Category Archives: FBI

Odebrecht Files for Bankruptcy Protection

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When a huge global construction conglomerate like Odebrecht ends up in a John Podesta email released by Wikileaks, one should take some notice, right?

Odebrecht, the Brazilian company that is synonymous with corruption, decided to file for bankruptcy protection on Monday after years of graft scandals and trials involving top Latin American businessmen and politicians. Founded in 1944 as a construction company, Odebrecht expanded into the chemical and energy industries to become one of Brazil’s largest conglomerates. It counts among its building achievements the Miami International Airport, the Lisbon metro, and Brazil’s Transnordestina railway. At one point, its global success was seen to have symbolized Brazil’s economic boom.

In part published in 2017:

Odebrecht has confessed to paying $98 million in bribes to the governments of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and of his successor Nicolás Maduro over the last decade. If the allegations are true, Venezuela has received the most bribes from the construction group outside of Brazil. Next on the list is Panama with $59 million for which 17 executives and former officials have been charged while President Juan Carlos Varela has been accused. Varela, who had been advocating for proposed charges to be filed, became implicated in February by one of the partners of Mossack Fonseca —the law firm at the center of last year’s Panama Papers scandal —who said Varela admitted to him he accepted bribes from Odebrecht, accusations Varela has denied. Peruvian authorities, similarly to Varela, had been taking aggressive measures to fight Odebrecht-related corruption involving $30.4 million in bribes until their own names became implicated. Toledo, as well as former President Alan García, are being investigated by Operation Car Wash while a third former president, Ollanta Humala, has been implicated by Marcelo Odebrecht himself, but he has not been named in the investigations.

Notable projects in the U.S. include:

The first Brazilian company to complete a public project in the country, Odebrecht celebrates 20 years of operations in the United States in 2010. The construction company has completed 55 projects throughout its history and is currently present in Florida and Louisiana. In the country, Odebrecht has also been in California, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Odebrecht arrived to U.S. soil after it won the public bid to build a stretch of the Metromover, Miami’s above-ground subway. Soon after, in 1992, Odebrecht was responsible for building Route 56, a highway in the region of San Diego, California.
After these projects, the rhythm of the work continued to be intense. The following year, after winning the bid to work on the Santa Ana River chute, the company earned an important contract: The Seven Oaks Dam project in California, in the amount of US$ 168 million, with a construction period of 52 months. During this same year, 1993, the Company was responsible for the construction work on the Merrill Barber Bridge and the Golden Glades viaduct, which extends 2,464 meters to serve those who use the I-95 system, the federal highway that goes from Southern Florida to Canada. As a result of these experiences, Odebrecht was chosen to erect Garcon Point Bridge in Santa Rosa Bay, at the border between Florida and Alabama.
In the building construction area, Odebrecht was responsible for the American Airlines Arena, a sports and cultural complex in Miami, where it competed for the contract with major U.S. companies. It also built the Fortune House building, an apart hotel with 29 floors, the Ocean Steps building, with 15 residential floors, and the Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne Resort & Spa, a residential hotel project.
One of the company’s main clients is Miami-Dade County – with projects in the sector of aviation and mass transportation. The partnership has existed since 1993, when the construction company was responsible for building the American Airlines cargo building. Currently, Odebrecht is responsible for expanding the North Terminals of the Miami International Airport, building the lightweight vehicle that will run on the tracks (Mia Mover) and extending the subway (Airport Link).
The North Terminal Development Program, which involves investments of US$ 2.85 billion, is the center of a bigger venture, worth US$ 6.2 billion, called the “Capital Improvement Program.” Undertaken by Miami-Dade County, it was developed with aims of expanding and improving the aviation system. The complete project includes 52 new gates, four train stations, new installations for the United States Immigration and Citizenship Services, 123 counters, 119 self-service kiosks, 72 federal inspection service posts and a new luggage system. In September, the Sky Train operation began running, connecting the ends of the four main areas of the North Terminal in under five minutes. It is estimated that the program will be completed in 2011, while the construction work for the South Terminal began in 2001 and was completed in 2007. The project included Concourse J, a lobby with 15 departure gates for national and international flights, Concourse H, which already existed and was modernized, as well as a patio that surrounds the area of these buildings.
Also at the Miami International Airport, Odebrecht is heading the construction of the MIA Mover, an automatic vehicle that runs on tracks and will connect the Miami International Airport (MIA) to the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC), a terminal that connects different transportation services. The development, the result of a US$ 256 million investment, will be completed in September 2011.
Another project underway is the construction of the Airport Link, which will connect MIC at the airport to the Earlington Heights subway station. With an investment of US$ 360 million, the project extends nearly four kilometers, with the construction of three subway substations, a bus stop and highway access points.
Odebrecht was also at the Orlando Airport, working on the North Transversal taxi strip and South Terminal Complex. The project also involved the construction of access ramps and new viaducts.
In New Orleans since 2006, Odebrecht won two new contracts in 2010 in the city. In August, it signed a contract with the US Army Corps of Engineers to undertake preventive construction work for floods. In May, the company began constructing four water pumping stations, with aims of preventing floods caused by hurricanes. Recently, the company also delivered projects at Cataouatche Lake and in the region of Chalmette, work designed to reconstruct and fortify containment dikes. The construction works are part of the Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS), which consists of 250 different projects and involves total investments of US$ 15 billion.

Main Completed Projects
South Terminal of the Miami International Airport – Miami, Florida
Containment Dike at Lake Cataouatche – New Orleans, Louisiana
Containment Dike at Chalmette Loop – New Orleans, Louisiana
American Airlines Arena – Miami, Florida
Expansion of the FIU Football Stadium
Expansion of the Northeast Terminal of the Orlando International Airport – Miami, Florida
Seven Oaks Dam – San Bernardino, California
Carnival Center for the Performing Arts – Miami, Florida
Miami International Airport Dolphin Garage Building – Miami, Florida
M-DWASD Head Office – Coral Gables, Florida
South Road System Extension – Miami International Airport – Miami, Florida
Miami International Airport North Terminal Extension – Miami, Florida
Fine Air Hangar at the Miami International Airport – Miami, Florida
Metromover – Miami, Florida
Western “U” Apron at the Miami International Airport – Miami, Florida
Fort Lauderdale International Airport Yard – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Merrill Barber Bridge – Vero Beach, Florida
Santa Rosa Bridge – Santa Rosa County, Florida
Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne Resort & Spa – Miami, Florida
Route 56 – San Diego, California
Miami International Airport Lobby “A” – Miami, Florida
American Airlines Terminal – Miami, Florida
Federal Express Terminal – Miami, Florida
Challenge Air Cargo Terminal – Miami, Florida
Miami International Airport Western “U” Cargo Terminal – Miami, Florida
Miami International Airport Control Tower – Miami, Florida
Golden Glades Viaduct – Miami, Florida

Odebrecht Organization
Founded in Bahia in 1944, Odebrecht Engenharia & Construção is currently the largest company in the sector in Latin America. With earnings of over R$ 18.7 billion in 2009, 70% of its revenues originate from projects abroad. It is present on the three Americas, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and employs some 87,000 people.
The company, which has already completed nearly 2,000 projects in 35 different countries, provides integrated services in the areas of engineering, supply, construction, assembly and management of projects in the civil construction, industrial and special technology areas. Odebrecht Engineering & Construction includes six companies, consolidated in 2010, based on the business or geographic area of operations: Odebrecht Energia, Odebrecht Industrial, Odebrecht Infraestrutura, Odebrecht Latin America and Angola, Odebrecht Venezuela and Odebrecht International.
In 2009, Odebrecht finished building the Doraleh container terminal in Djibuti, and started the construction work to rebuild over 240 km of railroad for Arcelor Mittal in Liberia. Among its current projects, worthy of note are the Tripoli Airport (Libya) and the construction of an ethanol plant in Ghana.

The Bribery Schemes

According to its admissions, Odebrecht engaged in a massive and unparalleled bribery and bid-rigging scheme for more than a decade, beginning as early as 2001. During that time, Odebrecht paid approximately $788 million in bribes to government officials, their representatives and political parties in a number of countries in order to win business in those countries. The criminal conduct was directed by the highest levels of the company, with the bribes paid through a complex network of shell companies, off-book transactions and off-shore bank accounts.

As part of the scheme, Odebrecht and its co-conspirators created and funded an elaborate, secret financial structure within the company that operated to account for and disburse bribe payments to foreign government officials and political parties. By 2006, the development and operation of this secret financial structure had evolved such that Odebrecht established the “Division of Structured Operations,” which effectively functioned as a stand-alone bribe department within Odebrecht and its related entities. Until approximately 2009, the head of the Division of Structured Operations reported to the highest levels within Odebrecht, including to obtain authorization to approve bribe payments. After 2009, this responsibility was delegated to certain company business leaders in Brazil and the other jurisdictions. To conceal its activities, the Division of Structured Operations utilized an entirely separate and off-book communications system, which allowed members of the Division of Structured Operations to communicate with one another and with outside financial operators and other co-conspirators about the bribes via secure emails and instant messages, using codenames and passwords.

The Division of Structured Operations managed the “shadow” budget for the Odebrecht bribery operation via a separate computer system that was used to request and process bribe payments as well as to generate and populate spreadsheets that tracked and internally accounted for the shadow budget. These funds for the company’s sophisticated bribery operation were generated by the Odebrecht Finance Department through a variety of methods, as well as by certain Odebrecht subsidiaries, including Braskem. The funds were then funneled by the Division of Structured Operations to a series of off-shore entities that were not included on Odebrecht’s balance sheet as related entities. The Division of Structured Operations then directed the disbursement of the funds from the off-shore entities to the bribe recipient, through the use of wire transfers through one or more of the off-shore entities, as well as through cash payments both inside and outside Brazil, which were sometimes delivered using packages or suitcases left at predetermined locations.

Odebrecht, its employees and agents took a number of steps while in the United States to further the scheme. For instance, in 2014 and 2015, while located in Miami, two Odebrecht employees engaged in conduct related to certain projects in furtherance of the scheme, including meetings with other co-conspirators to plan actions to be taken in connection with the Division of Structured Operations, the movement of criminal proceeds and other criminal conduct. In addition, some of the off-shore entities used by the Division of Structured Operations to hold and disburse unrecorded funds were established, owned and/or operated by individuals located in the United States. In all, this conduct resulted in corrupt payments and/or profits totaling approximately $3.336 billion.

Braskem also admitted to engaging in a wide-ranging bribery scheme and acknowledged the pervasiveness of its conduct. Between 2006 and 2014, Braskem paid approximately $250 million into Odebrecht’s secret, off-book bribe payment system. Using the Odebrecht system, Braskem authorized the payment of bribes to politicians and political parties in Brazil, as well as to an official at Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (Petrobras), the state-controlled oil company of Brazil. In exchange, Braskem received various benefits, including: preferential rates from Petrobras for the purchase of raw materials used by the company; contracts with Petrobras; and favorable legislation and government programs that reduced the company’s tax liabilities in Brazil. This conduct resulted in corrupt payments and/or profits totaling approximately $465 million.

Nadler’s Committee to Hold Mueller Report Hearings

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They have some old Nixon people to coming chat with them and this is after some select present and former IC officials have already been chatting with key democrats in the House. Swell eh?

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a series of hearings related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, with the first one titled “Lessons from the Mueller Report: Presidential Obstruction and Other Crimes” taking place next Monday.

Next week’s hearing will feature John Dean — the former White House counsel who famously turned on President Nixon during the Watergate investigation, as well as “former U.S. Attorneys and legal experts,” according to the committee’s press release.

“These hearings will allow us to examine the findings laid out in Mueller’s report so that we can work to protect the rule of law and protect future elections through consideration of legislative and other remedies,” Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said in a statement. “Given the threat posed by the President’s alleged misconduct, our first hearing will focus on President Trump’s most overt acts of obstruction.  In the coming weeks, other hearings will focus on other important aspects of the Mueller report.”

The announcement comes as calls for opening an impeachment inquiry have grown louder among House Democrats, particular after Mueller made rare on-camera remarks reiterating his report’s finding that President Trump could not be cleared of obstruction.

It is unclear whether this new series of hearings will tamp down the impeachment inquiry talk. The committee has held other hearings broadly related to topics covered by Mueller’s investigation, while its attempts to get key figures — particularly former White House Counsel Don McGahn and Attorney General Bill Barr — to testify have been stymied.

Note as well that Pelosi said last week the House will only do what will get results. Due to pressure, has she changed her mind? Even Nadler added that impeachment will only work if that is the will of the American people. What about Adam Schiff? Well he too just said on ABC, that ‘we are not there yet’.

 

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well, look, I think we’re going to do what’s right for the country and at this point, the speaker has not reached the conclusion and I haven’t had either it’s best for the country to put us through an impeachment proceeding that we know is destined for failure in the Senate. Now that calculus may change if the president continues to stonewall, if the president continues to demonstrate his unfitness for office. There may be little additional cost to going through that process.

It is in a way, even if unsuccessful in the Senate, the ultimate form of censure in the House. But we’re not there yet and I think if it is a close call, close calls go against putting the country through that. We have an important legislative agenda to try to advance, we have important oversight work we can do outside the context of impeachment, and I think at this point that is still the preferred course.

The democrats are resolute in ensuring this American political nightmare continues for many more months and they are fundraising from it all too. One has to ask if the DNC is paying media advertising rates to keep this up as long as ABC, CNN and the rest keep these talking heads on this topic…gotta wonder.

Fraud/Theft on Govt Contractor for Puerto Rico Hurricane

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Not only do individuals not do the research and proper vetting of people and information, but when the Federal government is guilty, things are really bad. The Federal government has people, technology and the resources to ‘get it right’ when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars but again, we get fleeced.

So we have this cockamamie contractor that in the end was just not real and no one up or down the system to figure that out. So, 475,000 tarps that were to be delivered to Puerto Rico, never happened but the money…well that is gone too. Yikes.

Puerto Rico: Where Americans live without roofs - CNN

Just for fun, read the contract here.

Now for the story that began burning in 2017 and continues.

The owners of the Textile Corporation of America promised the government that they could deliver 1,000 new jobs to residents of Pikeville, Tennessee, and millions of dollars of supplies to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. And federal and state leaders lined up to support them, helping them secure millions of dollars in contracts and grants.

But two years later, the company is the subject of a federal criminal investigation alleging that its executives bilked taxpayers out of those millions.

According to affidavits filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a federal court in Tennessee in October and February, the Textile Corporation of America (TCA) fabricated evidence of work performed at a Pikeville, Tennessee, textile plant in order to draw grants from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)—a federally owned corporation—and the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development.

The FBI alleges that the company’s owners pocketed much of that money for personal use.

But more than a million dollars of the grant money, investigators say, went towards the purchase of tarps to fulfill a $30 million Federal Emergency Management Agency hurricane relief contract. The TCA sister company to which FEMA awarded that contract, Master Group USA (MGUSA), used more fraudulent paperwork, including fabricated copies of invoices and wire transfers, to conceal the fact that it was purchasing those tarps from China, in violation of federal sourcing laws, the FBI alleges. FEMA awarded MGUSA nearly $4 million before canceling the contract, after the tarps failed to meet quality requirements.

Some information about the scheme has trickled into public view over the past year. But the existence of a federal criminal investigation into TCA and MGUSA, and the full extent of their alleged fraud, as spelled out in a pair of FBI affidavits, has not been previously reported. Those affidavits, filed in November and February, sought the seizure of millions of dollars from the companies’ Pakistani-American owners, brothers Karim and Rahim Sadruddin, and search warrants for their email accounts and those of a number of family members allegedly involved in the scheme.

No criminal charges have yet been filed, and the Justice Department declined to comment. But the allegations against the Sadruddin brothers go beyond a typical case of procurement fraud, given the roster of high-profile politicians who lent their support to their companies over the past two years.

The Sadruddin brothers, and the family members allegedly party to the scheme, did not respond to requests for comment on the investigation. Nor did Troy King, the former attorney general of Alabama and TCA’s chief counsel.

King was one of a number of high-profile public figures who lined up to support TCA’s plans to buy, renovate, and revitalize the Pikeville textile plant. At an unveiling ceremony in July 2017, King, flanked by then-Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) and an aide to Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), said the project “represents the renaissance of America, the return of America as a global manufacturing center.”

“This is a great story,” DesJarlais said of the project. “A local entrepreneur made an investment in his community.”

“Textile Corporation of America’s commitment to create 1,000 jobs in Bledsoe County, a Tier 4 Distressed county, will have an incredible impact on the community and surrounding area,” promised Haslam. “We appreciate the company’s investment in our state and look forward to building a lasting partnership in the future.”

As of early this year, no work had been done at the site, and its gates had been padlocked.

A month before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, TCA received a $3 million “fast track” development grant from the state, $850,000 of which was to go towards purchasing the Pikeville facility, with the rest earmarked for redeveloping it. The company brought on a local contractor, Cagle Development, to assist with the project.

The structure of the grant stipulated that TCA would finance its own work at the site, then submit paperwork to a local development agency, which was charged with administering the grant funds. The agency would then use those funds to reimburse TCA for work performed.

In October 2017, TCA submitted its first tranche of paperwork for reimbursement: a $1.4 million invoice for work performed by Cagle on the site and records of a wire transfer from TCA’s bank account to Cagle’s. “

Ed Cagle, the contractor’s owner, recalled seeing a copy of the invoice in the company’s records and immediately recognizing that it was fraudulent. “He made up the invoice and put Cagle Development up top,” Cagle told The Daily Beast in an interview on Friday.

Cagle immediately called up the Pikeville mayor, who was one of TCA’s biggest boosters at the time and whom Cagle knew personally. “I never did receive this money,” Cagle told him. “I don’t know why somebody fabricated this but this is not me.”

Cagle would eventually tip off federal and state authorities to the apparent fabrication as well. “The FBI got involved, they came in and checked all my records,” he recalled. “They saw that I never did get the money,”

The FBI checked bank records as well and concluded that “the wire transfer record submitted by Karim Sadruddin to obtain a reimbursement… is, in fact, fraudulent.”

By the time authorities realized that TCA had already received reimbursement checks for both that $1.4 million and another $850,000 for the purchase of the Pikeville facility. In November 2017, Karim Sadruddin drove from his home in Atlanta to Pikeville, picked up the checks, and deposited them in a bank account with a prior balance of just $500.

Later that month, he submitted another invoice—also fraudulent, according to the FBI—for work ostensibly performed by Cagle and financed by TCA. In January, the company received a check for $728,000, every last penny available under the Pikeville grant.

Around the same time, the Sadruddins began hitting up the TVA for money as well. TCA had received a $230,000 performance grant from the federally owned company, and in January 2018, Rahim Sadruddin sent an email to the agency falsely claiming that the Pikeville facility was “in operation from this week onwards,” and that he wanted “to get in touch with you regarding the grant funds.”

In June, the Sadruddins officially certified that the Pikeville plant had been up and running for months. They secured the $230,000 in TVA grant money as a result.

In fact, according to the FBI, “the Pikeville facility was not commercially operational as a textile manufacturing plant. No textiles were being produced.” Instead, the affidavits allege, they were simply using the Pikeville facility as a warehouse to store tarps purchased to supply their sister company MGUSA’s $30.8 million FEMA contract, under which the company agreed to provide 475,000 tarps to areas hit by hurricanes in 2017, chiefly in Puerto Rico.

The Sadruddins had already begun transferring TCA’s grant money to MGUSA in order to purchase those tarps, according to the FBI. FEMA awarded the contract in November 2017, as TCA was drawing down its Pikeville grants. The FBI estimates that more than $1 million of TCA’s grant funds, or more than a third of the total, eventually went towards the purchase of tarps under the FEMA contract.

Soon after the contract was awarded, a FEMA representative reached out to MGUSA to verify that the tarps being provided complied with the Trade Agreements Act, which contains restrictions on countries of origin for such purchases. MGUSA documentation showed the tarps were being shipped from China, a nation barred by those sourcing restrictions.

To allay FEMA’s concerns, MGUSA provided copies of purchase orders and wire transfers designed to show that the tarps were purchased from a company in Taiwan and simply shipped through China to minimize transit costs. Those documents, the FBI alleges, were also fraudulent.

The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, which conducted its own investigation into the FEMA contract, determined that the Taiwanese company listed on those purchase orders didn’t actually exist. The IG also determined that the wire transfer records submitted to the agency were fraudulent.

The tarps were, in fact, coming from China. FBI investigators determined that the Sadruddins even visited the Chinese facility where they were being produced. Investigators interviewed that supplier, who told them that, “Karim wanted the tarps to be from a TAA compliant country, but the supplier explained to Karim that a factory in China was the only source which could produce the tarps in the needed time period, and after a couple of days, Karim Sadruddin agreed to take the tarps from China.”

MGUSA eventually provided more than 58,000 tarps under the contract, for which the company was paid more than $3.7 million, before FEMA suspended the work, citing concerns about the quality of the goods provided, and their Chinese sourcing. It’s not clear how many actually made it to Puerto Rico.

As it pursues a criminal investigation against the Sadruddins, the FBI has also sought to recoup the millions of dollars they say were illegally extracted by their two companies. But the frequent transfers of money between various bank accounts owned by the Sadruddin brothers and the family has apparently made recouping that money difficult.

The FBI attempted to seize more than $815,000, for instance, from a bank account in the name of Rahim Sadruddin’s wife, Fatima. But according to court filings, the bank could only locate about $130,000 of those funds.

For the residents of Pikeville, the cost of the Sadruddins’ alleged fraud can’t be measured just in dollar terms.

“What really upset me was offering people over there 1,000 jobs,” said Cagle of TCA’s textile project. “These people really put a lot of hope into that. So to see somebody come in and steal all their grant money, and them living like kings, that’s what bothers me the most.”

Cagle sighed. “I wish I’d never met them.”

Hey Social Media, Here Comes Anti-Trust Scrutiny

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It has started with Google and this site has warned users of the Internet to stop using Google for years for various reasons. Now there are more. Oh, the Department of Justice may not stop with Google, so watch out Facebook, Yahoo News, Apple, Amazon and Twitter. Why?

Have you noticed how twisted news stories are? Have you noticed selective search engine results? Have you noticed search intrusions? Have you noticed censorship that may affect politics, truths or even voting habits?

How to Become a Social Media Marketing Pro for Less Than ...

Well, it begins with these social media/tech companies stopping competition, free speech and lying by omission. Reliance on these investigative activities begin with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This is a law where the Federal government opposes monopolies when it comes to contracts, trade and commerce. Add in the Federal Trade Commission Act and consider the timing as we move towards the 2020 General Election(s).

A short definition of the Antitrust Laws is found here.

In part from C-Net:

The move by the Justice Department comes as Google and other Silicon Valley giants face renewed antitrust scrutiny in the United States. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, has made it a key part of her platform to break up the big tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Amazon. Earlier this month, Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, also called for the breakup of the company he helped create.

In February 2018, President Donald Trump had signaled via his Federal Trade Commission leadership choice that he was open to investigating big tech companies.

Former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions last September reportedly met with state attorneys general to discuss whether Google and Facebook could be suppressing conservative views, after forming a task force to look into problems in the tech industry. However, once Sessions stepped down in November, the plan to follow up with the Justice Department was shelved.

The Journal report follows reports in March that Google could be facing an investigation over violations of antitrust or consumer protection regulations.

Google has also faced antitrust pressures from regulators in Europe. In March, the search giant was hit with a $1.7 billion fine from the European Commission for “abusive” online ad practices. The Commission said Google exploited its dominance by restricting its rivals from placing their search ads on third-party websites.

Last year, the EU’s executive arm fined Google a record $5 billion for unfair business practices around Android, its mobile operating system. The investigation focused on Google’s deals with phone manufacturers, requiring them to preload specific Google apps and services onto Android phones. After the EU announced the fine, Trump tweeted, “I told you so.”

***

Earlier Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Trade Commission will examine how Facebook’s practices affect digital competition. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Amazon has come under heightened scrutiny by U.S. regulators. And on Friday, the Journal reported that the Justice Department is preparing a probe of Google, sending shares of parent company Alphabet down more than 7% Monday.

The possible Apple probe is linked to the Google probe, Reuters reported, and stems from meetings between the DOJ and the FTC.

The headlines together paint a daunting picture for Silicon Valley and the stock market’s most valuable companies. Big tech has long faced scrutiny from European regulators, but has so far shrugged off calls for government regulation in the U.S.

Apple has drawn increased criticism in recent months for what some — including streaming giant Spotify — see as anti-competitive behavior in the App Store. Apple owns and operates the online marketplace, collecting subscription fees from developers.

The so-called “Apple tax” accounts for a sizable percentage of Apple’s burgeoning services revenue segment, but draws the ire of developers who, in some cases, compete with Apple’s own apps in the store.

Spotify’s EU complaint against Apple, filed in March, is pending investigation by European authorities. More here.

Terrorist Arrested in Basking Ridge, NJ

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He fully supported HAMAS, wanted to bomb Trump Tower and set off explosives at a pro-Israel event. His name? He uses Jonathan Xie.

The chilling criminal complaint is here.

A 20-year-old New Jersey man who allegedly sent money abroad to Hamas militants in an effort to support the terror group also spoke of bombing Trump Tower and attacking the Israeli Consulate in New York, authorities say.

He also spewed hatred against Jewish people, allegedly vowing in an Instagram Live video that he would go to a pro-Israel march and “shoot everybody.”

The suspect, identified as Jonathan Xie, of Basking Ridge, was arrested Wednesday morning on charges of attempting to provide material support to a designated terror group, making false statements and transmitting a threat of interstate commerce. Though he spoke of the attacks, authorities say there was no specific plot. Xie is expected in federal court in Newark later Wednesday.

One official tells News 4 Xie has a history of mental issues, but his alleged actions, threats — and the fact investigators found three guns in his family home — were part of the reason they moved forward with the criminal terror charges. It wasn’t immediately clear if the weapons were legally obtained.

According to a criminal complaint, Xie lied in an effort to enlist in the U.S. Army for training earlier this year. Prosecutors say he went as far as completing a Security Clearance Application for National Security Positions in February and answered “no” to the question “Have you ever associated with anyone involved in activities to further terrorism.” An error occurred in the application processing and he had to do it again 10 days later. Again, he answered no to that question.

Xie allegedly said he wanted to join “to learn how to kill … so I can use that knowledge” and “Idk if I pass the training … If I should do lone wolf.”

Last month, FBI surveillance saw Xie outside Trump Tower in Manhattan. Shortly thereafter, according to Instagram records, he posted two photos to his account, one with the words “[S]hould I bomb Trump Tower,” a “Yes/No” poll and an emoji of a bomb imposed over the Trump Tower building image.

Records show Xie then posted on Instagram, “Okay, so I went to NYC today and passed by Trump Tower and then I started laughing hysterically . . . s*** I forgot to visit the Israeli embassy in NYC … i want to bomb this place along with trump tower,” according to the criminal complaint.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, Xie appeared in an Instagram Live video in April wearing a black ski mask and said he was against Zionism and the neo-liberal establishment. He allegedly said he would “find a way” to go join Hamas if he could, then displayed a Hamas flag and got a handgun. “I’m gonna go to the [expletive] pro-Israel march and I’m going to shoot everybody,” officials say he said in that video.

In later Instagram posts, Xie allegedly said, “I want to shoot the pro-israel demonstrators . . . you can get a gun and shoot your way through or use a vehicle and ram people . . . all you need is a gun or vehicle to go on a rampage . . . I do not care if security forces come after me, they will have to put a bullet in my head to stop me.”

The money to Hamas was sent last year, officials say. Xie allegedly sent $100 via Moneygram to a person in Gaza he believes to be a member of a Hamas faction that has conducted suicide bombings against civilian targets in Israel.

At about the same time, he allegedly posted on Instagram, “Just donated $100 to Hamas. Pretty sure it was illegal but I don’t give a damn.” He also allegedly sent a small Bitcoin donation last month just to see if it went through.

The investigation revealed other social media accounts for Xie, including a YouTube account which contained a playlist containing videos, many of which advocated or propagandized Soldiers for Allah, the war in Syria, Hezbollah (a foreign terrorist organization), and the Houthi movement in Yemen, as well as support for Bashar al Assad, Saddam Hussein, and North Korea.

“Homegrown violent extremists like Xie are a serious threat to national security,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a statement. “The actions that he took and planned to take made that threat both clear and present, and we commend our law enforcement partners for working closely with us to stop him before he could carry out his plans to commit violence on American soil. We will continue to do everything in our power to safeguard our country and its citizens from the threat of terrorism, whether that threat comes from abroad or – as here – from within.”

Each count of attempt to provide material support to terrorists carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The false statements and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce counts each also carry hefty prison time and fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Information on a possible attorney for Xie wasn’t immediately available.