Tag Archives: Bandit Gang Writ Large

Hackers Hit the IRS and Make Off With 100K Taxpayers’ Files

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“Few government agencies routinely collect more information on every law-abiding American than the Internal Revenue Service. And by targeting the IRS, a group of seemingly sophisticated hackers has now collected their own chunk of that detailed data.  On Tuesday the IRS admitted that it had been the target of a breach that compromised 100,000 taxpayers’ files between February and the middle of this month. And though that may seem like a relatively small set of victims, the IRS says the attackers gained the full tax return transcript of the affected taxpayers, which could included a detailed dossier of their personal information including income and social security numbers.”

http://www.wired.com/2015/05/hackers-hit-irs-access-100000-taxpayers-files/

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IRS sets up dedicated cybercrime unit to combat identity theft

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“The US Internet Revenue Service has launched a new unit dedicated to tackling the rising rate of identity theft through hacking.  The US agency’s unit comprises of roughly a dozen agents, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The agents, based in Washington, will focus on cybercrime related to tax fraud, including the theft of data which is then used to collect victim tax refunds without their consent.  IRS data suggests that within the last fiscal year, over 1,000 cases of identity theft involved the loss of data through digital means.”

http://www.zdnet.com/article/irs-sets-up-dedicated-cybercrime-unit-to-combat-identity-theft/

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Feds to return $107K they seized from NC business owner

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“McLellan is just one of thousands of Americans the IRS has seized money from, supposedly for ‘structuring’ funds to avoid a law requiring banks to alert the government of deposits over $10,000. The law was instituted to help the government ferret out drug dealers, terrorists or other criminals — but the IRS occasionally flags deposits of just under $10,000 as suspicious even if there’s no evident criminal wrongdoing, in turn ensnaring people who may be innocent.  That’s what allegedly happened in McLellan’s case. His convenience store in North Carolina was raided in October by IRS agents who said he made a series of just-under-$10,000 deposits in a 24-hour period.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/15/attorneys-feds-will-give-nc-man-his-seized-107gs-back/

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‘High likelihood’ of Greek capital controls, bank deposit freeze: Moody’s

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“Moody’s Investor Service downgraded its outlook for the Greek banking system to negative from stable, which it said reflected: ‘the significant deterioration in banks’ funding and liquidity since December 2014, with deposit outflows estimated at more than 30 billion euros ($33.3 billion), or 18 percent of total deposits, over the past five months.’  These pressures are unlikely to ease over the next 12-18 months, Moody’s said, ‘and there is a high likelihood that capital controls and a deposit freeze will be imposed.’  The credit ratings agency said the negative outlook also took into account the downward revision of Moody’s 2015-16 GDP (gross domestic product) forecasts for the country.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102693901

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Record $150m in gold seized by Indian police in 10 months

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“Officials and industry insiders attribute this spike to a ‘high’ import duty of 10 per cent from 2013, a booming demand pegged by the World Gold Council at around 840 tonnes in 2014 – 191.7 tonnes in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 alone, up 15 per cent from the same period last year — and a low prosecution rate of those caught smuggling gold.  At a time when the NDA government announced a monetisation scheme in this Budget to unlock the value of a part of the 22,000 tonnes of gold (US$1trn) in private hands, a big chunk lies with its own Customs departments – over 2,000 kg seized over the past 10 years.”

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/why-the-gold-rush-record-150mn-seized-in10-months/

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Why you need offshore gold storage

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“If you choose to store your gold in a private vault facility, you add a layer of privacy to your assets. At least as I write this, precious metals held in non-bank facilities are not subject to government reporting in the United States.  There are gold storage facilities in more privacy-friendly countries from Switzerland and Austria to Singapore and Hong Kong. Austrians love for secrecy gave birth to one of the world’s only anonymous gold storage facilities, located in Vienna.  Asians love gold and the economic centers of the continent are making it easier to buy and store metals. I recently wrote about how to get secure offshore gold storage in two different Singapore vaults with ease.”

http://nomadcapitalist.com/2013/05/06/why-you-need-offshore-gold-storage/

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IRS seizes $107k from small NC business owner, despite policy changes

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“Lyndon McLellan has spent more than a decade running L&M Convenience Mart, a gas station, restaurant, and convenience store in rural Fairmont, North Carolina. The New York Times reported that a year ago, without any warning, agents from the IRS seized his entire bank account, totaling more than $107,000.  McLellan is trying to recover his money. He has not been charged with a crime.  ‘It was like I was just slapped in the face with something. I didn’t know what was going on,’ McLellan said, according to the paper. ‘You work for something for 13, 14 years, and they take it in 13, 14 minutes.'”

http://myfox8.com/2015/05/02/irs-seizes-107k-from-small-nc-business-owner-despite-policy-changes/

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DEA agents seize black businessman’s $16K life savings; no charges filed

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“Even after a telephone call to Joseph’s mother in Detroit to corroborate his story, the agents refused to believe the young man, insisting that the money was drug-related.  Despite the fact the officers found no drugs or guns in Joseph’s luggage – and failed to charge him with any crime – they took his cash away from him under the civil asset forfeiture program.  The Justice Department’s multibillion-dollar civil asset forfeiture fund allows officers to seize a citizen’s belongings, based only on a suspicion that a person is breaking the law. Rivers claims that he was picked on by officers as he was the only black person in his section of the train.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3077890/Black-aspiring-businessman-16-000-life-savings-seized-DEA-never-charged-crime.html

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Sheriffs attack senator’s proposal to change asset forfeiture law

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“Law enforcement officials are lashing out at a state senator for a new legislative proposal that would restrict the way police agencies are allowed to seize cash and property.  Sen. Kyle Loveless (R-Oklahoma City) introduced a bill this week that would prevent law enforcement agencies from confiscating property unless that person is convicted of a crime. Part of the Personal Asset Protection Act, SB 838, would place legally seized assets into the state’s general fund. Currently, most of the seized property and cash are returned to local law enforcement agencies.”

http://www.reddirtreport.com/red-dirt-news/sheriffs-criticize-state-senators-proposal-change-asset-forfeiture-law

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Why is the Tanzanian government making information illegal?

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“Despite global attention to recent corruption scandals in Tanzania, public opinion data indicate that domestic awareness of the scandals is shockingly low. The graph below — which would be illegal to publish under the Statistics Bill — indicates that less than half of citizens in mainland Tanzania ‘knew of’ five recent high-level corruption scandals. These corruption scandals have been consequential for Tanzania’s good standing amongst donors. In October 2014, donors withheld nearly $500 million in aid until action was taken in response to the multimillion-dollar energy scandal. As of last month, only $44 million had been released, following the resignation of three cabinet ministers.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/04/15/why-is-the-tanzanian-government-making-information-illegal/

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