Wednesday, March 11, 2020

11 Men Arrested In Pawnee County Child Sex Crime Sting



The Pawnee County Sheriff told News On 6 the investigation started when a middle school student turned in an older classmate for making a lewd proposal. That case led investigators to a social media app and to 11 men, who the sheriff says were targeting underage boys for sex.
Pawnee County deputies have made 11 child sex crime arrests in just over a month. Sheriff Mike Waters said the suspects were caught through an app called Grindr.
“It's jaw dropping, it's unbelievable,” said Waters. “The public needs to know; the parents need to know how dangerous this is.”
Waters said three of the men live in Pawnee. The others are from Pawhuska, Ponca City, Stillwater, Ripley, Oilton, Glencoe and Vinita.               
The sheriff said all of the suspects knew, or believed, they were talking with underage boys.               
In some cases, court records show the men were actually messaging an undercover deputy.               
“It's scary to sit there and think somebody would drive from Vinita, Oklahoma to Pawnee for that purpose. It's serious,” said Waters.
Two of the men, 25-year-old Thomas Muench and 25-year-old Quinton Griesel, are charged with rape.
An affidavit shows Griesel had sex with a 16-year-old boy in a bathroom stall at Pawnee High School. The court document shows Griesel worked for a food service vendor at the time and served lunch at the school.               
Another affidavit said Muench had sex with a 15-year-old boy somewhere else. The sheriff says that crime did not happen on any school property.
Court records show both men met the teenagers on Grindr.
“I don't think kids understand how dangerous this is, and I can guarantee the parents don't,” said Pawnee and Osage County District Attorney, Mike Fisher.
Fisher said law enforcement and schools can only do so much to protect children. He said parents have to step up, block cell phone apps, know who their kids are talking with and know what they're doing.
“Old-fashioned parenting is the best way to do it and that's to stay in communication with your child, look at their phone. Don't be afraid to do that,” Fisher said.
The other men are facing charges ranging from lewd acts with a minor, to soliciting a minor for sex and child porn.              
The district attorney said someone caught with one image of child porn face up to 20 years in prison. He said someone with more than 100 child porn images can go to prison for life.
Oklahoma court records show the charges prosecutors have filed against the suspects in this investigation.   
-Cody Cramer, 34,  is charged with forcible sodomy.  
-Charles Boggs, 55,  is charged with soliciting sexual conduct with a minor through technology and showing obscene material to a minor.
-Gabriel Primeaux, 28, is charged with soliciting sexual conduct with a minor through technology, showing obscene material to a minor and soliciting a minor for indecent exposure or obscene material.
-Jacob Simmons, 20, is charged with soliciting sexual conduct with a minor through technology, showing obscene material to a minor and possession of child pornography.
-Johnathan Tackett, 33,  is charged with soliciting sexual conduct with a minor through technology, showing obscene material to a minor and possession of child pornography.
-Michael Wilson, 45, is charged with soliciting sexual conduct with a minor through technology and showing obscene material to a minor.
-Zachary Sabus, 37, is charged with soliciting sexual conduct with a minor through technology, showing obscene material to a minor, possession of child pornography and peeping tom.
-Quinton Griesel, 25, is charged with second degree rape, forcible sodomy and lewd or indecent acts with a child.
-Thomas Muench, 25, is charged with second degree rape, soliciting sexual conduct with a minor through technology and possession of child pornography.
-News On 6 learned just before noon Tuesday charges against Keith Ray, 29, were dismissed.
-Marty McDougall-Casteel, 40, is booked into the Pawnee County jail and facing charges of soliciting sexual conduct with a minor through technology, soliciting a minor for indecent exposure or obscene material and showing obscene material to a minor.


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Friday, March 6, 2020

Pure Salon & Spa Koramangla, Bangalore

Pure Salon & Spa Koramangla, Bangalore Led by veteran hair stylist Pure Salon & Spa offers various services from the simple hair cut and styling for women, men, kids, and brides, to vibrant hair colours, conditioning treatments, and Brazilian blowouts. Located at the heart of Koramangla, Bangalore, the salon has been around since 2015, providing professional hair treatments in a relaxed ambience. This is definitely one of our favourite hair salons in Bangalore.
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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

12 yrs after murder, kin gets Rs 50L ransom call


12 yrs after murder, kin gets Rs 50L ransom callBlast from the past: Caller drops name of convict serving time for twin-murder, warns of eliminating victim's family

Twelve years after the brutal murder of a mother and her four-year-old daughter at their residence in Bashyam Circle by her relative's employees, the brother-in-law of the deceased woman (Priya Devi) has got a ransom call to pay Rs 50 lakh from the 'associates' of the two killers who are lodged in Parappana Agrahara central prison. "Pay ransom or else get killed," was the chilling message received by Goutham Chand, businessman and brother of Hitendra Kumar, the husband of late Priya Devi. Goutham has now sought police protection.

Hitendra Kumar's wife Priya Devi and her daughter Neha were brutally murdered at their residence in Rajajinagar Vth block by two men on January 31, 2002. At that time, it was one of the most sensational murders the city had witnessed. The convicts had even physically abused the woman before killing her.

The then city police commissioner, HT Sangliana, had formed a special team led by police inspector Abdul Azeem to solve the case. Azeem, who was dubbed as 'Sherlock Holmes' for his investigative skills, managed to arrest the killers Ambaram and Deeparam, who hailed from Kesavana village of Jalore district in Rajasthan. The killer duo had earlier worked in the Chickpet shop of Hitendra Kumar's elder brother Parasmal. As they wanted to become rich overnight, they killed the woman and her daughter and had escaped with cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 1 lakh. Following a trial, the sessions court slapped the duo with the death penalty. They moved the High Court, and got it reduced to life sentence, which they are undergoing at Parappana Agrahara.

"I received a call to my mobile number from a landline number on July 1 and the person who called me claimed he was calling on behalf of the convict Ambaram and demanded Rs 50 lakh ransom amount. Else, he has threatened to eliminate the remaining family members. I presume that it is the handiwork of the convicts who are in jail and at whose instance the person who's working for them has called me," Goutham Chand said. "We are yet to recover from the gruesome twin-murder and the threat call has increased our fear. It would be difficult for me to live peacefully without police protection as the threat is serious in nature. I have reported the matter to senior police officers," he added.

An officer from Chickpet sub-division said: "The complainant has given us the details of the landline number from which the threat calls were made. It is not clear if the caller is an associate of the two convicts who are presently lodged in Parappana Agrahara. It is said that the victim received the call while he was at his electricals shop on U M Lane in Chickpet. The investigation is being supervised by DCP West Labu Ram."
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Monday, May 19, 2014

Coordinator lures model with work, then rapes her

A model coordinator allegedly confined a model in a guesthouse in Madh Island and raped her, after luring her with the promise of an assignment. The Oshiwara cops have now arrested the coordinator.
According to the police, the 25-year-old model, a former wife of a constable, approached the police on Friday, alleging that she had been lured by her coordinator on the pretext of a modelling assignment, and then raped.
The complainant said that a few days ago, the accused Rahul Jaiswal had called her to his Oshiwara office, saying he wanted her to sign on for a photo shoot for a hair oil advertisement. She agreed to do the shoot and even signed the agreement. Jaiswal then handed her a cheque worth the signing amount.
On Sunday, she received a call from Jaiswal’s office, telling her that she needed to return the cheque, as the producer of the advertising firm wanted to pay her in cash.
Stop Rape
Jaiswal asked her to accompany him to Madh Island, telling her that another photo shoot was in progress there, and that she could collect cash from the company that had signed her on. The unsuspecting model accompanied Jaiswal to the guesthouse near Madh Island.
“The complainant said once they were inside the room, Jaiswal locked her in by force, and proceeded to rape her. She screamed, but no one showed up to help her. After raping her, Jaiswal threatened her and left the spot,” said a police officer from Oshiwara police station.
After the complaint was registered, the police picked up Jaiswal from a restaurant in Oshiwara. He was then handed over to the Malwani police. He was produced in court on Monday, which remanded him in judicial custody.



Cape Clean - India's Top Facade and Window Cleaning
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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

IN COLD BLOOD: This man brutally murdered 80 people

Serial killer Gary Ridgway jailed for 49 murders confesses to 85 to KOMO-TV

Claims he killed 85 women ... Green River killer Gary Leon Ridgway. Picture: AP
Claims he killed 85 women ... Green River killer Gary Leon Ridgway. Picture: AP
AMERICA'S most prolific serial killer, who is in jail for killing 49 women, has now confessed to a TV crew to killing 85.

Gary Ridgway, known as the Green River Killer, claims he is revealing the true number of his victims to try to help bring closure to their families.
Ridgway, who murdered prostitutes and teenage runaways in King County, Washington State during the 1980s and 1990s, made the revelation in a series of telephone interviews with KOMO-TV's Charlie Harger.


Ridgway, who was arrested in 2001 through DNA evidence, avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to killing 48 women and was sentenced to 48 consecutive life terms. A 49th victim was later identified and a 49th life sentence was added in 2011.
Victim Picture
Some of Gary Ridgway’s 49 victims ... (L-R) (top row) Denise Darcel Bush, Shawnda Leea Summers, Shirley Marie Sherrill, Colleen Renee Brockman, Alma Ann Smith; (bottom row) Delores LaVerne Williams, Gail Lynn Mathews, Andrea M Childers, Sandra Kay Gabbert and Kimi-Kai Pitsor. Picture: AP
Three of Gary Ridgways's 49 victims ... Tracy Ann Winston, Maureen Sue Feeney and Mary Sue Bello. Picture: AP
Three of Gary Ridgways’s 49 victims ... Tracy Ann Winston, Maureen Sue Feeney and Mary Sue Bello. Picture: AP
Three further victims of Gary Ridgway ... Kimberly Nelson, Lisa Yates and Mary Exzetta West. Picture: AP
Three further victims of Gary Ridgway ... Kimberly Nelson, Lisa Yates and Mary Exzetta West. Picture: AP
Ridgway, who was married three times, was a truck painter from Seattle. He admitted picking up prostitutes and teenage runaways, strangling them during sex and dumping their bodies in wasteland near the 105km-long Green River.
Ridgway has previously confessed to US Congressman Dave Reichert, then part of the police task force trying to solve the murders, to killing 71 women. Now he has told Harger that he murdered more.

Gary Ridgway interview with FBI agent

Harger said that he believes Ridgway's true motivation for agreeing to the interviews is to "up his count" and make it appear that he killed more, with Ridgway now stating he murdered 85 women.
"I think he wants to show the world that, 'Here I am, Gary Ridgway, the truck painter from Kenworth, the guy who everybody thought was slow since elementary school, somebody who couldn't hold a candle to Ted Bundy. But, here I am, and I'm the best at something.'"
Harger despite his reservations believes Ridgway's confessions have to be investigated.
"There's so many people out there who have never been found, so many women dead in the cold," Harger said.
"Maybe if we listen to the clues and cut through his lies, we will find a nugget of truth, the clue investigators have waited for," he said. "It's a chance we have to take."
Serial Killer now admits 85 murders
Serving 49 life sentences ... Seattle truck painter Gary Ridgway claims latest confession to help bring closure to families of missing women. Picture: AFP
READ MORE - IN COLD BLOOD: This man brutally murdered 80 people

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Girl allegedly gang-raped by friends in Guwahati; accused claim to be minors


The five accused have been caught and they all claim they are minors
Guwahati: A 12-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped on Sunday by five friends she was playing with near her house on the outskirts of Guwahati in Assam. The five accused have been caught and they all claim they are minors, between 15 and 16 years of age.

The police said a bone marrow test is being conducted to determine the age of the accused.

The girl, whose mother is a daily wager, was out playing with the boys on Sunday afternoon when they drugged her, the police say. The boys were from the same neighbourhood. They allegedly took the girl to an abandoned house nearby and gang-raped her through the night.

The girl was found the next day by her worried parents who came looking for her. She was taken to hospital, where initial medical reports have confirmed rape.

The girl is currently in a women's home, while the accused are being held at an observation centre in Guwahati.

The incident comes as the country debates rape laws that provide for three years in a correctional home as maximum punishment for a juvenile who has committed rape or even murder. The law defines a juvenile as below 18 years.

The debate was sparked when the youngest accused in the horrific Delhi gang-rape case was held guilty of rape and murder, like his five partners in crime, but got a sentence that many argue is not commensurate with the crime.

He was a few months short of 18 in December last year when the 23-year-old medical student was gang-raped and violated with an iron rod that led to injuries so grievous that she died 13 days later.

The adult men convicted in the case have been given sentenced to death by a trial court.

In a more recent case in Mumbai, one of the five men accused of gang-raping a young photojournalist last month pleaded that he is a minor.
READ MORE - Girl allegedly gang-raped by friends in Guwahati; accused claim to be minors

Monday, September 9, 2013

Child Bride Dies of Internal Injuries on Wedding Night

A child bride has died from internal injuries after spending her wedding night with her new husband. The girl was 8 years old. Her husband? Forty. According to a Kuwaiti newspaper, the girl's genitals were torn and she suffered a uterine rupture, the Huffington Post reports. Activists are now calling for action against the man and the girl's family. But the marriage itself was not against the law in Yemen. The country did pass a law in 2009 setting the minimum age for marriage at 17, HuffPo reports, but it was later overturned. A quarter of girls in Yemen are married off before the age of 15, reports Al Bawaba. You may remember this 11-year-old Yemeni girl's viral video pleading to be let out of her marriage.
READ MORE - Child Bride Dies of Internal Injuries on Wedding Night

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Robber leaves apology note at convenience store 11 years after robbing it at gunpoint


The InterAsian Market and Deli, which was robbed about 11 years ago.
The InterAsian Market and Deli, which was robbed about 11 years ago.
WHEN is it too late to apologise? Never, if you find the right words.

A former robber and drug addict has delivered a heartfelt apology note to a store he robbed at gunpoint - more than a decade after the crime. You can read the full note below.

An unidentified man walked into the InterAsian Market and Deli in the US city of Nashville last week, WSMV reports.

The man insisted that the clerks take an envelope. Inside they found a handwritten apology and $400 in cash.
"He was really insistent that we take this, that we have to take this," said Somboon Wu, son of the store's owner.
"Obviously, he's got a great heart. He just got caught up in a bad situation," he said.
In his note, the robber claimed to have entered the store "about 11 or 12 years ago" with a gun, before picking up a six pack of beer and stealing roughly $300 from the register.
"I hope you will accept this money and find forgiveness. Peace be with you," the note read.
Mr Wu told WSMV the letter proves people can change.
"We just want to let him know if he's watching, wherever life takes you, we forgive you for what you did," Mr Wu said.
The robber's full apology note.
The robber’s full apology note.
READ MORE - Robber leaves apology note at convenience store 11 years after robbing it at gunpoint

A Lone Bandit and the Mystery of France's Greatest Diamond Heist

A gunman stole $136 million of jewelry from an exhibition at the Intercontinental Carlton Cannes hotel in July. Investigators and gem experts are still wondering how it happened. 
French police investigate the crime scene outside the luxurious seaside hotel on the day the robbery occurred. (Eric Gaillard/Reuters)
The terrace doors of the opulent Intercontinental Carlton Cannes hotel on the French Riviera were supposed to be locked. 
But before lunchtime on the last Sunday of July, a thief—whose face was obscured with a bandanna and a motorcycle helmet—managed to slip through them and directly into an exhibition room loaded with millions of dollars worth of Leviev diamonds, "the world's most extraordinary." Armed with an automatic pistol and an uncanny familiarity with the setting, the mystery bandit began his heist.
The operation was the largest value jewel theft in French history, and one of the biggest in the world—and all it took was some brute force and about sixty seconds.
"He was professional and very rapid," Philippe Vique, a deputy prosecutor for the region based in the nearby town of Grasse, told the New York Times a day later. Vique told The Atlantic he was no longer divulging details about the investigation, which is ongoing.
The robber was not confronted with a particularly intimidating scenario. Because the exhibit had not yet opened, there were no hotel guests or customers milling about. In fact, he had arrived at exactly the most opportune moment, just before the high-profile jewels were to be loaded into secure display cases. 
He did have to contend with a small group that had gathered in the room: two vendors, a show manager, and three unarmed private security guards, according to the Associated Press. But the threat of the firearm was evidently enough to hold them off. 
They watched as he seized a briefcase and a box full of jewels belonging to Israeli diamond and real estate billionaire Lev Leviev. The haul contained 72 pieces, 34 of which were considered "exceptional" because of the gems' unblemished clarity, brilliant color (which, in diamond circles, sometimes means no color at all), large carat weight, and their intricate cuts and polishes by master craftsmen. The company aims to deliver natural, non-treated gems, meaning that it avoids dyeing, filling, and other processes frequently used to enhance the clarity and color of raw stones. The loot included "many high karat, internally flawless colorless diamonds along with large pink and yellow diamonds, and emeralds and sapphires, set in platinum and 18k gold,” according to Forbes.
Press reports suggested that the unidentified intruder made his getaway through a side door. But a source close to the investigation told The Atlantic that he climbed through a window, lugging $136 million worth of bounty with him, hopped the five or so feet down to the street, and fled on foot. Some of the jewels came loose and scattered onto the ground.  No one pursued him.
The operation was the largest-value jewel theft in French history, and one of the biggest in the world -- and all it took was some brute force and about 60 seconds.
As if this weren't enough to satisfy the requisites of any good jewel-heist movie, the crime had yet another flourish. It occurred in the same hotel that Alfred Hitchcock shot much of the classic 1955 romance-thriller To Catch a Thief. The film follows a reformed burglar (Cary Grant) who—in pursuit of a copycat—falls for a seductive bon vivant (Grace Kelly).

A bit of scene setting: 
*** 
Though gun laws in France make it extremely difficult to arm private security personnel, American and European experts in high-profile jewel crime agreed that something was amiss at the Carlton. They alternately described the conditions at this particular event as "ridiculously insecure," "painfully inadequate," or, as Martin Winckel, a jewel expert who runs the Germany-based International Jeweller Security Service, phrased it in an email: "there was no security!"
The event's organizers should have been prepared for an attempted breach, the experts say. A few months earlier, during the course of the Cannes Film Festival in May, thieves outmaneuvered 80 security guards at the nearby Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes to pilfer a single $2.6 million De Grisogono necklace. A week before that, cat burglars broke into the Novotel hotel room of an employee of the Swiss jewel and watch maker Chopard and wrenched a safe containing $1 million worth of jewelry out of the wall.  
According to Anthony Roman, CEO of the global risk management firm Roman & Associates, the security architecture at the Carlton did not resemble anything like what his company would have devised, especially after the recent spate of crimes. These types of venues and high-value products, Roman explained, need a clear, central command that oversees several perimeters, including undercover guards monitoring for getaway vehicles or other suspicious activity outside the building. "Detection is the primary weapon in this type of security plan," he said of the optimal setup. "Detect what's going to happen before it happens, and interrupt it there. The robbers are not looking to get into a shootout 40 yards from their target." 
Under a more rigorous system, Roman said, every access point should be manned, and guests should only be able to reach the "outer ring" of an event before they come face to face with security personnel. These types of checkpoints can also be masqueraded as champagne registrations and the like so that the event doesn't sacrifice its elegant aesthetic. If such a plan was in place at the Carlton, the thief probably wouldn't have made it up the terrace steps, let alone through the French doors. Security would have immediately marked a guy lingering outside an entrance as a threat, approached him casually, offered help, and told him that he was in a restricted area, Roman said. Usually, such an approach spooks the would-be criminal, Roman observed, and he'll improvise an excuse about looking for a bathroom before making a swift exit.
"You don't market 64 carat diamonds with a sign on the outside of a hotel."
But even a more sophisticated criminal who vaults past the initial layers of security and makes it to the room holding the jewels can still be thwarted by a secure holding case. At minimum, Winckel said, the jewels should be placed in a show case with "unbreakable laminated glass and electronic locks with time delay for opening." If cracking the electronic code or breaking into the case takes more than a few minutes, the thieves will usually abandon the operation. The most secure cases are built to resist the force of hammers, sledgehammers, crowbars, and even guns. "If such show cases are used, the only dangerous time is the [distance] between a vault and the show cases," Winckel added. This distance "must be as short as possible" and, Winckel wrote, the jewels must be accompanied by armed guards. In the case of the Carlton, the jewels were lying prone, and the guards were unarmed.
"I am, also being a jeweller, very angry about the insurance companies who insured such a high risk with so low security," Winckel wrote. "Jewellers with a very, very smaller risk and value have to install an perfect alarm system, CCTV, unbreakable laminated glass, locked doors, guards etc. to get insurance! In this case there was no adequate security and it was insured by [Lloyd's of London] and some more reinsurers!"
If the cases are ever compromised or the thief happens to enter at exactly the right time, as he did at the Carlton, the outer perimeters should be able to halt the thief's progress. "A commander should know where each security guard is," Roman said. "They should immediately know there's a robbery in place and should have a plan to interrupt it. ... If he gets in, he's not getting out." Strong coordination with local authorities—which were not even aware of the Carlton exhibition—could be especially beneficial in this case. A nearby officer could have responded to calls over a radio, and stopped the thief as he hit the sidewalk.  
The marketing of the event also seemed a bit hapless. Large, splashy pink signs on the front of the hotel advertised the valuable Leviev wares and the month-long exhibition. John J. Kennedy, the president of the New York-based trade association Jewelers' Security Alliance, which advises law enforcement agencies on such matters, suggested that, at minimum, the event should have been held in an upstairs room, with security checking in registered guests at the door. And given the extraordinary price of the pieces, organizers should have only enlisted trustworthy, local jewelers to invite clientele capable of buying them. "To market it in that way is really reckless," Kennedy said. "You don't market 64 carat diamonds with a sign on the outside of a hotel."
***
Despite the confluence of security defects, no one believes the "lone" gunman was really operating alone. The timing of the crime was too perfect, the escape out of the window too quick, and the prospect of moving such an easily recognizable product too overwhelming. 
The speed and precision with which the thief executed the operation indicates that someone had meticulously "cased" the hotel and the exhibition room. "It didn't just happen willy-nilly," Kennedy said. 
And once he was on the run, the thief had to have somewhere to go. "He needed transportation," Roman said. "He needed a change of clothes. He needed a safe house. All of that requires some assistance. I'm sure he had accomplices."
The identities of the bandit and his potential accomplices are still unknown. But theories about a link to the jewel-snatching syndicate the Pink Panthers, a organized crime group with hundreds of members and roots in the former Yugoslavia, began surfacing in the press almost immediately after the heist.
They certainly have the audacity to pull something like this off. The band of thieves and its contractors—many of whom are thought to have received paramilitary training during the Balkans conflict of the 1990s—have stormed into and held up hundreds of pricey jewelry boutiques in 35 countries. The organization has made off with more than $430 million worth of jewels since 1999, according to INTERPOL, which has an entire project devoted to helping the law enforcement agencies exchange intelligence to track and catch the perpetrators.
The Panthers—named after the 1963 comedy starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau— have become infamous for meticulous planning and shocking Hollywood-style theatrics. Very often, according to Kennedy, a "very attractive, well-dressed," woman "with all the accoutrements of wealth," will be dispatched to the target property, show interest in some pieces, and also make detailed mental notes of every wrinkle in the setting. Then, once the central leadership is satisfied with the intelligence, they'll order the job, which is usually completed with two to four armed men with militaristic flair.
They've been known to break down doors, spray mace in the faces of store clerks, fire automatic weapons guns for intimidation, don bizarre Elvis wigs, and even make getaways in speedboats while wearing "flower-print shirts." In 2007, they slammed two Audi A8s through the glass entrance of Wafi City mall in Dubai and drove right through the corridor up to a House of Graff jewelry store. After grabbing diamonds worth nearly $4 million, they sped off:  
In fact, just two days before the Carlton operation, two men used similarly spectacular tactics to free known Panther Milan Poparic, 34, along with another criminal, from the Orbe prison in Switzerland. As inmates stood in the exercise yard, the men crashed two vehicles through the outer barriers of the compound, set up ladders to help the inmates clear a barbed-wire fence, and fired their AK-47s to hold prison guards back. Before speeding away in one of the vehicles, they lit the other one on fire. Poparic was the third Panther that managed to break out of a Swiss prison since May. Last weekend, In Serbia reported his capture after 50 officers surrounded his hideout in the Swiss municipality of Chatel St. Denis. A few weeks after the heist, another Panther who escaped from prison in May was arrested at his acquaintance's villa in southeast France, but authorities do not suspect he has any link to the robbery.
***
Though the Pink Panther theory may be alluring, especially for the press, many of the group's basic signatures were absent from the Carlton heist. First, according to experts, it would be extremely unusual for the Panthers to depend on only one man to actually enter the building and perform the robbery; they'd dispatch at least two. And though the crime was certainly impressive, it lacked the deliberately flashy drama one might expect from a Panther operation. Roman suggested that a regional gang or local crime family seemed like a more natural culprit. "They pull a smaller heist, and they graduate to something like this," he said. 
"I think it's just as possible that a couple of local lads stumbled upon the idea. I mean, 'Jesus Christ! All we have to do is this and that, and then we’re in.'"
The high-profile location of the crime also struck Kennedy as an odd choice for the Panthers, who like to control the number of moving variables they're dealing with in order to minimize the risk of something going awry. The Carlton could have potentially presented a dizzying array of employees and guests, and a good deal of chaos. Meanwhile, a jewelry store offers a smaller, more contained space, with only a few threats.
John Shaw, the lead Paris-based insurance adjuster contracted by Leviev's insurer, Lloyd's of London, to work with French police to investigate the Carlton case, doubted whether the Panthers would have struck a target without thoroughly scoping it out first. The level of surveillance they are accustomed to conducting wouldn't have been possible on Cannes' busy main drag, Promenade de La Croisette. "It's difficult to stake out there," Shaw said. "It's really high-profile. It's possible, but it's unlikely."
Shaw suggested the loose security may have reflected the criminal's connection to someone working inside the hotel in some capacity. "I think it's more likely they got information from the inside," he said. The timing, the unlocked door, and the speed of the getaway all point to this. "I'm working with the police to advance that," he said. In an early statement to the press, the Carlton said that neither its employees or guests were implicated in the incident, and it is cooperating fully with authorities. The hotel did not respond to The Atlantic's requests for comment.
But Shaw doesn't necessarily buy the notion that the crime or the criminal was particularly sophisticated. "I think it's just as possible that a couple of local lads stumbled upon the idea," he said. "I mean, 'Jesus Christ! All we have to do is this and that, and then we’re in.'" It could have been a regular garden-variety thug. "You just need some dumb luck from someone who's prepared to point a pistol at you," he added. "It's quite a simple task."
Even if local criminals carried out the job, Winckel maintained that the Pink Panthers were likely still operating in the background because only they would have the necessary resources to successfully sell such identifiable jewels on the black markets in Antwerp, Belgium, or Asia. "Only their closed network has the 'partners' to cut or polish large diamonds," he wrote. 
Kennedy agreed that Leviev diamonds were so big and of such rare clarity and color that they would be incredibly difficult to move. "It's not the kind of thing you could sell without grading reports," he said. "It's either gotta be recut or you've gotta get somebody to give you a false grading report." Not many small criminal networks or locals would have the capital necessary for that kind of forgery.
In early August, Lloyd's placed ads in French newspapers and the International Herald Tribune with pictures of the jewels and an offer of $1.3 million to the first person who provides information that leads to their recovery. Shaw has fielded approximately 200 phone calls and emails since the reward was announced. About a dozen are credible, he said. Kennedy seems confident that something will turn up, but Shaw remains less optimistic, saying their recovery is "not probable but it is possible."
"We hope with the news, they're being held to ground somewhere," he said. "We don't want them to panic and drop it off a bridge."
The possibility Shaw is rooting against—of a thief hopelessly flinging away diamond necklaces—is exactly the kind of final twist that screenwriters might hope for.
READ MORE - A Lone Bandit and the Mystery of France's Greatest Diamond Heist

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Ariel Castro, brutal captor of 3 women in Cleveland, hangs himself in prison cell

Castro was convicted last month of kidnapping and raping three women in his Cleveland, Ohio home over the course of many years. He was sentenced to a life behind bars after holding and brutalizing the women.


Ariel Castro listens in the courtroom during the sentencing phase Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013, in Cleveland. Three months after an Ohio woman kicked out part of a door to end nearly a decade of captivity, Castro, a onetime school bus driver faces sentencing for kidnapping three women and subjecting them to years of sexual and physical abuse. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Tony Dejak/AP

Ariel Castro was convicted of sexually assaulting and holding three women captive for years in his Cleveland, Ohio home. His lifeless body was discovered in his cell Tuesday.

He stole a decade of their lives — and their justice.

Ariel Castro, the monster convicted of kidnapping and keeping three women as sex slaves in his Cleveland, Ohio, home was found hanging in his prison cell Tuesday, correction officials said.
Amanda Berry (right) hugs her sister Beth Serrano after being reunited in a Cleveland hospital May 6 following years of captivity in Ariel Castro's house of horrors.

Amanda Berry (right) hugs her sister Beth Serrano after being reunited in a Cleveland hospital May 6 following years of captivity in Ariel Castro's house of horrors.

His lifeless body was discovered by authorities at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient around 9:20 p.m.
Gina DeJesus was a teenager when she was kidnapped by Ariel Castro.

HennesPaynterComm via YouTube

Gina DeJesus was a teenager when she was kidnapped by Ariel Castro.

Prison medical staff tried to resuscitate the 53-year-old, but he was pronounced dead at at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center at 10:52 p.m.
Michelle Knight gave emotional statement during sentencing of Ariel Castro, who held her captive and brutally raped her for many years.

AARON JOSEFCZYK/REUTERS

Michelle Knight gave emotional statement during sentencing of Ariel Castro, who held her captive and brutally raped her for many years.

Castro was sentenced Aug. 1 to life in prison for abducting and sexually assaulting Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus over the course of a decade.
Ohio State Police and the Department of Corrections are investigating the death.
The three women were miraculously rescued in early May from this Cleveland home, which is now demolished.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

The three women were miraculously rescued in early May from this Cleveland home, which is now demolished.

Because of his high profile, Castro was isolated from other inmates in the prison population for his own protection.
Rusty chains were found secured to walls in Ariel Castro's house of horrors in Cleveland.

CNN

Rusty chains were found secured to walls in Ariel Castro's house of horrors in Cleveland.

JoEllen Smith of the Ohio Department of Corrections released the following statement:
Ariel Castro, 53, was in protective custody when he was found dead in his cell in Orient, Ohio Tuesday.

Tony Dejak/AP

Ariel Castro, 53, was in protective custody when he was found dead in his cell in Orient, Ohio Tuesday.

“Inmate Ariel Castro was found hanging in his cell this evening at 9:20 p.m. at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient. He was housed in protective custody which means he was in a cell by himself and rounds are required every 30 minutes at staggered intervals.
“Upon finding inmate Castro, prison medical staff began performing life saving measures. Shortly after he was transported to OSUMC where he was pronounced dead at 10:52 pm. A thorough review of this incident is underway and more information can be provided as it becomes available pending the status of the investigation.”
Ariel Castro built a secret dungeon for his captors, which he held against their will for a decade.

ABC

Ariel Castro built a secret dungeon for his captors, which he held against their will for a decade.

With News Wire Services
Michelle Knight (center), captor of Ariel Castro, walks with reporters Aug. 7 outside the Castro home in Cleveland. The house was demolished later that day.

Angelo Merendino/Getty Images

Michelle Knight (center), captor of Ariel Castro, walks with reporters Aug. 7 outside the Castro home in Cleveland. The house was demolished later that day.

Workers demolish the house where three women were held captive and raped for more than a decade.

Tony Dejak/AP

Workers demolish the house where three women were held captive and raped for more than a decade.

A crane demolishes the home used by Castro to hold three women capitve in Cleveland.

Angelo Merendino/Getty Images

A crane demolishes the home used by Castro to hold three women capitve in Cleveland.

READ MORE - Ariel Castro, brutal captor of 3 women in Cleveland, hangs himself in prison cell

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Police seize drugs in Manipur

IMPHAL, June 3 – In yet another major breakthrough, Manipur police has seized a huge cache of narcotics drugs in the State.

The police personnel at Sekmai police station, about 20 km north of here along Imphal-Dimapur highway stopped and searched a Tata truck (AS11AC6348) around 5.30 pm yesterday and found the drugs.

The drugs found concealed under boxes of tiles were packed in six big cartons and a gunny bag, sources said. The seized items include 41,314 Spasmo proxivon capsules, 4500 Nitrosun 10 tablets, 380 Lupicof Codeine Syrup (100 ml) bottles, and 100 Rcof Codeine Syrup (100 ml) bottles.

Two persons – Md Tajuddin alias Sana, driver of the truck and Md Siraz Khan, handiman, both from Thoubal district, were arrested.

Police told media persons that a case has been registered and investigation is on. The arrested persons are likely to be produced before the court.

On hearing the news about the seizure, womenfolk of Sekmai area thronged the police station and demanded that the drugs be set on fire.

Seven persons including an Army Colonel were arrested for illegally transporting Rs 25 crore worth of drugs on February 25 this year. Later, 11 Manipur policemen were also held with drugs.
READ MORE - Police seize drugs in Manipur

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

'$6bn money-laundering website' Liberty Reserve kingpin cuffed

Feds seize 'cyber-crooks' favourite' dot-com, lay charges

Shadowy online money exchange Liberty Reserve has been shut down by the US feds, its dotcom website seized - and its founder arrested. He and six others are accused of running a $6bn global money-laundering operation, the biggest of its kind, according to prosecutors.

In a string of dramatic events,
  • On Friday, cops in Costa Rica raided offices linked to the underground payment service, which is alleged to be favoured by cyber-crooks. The police pulled the plug on the Latin America-based website when they grabbed servers during the swoop, effectively freezing all the service's customer accounts.
  • Meanwhile, the website's founder Arthur Budovsky, 39, was cuffed in Spain. Further arrests were made in Costa Rica and New York.
  • Then this afternoon, Budovsky and six others were indicted in the US on charges of money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
  • And the website's domain name, libertyreserve.com, was seized by the US Global Illicit Financial Team, which has cleared the site and replaced it with a takedown notice and government logos. Before that, the site's DNS records were briefly updated to resolve to Shadowserver.org, a community effort geared to fighting cybercrime.
Liberty Reserve asked for just an email address, a name and a date of birth from its users when they wished to transfer cash electronically: the money was converted into "Liberty Reserve Dollar" or "Liberty Reserve Euro" digital currencies and quickly moved with minimal bureaucracy and transfer fees no higher than $3 a transaction. These features apparently made the service popular with criminals - at least 55 million transactions were carried out - according to US prosecutors who led the investigation into Liberty Reserve.

During a press conference on Saturday, soon after the web money service went dark, Costa Rican state prosecutor Jose Pablo Gonzalez said a number of suspects as well as Budovsky were under investigation over alleged money laundering.

Today's US indictment, issued by the New York's southern district attorney's office, also links Exchangezone.com, Swiftexchanger.com, MoneyCentralMarket.com, AsianaGold.com and EuroGoldCash.com to the Liberty Reserve operation.

The official paperwork claims "the defendants [operated] an international online digital currency service and money transfer system called Liberty Reserve … which was incorporated in Costa Rica in 2006 [and] is extensively used by cybercriminals around the world for distributing, storing and laundering the proceeds of their criminal activity".

The Feds further alleged that Budovsky and his co-conspirators knowingly operated "a criminal business venture" that moved tens of millions of dollars around the world through a network of shell companies - a move to keep the cash beyond the reach of American and European investigators, it is claimed.

Budovsky was indicted in 2006 on similar charges of operating an illegal money business, called GoldAge Inc, from a New York apartment. The Feds alleged that the service transferred $30m during a four-year operation prior to its closure. Budovsky and co-defendant Vladimir Kats were found guilty and sentenced to five years' probation in 2007. However Budovsky failed to see out his punishment and fled to Costa Rica, where he set up Liberty Reserve. He also renounced his US citizenship and became a Costa Rican national.

Today's indictment charges Budovsky, Vladimir Kats, Ahmed Yassine Abdelghani, Allan Esteban Hidalgo Jimenez, Azzeddine El Amine, Mark Marmilev and Maxim Chukharev. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
READ MORE - '$6bn money-laundering website' Liberty Reserve kingpin cuffed

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Two women caught with 140gm heroin in Manipur

IMPHAL: Even as the state government is planning stringent laws to curb the rising trend of drug smuggling in Manipur, police commandos on Saturday evening arrested two women with 140gm heroin worth a few lakh rupees at Pallel town in Thoubal district.

Acting on a tip-off, Thoubal police commandos, along with women cops, waylaid a passenger van heading to Imphal from the border town of Moreh at Pallel along NH-2 and recovered three packets of heroin from their possession.

The two women - Memi Devi (35) and Lubuanliu Panmei (32) - were immediately handed over to the Kakching police for further investigation. During initial interrogation, Memi revealed that the heroin consignment was handed over to them by a Myanmarese woman with the request to hand over the same to her elder sister in Imphal, police said.

On Saturday morning, at Lilong bazaar in the same district, a man was arrested with 4,320 capsules of Spasmo Proxyvon. Taking into account the growing involvement of women in smuggling drugs along the Imphal-Moreh section of the highway, the state government is all set to deploy women police personnel at various check-posts along the stretch.

Besides Saturday's seizure, Pallel town has witnessed two massive hauls of Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride (PH) content drugs meant for smuggling into Myanmar in less than four months.

On February 24, commandos seized PH drugs worth over Rs 20 crore from six persons, including defence PRO Colonel Ajay Chowdhry, who is now under suspension.

On April 28, similar drugs worth over Rs 3.5 crores were confiscated from the possession of 11 cops including a sub-inspector and a 'jemadar'. In a follow-up action, the officer-in-charge of Moreh police commando was also arrested on Wednesday last.

Last Friday, the state cabinet decided to enact stringent laws to combat the growing trend of drug smuggling in Manipur. PH-content drugs manufactured in India are in high demand at various illegal drug manufacturing units in Southeast Asian countries and the notorious Golden Triangle - the mountainous opium-producing areas of Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand - for regenerating them into heroin and other party drugs.
READ MORE - Two women caught with 140gm heroin in Manipur

Heroin worth Rs 1 cr seized in Silchar

Silchar: At least 550 grams of heroin, worth an estimated Rs one crore in the street market, was seized by BSF from two persons in a hotel in Assam's Silchar town on Sunday, official sources said.

On a tip off, BSF personnel recovered the contraband from the two persons staying in a room of the hotel, the sources said.

They were identified as Oinam Singh from Manipur and Saijjudin Laskar from Karimganj district.

The duo allegedly confessed having brought the heroin from Myanmar via Moreh in Manipur to sell the contraband to drug dealers in Silchar, situated along the Indo-Bangladesh border.
READ MORE - Heroin worth Rs 1 cr seized in Silchar

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Global criminal ring drains $45 million from ATMs in hours

Thieves make withdrawals after hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards. Seven arrests have been made in the U.S.


 Prepaid debit cards were used by a global crime ring to drain ATMs.
Officials say outmoded U.S. card technology may be partly to blame for the theft of $45 million from ATMs. (Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press / January 5, 2013)
A worldwide gang of criminals stole a total of $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking their way into a database of prepaid debit cards and then draining cash machines around the globe, federal prosecutors said.
How were they able to do it? Outmoded U.S. card technology may be partly to blame, the officials said.
Seven people have been arrested in the U.S. in connection with the case, which prosecutors said involved thousands of thefts from ATMs using bogus magnetic swipe cards carrying information from Middle Eastern banks. The fraudsters moved with astounding speed to loot financial institutions around the world, U.S. Atty. Loretta Lynch, who works in New York, said Thursday.
She called it "a massive 21st century bank heist" carried out by brazen thieves in two separate strikes, one in December and the other in February.
One of the suspects was caught on surveillance cameras, his backpack increasingly loaded down with cash, authorities said. Others took photos of themselves with giant wads of bills as they made their way up and down Manhattan.
Here's how it worked:
Hackers got into bank databases, eliminated withdrawal limits on prepaid debit cards and created access codes. Others loaded those data onto any plastic card with a magnetic stripe — an old hotel key card or an expired credit card worked fine as long as they carried the account data and correct access codes.
A network of operatives then fanned out to rapidly withdraw money in multiple cities, authorities said. The cells would take a cut of the money, then launder it through expensive purchases or ship it to the global ringleaders. Lynch didn't say where they were located.
The targets were reserves held by the banks to fund prepaid credit cards, not individual account holders, Lynch said.
She called it a "virtual criminal flash mob," and a security analyst said it was the biggest ATM fraud case she had heard of.
The attack in December reaped $5 million worldwide and the one in February snared about $40 million. The scheme involved attacks on two banks, Rakbank in the United Arab Emirates and the Bank Muscat in Oman, prosecutors said.
The plundered ATMs were in Japan, Russia, Romania, Egypt, Colombia, Britain, Sri Lanka, Canada and several other countries, and law enforcement agencies from more than a dozen nations were involved in the investigation, U.S. prosecutors said.
The accused ringleader in the U.S. cell, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Pena, was reportedly killed in the Dominican Republic late last month, prosecutors said. More investigations continue and other arrests have been made in other countries, but prosecutors did not have details.
An indictment unsealed Thursday accused Lajud-Pena and the other seven New York suspects of withdrawing $2.8 million in cash from hacked accounts in less than a day.
Such ATM fraud schemes are not uncommon, but the $45 million stolen in this one was at least double the amount involved in previously known cases, said Avivah Litan, an analyst who covers security issues for Gartner Inc.
Middle Eastern banks and payment processors are "a bit behind" on security and screening technologies that are supposed to prevent this kind of fraud, but it happens around the world, she said.
"It's a really easy way to turn digits into cash," Litan said.
Some of the fault lies with the ubiquitous magnetic strips on the back of the cards. The rest of the world has largely abandoned cards with magnetic strips in favor of ones with built-in chips that are nearly impossible to copy. But because U.S. banks and merchants have stuck to cards with magnetic strips, they are still accepted around the world.
Lynch would not say who masterminded the attacks globally, who the hackers are or where they were located, citing an ongoing investigation.
The New York suspects were U.S. citizens originally from the Dominican Republic, who lived in the New York suburb of Yonkers and were mostly in their 20s. Lynch said they all knew one another and were recruited together, as were cells in other countries. They were charged with conspiracy and money laundering. If convicted, they face 10 years in prison.
Arrests began in March. Lajud-Pena was found dead with a suitcase full of about $100,000 in cash. The investigation into his death is continuing separately. Dominican officials said they arrested a man in the killing who said it was a botched robbery, and two other suspects were on the lam.
Lynch compared the ring with the $5.8 million in cash stolen from a Lufthansa Airlines vault at Kennedy Airport in 1978, a heist masterminded by Jimmy Burke, the inspiration for Robert De Niro's character in "Goodfellas."
READ MORE - Global criminal ring drains $45 million from ATMs in hours