Category: Politics

MIL-OSI: Imperial Petroleum Inc. Reports First Quarter 2025 Financial and Operating Results

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

ATHENS, Greece, May 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. (NASDAQ: IMPP; the “Company”), a ship-owning company providing petroleum products, crude oil and dry bulk seaborne transportation services, announced today its unaudited financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.

OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Fleet operational utilization of 83.8% in Q1 25’ versus 86% in Q4 24’ and 80.6% in Q1 24’.
About 47% of fleet calendar days were dedicated to time charter activity while 53% to spot activity.
Delivery of the dry bulk carrier, Supra Pasha (2012 built) on April 26th 2025; the remaining six contracted dry bulk carriers will be delivered by June 2025.
Revenues of $32.1 million in Q1 25’ compared to $41.2 million in Q1 24’- a 22.1% decline as market rates were stronger during Q1 24’.
Net income of $11.3 million in Q1 25’ versus $16.7 million in Q1 24’, corresponding to an EPS, basic of $0.32.
EBITDA¹ of $14.7 million for Q1 25’.
Revenues and net income increased by $5.9 million (or 22.5%) and $7.4 million (or 189.7%), respectively, in Q1 25’ compared to Q4 24’.
Cash and cash equivalents including time deposits of $227.4 million as of March 31, 2025 which is 167.5% higher than our current market capitalization of about $85 million.
Recurring profitability and debt free capital structure facilitate robust cash flow generation.

First Quarter 2025 Results:

Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2025 amounted to $32.1 million, a decrease of $9.1 million, or 22.1%, compared to revenues of $41.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, primarily due to a decrease in the spot market tanker rates. During the three months ended March 31, 2024 average spot rates for product and suezmax tankers were 26.9% and 24.2% higher than average spot rates during the three months ended March 31, 2025.
Voyage expenses and vessels’ operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2025 were $10.5 million and $7.1 million, respectively, compared to $13.5 million and $6.0 million, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2024. The $3.0 million decrease in voyage expenses is mainly attributed to increased time charter activity leading to a decline in spot days by 16.1%. The decline in spot days along with the decrease in the Suez Canal transits compared to the same period of last year, led to decreased bunker consumption by 21.2% and lower port expenses by 30.8%. The $1.1 million increase in vessels’ operating expenses is primarily due to the increased size of our fleet by an average of 2.1 vessels between the two periods.
Drydocking costs for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 were nil and $0.6 million, respectively. This decrease is due to the fact that during the three months ended March 31, 2025, no vessel underwent drydocking whereas during the three months ended March 31, 2024 our aframax tanker commenced its drydocking which was concluded within April 2024.
General and administrative costs for both the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 were $1.2 million.
Depreciation for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 was $5.0 million and $4.0 million, respectively. The change is attributable to the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet.
Management fees for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 were $0.5 million and $0.4 million, respectively. The change is attributable to the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet.
Interest and finance costs for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 were $0.6 million and $0.002 million, respectively. The $0.6 million of costs for the three months ended March 31, 2025 relate mainly to accrued interest expense – related party in connection with the $14.0 million and $24.0 million part of the acquisition prices of our bulk carriers, Neptulus and Clean Imperial, respectively. These balances were completely settled in April 2025. For accounting purposes, the outstanding balances payable on the two vessels were required to be allocated between principal and imputed interest, despite the fact that no interest was contractually charged by the sellers. The total amounts ultimately paid remained consistent with the originally agreed purchase prices.
Interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was $2.2 million as compared to $1.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. The $1.2 million increase is mainly attributed to a higher amount of funds placed under time deposits.
Interest income – related party for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was nil as compared to $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. The decrease is mainly attributed to the $0.8 million of accrued interest income – related party for the three months ended March 31, 2024 in connection with the $38.7 million of the sale price of the Aframax tanker Afrapearl II (ex. Stealth Berana). The balance was collected in July 2024, thus the balance for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was nil.
Foreign exchange (loss)/gain for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was a gain of $1.7 million as compared to a loss of $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. The $1.7 million foreign exchange gain for the three months ended March 31, 2025, is mainly attributed the strengthening of the euro currency against the dollar at the end of the three months ended March 31, 2025 when compared to the respective currency values at the end of year 2024.
As a result of the above, for the three months ended March 31, 2025, the Company reported net income of $11.3 million, compared to net income of $16.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. Dividends paid on Series A Preferred Shares amounted to $0.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding, basic, for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was 32.9 million. Earnings per share, basic and diluted, for the three months ended March 31, 2025 amounted to $0.32 and $0.30, respectively, compared to earnings per share, basic and diluted, of $0.56 and $0.50, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2024.
Adjusted net income¹ was $12.2 million corresponding to an Adjusted EPS¹, basic of $0.34 for the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to an Adjusted net income of $17.5 million corresponding to an Adjusted EPS, basic, of $0.59 for the same period of last year.
EBITDA¹ for the three months ended March 31, 2025 amounted to $14.7 million, while Adjusted EBITDA¹ for the three months ended March 31, 2025 amounted to $15.6 million.
An average of 11.90 vessels were owned by the Company during the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to 9.84 vessels for the same period of 2024.

¹ EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS are non-GAAP measures. Refer to the reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable financial measure in accordance with GAAP set forth later in this release. Reconciliations of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income are set forth below.

Fleet Employment Table

As of May 23, 2025, the profile and deployment of our fleet is the following:


Name	Year Built	Country Built	Vessel Size (dwt)	Vessel Type	Employment Status	Expiration of Charter(1)
*Tankers*
Magic Wand	2008	Korea	47,000	MR product tanker	Time Charter	October 2025
Clean Thrasher	2008	Korea	47,000	MR product tanker	Time Charter	May 2025
Clean Sanctuary (ex. Falcon Maryam)	2009	Korea	46,000	MR product tanker	Spot
Clean Nirvana	2008	Korea	50,000	MR product tanker	Spot
Clean Justice	2011	Japan	46,000	MR product tanker	Time Charter	September 2027
Aquadisiac	2008	Korea	51,000	MR product tanker	Spot
Clean Imperial	2009	Korea	40,000	MR product tanker	Time Charter	January 2026
Suez Enchanted	2007	Korea	160,000	Suezmax tanker	Spot
Suez Protopia	2008	Korea	160,000	Suezmax tanker	Spot
*Drybulk Carriers(2)*
Eco Wildfire	2013	Japan	33,000	Handysize drybulk	Time Charter	May 2025
Glorieuse	2012	Japan	38,000	Handysize drybulk	Time Charter	June 2025
Neptulus	2012	Japan	33,000	Handysize drybulk	Time Charter	June 2025
Supra Pasha	2012	Japan	56,000	Supramax drybulk	Spot
Fleet Total			807,000 dwt

(1) (2)	Earliest date charters could expire. We have contracted to acquire six Japanese built drybulk carriers, aggregating approximately 387,000 dwt, which are expected to be delivered to us by June 2025.

CEO Harry Vafias Commented

Another year commenced with a positive momentum for Imperial Petroleum. We are happy as we consider the $11.3 million of net income generated in Q1 25’ a very good result given the eventful but softish market. This is a busy period for our Company but at the same time exciting as we are taking on delivery of another six drybulk vessels. Within the short life of Imperial Petroleum, we are expanding our fleet from four vessels to nineteen by the second quarter of 2025; our goal of growing fast and transforming a small company to medium sized was achieved. We feel confident that the diversified quality non- Chinese fleet we have created will pay off. Imperial Petroleum enjoys fast growth, recurring profits, zero bank debt and liquidity as of March 31, 2025 in excess of $220 million and as per our view ticks all the boxes that define a successful operation.

Conference Call details:

On May 23, 2025 at 10:00 am ET, the company’s management will host a conference call to discuss the results and the company’s operations and outlook.

Online Registration:

Conference call participants should pre-register using the below link to receive the dial-in numbers and a personal PIN, which are required to access the conference call.

https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIaef045aa9f5b46a7b5e8eb48c2e56115

Slides and audio webcast:

There will also be a live and then archived webcast of the conference call, through the IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. website (www.ImperialPetro.com). Participants to the live webcast should register on the website approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the webcast.

About IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC.

IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. is a ship-owning company providing petroleum products, crude oil and drybulk seaborne transportation services. The Company owns a total of thirteen vessels on the water – seven M.R. product tankers, two suezmax tankers and four handysize drybulk carriers – with a total capacity of 807,000 deadweight tons (dwt), and has contracted to acquire an additional six drybulk carriers of 387,000 dwt aggregate capacity. Following these deliveries, the Company’s fleet will count a total of 19 vessels with an aggregate capacity of 1.2 million dwt. IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC.’s shares of common stock and 8.75% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market and trade under the symbols “IMPP” and “IMPPP,” respectively.

Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance and may include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, management’s examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, geopolitical conditions, including any trade disruptions resulting from tariffs and other protectionist measures imposed by the United States or other countries, general market conditions, including changes in charter hire rates and vessel values, charter counterparty performance, changes in demand that may affect attitudes of time charterers to scheduled and unscheduled drydockings, changes in IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC’s operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, ability to obtain financing and comply with covenants in our financing arrangements, actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, domestic and international political conditions, the conflict in Ukraine and related sanctions, the conflicts in the Middle East, potential disruption of shipping routes due to ongoing attacks by Houthis in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden or accidents and political events or acts by terrorists.

Risks and uncertainties are further described in reports filed by IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fleet List and Fleet Deployment
For information on our fleet and further information:
Visit our website at www.ImperialPetro.com

Company Contact:
Fenia Sakellaris
IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC.
E-mail: info@ImperialPetro.com

Fleet Data:
The following key indicators highlight the Company’s operating performance during the three month periods ended March 31, 2024 and 2025.

FLEET DATA	Q1 2024	Q1 2025
Average number of vessels (1)	9.84	11.90
Period end number of owned vessels in fleet	11	12
Total calendar days for fleet (2)	895	1,071
Total voyage days for fleet (3)	878	1,067
Fleet utilization (4)	98.1%	99.6%
Total charter days for fleet (5)	207	504
Total spot market days for fleet (6)	671	563
Fleet operational utilization (7)	80.6%	83.8%

1) Average number of vessels is the number of owned vessels that constituted our fleet for the relevant period, as measured by the sum of the number of days each vessel was a part of our fleet during the period divided by the number of calendar days in that period.
2) Total calendar days for fleet are the total days the vessels we operated were in our possession for the relevant period including off-hire days associated with major repairs, drydockings or special or intermediate surveys.
3) Total voyage days for fleet reflect the total days the vessels we operated were in our possession for the relevant period net of off-hire days associated with major repairs, drydockings or special or intermediate surveys.
4) Fleet utilization is the percentage of time that our vessels were available for revenue generating voyage days, and is determined by dividing voyage days by fleet calendar days for the relevant period.
5) Total charter days for fleet are the number of voyage days the vessels operated on time or bareboat charters for the relevant period.
6) Total spot market charter days for fleet are the number of voyage days the vessels operated on spot market charters for the relevant period.
7) Fleet operational utilization is the percentage of time that our vessels generated revenue, and is determined by dividing voyage days excluding idle days by fleet calendar days for the relevant period.

Reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS:

Adjusted net income represents net income before share based compensation. EBITDA represents net income before interest and finance costs, interest income and depreciation. Adjusted EBITDA represents net income before interest and finance costs, interest income, depreciation and share based compensation.
Adjusted EPS represents Adjusted net income attributable to common shareholders divided by the weighted average number of shares. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are not recognized measurements under U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS may not be comparable to that reported by other companies in the shipping or other industries. In evaluating Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted net income and Adjusted EPS, you should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation.

EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are included herein because they are a basis, upon which we and our investors assess our financial performance. They allow us to present our performance from period to period on a comparable basis and provide investors with a means of better evaluating and understanding our operating performance.

(Expressed in United States Dollars, except number of shares)	Third Quarter Ended March 31st,
	2024	2025
Net Income – Adjusted Net Income
Net income	16,654,604	11,290,986
Plus share based compensation	858,810	889,076
Adjusted Net Income	17,513,414	12,180,062

Net income – EBITDA
Net income	16,654,604	11,290,986
Plus interest and finance costs	2,430	606,383
Less interest income	(1,785,878)	(2,184,394)
Plus depreciation	4,027,061	5,002,837
EBITDA	18,898,217	14,715,812

Net income – Adjusted EBITDA
Net income	16,654,604	11,290,986
Plus share based compensation	858,810	889,076
Plus interest and finance costs	2,430	606,383
Less interest income	(1,785,878)	(2,184,394)
Plus depreciation	4,027,061	5,002,837
Adjusted EBITDA	19,757,027	15,604,888

EPS
Numerator
Net income	16,654,604	11,290,986
Less: Cumulative dividends on preferred shares	(435,246)	(435,246)
Less: Undistributed earnings allocated to non-vested shares	(856,950)	(453,265)
Net income attributable to common shareholders, basic	15,362,408	10,402,475
Denominator
Weighted average number of shares	27,613,661	32,944,925
EPS – Basic	0.56	0.32

Adjusted EPS
Numerator
Adjusted net income	17,513,414	12,180,062
Less: Cumulative dividends on preferred shares	(435,246)	(435,246)
Less: Undistributed earnings allocated to non-vested shares	(902,326)	(490,387)
Adjusted net income attributable to common shareholders, basic	16,175,842	11,254,429

Denominator
Weighted average number of shares	27,613,661	32,944,925
Adjusted EPS, Basic	0.59	0.34

Imperial Petroleum Inc.
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Income
(Expressed in United States Dollars, except for number of shares)

		Quarters Ended March 31,
		2024	2025

Revenues
	Revenues	41,203,281	32,091,626

Expenses
	Voyage expenses	12,963,607	10,054,114
	Voyage expenses – related party	514,414	401,753
	Vessels’ operating expenses	5,951,561	7,021,928
	Vessels’ operating expenses – related party	82,000	98,500
	Drydocking costs	625,457	—
	Management fees – related party	393,800	471,240
	General and administrative expenses	1,207,168	1,217,977
	Depreciation	4,027,061	5,002,837
Total expenses		25,765,068	24,268,349

Income from operations		15,438,213	7,823,277

Other (expenses)/income
	Interest and finance costs	(2,430)	(3,607)
	Interest expense – related party	—	(602,776)
	Interest income	1,035,261	2,184,394
	Interest income – related party	750,617	—
	Dividend income from related party	189,583	187,500
	Foreign exchange (loss)/gain	(756,640)	1,702,198
Other income, net		1,216,391	3,467,709

Net Income		16,654,604	11,290,986

Earnings per share
– Basic		0.56	0.32
– Diluted		0.50	0.30

Weighted average number of shares
-Basic		27,613,661	32,944,925
-Diluted		30,951,012	34,258,803

Imperial Petroleum Inc.
Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Expressed in United States Dollars)

		December 31,	March 31,
		2024	2025

Assets
Current assets
	Cash and cash equivalents	67,783,531	126,520,450
	Time deposits	138,948,481	100,900,500
	Trade and other receivables	13,456,083	8,772,549
	Other current assets	652,769	67,374
	Inventories	7,306,356	6,705,115
	Advances and prepayments	250,562	209,858
Total current assets		228,397,782	243,175,846

Non current assets
	Operating lease right-of-use asset	78,761	60,239
	Vessels, net	208,230,018	227,015,031
	Investment in related party	12,798,500	12,794,333
Total non current assets		221,107,279	239,869,603
Total assets		449,505,061	483,045,449

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Current liabilities
	Trade accounts payable	5,243,872	5,923,098
	Payable to related parties	18,725,514	39,232,604
	Accrued liabilities	3,370,020	3,604,467
	Operating lease liability, current portion	1,419,226	60,239
	Deferred income	78,761	1,812,557
Total current liabilities		28,837,393	50,632,965

Total liabilities		28,837,393	50,632,965

Commitments and contingencies

Stockholders’ equity
	Common stock	382,755	386,671
	Preferred Stock, Series A	7,959	7,959
	Preferred Stock, Series B	160	160
	Treasury stock	(8,390,225)	(8,390,225)
	Additional paid-in capital	282,642,357	283,527,517
	Retained earnings	146,024,662	156,880,402
Total stockholders’ equity		420,667,668	432,412,484
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity		449,505,061	483,045,449

Imperial Petroleum Inc.
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Expressed in United States Dollars

		Three Month Periods Ended March 31,
		2024	2025

Cash flows from operating activities
	Net income for the period	16,654,604	11,290,986

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash
provided by operating activities:
	Depreciation	4,027,061	5,002,837
	Non – cash lease expense	17,550	18,522
	Share based compensation	858,810	889,076
	Unrealized foreign exchange loss/(gain) on time deposits	799,150	(358,420)
	Dividend income from related party	(189,583)	—

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
	(Increase)/decrease in
	Trade and other receivables	(3,249,129)	4,683,534
	Other current assets	(532,029)	585,395
	Inventories	(574,256)	601,241
	Changes in operating lease liabilities	(17,550)	(18,522)
	Advances and prepayments	(45,536)	40,704
	Due from related parties	(879,732)	4,167
	Increase/(decrease) in
	Trade accounts payable	(1,100,028)	679,226
	Due to related parties	2,839,227	(3,369,040)
	Accrued liabilities	903,784	234,447
	Deferred income	(869,166)	393,331
Net cash provided by operating activities		18,643,177	20,677,484

Cash flows from investing activities
	Dividends income received	191,667	—
	Acquisition and improvement of vessels	(72,257,190)	(4,350)
	Increase in bank time deposits	(31,695,420)	(57,958,390)
	Maturity of bank time deposits	31,368,080	96,364,791
Net cash (used in)/provided by investing activities		(72,392,863)	38,402,051

Cash flows from financing activities
	Stock issuance costs	(2,504,498)	—
	Dividends paid on preferred shares	(341,947)	(342,616)
Net cash used in financing activities		(2,846,445)	(342,616)

Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents		(56,596,131)	58,736,919
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		91,927,512	67,783,531
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		35,331,381	126,520,450
Cash breakdown
	Cash and cash equivalents	35,331,381	126,520,450
Total cash and cash equivalents shown in the statements of cash flows		35,331,381	126,520,450

The MIL Network –

May 27, 2025

MIL-OSI: Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. Announces Voting Results From Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

CALGARY, Alberta, May 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. (TSX – PEY) (“Peyto“) is pleased to announce that the nominees listed in the information circular – proxy statement dated April 2, 2025 were elected as directors of Peyto at Peyto’s annual and special meeting of shareholders (the “Meeting“) held on May 22, 2025. The detailed results of the votes for the election of directors, the appointment of auditors, the advisory vote on executive compensation and approval of the total shareholder return rights plan held at the Meeting are set out below.

Election of Directors

On a vote by ballot, each of the following nine nominees proposed by management was elected as a director of Peyto:

Nominee	Outcome of Vote	Votes For	Votes Withheld
Donald Gray	Elected	86,197,115	9,670,104
Michael MacBean	Elected	91,436,025	4,431,195
Brian Davis	Elected	93,801,543	2,065,676
Darren Gee	Elected	93,274,345	2,592,875
Jean-Paul Lachance	Elected	94,383,235	1,483,984
Jocelyn McMinn	Elected	89,376,549	6,490,671
John W. Rossall	Elected	95,416,660	450,559
Debra Gerlach	Elected	94,478,939	1,388,281
Nicki Stevens	Elected	92,357,435	3,509,784

Appointment of Auditors

By ordinary resolution passed via ballot, Deloitte LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, were appointed as auditors of Peyto until the next annual meeting or until their successors are duly appointed, and the directors were authorized to fix their remuneration. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Votes For	Percent (%)	Votes Withheld	Percent (%)
95,603,268	95.11%	4,910,425	4.89%

Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation

By ordinary resolution passed via ballot, the non-binding advisory resolution concerning Peyto’s approach to executive compensation was approved. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Votes For	Percent (%)	Votes Against	Percent (%)
89,147,761	92.99%	6,719,458	7.01%

Approval of the Total Shareholder Return Rights Plan

By ordinary resolution passed via ballot, Peyto’s total shareholder return rights plan was ratified and approved. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Votes For	Percent (%)	Votes Against	Percent (%)
90,874,189	94.79%	4,993,029	5.21%

For further information please contact:

Jean-Paul Lachance
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (403) 451-4111
Fax: (403) 451-4100

The MIL Network –

May 27, 2025

MIL-OSI Security: ATF Updates National Policy on Federal Firearm Licensee Inspections To Promote Fairness, Consistency, and Public Safety
Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives today issued an updated national policy for administrative actions related to compliance inspections of federal firearms licensees. The guidance promotes clear, consistent and fact-based decisions that uphold ATF’s commitment to public safety and respect for Second Amendment rights.

The policy replaces the 2021 Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement policy, also known as the “zero-tolerance” policy. It directs industry operations investigators to consider all circumstances of an inspection rather than applying automatic outcomes, ensuring ATF uses its regulatory authority fairly and effectively.

“This update is about getting it right and making sure we’re focused on public safety,” ATF Acting Director Daniel Driscoll said. “Under the previous policy, some licensees were being penalized for simple mistakes such as, forgetting to put their license number on forms. This new guidance gives our investigators the discretion to tell the difference between an honest mistake and a real threat to public safety. Law-abiding dealers deserve a system that treats them fairly, not like suspects. They are our partners and the first line of defense in our efforts to combat firearms trafficking.”

The policy provides investigators and field leadership clearer guidelines for evaluating violations, weighing mitigating and aggravating factors, and determining the proper response—from education and warnings to administrative actions. Decisions must factor in whether licensees self-reported issues, implemented corrective actions, or present a continuing threat to public safety.

These updates support the administration’s efforts to increase transparency and public confidence in government oversight, reaffirming ATF’s commitment to accountability and legitimate business practices.

Key points of the updated policy
- Context-driven enforcement: Serious, willful violations may lead to administrative action, while minor or clerical errors may be addressed with education or warnings.
- No automatic revocation: Removes the prior policy’s presumption of license revocation, instead considering intent, compliance history and public-safety risks.
- Stronger public-safety focus: Investigators must evaluate whether continued operations pose a public-safety threat or contribute to violent crime, and whether the licensee demonstrates the ability to comply moving forward.
- Clear legal standards and timelines: Defines key terms such as “willful” and “knowing” and establishes uniform timelines for reviews, actions and coordination.
- Support for lawful industry engagement: ATF continues early intervention and collaboration with responsible licensees, while firmly addressing repeat or serious violations.
ATF conducts compliance inspections as part of its mission to ensure firearms are sold, transferred and documented in accordance with federal law. The revised policy ensures inspections are fair, consistent and focused on reducing violent crime while protecting the rights of responsible gun owners.

Compliance inspections also support ATF’s broader efforts to combat firearms trafficking. By examining dealer records and business practices, industry operations investigators can identify suspicious patterns—such as straw purchases or missing inventory—that may indicate firearms are being diverted into illegal markets. These findings assist in criminal investigations and help reduce violent crime by preventing guns from falling into the wrong hands.

ATF is the federal law enforcement agency responsible for regulating the firearm industry and enforcing laws related to firearms and violent crime. For more information, visit atf.gov or follow @ATFHQ on X.

Contact: ATF Public Affairs Division, Liaison2@atf.gov

MIL Security OSI –
May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Premier Going to France for More Trade Talks
Source: Government of Canada regional news

Premier Tim Houston will be in France May 24-29 to discuss market and energy opportunities with Michelin Group.

“Michelin is one of Nova Scotia’s largest employers. They know that Nova Scotia can provide the talent they need to reach their goals, and they already provide jobs to thousands of hard-working Nova Scotians,” said Premier Houston. “As a government, we are pro-business, and we know that Nova Scotia has so much to offer companies that want to innovate and grow. Working together, we can create economic opportunities that make Nova Scotia stronger and more prosperous.”

Michelin has produced more than 230 million tires in the province since 1971 and is part of Nova Scotia’s advanced manufacturing sector that exports products around the world, to more than 150 countries.

Advanced manufacturing represents $4.67 billion of exported goods and 7.6 per cent of total provincial gross domestic product. Nova Scotia’s manufacturing infrastructure connectivity and logistics facilities make it the ideal choice for servicing Europe and North America.

The Province is currently developing a comprehensive trade action plan to facilitate internal trade, enhance productivity and drive critical sectors with input from businesses and industry. Nova Scotia is focused on making the province more self-reliant by investing in the seafood sector, wind resources and critical minerals.

Quick Facts:
- Michelin is one of Nova Scotia’s largest employers with nearly 4,000 direct employees
- the company’s exports account for nearly one per cent of Nova Scotia’s gross domestic product
- mission delegates are: Premier Houston; Nicole LaFosse Parker, Chief of Staff and General Counsel; Executive Deputy Minister Tracey Taweel; and Mike McMurray, Executive Director, International Relations and Military Relations
Additional Resources:

News release – Premier Heads to Spain, United Kingdom for Trade Mission: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2025/05/02/premier-heads-spain-united-kingdom-trade-mission

News release – Michelin Expands in Nova Scotia with Provincial Support: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2023/03/14/michelin-expands-nova-scotia-provincial-support

Michelin’s strategic plan for 2030, Michelin in Motion: https://www.michelin.com/en/group/michelin-in-motion-strategy

Other than cropping, Province of Nova Scotia photos are not to be altered in any way.

MIL OSI Canada News –
May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NCDHHS Emphasizes Summer Safety Practices as Temperatures Rise Across North Carolina
Source: US State of North Carolina

Headline: NCDHHS Emphasizes Summer Safety Practices as Temperatures Rise Across North Carolina

NCDHHS Emphasizes Summer Safety Practices as Temperatures Rise Across North Carolina
jawerner
Thu, 05/22/2025 – 13:54
As summer approaches, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is reminding residents to take simple, proactive steps to enjoy outdoor activities safely. With the arrival of warmer weather, NCDHHS is highlighting key tips on water safety, heat protection and food safety to help prevent illness, injury and death.

May is National Water Safety Month, and a timely reminder that drowning remains the leading cause of death for children ages one through four, but it is preventable.

“Every North Carolinian deserves to enjoy the summer season without risk to their health or safety,” said Dr. Kelly Kimple, Interim State Health Director and NCDHHS Chief Medical Officer. “By taking small, thoughtful actions — like supervising children near water, staying cool during extreme heat and practicing safe grilling — we can all stay safe this summer.”

Water Safety: Preventing Tragedy Before It Happens

As families head to pools, lakes and beaches, NCDHHS urges everyone to keep these water safety practices in mind:
- Actively Supervise: Drowning can happen silently and in seconds. Always keep a close eye on children near water.
- Secure Pool Areas: Keep gates and doors closed and locked. Remove pool ladders when not in use.
- Know the Water: Be aware of currents, depth changes and undertows at beaches, lakes and rivers.
- Stay Healthy: Don’t swim when ill with diarrhea to prevent spreading germs.
- Check Water Quality: Ensure pools are properly disinfected. Local health departments routinely inspect public pools, spas and splash pads.
- Be Cautious in All Recreational Waters: Lakes and rivers may carry bacteria or harmful algae blooms. Check advisories before swimming.
Heat Safety: Protecting Against Rising Temperatures

According to the North Carolina Climate Science Update, the state continues to experience an increasing number of extreme heat days — those reaching 95 degrees or higher. From May through September 2024, North Carolina recorded over 4,600 emergency department visits for heat-related illness.

NCDHHS encourages all residents to:
- Watch for Symptoms: Nausea, dizziness, headache, confusion or a rapid pulse could indicate heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
- Hydrate and Cool Down: Move to a cooler area, sip water slowly and seek medical help if symptoms persist.
- Know Who’s at Risk: Children, older adults, pregnant individuals, outdoor workers, athletes and those without air conditioning are most vulnerable.
To stay informed, sign up for the NCDHHS Heat Health Alert System on the NC Climate and Health team webpage.

Grill Smart: Avoid Foodborne Illness This Summer

Summer gatherings often mean grilling and increased risk for foodborne illness. The majority of reported foodborne outbreaks in North Carolina occur between May and August.

Stay safe with these grilling guidelines:
- Wash Up: Scrub hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food.
- Separate Raw and Cooked Foods: Prevent cross-contamination by keeping raw meats apart from other foods.
- Cook to Safe Temperatures: Use a food thermometer to ensure meats reach the correct internal temperature.
- Store Leftovers Promptly: Refrigerate or freeze within two hours; consume within three to four days.
- Clean the Grill: Sanitize surfaces and utensils before and after each use.
For more information on healthy swimming practices, visit the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Swimming page, and for tips on safe grilling, visit Safe Grilling Tips. The CDC also has guidance for heat-related illness prevention. More summer safety tips are also available on the NCDHHS Division of Public Health website.

A medida que se acerca el verano, el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte les recuerda a los habitantes que tomen medidas simples y proactivas para disfrutar las actividades al aire libre de manera segura. Con la llegada del clima más cálido, NCDHHS está destacando consejos clave sobre seguridad del agua, protección contra el calor y seguridad alimentaria para ayudar a prevenir enfermedades, lesiones y muertes.

Mayo es el Mes Nacional de la Seguridad del Agua y es un recordatorio oportuno de que el ahogamiento sigue siendo la principal causa de muerte entre los niños de uno a cuatro años, pero se puede prevenir.

“Todos los habitantes de Carolina del Norte merecen disfrutar de la temporada de verano sin riesgo para su salud o seguridad”, dijo la Dra. Kelly Kimple, Directora de Salud Estatal Interina y Directora Médica de NCDHHS. “Al tomar medidas pequeñas y reflexivas, como supervisar a los niños cerca del agua, mantener la calma durante el calor extremo, y asar a la parrilla con cuidado, todos podemos estar seguros este verano”.

Seguridad del agua: prevenir la tragedia antes de que suceda

Mientras las familias se dirigen a piscinas, lagos y playas, NCDHHS anima a todos a tener en cuenta estas prácticas de seguridad en el agua:
- Supervisar activamente: El ahogamiento puede ocurrir en silencio y en segundos. Vigile siempre de cerca a los niños cerca del agua.
- Asegure las areas de la piscina: Mantenga las puertas y portones cerrados con llave. Retire las escaleras de la piscina cuando no esté en uso.
- Conozca el agua: Esté atento a las corrientes, cambios de profundidad y resacas en playas, lagos y ríos.
- Manténgase saludable: No nade cuando esté enfermo con diarrea para evitar la propagación de gérmenes.
- Compruebe la calidad del agua: asegúrese de que las piscinas estén desinfectadas correctamente. Los departamentos de salud locales inspeccionan rutinariamente las piscinas públicas, los spas y las áreas de chapoteo.
- Tenga cuidado en todas las aguas recreativas: Los lagos y ríos pueden transportar bacterias o proliferacion de algas dañinas. Consulte las advertencias antes de nadar.
Seguridad contra el calor extremo: protección contra el aumento de la temperatura

De acuerdo con la Actualización de la ciencia climática de Carolina del Norte, el estado continúa experimentando un número creciente de días de calor extremo, aquellos que alcanzan los 95 grados o más. Desde mayo a septiembre de 2024, Carolina del Norte registró más de 4600 visitas al departamento de emergencias por enfermedades relacionadas con el calor.

NCDHHS anima a todos los habitantes a:
- Estar atento a los síntomas: Las náuseas, los mareos, el dolor de cabeza, la confusión o un pulso rápido podrían indicar agotamiento por calor o golpe de calor.
- Hidratarse y refrescarse: Muévase a un área más fresca, beba agua lentamente y busque ayuda médica si los síntomas persisten.
- Saber quién está en riesgo: Los niños, los adultos mayores, las personas embarazadas, los trabajadores al aire libre, los atletas y los que no tienen aire acondicionado son los más vulnerables.
Para mantenerse informado, regístrese en el Sistema de Alerta de Salud por Calor de NCDHHS en la página web del equipo de Clima y Salud de NC.

Haga parrillada inteligentemente: evite las enfermedades transmitidas por los alimentos este verano

Las reuniones de verano a menudo significan asar a la parrilla y un mayor riesgo de enfermedades transmitidas por los alimentos. La mayoría de los brotes transmitidos por alimentos reportados en Carolina del Norte ocurren entre mayo y agosto.

Manténgase seguro con estas pautas para asar a la parrilla:
- Lavarse: Frote las manos con agua y jabón durante al menos 20 segundos antes y después de tocar los alimentos.
- Separar los alimentos crudos y cocidos: evite la contaminación cruzada manteniendo las carnes crudas separadas de otros alimentos.
- Cocinar a temperaturas seguras: Use un termómetro de alimentos para asegurarse de que las carnes alcancen la temperatura interna correcta.
- Almacenar las sobras rápidamente: Refrigerar o congelar en dos horas; consumir en tres o cuatro días.
- Limpiar la parrilla: Desinfectar las superficies y los utensilios antes y después de cada uso.
Para obtener más información sobre prácticas de natación saludables, visite la página web de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés) Natación saludable, y para obtener consejos sobre hacer una parrillada segura, visite Consejos sobre la parrillada segura. Los CDC también tienen una guía para la prevención de enfermedades relacionadas con el calor. También hay más consejos de seguridad de verano disponibles en el sitio web de la División de Salud Pública de NCDHHS.
May 23, 2025

MIL OSI USA News –
May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Georgian National Extradited from Moldova to Face Charges for Soliciting Hate Crimes and Planning Mass Casualty Attack in New York City

Source: US State of California

Leader of White Supremacist Group ‘Maniac Murder Cult’ Recruited Others to Bomb and Poison the Jewish Community and Racial Minorities

Defendant Allegedly Planned Scheme to Distribute Poisoned Candy on New Year’s Eve

Georgian national Michail Chkhikvishvili, also known as Mishka, Michael, Commander Butcher, and Butcher, 21, of Tbilisi, was extradited to the United States from Moldova on May 22, and will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn today. Chkhikvishvili was arrested in Chișinău, Moldova, in July 2024 in connection with a four-count indictment returned in the Eastern District of New York charging him with soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence in New York City.

According to court documents, Chkhikvishvili is a leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, also known as Maniacs Murder Cult, Maniacs: Cult of Killing, MKY, MMC and MKU, an international racially-motivated violent extremist group. As alleged in the indictment, Chkhikvishvili recruited people to commit violent acts in furtherance of MKY’s ideologies, including planning and soliciting a mass casualty attack in New York City.

“This case is a stark reminder of the kind of terrorism we face today: online networks plotting unspeakable acts of violence against children, families, and the Jewish community in pursuit of a depraved, extremist ideology,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate hate-fueled violence, and we will pursue those who threaten innocent lives wherever they may be.”

“The defendant is accused of recruiting others to kill Jewish people, kill racial minorities, and of providing instructions on how to commit other lethal attacks — even targeting children around the holidays by poisoning candy,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “These allegations are despicable, and thanks to the work and partnership of the FBI and the authorities in Moldova, Michail Chkhikvishvili has been brought to the United States to face charges in our justice system.”

“As alleged, the defendant, a white supremacist, recruited others to participate in a violent campaign of hatred against racial minorities and the Jewish community and to engage in the mass killing of children and others in these communities using poison, suicide bombs, firearms, arson fires, and vehicle explosions. Today’s extradition is a giant step forward in holding the defendant accountable for his unspeakably reprehensible and vile efforts to spread fear, chaos, and hate,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York. “Protecting our homeland, city, district, and country from violent extremists will always be one of the top priorities of the Justice Department and my office.”

Chkhikvishvili’s MKY adheres to a neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems “undesirables.” MKY members share a common goal of challenging social order and governments via terrorism and violent acts that promote fear and chaos. MKY has members in the United States and abroad.

Since approximately September 2021, Chkhikvishvili has distributed a manifesto titled the “Hater’s Handbook” to MKY members and others. The Hater’s Handbook encourages people to commit acts of mass violence. In the Hater’s Handbook, Chkhikvishvili states that he has “murdered for the white race” and encourages and instructs others to commit acts of mass violence and “ethnic cleansing.” For example, the Hater’s Handbook encourages its readers to commit school shootings and to use children to perpetrate suicide bombings and other mass killings targeting racial minorities. The Hater’s Handbook describes methods and strategies for committing mass “terror attacks,” including, for example, using vehicles to target “large outdoor festivals, conventions, celebrations and parades” and “pedestrian congested streets.” The Hater’s Handbook specifically encourages committing attacks within the United States.

In June 2022, Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn. As alleged, beginning at least as early as July 2022, Chkhikvishvili repeatedly encouraged others, primarily via the encryption-enabled mobile messaging platform Telegram, to commit violent hate crimes and other acts of violence on behalf of MKY. This included conspiring to solicit violent acts with the leader of a separate violent extremist neo-Nazi group, and soliciting acts of mass violence in New York from an individual who claimed to be a prospective MKY recruit, but who, unbeknownst to Chkhikvishvili, was actually an undercover FBI employee (the UC).

In a September 2023 conversation, the UC messaged Chkhikvishvili asking whether there was an application process to join MKY. The defendant responded, “we ask people for brutal beating, arson/explosion or murder vids on camera.” Chkhikvishvili further stated that “[p]oisoning and arson are best options for murder,” and suggested also considering a larger “mass murder[]” within the United States. Chkhikvishvili advised the UC that the victims of these acts should be “low race targets.”

Beginning in approximately November 2023, Chkhikvishvili solicited the UC to commit violent crimes, such as bombings and arsons, for the purpose of harming racial minorities, Jewish individuals and others. Chkhikvishvili provided detailed plans and materials such as bomb-making instructions and guidance on making Molotov cocktails to facilitate carrying out these crimes. In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a mass casualty attack in New York City to take place on New Year’s Eve. The scheme involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities.

In January, the scheme evolved and Chkhikvishvili specifically directed the UC to target the Jewish community, Jewish schools, and Jewish children in Brooklyn with poison. Chkhikvishvili drafted step-by-step instructions to carry out the scheme and shared detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases with the UC. He also instructed the UC on methods of making ricin-based poisons in powder and liquid form, including by extracting ricin from castor beans. Chkhikvishvili sent materials linked to radical Islamist jihadist groups and designated foreign terrorist organizations such as ISIS.

Chkhikvishvili wanted the planned attack to be a “bigger action than Breivik,” referring to Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian neo‑Nazi who killed 77 people in a bombing and mass shooting in Norway in 2011. Meanwhile, Chkhikvishvili told others of his plan and claimed to have previously committed other hate crimes while living in Brooklyn in 2022. Chkhikvishvili boasted to others that he was “glad I have murdered,” and that he would “murder more” but “make others murder first.”

Chkhikvishvili’s solicitations of violence have resulted in multiple attacks and killings around the world. In August 2024, an individual livestreamed himself stabbing approximately five people outside of a mosque in Eskisehir, Turkey, wearing a tactical vest adorned in Nazi symbols. A manifesto attributed to the attacker included explicit references to Chkhikvishvili and to violent statements made by him. Before the attack, the attacker also distributed a link to the Hater’s Handbook, authored by Chkhikvishvili, and other violent propaganda.

If convicted, Chkhikvishvili faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for solicitation of violent felonies (including hate crime acts and transporting an explosive with intent to kill or injure); five years in prison for conspiring to solicit violent felonies; 20 years in prison for distributing information pertaining to the making and use of explosive devices and ricin poison; and five years in prison for transmitting threatening communications.

The FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the New York City Police Department, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies, as well as the Department of State, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agents provided significant assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Chkhikvishvili from Moldova.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ellen H. Sise and Andrew D. Reich for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance from Paralegal Specialists Wayne Colon and Rebecca Roth. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has also provided assistance.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Georgian National Extradited from Moldova to Face Charges for Soliciting Hate Crimes and Planning Mass Casualty Attack in New York City

Source: United States Attorneys General

Leader of White Supremacist Group ‘Maniac Murder Cult’ Recruited Others to Bomb and Poison the Jewish Community and Racial Minorities

Defendant Allegedly Planned Scheme to Distribute Poisoned Candy on New Year’s Eve

Georgian national Michail Chkhikvishvili, also known as Mishka, Michael, Commander Butcher, and Butcher, 21, of Tbilisi, was extradited to the United States from Moldova on May 22, and will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn today. Chkhikvishvili was arrested in Chișinău, Moldova, in July 2024 in connection with a four-count indictment returned in the Eastern District of New York charging him with soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence in New York City.

According to court documents, Chkhikvishvili is a leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, also known as Maniacs Murder Cult, Maniacs: Cult of Killing, MKY, MMC and MKU, an international racially-motivated violent extremist group. As alleged in the indictment, Chkhikvishvili recruited people to commit violent acts in furtherance of MKY’s ideologies, including planning and soliciting a mass casualty attack in New York City.

“This case is a stark reminder of the kind of terrorism we face today: online networks plotting unspeakable acts of violence against children, families, and the Jewish community in pursuit of a depraved, extremist ideology,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate hate-fueled violence, and we will pursue those who threaten innocent lives wherever they may be.”

“The defendant is accused of recruiting others to kill Jewish people, kill racial minorities, and of providing instructions on how to commit other lethal attacks — even targeting children around the holidays by poisoning candy,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “These allegations are despicable, and thanks to the work and partnership of the FBI and the authorities in Moldova, Michail Chkhikvishvili has been brought to the United States to face charges in our justice system.”

“As alleged, the defendant, a white supremacist, recruited others to participate in a violent campaign of hatred against racial minorities and the Jewish community and to engage in the mass killing of children and others in these communities using poison, suicide bombs, firearms, arson fires, and vehicle explosions. Today’s extradition is a giant step forward in holding the defendant accountable for his unspeakably reprehensible and vile efforts to spread fear, chaos, and hate,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York. “Protecting our homeland, city, district, and country from violent extremists will always be one of the top priorities of the Justice Department and my office.”

Chkhikvishvili’s MKY adheres to a neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems “undesirables.” MKY members share a common goal of challenging social order and governments via terrorism and violent acts that promote fear and chaos. MKY has members in the United States and abroad.

Since approximately September 2021, Chkhikvishvili has distributed a manifesto titled the “Hater’s Handbook” to MKY members and others. The Hater’s Handbook encourages people to commit acts of mass violence. In the Hater’s Handbook, Chkhikvishvili states that he has “murdered for the white race” and encourages and instructs others to commit acts of mass violence and “ethnic cleansing.” For example, the Hater’s Handbook encourages its readers to commit school shootings and to use children to perpetrate suicide bombings and other mass killings targeting racial minorities. The Hater’s Handbook describes methods and strategies for committing mass “terror attacks,” including, for example, using vehicles to target “large outdoor festivals, conventions, celebrations and parades” and “pedestrian congested streets.” The Hater’s Handbook specifically encourages committing attacks within the United States.

In June 2022, Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn. As alleged, beginning at least as early as July 2022, Chkhikvishvili repeatedly encouraged others, primarily via the encryption-enabled mobile messaging platform Telegram, to commit violent hate crimes and other acts of violence on behalf of MKY. This included conspiring to solicit violent acts with the leader of a separate violent extremist neo-Nazi group, and soliciting acts of mass violence in New York from an individual who claimed to be a prospective MKY recruit, but who, unbeknownst to Chkhikvishvili, was actually an undercover FBI employee (the UC).

In a September 2023 conversation, the UC messaged Chkhikvishvili asking whether there was an application process to join MKY. The defendant responded, “we ask people for brutal beating, arson/explosion or murder vids on camera.” Chkhikvishvili further stated that “[p]oisoning and arson are best options for murder,” and suggested also considering a larger “mass murder[]” within the United States. Chkhikvishvili advised the UC that the victims of these acts should be “low race targets.”

Beginning in approximately November 2023, Chkhikvishvili solicited the UC to commit violent crimes, such as bombings and arsons, for the purpose of harming racial minorities, Jewish individuals and others. Chkhikvishvili provided detailed plans and materials such as bomb-making instructions and guidance on making Molotov cocktails to facilitate carrying out these crimes. In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a mass casualty attack in New York City to take place on New Year’s Eve. The scheme involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities.

In January, the scheme evolved and Chkhikvishvili specifically directed the UC to target the Jewish community, Jewish schools, and Jewish children in Brooklyn with poison. Chkhikvishvili drafted step-by-step instructions to carry out the scheme and shared detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases with the UC. He also instructed the UC on methods of making ricin-based poisons in powder and liquid form, including by extracting ricin from castor beans. Chkhikvishvili sent materials linked to radical Islamist jihadist groups and designated foreign terrorist organizations such as ISIS.

Chkhikvishvili wanted the planned attack to be a “bigger action than Breivik,” referring to Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian neo‑Nazi who killed 77 people in a bombing and mass shooting in Norway in 2011. Meanwhile, Chkhikvishvili told others of his plan and claimed to have previously committed other hate crimes while living in Brooklyn in 2022. Chkhikvishvili boasted to others that he was “glad I have murdered,” and that he would “murder more” but “make others murder first.”

Chkhikvishvili’s solicitations of violence have resulted in multiple attacks and killings around the world. In August 2024, an individual livestreamed himself stabbing approximately five people outside of a mosque in Eskisehir, Turkey, wearing a tactical vest adorned in Nazi symbols. A manifesto attributed to the attacker included explicit references to Chkhikvishvili and to violent statements made by him. Before the attack, the attacker also distributed a link to the Hater’s Handbook, authored by Chkhikvishvili, and other violent propaganda.

If convicted, Chkhikvishvili faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for solicitation of violent felonies (including hate crime acts and transporting an explosive with intent to kill or injure); five years in prison for conspiring to solicit violent felonies; 20 years in prison for distributing information pertaining to the making and use of explosive devices and ricin poison; and five years in prison for transmitting threatening communications.

The FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the New York City Police Department, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies, as well as the Department of State, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agents provided significant assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Chkhikvishvili from Moldova.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ellen H. Sise and Andrew D. Reich for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance from Paralegal Specialists Wayne Colon and Rebecca Roth. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has also provided assistance.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Split Supreme Court blocks Oklahoma’s Catholic charter school − but future cases could hinge on whether charters are, at their core, public or private

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Preston Green III, John and Maria Neag Professor of Urban Education, University of Connecticut

The Supreme Court building is seen on April 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

In April 2025, the Supreme Court heard arguments about whether the nation’s first religious charter school could open in Oklahoma. The St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would have been funded by taxpayer money but run by a local archdiocese and diocese. Several justices appeared open to the idea during questioning, leading some analysts to predict a win for the school.

They were proved wrong on May 22, 2025, when the court blocked St. Isidore. The one-sentence, unsigned order did not indicate how individual justices had voted, nor why, simply declaring it was a split 4-4 decision that leaves in place the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling against the school. Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case. Her former employer, the University of Notre Dame, runs a law clinic representing the school’s supporters.

Ever since the proposed school started making headlines, attention has focused on religion. Critics warned a decision in the school’s favor could allow government dollars to directly fund faith-based charter schools nationwide. In part, the justices had to decide whether the First Amendment’s prohibition on government establishing religion applies to charter schools.

But the answer to that question is part of an even bigger issue: Are charters really public in the first place?

The Supreme Court’s order applies only to Oklahoma, so similar cases attempting to open religious charter schools may emerge down the road. As two professors who study education law, we believe future court decisions could impact more than issues of religion and state, determining what basic rights students and teachers do or don’t have at charter schools.

Dueling arguments

In June 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved St. Isidore’s application to open as an online K-12 school. The following year, however, the Oklahoma high court ruled that the proposal was unconstitutional. The justices concluded that charter schools are public under state law, and that the First Amendment’s establishment clause forbids public schools from being religious. The court also found that a religious charter school would violate Oklahoma’s constitution, which specifically forbids public money from benefiting religious organizations.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court in the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City, May 19, 2014.
AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File

On appeal, the charter school claimed that charter schools are private, and so the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause does not apply.

Moreover, St. Isidore argued that if charter schools are private, the state’s prohibition on religious charters violates the First Amendment’s free exercise clause, which bars the government from limiting “the free exercise” of religion. Previous Supreme Court cases have found that states cannot prevent private religious entities from participating in generally available government programs solely because they are religious.

In other words, while St. Isidore’s critics argued that opening a religious charter school would violate the First Amendment, its supporters claimed the exact opposite: that forbidding religious charter schools would violate the First Amendment.

Are charters public?

The question of whether an institution is public or private turns on a legal concept known as the “state action doctrine.” This principle provides that the government must follow the Constitution, while private entities do not have to. For example, unlike students in public schools, students in private schools do not have the constitutional right to due process for suspensions and expulsions – procedures to ensure fairness before taking disciplinary action.

Charter schools have some characteristics of both public and private institutions. Like traditional public schools, they are government-funded, free and open to all students. However, like private schools, they are free from many laws that apply to public schools, and they are independently run.

Because of charters’ hybrid nature, courts have had a hard time determining whether they should be considered public for legal purposes. Many charter schools are overseen by private corporations with privately appointed boards, and it is unclear whether these private entities are state actors. Two federal circuit courts have reached different conclusions.

In Caviness v. Horizon Learning Center, a case from 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that an Arizona charter school corporation was not a state actor for employment purposes. Therefore, the board did not have to provide a teacher due process before firing him. The court reasoned that the corporation was a private actor that contracted with the state to provide educational services.

In contrast, the 4th Circuit ruled in 2022 that a North Carolina charter school board was a state actor under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In this case, Peltier v. Charter Day School, students challenged the dress code requirement that female students wear skirts because they were considered “fragile vessels.”

The court first reasoned that the board was a state actor because North Carolina had delegated its constitutional duty to provide education. The court observed that the charter school’s dress code was an inappropriate sex-based classification, and that school officials engaged in harmful gender stereotyping, violating the equal protection clause.

If the Supreme Court had sided with St. Isidore – as many analysts thought was likely – then all private charter corporations might have been considered nonstate actors for the purposes of religion.

But the stakes are even greater than that. State action involves more than just religion. Indeed, teachers and students in private schools do not have the constitutional rights related to free speech, search and seizure, due process and equal protection. In other words, if charter schools are not considered “state actors,” charter students and teachers may eventually shed constitutional rights “at the schoolhouse gate.”

Amtrak: An alternate route?

People ride an Amtrak Acela train through Pennsylvania, en route from New York City to Washington, in 2022.
AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey

When courts have held that charter schools are not public in state law, some legislatures have made changes to categorize them as public. For example, California passed a law to clarify that charter school students have the same due process rights as traditional public school students after a court ruled otherwise.

Likewise, we believe states looking to clear up charter schools’ ambiguous state actor status under the Constitution can amend their laws. As we explain in a recent legal article, a 1995 Supreme Court case involving Amtrak illustrates how this can be done.

Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation arose when Amtrak rejected a billboard ad for being political. The advertiser sued, arguing that the corporation had violated his First Amendment right to free speech. Since private organizations are not required to protect free speech rights, the case hinged on whether Amtrak qualified as a government agency.

The court ruled in the plaintiff’s favor, reasoning that Amtrak was a government actor because it was created by special law, served important governmental objectives and its board members were appointed by the government.

Courts have applied this ruling in other instances. For example, the 10th Circuit ruled in 2016 that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was a governmental agency and therefore was required to abide by the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

Since the Supreme Court did not release any reasoning for its order, we do not know how the justices viewed the “government actor” question in the case from Oklahoma. That said, we believe charter schools fail the test set out in the Amtrak decision. Charter schools do serve the governmental purpose of providing educational choice for students. However, charter school corporations are not created by special law. They also fall short because most have independent boards instead of members who are appointed and removed by government officials.

However, we would argue that states can amend their laws to comply with Lebron’s standard, ensuring that charter schools are public or state actors for constitutional purposes.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on Feb. 27, 2025.

Preston Green III is affiliated with the National Education Policy Center.

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

– ref. Split Supreme Court blocks Oklahoma’s Catholic charter school − but future cases could hinge on whether charters are, at their core, public or private – https://theconversation.com/split-supreme-court-blocks-oklahomas-catholic-charter-school-but-future-cases-could-hinge-on-whether-charters-are-at-their-core-public-or-private-257438

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK Government must ignore Trump’s call for North Sea oil drilling

Source: Scottish Greens

23 May 2025 Climate Energy

The UK’s energy strategy must not cost people and planet.

More in Climate

The UK Government must ignore Donald Trump’s ‘century of drilling left’ comments and listen to climate experts, warn Scottish Greens.

The US president claims that more oil and gas exploration by drilling in the North Sea is the only way to bring energy prices down.

His remarks on the UK Government’s energy strategy come as Ofgem announced that the energy price cap would decrease by £129 per year from £1,849 to £1,720 per household.

Trump has a long history of promoting climate conspiracy theories, and his support for more fossil fuel extraction comes despite the warnings of climate and energy experts globally.

Scottish Greens co-leader and spokesperson for net zero, Patrick Harvie MSP, is calling for the Labour government to ignore Trump’s remarks and end our reliance on fossil fuels for good.

Mr Harvie said:

“Household energy bills have been volatile because of our over-reliance on fossil fuels, and it’s critical that both governments cut fossil fuel consumption, increase investment in clean energy, and break the artificial link between gas prices and electricity so that bills come down faster.

“Scotland’s renewable industry is generating cheap, clean, abundant power, but households are not getting the benefit in the bills they pay.

“Donald Trump’s dangerous ideas must be ignored. Climate breakdown already costs the average Scottish household over £3,000 a year. Failure to tackle the climate emergency would accelerate the damage, and keep people dependent on volatile energy prices.

“There’s no surprise that a corrupt billionaire politician is putting the profits of fossil fuel multinationals ahead of the common good.

“We must stick to our net zero targets. We cannot backtrack any further or pander to a climate change denier like Trump, who ignores the extreme harm the fossil fuel industry has caused.

“This Labour government has already shown they will make decisions that harm people; cutting winter fuel payment for pensioners and making disabled people struggle financially. I urge them to do the right thing and ignore the calls of billionaires like Trump who don’t accept scientific reality.

“What households and businesses need are bills that come down and stay down, and that means breaking our dependence on fossil fuels. Household bills are already far too high, with too many people being forced to freeze all winter so they can feed themselves.”

Mr Harvie added:

“Scotland is lucky to have such a vast amount of renewable energy. Jobs in renewables have surpassed oil and gas jobs both in Scotland and across the globe. Climate science experts are providing us with the information to reach net zero. This is the future and we must be ready to welcome it.”

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Former Henry County Jail Corrections Officer Sentenced for Excessive Force on an Inmate

Source: US FBI

INDIANAPOLIS— Curtis Doughty, 28, of Muncie, has been sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law.

According to court documents, Doughty was employed as a corrections officer in the Henry County Jail, as well as a member of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT). On February 13, 2024, Doughty participated in a scheduled search of an inmate housing pod in the jail. During the search, inmates were moved into a holding area in the recreation yard and ordered to sit on the floor facing the wall while officers searched the cells for contraband.

Doughty was one of two officers responsible for directing inmates to face the wall and remain seated. When inmate M.F. turned his head away from the wall, Doughty, without warning, shot his pepper ball gun at point blank range into the inmate’s spine. The pepper ball shot caused bodily injury to the inmate. Doughty then yelled to the other inmates in the holding area, “congratulations, you all inhale that now,” in reference to the pepper ball gas.

Shortly after the incident, other members of the SERT team reported it to a commander. The commander pulled Doughty from duty and sent him home, recognizing the egregious use of force. Prior to the incident, Doughty had received training on defensive tactics, physical tactics, Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT) training, jail physical and defensive tactics, and new jail officer training. Doughty had been trained on the “response to resistance ladder,” which states that inmates need to be “actively resistant” to justify use of the pepper ball gun. However, M.F. was not resisting and no force was necessary under this scenario.

“Corrections officers are empowered by the government to care for inmates. When a corrections officer takes the law into their own hands and uses excessive force to punish inmates, they endanger not only that inmate, but they create a greater incentive to resist rather than cooperate, and thereby endanger their colleagues as well,” said John E. Childress, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Today’s sentencing underscores our unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law and ensuring accountability for all individuals, regardless of their occupation or authority.”

“Everyone, regardless of their status or circumstance, is entitled to dignity and no one should fear for their safety at the hands of those tasked with their care,” said FBI Indianapolis Acting Special Agent in Charge Dominique Evans. “When correctional officers act with such disregard for those in their care, it is a betrayal of the oath they took to protect, not harm. The FBI will continue to work to ensure civil rights are protected inside every facility.”

The FBI investigated this case, with valuable assistance provided by the Henry County Sheriff’s Office. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Matthew P. Brookman.

Acting U.S. Attorney Childress thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter A. Blackett and Carolyn A. Haney, who prosecuted this case.

###

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Eco moorings launch at Aristotle Lane canal

Source: City of Oxford

The first eco-moorings in Oxford have been installed at Aristotle Lane canal to help reduce air pollution along the city’s waterways.

In 2023, the Council and the Canal & River Trust were awarded £193,000 from the Government’s annual Air Quality Grant, to install ‘eco-moorings’ at the Aristotle Lane visitor moorings.

The project has seen the installation of three ‘eco-mooring’ bollards – the first installed outside of London – aiming to provide visiting boaters with electrical power infrastructure as an alternative to diesel engines, generators and wood burners for their daily heat and energy needs.

In Oxford, it is estimated that there are around 140 boaters living on the rivers and canals, with around 70% of them being visiting boaters. However, there are limited locations across the county where electrical power is available for boaters – especially for short-stay moorings.

Without access to electricity, boaters are often forced to run diesel engines to charge up their batteries and/or use wood burning stoves to heat their houseboats, both of which release smoke emissions which have been proven to be harmful to human health. Those most at risk from pollution from boats, are boaters themselves, who are often exposed for longer periods of time and at a closer range.

Wood burners emit particulate matter, also known as PM2.5, which is a type of air pollution. These are very tiny particles, that can have a serious impact on human health. A wide range of scientific studies have been published in recent years showing the negative impacts to human health of long-term exposure to air pollution.

The new eco-moorings aim to provide a cleaner alternative for boaters to use instead of polluting fuels.

The eco-moorings consist of three electric pillars, each containing two sockets, which enable up to six visiting boaters to plug into and connect to the grid for energy.

The sockets have range of capacity, with five 16-amp sockets and one 32-amp socket which can support the charging of electric propulsion boats (e-boats). All sockets also have the capability to become 32-amp in the future, based on demand.

The Oxford eco-moorings project builds upon other successful projects in Islington and Camden. Learnings from the project will help inform future management of Oxfords’ canal – subject to funding.

The Council and Canal & River Trust will also be working to deliver health, air quality and energy advice to boaters through the project. This will include ways and opportunities to transition to cleaner energy systems, as well as information on how to use their current heating in the most efficient way.

More details on the project can be found on the Council’s eco-moorings webpage.

“It is fantastic that Oxford’s first eco-moorings are now here and ready to use. Many boaters have no other choice but to use wood-burning and diesel generators to keep warm, but this can be harmful to their health and that of their neighbours. These eco-moorings will provide boaters with the ability to use cleaner forms of heating.”

Councillor Anna Railton, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford, Oxford City Council

“While boats are a very minor contributor to overall air pollution when compared to road traffic and other sources of emissions, we recognise that they can have a localised impact on air quality; indeed, those most at risk from boat engine fumes are boaters themselves.

“These first eco moorings outside London are the start of a journey for boaters on the Oxford Canal towards reducing emissions. I am delighted that our charity has been able to work in partnership with Oxford City Council to deliver them in time for the busy summer season.”

Ros Daniels, Director for London & South East, Canal & River Trust

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: City of Miami Police Officer Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Relief Fraud

Source: United States Small Business Administration

Click Here to View the Original U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Press Release

Yesterday, Tramaine Liptrot, 43, a police officer with the City of Miami Police Department (MPD) who has been relieved of duty, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with fraudulent applications for two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling over $200,000. Liptrot entered his guilty plea in Miami before U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom.

According to the facts admitted at the change of plea hearing, Liptrot, along with being an MPD Police Officer, was the owner and President of Liptrots Tax Services L.L.C (Liptrots Tax). With the assistance of an associate, Liptrot fraudulently obtained two PPP loans in the name of Liptrots Tax.

On June 22, 2020, working with the associate, Liptrot caused the submission of a false and fraudulent PPP loan application on behalf of Liptrots Tax, falsely claiming that Liptrots Tax had an average monthly payroll of $36,700 for four employees, and a fraudulent IRS Form 944 in support thereof, falsely claiming that Liptrots Tax paid its employees $440,397 during 2019. As a result of this fraudulent PPP application, Liptrots Tax obtained approximately $91,750 in PPP loan proceeds from an SBA approved PPP lender.

On March 3, 2021, again working with the associate, Liptrot caused the submission of a false and fraudulent second-draw PPP loan application on behalf of Liptrots Tax, falsely claiming that Liptrots Tax had an average monthly payroll of $43,369, and including as part of the application process, a fraudulent IRS Form 944, falsely claiming that Liptrots Tax paid $496,428 in wages and other compensation in 2020. As a result of this fraudulent second-draw PPP application, Liptrots Tax obtained approximately $108,422 in PPP loan proceeds from a different SBA approved PPP lender.

Liptrot is scheduled for sentencing on August 6, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., where he faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida, acting Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of FBI Miami and Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG), Eastern Region, announced the guilty plea.

FBI Miami’s Area Corruption Task Force, which includes task force officers from the City of Miami Police Department’s Internal Affairs Section, and SBA-OIG investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward N. Stamm is prosecuting the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabrielle Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.

In March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted. It was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other sources of relief, the CARES Act authorized and provided funding to the SBA to provide Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to eligible small businesses, including sole proprietorships and independent contractors, experiencing substantial financial disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic to allow them to meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could otherwise have been met had the disaster not occurred. EIDL applications were submitted directly to the SBA via the SBA’s on-line application website, and the applications were processed and the loans funded for qualifying applicants directly by the SBA.

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, among other methods, 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. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

On September 15, 2022, the Attorney General selected the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to head one of three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please click here.

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.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-cr-20155.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Former Solon-based Manufacturer to Pay $6M to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Paycheck Protection Program

Source: United States Small Business Administration

Click Here to View the Original U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Press Release

The Justice Department has announced that Cosmax USA, a corporation having previously done business as two separate entities, Cosmax USA and Nu-World Corporation, has agreed to pay $6 million, of which $3 million is restitution, to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act (FCA) that they knowingly provided false information to obtain Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and loan forgiveness. The companies are part of a global conglomerate that supplies cosmetics and nutritional supplements. Nu-World was merged into Cosmax USA in 2023.

Cosmax USA operated a manufacturing facility in Solon, Ohio up until 2023. This settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by a former employee who worked at that location. Under the whistleblower provisions of the FCA, an individual, known in legal terms as the “relator,” may file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. The relator in this case, Alexander Novik, served as Cosmax USA’s controller and also in its human resources department.

The PPP was launched through the Small Business Administration (SBA), with the enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in 2020. The program provided eligible companies with financial support as businesses faced unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. This resolution addresses two alleged violations in which the United States contended that Cosmax USA and Nu-World submitted false information to be eligible to receive PPP funds.

First, the resolution addresses allegations that Nu-World submitted an application in April 2020 for a First-Draw PPP loan, and an application for forgiveness of that loan in 2021, based on a calculated loan amount that was partially based on payments to temporary employees who were not employees of Nu-World.

Second, the resolution addresses allegations that Cosmax USA falsely certified that it was a small business with fewer than 300 employees (including employees at affiliated companies) when it submitted its Second-Draw PPP loan application. In reality, the number of Cosmax USA’s employees, when combined with the number of employees working at its affiliate Nu-World, exceeded the PPP program’s 300-employee limit.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, with assistance from the SBA’s Office of General Counsel (SBA-OGC) and Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG).

Trial Attorney Graham D. Welch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Jackson Froliklong for the Northern District of Ohio handled the matter, with assistance from Thomas W. Rigby and Arlene P. Messinger Lerner of the SBA.

Anyone with information about allegations of CARES Act fraud may submit a report with the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or online at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability.

executed_settlement_agreement-cosmax_0.pdf

MIL OSI USA News –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Earlier support for speech and language for 20,000 children
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Press release

Earlier support for speech and language for 20,000 children

Up to 20,000 more young children, including those with SEND, will have their needs identified and supported earlier, breaking down barriers to opportunity.
Up to 20,000 more children are set to benefit from earlier targeted support to overcome speech and language challenges before concerns escalate, as the government ensures every child gets the best start in life through its Plan for Change.

Backed by £3.4 million this year, the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme deploys specialist teams across primary schools and early years settings, helping to identify and respond to speech and language needs, particularly for children with SEND.

Developmental delays have been a growing issue since the pandemic, with more than 40,000 children waiting over 12 weeks for speech and language therapy as of June 2024.

It is particularly prevalent for children with SEND as numbers have skyrocketed from 1.3 million in 2020 to 1.67 million in 2024 – with one in four of these children requiring additional help to overcome difficulties listening, understanding and talking.

A lack of early identification can have a devastating impact on development, social skills, attendance, and academic attainment for all children – holding them back from progressing in school and life.

This is seen by the staggering rise in children requiring specialist support, with the number of children on Education Health Care Plans escalating from under 250,000 in 2015 to over 575,000 in 2024.

The ELSEC programme paves the way for a reformed SEND system that embeds earlier intervention and targeted support, enabling children to thrive at their mainstream school and making sure all children have the best start in life.

Minister for School Standards, Catherine McKinnell said:

When challenges with speech and language go unnoticed, it can have a devastating impact on children’s attainment, attendance, social abilities and future life chances.

ELSEC is turning this around for so many pupils – and particularly those with SEND – helping them find their voice and thrive at school and with their friends and family.

This type of approach is exactly what we want to see in a reformed SEND system that delivers the support children need at the earliest stage and restores parents’ trust in a system which has let them down for too long.

Minister for School Standards, Catherine McKinnell visited Hasmonean primary school in Barnet, which has been part of the ELSEC programme since January, and observed a small group intervention in one of the school’s calming environments. The activity focused on developing children’s social communication skills by engaging the children’s attention, promoting interaction and vocabulary, and making learning and communication fun.

Head of Early Years and SEN Support at Hasmonean Primary School, Jemma Brahams, said:

The ELSEC team first trained me on how to run a small group intervention for our pupils who are experiencing speech and language difficulties. The team was there to help me from the start and was always available as I got used to implementing the approach.

The training provided on these interventions has been huge for us, as we now don’t need to wait for anyone to come into the school or go on any waiting lists – we can just take it forward straightaway. In fact, I’m now able to train other staff members in the school to deliver intervention groups, so we can have it running frequently and across different year groups.

The impact on our pupils’ development has been really positive too. As the activity is creative and interactive, it supports the children’s speech and language development, concentration and attention – we’ve seen so much progress.

Parent of Raphael at Hasmonean Primary school, Deborah, said:

Raphael is 4 and did not speak until recently, he only made noises which was so frustrating for him, but with interventions he has progressed amazingly.

With 3-4 interventions a week he has massively grown in confidence, he is communicating with his friends and expressing himself more than ever – we are now hopeful that Raphael can go to Reception in September which was not an option a few months ago!

This programme has been so impactful for my son and it is amazing to see the work being done for children like Raphael.

Communication needs can manifest itself in a number of ways, including physically through stuttering and issues putting sentences together, as well as difficulty understanding words.

As part of the ELSEC programme, Speech and Language Therapy Assistants become part of the fabric of the school, working across numerous settings in their area to assist pupils aged 2-11 years old who need help with their language skills – whether that’s universal support for the whole class, or specialist 1:1 help for pupils with intensive needs.

Staff are taught to use characters and games to boost engagement and improve expression in ways that children can understand.

This support can also have a huge impact on children’s wellbeing at school, and as a result, their attendance. Last year, SEN children in primary school with Speech Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) as a primary need missed almost a week more of school than children without SEND.

Jointly funded by NHS England, ELSEC has already supported over 200 early years and primary school settings, trained over 3,000 setting staff and provided support to just over 20,000 pupils so far since launching in 2023.

Clinical Coordinator in Barnet’s ELSEC team, Georgia Roskin, said:

It can be very easy for teaching staff to identify children with significant needs but the children with mild-moderate needs often get missed, which can sadly cause long-term speech and language difficulties, and poorer outcomes.

That’s why when we first partner with a setting, we train teaching staff to screen every single child, which assures us (and parents!) that no children go undetected.

We work intensively within a setting for six weeks, helping to identify pupils who may need support, while also upskilling the school staff on different interventions and teaching approaches they can adopt. We then stay in regular contact, coming back into the setting every couple of months to see how they’re getting on and address any new concerns.

NHS National Director for Primary Care and Community Services, Dr Amanda Doyle, said:

It is vital that children with speech, language and communications needs get access to support as early as possible, to help give them the best start in life.

That’s why the NHS is working closely with the Department for Education and early years and primary school settings to transform the way children access support, enabling them to get the right care at the right time.

Chief Executive of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Steve Jamieson, said:

We’re delighted that the Department for Education and NHS England will fund the Early Language Support for Every Child programme until March 2026.

It has shown that when speech and language therapists, therapy support workers and education staff work together, they can identify children’s needs earlier and put timely support in place.

Providing early intervention for children’s speech, language and communication needs can improve their wellbeing, development, and educational attainment. The extension of the funding means more children will benefit from this important programme.

ELSEC forms one part of the government’s work testing SEND reforms through a reformulated Change Programme focused on early intervention and support in mainstream schools.

Local areas will also test how children in so-called alternative provision – for children who have been excluded or have behavioural needs – can get the right support to return to mainstream provision.

This includes by supporting the expansion of Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces (APST) – multi-agency teams, including SEN specialists, youth workers, and mental health practitioners, working in AP settings, with mainstream schools to provide holistic support and ensure more children receive the right support to achieve and thrive.

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Published 23 May 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Capital for the development of universities: the Russian Ministry of Education and Science held a strategic session at the Polytechnic University dedicated to endowments

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation held a strategic session at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University dedicated to endowment funds in science and higher education.

The event was attended by over three hundred participants: heads of universities and research organizations supervising the creation and development of endowment funds, representatives of government bodies and alumni associations. The plenary session was opened by the first vice-rector of SPbPU Vitaly Sergeev.

“Working with endowment capital today is a new mentality, the formation of which requires both time and constant interaction with business and government bodies,” Vitaly Vladimirovich said in his welcoming speech. “Therefore, today’s strategic session is important and useful, and the exchange of experience, I am sure, will lead to the fact that we will be able to build a systematic work with endowment funds, especially since much has already been done in this direction. I hope that the Polytechnic University is a good platform with strong energy, and we are also very interested in this topic.”

Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Andrey Omelchuk recorded a video message for the participants of the strategy session, in which, in particular, he noted: Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Government of the Russian Federation pay special attention to the development of endowment funds for universities and scientific organizations. Important changes have already been made to the legislation, concepts and methodological recommendations for the development of endowment funds for universities have been developed. The session plans to discuss the formation of endowment funds, the structure of fundraising and its relationship with the strategy of the university. We hope that the participants will gain an understanding of the need to create funds and new ideas for their development.

Director of the Department of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Aslan Kanukoev thanked the Polytechnic University for organizing the event and spoke about the results and prospects of the activities of the interdepartmental working group of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia on the development of endowment funds in the field of higher education and science.

Aslan Sultanovich noted that the topic of endowment capital has become significantly more relevant and popular in recent years. A specially created interdepartmental working group of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance developed and approved concepts for the development of endowment funds in universities and research organizations until 2035 in 2023–2024, the main areas of which are defined as: interaction with graduates, with the business community, formation of a pool of partners, information support, increasing the efficiency of capital management and the formation of transparency standards. An educational course has also been created and is planned to be launched in the near future, which will provide a complete understanding of the creation, formation, development and management of endowment capital, including the legal aspects of working with this topic, and will also introduce fundraising technologies and building relationships with endowment donors.

According to monitoring data from the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, as of January 1, 2024, 94 endowment funds were created in subordinate universities.

The Russian Ministry of Education and Science believes that endowment funds are a long-term strategic instrument for the sustainable development of educational, scientific, healthcare and cultural organizations, emphasized Aslan Kanukoev.

Chairperson of the Board of the National Endowment Association Svetlana Lavrova presented a report entitled “Understanding and Culture of Endowment Themes: History, Modernity, and Focus on Eternity.”

Svetlana Nikolaevna explained what an endowment is, what are the origins of this phenomenon, why it has been so important in the world for many centuries, and what place Russia occupies in it. By the way, the Russian Empire had its own history of endowments, only before 1918 they were called “eternal contribution”, “eternal capital” or “untouchable capital”, and the entire social sphere was based on them.

According to Svetlana Lavrova, the educational organization has several sources of funding: state (in the future, not direct, but aimed at supporting individual programs), tuition fees, research orders, contracts, short-term projects, and an endowment fund.

The purpose of the existence of science and the university goes into eternity, and the sources of funding on which this activity relies are usually short-lived. The endowment fund is a super-stable source that gives the university independence. It is long-term, and it is the university’s money that ensures sustainability, – Svetlana Lavrova believes.

An endowment consists of three components: fundraising, or seeking donations, investing funds through a management company, and finally receiving and using income from investments.

The university is interested in the income from the endowment, and the Ministry of Finance is interested in it, because endowments are the largest institutional investors worldwide. This is a unique system that works simultaneously to develop different aspects of the state, so the state is extremely interested in them, Svetlana Lavrova emphasized.

First Vice-Rector for Economics and Strategic Development of the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin Daniil Sandler shared an interesting experience of the university in the formation of endowments. As of May 1, 277 million had been collected for the UrFU endowment — these are funds from 18 endowments created by more than 12 thousand donors. Each of the funds, according to Daniil Sandler, “has its own face.” The endowment for the 100th anniversary of the Ural Federal University in the amount of 75 million rubles was created on the initiative of the Students’ Union. If you ask artificial intelligence what to do with the fact that in Russia there is no tradition of forming and donating endowments, it will write: “Start with the students,” and in practice it is clear that it was the Students’ Union that took the initiative, and now this is our largest endowment. Although they say that a student has no money, he has time, energy and desire, says Daniil Sandler.

The second endowment — “Sports Programming at UrFU” — was created by a group of enthusiasts who wanted sports programming to develop in the Urals. They got a serious business interested in their idea and collected 51 million rubles. There is a personal endowment of Maslakov — a graduate of the history department, who donated 16 million rubles so that the interest from this endowment would be used to pay financial assistance to elderly teachers of the history department every year. The endowment of the Institute of New Materials and Technologies in the amount of 11.6 million rubles was created to establish a scholarship named after a respected university professor who passed away to perpetuate his memory.

The speech by the executive director of the MGIMO Development Fund (over 2 billion rubles) Marina Petrova was devoted to the Russian and international experience of financing science through the endowment mechanism.

Oksana Oracheva, CEO of the Vladimir Potanin Charitable Foundation, spoke about the role of transparency and accountability in working with stakeholders.

Irina Tolmacheva, Deputy Director of the Foundation for the Formation of Endowment Capital of the Foundation for the Development of Social and Economic Sciences and Education, highlighted the legal aspects of the activities of endowment funds.

Thus, the speakers at the plenary session outlined the main problems of endowment development: insufficient awareness of the funds’ activities among businesses and university graduates, the need to increase motivation among philanthropists, a decrease in the funds’ profitability during periods of high economic volatility, the need to provide additional tax preferences and other benefits. How to interest donors, how to popularize endowment funds and make them socially significant, how to fulfill and exceed the “Priority-2030” program indicator in terms of endowment – these and many other issues were to be discussed in more detail by the participants of the strategy session in sections, mechanisms for their solution were to be developed and discussed at the final joint session.

As a result, representatives of all five sections identified problems and proposed approaches to solving them, which demonstrated deep immersion in the topic, mutual understanding and interaction in the community. Participants of the strategy session came to the conclusion that it is necessary to concentrate efforts on developing fundraising as a specific work on finding donations, to conduct educational work so that the endowment becomes a socially approved mechanism and an indicator of the effectiveness of universities, to expand opportunities for investment and to legislatively enshrine incentive measures – tax preferences and motivating co-financing.

The results of the strategic session were summed up by the Director of the Department of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia Aslan Kanukoev: Today there are more like-minded people among us. Visiting all the sections, I was convinced that, despite the differences in issues and challenges, the mechanisms for solving them were close. Today we had the first introductory strategic session. It is important that you feel each other, feel the shoulder of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. We will develop endowment funds, we believe in this tool and promise that we will not abandon anyone on this path and will help everyone.

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

MIL OSI Russia News –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: A Changed Global Landscape: Policy Priorities in CESEE
Source: IMF – News in Russian

Speech by Alfred Kammer, Director, European Department of the IMF — Slovenia

May 23, 2025

It is a great pleasure to be with you in Ljubljana.

Let me begin by setting the stage for what I hope will be an insightful discussion on policy options in the presence of geoeconomic shocks and uncertainty.

I will focus on Central, Eastern and Southeastern European (CESEE) countries.

After a respectable recovery last year, we downgraded growth for 2025 and 2026 across Europe

Heightened uncertainty and trade policy volatility have been the main factors. And the latest data releases from Q1 2025 are so far in line with our forecast.

The downgrade for the CESEE region^{^[1]} has been more sizeable than for advanced Europe: from over 3 percent in 2025 and 2026 to 2.4 and 2.7 percent respectively.

The larger impact is primarily due to a comparatively larger manufacturing sector. The growth revision would have been even larger if not for the German infrastructure package and an acceleration of Europe wide-defense spending

Inflation in CESEE countries meanwhile is coming down somewhat faster. But, as the chart shows, inflation rates will remain above targets for some time. Persistent services inflation and lagged effects of still high wage growth are key drivers – a point I will return to later as a risk to competitiveness.

In my remarks today, I will address two points: (i) how the changing global landscape is affecting CESEE countries and (ii) what the key policy priorities are.

Let me give a summary of my key points
- What do we know so far about the effects of trade disputes including via trade diversion?
In a nutshell, the impact across the CESEE regions varies widely. Some of the most US-tariff-exposed countries, namely Hungary and Slovak Republic and to a lesser extent the Czech Republic, are in the constituency.

The tariffs between the US and China have just been lowered from very extreme levels, but they remain high and could increase again. Economic spillovers could be large for some specific sectors, even though our preliminary assessment is that the trade diversion effects should be manageable overall.
- What can policymakers do to navigate a more uncertain and volatile period?
Primarily, changes are permanent. Businesses and households will need to adapt to these. A principle-based approach can help lessen the impact.
- First, maintain trade openness as much as possible. Protectionism will hurt inward investment, lower investment further and bring down productivity and income growth.
- Second, stay the course on sound macroeconomic policies. In times of uncertainty, markets will scrutinize fundamentals. Durable policies can limit increases in risk premia. This means that central banks should remain cautious on monetary normalization and governments need to keep an eye on fiscal sustainability.
- Third, generate growth through traditional means: domestic structural reforms. The size of untapped gains from domestic structural reforms is surprisingly large.
- The question here is how the CESEE region can overcome political constraints. In my final observation I will discuss how the EU budget can play a catalyzing role.
I will highlight two channels:
- Direct exposure to US tariffs
- Potential effects of trade diversion from US-China trade dispute
The CESEE region’s integration into global value-chains and trade linkages creates exposure to shifting trade dynamics.

The EU has sizable direct trade linkages with China and the US (LHS), and linkages by individual CESEE countries to the US are substantial.

Exposures are especially large in the Slovak Republic and Hungary. Exports to the US (primarily cars, car parts, batteries, and in the case of Hungary electronics) account for about 3 per cent of GDP in 2024.

Czechia and Hungary have also large export positions to the US via smartphones and computers exports. For the time being, tariffs on these items have been exempted per the announcement made on April 11.

Any increase in tariffs would have substantial dampening effects on growth.

Indirect effects via supply chains will also become important tailwinds. In a 2024 IMF study, we show that an increase in EV imports from China could have significant GDP effects in the range of 1-1½ percent over 5 years via the supply chains in CESEE countries heavily reliant on the automotive sector. A slowdown in Germany’s automotive sector has about a 5-10 times larger impact in percent of GDP in Slovakia and Hungary given their larger share of the sector relative to Germany.

If US-China trade tensions persist, multiple channels of trade diversion could come into play.

EU imports from China could increase, U.S. companies could try to find new export destinations including in Europe, and European firms could seek to find new export opportunities in the U.S. and China as a result of high China-U.S. tariffs.

Finally, competition on third-country markets could increase as countries look for new export markets. CESEE countries could be innocent bystanders. For instance, Turkish businesses could experience increased competition in third markets reducing margin or market shares.

We have estimated the potential size of trade diversion from China using a partial equilibrium approach.

Our preliminary estimates from April 8 tariff announcements[2] for the EU are for higher imports from China of around 0.25 percent of EU GDP in the near term.[3] The estimates are similar to ECB estimates discussed in their latest economic Bulletin. The 90-day rollback of most bilateral tariffs imposed since April 2 announced by the US and China on May 12 implies lower numbers, but better to be prepared for the worst.

Trade diversion would also affect inflation. Increased import competition would likely lower final prices. Headline inflation could be reduced by 20 basis points in 2026.

The economic effects for consumers and producers are likely mixed. Lower final goods prices would benefit consumers. Similarly, lower imported intermediates could also benefit European firms by reducing input costs. But trade diversion means also a rise in competition and in specific sectors such as consumer electronics or transportation equipment, adjustment effects could be large.

With all that said, the aggregate size of trade diversion effects appears manageable, although the impact could be large in individual countries and sectors.

Let me turn to policy priorities.

Let me now say a few words on what the CESEE region can do in the face of tariffs.
- First, Europe—and everyone—needs more trade, not less. The EU as well as CESEE should continue its open trade policy and expand its network of trade agreements.
- Second, we must accept that the global trade regime has changed. This means that any support to mitigate tariff or trade diversion effects should remain temporary, and targeted.
Support measures cannot substitute for differences in the underlying fundamentals. In particular, the recent appreciation of CESEE currencies in unit-labor-cost adjusted terms is a concern.

What can policymakers do in the short term?

In the current global environment, navigating uncertainty is crucial.

In the short run, governments should aim to retain macroeconomic stability through credible and sustainable macroeconomic policies and build resilience.

Starting with monetary policy, central banks need to remain focused on durably reaching price stability targets.
- In several large CESEE countries—including Hungary—inflation is slowing, but is still above targets.
- Central banks should ease cautiously. We advise caution because core inflation in the CESEE region remains higher than hoped for, and inflation expectations are more responsive to current inflation levels.
Still high wage growth requires close attention. Increases have outpaced productivity and are contributing to higher inflation persistency. High labor costs also pose a risk to CESEE’s competitiveness.

Our fiscal advice remains broadly unchanged. For many countries, rebuilding fiscal buffers is still a priority.
- The challenge is how to manage rising long-term spending pressures from aging, healthcare, climate, and now higher defense spending.
- Some countries can accommodate temporary increases in priority spending while keeping debt sustainability in mind.
- But for many CESEE countries the space is limited. This means they will have to undertake smart adjustments: (i) make public services more efficient and programs better targeted; (ii) reallocate spending priorities away from low priority areas, (iii) and boost fiscal revenues. In many cases, this can be done without raising tax rates by closing loopholes and more efficient administration.
We continue to have concerns about Europe’s medium-term outlook: growth is low and there are rising spending needs:
- Labor supply is dwindling because of aging.
- Investment has been slowing.
- And Europe’s productivity growth has been very low over the last two decades.
This makes meeting fiscal pressures increasingly difficult.
- Spending needs are expected to rise significantly over the next decades, for advanced economies by 5¾ percentage points and emerging economies by 8 percentage points of GDP.
- In the CESEE region, energy-related investments needs are urgent and very large.
- And across the region, defense spending is on the rise.
This brings us to my final point which is how CESEE countries could generate medium-term growth.

Domestic structural reforms, while often overlooked, provide a large untapped source of European growth potential.
- In a forthcoming study, we find that comprehensive national reforms could raise real GDP levels by about 5 percent in advanced economies and between 6.6 and 9.3 percent in the CESEE region.
- These are sizeable gains and could be an important growth antidote to the poisonous effects of uncertainty and volatile policy disputes.
These reforms would remove inefficiencies at home and complement the earlier discussed EU-wide reforms. Specifically:
- Domestic labor market and skill-upgrading reforms top the priority list in terms of their macroeconomic
- Fiscal-structural reforms and lower cost of business regulations would provide another substantial impetus.
- Reducing corruption and inefficiencies through governance reforms is particularly important in several CESEE countries.
Successful implementation of these reforms will require political will, and in some cases, also capacity building.

Overcoming the reform inertia is “the challenge” of Europe.

Let me conclude with a few observations on how to overcome this obstacle.

We think the EU budget could play a catalyzing role. Recent initiatives—such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)—have made important strides in strengthening policy performance. The next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034 should build on this momentum, further embedding a performance-based approach, especially in areas where current incentives are weak, but outcomes depend heavily on effective effort.

This is particularly relevant for pre-allocated funds tied to national plans, where member states design and implement policies. In such cases, stronger performance incentives can help ensure that investments yield meaningful results.

To maximize the impact of EU financing, the budget could reward projects that complement EU-level objectives—for example, national reforms like streamlining permitting processes for local distribution networks that connect with cross-border energy infrastructure.

At the same time, policy coherence across all levels of government is essential. While the EU budget can offer strategic direction and alignment incentives, successful implementation ultimately depends on ownership at national, regional, and local levels. The EU budget can set incentives, but decisions need to be made at home.

Let me conclude here …

…and leave with a slide on our key messages.

I now look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!

[1] Excluding Belarus, Russia, Türkiye and Ukraine.

[2] “April 8 tariffs” refers to the tariff increases between the US and China announced just before the 90-day pause on April 9.

[3] This figure decreases to 0.09 percent with the May-12 tariffs

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER:

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

@IMFSpokesperson

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/05/22/sp052325-ak-a-changed-global-landscape-policy-priorities-in-cesee

MIL OSI
MIL OSI Russia News –
May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Virginia Man Charged with Assaulting Law Enforcement and Other Offenses During January 6 Capitol Breach

Source: US FBI

WASHINGTON — A Virginia man is charged with assaulting law enforcement and other felony and misdemeanor offenses related to his alleged conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His alleged actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Mark Mercurio, 56, of Bracey, Virginia, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.

In addition to the felonies, Mercurio is charged with misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Mercurio was arrested by the FBI on Nov. 21, 2024, in North Carolina and made his initial appearance in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to court documents, surveillance video footage captured Mercurio entering the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, through the Upper West Terrace Door at approximately 2:40 p.m. After entering the building, Mercurio proceeded to the front of a large group of rioters near the entrance and confronted a small group of U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers. At one point, it is alleged that Mercurio held open an interior door to the Rotunda staircase for an associate and others before heading up the stairs. Surveillance video footage shows that Mercurio and an associate entered the Rotunda at 2:45 p.m., where Mercurio intermittently held up his phone, appearing to record the events.

At about 2:46 p.m., Mercurio and an associate briefly disappeared from the Rotunda and reappeared at about 3:01 p.m. The two then walked past a USCP officer and approached a man addressing the crowd with a bullhorn. Mercurio again appeared to use his phone to record the man’s speech. Shortly after, it is alleged that Mercurio joined a mob of rioters who pushed back against police officers attempting to clear the Rotunda. At approximately 3:08 p.m., Mercurio positioned himself at the front of the rioters’ line, confronting the officers.

Court documents say that at about 3:09 p.m., Mercurio shoved a police officer’s baton into their chest with both hands while yelling expletives. Another officer nearby warned Mercurio not to assault police and urged him to leave. Seconds later, it is alleged that Mercurio physically interfered with another police officer by pushing the officer’s arm downward while continuing to yell obscenities.

Mercurio then exited the Capitol at approximately 3:12 p.m.

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Charlotte and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the United States Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the 46 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,561 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 590 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Raleigh Man Pleads Guilty to Seven-Figure Fraud Against COVID Relief Program

Source: US FBI

RALEIGH, N.C. – Raleigh businessman Wilson Alfredo Olivera Borda pled guilty to nine counts of defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for over $1 million. At sentencing, Olivera faces a statutory maximum of 30 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000,000.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, in 2020 and 2021, Borda received nine PPP loans for five separate companies. To obtain those loans, Olivera submitted applications falsely claiming that each business had substantial employees and operations. Olivera bolstered those falsehoods by submitting fabricated tax returns supporting his applications.

In truth, two of the companies, The Insurance Centers.Com and The Insurance Centers LLC, were not separate businesses, but trade names used by a different company for which Borda had already applied for and received COVID relief funding. The other three, Realty Vestors LLC, US-Kaizen LLC, and Ecobuild LLC, had little or no operations and no employees. After obtaining the loans, Borda made additional false statements to obtain forgiveness. All nine loans were fully forgiven and paid off by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“This businessman pocketed over $1 million in PPP relief funds by submitting bogus tax returns suggesting his business had legitimate operations and employees. When the FBI dug in, the house of cards came tumbling down,” said U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. “We should be proud to live in a nation that cares for the needy and moves quickly to handle the greedy. Law enforcement is working daily to root out fraud on public programs.”

Michael F. Easley, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after the arraignment by United States District Judge Terrence Boyle. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorney Chris Cogburn prosecuted the case for the government.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:24-CR-215-BO.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Man Sentenced for Sending Bomb Threat to Arizona State Election Official

Source: US FBI

A Massachusetts man was sentenced today to three years and six months in prison for sending a communication containing a bomb threat to an election official in the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office.

“Those using illegal threats of violence to intimidate election workers should know that the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable under the law,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The defendant in this case will spend the next three and a half years in federal prison for threatening an Arizona election official. We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute such unlawful threats of violence.”

According to court documents, on or about Feb. 14, 2021, James W. Clark, 40, of Falmouth, sent a message via the Arizona Secretary of State’s website through “Contact Elections,” addressing the election official by her first name and warning her that she needed to “resign by Tuesday February 16th by 9 am or the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated.” Shortly after transmitting the message, Clark conducted online searches that included the full name of the election official in conjunction with the words “how to kill” and “address.” Additionally, on or about Feb. 18, 2021, Clark conducted online searches involving the Boston Marathon bombing.

“James W. Clark sent a bomb threat to an Arizona election official. As a result, law enforcement searched the office building where the official worked, as well as the official’s home and car, for an explosive device,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Public servants who ensure our free and fair elections must be able to do their jobs without fear. The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who target election officials with threats of violence.”

In response to Clark ’s message, law enforcement conducted partial evacuations and bomb sweeps of the building in which the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office was located, including an evacuation of the floor of the Office of the Arizona Governor located in the same building. Law enforcement also conducted bomb sweeps of the election official’s personal residence and of the election official’s car.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona will continue to prosecute those who would threaten our public servants simply for performing the jobs they were hired to do,” said U.S. Attorney Gary M. Restaino for the District of Arizona. “As we head into election season, we thank the state and county election community who make democracy possible.”

“Election officials, their staffs, and volunteers are essential to our democracy and any threat to these public servants is completely unacceptable,” said Special Agent in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. “As part of our mission to defend the democratic process, this case demonstrates that the FBI remains prepared to respond to these threats in an urgent and timely fashion.”

Clark pleaded guilty in August 2023 to one count of making a threatening interstate communication.

The FBI Phoenix Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the FBI Boston Field Office.

Trial Attorney Tanya Senanayake of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean K. Lokey for the District of Arizona prosecuted the case.

This case is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force. Announced by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and launched by Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco in June 2021, the task force has led the Department’s efforts to address threats of violence against election workers, and to ensure that all election workers – whether elected, appointed, or volunteer – are able to do their jobs free from threats and intimidation. The task force engages with the election community and state and local law enforcement to assess allegations and reports of threats against election workers, and has investigated and prosecuted these matters where appropriate, in partnership with FBI Field Offices and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country. Over two years after its formation, the task force is continuing this work and supporting the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and FBI Field Offices nationwide as they carry on the critical work that the task force has begun.

Under the leadership of Deputy Attorney General Monaco, the task force is led by the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and includes several other entities within the Justice Department, including the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property, Civil Rights Division, National Security Division, and FBI, as well as key interagency partners, such as the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. For more information regarding the Justice Department’s efforts to combat threats against election workers, read the Deputy Attorney General’s memo.

To report suspected threats or violent acts, contact your local FBI office and request to speak with the Election Crimes Coordinator. Contact information for every FBI field office may be found at www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/. You may also contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or file an online complaint at www.tips.fbi.gov. Complaints submitted will be reviewed by the task force and referred for investigation or response accordingly. If someone is in imminent danger or risk of harm, contact 911 or your local police immediately.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Ohio Man Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting Law Enforcement During January 6 Capitol Breach

Source: US FBI

            WASHINGTON— An Ohio man was sentenced to prison today after he previously pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Matthew Honigford, 31, of Delphos, Ohio, was sentenced to 19 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan. Honigford previously pleaded guilty to a felony offense of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers on Feb. 21, 2024.

            According to court documents, Honigford traveled from his home in Ohio to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., near the Washington Monument. After the rally, Honigford made his way to the Southwest Plaza of the U.S. Capitol building with a large group of rioters. At approximately 2:30 p.m., court documents say that Honigford was positioned at the front of the crowd of rioters that had breached a police line and gained access to a set of stairs on the Southwest Plaza. There, rioters overwhelmed police, causing the officers to retreat. The mob, with Honigford at the front, pursued.

            On the Southwest Plaza, body-worn camera footage shows Honigford holding a flagpole horizontally in front of his body with both hands. He is then seen pushing the flagpole into a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer’s chest area, and a struggle ensued. Honigford then advanced with the crowd to the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol. The crowd then assembled on the steps in front of a police line that officers had formed with metal bike racks to act as a barrier against the crowd.

            Court documents say that from approximately 2:44 to 2:46 p.m., Honigford repeatedly touched or attempted to touch several MPD officers in the police line with his hands, stating he was praying for them. When officers asked Honigford to stop, Honigford responded, “How am I supposed to bless you guys?” Honigford continued to reach his hands out toward the officers until other rioters told him to stop, and he turned toward them to say, “I’m trying to f— pray, guys.”

            At about 2:46 p.m., Honigford grabbed a metal bike rack barricade and used his body to push it against the police line. An MPD officer pulled on Honigford’s jacket in an attempt to prevent him from pushing the barrier; however, Honigford leaned away and kicked the bike rack against the officer.

The FBI arrested Honigford on Nov. 21, 2023, in Ohio.

            This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Cleveland and Washington Field Offices, which listed Honigford as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #506 on its seeking information photos. The U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department provided valuable assistance.

            In the 43 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,488 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 550 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Joins in Recognizing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day and Announces Appointment of Regional MMIP Coordinator

Source: US FBI

PORTLAND, Ore.—The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon joins its partners across the federal government, as well as people throughout American Indian and Alaska Native communities, in recognizing May 5, 2024, as National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day.

The office also announced today the appointment of an MMIP Regional Coordinator based in the District of Oregon. Cedar Wilkie Gillette, who since June 2020 has served as the District of Oregon MMIP Coordinator, will now serve as regional coordinator for the Northwest Region under the Justice Department’s MMIP Regional Outreach Program. The Northwest Region includes the states of California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

Ms. Wilkie Gillette will work alongside Ms. Bree R. Black Horse who was appointed in February 2024 in the Eastern District of Washington to serve as the MMIP Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northwest Region.

“We are delighted that Cedar Wilkie Gillette will serve as northwest regional coordinator for the Justice Department’s MMIP Regional Outreach Program. This program is a critical next step in the department’s ongoing effort to address this crisis, which has affected tribes and communities across our region and country. Cedar is abundantly qualified for this position and we are eager for her to expand the great work she has done here in Oregon throughout the Northwest Region,” said Natalie Wight, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

“There is still so much more to do in the face of persistently high levels of violence that Tribal communities have endured for generations, and that women and girls, particularly, have endured,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “In carrying out our work, we seek to honor those who are still missing, those who were stolen from their communities, and their loved ones who are left with unimaginable pain. Tribal communities deserve safety, and they deserve justice. This day challenges all of us at the Justice Department to double down on our efforts, and to be true partners with Tribal communities as we seek to end this crisis.”

Launched in July 2023, the MMIP Regional Outreach Program permanently places 10 attorneys and coordinators in five designated regions across the United States to aid in the prevention and response to missing or murdered indigenous people. This support includes assisting in the investigation of unresolved MMIP cases and related crimes, and promoting communication, coordination, and collaboration among federal, tribal, local, and state law enforcement and non-governmental partners on MMIP issues.

The regional outreach program program prioritizes MMIP cases consistent with the Deputy Attorney General’s July 2022 directive to U.S. Attorney’s Offices promoting public safety in Indian Country and fulfills the Justice Department’s promise to dedicate new personnel to MMIP consistent with Executive Order 14053, Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People, and the department’s Federal Law Enforcement Strategy to Prevent and respond to Violence Against American Indians and Alaska Natives, Including to Address Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons issued in July 2022.

The Department’s work to respond to the MMIP crisis is a whole-of-department effort. In March, the Departments of Justice and the Interior released their joint response to the Not Invisible Act Commission’s recommendations on how to combat the missing or murdered indigenous peoples and human trafficking crisis.

Over the past year, the Department awarded $268 million in grants to help enhance Tribal justice systems and strengthen law enforcement responses. These awards have also gone toward improving the handling of child abuse cases, combating domestic and sexual violence, supporting Tribal youth programs, and strengthening victim services in Tribal communities.

For additional information about the Department of Justice’s efforts to address the MMIP crisis, please visit the Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons section of the Tribal Safety and Justice website. Click here for more information about reporting or identifying missing persons.

In early 2022, the District of Oregon established an MMIP Working Group to increase multi-agency communication and collaboration in support of and response to Oregon-connected MMIP cases. The working group includes representatives from each of the nine federally recognized Tribes in Oregon, the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of Interior Regional Solicitor’s Office, U.S. Marshals Service, Oregon Department of Justice, Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office, and Oregon State Police.

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2020, Ms. Wilkie Gillette served as a law fellow for Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization. She has a juris doctorate from the Vermont Law School and a bachelor’s degree in applied social justice and human rights activism from the University of Minnesota. Ms. Wilkie Gillette is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation and a direct descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. She has conducted extensive research on indigenous human rights and environmental justice issues.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Hot Springs Man Sentenced to 27 Months for Pandemic Funds Fraud

Source: US FBI

Hot Springs, Arkansas – David Clay Fowlkes, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that on May 26, 2022, James Heritage, 39 of Hot Springs, Arkansas, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay $469,082.73 in restitution after pleading guilty to two counts relating to fraud committed against the United States Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and numerous state unemployment benefits administrators.

According to plea documents in the case, Heritage applied for and received a PPP loan for $183,937.32, using falsified employee and payroll data. In addition, Heritage applied for and received Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a supplemental form of unemployment benefits, from thirty different states, by falsely representing to those states’ benefits administrators that he was eligible for the benefits.

Both the Paycheck Protection Program and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program are parts of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a federal law passed in March 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The case was investigated by the Department of Labor Office of the Investigator General, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Hunter Bridges prosecuted the case for the United States.

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, among other methods, 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. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

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 –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: FBI Warns Public to Beware of Scammers Impersonating FBI Agents and Other Government Officials
Source: US FBI

PORTLAND, OR—The FBI Portland Division has seen an increase in reports of scammers falsely representing themselves as FBI agents, or a representative of another government agency, and sending couriers to pick up cash or gold payments.

Be advised, federal agencies do not call or e-mail individuals threatening arrest or demanding money. Scammers often spoof caller ID information, and these phone calls are fraudulent even if they appear to be coming from an agency’s legitimate phone number. Recipients should hang up immediately and report the call.

There are many versions of the government impersonation scam, and they all exploit intimidation tactics. Typically, scammers will use an urgent and aggressive tone, refusing to speak to or leave a message with anyone other than their targeted victim; and will urge victims not to tell anyone else, including family, friends, or financial institutions, about what is occurring.

Payment is demanded in various forms, in this new version of the scam, victims are asked to withdraw money as either cash or gold and give that to a courier who arrives at their home. Other tactics include prepaid cards, wire transfers, and cash, sent by mail or inserted into cryptocurrency ATMs. Victims are asked to read prepaid card numbers over the phone or text a picture of the card.

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), 14,190 people reported being victims of government impersonation scams in 2023, with losses totaling more than $394 million dollars. Here in the Portland Division, which includes all of Oregon, financial losses exceeded $1.7 million dollars in 2023.

The scammers typically target older adults. In 2023, almost half the complainants reported to be over 60 (40%), and experienced 58% of the losses (almost $770 million) nationally. Complainants over the age of 60 lost more to these scams than all other age groups combined, and reportedly remortgaged/foreclosed homes, emptied retirement accounts, and borrowed from family and friends to cover losses in these scams. Some incidents have resulted in suicide because of shame or loss of sustainable income.

The FBI will never:
- Call or e-mail private citizens to demand payment or threaten arrest. You will also not be asked to wire a “settlement” to avoid arrest.
- Ask you to use large sums of your own money to help catch a criminal.
- Ask you for wire transfers or gift cards.
- Call you about “frozen” Social Security numbers or to coordinate inheritances.
Scams impersonating the FBI and other government agencies are a persistent problem and can also occur via e-mail. Common hallmarks of a scam e-mail include misspellings, missing words, and incorrect grammar. Fraudulent e-mails may give the appearance of legitimacy by using pictures of the FBI Director and/or the FBI seal and letterhead.

Members of the public seeking to confirm that they have been contacted by an actual FBI employee are encouraged to call the FBI Portland Division at 503-224-4181 and ask to be connected directly.

If you think you are a victim of this, or any other online scam please file a report with your local law enforcement agency and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov.

More information about government impersonation schemes and other online fraud schemes can be found at https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-fraud-schemes.

MIL Security OSI –
May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Winnie Ho concludes Paris visit

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho concluded her visit to Paris, France, yesterday by meeting a representative of a social housing association, a renowned urban planner and government officials there.

In the morning, Ms Ho met a representative of CDC Habitat, a social housing association in France, to learn more about the mode of operation, development strategies, and challenges of social housing there. She also devoted time to highlight Hong Kong’s situation and the various housing initiatives being implemented by the Housing Bureau.

Ms Ho then visited an integrated residential and commercial community comprising social housing, which was transformed from the Olympic Athletes’ Village, to learn about sustainable urban development.

While meeting a renowned urban planner, IAE Paris Sorbonne Business School Associate Professor Carlos Moreno, Ms Ho shared her vision and thoughts on sustainable urban planning and design.

Prof Moreno put forward the urban planning concept of the “15-minute city”, which aims to enable residents in a community to meet their daily needs for food, clothing, housing and transport within a 15-minute walking or cycling distance and enhance environmental sustainability.

Ms Ho pointed out that this coincides with the planning concept of the Housing Authority’s new public housing estates and cited Queen’s Hill Estate as an example, demonstrating the planning of a resident-oriented, self-sufficient community that embraces cultural heritage and blends with nature to create a sustainable community. Prof Moreno expressed his wish to have the opportunity to visit Hong Kong in the future.

In the evening, Ms Ho met Advisor to the Mayor on housing, urban planning, architecture, land development Renaud Paque, and Director of Housing & Habitat Doan Lebel to exchange views on public housing policies and experiences on sustainable urbanisation and urban planning concepts.

Concluding the trip, Ms Ho stated that this visit tied in with the Housing Bureau’s Housing•I&T initiative this year, introducing the latest developments of advanced technology companies from Hong Kong and the Mainland in the areas of construction technologies, public housing, green building, etc, as well as demonstrating to the world the application of technologies such as Modular Integrated Construction and construction robots that help enhance construction efficiency and safety.

The housing chief emphasised that the Government will actively make reference to overseas experiences on decarbonisation and energy-saving technologies, and fully capitalise on Hong Kong’s unique advantages, reinforce connectivity, and play the role as a “super connector” and a “super value-adder”.

“I expect that the two cities will maintain liaison and strengthen exchanges in areas such as innovative building technologies, public housing construction, green buildings, well-being communities, and enhancing the housing ladder to give new impetus to public housing construction,” Ms Ho added.

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Brazilian Man Charged with Making Extortionate Threats to Publicize Stolen Data Obtained by Unlawful Computer Intrusion

Source: US FBI

Newark, N.J. – A citizen and resident of Brazil was charged with making extortionate threats to publicize data stolen from the Brazilian subsidiary of a New Jersey company, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Junior Barros De Oliveira, 29, of Curitiba, Brazil was charged with four counts of extortionate threats involving information obtained from protected computers in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030(a)(7)(B) and four counts of threatening communications in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(d) in an indictment unsealed today in Newark federal court.

According to the Indictment:

In March 2020, De Oliveira gained unauthorized access and exceeded authorized access to the computer systems of Victim 1-Brazil, the Brazilian subsidiary of a New Jersey company. Exploiting this access, De Oliveira obtained confidential customer information relating to approximately 300,000 customers of Victim 1-Brazil. In September 2020, De Oliveira began contacting U.S. representatives of Victim 1, including its CEO, in an attempt to extort money from Victim 1-Brazil. De Oliveira demanded over approximately $3,000,000 in Bitcoin in exchange for keeping the stolen data confidential and not publicizing it.

Each of the four counts of making extortionate threats in relation to information obtained from protected computers carry a maximum prison term of 5 years, and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the value of any gain or loss, whichever is greater. Each of the four counts of threatening communications carry a maximum prison term of 2 years, and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the value of any gain or loss, whichever is greater.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”)’s Newark Field Office, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Malagold of the Cybercrime Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Essex County Man Charged with Firearms and Drug Trafficking Offenses

Source: US FBI

NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County man has been indicted for firearms and narcotics offenses, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Raishaun Lofton, 30, of Newark, New Jersey, was charged by indictment with one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He appeared today before United States Magistrate Judge Almonte in Newark federal court and was detained.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On February 22, 2024, during an investigation, police officers recovered from Lofton a privately made firearm with no serial number, nine rounds of 9mm ammunition, 81 glassine envelopes containing fentanyl, and plastic jugs commonly used to distribute illegal drugs. On April 22, 2024, video surveillance footage depicted Lofton firing a different firearm into the air during an argument. One of the bullets from the firearm that Lofton shot entered a nearby living room where a family with two children was watching a movie. During the subsequent investigation, law enforcement recovered the firearm that Lofton had fired.

The two counts of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon each carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. The count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1,000,000. The count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, which must run consecutively to the sentence imposed on the other counts, a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark, and police officers and detectives of the Newark Police Department, under the direction of Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda, with the investigation that led to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli Jacobs of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Defense counsel: Tatiana Nnaji, Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Essex County Convicted Felon Admits Drug Trafficking and Possession of Firearms, Including Two Assault Rifles

Source: US FBI

NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County, New Jersey, man today admitted distributing cocaine, possessing with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin, and possessing three firearms, including two assault rifles with high capacity magazines, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Azmar Carter, a/k/a “Bizzy,” 32, of East Orange, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to a superseding information charging him with two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon, and possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In 2021, law enforcement began investigating a drug trafficking organization that operates primarily in and around Orange, New Jersey and distributes narcotics throughout Essex County. During the investigation, Carter distributed cocaine to law enforcement in May 2021 and in July 2021. Subsequently, on August 18, 2021, law enforcement searched Carter’s residence and car in East Orange, New Jersey and recovered the following items: one Draco AK 47 rifle; one Smith and Wesson AR rifle; one .40 caliber pistol; ninety-four rounds of associated ammunition; a distribution quantity of heroin and cocaine; and approximately $7,177.00.

The drug trafficking offenses carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, and a fine of $1 million. The possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted a felon offense carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for April 30, 2024.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents and members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge L.C. Cheeks, Jr.; members of the Orange Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Todd Warren, Chief Vincent Vitiello and Captain Brian Mooney; members of the Elizabeth Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Giacomo Sacca and Police Director Earl J. Graves; members of the East Orange Police Department, under the direction of Chief Phyllis Bindi; member of the Newark Police Department, under the direction of Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda and Chief of Police Sharonda Morris; and the Belleville Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Minichini, with the investigation leading to the charges and arrests.

This case is part of Operation Orange, which is a part of the Newark Violent Crime Initiative (VCI), which was formed in August 2017 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, and the City of Newark’s Department of Public Safety for the purpose of combatting violent crime in and around Newark. As part of this partnership, federal, state, county, and city agencies collaborate and pool resources to prosecute violent offenders who endanger the safety of the community. The VCI is composed of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, the U.S. Marshals, the Newark Department of Public Safety, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, N.J. State Parole, Union County Jail, N.J. State Police Regional Operations and Intelligence Center/Real Time Crime Center, N.J. Department of Corrections, the East Orange Police Department, the Orange Police Department and the Irvington Police Department.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin, Chief of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.

Defense counsel: Christopher D. Adams, Esq.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Jersey City Gang Member Charged with Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering and Weapons Offense for Role in Shooting

Source: US FBI

NEWARK, N.J. – A member of the Rutgers neighborhood street gang operating in the area of Triangle Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, is charged for his role in shooting rival gang members, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Micah Reid, aka “Nips,” 33, of Jersey City is charged by complaint with one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering activity and one count of discharging of a firearm during a crime of violence. Reid made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark, III in Newark federal court and was detained.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Reid is a high-ranking member and associate of the Rutgers neighborhood street gang, which operates in the area of Triangle Park in Jersey City. The gang has historically engaged in retaliatory acts of violence against rival neighborhood street gangs operating in the area of the Salem Lafayette Apartments and the area of Wilkinson Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Martin Luther King Drive, and Wegman Parkway.

On October 1, 2023, Reid, driving a stolen vehicle, shot at members and associates of rival street gangs who were exiting a nightclub on Culver Avenue in Jersey City. In total, six individual suffered gunshot wounds. Law enforcement later recovered the firearm used in the shooting from Reid’s residence while executing a search warrant.

Reid faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on the violent crime in aid of racketeering charge, and a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison on the firearm offense, which must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed. Both offenses carry a maximum fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited investigators of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Esther Suarez, special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge L.C. Cheeks Jr., and the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Director James Shea, with the investigation leading to the charges.

This investigation was conducted as part of the Jersey City Violent Crime Initiative (VCI). The VCI was formed in 2018 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Jersey City Police Department, for the sole purpose of combatting violent crime in and around Jersey City. As part of this partnership, federal, state, county, and city agencies collaborate to strategize and prioritize the prosecution of violent offenders who endanger the safety of the community. The VCI is composed of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the ATF, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Jersey Division, the U.S. Marshals, the Jersey City Police Department, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office, New Jersey State Parole, the Hudson County Jail, and the New Jersey State Police Regional Operations and Intelligence Center/Real Time Crime Center.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Thompson of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: New Hope Man Sentenced for His Role in Multi-Million-Dollar Kickback and Health Care Fraud Cases

Source: US FBI

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A federal judge has sentenced another individual charged in a series of related cases involving multi-million-dollar health care fraud conspiracies, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Tamala E. Miles.

Last Friday, Chief United States District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced John Hornbuckle, 53, of New Hope, to 80 months in prison. In November 2022, Hornbuckle pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to receive kickbacks. Between 2012 and 2018, Hornbuckle owned QBR. According to the plea agreement in Hornbuckle’s case, QBR billed insurers millions of dollars for electro-diagnostic testing that its technicians performed, regardless of whether there was a medical need for them. Hornbuckle caused QBR to pay medical providers a per-patient fee for the tests they ordered from QBR that were reimbursed by insurers, including Medicare and other government health care programs. The payments were disguised as hourly payments for the provider’s time and the time of the provider’s staff, but the provider was actually paid a fee per patient who received a test. Insurance programs paid more than nine million dollars for the medically unnecessary tests that QBR paid doctors to order.

Hornbuckle was also ordered to pay $9,192,005.20 in restitution, a fine of $250,000, and forfeiture of $176,449.19.

The case against Hornbuckle is related to several other cases that have resulted in convictions in the last year. Dr. Mark Murphy, 66, and his wife Jennifer Murphy, 66, both of Lewisburg, Tennessee, were sentenced last week. Brian Bowman, 41, of Gadsden, has pleaded guilty to health care fraud conspiracy. According to Bowman’s plea agreement, Bowman marketed QBR’s electro-diagnostic testing to medical providers, and was paid a fee for each test they ordered. Bowman received nearly a million dollars in fees from QBR. James Ewing Ray, 52, of Gadsden, has pleaded guilty to health care fraud and kickback conspiracy for his role as a sales rep who marketed QBR’s scheme to medical practices and received kickbacks per test ordered. John Alan Robson, 40, of Trussville, was indicted last month on charges of health care fraud conspiracy, kickback conspiracy, and kickbacks. According to his indictment, Robson was a sales rep who marketed to doctors’ offices various health care products and services, including prescription drugs from specialty pharmacies, durable medical equipment (DME), and electro-diagnostic testing. Robson was paid fees for the prescriptions, DME, and tests he generated from doctors.

Brian Bowman and James Ray are awaiting sentencing.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the cases. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J.B. Ward and Don Long prosecuted the cases.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Former Troy City Council Member Sentenced for Identity Theft

Source: US FBI

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Kim McPherson, age 63, of Troy, New York, was sentenced today to 1 year of probation, and to pay a $1,500 fine, for identity theft in connection with her casting of absentee ballots in two other people’s names in elections held in 2021.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

McPherson successfully ran for re-election to the Troy City Council in 2021, first in the Working Families Party primary and then in the general election. In pleading guilty in June 2022 to the unlawful possession and use of a means of identification of another person, she admitted that in the primary election, she unlawfully cast an absentee ballot in the name of another person, and that in the general election, she unlawfully cast absentee ballots in the names of two people other than herself.

As part of her plea agreement, McPherson resigned from the Troy City Council.

The FBI investigated this case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett prosecuted this case.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025

Category: Politics

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Leader of White Supremacist Group ‘Maniac Murder Cult’ Recruited Others to Bomb and Poison the Jewish Community and Racial Minorities

Defendant Allegedly Planned Scheme to Distribute Poisoned Candy on New Year’s Eve

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