Florida

Crime & Safety While this OSAC report covers the list of countries shown, I have focussed on Barbados: Antigua And Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Martinique (French Antilles), Montserrat, Saint Kitts And Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin (French/Dutch), Saint Vincent And Grenadines. Read the entire 22 Apr 2008 OSAC report here.   Editor’s Summary: Both non-violent and violent crime is increasing in the region, but the local police are providing a higher level of protection to tourists compared to that provided to residents. The Police are poorly trained and ineffective. Tourists are advised not to leave the tourist areas, and not to depend on the Police to respond to a call. (Read the full post about ‘Barbados and Eastern Caribbean 2008 Crime & Safety Report’…)

Alleged VECO Connection Could Deal a Major Blow to the Republican Party

The shocking indictment of Republican Senator Ted Stevens could hurt the Republican party’s election prospects, and deal a major blow to the country’s efforts to produce more domestic oil.

Here is a quote from fwdailynews.com/Associated Press:

“Stevens is the single most prominent advocate of oil drilling in protected areas, and charges that he took more than a quarter-million dollars worth of unreported gifts from oil services contractor Veco Corp.

(Read the full post about ‘Alleged Gifts from (Barbados Jail Builder) VECO Cause Indictment of Prominent Alaska Senator’…)

Above: Detective with Meyer Lansky (right). Source for text and image Wikipedia. Lansky broke the Cosa Nostra Stereotype The Sicilian Cosa Nostra, or Mafia, was a group of family businesses. Blood ties were essential for advancement. Meyer Lansky was not even Italian. He was born in Poland to Jewish parents, but this did not prevent him from reaching the top levels of syndicated crime. Lansky may have never taken the Cosa Nostra blood oath, the Omertà. La Cosa Nostra might not have put a burning card depicting a saint in the palm of his hand, but he was in charge. Referred to often as the “Godfather of Godfathers“, Lansky, along with Charles Luciano, was responsible for the development of The Commission, the governing body of the Mafia in the U.S.. (Read the full post about ‘Was Crime Boss Meyer Lansky the Godfather of the Caribbean Money-Laundering Shell Corporation?’…)

TAMPA — Police say a 50-year-old Tampa man has admitted to molesting an 11-year-old female relative. Luis A. Miranda Jr., of 3406 W Beaumont St., faces charges of sexual battery and lewd or lacivious molestation. He was arrested on Monday night. The victim reported to police that from November 2006 to March 2007, Miranda had touched her inappropriately. In an interview with police, Miranda reportedly admitted he also forced her to perform oral sex on him while he watched pornography. (Read the full post about ‘Police: Tampa man admits molesting 11-year-old’…)

PLANT CITY– Peiter Vanvliet desperately wanted to be arrested. Problem was, the 47-year-old hadn’t done anything wrong — until he began harassing authorities and asking them to send him to jail. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Vanvliet, of 560 Joe King Road, repeatedly called 911 from a pay phone on Monday night to inform deputies there was a warrant for his arrest and that he would wait for them to come and arrest him. Yet there was no warrant. Vanvliet wasn’t wanted for any crime — except that his repeated calls prompted deputies to charge him with misuse the 911 system. He was arrested. (Read the full post about ‘Man, 47, begs for arrest, gets wish’…)

TAMPA — Two men received 21-month federal prison sentences today for taking part in a scheme to obtain fake commercial driver’s licenses through the Pinellas County Tax Collector’s Office in Largo.

Santos Alamo and Gustavo Soler both pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy and one count of fraudulent production of identification documents. Prosecutors said the men paid bribes to a tax collector employee in exchange for commercial driver’s licenses.

Yolanda Pippins, the tax collector employee, received a 21-month prison sentence earlier this year and was fined $1,000 for conspiracy to make false statements and to corruptly solicit and accept things of value in connection with the business of a state government agency.

The special license is required for drivers operating a commercial motor vehicle, which include vehicles that transport more than 16 people and vehicles that weigh more than 26,001 pounds.

(Read the full post about ‘Middlemen get prison in driver’s license bribery scheme’…)

TAMPA — Upset about a disagreement with his girlfriend, a Tampa man shot her and a co-worker outside a fast-food restaurant this morning and then killed himself, authorities say.

The shootings stemmed from an altercation Monday night at the the Sonic Drive-In at 4411 W Gandy Blvd., where police say the man argued with a female employee whom he had been dating, identified as Cassandra Gorham, 21, of Seffner.

Shortly before 2 a.m., after the restaurant had closed, the man returned with a handgun and opened fire on several people sitting inside cars in the parking lot, said Andrea Davis, a spokeswoman for the Tampa Police Department. Gorham and another Sonic employee, Michael D.

(Read the full post about ‘Tampa police: Man shoots girlfriend and co-worker, kills self’…)

LARGO — A swarm of bees killed a pitbull tied up outside its owners home on Monday. Lisa Pham heard her 18-month-old dog, Mimi, yelping and ran outside her mobile home to find a yellow and black swarm. Pham grabbed a hose and turned it on the bees. A few of them broke off from the dog and attacked her, leaving stings on her forehead and on the back of her head. So she went inside and called the police department, which summoned the fire department, which came to the scene at 646 Egret Way in Largo just after noon.Fire rescuers suited up and retrieved the dog, taking her to a local animal hospital where she died. Pham was told by the veterinarian that her dog suffered more than 1,000 stings and died of cardiac arrest. (Read the full post about ‘Bees kill pitbull’…)

Source: DailyPress.com

The Associated Press

2:55 PM EDT, July 29, 2008

LOS ANGELES - A strong earthquake shook Southern California on Tuesday, causing buildings to sway and triggering some precautionary evacuations. No immediate damage was reported.

The jolt was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and slightly in Las Vegas.

Preliminary information from the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the quake at magnitude 5.8, centered 29 miles east-southeast of downtown Los Angeles near Chino Hills in San Bernardino County.

(Read the full post about ‘5.8-magnitude earthquake hits Southern California’…)

(To get the most from this post, please read this first: Money Laundering: Are accountants and lawyers potentially just as guilty as the criminals themselves?) PricewaterhouseCoopers are the external auditors for several large businesses in Barbados including FirstCaribbean Bank International. It is my understanding that PwC is also the external auditor of FCIB (Belize). The FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) in Belize is facing more than 100 charges of failing to report suspicious money transactions between 2001 and 2005. Both FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (East Caribbean Firm) are defendants in the Canadian Action. (Read the full post about ‘PwC face probe into failure to detect €21m fraud’…)