberta Cordano, the President of Gallaudet University; Leslie Overton, a former DAAG at the Division; and Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison of Johns Hopkins University. 

    Before I hand things over to Special Agent Morgan, I’d like to pick up where Matthew left off and touch briefly on the Antitrust Division’s enduring commitment to diversity and inclusion.  When I rejoined the Division in 2017 as AAG, I pledged to build upon the Division’s robust support for diversity and inclusion to ensure a workplace tolerant and representative of a full diversity of ideas and backgrounds.  The Diversity Committee has helped ensure we honor that pledge, and I thank them for constantly bringing new ideas for furthering the Antitrust Division’s record as a place that welcomes diversity in all its forms. 

    This has been an extraordinarily challenging year for all of us.  We’ve been trying to do our part to advance the Division’s mission while trying to stop the spread of coronavirus in our communities, homeschooling our kids, providing eldercare, and supporting our families and neighbors in countless other ways.  All of this against a backdrop of recent events in our country that strike at our collective conscience. 

    I commend the Diversity Committee for juggling all of these challenges and yet remaining incredibly productive.  The Division remains a leader in advancing diversity within the Department because of this Committee’s innovation and sustained diligence.

    Matthew spoke about some of the recent Diversity Committee initiatives.  I’ll note that several of these key recommendations are the work of the newest subcommittee, the Women’s subcommittee.  Launched in 2019, this subcommittee hit the ground running and has made an indelible impact on the Division with initiatives such as the Stork program, the Parental Leave Q&A, and the Wellness/Lactation Rooms, all initiatives I am proud to have worked with you on these past several years.   

    Not to put too much pressure on the 2021 members of the Diversity Committee, but it is my hope that you will be just as successful as the 2020 and 2019 members have been.  Indeed, you’ll have an early opportunity to leave your mark on the Division as well with the creation of a new Subcommittee within the Diversity Committee – the Veterans Subcommittee.

    This subcommittee will launch next year with a focus on increasing awareness of reservists’ and veterans’ valuable contributions to the Division’s mission, and addressing some of the issues unique to their circumstances, with the overarching goal of improving recruiting and retention of veterans and reservists. 

    As you all know, in addition to recapping the Committee’s recent accomplishments, and previewing plans for the coming year, the Annual Celebration is also an opportunity to hear from a special guest speaker.

    Today’s speaker is in the mold of the impressive leaders who have celebrated with us in past years: I could not be happier to introduce FBI Special Agent in Charge, Voviette Morgan.  

    Special Agent Morgan is a trailblazing public servant that has inspired others to careers in public service and law enforcement.  A Los Angeles native, she joined the Bureau more than two decades ago focusing on white-collar crime.  She’s risen through the ranks and held several leadership positions in the Office of Public and Congressional Affairs and the Counterterrorism Division.  She has also served as the chief of the Internal Investigations Section in the Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

    In August 2017, FBI Director Christopher Wray named Special Agent Morgan as the Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Division for the Los Angeles Field Office, which is responsible for investigating all federal crimes in the Los Angeles area.[1]  

    Her office investigates everything from public corruption including police, law enforcement, legislative and judicial corruption, to organized crime and drug offenses, to a laundry list of white-collar crimes including antirust, financial institution and healthcare fraud.  Her office also investigates civil rights violations and human trafficking.  

    We know just how busy Special Agent Morgan is and we very much appreciate her spending time with us this afternoon. 

    From one Angeleno to another, I thank you, Voviette, for your tireless work protecting my beloved hometown.  It is my distinct privilege to welcome you to the Antitrust Division.

    I now will hand things over to our moderator, Michelle, and thank you for being with us today.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Twenty-Nine Individuals Sentenced to 378 Combined Years in Federal Prison for Running Armed Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Trafficking Ring

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

    EVANSVILE- 29 defendants have been sentenced to a combined 378 years in federal prison for their roles in a large methamphetamine and fentanyl drug trafficking organization that operated in Southern Indiana.

    According to court documents, between January 2020 and November 2021, the following 29 individuals conspired together to distribute a total of nearly 500 pounds of methamphetamine and over three kilograms of fentanyl. This investigation led to the seizure of over 80 pounds of methamphetamine, over 560 grams of fentanyl, and $240,000 in United States currency.

    Jeramey Smith served as the leader of the drug trafficking operation. Smith began obtaining multiple pound quantities of crystal methamphetamine from Julian Green in early 2020 until April of 2021 when he changed his source of supply to a cartel linked individual based in Houston, Texas. In June of 2021, Smith was robbed of a large amount of cash and was unable to pay his supplier for the lost product. Smith resorted back to Green to obtain the crystal methamphetamine.

    DeJarnett was one of Smith’s top methamphetamine customers, often purchasing up to 20 pounds at a time. After Smith obtained the methamphetamine from either Green or his Mexican source of supply, he then distributed the methamphetamine to mid -level distributors in Indianapolis and Evansville.   

    In September 2021, Smith branched out to also begin selling large quantities of fentanyl-laced pills. Smith would obtain fentanyl powder from Markey and/or Moore, who would then press the powder into pills. Smith then used his same distributors to distribute the fentanyl throughout Southern Indiana. Law enforcement seized an automated pill press during the course of the investigation. Smith also used violence and intimidation to further his drug business by having his distributors robbed of their drug proceeds at gun point.

    Additionally, several members of the drug trafficking used firearms to protect themselves and their profits. In total, law enforcement officers seized over 30 firearms from the defendants during court-authorized searches at multiple locations in Indianapolis and Evansville.

    The charges and sentences are described below:

    Defendant Charge(s) Prison Sentence
    Jeramey Smith, 35
    Indianapolis, IN

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

    Felon in Possession of a Firearm

    Obstruction of Commerce by Robbery

    240 months (20 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Julian Green, 36

    Indianapolis, IN

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    Felon in Possession of a Firearm

    210 months (17.5 years)

    Indianapolis, IN

    Hannah Kissel, 28

    Indianapolis, IN

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

    97 months (8 years)

    3 years supervised release

    Jordan Wilson, 41

    Evansville, IN

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

    Felon in Possession of a Firearm

    216 months (15.7 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Timothy Rice, 35

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    204 months (17 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Archilles Johnson, 40

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

    180 months (15 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Deonte Howard, 36

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

    180 months (15 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Julie Hunt, 37

    Petersburg, IN

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

    60 months (5 years)

    3 years supervised release

    Torrance Mimms, 34

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    180 months (15 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Keisha Jewell, 40

    Princeton, IN

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

    108 years (9 years)

    3 years supervised release

    Davion Hays, 38

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

    144 months (12 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Jason Mitchell, 43

    Henderson, KY

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

    204 months (17 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Denny Taylor, 49

    Princeton, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

    180 months (15 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Aaron Hardiman, 42

    Princeton, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl

    120 months (10 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Roman Wills, 43

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

    180 months (15 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Michael Sanders, 48

    Owensboro, KY

    		 Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    168 months (14 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Gregory Snyder, 62

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

    36 months (3 years)

    4 years supervised release

    Joshua Gahagan, 41

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

    180 months (15 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Gregory Markey, 35

    Indianapolis, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

    168 months (14 years)

    5 years supervised release

    L.C. Moore, II, 31

    Indianapolis, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

    120 months (5 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Dominique Baquet, 31

    Indianapolis, IN

    		 Obstruction of Commerce by Robbery

    57 months (4.7 years)

    3 years supervised release

    Antonio DeJarnett, 36

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

    264 months (22 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Ryan Pinkston, 42

    Evansville, IN

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    Felon in Possession of Ammunition

    240 months (20 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Robert Embry, 46

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    60 months (5 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Becky Edwards, 39

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    120 months (10 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Edward Meredith, 59

    Evansville, IN

    		 Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    120 months (10 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Joshua Wilson, 33

    Evansville, IN

    		 Use of a Communication Facility with the Intent to Commit or Facilitate the Distribution of Methamphetamine

    30 months (2.5 years)

    No supervised release

    Tabitha Seabeck, 32

    Henderson, KY

    		 Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    180 months (15 years)

    5 years supervised release

    Zachary Addison, 42

    Evansville, IN

    Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

    Felon in Possession of a Firearm

    300 months (25 years)

    5 years supervised release

    “The members of this conspiracy will spend decades in federal prison for pumping pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl onto our streets,” said John E. Childress, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Drug use devastates so many families and kills hundreds of Hoosiers every year. That’s why we will work with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to dismantle armed organizations trafficking in deadly drugs. The sentences imposed in this case demonstrate our continued commitment to protecting the public from these dangerous criminals.”

    “Dismantling a major drug trafficking organization that was responsible for distributing multi-hundred-pound quantities of methamphetamine and kilogram quantities of fentanyl onto the streets of Indiana was a big win for law enforcement. Because of the exceptional collaborative efforts by law enforcement, we were able to achieve this remarkable outcome,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Michael Gannon. “This investigation was a wonderful victory for all Hoosiers and sends a crystal-clear message to major drug dealers we will continue working together with our partners to dismantle their illicit operations.”   

    “This sentencing is a significant victory in the relentless fight against the trafficking of deadly drugs and underscores the FBI’s commitment to pursue those who wreak havoc on our communities through their illegal drug trade,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Herbert J. Stapleton. “The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure those who endanger public safety and contribute to this crisis are held accountable.”

    “I would like to thank the dedicated Evansville Police Officers and Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office Deputies as well as our federal partners in the DEA and US Attorney’s Office for their roles in getting these individuals off our streets. The manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl have brought death and destruction to our communities and have done irreversible damage to families in the worst way possible. This community will not tolerate that kind of behavior and illegal activity, and we will use every resource available to us to stop it and put dealers behind bars.”

    This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Evansville Resident Office, with the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Evansville Vanderburgh County Joint Task Force, DEA Indianapolis and Indianapolis Metro Drug Task Force providing valuable assistance. The sentenced were imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew P. Brookman.

    Acting U.S. Attorney John E. Childress thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Lauren Wheatley and Jeremy Kemper, who prosecuted this case. 

    According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, as little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal, depending on a person’s body size, tolerance, and past usage—a tiny amount that can fit on the tip of a pencil. Seven out of ten illegal fentanyl tablets seized from U.S. streets and analyzed by the DEA have been found to contain a potentially lethal dose of the drug.

    One Pill Can Kill: Avoid pills bought on the street because One Pill Can Kill. Fentanyl has now become the leading cause of death for adults in the United States. Fentanyl is a highly potent opioid that drug dealers dilute with cutting agents to make counterfeit prescription pills that appear to be Oxycodone, Percocet, Xanax, and other drugs. Fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl are usually shaped and colored to look like pills sold at pharmacies. For example, fake prescription pills known as “M30s” imitate Oxycodone obtained from a pharmacy, but when sold on the street the pills routinely contain fentanyl. These pills are usually round tablets and often light blue in color, though they may be in different shapes and a rainbow of colors. They often have “M” and “30” imprinted on opposite sides of the pill. Do not take these or any other pills bought on the street – they are routinely fake and poisonous, and you won’t know until it’s too late.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Convicted Felon Sentenced to Seven Years for Possession of Firearm

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

    Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Sherron Gary (41, Tampa) to seven years in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. Gary pleaded guilty in October 2024.

    According to court documents, on April 9, 2023, officers with the Tampa Police Department (TPD) attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Gary after observing the vehicle had a broken taillight. Gary failed to pull over and instead fled from the officers at a high rate of speed. A police helicopter followed Gary. After Gary’s vehicle was boxed in by law enforcement, Gary fled from the officers on foot, which the helicopter was also able to capture.

    As Gary fled, the helicopter crew observed Gary discard an item as he was running that resembled a firearm. TPD officers apprehended Gary. After the arrest, the helicopter crew directed officers back to the location where they had observed Gary discard the firearm. Officers located a 9mm Walther Creed semiautomatic pistol at the location.

    At the time, Gary had four prior felony convictions, including aggravated battery and armed burglary of a dwelling, trafficking of cocaine, delivery of cocaine, and delivery of cocaine within 1,000 feet of church. As a convicted felon, Gary is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law.

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Tampa Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman. The forfeiture was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Nebesky.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Serial Fraudster Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Stealing Nearly $3 Million and Five Indianapolis Homes

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

    EVANSVILLE— James Henley, 35, of Greenwood, Indiana, has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, two counts of money laundering, and eight counts of wire fraud. Henley has also been ordered to pay $1,887,426.63 in restitution.

    According to court documents, over the course of three years, Henley orchestrated multiple large and complex fraud schemes, resulting in a total loss of $2,927,758.95 to individual homeowners, an Indiana attorney, a bank, and ten state governments. As part of his fraud schemes, Henley registered five fake businesses (OnTrack Real Estate Solutions, LDI Investments Corp, Lucario Investments, 317 Traffic, and Henley Real Estate Solutions) with the states of Indiana and Kentucky, claiming to serve as the Chief Executive Officer for most of them. None of the businesses were legitimate. Instead, Henley used the businesses to mask his identity, make his schemes appear more credible, and launder the stolen money.

    Henley’s schemes are broken down as follows:

    COVID-19 Fraud:

    Between May 2020 and March 2021, James Henley, his wife Jameka Henley, and his associate Jimmie Bickers used the stolen personally identifiable information of 76 real individuals to submit 120 unemployment insurance applications to ten states during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the applications were approved, the trio used 65 unemployment insurance debit cards to make purchases at retailers and withdraw cash at ATMs in the Evansville and Indianapolis areas. The states paid a total of $1,119,426.63 in unemployment benefits in connection with the group’s fraudulent applications.  In July 2020, Henley used funds withdrawn from ATMs to buy a Chevrolet Camaro for $22,801.

    Bickers and Jameka Henley have been formally charged for their roles in this scheme but have not pleaded guilty.

    Home Title Fraud:

    Between December 2021 and May 2023, Henley stole five homes in Indianapolis by filing fraudulent deeds with the Marion County Recorder’s Office. Through the filings, Henley claimed that the homeowners had sold their homes to his fake businesses, but, in reality, he had never even spoken with the homeowners.  Unbeknownst to the victims, Henley filed these fraudulent deeds and then sold the homes for significantly less than their market value, pocketing more than $260,000 in profits.

    Henley also attempted to steal and sell an additional 14 homes in Indianapolis and Evansville.  With one exception, the individuals who bought the homes from Henley took possession and ultimately kept the homes.

    For one homeowner, the property Henley stole was her childhood home. She purchased the home while her mother was in the hospital with the hope that, when her mother’s condition improved, her mother would be able to live out her remaining years in the house.

    Mortgage Fraud:

    In November 2021, an associate of Henley’s purchased a home in Indianapolis, using a mortgage loan from a bank.  In April 2022, Henley filed a fraudulent document with the Marion County Recorder’s Office to make it seem as if the mortgage loan had been paid off, when it had not been paid. Henley then filed a deed naming himself a joint owner of the home. Henley and his associate subsequently sold the property for $255,000, pocketing all the proceeds, even though the bank should have received the majority of the funds.

    Auto Loan Fraud:

    In March 2023, Henley purchased a Dodge Durango in Indianapolis for $71,479, using an auto loan from Everwise Credit Union. A few months later, in June 2023, Henley purchased a Chevrolet Silverado in Plainfield for $54,270, using a second loan from Everwise Credit Union.

    In October 2023, Henley connected a JPMorgan Chase bank account to his auto loans, via Everwise’s online payment portal.  Henley falsely represented that the Chase account belonged to Jimmie Bickers, and that he had authority to make payments on his loans using funds from the Chase account.

    The Chase account was actually an Indiana attorney’s Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA), which is a highly regulated bank account used by lawyers to hold client funds.  The interest earned on IOLTA accounts is used to fund grants for nonprofit groups that promote pro bono and access to justice programs. Henley did not have the attorney’s permission to access or withdraw funds from the IOLTA account.

    Between October and November 2023, Henley used the IOLTA account to make two payments, totaling $98,000, toward his auto loans.

    Henley has prior felony convictions for financial crimes, including theft, forgery, and fraud.

    “James Henley went to great lengths to coordinate exceptionally greedy, complex schemes that exploited hard-working families and state government programs,” said John E. Childress, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Undeterred by prior felony convictions for the same conduct, this defendant stole over a million dollars, wreaking financial and logistical havoc on hundreds of victims. The Department of Justice will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate allegations of fraud and seek prosecution as appropriate.”

    “James Henley filed fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) claims in the names of identity theft victims in order to receive UI benefits to which he was not entitled. He enriched himself by defrauding a program that was intended to assist struggling American workers during an unprecedented global pandemic,” said Megan Howell, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Great Lakes Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. “We and our law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the integrity of the UI system from those who seek to exploit this critical benefit program.”

    “This lengthy prison sentence sends a clear message: individuals who attempt to exploit and commit financial crime and identity theft will be brought to justice,” said Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Chicago Field Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation and our fellow law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the integrity of our financial institutions and will continue to hold criminals like James Henley accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

    “This case should serve as a powerful reminder that individuals with a history of financial crimes will face significant consequences when they demonstrate a blatant disregard for the law and continue to exploit and deceive others for personal gain,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Herbert J. Stapleton. “The FBI, working alongside our law enforcement partners, will continue to hold those who perpetuate such offenses accountable and protect the public from those who manipulate the system for their own benefit.”

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Department of Labor-Office of the Inspector General, and the Indiana Attorney General’s Office Homeowner Protection Unit investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Matthew B. Brookman.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Childress thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Miller, who prosecuted this case.

    On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID‑19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.

    Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID‑19  can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Providence Man Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking Charge

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PROVIDENCE, RI – A Providence man who was the target of an FBI Safe Streets Task Force investigation into drug trafficking pleaded guilty on Tuesday in federal court to a charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

    According to charging documents and information presented to the court, a court authorized search of the Providence residence of Montrell Dennis, 34, on May 3, 2024, resulted in the discovery of several plastic baggies containing fentanyl and an assortment of other drugs. Toxicology reports of the seized narcotics indicate there were 29.4 grams of a mixture containing Fentanyl, Heroin, Cocaine, and Xylazine and 1.37 grams of crack cocaine. Multiple digital scales, multiple smartphones, and two firearms were also seized.

    Dennis, who has been detained since his arrest on May 3, 2025, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 22, 2025. The defendant’s sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Peter I. Roklan and Taylor A. Dean.

    The matter was investigated by the FBI Rhode Island Safe Streets Gang Task Force.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Lycoming County Man Charged With Child Exploitation Crimes

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Christopher Stout, age 48, a resident of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, was indicted on February 4, 2025, by a federal grand jury with production of child pornography, online enticement, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.

    According to Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, the indictment alleges that Stout used the internet and an electronic device to persuade and coerce a minor to engage in sexual conduct and to produce child pornography.  The indictment also alleges that on or about July 28, 2024, Stout received child pornography and on August 23, 2024, Stout possessed child pornography. 

    The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations –Philadelphia-RAC Williamsport, the Hughesville Borough Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Lycoming County District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorney Tatum R. Wilson is prosecuting the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.

    The maximum penalty under federal law for the crimes charged in the Indictment is life imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.  A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

    Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

    # # #

     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Montgomery Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Production of Child Sexual Abuse Material

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

               Montgomery, Ala. – Today, Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson announced the sentencing of a Montgomery, Alabama man for producing child sexual abuse material. On January 30, 2025, a federal judge ordered 49-year-old Cleveland Dewayne Chambers to serve 240 months in prison. The judge also ordered that Chambers remain on supervised release for seven years following his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

               According to Chamber’s plea agreement and other court records, in July 2022, law enforcement in Pennsylvania were conducting a child exploitation investigation on an individual in the City of Eaton. Investigators in that case discovered electronic communications leading them to suspect Chambers was also involved in producing or sharing illegal images of children. Further investigation revealed that, from March 2022 through July 2022, Chambers communicated with a woman in St. Louis, Missouri, directing her to create images and videos of sexually explicit conduct with her two-year-old child. Chambers would then share and distribute the images and videos to others using a messaging application on his cellphone.

               “Protecting children from exploitation is one of law enforcement’s most important responsibilities,” stated Acting United States Attorney Davidson. “Producing and trading in child sexual abuse material is an incredibly tragic crime that robs children of their innocence and inflicts long lasting harm. While all child sexual exploitation is unacceptable, the sexual abuse of a two-year-old is absolutely reprehensible. I applaud the efforts of all the agencies involved in this case for stopping Chamber’s criminal activity before more children were victimized.”

               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. 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 Justice.gov/PSC.

               The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) investigated this case, with assistance from the Montgomery Police Department and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Assistant United States Attorney Tara S. Ratz prosecuted the case. 

     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Jacksonville Convicted Child Sex Offender Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Entice A 13-Year-Old To Engage In Sexual Activity

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Jeremy Wayne Leggett (38, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a child to engage in sexual activity. Leggett faces a minimum penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison, and a potential lifetime term of supervised release. Leggett is a registered child sex offender, having been previously convicted in Florida in 2020 of traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual offense and transmitting harmful materials to a minor. Leggett was arrested on June 19, 2023, and has been in custody since then. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 28, 2025.   

    According to court documents, on June 16, 2023, an undercover FBI agent (UC) in the Jacksonville area, posing as a minor child, was working online in a particular social media application (app) to identify individuals seeking to contact and engage in sexual activity with children. The UC engaged in an online conversation with an app user “dAddi” who posted a notice in a public chatroom that read “Lookingfor[under 18 emoji] wannaspoiladaughter.” During this online conversation, user “dAddi,” who was subsequently identified as Leggett, was advised that the “child” was 13 years old. Leggett asked if the “child” “[l]ike[d] older men,” and sent the “child” a photo of himself. After more conversation, Leggett suggested that they meet in person for sexual activity, and he sent the “child” an explicit photo of himself. On June 17, 18, and 19, 2023, Leggett reinitiated text messages with the UC and continued attempting to persuade the “child” to meet for sex and to send him sexually suggestive photos.

    On June 19, 2023, Leggett and the “child” made arrangements to meet at a location in Jacksonville. Later that evening, Leggett went to the agreed-upon location and drove around the parking lot for about 30 minutes. When law enforcement officers attempted to make contact with Leggett, he quickly reversed his vehicle and fled the scene. A short time later, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and FBI agents located Leggett at a home in Jacksonville and he was arrested. 

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

    It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Lion Copper and Gold Corp. to Present at the Metals and Mining Virtual Investor Conference February 13th

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lion Copper and Gold Corp. (CSE:LEO), focused on The Yerington Copper Project, today announced that John Banning, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President, will present live at the Metals and Mining Virtual Investor Conference hosted by VirtualInvestorConferences.com, on February 13th, 2025

    DATE: February 13th
    TIME: 11:00 AM ET
    LINK: https://bit.ly/3WOG3zt
    Available for 1×1 meetings: February 12-13

    This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event.

    It is recommended that online investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates.

    Learn more about the event at www.virtualinvestorconferences.com.

    Recent Company Highlights

    • Lion Copper and Gold Provides a Yerington Copper Project Pre-Feasibility Study Update
    • Lion Copper and Gold Receives US$5 Million Additional Nuton Funding

    About Lion Copper and Gold Corp.

    Lion Copper and Gold Corp. is a Canadian-based company advancing its flagship copper assets in Yerington, Nevada through an Option to Earn-in Agreement with Nuton, a Rio Tinto venture. The Company’s goal is to develop the Yerington Copper Project so as to achieve the lowest footprint copper production. We believe this can be accomplished by applying the Nuton technology and through proactive engagement with the local communities and Indian Tribes to earn our social license to operate a world-class copper mine in Mason Valley.

    About Virtual Investor Conferences®
    Virtual Investor Conferences (VIC) is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly traded companies to seamlessly present directly to investors.

    Providing a real-time investor engagement solution, VIC is specifically designed to offer companies more efficient investor access. Replicating the components of an on-site investor conference, VIC offers companies enhanced capabilities to connect with investors, schedule targeted one-on-one meetings and enhance their presentations with dynamic video content. Accelerating the next level of investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences delivers leading investor communications to a global network of retail and institutional investors.

    CONTACTS:
    Lion Copper and Gold Corp.
    John Banning
    Chief Operating Officer and Vice President
    775 471 3685
    jbanning@lioncg.com 

    Virtual Investor Conferences
    John M. Viglotti
    SVP Corporate Services, Investor Access
    OTC Markets Group
    (212) 220-2221
    johnv@otcmarkets.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Devolution revolution: six areas to elect Mayors for first time

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Deputy Prime Minister brings six areas onto the Devolution Priority Programme with Mayors to be elected by May 2026 plus four new devolved institutions created.

    A major package of devolution has been announced today – with six new areas confirmed to join the government’s Devolution Priority Programme. 

    Delivering on the government’s commitment to widen devolution, areas will be given sweeping new powers, putting them on the fast track to deliver growth, opportunities, transport and housing for local communities.  

    The programme – one of the largest ever single packages of mayoral devolution in England – will support the areas to move towards devolution at pace, becoming mayor-led strategic authorities by May next year if they proceed.

    Today’s measures brings another 8.8m people under mayoral devolution – or another 15.38% of the population – bringing the total population who will see the benefit from devolution to over 44 million – close to 80% of the country.

    Greater devolution is key to unlocking regional growth, delivering on the government’s Plan for Change and putting more money into working people’s pockets, while also empowering them to direct change in their communities.

    For too long, political power has been hoarded in Whitehall. That’s why the government set out its proposals in the landmark English Devolution White Paper.

    The following areas agreed to join the programme:

    • Cumbria
    • Cheshire & Warrington
    • Norfolk & Suffolk
    • Greater Essex
    • Sussex & Brighton
    • Hampshire & Solent

    These six successful areas will now work to an ambitious devolution timetable, with full government backing, with consultations set to launch shortly. 

    In a further step forward for devolution being delivered at pace, today legislation comes into force to establish four new devolution institutions – as a result of devolution agreements confirmed by the Deputy Prime Minister last year

    This includes establishing two new mayoral authorities in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire, and the formation of combined county authorities in Devon and Torbay, and Lancashire.

    The government is also focused on fixing the foundations of local government, with simpler and more effective structures and a reduction in unnecessary layers of bureaucracy. Through a national programme of ambitious local government reform, the government will cut waste and improve accountability, ensuring taxpayers get value for money from their services. To achieve this, all councils in two-tier areas and small neighbouring unitary authorities are now being formally invited to develop unitary proposals – which will bring together lower and upper tier local government services in new unitary councils.   

    Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner said:

    The truth is that for all the promises of levelling up, central government’s first instinct is all too often to hoard power and hold our economy back. Too many decisions affecting too many people are made by too few.

    We promised to achieve a devolution revolution by overseeing the greatest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation, and today’s announcement will help raise living standards, improve public services and build the homes we so desperately need.

    By taking a common-sense approach to reorganisation, boosted by our reforms to give mayors a suite of vital new powers, we will make sure areas can truly deliver on our Plan for Change.

    Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, Jim McMahon OBE MP said:

    In December, we asked areas to come forward to be part of our Devolution Priority Programme. The response was clear—this country is ready for change.

    While devolution can be hard to understand sometimes, the aims of this programme are simple: it puts more money in people’s pockets,  leads to quicker, better, cheaper transport, designed with local people in mind and puts politics back in the service of working people.

    Today’s announcements come just weeks after plans were set out in the English Devolution White Paper to grant mayors control over key areas including strategic planning, housing, transport and skills.

    This will equip these local leaders with the tools they need to deliver for their communities, putting England’s regions centre stage in the government’s Plan for Change missions to grow the economy, deliver 1.5 million homes, and boost opportunity across the country.

    The English Devolution Bill – which is due to be brought forward later this year – will also hardwire proposed new mayoral powers into law.

    In order to allow areas to deliver devolution to this ambitious timetable, the government has carefully considered requests from local councils to postpone a number of May 2025 local elections.

    The bar to postpone elections has been extremely high, and the government has been clear that delays will only be agreed where there is strong justification set out by the local authority. The government has agreed to half of these requests, and will postpone elections due in May 2025 until May 2026 for nine local councils. These councils made the strongest possible case that this is strictly necessary to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.

    There is an established precedent, including in the cases of North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Somerset elections, and Buckinghamshire district councils elections, under the previous government when reorganisation happened there. The legislation to enable this  will shortly be laid, subject to Parliamentary timetables. 

    In North Yorkshire, unitarisation enacted in 2023 has enabled the council to manage financial pressures though structural changes and service transformation, which is expected to achieve more than £40m in savings by March 2026. 

    Ministers will also continue to work with Lancashire, which is in a unique position as it is establishing a non-mayoral institution and is committed to reviewing its future devolution arrangements by the autumn, including steps to deepen devolution. This review will consider all options available for the area, including aligning with the Devolution Priority Programme when it concludes. 

    Also, given the urgency of creating sustainable unitary local government for Surrey, we will postpone the county election for that area from May 2025 to May 2026, helping to speed up reorganisation and deliver the local ambitions for devolution with the benefits it will bring.

    Updates to this page

    Published 5 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Ukraine has every right to determine its own future: UK Statement to the OSCE

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    UK Military Advisor, Joby Rimmer, says Russia’s war of aggression has achieved little except the catastrophic loss of life, the loss of Russia’s military credibility, and the loss of Russia’s international reputation.

    Thank you, Mr Chair. Sadly, we have started this year like the last, and the overwhelming concern of this forum remains: Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. The UK remains resolutely committed to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend their homeland. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the UK has provided over £3 billion per year in military, humanitarian and financial assistance, and this support will continue for as long as necessary to ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are fully restored.

    What has Russia accomplished so far? Russia’s full-scale invasion has been nothing short of a disaster. The Russian state’s bold assertion that the subjugation of Ukraine would be accomplished within a matter of days was made almost three years ago. Having failed in pursuit of its own strategic aims, the campaign has achieved little except the catastrophic loss of life on both sides, the loss of Russia’s military credibility, and the loss of Russia’s international reputation.

    The UN estimates that more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians and some 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed as a direct result of Russian aggression. Independent reports suggest approximately 830,000 Russian casualties, a number that demonstrates President Putin’s disregard for his own countrymen sent to fight in a war they did not choose. On 29th January alone, the Russian military lost 1,670 men with Russian casualties for January averaging over 1,500 per day. At the current rate of loss, Russia will have suffered over 1 million casualties by June 2025. As Russian casualties mount, Russian recruitment in Moscow has reduced, with military recruitment currently at 40 personnel a day, five times lower than the Summer-Autumn 2024 average of 200 recruits a day. Half of these recruits are reportedly indebted Russians and foreign nationals. The direct participation of DPRK troops in combat operations is another dangerous expansion of Putin’s illegal war. Of the 11,000 DPRK troops deployed in Kursk, reporting indicates that 4,000 are already casualties, including 1,000 fatalities.

    What has Russia accomplished militarily? Reports from the region paint a stark image of Russian military mediocrity. Russia has reportedly now lost over 3,700 Main Battle Tanks, over 8,000 armoured vehicles and 1,800 pieces of artillery. Any marginal Russian gains around Donetsk, Toretsk and Pokrovsk have been extremely costly, with progress augmented through the cynical use of glide bombs, drone and missile attacks, causing widespread damage to local housing, medical facilities and critical infrastructure. Independent reports state that Russia launched over 1,250 aerial bombs and over 1,000 attack drones into Ukraine in the last week of January. Nearly all resulted in civilian casualties.

    Last week, the Ukrainian army’s general staff reported that Russian forces bombed a boarding school in an area of Kursk under Ukrainian control, where civilians were sheltering and preparing to evacuate. Four people were killed and dozens injured. Russia’s continued disregard for human life cannot, and will not, be overlooked.

    Russia is also suffering the cost to its international reputation. The war in Ukraine clearly violates the UN Charter and contravenes our shared commitments of the Helsinki Final Act – respecting sovereignty, territorial integrity and the non-use of force. This full-scale invasion is not just an illegal act that contravenes international law; it is a serious miscalculation and one that fundamentally represents loss; most appallingly, the loss of human life, the loss of Russia’s international reputation, and the loss of Russia’s military credibility.

    Finally, the UK remains firm in its belief that any path to peace must be grounded in a position of strength for Ukraine. Ukraine must not be coerced into peace talks under duress or pressure from the aggressor. Ukraine has every right to determine its future, and its right to self-determination must be upheld. The UK is proud to be a steadfast friend of Ukraine and will not rest until Ukraine achieves peace on its own terms – Russia must cease hostilities in Ukraine and remove its forces from Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders. Thank you, Mr Chair.

    Updates to this page

    Published 5 February 2025

    Invasion of Ukraine

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: National Apprenticeship Week shines spotlight on opportunities for city residents

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    The theme is Skills for Life, helping apprentices forge career pathways and secure permanent jobs.

    City of Wolverhampton Council is hosting a drop-in event at The Mander Centre on Saturday 15 February as part of National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2025.

    Those interested in learning how to ‘earn while you learn’ can turn up to the event between 10am and 2pm. It is on the ground floor, near TJ Hughes and is being held in partnership with Wolverhampton Black Country Careers HUB.

    Register in advance at Eventbrite and you could win one of four £25 Enjoy Wolverhampton gift cards.

    Since January last year the council has recruited another 32 apprentices, alongside upskilling staff and supporting city partners to develop apprenticeships.

    City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for City Development, Jobs and Skills, Councillor Chris Burden, said: “National Apprenticeship Week shines a spotlight on the benefits of apprenticeships in putting local people into good jobs and training, which in turn helps to deliver a thriving economy in the city.

    “Apprenticeships can change lives, helping people find employment, improve their skills and gain qualifications, while providing valuable alternative recruitment options for employers.

    “I encourage anyone with an interest in apprenticeships to come and get involved in the event at the Mander Centre and find out more about how you can earn while you learn.”

    Council apprentice Jude Aston recently gained a distinction in his Public Relations and Communications Level 4 Public Health Apprenticeship.

    He said: “I was nervous about how I was going to apply all my learning, but the best piece of advice I would give is trust the apprenticeship process, because it has worked and is a great way to develop your knowledge and skills.”

    Former library assistant Lucy Barford had a career change to become a Level 7 Solicitor Apprentice through Damar Training and the council and has been named the Damar Apprentice Champion Award.

    She said: “Changing careers to start an apprenticeship in law changed my life and opened possibilities I hadn’t previously considered.

    “My first apprenticeship was to become a certified paralegal, and I’m now working through a second apprenticeship training to be a solicitor. I’m proud and grateful to Damar and the council for such wonderful opportunities.”

    Esha Dadral, Level 3 Digital Content Apprentice, said: “I always wanted to kickstart my career in marketing, so when this opportunity came up it was a no brainer for me. In my opinion, an apprenticeship is the best way to gain the essential skills and knowledge for the career of your choice.”

    There are many types of apprenticeships on offer with employers in Wolverhampton. The different levels of qualification are Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship (GCSE equivalent), Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship (A-Level equivalent), Level 4 or 5 Higher Apprenticeship (Foundation degree and above equivalent) and Level 6 or 7 Degree Apprenticeship (Bachelor’s or Master’s degree equivalent).

    Help is available through Wolves at Work which offers free, one to one employment support and advice for local people. If you are interested in finding out more about apprenticeship opportunities at the City of Wolverhampton Council email OD.Team@wolverhampton.gov.uk.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Inquest into the Death of Dillon McDonald

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on February 5, 2025

    A public inquest into the death of Dillon McDonald will be held March 3 to 7, 2025, at the King’s Bench Court House, 1800 Central Avenue, in Prince Albert.

    The first day of the inquest is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Subsequent start times will be determined by the presiding coroner.

    McDonald, 28, died after being shot in an altercation with police on December 14, 2021.

    Section 19 of The Coroners Act, 1999 states that the Chief Coroner may direct that an inquest be held into the death of any person.

    The Saskatchewan Coroners Service is responsible for the investigation of all sudden, unexpected deaths. The purpose of an inquest is to establish who died, when and where that person died and the medical cause and manner of death. The coroner’s jury may make recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

    Coroner Robert Kennedy, K.C. will preside at the inquest.

    -30-

    For more information, contact:

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: US additional duty rejected

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today expressed strong disapproval of the imposition of additional 10% duty on Hong Kong products set out in the Federal Register notice of the US Customs & Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security, and the temporary suspension of inbound postal items containing goods from Hongkong Post by the US Postal Service.

    The Hong Kong SAR Government said the US’ imposition of additional duty on Hong Kong products ignores the basic fact that Hong Kong is a separate customs territory, which is recognised by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and clearly stipulated in the Basic Law Article 116.

    It highlighted that Hong Kong has been a staunch supporter of rule-based multilateral trading system, maintaining constructive and mutually beneficial trade relations with trading partners all over the world, including the US.

    As a founding member of the WTO, the Hong Kong SAR has all along been upholding the principle of free and unimpeded trade. The Hong Kong SAR Government strongly opposes any attempts to undermine the city’s reputation and erode its status as a separate customs territory.

    The Hong Kong SAR Government urged the US to take urgent action to rectify the notice as well as lift the suspension of accepting inbound postal items containing goods from Hongkong Post as a matter of priority.

    It emphasised that if the US does not rectify its wrongdoing, the Hong Kong SAR Government will take all possible actions to defend the city’s legitimate interests, including considering taking up the matter in the WTO.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James and Coalition of 13 Attorneys General Issue Joint Statement on Protecting Access to Gender-Affirming Care 

    Source: US State of New York

    NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined a coalition of 13 attorneys general to reaffirm their commitment to protecting access to gender-affirming care in the face of the Trump administration’s recent Executive Order. The coalition released the following statement: 

    “As state attorneys general, we stand firmly in support of health care policies that respect the dignity and rights of all people. Health care decisions should be made by patients, families, and doctors, not by a politician trying to use his power to restrict your freedoms. Gender-affirming care is essential, life-saving medical treatment that supports individuals in living as their authentic selves.

    “The Trump administration’s recent Executive Order is wrong on the science and the law. Despite what the Trump administration has suggested, there is no connection between ‘female genital mutilation’ and gender-affirming care, and no federal law makes gender-affirming care unlawful. President Trump cannot change that by Executive Order.  

    “Last week, attorneys general secured a critical win from a federal court that directed the federal government to resume funding that had been frozen by the Trump administration. In response to the court’s order, the Department of Justice has sent a notice stating that ‘federal agencies cannot pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate any awards or obligations on the basis of the OMB memo, or on the basis of the President’s recently issued Executive Orders.’ This means that federal funding to institutions that provide gender-affirming care continues to be available, irrespective of President Trump’s recent Executive Order. If the federal administration takes additional action to impede this critical funding, we will not hesitate to take further legal action. 

    “State attorneys general will continue to enforce state laws that provide access to gender-affirming care in states where such enforcement authority exists, and we will challenge any unlawful effort by the Trump administration to restrict access to it in our jurisdictions.” 

    Joining Attorney General James in issuing this statement are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Vermont. 

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Op-Ed: How We Win The War For Our Children’s Attention

    Source: US State of New York

    Today, amNY published an op-ed by Governor Kathy Hochul regarding her proposal to restrict the use of smartphones in schools bell-to-bell, allowing students to learn and communicate in a distraction-free environment. Text of the op-ed can be viewed online and is available below:

    When I became New York’s first-ever Mom Governor, I vowed to fight for our state’s children as if they were my own. I’m taking those efforts to our schools–because I know that it’s critical for every child to learn and grow in distraction-free environments. Over the past year, I’ve convened listening sessions with parents, teachers, administrators, and students to address one of the greatest barriers to student success: the non-stop distractions generated by cell phones that seem permanently attached to our children’s hands.

    What I heard was staggering. Everyone agreed that phones in our schools were holding our kids back–including a stressed out teen who said, “you have to save us from ourselves.” We cannot wait to solve this problem; endless debates will only plunge our kids into further suffering. That’s why I’m now proposing a landmark policy to restrict the use of smartphones and other digital distractions in New York’s public schools.

    Since taking office, I’ve pursued an ambitious agenda to improve children’s lives. We’ve built new playgrounds, improved school facilities, and invested millions to reduce maternal and infant mortality. Last year, I signed into law first-in-the-nation legislation shielding our kids from addictive social media feeds and liberating them from the grip of digital devices. While we’ve made great progress, our work is far from done.

    Across New York—in big cities and one-stoplight hamlets alike—our kids’ heads are down, their eyes glued to screens. Smartphones, smart watches, and tablets command their attention. Reels and notifications prove far more intriguing than the lesson on the blackboard or whatever Mom is saying. If it’s hard for adults to put devices down—imagine how much harder it is for children still learning discipline and self-control? And when our kids focus more on memes than math, they fall behind.

    Experts agree with me. NYU Professor Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, warns that “the never-ending stream of interruptions takes a toll on adolescents’ ability to think and may leave permanent marks on their rapidly reconfiguring brains.” With something as precious as a child’s developing mind, I won’t sit idly by and watch as we set our kids up for lifetimes of suffering.

    The new policy I’ve proposed is as straightforward as it will be effective: no phones or internet-enabled devices in our schools from the first bell until the last. Schools will have flexibility in deciding how to store devices, freeing teachers to focus on what they do best—teaching.

    I know that change is sometimes hard– and can be frightening. While the vast majority of parents agree that cell phones pose a problem in school, I understand some have concerns about staying in touch with their kids. That’s why I required that schools establish ways for parents to contact their children during the school day when necessary. First responders also urged me to move forward with this policy, cautioning that in emergencies, distracted children often fail to follow instructions.

    This adjustment may not be easy, but it is the right thing to do. As adults, it’s our responsibility to protect our children from harm–whether it’s alcohol, tobacco, or addictive social media algorithms. Let’s not forget: distraction-free education isn’t a radical idea. For generations, people have gone to school, made friends, and grown into themselves without the shackles of a cell phone. By returning our schools to sanctuaries of learning, we’re prioritizing our children’s wellbeing over big tech’s profits.

    I have one prediction as we wean our children from these addictive devices: we’re all going to be amazed. Amazed at how loud their laughter rings. Amazed at their curiosity and creativity. Amazed by how much energy they have to play, express themselves, and just be kids again. Together, we’re setting our children free—and the future has never looked brighter.

    Kathy Hochul is the 57th governor of New York, and the first woman ever to hold the office.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Avid Bioservices poised for significant growth with new partners GHO Capital and Ampersand Capital Partners

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Avid Bioservices poised for significant growth with new partners GHO Capital and
    Ampersand Capital Partners

    • Acquisition of biologics Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation Avid Bioservices now completed
    • GHO and Ampersand’s deep experience in CDMO investing to support Avid’s next stage of rapid growth including expanded offerings, talent investment and greater geographic reach

    London, UK, Boston, MA and Tustin, CA, February 5, 2025 — GHO Capital Partners LLP (“GHO”), the European specialist investor in global healthcare, and Ampersand Capital Partners (“Ampersand”), a private equity firm specialising in growth equity investments in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, today announced the successful closing of the previously announced acquisition of Avid Bioservices (“Avid” or the “Company”), a dedicated biologics Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (“CDMO”) working to improve patient lives by providing high quality development and manufacturing services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

    Avid has experienced significant growth in recent years, offering its clients full lifecycle capabilities—from concept to commercial supply. With substantial investment already made by the Company in its capacity at its state-of-the art facilities and its expertise in bioprocess optimisation, analytical testing, and regulatory compliance, Avid delivers high-quality, industry leading complex biologics to a roster of international customers.

    GHO has considerable expertise in the CDMO sector through investments in its portfolio in companies like Ardena, Sterling Pharma Solutions, RoslinCT, and Alcami Corporation. Its strategy focuses on expanding technological capabilities, driving acquisitions, and supporting transatlantic expansion across the CDMO value chain, from early-stage development to commercial manufacturing. Leveraging its healthcare expertise and network, GHO transforms CDMOs to enhance their services and market reach, ultimately delivering better, faster and more accessible healthcare.

    Alan MacKay and Mike Mortimer, Managing Partners of GHO, commented: “We are delighted to start 2025 with the completion of this transaction, our first public to private deal. GHO has a deep understanding of the CDMO sector and Avid perfectly exemplifies a company that is operating in high growth markets supporting the growing biotech sector in research and development and big pharma and large biotech for the commercialisation of cutting-edge biologics. Avid’s recent investments, both in capacity and its exemplary team, have created a strong foundation for future growth. We look forward to partnering closely with the Avid team to unlock the business’s full potential.”

    Nick Green, President and CEO of Avid, said: “Avid has succeeded by evolving and adapting to meet our customers’ complex development and manufacturing needs. The completion of this transaction marks an exciting milestone as we move forward with new owners in GHO Capital and Ampersand who will provide us with access to resources that will accelerate our growth. With their support, we are well-positioned to enhance our capabilities, expand our service offerings, and deliver even greater value to our customers in this next phase of our journey.”

    David Anderson, General Partner of Ampersand, added: “Avid has earned its reputation as a leader in biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing through technical excellence, customised solutions, and consistent regulatory compliance. By combining our deep industry expertise with Avid’s established capabilities, we are positioned to deliver enhanced value and accelerate innovation for clients globally.”

    On 7 November 2024, GHO and Ampersand entered into a definitive merger agreement for Avid to be acquired by funds managed by GHO and Ampersand in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion. With the completion of the transaction, Avid’s stockholders are entitled to receive $12.50 per share in cash. The Company’s common stock has ceased trading and will be delisted from Nasdaq.

    Advisors
    William Blair served as buyside financial advisers, Ropes & Gray served as legal counsel, ClearView Healthcare Partners served as commercial advisor and Alvarez & Marsal served as financial advisors to GHO and Ampersand.

    Contacts:

    GHO Capital

    Amber Fennell / Kris Lam
    ICR Healthcare
    +44 7739658783
    ghocapital@icrhealthcare.com

    Avid Bioservices

    Stephanie Diaz
    Vida Strategic Partners
    415-675-7401
    sdiaz@vidasp.com

    Tim Brons
    Vida Strategic Partners
    415-675-7402
    tbrons@vidasp.com

    Aaron Palash / Allison Sobel
    Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
    (212) 355-4449

    About GHO Capital

    Global Healthcare Opportunities, or GHO Capital Partners LLP, is a leading specialist healthcare investment advisor based in London. GHO Capital applies global capabilities and perspectives to unlock high growth healthcare opportunities, targeting Pan-European and transatlantic internationalisation to build market leading businesses of strategic global value. GHO Capital’s proven investment track record reflects the unrivalled depth of our industry expertise and network. GHO Capital partners with strong management teams to generate long-term sustainable value, improving the efficiency of healthcare delivery to enable better, faster, more accessible healthcare. For further information, please visit www.ghocapital.com.

    About Avid Bioservices, Inc.

    Avid Bioservices is a dedicated CDMO focused on development and CGMP manufacturing of biologics. The Company provides a comprehensive range of process development, CGMP clinical and commercial manufacturing services for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries. With more than 30 years of experience producing biologics, Avid’s services include CGMP clinical and commercial drug substance manufacturing, bulk packaging, release and stability testing and regulatory submissions support. For early-stage programs the Company provides a variety of process development activities, including cell line development, upstream and downstream development and optimization, analytical methods development, testing and characterization. The scope of our services ranges from standalone process development projects to full development and manufacturing programs through commercialization. www.avidbio.com

    About Ampersand Capital Partners

    Ampersand Capital Partners, founded in 1988, is a middle-market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management, dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit www.ampersandcapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Double Your Deposit and Get $50 Bonus with 100x Leverage Crypto Trading at BexBack – No KYC!

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SINGAPORE, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — With the price of bitcoin once again trading below $100,000, many analysts believe it will enter a long period of high volatility. Holding spot positions may not continue to generate profits in the short term. BexBack Exchange is stepping up its efforts to provide traders with irresistible preferential packages. The platform now offers a 100% deposit bonus, a $50 welcome bonus for new users, and a 100x leverage on cryptocurrency trading, creating unparalleled opportunities for investors.

    What Is 100x Leverage and How Does It Work?

    Simply put, 100x leverage allows you to open larger trading positions with less capital. For example:

    Suppose the Bitcoin price is $100,000 that day, and you open a long contract with 1 BTC. After using 100x leverage, the transaction amount is equivalent to 100 BTC.

    One day later, if the price rises to $105,000, your profit will be (105,000 – 100,000) * 100 BTC / 100,000 = 5 BTC, a yield of up to 500%.

    With BexBack’s deposit bonus

    BexBack offers a 100% deposit bonus. If the initial investment is 2 BTC, the profit will increase to 10 BTC, and the return on investment will double to 1000%.

    Note: Although leveraged trading can magnify profits, you also need to be wary of liquidation risks.

    How Does the 100% Deposit Bonus Work?
    The deposit bonus from BexBack cannot be directly withdrawn but can be used to open larger positions and increase potential profits. Additionally, during significant market fluctuations, the bonus can serve as extra margin, effectively reducing the risk of liquidation.

    About BexBack?

    BexBack is a leading cryptocurrency derivatives platform that offers 100x leverage on BTC, ETH, ADA, SOL, and XRP futures contracts. It is headquartered in Singapore with offices in Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Argentina. It holds a US MSB (Money Services Business) license and is trusted by more than 500,000 traders worldwide. Accepts users from the United States, Canada, and Europe. There are no deposit fees, and traders can get the most thoughtful service, including 24/7 customer support.

    Why recommend BexBack?

    No KYC Required: Start trading immediately without complex identity verification.

    100% Deposit Bonus: Double your funds, double your profits.

    High-Leverage Trading: Offers up to 100x leverage, maximizing investors’ capital efficiency.

    Demo Account: Comes with 10 BTC in virtual funds, ideal for beginners to practice risk-free trading.

    Comprehensive Trading Options: Feature-rich trading available via Web and mobile applications.

    Convenient Operation: No slippage, no spread, and fast, precise trade execution.

    Global User Support: Enjoy 24/7 customer service, no matter where you are.

    Lucrative Affiliate Rewards: Earn up to 50% commission, perfect for promoters.

    Take Action Now—Don’t Miss Another Opportunity!

    If you missed the previous crypto bull run, this could be your chance. With BexBack’s 100x leverage and 100% deposit bonus and $50 bonus for new users (complete one trade within one week of registration), you can be a winner in the new bull run.

    Sign up on BexBack now, claim your exclusive bonus and start accumulating more BTC today!

    Website: www.bexback.com

    Contact: business@bexback.com

    Contact:
    Amanda
    business@bexback.com

    Disclaimer: This content is provided by BexBack. The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the content provider. The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities. Please conduct your own research and invest at your own risk.

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2d7570e1-dd49-41f2-bb56-fdde6bb57717

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b704fe83-5d72-424f-8e4d-faedb85932fd

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b1489dbf-1cba-4388-8bb7-dd56cd0dd96f

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3653b677-5659-44e3-b40f-346380acd8ca

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: New Chargeflow Research Shows that As Many as 80 Percent of Chargebacks Are Abusive

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TEL AVIV, Israel and WILMINGTON, Del., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Chargeflow, the pioneering chargeback platform tailored exclusively for online businesses, today announced a new research report, The Psychology of Chargebacks: Uncovering Why Consumers Dispute Charges. Featuring insights from 701 consumers, the research shows that customer demands for immediate issue resolution and other factors are leading to soaring incidents of unfriendly fraud that could be costing merchants as much as $117 billion annually.

    According to Mastercard’s 2024 Outlook: Strategic Insights for Issuers and Merchants report, U.S. chargeback transaction volume is expected to reach 146 million chargebacks in 2026. In its latest report, Chargeflow provides details that look beyond this growth to show why customers are choosing to file chargebacks over resolving issues directly with merchants.

    Prompt Customer Service is Critical
    Customers who have experienced issues with a merchant expect the situation to be resolved quickly. In fact, many give merchants zero opportunity to remedy a problem. When asked how long they would typically wait to file a chargeback after encountering an issue, 23 percent stated they would file immediately. Another 38 percent stated they would wait just 1-3 days, while 23 percent said they were happy with response times between 4-7 days. The bottom line, customers are giving merchants’ customer service teams little to no time to identify the issue and de-escalate any problems before disputes are filed.

    Lack of Immediate Communication Opens Door for Chargebacks
    Customers value merchant communications when it comes to resolving issues. According to the research, 64 percent say it’s important they receive immediate communication from a merchant regarding a complaint, with an additional 31 percent saying it is somewhat important. Their goal is unanimous–90 percent of consumers report they typically try to resolve a matter with the merchant before initiating a chargeback.

    While customers seek resolution, their patience quickly runs thin. According to the research, 85 percent of customers are likely or somewhat likely to move forward and file a chargeback if a merchant doesn’t respond to their complaint within a reasonable timeframe. With such demands, it should come as no surprise that 80 percent of those who initiated a chargeback said they were never contacted by a merchant with customer service teams that are likely understaffed and overburdened.

    Dispute Policies Encourage Chargebacks
    Overworked teams are not the only issue. Customer-first dispute policies also lead to chargeback success rates that do little to dissuade customers from acting—only 12 percent report having had a chargeback denied. Eight percent of respondents said they had a chargeback refuted for insufficient evidence, 3 percent said their claim was denied because merchants provided counterevidence, and 2 percent for a policy violation. With that level of success, it’s not surprising that 98 percent of consumers have had a neutral to highly satisfactory experience with the chargeback process offered by their bank or credit card.

    “The industry is acutely aware that chargebacks are soaring but there is far less clarity on what’s driving this surge. This research shows that a lack of patience on the side of customers is driving a vast majority of chargebacks that are not only unnecessary but also costing merchants billions of dollars,” said Ariel Chen, Co-Founder and CEO of Chargeflow. “This situation is exacerbated by the use of customer-first dispute policies which make it more appealing to file a dispute than to work with customer service teams towards a resolution. Stopping this cycle requires merchants to improve their support systems to the point where resolving an issue is a more attractive option to customers.”

    Bad Customer Experiences Also Drive Chargebacks
    Customer reliance on chargebacks is not only tied to perceived poor service resolution. The Chargeflow research found a direct correlation between customer experiences and chargeback. For example, when asked about the likelihood of initiating a chargeback if they encountered an issue with a purchase, 27 percent of respondents stated they were highly likely, and 35 percent stated they were somewhat likely. Only 11 percent of customers said they are somewhat unlikely and very unlikely. This finding is consistent with the core theme that consumers view chargeback as a standard tool for addressing perceived problems with a merchant.

    Lack of Awareness Leads Consumers to Unknowingly Committing Friendly Fraud

    Chargeflow’s The Psychology of Chargebacks report found that nearly 80 percent of chargeback cases result from friendly fraud. Despite this figure, this new research finds that most customers are unaware they are engaging in such activity. When asked if they initiated a false chargeback (when they knew the merchant was in the right and they should not), only 2.9 percent of respondents said they had done so. That means close to 97 percent believe they have not incorrectly filed a chargeback—rates that cannot be correct.

    In fact, the research found that only 9 percent of respondents said they filed a chargeback because they disagreed with a brand, its values, or its customer experience. As a result, consumers likely believe that they have rightly used their customer protections and not purposely or maliciously attached merchants.

    Survey Methodology
    This survey features data gathered from responses from a population sample of 700 people. Of this group, there was a near-even split between four age demographics: 18-34 (20 percent), 35-44 (28 percent), 45-54 (27), and 55-99 (25 percent). Forty-four percent of respondents listed as Male and 56 percent as female. The margin of error rests at 4 percent, with a confidence level of 95 percent.

    To access the complete Psychology of Chargebacks: Analyzing the Hidden Factors That Push Consumers to Dispute Charges report, please visit here.

    About Chargeflow
    Chargeflow is the world’s first fully automated chargeback management solution, designed for eCommerce merchants by eCommerce entrepreneurs. Chargeflow leverages technology and generative AI, along with human expertise, to help recover lost revenue and alleviate chargeback pains for online merchants. Chargeflow has an industry-leading win rate and guarantees return on investment, providing a risk-free entry for any business interested in using its service. For more information, please visit https://www.chargeflow.io/.

    Media Contact:
    Doug Fraim
    Public Relations Manager, Chargeflow
    press@chargeflow.io

    Chargebacks represent a significant challenge in the global financial landscape, impacting merchants across various industries. Here’s an overview of the worldwide chargeback volume, both in terms of the number of chargebacks and their monetary value:

    Number of Chargebacks:

    • 2023 Data: In 2023, the global ecosystem experienced approximately 238 million chargebacks. Projections indicate that by 2026, this number could rise to around 337 million, marking a 42% increase. citeturn0search0

    Monetary Value of Chargebacks:

    • 2023 Estimates: The total cost associated with chargebacks worldwide was projected to reach $117.46 billion in 2023. This figure encompasses various expenses, including lost sales revenue, fees, and administrative costs borne by merchants and financial institutions. citeturn0search2
    • U.S. Specific Data: Focusing on the United States, cardholders disputed at least $65.2 billion worth of charges in 2023. When considering additional factors such as the broader financial impact on merchants, the total cost to U.S. merchants was estimated at approximately $243.75 billion. citeturn0search1

    Average Cost per Chargeback:

    • Per Incident Cost: On average, each chargeback in 2023 cost merchants about $191. This estimate is based on an average disputed transaction amount of $90 and includes various associated costs. citeturn0search2

    These statistics underscore the substantial financial impact of chargebacks on businesses globally. The rising trend in both the number and value of chargebacks highlights the importance for merchants to implement effective prevention and management strategies to mitigate potential losses.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: VelocityEHS Recognized as a Best Places to Work

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — VelocityEHS®, the global leader in EHS & ESG software solutions, is honored to be named as one of Built In’s 2025 Best Places to Work. The company has been recognized in both the Midsize and Remote categories, reflecting its commitment to fostering an exceptional workplace culture.

    Built In’s annual awards program honors companies of all sizes—from startups to enterprises—and celebrates top employers in major tech markets across the U.S., including remote-first organizations.

    “At VelocityEHS, we believe that our people are the heart of our success,” said Rachel Kaiser, SVP Chief People Officer, VelocityEHS. “This recognition reflects our commitment to creating a collaborate workplace where every employee feels valued, supported, and empowered to grow—both personally and professionally.”

    To align with the benefits candidates increasingly value through Built In, the program celebrates companies that offer the best compensation and total rewards packages. It evaluates key factors such as remote and flexible work opportunities, initiatives that promote engagement and belonging, and a culture that prioritizes people-first values.

    “Being recognized as a Best Place to Work is a testament to these companies’ commitment to building a workplace where individuals and innovation thrive,” says Built In CEO and Founder, Maria Christopoulos Katris. “At Built In, we understand that great companies are powered by great teams, and this achievement showcases their dedication to fostering a culture of growth and excellence. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor.”

    Read more news and insights on the VelocityEHS press page.

    About VelocityEHS

    Relied on by more than 10 million users worldwide to drive operational excellence and achieve outstanding outcomes, VelocityEHS is the global leader in true SaaS enterprise EHS & ESG technology. The VelocityEHS Accelerate® Platform is the definitive gold standard, delivering best-in-class software solutions for managing Safety, Ergonomics, Chemical Management, and Operational Risk. In addition, Velocity offers world-class applications for Contractor Safety & Permit to Work, Environmental Compliance, and ESG.

    The VelocityEHS team includes unparalleled industry expertise, with more certified experts in health, safety, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, sustainability, the environment, AI, and machine learning than any other EHS software provider. Recognized by the EHS industry’s top independent analysts as a Leader in the Verdantix 2025 Green Quadrant Analysis, VelocityEHS is committed to industry thought leadership and to accelerating the pace of innovation through its software solutions and vision. Its privacy and security protocols, which include SOC2 Type II attestation, are among the most stringent in the industry.

    VelocityEHS is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with locations in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Tampa, Florida; Oakville, Ontario; London, England; Perth, Western Australia; and Cork, Ireland. For more information, visit www.EHS.com. 

    ABOUT BUILT IN
    Built In is the “always on” recruiting platform that reaches the tech professionals that other leading recruiting platforms don’t. Designed to help companies hire expert tech talent, Built In continuously drives brand awareness with content. Monthly, millions of the industry’s most in-demand global tech professionals visit our site to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers, find the right job opportunities and get hired. Thousands of companies, from fast-growing startups to the largest enterprises rely on Built In. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach technical and expert talent. www.builtin.com

    Media Contact:
    Jennifer Sinkwitts
    VelocityEHS
    jsinkwitts@ehs.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Ivo raises $16M Series A to deliver reliable AI contract review at scale, as it launches Ivo Search Agent

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    San Francisco , Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Contract negotiation remains the most challenging bottleneck in the contract lifecycle, with legal teams spending hours on manual redlining and revisions while ensuring perfect accuracy. As contract volumes surge, in-house lawyers face mounting pressure to review more agreements than ever before – yet traditional automation tools prioritize speed over accuracy, forcing legal teams to choose between efficiency and reliability. Today, Ivo announces a $16 million Series A funding round to scale its AI-powered contract review solution that has already helped over 150 corporate legal teams negotiate their agreements. Ivo’s customers include companies like Canva, Fonterra, Pipedrive, Weightwatchers, Eventbrite, Blue Cross Blue Shield Kansas City, and several Fortune 500’s.

    The Series A funding round is led by Costanoa Ventures, with participation from Fika Ventures, Uncork Capital, NFDG, Blackbird VC, GD1, and Phase One Ventures. It brings Ivo’s total funding to $22.2 million, following early backing from Daniel Gross and a $4.8 million seed round led by Fika Ventures and Uncork Capital. 

    Ivo founders: Jacob Duligall and Min-Kyu Jung.

    Ivo has developed a breakthrough approach to contract review that sets new standards for accuracy. The platform automatically checks agreements against company requirements, generates specific suggestions for resolving discrepancies, and creates compromise language between conflicting clauses. Unlike competitors that treat legal review as a simple automation problem, Ivo’s sophisticated AI produces naturalistic redlines that mirror the work of experienced attorneys, maintaining consistent terminology and making minimal necessary changes. 

    “When I was a corporate lawyer, contract review was amongst the most manual and time-consuming tasks,” says Min-Kyu Jung, CEO and Co-founder of Ivo. Determined to solve this problem himself, Jung left his legal career, taught himself to code, and began building what would become Ivo. After speaking with hundreds of legal professionals and iterating through multiple versions of the product, his team developed a solution that lawyers could use in confidence.

    The impact on legal teams has been immediate and significant. “Ivo reduced our average time to approve counterparty NDAs for signatures from four days to two, while first pass turn improved from an average of 11 hours to 5 minutes,” says Adrie Christiansen, Legal Operations Lead at Quora. Similarly, Geotab’s legal team reports an average savings of 45 minutes per contract review – a 75% efficiency gain that allows their lawyers to focus on strategic work. This improvement comes without sacrificing accuracy, as Ivo’s transparency allows lawyers to understand and validate every suggestion. The platform has proven particularly valuable for high-volume contract review, where maintaining consistency across thousands of agreements is critical. Through extensive customization options and playbook features, legal teams can establish clear guardrails that enable business users to handle initial contract reviews while ensuring proper escalation protocols.

    The timing of Ivo’s expansion is critical. As artificial intelligence emerges as potentially the most transformative technology since the internet, legal teams face mounting pressure to adopt solutions that can scale their capabilities. Yet most AI tools lack the sophistication to handle complex legal analysis, creating more work for lawyers who must double-check every output. With its team of in-house lawyers continually refining and enhancing the platform, Ivo has developed an approach that augments rather than replaces legal judgment – acting as a “powerful force multiplier” for teams handling increasingly large volumes of contracts.

    The Ivo Search Agent: running a query.

    Today’s launch of Ivo Search Agent marks another milestone in the company’s mission to transform how legal teams work. This new capability revolutionizes contract search and analysis by eliminating the need for manual metadata tagging — a significant pain point in traditional contract lifecycle management systems. Legal teams can now search and generate reports across their entire contract portfolio regardless of where documents are stored, whether in cloud storage solutions like Box and SharePoint or local computers. The system works seamlessly across various data sources, including CLM integrations, requiring minimal implementation while delivering comprehensive insights.

    “Ivo is fundamentally transforming contract review for lawyers and legal teams,” said Amy Cheetham, Partner at Costanoa Ventures. “By leveraging AI to manage the meticulous, painstaking work of contract review, Ivo gives legal teams tools designed by lawyers to work faster with greater accuracy. In a world where legal organizations are constantly under pressure to meet business demands and improve efficiency, the launch of Ivo’s new search tool will allow legal teams to search and generate reports across their entire contract portfolio, significantly reducing their workload and increasing efficiency.”

    “The legal profession is in the early stages of an AI-driven transformation,” adds Min-Kyu Jung. “We’re building Ivo to ensure this change enhances rather than diminishes the crucial role of legal judgment. Our vision is to give every legal team the power to handle enterprise-scale contract volumes while maintaining the highest standards of accuracy and control.”

    Ends 

    Media images can be found here.

    About Ivo
    Ivo is on a mission to reduce the time, effort and cost spent on contracts. Ivo was founded out of a belief that contracts are foundational to commerce. The founders saw first-hand how contract review was slowing down mission-critical projects, and decided to do something about it.

    Founded in New Zealand and now headquartered in San Francisco, Ivo powers the world’s most comprehensive and accurate AI Contract Review platform, designed to help legal and business teams accelerate time-to-close and unblock contracts from key business processes.

    By using AI to reduce the time, effort, and cost of negotiating contracts, Ivo makes it easier for businesses to work together. For more information please visit https://www.ivo.ai/ or follow via LinkedIn 

    About Costanoa Ventures
    Founded in 2012, Costanoa Ventures partners with technical and product founders as early as company formation, with a focus on apps and infrastructure in data, dev and fintech. Costanoa is a long-term partner to entrepreneurs who want hands-on help in their earliest company stages on all things go-to-market and talent. For more information, please visit https://costanoa.vc/

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: RealtyX Revolutionizes Real-World Asset Finance (RWAfi) with End-to-End Tokenization and Yield Optimization Platform

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HONG KONG, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — RealtyX, an innovative Real-World Asset Finance (RWAfi) platform, is poised to transform the real estate and financial landscape by offering a comprehensive, end-to-end solution that goes beyond simple tokenization. Backed by strategic partnerships with leading RWA players and selected for the prestigious Hong Kong Cyberport Incubation Program, RealtyX is preparing for its highly anticipated Token Generation Event (TGE) in February.

    Unlocking the Full Potential of RWAfi

    Tokenization has long been heralded as the future of real estate and alternative assets, but RealtyX is taking the concept to the next level. Rather than focusing solely on asset digitization, RealtyX provides a holistic financial ecosystem that enhances liquidity, enables seamless trading, and optimizes yield for investors.

    RealtyX’s platform integrates automated passive earning mechanisms and DeFi composability, allowing users to generate consistent returns while ensuring accessibility and transparency in real-world asset investments. By streamlining complex real estate processes, RealtyX delivers a frictionless experience for both investors and asset owners, increasing overall market efficiency.

    “RealtyX was built with a singular vision: to bridge the gap between traditional real estate and decentralized finance in a way that is seamless, scalable, and rewarding for all stakeholders. Our goal is to offer more than tokenization— we are redefining the entire financial ecosystem around real-world assets,” said [Executive Name], [Title] at RealtyX.

    Strategic Partnerships with Industry Leaders

    RealtyX’s commitment to innovation is underscored by its partnerships with top-tier RWA projects and DeFi leaders. These partnerships enable RealtyX to offer superior liquidity, capital efficiency, and enhanced financial instruments for users. Some of its key industry allies include:

    • Plume Network – A blockchain optimized for real-world assets, ensuring scalable and secure transactions.
    • IX Swap – A DeFi-based exchange that enhances secondary market liquidity for tokenized assets.
    • Polytrade – A liquidity infrastructure provider supporting DeFi and real-world asset integration.
    • Defactor – A leading RWA protocol focused on providing enterprise-grade financial solutions.

    By collaborating with these major players, RealtyX ensures that its users gain access to high-quality infrastructure, cutting-edge DeFi tools, and diversified investment opportunities.

    RealtyX Joins Hong Kong’s Cyberport Incubation Program

    In recognition of its groundbreaking approach, RealtyX has been selected for the Hong Kong Cyberport Incubation Program, a highly competitive initiative known for supporting some of the most innovative Web3 and fintech startups. Cyberport alumni include Animoca Brands and Certik, both industry giants in their respective fields.

    Through this program, RealtyX will gain access to world-class mentorship, funding opportunities, and a vast network of investors and innovators. Cyberport’s backing further solidifies RealtyX’s reputation as a trailblazer in the RWAfi space and positions it for rapid global expansion.

    Utility-Backed TGE: RealtyX Prepares for Token Generation Event

    RealtyX is gearing up for its Token Generation Event (TGE) in February, introducing the RX token, a utility-backed asset designed to fuel the RealtyX ecosystem. Unlike speculative digital assets, RX serves a critical role in the platform, offering:

    • Exclusive platform access – RX token holders will unlock premium features and investment opportunities.
    • Governance participation – Token holders will have a voice in key decision-making processes.
    • Staking and rewards – RX stakers can earn passive income through yield optimization mechanisms.

    The TGE will provide early adopters with a unique opportunity to be part of the RealtyX ecosystem from its inception, with further details set to be announced soon.

    RealtyX’s Vision for the Future of RWAfi

    RealtyX is dedicated to pioneering the future of Real-World Asset Finance by building a trusted and efficient platform that seamlessly integrates blockchain technology with real estate investments. Since its inception, the platform has already achieved significant milestones, including:

    • Successful tokenization of the first real estate property (RST) in Dubai.
    • Ongoing rental income distribution to RST holders.
    • Launch of a thriving secondary market for on-chain property transactions.
    • Winning the WOW Summit Startup Competition.
    • Acceptance into the SpringX Move Accelerator program.

    With a strong foundation and unwavering commitment to bridging traditional finance with the Web3 economy, RealtyX is set to redefine how real-world assets are tokenized, managed, and monetized.

    Stay Updated

    To learn more about RealtyX and its game-changing approach to Real-World Asset Finance (RWAfi), visit www.realtyx.co.

    For the latest updates on the upcoming TGE, follow RealtyX on X (Twitter): https://x.com/RealtyX_DAO.

    About RealtyX

    RealtyX is a next-generation Real-World Asset Finance (RWAfi) platform, designed to seamlessly integrate real estate and DeFi. With a focus on tokenization, liquidity solutions, and yield optimization, RealtyX empowers investors with enhanced access to real-world assets. Recognized for its innovation and strategic industry partnerships, RealtyX continues to lead the charge in bringing tangible value to blockchain-based finance.

    For media inquiries, partnership opportunities, or further details, contact partnership@realtyx.co

    Disclaimer: This content is provided by RealtyX. The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the content provider. The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities. Please conduct your own research and invest at your own risk.

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6799bba8-3cfa-46c4-a57d-5877e8cdddf6

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3597b473-34fd-45d4-9eab-f5e561058632

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6215eb83-0127-48cf-a5ab-599c7359affe

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Video: UK E-petition debate relating to career breaks for parents of ill children – Monday 3 February

    Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

    The Petitions Committee has scheduled a debate relating to career breaks for parents of ill children

    Robbie Moore MP, has been asked by the Committee to open the debate. The Government will send a Minister to respond.

    Read the petition:
    https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/638449

    Find petitions you agree with, and sign them: https://petition.parliament.uk/

    What are petition debates?

    Petition debates are ‘general’ debates which allow MPs from all parties to discuss the important issues raised by one or more petitions, and put their concerns to Government Ministers.

    Petition debates don’t end with a vote to implement the request of a petition. This means that MPs will not vote on the issues raised in the petition at the end of the debate.

    The Petitions Committee can only schedule debates on petitions to parliament started on petition.parliament.uk

    Find out more about how petition debates work: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/content/194347/how-petitions-debates-work/

    Stay up-to-date
    Follow the Committee on Twitter for real-time updates on its work: https://www.twitter.com/hocpetitions

    Thumbnail image ©UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vwk9YTWQpQ

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch: “We need an Attorney General who will share my shock in a President acting in such a lawless way.”

    US Senate News:

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

    Before voting NO on Bondi’s nomination for Attorney General, Welch took to the Senate Floor to urge his colleagues to stand up against Trump’s illegal power grab
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took to the Senate Floor late last night before voting against Pam Bondi’s nomination for Attorney General of the United States. Senator Welch cited President Trump’s lawlessness, and Ms. Bondi’s unwillingness to stand up against President Trump and preserve an independent Department of Justice. He called on his colleagues to  stop enabling Trump’s illegal and cruel overreach of his authority.  
    Watch more here:  

    Senator Welch’s Committee and Subcommittee Assignments for the 119th Congress include:   
    Senate Committee on Finance 
    Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry   

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

    Senate Committee on the Judiciary   

    Ranking Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution   

    Senate Committee on Rules & Administration  
    Senator Peter Welch has spent the bulk of his life working to improve the lives of folks who too often get left behind. After fighting housing discrimination in Chicago, he enrolled in law school at the UC-Berkeley, and later settled in White River Junction, Vermont, where he worked as a public defender before founding a small law practice. He was first elected to represent Windsor County in the Vermont Senate in 1980. Senator Welch was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served for 16 years before being elected to the Senate in 2022. In the Senate, he’s focused on lowering costs for Vermonters, making Washington work better for Vermont, and protecting civil rights and democracy in America and abroad.   

    MIL OSI USA News –