'Goldman Conspiracy:' RICO? Or Medal of Freedom?

Vote: Racketeers to be indicted or revolutionary American heroes?

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch

Last update: 6:05 p.m. EDT April 28, 2009

The beauty of prosecuting a conspiracy under RICO is that the conspiracy is a separate crime. And all members may be guilty of conspiring to commit each crime in pursuit of the conspiracy's overall agreement. RICO's list includes: Fraud, extortion, embezzling, theft, gambling, money laundering, bankruptcy, securities violations and obstruction of justice.

And right now, that may even cover bankers "cooking the books" using taxpayers' TARP money to generate doctored, phony earnings to deceive investors. And hidden behind the individual crimes may be a collective act of treason to take over control of the American economy as the moneyed "superpower."

With Henry Paulson at Treasury earlier, Goldman Sachs had absolute power, with the absolute backing of the party then in control of Washington. Flash forward: Now, with all their people, programs, lobbyists and connections left behind like landmines inside Washington's new administration, the power of the "Goldman Conspiracy" may now be absolute, as in Lord Acton's historic warning that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." (more)

Of Goldman, Geithner and Grifters

By Michael M. Thomas

April 28, 2009 | 7:27 p.m

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Shocked! Shocked! There's gambling going on.

Getty Images

Last week I turned 73. In all that time (as it seems to me), I cannot recall seeing anything in a newspaper that filled me with as much disgust and outrage as this, which appeared on the front page of Sunday’s New York Times: “After Off Year, Wall Street Pay Is Bouncing Back.”

I brooded on this a good part of the day. The Times piece reported that average (not median, average) pay at Goldman Sachs shaped up at $569,220. (more)

New top Goldman Sachs lobbyist

Former Barney Frank staffer now top Goldman Sachs lobbyist

By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist
04/28/09 5:30 PM

Goldman Sachs' new top lobbyist was recently the top staffer to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., on the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Frank. Michael Paese, a registered lobbyist for the Securities Industries and Financial Markets Association since he left Frank's committee in September, will join Goldman as director of government affairs, a role held last year by former Tom Daschle intimate, Mark Patterson, now the chief of staff at the Treasury Department. This is not Paese's first swing through the Wall Street-Congress revolving door: he previously worked at JP Morgan and Mercantile Bankshares, and in between served as senior minority counsel at the Financial Services Committee.

Politico reported this last week based on an anonymous source, and Bloomberg confirmed it today.

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOLDMAN SACHS

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOLDMAN SACHS' ROLE IN MARKET

SOMETHING smells fishy in the market. And the aroma seems to be coming from Goldman Sachs... (more)

Tangenti alla commissione tributaria provinciale

Tangenti, il ministero apre un'indagine
la Gazzetta di Mantova - 23 aprile 2009 pagina 11 sezione: CRONACA

Il ministero dell'Economia e delle finanze avvierà un'indagine ispettiva sulla vicenda delle tangenti alla commissione tributaria provinciale. Lo ha comunicato ieri, alla Camera, il sottosegretario rispondendo, durante il question time, ad un'interrogazione presentata dal parlamentare della Lega Nord Gianni Fava. L'inchiesta del ministero si affiancherà quindi a quella della procura, che sta indagando a trecentosessanta gradi per alzare il velo sulle mazzette che sarebbero state pagate da imprenditori. Un giro di tangenti che sarebbero state pagate da imprenditori per addolcire i componenti della commissione tributaria ed ottenere così sentenze favorevoli sui contenziosi legati al fisco. Il Consiglio di presidenza della giustizia tributaria, intanto, ha disposto anche la sospensione dall'incarico per Leone Volontà, il giudice della commissione tributaria provinciale che è rinchiuso nel carcere di via Poma da oltre un mese, e nei confronti del collega Alessandro Ferretti, che dall'avvio dell'inchiesta si trova invece agli arresti domiciliari nella sua abitazione di Grazie di Curtatone. Oltre ad inviare gli ispettori a Mantova, il Consiglio di presidenza della giustizia tributaria (organo di autogoverno della magistratura tributaria che fa capo al dipartimento delle finanze del ministero dell'Economia e delle finanze) ha chiesto al presidente della commissione tributaria regionale di avviare un'azione disciplinare nei confronti dei due giudici tributari finiti nei guai. Secondo la procura il sistema di mazzette sarebbe stato messo in piedi da quattro persone. Oltre a Volontà e Ferretti erano stati arrestati anche l'ex funzionario della Coldiretti Arnaldo Massimiliano Rocco e l'avvocato Claudio Anghinoni, ora entrambi ai domiciliari. Gli indagati finora sono undici, tra cui il responsabile di zona della Coldiretti di Goito (ora sospeso dall'incarico) e presidente di Sisam Gianpaolo Ogliosi, e Angelo Sortino, consigliere comunale di Forza Italia.

The Indian tax haven story

The Indian tax haven story reaches the UK press

April 30th, 2009

The Times reports:

Illegal transfers of billions of dollars from India to Western tax havens have become a big issue after two weeks of campaigning in the country’s general election.

As calls increase worldwide for a crackdown on the illicit movement of capital, L. K. Advani, the leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has vowed to repatriate as much as $1.5 trillion (£1 trillion), which he claims has been “looted” from India and moved overseas by corrupt officials, tax-shy members of the elite and leading companies over 60 years. (more)

Qui veut faire sauter la Chambre des députés ou la Cité Judiciaire ?

Qui veut faire sauter la Chambre des députés ou la Cité Judiciaire ?
2009-04-29 22:00:00

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Ce n’est pas la première fois que « L’investigateur-Le Nicolas déchaîné » rend attentif au manque de sécurité flagrant et choquant dans l’enceinte de notre ancien Palais de Justice et malheureusement, pour ce second test, également dans notre nouvelle Cité Judiciaire. Deux tests, l’un à la bombe fictive déposée en 2006 sur un banc au niveau des cabinets d’instruction, l’autre avec un journaliste armé d’un couteau à cran d’arrêt en 2007, avaient démontré que les mesures de sécurité à l’ancien Palais de Justice au niveau de la rue du Nord étaient tout simplement ridicules. (…) Et la semaine passée, un journaliste de notre équipe, armé du même couteau à cran d’arrêt, n’a pas seulement pu entrer dans toutes les salles possibles et imaginables dudit Palais, mais s’est promené, le couteau bien en évidence dans la main, (…) devant les salles d’audience, dans la salle des pas perdus, du rez-de-chaussée jusqu’au dernier étage, sans que personne ne s’inquiète de la présence de cet homme armé et potentiellement dangereux !

(…)

Changement de décor… La Chambre des députés en ce mardi, 22 avril, au lendemain de l’interruption de séance due aux activistes de Greenpeace. La sécurité ? Un zéro pointé ! A nouveau, notre journaliste a pu pénétrer dans le saint des saints, le couteau dans ses poches…

La suite de notre reportage exclusif dans le numéro 478 de « L’investigateur-Le Nicolas déchaîné » du 1er mai 2009