Scott Rothstein Case -
A careful study of Special Agent Gillies' remarks at his press conference seems to suggest that there may have been some money laundering involved in this situation. That may not be what Gillies intended to imply; but that is what I have inferred, and it is, admittedly, mere conjecture on my part.
From the article cited in this entry we come to learn more of some of the Rothstein associates, including Debra Villegas, who admirably worked her way up from a paralegal position to COO - which seems like the top administrative executive of the firm or maybe a kind of super office manager.
How well does a law firm's office manager do? Partner Stuart Rosenfeldt said Villegas worked with Rothstein for 17 years.
Her salary eventually reached $145K and she was driving a new Maserati worth about $100,000. Not too shabby for an office manager. And then there was the half-a-million dollar home. Plus assorted "high-end" tschotkas. On the face of it, looks like she got a good deal and fell into clover.
"Federal prosecutors took action this week to seize the
home, alleging it was among Rothstein's ill-gotten assets."
Looking for a casino with a pot of gold moving through it, we come to Richard Pearson. His business card says he is involved in commercial real estate, gaming and finance. Maybe he's a lucky leprechaun.
The case continues to unfold.
:: Sally Kestin & Peter Franceschina ::
-- Sun-Sentinel --
...
Friday, November 13
Thursday, November 12
SoFlo: Nothing Left
But The Sizzle (5#) -
Scott Rothstein Case -
The story that people here are buzzing about; but his law firm PA was shuttled into terminal Chapter 11 today.
The gossip currently circulating is about the Morocco connection. A new resort opened there called Mazagan, and speculation is rife that was Rothstein's recent destination. The resort is owned by Sol Kerzner whose company has a local branch office in Plantation FL.
John Gillies, the special agent in charge of our regional FBI office, has put out dedicated contact information for this case.
"I do not believe
that this was a one-man show,''
Gillies said at his news conference today.
Paul Brinkman mentions
that COO Debra Villegas is "no longer there."
And Blogger Chaz Stevens believes
he has tracked down the mysterious "Uncle Bill."
...
The story that people here are buzzing about; but his law firm PA was shuttled into terminal Chapter 11 today.
The gossip currently circulating is about the Morocco connection. A new resort opened there called Mazagan, and speculation is rife that was Rothstein's recent destination. The resort is owned by Sol Kerzner whose company has a local branch office in Plantation FL.
John Gillies, the special agent in charge of our regional FBI office, has put out dedicated contact information for this case.
"I do not believe
that this was a one-man show,''
Gillies said at his news conference today.
Paul Brinkman mentions
that COO Debra Villegas is "no longer there."
And Blogger Chaz Stevens believes
he has tracked down the mysterious "Uncle Bill."
...
Iran: Net Control Squeeze (3#) -
Recent Iranian state security agency message
sent out in email to ISP internet providers in Iran:
"Dear operator, you are currently operating illegally and against national interest in cyberspace and should you continue these activities you will be determined a criminal according to computer criminal laws and you will be dealt with accordingly."
# Internet news sites are being warned they will be aggressively prosecuted for "publishing lies and subverting public perception." Article plus comments.
# Iran's Revolutionary Guard has formed a new intelligence organization which will report directly to the Supremist Leader Khamenei, according to a report by Marc Champion at the WSJ.
...
sent out in email to ISP internet providers in Iran:
"Dear operator, you are currently operating illegally and against national interest in cyberspace and should you continue these activities you will be determined a criminal according to computer criminal laws and you will be dealt with accordingly."
# Internet news sites are being warned they will be aggressively prosecuted for "publishing lies and subverting public perception." Article plus comments.
# Iran's Revolutionary Guard has formed a new intelligence organization which will report directly to the Supremist Leader Khamenei, according to a report by Marc Champion at the WSJ.
...
Havana's Cyber Sea Wall -
Ted Henken, a professor at Baruch College is engaged in an academic study of the Cuban Blogosphere's development and its potential social implications, according to a Tuesday article in The Miami Herald written by Juan O Tamayo.
No link to the article here because the newspaper's management now requires registration to read it online.
I received a couple of queries
on Wednesday, including this one:
Do you think Yoani Sanchez is a double agent?
-- Answer: No, I don't think so.
The term "agent" does not seem applicable here because it implies the involvement of some government, which doesn't seem to be the case here.
What do we know, so far, about her circumstances? I'm not an expert on her writings and certainly couldn't annotate them, but, I believe, she has indicated that she lived in Germany or Switzerland for a while and has personal friends in Europe. Some of her friends have been helping her publish her blog. For a while it was on a German server, I believe, and may still be hosted by Germans.
It appears this is a case in which private citizens
are engaged in this project: to keep her blog afloat.
While it is true that in the past I have participated with my German contemporaries in some projects supporting Human Rights, I do not know these particular Germans who are engaged in this particular project. But I do sympathize with it.
Raul Castro is going to have to accept something: there are 6 billion people on this planet and he cannot control all of them. There is a group of Germans who want to read Yoani's Blog, and tough cookies if Raul doesn't like that.
:: More details about Yoani's
recent incident from the French Press.
...
No link to the article here because the newspaper's management now requires registration to read it online.
I received a couple of queries
on Wednesday, including this one:
Do you think Yoani Sanchez is a double agent?
-- Answer: No, I don't think so.
The term "agent" does not seem applicable here because it implies the involvement of some government, which doesn't seem to be the case here.
What do we know, so far, about her circumstances? I'm not an expert on her writings and certainly couldn't annotate them, but, I believe, she has indicated that she lived in Germany or Switzerland for a while and has personal friends in Europe. Some of her friends have been helping her publish her blog. For a while it was on a German server, I believe, and may still be hosted by Germans.
It appears this is a case in which private citizens
are engaged in this project: to keep her blog afloat.
While it is true that in the past I have participated with my German contemporaries in some projects supporting Human Rights, I do not know these particular Germans who are engaged in this particular project. But I do sympathize with it.
Raul Castro is going to have to accept something: there are 6 billion people on this planet and he cannot control all of them. There is a group of Germans who want to read Yoani's Blog, and tough cookies if Raul doesn't like that.
:: More details about Yoani's
recent incident from the French Press.
...
Face Off in Tokyo -
The Captured Creature . . .
Japanese police have arrested the long-fugitive suspect, Tatsuya Ichihashi, in the murder of British language teacher Linsday Hawker whose naked body was found in a bathtub filled with sand two years ago.
In the interim, he has undergone extensive cosmetic surgery to alter his facial appearance. Photos provided. They're somewhat shocking.
:: This is London ::
...
Japanese police have arrested the long-fugitive suspect, Tatsuya Ichihashi, in the murder of British language teacher Linsday Hawker whose naked body was found in a bathtub filled with sand two years ago.
In the interim, he has undergone extensive cosmetic surgery to alter his facial appearance. Photos provided. They're somewhat shocking.
:: This is London ::
...
Tuesday, November 10
Champions For Chumps? -
Are our local mainstream metro-regional newspapers really the defenders of Democracy and the only things that stand between us and Dictatorship?
Or . . . are they:
"threats to democracy, championing the overdog, misrepresenting democratic choices, defending business, the police and local elites from those who seek to challenge them."
George Monbiot writes an Op-Ed commentary on this topic with a scathing critique which would never be published in the MSM on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
:: The Guardian ::
...
Or . . . are they:
"threats to democracy, championing the overdog, misrepresenting democratic choices, defending business, the police and local elites from those who seek to challenge them."
George Monbiot writes an Op-Ed commentary on this topic with a scathing critique which would never be published in the MSM on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
:: The Guardian ::
...
SoFlo: Beaming Her Up -
Scott Rothstein Case -
COO Debra Villegas has been named in a lawsuit brought by William Scherer of Conrad & Scherer on behalf of client D3 Capital Club investors, alleging that she has been engaged in the scurrilous transfer of real estate properties for the purpose of shielding them from being used to repay debt claimants.
Her estranged husband has already been charged with the murder of a member of the firm, Melissa Britt Lewis. Although he has been incarcerated since then, that homicide attributed to him was the pretext being used for the unusually heavy security precautions implemented by Rothstein, which makes no sense whatsoever.
Jordana Mishory and Wayne Tompkins:
:: Daily Business Review ::
...
COO Debra Villegas has been named in a lawsuit brought by William Scherer of Conrad & Scherer on behalf of client D3 Capital Club investors, alleging that she has been engaged in the scurrilous transfer of real estate properties for the purpose of shielding them from being used to repay debt claimants.
Her estranged husband has already been charged with the murder of a member of the firm, Melissa Britt Lewis. Although he has been incarcerated since then, that homicide attributed to him was the pretext being used for the unusually heavy security precautions implemented by Rothstein, which makes no sense whatsoever.
Jordana Mishory and Wayne Tompkins:
:: Daily Business Review ::
...
Monday, November 9
The Destiny of 9 November (4#) -
Feeling torn between the broken glass and
the broken wall? You shouldn't have to . . .
Another file for the Life Can Be Complicated folder -
One can't help feeling appalled at the success this project has enjoyed: the replacement of a somber day of solemn commemoration of Kristallnacht with a rollicking celebration of freedom from the Berlin Wall.
But the Germans were not the victims in this matter; they were the perpetrators, the criminals, and the predators. Not all Germans forever, of course. It was some Germans and some Austrians from a past generation. I am not anti-German and have participated in Reconciliation projects.
This is not how today's anniversary was planned. The celebration of the East Germans' freedom was supposed to be held on German Unity Day which is October 3rd, but the Revisionists have gotten the upper hand in the effort to obliterate the commemoration of Kristallnacht.
What needs to be done? The commemorations need to be separated again, with October 3rd restored to celebrate the East Germans' freedom.
Regardless of the bicker, today is a good moment to pause and reflect a bit on this episode of History - and maybe some of the current brash attempts to manipulate it.
:: A Fateful Date :: by Christopher Lawton at Spiegel: Putting November 9th in perpective; a closer look at three events which occurred on this fateful date before 1989.
:: Berlin Wall Celebrations ::
:: Kristallnacht :: - - - :: German Unity Day ::
...
the broken wall? You shouldn't have to . . .
Another file for the Life Can Be Complicated folder -
One can't help feeling appalled at the success this project has enjoyed: the replacement of a somber day of solemn commemoration of Kristallnacht with a rollicking celebration of freedom from the Berlin Wall.
But the Germans were not the victims in this matter; they were the perpetrators, the criminals, and the predators. Not all Germans forever, of course. It was some Germans and some Austrians from a past generation. I am not anti-German and have participated in Reconciliation projects.
This is not how today's anniversary was planned. The celebration of the East Germans' freedom was supposed to be held on German Unity Day which is October 3rd, but the Revisionists have gotten the upper hand in the effort to obliterate the commemoration of Kristallnacht.
What needs to be done? The commemorations need to be separated again, with October 3rd restored to celebrate the East Germans' freedom.
Regardless of the bicker, today is a good moment to pause and reflect a bit on this episode of History - and maybe some of the current brash attempts to manipulate it.
:: A Fateful Date :: by Christopher Lawton at Spiegel: Putting November 9th in perpective; a closer look at three events which occurred on this fateful date before 1989.
:: Berlin Wall Celebrations ::
:: Kristallnacht :: - - - :: German Unity Day ::
...
Bookish: Killing Our Stories? (9#) -
Ben Macintyre tells us
that the internet is killing storytelling.
A provocative and worthwhile
essay at the UK Times from Nov 5th.
"The internet... does not really 'do' narrative."
:: This link is iffy; or try this alternate.
******************************************
# In an excerpt from his book of memoirs My Paper Chase, Harold Evans recounts how he and his newspaper unmasked the notorious spy Kim Philby.
The name Kim Philby may not be familiar to younger readers who may know him better by the name Harry Lime from a 1949 British movie called The Third Man which featured a charming psychopath by that name. The writer of that story was Graham Greene, who knew Kim Philby.
*The character "Harry Lime" in the 1949 film The Third Man has been said to be based on Kim Philby, although Graham Greene has denied this.*
*Graham Greene based the character of Harry Lime on British double agent Kim Philby, who was Greene's superior in the British Secret Intelligence Service.*
Anyway, many people believe it, even though Orson Welles doesn't physically resemble Philby at all. Actually, Philby looked more like Trevor Howard.
# And, speaking of notorious, how's this for a tabloidish scandal: Ron Rosenbaum exposes new revelations about Arendt and Heidegger.
I'm still waiting for the movie version of their relationship: va-voom! The writer shares my pet peeve about "the banality of evil."
******************************************
# What's next for Detective Kurt Wallander and
his author, Henning Mankell? Zac O’Yeah tells us.
# Review of Blood's a Rover by Jame Ellroy
by Christopher Tayler at The Guardian.
# Review of Paul Auster's Invisible by Jane Ciabattari.
...
that the internet is killing storytelling.
A provocative and worthwhile
essay at the UK Times from Nov 5th.
"The internet... does not really 'do' narrative."
:: This link is iffy; or try this alternate.
******************************************
# In an excerpt from his book of memoirs My Paper Chase, Harold Evans recounts how he and his newspaper unmasked the notorious spy Kim Philby.
The name Kim Philby may not be familiar to younger readers who may know him better by the name Harry Lime from a 1949 British movie called The Third Man which featured a charming psychopath by that name. The writer of that story was Graham Greene, who knew Kim Philby.
*The character "Harry Lime" in the 1949 film The Third Man has been said to be based on Kim Philby, although Graham Greene has denied this.*
*Graham Greene based the character of Harry Lime on British double agent Kim Philby, who was Greene's superior in the British Secret Intelligence Service.*
Anyway, many people believe it, even though Orson Welles doesn't physically resemble Philby at all. Actually, Philby looked more like Trevor Howard.
# And, speaking of notorious, how's this for a tabloidish scandal: Ron Rosenbaum exposes new revelations about Arendt and Heidegger.
I'm still waiting for the movie version of their relationship: va-voom! The writer shares my pet peeve about "the banality of evil."
******************************************
# What's next for Detective Kurt Wallander and
his author, Henning Mankell? Zac O’Yeah tells us.
# Review of Blood's a Rover by Jame Ellroy
by Christopher Tayler at The Guardian.
# Review of Paul Auster's Invisible by Jane Ciabattari.
...
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