Police warn they may not be able to afford Tesco's £3m riot compensation bill

 

In total, the retailer has asked for nearly £3m in compensation from police forces around the country, following the riots that tore through some high streets in August. It is likely that this is the biggest request from a single retailer. The company is claiming under the Riot Damages Act, a piece of Victorian legislation that allows businesses and individuals affected by riot damage to claim directly from the police, rather than their own insurer. In the immediate aftermath of the civil disturbances, the British Retail Consortium urged small retailers to put in their claims to make sure their businesses were not harmed. However, the Greater Manchester Police Authority, which has been hit with 280 claims totalling £4.4m, has criticised Tesco for using the Act, saying there was no guarantee the police force would be able to afford all of the compensation. The force faces £134m budget cuts in the next five years. It added that J Sainsbury was one of a number of large companies that had chosen not to submit any compensation claims. Tesco has submitted more than 20 claims for compensation to Manchester police, including one for £40-worth of looted stock.

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Rio hit with £500k bill after losing court battle

The England and Manchester United star will now be saddled with paying the estimated £500,000 legal bills incurred by the Sunday Mirror in defence of the lawsuit.

Ferdinand sued the newspaper for misuse of private information after they published details of his 13-year relationship with interior designer Carly Storey, who accepted £16,000 for telling the tale of her liaisons with the defender.

But Mr Justice Nicol dismissed the case at London's high court on Thursday, and refused Ferdinand's legal team permission to appeal.

"Overall, in my judgment, the balancing exercise favours the defendant's right of freedom of expression over the claimant's right of privacy," he said.

The judge was not swayed by Ferdinand's claims that he had not tried to meet Storey after being made England captain, despite claims in the newspaper that he had snuck Storey into the team hotel.

"I did not find this answer persuasive. In his evidence the claimant said that (Fabio) Capello had told him to be professional, not only on the pitch but 'around the hotel'," the judge said.

"In the past, the Claimant (Ferdinand) had not behaved in a professional manner around the hotels into which he had tried to sneak Ms Storey.

"Whether or not he had done that in the few weeks since he had been made the permanent captain of England, his relative recent past failings could legitimately be used to call into question his suitability for the role."

Former England captain Ferdinand, who has three children with wife Rebecca, had told the judge at an earlier hearing that, "I do not see why I should not be entitled to a private life just because I am a famous footballer."

Sunday Mirror editor Tina Weaver hailed the judge's decision.

"The Sunday Mirror is very pleased that the court has rejected Rio Ferdinand's privacy claim," she said.

"The judge found that there was a justified public interest in reporting the off-pitch behaviour of the then England captain and discussion of his suitability for such an important and ambassadorial role representing the country.

"We are pleased the judge ruled that Mr Ferdinand had perpetuated a misleading public image and the Sunday Mirror was entitled to correct this impression.

"There has never been greater scrutiny of the media than now, and we applaud this ruling in recognising the important role a free press has to play in a democratic society."

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Paramedics Who Tried To Save Singer's Life Give Evidence

 

Alberto Alvarez was in charge of back stage during Jackson's final rehearsal on June 24, 2009. He described Jackson as "happy and in good spirits" during the performance. "He was doing very well for the most part," he told the Los Angeles court. He explained that he later drove Jackson back to his rented Holmby Hills home and saw Dr Murray's car parked there. He said the last time he saw Jackson alive was when he said "good night" to the singer. Mr Alvarez was the first person who went into Jackson's bedroom after Dr Murray telephoned for help as he was trying to resuscitate the singer. He said Jackson was lying on his back, with his hands extended out to his side, and his eyes and mouth open. "When I came into the room, Dr Murray said 'Alberto, hurry, we have to get to hospital, we have to get an ambulance'." Jackson's logistics director Alberto Alvarez He then described how Jackson's children Paris and Prince entered the room behind him. "Paris screamed out 'Daddy' and she was crying. "Dr Murray said to me 'Don't let them see their dad like this see'. "I ushered the children out and told them 'Don't worry, we will take care of it, everything is going to be OK'." Mr Alvarez asked what had happened, to which Dr Murray replied: "He had a bad reaction". Two paramedics who tried to save Jackson's life are also due to give evidence on day three of the trial. Martin Blount and Richard Senneff are expected to say that Jackson already appeared to be dead when they arrived at his home on June 25, 2009. The court will also hear from another key witness - Jackson's personal chef Kai Chase. Sky's US correspondent Greg Milam, who is at the court, said: "There are fewer demonstrators, fans of Michael Jackson, and supporters of Dr Murray here today - but they are still being very vocal in their support of both sides in the case." On Wednesday, Jackson's security chief revealed how the star's children crumpled in shock, as they saw their apparently dead father being given heart massage in his bedroom. The court also heard that Dr Conrad Murray, accused of involuntary manslaughter over Jackson's death two years ago, asked aides if any of them knew how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). "Paris was on the ground balled up crying, and Prince was standing there, and he just had a real shocked, you know just slowly crying type of look on his face," bodyguard Faheem Muhammad, referring to two of Jackson's three children, said. "I went and gathered them together, and I kind of talked to them for a second, got the nanny... and we walked downstairs and put them in a different location," he said. He was describing the scene after he was called up to the master bedroom of Jackson's rented Los Angeles mansion where the star died after an overdose of a powerful sedative. The defence team for the doctor insists Jackson self-administered other sedatives, prompting the overdose while his physician was outside the bedroom. Dr Murray, 58, faces up to four years in jail if convicted of involuntary manslaughter for administering the overdose of Propofol.

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Raids in 7 countries in $200M investment fraud

 

Dutch authorities say raids have been conducted in seven countries in connection with an alleged $200 million investment fraud scheme, and four men have been arrested. The country's financial crime prosecutors say they suspect hundreds of investors were conned into fraudulent investments in U.S. life insurance policies by a firm called Quality Investments BV. Prosecutors said Wednesday four Dutch men have been arrested, two in the Netherlands and one each in Switzerland and Turkey. Raids were also conducted in Spain, Dubai, England and the United States, in which millions of euros in assets were seized in hopes of recovering some money for duped investors.

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Missourian, "soldiers ... shot Crips gang members; in retaliation Crips has asked its members to shoot any soldiers on sight.

 

Missouri National Guard soldiers and airmen were still on "alert" Saturday afternoon to "avoid wearing a military uniform in public" because of a "direct threat" in retaliation to a gang-related shooting around Fort Sill, Okla., earlier in the week. The cautionary warning  was issued Friday. According to an internal memo leaked to the Columbia Missourian, "soldiers ... shot Crips gang members; in retaliation Crips has asked its members to shoot any soldiers on sight." MoreStory Related Articles Oklahoma shooting leads gang to threaten Missouri National Guard According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Crips is a collection of gangs throughout the U.S. with an estimated membership between 30,000 and 35,000 operating out of 221 cities in 41 states. Missouri is one of those states. Lt. Col. Levon E. Cumpton, who issued the memo, said the message "came out through Army channels"; Fort Sill is an Army base in Lawton, Okla. He called the action a "precautionary measure." According to Cumpton's memo, National Guard troops were instructed not to "wear a military uniform out for evening dining, shopping, and other personal matters." Full-time members were cautioned to "consider commuting to/from work in civilian clothes — specifically, if they need to make personal stops between home and work." Spokesmen for the Missouri National Guard and Fort Sill declined to elaborate on the incident, saying the investigation is in the hands of the Lawton, Okla., Police Department. Yet as of Saturday afternoon, "the alert has not been rescinded," said Maj. Tammy Spicer, the public affairs officer for the Missouri National Guard.  The decision to call off the alert will come from the Joint Operations Center in Jefferson City.  "As far as we know, and even the Lawton Police Department know," the gang’s threat is "just an unsubstantiated rumor," said Fort Sill Public Affairs Officer Keith Pannell during a phone call late Friday night. KSWO-TV 7 News in Lawton reported two Air Force bases in Oklahoma, Tinker and Altus, issued similar orders to enlisted soldiers. The Altus Air Force Base Facebook page commented Friday night on receiving "information on a criminal threat to military members in the Lawton-Fort Sill area." The incident that sparked the direct threat seems to be tied to a "brutal” home invasion in Lawton earlier in the week, with the four main suspects in the invasion being Fort Sill soldiers. They are believed to be responsible for shooting four people and injuring two others early Tuesday morning who, according to rumors circulating in the city, were gang members with ties to the Crips. The Missourian was unable to reach the chief of police who is handling the case.

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Ecstasy crime ring smashed,

 

highly sophisticated drug ring has been smashed by federal authorities with the seizure of a record haul of a precursor drug capable of producing $70 million worth of ecstasy. Customs intercepted more than 2800 litres of safrole oil (an extract of the sassafras plant) in three shipments from China to Sydney's Port Botany between April and August. The oil was concealed in bottles labelled as shampoo and cleaning products. Advertisement: Story continues below In a joint statement, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said there was enough of the banned chemical to produce almost 235kg of MDMA or 2.3 million ecstasy tablets. Three Australian men were arrested during an operation involving more than 50 Australian Federal Police officers in Sydney on Wednesday morning. If found guilty, they face up to 25 years in jail and fines of up to $550,000. "We're not here to play. We're here to do as much damage to these people as we possibly can," AFP Assistant Commissioner Kevin Zuccato told reporters. "This is a significant blow, as far as I'm concerned, a lethal blow to this particular syndicate." Mr Zuccato said the haul was the largest in Australia and showed a highly organised crime ring was at work. "When you look at the sophistication of this syndicate ... there was no backyard lab," he said. "This was going to be a very sophisticated, super-lab as far as I'm concerned." Investigations into the syndicate were continuing and more arrests were possible, he added. Customs spokeswoman Michele Harper said the investigation demonstrated the effectiveness of Australian law enforcement in detecting even the most sophisticated drug concealment methods. "Customs and Border Protection continues to adapt its technology, and targeting and examination capabilities to counter the evolving methods used by drug importation syndicates," she said. A 27-year-old man from Lurnea and a 35-year-old man from North Parramatta were charged with importation of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. A 33-year-old man from Merrylands was charged with dealing in the proceeds of crime. All three are expected to appear in Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday.

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Scotland Yard drops Official Secrets Act bid against Guardian

 

Scotland Yard had intended to take the Guardian newspaper to court on Friday in an attempt to force the newspaper into revealing how it obtained information that missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s mobile phone had been hacked. However, following discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the force has abandoned its application for production orders against the newspaper. The decision comes following heavy criticism of the force’s attempt to make the Guardian, and one of its journalists, hand over information which would have revealed the source of many of the newspaper’s phone hacking stories. Various MPs, including the shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis, questioned the Yard’s attempt. While many national newspapers carried leading articles condemning the Metropolitan Police’s apparent attack on press freedom. And today the former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith told the Daily Telegraph that the force’s decision to invoke the Official Secrets Act was “unusual” and could threaten press freedom.

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18 Million Dollars of Cocaine are Seized to Sinaloa Cartel Member in Tijuana

 

- Another important drug bust goes down just south of the border as a member of the Sinaloa Cartel is detained with a large load of cocaine valued at over 18 million dollars. Baja State police officials captured 48 year old Jesus Hernandez-Valenzuela during a raid on a home at Tijuana’s southwestern neighborhood of La Villa Saturday.   Hernandez-Valenzuela, who said to be affiliated to the Sinaloa Drug Cartel, was the only person found at the structure during the special operation.  Inside the drug house authorities also found 214 packages of cocaine, a 9 millimeter semi automatic rifle hand gun, another rifle and 100 rounds of 45 caliber ammunition, amongst other ammo, as well as an SUV. The drug load that weighed little more than 232 kilos has a street value of over 18 million dollars.

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US Breaks Up Arizona Drug Smuggling Gang

The alleged leader of a drug smuggling organization accused of moving thousands of pounds of marijuana between Maricopa, Arizona, and the Phoenix metropolitan area was arrested Thursday following a major multi-agency enforcement operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office (PCSO). Jose Sarinana-Placencia, 28, and five members of his organization are facing state and federal drug smuggling and weapons charges. The arrests were made after teams of law enforcement officials executed seven search warrants early Thursday morning at locations in Chandler, Ariz.; Mesa, Ariz.; and Maricopa. In addition to the arrests, officials seized 10 weapons, including a Mac-10 pistol and two ballistic vests. "From every indication, this organization has been a major player in moving narcotics smuggled in from Mexico to the Phoenix area," said Matt Allen, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Phoenix. "By teaming up with PCSO on this complex investigation, we have been able to expose this network and shut it down." Sarinana's smuggling organization is suspecting of moving multiple tons of marijuana every month. ICE HSI and PCSO opened an investigation into the organization in February. Before Thursday's operation, the investigation had led to the seizure of approximately 3,000 pounds of marijuana, more than $300,000, nearly three pounds of cocaine and 22 weapons. "The drug cartels of Mexico are trying harder and harder everyday to move their illegal drugs throughout the United States," said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. "This investigation is a prime example of the cooperative efforts needed by federal, state, county, city, and tribal law enforcement agencies to combat their operations. The Pinal County Sheriff's Office will continue to work with our fellow law enforcement partners during this ongoing war." The investigation was conducted by the Pinal County Drug Task Force, a partnership between HSI and PCSO funded by the Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). Numerous agencies, including the Chandler Police Department, the El Mirage Police Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine, assisted ICE HSI and PCSO with executing the search warrants and arresting suspected smugglers.

 

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Central control of Europe's borders proposed

 

The European Union's executive branch proposed Friday that national borders in Europe's visa-free travel zone be controlled by officials in Brussels, the EU capital, rather than by individual governments -- a plan already opposed by Germany, France and Spain. The proposal by the European Commission follows a call for stronger economic governance within the area that uses the euro currency, and reflects a push toward more centralized decision-making to protect the European Union's two proudest achievements, the free movement of both people and capital. It is unclear at this point whether either of those achievements will survive, said Paul de Grauwe, an economics professor and EU expert at the Catholic University of Leuven, in Belgium. "I would say we are at a road, and suddenly there is a bifurcation and we have to make choice," de Grauwe said. "One road is more integration to save the project, to save the Schengen zone and the monetary union. But there is a lot of opposition. It's also possible that we take the other road, no further integration, and then we risk the collapse of these two experiments." In June, EU leaders agreed to set up new rules underpinning the principle of free travel throughout much of the continent after Italy, Denmark and France all took action to roll back visa-free travel. Most of the details of the proposed centralized governance of the 25-country Schengen zone -- named for the town in Luxembourg where the visa-free treaty was negotiated in 1985 -- had already emerged. National governments would retain the right to re-institute border checks in unforeseen emergencies that threaten public order or internal security, but only for five days. Beyond that, approval of the European Commission and a committee of technical experts from the Schengen countries would be needed. And as a last resort, if a country failed persistently to adequately police the Schengen zone's external borders despite help from EU headquarters, the commission with the consent of the committee could impose checks along that country's borders with other Schengen countries. "It is a common European project," EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said of the visa-free zone. "We need to work jointly on joint projects to defend them." But there has long been a push and pull between officials who believe the European project can only work with greater integration and those opposed to the weakening of national sovereignty. Even before the Schengen proposal was unveiled Friday, it met with opposition from Germany, France and Spain, who said border control, public order and internal security were matters for national governments, not EU headquarters. Given that opposition, it is unclear whether the proposal in its current form will take effect. Meanwhile, plans to admit two more EU countries -- Romania and Bulgaria -- to the Schengen visa-free zone hit a snag Friday when Dutch Immigration Minister Gerd Leers said his country plans to block their entry. Approval of new Schengen countries must be unanimous. "The trust isn't there," said Leers' spokeswoman, Elaine de Boer. She said Leers "wants to see more work in the fight against corruption" in both countries. Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov insisted his country was being unfairly singled out despite meeting the criteria set out by the 17-member bloc for joining the visa-free zone. "I don't think it is right to use any other criteria in solving this matter," he said at a meeting with foreign ambassadors in the capital Sofia.

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South London men face furniture drug smuggling charges

 

Six men have gone on trial accused of conspiring to smuggle more than £2.5m of cocaine into the country. Kevin Hill, 27, of Cartmel Gardens, Morden, Wayne Smith, 19, of Westmoreland Way, Mitcham and Carl Charles, 33, of Yorkshire Road, Mitcham, face charges of attemtping to import 13.5kg of the drug. Three other men Craig Hughes, 35, from Orpington, Conrad Crandon, 55, from Edmonton and Terence Tremblett, 32, from Brixton, also face the same charge. The offences date back to October and November, in 2009, when border agency officers at Tilbury Docks, in Essex, flagged up a container holding a number of items of wicker furniture and brush mats. After closer inspection, the jury heard, the officers found the brush mats had been injected with cocaine which, when separated, came to a total of more than £2.5m. Simon Wild, prosecuting, told the court that a respectable removal firm, called Grants of Cheam, based in Coomber Lane, Croydon, had allegedly received a phone call from a Keith Thompson in late October, 2009, who said he wanted to store a shipment. Grants of Cheam, unknowingly, agreed to take on the shipment but they did not hear from Mr Thompson for two weeks, the court heard. On November 10, 2009, Mr Thompson allegedly arranged for the furniture and mats to be delivered and they arrived that day. There followed a series of arrests after the items had reached Croydon and all six men were charged with conspiracy to smuggle, which they all deny. The trial, which started at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday (September 7), is expected to last three weeks.

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Illegal alcohol find ‘one of the UK’s largest seizures’

 

A QUARTER of a million pounds worth of illegal alcohol has been seized in a raid in Glasgow. Officers from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) took the illegal alcohol and dismantled an alcohol relabeling factory after a two-day operation and have claimed the seizure is one of the largest in the UK. A Glasgow man has been charged with evasion of duty following the discovery last week.

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Bogus pensions adviser jailed over £1.9m transfer fraud

 

bogus financial adviser who fraudulently manipulated his “clients’” pension funds to avoid paying tax of over £1.9m has been jailed at Hull Crown Court for three years. Colin Pearson (pictured), who previously worked for the Food Standards Agency and held a McDonalds franchise, claimed to be a financial adviser and persuaded his "clients" to release over ₤3.4m from their pension funds. Pearson completed UK pension transfer forms on behalf of his clients to falsely claim funds were going abroad to avoid paying tax due on the pension withdrawals, said HMRC. His fraudulent actions netted him commission payments of over £377,000. He provided fake documentation to register two overseas pension schemes before submitting the fake documents to ensure the funds were released without suspicion or delay to bank accounts he controlled. On occasions he even made telephone calls to the UK pension companies posing as the policy holder. On one call he disguised his voice with a Cypriot accent giving the impression he was calling from overseas. To add further legitimacy to the scam, he used articles from the internet to create a PowerPoint presentation to sell the scheme to unsuspecting UK clients, HMRC added. He then took a cut of the funds before passing the balance onto the pensioners. In total, Pearson persuaded over thirty UK pension holders to make unauthorised transfers of £3.4m to avoid paying tax of £1.9m. The value of the funds released was estimated as £3,440,143, of which £2,997,018 was returned to "clients". He also released his own pensions, valued at £74,619.08. In total approximately £377,608 was taken as commission. He used the proceeds of his scam to maintain a lavish lifestyle, driving expensive cars and owning luxury homes both in the UK and Cyprus. Bob Gaiger from HM Revenue & Customs said: "Whilst Pearson was living a life most people could only dream of, he left the individuals he conned out of pocket and without the pension funds they expected. "HMRC will not tolerate this type of blatant fraud and will investigate and prosecute those found to be involved in stealing from the public purse. If you have any information about tax fraud please contact our 24 hour hotline on 0800 50 5000". On sentencing Pearson, His Honour Judge Richardson QC, said: "You are branded a criminal, your life is utterly destroyed, and you are totally dishonest in your deceitful actions."

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SFO probes banks over asset-backed security sales

 

The Serious Fraud Office is conducting an examination into banks and their offering of asset backed securities, as part of a ‘scoping exercise’ to see if products have been misrepresented to UK clients. The watchdog said it is consulting with relevant ‘people in the city’ as part of its broad-sweeping investigation into any potentially fraudulent sales of asset backed securities. A spokesperson for the SFO said: ‘We are conducting a scoping exercise into UK banks about all asset backed securities.’ Although the watchdog said this examination has been going on for ‘some time’, it would not clarify whether it was targeting any particular types of asset backed securities. After 2008, asset backed products such as collateralised debt obligations and mortgage backed securities came under fire for arguably sparking the financial crisis. As part of the exercise, the SFO is making inquiries into Goldman Sachs, including the ‘Timberwolf’ deal, a mortgage security underwritten by the bank in 2007, which has been scrutinised by lawyers in the US, according to the Financial Times. Earlier in the year, the SFO said it was looking into exchange-traded funds, as a 'potential threat' to market stability and as a form of asset-backed security which could follow the path of CDOs.

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NSW businesses warned of travelling conmen

 

Residents and businesses in NSW are being urged to be on the lookout for travelling conmen and itinerant domestic gangs. A nationwide crackdown aims to have scammers who visit Australia seasonally removed from the country and barred from re-entering, as well as local gangs that travel around conning people. NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts on Monday warned of conmen specialising in scams such as bitumen laying, roof painting and back-of-truck dealings on electronics. "We want to catch these crooks, hold them accountable for their crimes and keep the market fair and free of rip-offs," he said in a statement. "What we are dealing with is organised, criminal activity that creates market distortions as legitimate businesses face unfair competition." The conmen structure their operations so consumers are often unable to get remedies in courts, consumer tribunals or through dispute resolution. They are the focus of a new nationwide strategy finalised at the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs in Canberra earlier this year. "All Australian consumer protection jurisdictions are working together under the new Australian Consumer Law with concerted, nationally coordinated operations using new prosecution powers and remedies," Mr Roberts said.

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