Monthly Archives: April 2014

When in Rome

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“In 193 AD, the denarius enjoyed a similar position to that of the US dollar today. Yet, having been devalued, it never regained its worth—in fact, not to this very day, even as a relic. The denarius pictured above was recently offered on eBay for the ‘Buy Now’ price of $28.80. Not a very impressive increase in value for a coin that has survived for 1700 years.  We would like to think that, even though some current governments are following the Roman road to ruin with remarkable similarity, the outcome will somehow be brighter—that we will not witness the Fall of the Empire in our modern world. Surely, this time around, political leaders will ‘do the right thing.'”

http://www.internationalman.com/articles/when-in-rome

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“Cruel and Unusual” Is the Only Way to Describe It

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“Consider the case of Mary Estelle Curran, a 79-year-old widow who faced six years in prison and over $20 million in fines. Curran inherited a number of offshore accounts worth around $40 million from her husband after he passed away and was allegedly unaware of how to properly file the required FBAR forms.  I don’t know how any decent human being could look at themselves in the mirror again after helping to put away an old widow—or anyone for that matter—for a make-believe ‘crime’ like not filing an FBAR. If throwing an elderly widow in a cage for six years for not properly filling out a government form is not cruel and unusual punishment, then the phrase has no meaning.”

http://www.internationalman.com/articles/cruel-and-unusual-is-the-only-way-to-describe-it

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California D.A. Pockets Elderly Couple’s $500,000 Bail Bond Money

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A recent story from ABC News, which documents a San Francisco landlord’s allegedly outrageous and abusive behavior towards his tenants and his subsequent attempted flight from the U.S. to evade the resulting criminal charges, nearly completely obscured its own documentation of another blatantly criminal act — this time of the government itself — mentioning it only on the second page and in passing.

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Move to Puerto Rico and Pay Zero Capital Gains Tax

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“You can jettison ALL United States tax on interest, dividends, and capital gains. This is possible because Puerto Rico, while a commonwealth of the United States, is treated as separate for tax purposes. By moving to PR, you can opt out of the Federal tax system and in to the PR tax program. Retired? Puerto Rico does not tax social security or unemployment income.  Capital assets (such as land, stocks, bonds, etc.) acquired after moving to PR are tax free. As for property acquired prior to becoming a resident, special provisions can result in a 10% long term rate from the day you qualify and a 5% tax rate applies to property acquired prior to becoming a resident and held for at least 10 years.”

http://premieroffshore.com/move-puerto-rico-pay-zero-capital-gains-tax/

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Asset Seizures and Forfeitures and Your S Corporation

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“The U.S. Government (and in fact any government or government agency) can’t legally own stock in an S corporation.  Through the seizure and forfeiture referenced in the email I received, the US Government became a shareholder in an S corporation and then triggered an immediate termination of the S corporation’s tax reporting status. Ouch. People might say, hey, that’s tough…a criminal gets what he or she deserves.  But the rub here is that the termination of the Subchapter S status doesn’t actually hurt the person who’s already forfeited the assets. The termination hits the remaining shareholders and the corporation.”

http://evergreensmallbusiness.com/asset-seizures-and-forfeitures-and-your-s-corporation/

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H-P Pays $108M to DOJ, SEC To Settle Anti-Bribery Allegations

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“Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) agreed to pay $108 million to settle federal claims that it violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, marking yet another major settlement as the government cracks down on bribery.  The government alleges H-P violated FCPA when its subsidiaries in Poland, Mexico and Russia made improper payments to government officials to obtain or retain public contracts.  The PC maker agreed to pay $108 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Dept. of Justice, and undertake certain compliance, reporting and cooperation obligations.”

http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2014/04/09/h-p-in-108m-settlement-with-doj-over-foreign-practices/

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Hacker faces 115 years in prison after lowering customers’ cable bills

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“Two men pleaded guilty to a scam that lowered the bills of 5,790 Comcast customers in Pennsylvania by a total of $2.4 million. They now face prison time and will have to pay their ill-gotten wealth back to Comcast.  The accused ringleader, 30-year-old Alston Buchanan, pleaded guilty last week. ‘Buchanan faces up to 57½ to 115 years in prison, although Buchanan will likely serve a lesser sentence than the maximum,’ the newspaper wrote.  Comcast customers saved an average of $414 in exchange for paying the defendants $75 to $150.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/comcast-bills-lowered-2-4-million-by-scammers-who-accessed-billing-system/

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The Netherlands Must Police Downloading, EU Court Rules

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“The European Court of Justice has ruled that the Netherlands can no longer permit its citizens to freely download copyrighted movies and music without paying for them. In its judgment the Court rules that the current system of a “piracy levy” to compensate rightsholders is unlawful. Today’s judgment is also likely to affect other European countries with similar systems, such as Switzerland where downloading pirated works for personal use is also permitted.  The Dutch Government confirmed to Tweakers that downloading copyrighted material for personal use is no longer allowed, effective immediately.”

http://torrentfreak.com/the-netherlands-must-outlaw-downloading-eu-court-rules-140410/

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China moves to purge Internet of porn, rumors and, critics say, dissent

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“China has unfurled a vigorous new campaign to clean up the Internet, to purge it of everything from pornography to ‘rumors’ that might undermine Communist Party rule, a crusade that critics say is a renewed attempt to silence grass-roots voices and stifle dissent.  Censorship of the media and Internet is routine in China, but controls on online freedom of expression have been steadily strengthened since Xi Jinping took over as president last year.  The drive, to ‘sweep out porn, strike at rumors,’ will run from mid-April until November, the party’s news portal Seeking Truth declared this week.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/china-launches-clear-sky-campaign-to-purge-internet-of-porn-rumors-dissent/2014/04/17/62ad2e7d-494e-4d10-bd29-d8dc828b3dcb_story.html

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Supreme Court weighing when online speech becomes illegal threat

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“There are regularly fresh media accounts of defendants handed lengthy prison terms for their online speech. Weeks ago, for example, another Pennsylvania man was handed up to a six-year term for a YouTube rap video threatening police officers.  In the Elonis case pending before the Supreme Court, the 30-year-old contends that the authorities never proved he intended to threaten anybody. Only one federal appeals court has sided with Elonis’ contention that the authorities must prove that the person who made the threat actually meant to carry it out. Eight other circuit courts of appeal, however, have ruled that the standard is whether a ‘reasonable person’ would conclude the threat was real.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/supreme-court-weighing-when-online-speech-becomes-illegal-threat/

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