Category Archives: Citizens Duty

Dead Russian Oligarchs and those Still Alive

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Many mysterious deaths of Russian oligarchs have gained the attention of those following the wealth of Russians and Putin…

In part from Newsweek:

Two Russian oligarchs were found dead this week alongside their family in luxurious homes in Russia and Spain, with the two cases discovered within 24 hours of each other.

Both deaths are believed by police to be cases of murder-suicide, but the evidence supporting these theories is muddled by the fact that the events happened so close together, with the two oligarchs the last of several who have been found to have died by suicide since the beginning of the year.

The longer list includes Sergey Protosenya, Vladislav Avaev, Vasily Melnikov, Mikhail Watford, Alexander Tyulyakov and Leonid Shulman. Click here to read their resumes and reported death details.

There are many many more oligarchs that are for sure getting their affairs in order meaning hiding their assets and hiding themselves or are simply laundering their reputations…from whom and what is quite crazy too. They are paying for higher security of themselves and their families and their assets while some are making donations to Western entities to save face as well as to keep off of sanctions lists by many governments.

In part, an initial database of oligarchic donations to more than 200 of the most prestigious nonprofits in the U.S. — from museums to universities to think tanks. Recipients included some of the country’s foremost institutions, such as Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. U.S. nonprofits even accepted funds from the richest oligarchs in Russia. Vladimir Potanin, considered Russia’s wealthiest oligarch, successfully donated to multiple significant U.S. nonprofits, including the Kennedy Center and Guggenheim Museum. And he didn’t stop at donations: Potanin managed to obtain seats on the Guggenheim’s board of trustees and the global advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations think tank. All of this transpired despite Potanin’s “close” relationship with Putin and the fact that, as author David Hoffman describes in his groundbreaking 2011 book, The Oligarchs, Potanin acted as the “ringleader” for the oligarchs as they seized assets and political power in the mid-1990s. Read more here.

Then there is Hollywood A-Listers and those relationships with a number of Russian oligarchs….those celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jack Nicholson, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Leonardo Di Caprio and Brad Pitt.

There is nothing wrong with these international relationships…right? Well, that is to be determined given who is part of illicit activities globally and that does take some real research. You see, Putin exploits oligarchs for political and monetary reasons and locations across the world include the United States, Turkey, Greece and Britain.

Alex Finley, a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, explains how sanctions that target Russian assets in the West can have a direct impact on President Vladimir Putin’s personal wealth. Finley tells Yahoo News, “Putin holds very little money actually in his own name,” but adds that he maintains his fortune through funds taken out of Russia by oligarchs and stashed in offshore tax havens and companies with anonymous ownership structures.

Oligarchs hold investment interests in real estate, metals, mining, telecoms, and technology and soccer clubs. New York, Miami and London are favorite locations for international real estate and of course there are those that have concealed their identities by making acquisitions through LLCs or offshore trusts.

Only a documentary can put it all in context but Hollywood types hardly have the guts to produce such a piece and then there are the questions of our own Federal government actually sanctioning all those that should be for various reasons due to the devastating invasion/war against Ukraine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But there is a book, a real book that led to several countries adapting a new law called the Magnitsky Act…including the United States.

 

Men Posed as Homeland Security Agents, Arrested

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They were well financed and it appears to be an Iranian operation, but that is not confirmed or revealed just yet. It is unsettling that this operation began in 2020. Most of all shame on the Secret Service.

Arian Taherzadeh posing as federal law enforcement (via DOJ court filing)

The FBI has arrested two men who they say posed as Homeland Security agents for years, using their false identities to get close to actual law enforcement officials, including a Secret Service agent assigned to the detail of First Lady Jill Biden.

Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36, were arrested Wednesday following a late-afternoon raid at a Washington D.C. apartment complex where they both lived.

According to the probable cause affidavit in support of the men’s arrests, Taherzadeh and Ali had been posing as agents for the Department of Homeland Security since as early as February 2020.

“Taherzadeh and Ali, are not, in fact, employees of the Department of Homeland Security or any United States government agency,” the affidavit noted.

Their goal, according to prosecutors, was to “ingratiate themselves with members of federal law enforcement and the defense community.” Tahersadeh and Ali apparently targeted other residents of the building, many of whom were actual law enforcement officials and employees.

According to one witness, Taherzadeh had “made it clear that he is the ‘go-to guy’ if a resident needs anything in the building.” He allegedly provided “gifts or favors for residents, many of whom were members of law enforcement, including the FBI, USSS, or DHS, or employees of government agencies, including the Department of Defense and Navy.”

Those “gifts or favors” included loaning what Taherzadeh claimed was a “government vehicle” to one witness’ wife and providing her with a generator. Taherzadeh also allegedly offered to get the witness an AR-15-style rifle valued at around $2,000.

That witness, according to the affidavit, is a Secret Service agent currently assigned to Jill Biden’s detail.

According to the affidavit, Taherzadeh offered more than just a borrowed car and generators:

Specifically, Taherzadeh has provided members of the United States Secret Service (USSS) and an employee of DHS with, among other things, rent-free apartments (with a total yearly rent of over $40,000 per apartment), iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a flat screen television, a case for storing an assault rifle, a generator, and law enforcement paraphernalia. Taherzadeh also offered these individuals use of, what Taherzadeh represented to be ‘official government vehicles.’”

As of April 4, four members of the Secret Service have been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation, the affidavit said.

In support of their scheme, Taherzadeh and Ali allegedly obtained guns and assault rifles used by federal law enforcement agencies, as well as items carrying the insignias of those agencies.

Prosecutors say that they went so far to recruit someone to be an “employee of DHS” and “serve on their task force,” and subjected that person to what appears to be a painful hazing ritual.

“As part of the ‘recruitment process’ Taherzadeh and Ali required that the “applicant” be shot with an Airsoft rifle to evaluate their pain tolerance and reaction,” the affidavit says. “Subsequent to being shot, the applicant was informed that their hiring was in process.”

That applicant was “assigned” to conduct research on someone who “provided support to the Department of Defense and intelligence community,” the affidavit says.

The men’s alleged scam was busted by an inspector with the United States Postal Inspection Service who had visited the apartment complex where they live in connection with an alleged assault that took place at the building. Taherzadeh and Ali were interviewed as possible witnesses.

During the interview, both men self-identified as investigators with the U.S. Special Police Investigation Unit (USSP) and told the investigator that they had been deputized as “special police” by the D.C. government.

But according to the affidavit, USSP is a private company registered to an address associated with Taherzadeh.

Both men have been charged with one count each of false impersonation of an officer of the United States, a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.

According to Reuters, the DOJ will seek detention for both of the men, saying that one of them has bragged about having ties to Pakistani intelligence, while the other tried to destroy evidence on social media.

You can read the affidavit, below.

Link

 

The Butcher(s) of Bucha, Ukraine and the War Crimes Evidence Details

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InformNapalm volunteers named Omurbekov as unit 51460 of the 64th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade amid suspicions of grotesque war crimes in Bucha.

Lieutenant Colonel Azatbek Omurbekov is suspected to be the commander of Russian operations in Bucha source

Coal

Click the ‘coal’ link above but fair warning of graphic video of Bucha.

The Russian commander behind the atrocities in Bucha has been named and pictured.

It comes as “mounting evidence” of war crimes committed by Russian forces in the city near capital Kyiv will be discussed by a United Nations Security Council today.

The Ukrainian President – who was seen holding back tears as he visited the aftermath on Monday – will address the council, which is pushing to ensure “justice is done”.

Volodymyr Zelensky surveyed the alleged atrocities near capital Kyiv, describing the discovery of raped women and murdered children among the dead.

He was accompanied by defending servicemen after invading troops had retreated from the area.

US President Joe Biden called for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to face a war crimes trial, adding he is now seeking further sanctions against Russia.

“This guy is brutal and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone’s seen it,” he said in an impassioned speech last night.

A satellite image shows Yablonska Street in the aftermath of the massacre

A satellite image shows Yablonska Street in the aftermath of the massacre (Image: via REUTERS)

Ukrainian officials have vowed to hunt down the “butchers of Bucha” after hundreds of dead civilians were discovered.

Furthermore, there are several Associated Press reports by journalists on the ground.

(AP) — Six charred bodies piled together were being investigated on Tuesday in Bucha, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

It was not clear who the people were or under what circumstances they were killed. One of the bodies was smaller than the others, likely a child, said Andrii Nebytov, head of police in the Kyiv region. One of the bodies had a gunshot wound to the head.

The pile of bodies seen by Associated Press journalists was just off a residential street, near a colorful and empty playground, and was visible to passersby as they warily went outdoors to collect aid.

“It’s horrible,” said Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky at the scene, which included other journalists. The minister said Russian President Vladimir Putin should “go to hell.”

Ukrainian officials have said the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in towns around Kyiv that were recaptured from Russian forces in recent days. The Ukrainian prosecutor-general’s office has described one room discovered in Bucha as a “torture chamber.”
Police carry a dead body of one of six civilians - three women, one teenager girl and two men who were found in Bucha, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Apr. 5, 2022. Ukraine’s president plans to address the U.N.’s most powerful body after even more grisly evidence emerged of civilian massacres in areas that Russian forces recently left. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Police carry a dead body of one of six civilians – three women, one teenager girl and two men who were found in Bucha, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Apr. 5, 2022. Ukraine’s president plans to address the U.N.’s most powerful body after even more grisly evidence emerged of civilian massacres in areas that Russian forces recently left. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - A police officer stands next to six unidentified charred bodies lying on the ground at a residential area in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Ukraine's president plans to address the U.N.'s most powerful body after even more grisly evidence emerged of civilian massacres in areas that Russian forces recently left. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT – A police officer stands next to six unidentified charred bodies lying on the ground at a residential area in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Ukraine’s president plans to address the U.N.’s most powerful body after even more grisly evidence emerged of civilian massacres in areas that Russian forces recently left. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Workers carry the body of people found dead to a cemetery in Bucha, outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Ukraine’s president told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that the Russian military must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes, accusing invading troops of the worst atrocities since World War II. He stressed that Bucha was only one place and there are more with similar horrors. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) Workers carry the body of people found dead to a cemetery in Bucha, outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Ukraine’s president told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that the Russian military must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes, accusing invading troops of the worst atrocities since World War II. He stressed that Bucha was only one place and there are more with similar horrors. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
New additional detail:

Bucha’s butcher has a name and a face. Omurbekov Azatbek Asanbekovich is the name of the commander of the Russian troops who on March 31 demobilized from the town north of Kiev, leaving behind civilians corpses on the street, in mass graves, Ukrainians executed with a blow to the back of the head and their hands tied.

The activists of InformNapalm, who also published the email and the phone, perhaps turned off after the spread of news of the massacre, as no one answers, revealed his identity on Telegram.

The photo of Asanbekovich, commander of military unit 51460, 64th brigade of motorized riflemen, was also published: young man, in camouflage, a tank behind, full lips, elongated eyes of the Buryats, the largest ethnic minority of Mongolian origin from Siberia. And precisely from Siberia, to be precise from Knyaze-Volkonskoye, unit 51460 left.

“We were also able to find the home address of the Russian executioner,” wrote InformNapalm volunteers, announcing the publication of data, archives and explanations on how to find the Russian commander.

“Every Ukrainian should know their names. Remember. All war criminals will be tried and brought to justice for crimes committed against Ukrainian civilians, ”reads the statement of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, published on its website. Below is a detailed list of 87 pages with the names of the more than 1,600 Russian soldiers believed to be involved in the massacre. In the list, the soldiers are identified with military rank, name and surname, date of birth and passport details.

Among the surnames there are also some of the most common in Chechnya. Some of their faces can be seen in the photos posted on the net: boys, almond-shaped eyes, smiling in front of the lens.

Bucha residents, for their part, told the news site Obozrevatel that the Russian soldiers “simply went from yard to yard shooting all the men and boys. Among them we recognized Buryats with narrow and long eyes ”.

For Moscow, on the other hand, those corpses, those photos that shocked the whole world, are propaganda, a “staging of the West and Ukraine”.

BLM Secretly Bought a $6M Mansion

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Where is the outrage? What about non-profit/charity law violations? Hello FBI, where are you? Hey Hollywood…you’re sure quiet over all this…

Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe were among the Hollywood celebs who stayed as guests at the luxurious estate, built in 1936.

source

Black Lives Matter secretly used $6 million in donations to buy luxurious 6,500-square foot mansion with seven bedrooms and parking for 20 cars in Southern California in 2020 where leaders have filmed YouTube videos

  • Black Lives Matter brass secretly used $6 million in donation money to buy a 6,500-square foot mansion in Southern California, it has been revealed
  • Emails show the firm wanted to keep the purchase secret, despite filming a video on the home’s patio in May  
  • The news comes as the foundation faces federal scrutiny for alleged misuse of donated funds – and comes on heels of criticism of co-founder Patrisse Cullors
  • Cullors, 38, came under fire last year for a slew of high-profile property purchases. She resigned after facing backlash from critics and supporters

Source: It’s unclear exactly where the opulent property is located because it is hidden behind an LLC purchase. But according to New York Magazine, it boasts more than half-dozen bedrooms and bathrooms, multiple fireplaces, a soundstage, a pool and bungalow and parking for more than 20 cars.

Documents and internal communications reportedly reveal the luxury property was handled in ways that ‘blur boundaries’ between charitable use and those that would benefit some of the organization’s leaders – including Cullors, who shared video in June of her enjoying a ritzy brunch outside the estate with fellow officials Alicia Garza and Melina Abdullah, who have both since left the organization.

The seven-bedroom estate was purchased by a man named Dyane Pascall two weeks after BLM received $66.5 million from its fiscal sponsor in October 2020.

Pascall is the financial manager for Janaya and Patrisse Consulting – an LLC operated by Cullors and her spouse, Janaya Khan, New York Magazine reported.

Within a week of the purchase, ownership was subsequently transferred to an LLC in Delaware, ensuring the property’s owner wouldn’t be disclosed, the outlet said.

It is not yet clear what purpose the manse, reportedly dubbed ‘Campus’ in internal emails sent by BLM brass, was meant to serve for the foundation.

 

Ukrainian Hackers Take Aim at Russian Artillery, Navigation

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Primer: There are several global hacking groups taking on all things Russia and some have moved their targets to Belarus, now a nation state of Russia. The BBC reported recently the following in part:

The Anonymous hacktivist collective has been bombarding Russia with cyber-attacks since declaring “cyber war” on President Vladimir Putin in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. Several people operating under its banner spoke to the BBC about their motives, tactics and plans.

Of all the cyber-attacks carried out since the Ukraine conflict started, an Anonymous hack on Russian TV networks stands out.

The hack was captured in a short video clip which shows normal programming interrupted with images of bombs exploding in Ukraine and soldiers talking about the horrors of the conflict.

The video began circulating on the 26 February and was shared by Anonymous social media accounts with millions of followers. “JUST IN: #Russian state TV channels have been hacked by #Anonymous to broadcast the truth about what happens in #Ukraine,” one post read.

It quickly racked up millions of views.

Prominent hackers target Russia's satellite infrastructure | CyberNews source

Additionally, the WSJ reports in part:

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian technology workers have taken part in cyberattacks against Russia’s government, media and financial institutions in recent days, a top Ukrainian cybersecurity official said Friday.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just over a week ago, Ukraine’s sprawling and fast-growing technology industry says it has sprung to action not only to keep working but also to support the country’s resistance by helping with cyberattacks against Russia.

The IT Army could number more than 400,000 people inside and outside the country, and it has done more than deface or take down Russian websites, said Viktor Zhora, deputy chief of Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection, which is responsible for cybersecurity in the country.

Mr. Zhora said the IT Army, members of which have taken credit for temporarily knocking an array of Russian government and bank websites offline, has also helped their country by providing intelligence and attacking military systems. He also said the movement has attempted to circumvent Russian domestic censorship of news about the war by sending Russian individuals information and pictures about the war by phone, text and messaging app.

A group of Ukrainian hackers says it has found ways to disrupt Russian military units’ navigation and is working on ways to disrupt artillery fire as well.

The nearly two dozen volunteers of the CyberPan Ukraine group work with the Ukrainian military and get funds from sources in Israel and the United States, group members told Defense One.

In the weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, one member said, the group has found ways to keep some field units from receiving signals from the GLONASS system, Russia’s version of the U.S. GPS satellite navigation constellation. Lost Russian forces are easier to find and target than ones that know where they are going.

Currently, the group is looking for ways to disrupt artillery fire, at least from systems that employ precision guidance systems. The member said the group has identified several computer servers linked to Russian rockets.

“We found many mistakes inside the system,” he said.

Poor communications tech has hobbled the Russian war effort. Its Era secure cellphones aren’t working, in part because the invading forces destroyed many of the system’s cell towers, Bellingcat investigator Cristo Grovez said on March 7. This has forced many Russian units to use unencrypted phones, whose calls have been picked up by Ukrainian forces, foreign journalists, and others.

Russia does have better communication equipment, like software-defined radios such as the R-187P1 Azart and R-168-5UN-2.

“The impression provided by the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) over the years has been that this equipment was widespread and that the majority of the Russian Armed Forces (RuAF) were operating digital radios and systems designed to facilitate planning and decision-making,” Sam Cranny-Evans and Thomas Withington wrote in a March 9 article for the Royal United Services Institute.” But that clearly isn’t the case, the authors note.

Meanwhile, Russian state media have reported that the government is investigating corruption allegations against some Russian makers of communications equipment. 

Some of the communications problems are likely due to poor preparation of the invasion force, said Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and an adviser at the CNA Corporation.

“Some were not fully aware they were going into an actual war [but] thinking they were part of a military drill,” Bendett said. “Perhaps they did not fully combat-proof their comms equipment as a result, and that is how Ukrainians are able to intercept.”

Bendett also pointed out that the United States and other allies were training and equipping Ukraine, which has had years to prepare for this invasion.

“The Ukrainian military knows what technology the Russian military uses and this preparation gave them the opportunity to learn how to disrupt Russian comms,” he said.