Scotland Yard drops Official Secrets Act bid against Guardian

 

Scotland Yard had intended to take the Guardian newspaper to court on Friday in an attempt to force the newspaper into revealing how it obtained information that missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s mobile phone had been hacked. However, following discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the force has abandoned its application for production orders against the newspaper. The decision comes following heavy criticism of the force’s attempt to make the Guardian, and one of its journalists, hand over information which would have revealed the source of many of the newspaper’s phone hacking stories. Various MPs, including the shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis, questioned the Yard’s attempt. While many national newspapers carried leading articles condemning the Metropolitan Police’s apparent attack on press freedom. And today the former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith told the Daily Telegraph that the force’s decision to invoke the Official Secrets Act was “unusual” and could threaten press freedom.

NAVY recruit flipped and killed an officer in a gun rampage on a nuclear sub after he was told off for his cleaning work.

Ryan Donovan, 23, fired his SA80 semi-automatic rifle after his hopes of a voyage on a surface ship were dashed as punishment for his shoddy work.

He was also obsessed with violent video games and told a friend he wanted to carry out a Grand Theft Auto-style "kill frenzy".

Yesterday the HMS Astute able seaman was jailed for life by a judge who heard he opened fire on two superiors he blamed — only to miss.

 

Victim ... Ian Molyneux 
with wife Gill

 

The shots were heard by Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, who rushed to tackle him during a goodwill visit by the sub to Southampton in April.

Donovan murdered him with a bullet to the head, then stepped over his body to the control room.

There he wounded Lt Cdr Christopher Hodge, 45, in the stomach before being wrestled to the ground by Southampton council leader Royston Smith and chief executive Alistair Neill — who were touring the sub.

Three days earlier Donovan of Dartford, Kent, disobeyed a direct order to clean a section of the sub after it failed inspections, Winchester Crown Court heard.

 

Hero ... Royston Smith, right, on sub visit

 

Gangsta rap fan Donovan — who called himself Reggie Moondog — told a fellow sailor hours before his rampage: "I'm going to kill somebody. I'm not f****** kidding, and then watch the news."

He admitted murder and attempted murder and was caged for a minimum of 25 years. The widow of the dead officer — a dad of four — wept just feet away.

Outside court Gill Molyneux paid tribute to her Weapons Engineer Officer husband, describing him as "my hero and true love".

 

Clegg condemns 'grotesque' hacking

 

No amount of money can absolve News International from hacking in to the phone of Surrey murder victim Milly Dowler, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said , following the disclosure that the company was about to settle its case with the teenager's family. Rupert Murdoch is set to donate £1 million to charity from his own pocket, while the Dowlers themselves will receive in the region of £2 million in a separate payout from News International, the publishers of the now-closed News of the World. The company has confirmed it is in "advanced negotiations" with relatives of the 13-year-old, who was abducted and killed by Levi Bellfield in 2002. On Tuesday Mr Clegg said no amount of money could absolve the company for what happened. He said: "It is not for me to decide what money News International offer the Dowlers. I think it is very, very important we now give the Dowler family the time and space they need to rebuild their lives and move on. "I think the reason why people were so outraged by the invasion of the privacy of the Dowler family is that they weren't celebrities, they weren't politicians, they hadn't asked to be put on the front page of the nation's newspapers. I have met them and they are a lovely, strong, every-day family who lost their daughter and were dealing with that terrible tragedy and even then these journalists - it's just grotesque - were invading their privacy. "In a sense I think, and I am sure the Dowlers feel the same, that no amount of money can absolve people for what they did." News International is reported to have set aside £20 million for payments to phone hacking victims, but a source said the size of the expected compensation for the Dowlers reflected the "wholly exceptional circumstances" of their case. Sources close to the Dowlers have said any agreement will feature a donation to charity. It is not yet known which cause, or causes, would benefit. A News International spokesman said: "News International confirms it is in advanced negotiations with the Dowler family regarding their compensation settlement. No final agreement has yet been reached, but we hope to conclude the discussions as quickly as possible."

Milly Dowler's family have been offered a multimillion-pound settlement offer by Rupert Murdoch's News International,

Phone hacking: Milly Dowler's family are understood to have been offered a seven-figure settlement. Photograph: Surrey Police/PA

Milly Dowler's family have been offered a multimillion-pound settlement offer by Rupert Murdoch's News International, in an attempt to settle the phone-hacking case that led to closure of the News of the World and the resignation of the company's chief executive, Rebekah Brooks.

It is understood that News International has made a settlement offer estimated by sources at close to £3m, a figure that include a £1m donation to charity. But the publisher has not yet reached agreement with the Dowler family, whose lawyers were thought to be seeking a settlement figure of closer to £3.5m.

The seven-figure sums under negotiation are far larger than other phone-hacking settlements reached, reflecting the fact that the phone-hacking case affected a family who were victims of crime. Thirteen-year-old Dowler went missing in March 2002 and was later found murdered.

It emerged in July that Milly Dowler's mobile phone had been hacked after her death. Voicemails were accessed on behalf of the News of the World, and messages left for her were deleted to make room for more recordings. This gave the family false hope that she was still alive, because messages were disappearing.

On Monday afternoon there was growing speculation that a deal is close, although other sources familiar with the negotiations indicated that there are still enough matters unresolved to mean that an agreement in principle had not yet been reached behind the scenes.

Sienna Miller accepted £100,000 from News International after the publisher accepted unconditional liability for her phone-hacking and other privacy and harassment claims in May. A month later Andy Gray accepted £20,000 in damages plus undisclosed costs.

Other lawyers bringing phone-hacking cases are privately indicated that they would be advising many of those bringing actions to try and reach a settlement rather than take their cases to lengthy and expensive trials. A handful of cases have been taken forward as lead actions by Mr Justice Vos, to establish a benchmark for settlements in future lawsuits.

Murdoch met with the Dowler family in July, shortly after the original story about hacking into her phone broke, making what the family's lawyer, Mark Lewis, said was a "full and humble" apology. The News Corporation chairman and chief executive "held his head in his hands" and repeatedly told the family he was "very, very sorry".

Victims' burial site is in Becket

 

The bodies of David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell were found buried on private property in Becket, according to the District Attorney’s office. Authorities declined to be more specific and released no other new information about the case. Until this week, law enforcement officials had refused to even release the location of what they described as a "burial site," where the bodies of the three men were dumped and covered with boulders and dirt. Meanwhile, state and local police conducted what they described as a "high visibility patrol operation" Saturday in Lee, coinciding with the Berkshire Chapter of the Hells Angels’ annual party, Lobster Fest. Adam Lee Hall, who court records list as the third in command of the Berkshire Hells Angels, has been charged with three counts of murder in connection to the men’s disappearance. Otherwise, police haven’t linked the murders to the local motorcycle club, which has put up its clubhouse to cover Hall’s bail in an earlier case, according to court records. Police from Lee, Great Barrington, Pittsfield, Lenox and Dalton assisted State Police, who watched as motorcyclists from across the region descended on the Berkshire biker’s headquarters on Woodland Road in Lee, just past the entrance to October Mountain State Forest. Also on the scene were the state’s Environmental Police and the county’s Special Response Team. Police Advertisement took pictures of everyone entering and exiting Woodland Road leading to the Angels’ clubhouse. Many of the bikers seen in the area wore patches identifying themselves as members of the Hells Angels and other regional motorcycle clubs. State Police Lt. David Buell, the station commander at the troop’s Lee Barracks, said the club’s Lobster Fest is an annual event. He said police have conducted high-visibility patrols coinciding with the party for the past five years. He said police increased the number of patrols this year in light of the recent murders, but he declined to say how many officers were in the area. Buell said there were no arrests or incidents on Saturday, although he said several neighbors walked up to police in the area and thanked them for being there. Members of the Hells Angels were not immediately reachable for comment on Saturday. The group’s Facebook page indicated that tickets to the event were $30. It warned visitors to expect heavy police presence. Glasser, Frampton and Chadwell went missing sometime between Aug. 27 and 28 from Glasser’s apartment on Linden Street in Pittsfield. Hall, 34, of Peru, David Chalue, 44, of North Adams and Springfield, and Caius Veiovis, 31, of Pittsfield, have been charged with three counts each of murder, kidnapping and witness intimidation. Police said neither Chalue nor Veiovis are members of the Hells Angels. Police say the men killed Glasser to keep him from testifying against Hall during an upcoming trial in Berkshire Superior Court. Court records filed last week said men’s bodies had been dumped together in a deep trench that had been covered with large boulders and dirt, with digging equipment found nearby. According to the report, Hall had inquired about the availability and location of excavation equipment in the weeks prior to the murder.

Gangland boss Carl Williams fingers cop Paul Dale from beyond grave

 

ON April 24, 2007, deep inside the razor wire of Victoria's Barwon Prison, gangland killer Carl Williams finally decided to tell his story about crooked cops and Melbourne's underworld war. Williams is now dead, but his lurid tale echoed from the grave yesterday as his version of history, made in three statements over two years, was read out to a spellbound audience in the Victorian Supreme Court trial of Williams's alleged murderer, Matthew Charles Johnson. Johnson has pleaded not guilty on the basis of self-defence. According to Williams's statements, his relationship with former policeman Paul Dale began nervously. The gangland killer and the policeman were so "paranoid" about each other that they once met in a swimming pool wearing only bathers so that neither could be "wired" with listening devices. But the court heard the dealings between this odd couple would blossom into something far more deadly. Before long, what began as merely secret payments for information escalated to a murder, sanctioned and paid for by Dale, Williams alleged. The tone of the gangland killer's statements are as casual as they are cold. When Williams heard that the hitman he hired at Dale's request to kill police informer Terrence Hodson had also killed his wife, Christine, he asked the gunman: "What happened with the sheila?" "That's not for you to worry about," the gunman replied, about which Williams said, "That was the end of the conversation". According to Williams, he met Dale following his release from prison in 2002 when Dale requested a meeting with him via another criminal. "I first met him at the Brunswick Club, where Lewis Moran was killed," Williams said. "He (Dale) was telling me he could keep an eye out for me. "In return, Dale expected to be paid for any information that he gave to me . . . I think we were both suspicious of each other at that time and remained so." Williams said, early on, Dale showed him a police report that revealed that an Asian man called Jimmy had been giving information to the police about Williams, who was called "Fat Boy" in the police report. "As a result of reading the report, I dropped off Jimmy and did no more (drug-dealing) business with him." The court heard that Williams's relationship with Dale grew as they met more often. "On most occasions when I met with Dale, I would give him an envelope with money in it. The money I paid Dale usually ranged from $2000 to $5000 each time." On one occasion, he said, Dale asked him if he wanted the detective to do anything to Williams's gangland rival Jason Moran. "It was pretty widely known that Jason and I had problems at the time," Williams said in his statement. "I didn't know whether they (Dale and a fellow detective) were fair dinkum or trying to set me up. Dale said he could kill Jason for $400,000. I told them they were dreaming." Williams claimed that Dale told him he had arranged internal police systems so Victoria Police would be unable to check on Williams without Dale knowing about it. "He told me he did this so that he could keep up to date with any investigations against me." At one stage, Williams said, Dale asked him to meet in a swimming pool near Seaford where Dale told Williams to tip off fellow gangland figure Tony Mokbel about a police investigation into a drug laboratory. "We met at the swimming pool because he was paranoid of me and I was paranoid of him," said Williams. "Dale had two pairs of shorts or swimming togs. We put these on and got into the pool and walked up and down in the water." The court heard that in his April 2007 statement, Williams said he had no knowledge of who killed the Hodsons at their Kew home in May 2004, but in his second statement, in January 2009, he was ready to reveal the hitman. "I didn't want to be a dog and be a protection prisoner, but my attitude has changed," he said. Williams alleged that Dale told him he had to "get" Hodson before he could give evidence at a committal hearing about his alleged involvement in a burglary involving drugs, in which Dale was implicated. He said: "We went for a walk. Dale told me that he had to get Hodson and he had to get Hodson before Dale's committal. "Dale said he didn't want to go back to jail. He said he had been in isolation and it was tough. "He said he had someone on the job but it was taking too long to get Hodson. Dale asked me if I could help him out." Williams claimed Dale told him the job would pay $150,000. Williams said he approached a hitman who he knew had "a reputation as a fairly ruthless bloke". He met with the hitman, who can't be named for legal reasons, on the ground floor of the Marriott hotel. "I told him there was a contract there for Terry Hodson and I told him the amount of $150,000. There was never any contract on his wife and I never mentioned Terry's wife to (the hitman)." Williams said he didn't know exactly when Hodson would be murdered and the first he heard about it was on the news. The court heard that a few days after the Hodsons' deaths, Williams's statement said, he got a call from Dale telling him "it's been dropped off". "I knew he was talking about the money for the Hodson murders," Williams said. "I was at my mum's when Dale made that call to me. I went and checked the bin. It was a large green wheelie bin that Mum kept inside the gate. Inside the bin, I saw a plastic bag and I took it out of the bin and went back inside." He said he counted the money, which was bundled in $10,000 amounts with rubber bands around it. "It might have been $100 or so short but effectively the money was all there." A few days later, Williams met the hitman at the Marriott again. "I left the bag containing the $150,000 on the ground next to our seats and he collected it." "(The hitman said) 'Quick, hey?' and smiled and chuckled. "I said to him: 'What happened with the sheila?' He said: 'That's not for you to worry about.' That was the end of the conversation. "I asked him about the sheila because I didn't think she needed to die and she wasn't a part of the contract. Having said that, I didn't push it any further." Williams said he never spoke again to the hitman about the Hodson murders. "It is an unspoken rule that once a job is done, you don't mention it again so you don't get caught out on a listening device or something." He also revealed that hitmen preferred to kill on cold days because "the cold weather means it's less likely that people will be out walking around and possibly witness something". In his January 2009 statement, Williams said "since I have been locked up, (lawyer Nicola) Gobbo has told me that Dale has asked after me and has asked if there is anything he can do for me. I just dismissed it because there was nothing he can do for me and I don't want to deal with him." Williams was bashed to death in Barwon jail in April last year.

THE record company behind Irish rockers U2 has allegedly been unwittingly used by a multi-million dollar drugs trafficking ring

 

THE record company behind Irish rockers U2 has allegedly been unwittingly used by a multi-million dollar drugs trafficking ring. A year-long investigation by the US Drugs Enforcement Authority (DEA) is alleged to have uncovered a racket where the band's record company, Interscope Records, was being used to transport Class A drugs and money inside the United States. It is understood that the record company's Californian headquarters was being used for pick-ups and deliveries of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine while a New York recording studio at the other end was also being used for the drug and cash shipments. Members of the drugs ring allegedly used musical equipment called “road cases” for shipping cocaine from Los Angeles to New York, between January 2010 and June 2011. On the way back, the same cases were filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, according to documents filed in a US court. The illegal trading was allegedly going on for 18 months, but it was not alleged that Interscope Records or its staff knew or were involved in any drug shipments. The allegation was contained in a letter detailing evidence against James Rosemond, a music-industry manager and head of Czar Entertainment. Mr Rosemond, 46, known as ‘Jimmy Henchmen', is a rap music manager who represents artist The Game. He was indicted three months ago on drug trafficking charges. Federal prosecutors say Interscope employees knew nothing about Mr Rosemond’s alleged drug smuggling. However, it is not yet understood how Mr Rosemond's team got access to Interscope's Californian headquarters to drop off and take the shipments. The ring is alleged to have used a New York recording studio at the other end for the drugs and cash shipments, the Wall Street Journal reported. The cases were shipped by music gear specialists RockIt Cargo, which is the company responsible for shipping U2's musical equipment around the world — including during their latest 360 tour. However, there is no suggestion in the filing that RockIt Cargo knew what was inside the cases. RockIt has not commented. Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine, long a highprofile executive within the music industry, has recently become something of a household name thanks to American Idol, which he joined last season to provide creative guidance to contestants. His company, which is part of Universal, released a statement yesterday afternoon. “Interscope Records has been informed by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York that there is no evidence that any employee of UMG or Interscope Records had any involvement in the drug trafficking ring being prosecuted by that office,” the statement read.

UBS raises rogue equity trade losses to $2.3 billion

 

Swiss bank UBS on Sunday increased the amount it said it had lost on rogue equity trades to $2.3 billion and alleged a trader concealed his risky deals by creating fictitious hedging positions in internal systems. UBS stunned markets on Thursday when it announced unauthorised trades had lost it some $2 billion. London trader Kweku Adoboli was charged on Friday with fraud and false accounting dating back to 2008. "The loss resulted from unauthorised speculative trading in various S&P 500, DAX, and EuroStoxx index futures over the last three months," UBS said in a brief statement. "The loss arising from this matter is $2.3 billion. As previously stated, no client positions were affected." Global stock markets have been extremely volatile in recent months, plunging on concerns over euro zone and U.S. debt crises and then rebounding on hopes for their resolution. The loss is a disaster for the reputation of Switzerland's biggest bank, which had just started to recover after it almost collapsed during the financial crisis and faced a damaging U.S. investigation into aiding wealthy Americans to dodge taxes. "Loss even more. Reads like they're making excuses," said Helvea analyst Peter Thorne of the UBS statement. The new scandal has prompted calls for its top managers to step down and for its investment bank to be split into a separate unit from its core wealth management business. Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel, who was brought out of retirement in 2009 to turn the bank around, was quoted in a newspaper on Sunday as saying he is not considering quitting over the crisis, but said it was up to the board to decide. In a memo to staff on Sunday, he said: "Ultimately, the buck stops with me. I and the rest of senior management are responsible for dealing with wrongdoing." Swiss newspapers quoted unnamed insiders as saying the UBS board and important shareholders such as the Singapore sovereign wealth fund were still backing Gruebel, with immediate changes at the top the last thing the bank needed. Gruebel is widely expected to present plans to drastically cut back the investment bank at an investor day in November. INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION The bank, whose three keys logo symbolise "confidence, security, discretion," has pulled its "We will not rest" global advertising campaign for now, that was designed by advertising agency Publicis to try to rebuild its image. Meanwhile, UBS client advisers have been writing to customers to reassure them of the underlying financial strength of the bank despite the trading loss, a spokesman said. "That we now suffer this setback at this point in our efforts to improve our reputation is very disappointing. This incident also sets us back somewhat in our capital-building efforts," Gruebel said in his memo. "However, I wish to remind you that our fundamental strengths as a firm remain intact... we remain one of the best capitalized banks in the industry. UBS said its board of directors had set up a committee chaired by independent director David Sidwell, former chief financial officer at Morgan Stanley, to conduct an independent investigation into the trades and the bank's control systems. The bank said it had covered the risk resulting from the unauthorised trades, and its equities business was again operating normally within previously defined risk limits. It said the trader had allegedly concealed the fact his trades violated UBS risk limits by executing fake exchange-traded fund (ETFs) positions. "Following inquiries directed to him by UBS control functions that were reviewing his positions, the trader revealed his unauthorised activity," the bank said. "The positions taken were within the normal business flow of a large global equity trading house as part of a properly hedged portfolio," UBS said. "However, the true magnitude of the risk exposure was distorted because the positions had been offset in our systems with fictitious, forward-settling, cash ETF positions." The Sunday Times cited unnamed insiders saying the trader placed bets worth $10 billion before his losses were detected. ETFs are index funds listed on an exchange and can be traded just like regular stocks. They try to replicate index performances and offer lower costs than actively managed funds, but regulators have warned about risks from some complex ETFs. In the past three months, DAX futures have fallen 22 percent, Eurostoxx 50 futures have dropped 20 percent and S&P 500 futures have dipped 4 percent. The instruments involved in the UBS case are similar to those that Jerome Kerviel, the rogue trader at Societe Generale, traded when he racked up a $6.7 billion loss in unauthorised deals in 2008. Christoph Blocher, vice-president of the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) -- the country's biggest -- renewed his calls for a splitting off of the investment bank. "One has to seriously examine a ban on investment banking for commercial banks," he told the SonntagsZeitung, adding his party might team up with the center-left Social Democrats to push for such a move.

11 of the 54 prisoners in Menorca jail are British

 

11 of the 54 prisoners being held in prison on Menorca are British, according to the prison authorities, who says their presence on the island is dependent on the air connections to the UK, which allows family visits to the inmates. The same sources, quoted by Menorca.info, say that none of the Britons have a ‘conflictive’ profile. The jail on the Carretera de Sant Lluís also currently holds 23 prisoners who are of Menorcan origin or who have links to the island. Another 20 are being held ahead of their appearance in court.

Brazil judge's murder points to vigilante power

 

Judge Patricia Acioli was known for wielding a "heavy hammer," especially against rogue police who have formed illegal vigilante gangs. She had put more than 60 officers behind bars, most of them for murder. The Rio de Janeiro state judge paid for that fearlessness: Acioli was shot to death in front of her house last month. And all of the 21 bullets that hit her came from a lot issued to police, including some in Sao Goncalo, the city where she worked. While violence and impunity are common in Brazil, the brazen murder of Acioli was an especially heavy blow, a message of intimidation from the vigilante militias. The slaying was "a wound to the lawful state, to democracy; the figure of the judge is a symbol of justice," said Denise Frossard, a retired judge who presided over some of Rio's first cases against the militias in the 1990s. "If she is a judge and can be killed, how can a citizen feel secure enough to be a witness?" Acioli's death was the first murder of a judge in the state's history, though Frossard herself survived three assassination attempts and had eight security guards ensuring her safety while she was on the bench. Violent militias have grown in power and scope in recent years, taking over poor communities formerly controlled by drug dealers and coercing residents to pay for illegal utility hookups, transportation, and security. Their members include former and current police, firefighters and jail guards. Investigators say they have elected members as state and city legislators. They also have been praised by politicians, including Rio de Janeiro's mayor, for taking back swaths of territory from drug gangs. A probe by the state legislature in 2008 found militias were connected to execution-style killings, far-reaching extortion schemes, and the kidnapping and torture of a group of journalists investigating the gangs' activities. Acioli had been repeatedly threatened for taking on the police officers who were part of the gangs, and she had written letters to her superiors requesting protection. One week before her murder, she went to Rio police's internal affairs office and said she was being threatened by officers from Sao Goncalo, where she worked, and Niteroi, where she lived. The last case on her docket on Aug. 11, the day she died, involved policemen charged with executing an 18-year-old man in a slum. One of her last acts as a judge was to authorize their arrest. A month later, three of the same Sao Goncalo police officers were charged with her murder. The suspects knew the judge would ask for their arrest, and wanted to stop her, said Felipe Ettore, the head of Rio's homicide division, in a press conference this week. They didn't know she'd already issued the order. "Their way of stopping her was to kill her," Ettore said. "They went to court and followed Patricia to her front door." Nationwide, the lives of 134 judges are currently under threat, according to the National Council for Justice, which oversees the judiciary branch in Brazil. Requests for protection from magistrates jumped 400 percent in the month since Acioli's death, according to the Brazilian Association of Judges. The killing prompted the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, to urge Brazilian authorities to protect those charged with enforcing the law. "The assassination of Judge Acioli is evidence of the existence of a pervasive and serious problem regarding the protection of judges in Brazil," said Knaul, a Brazilian judge herself. Acioli's caseload was taken on by three other judges. Seven prosecutors are now working with them. "Her death did bring on a fear among prosecutors and judges; they're human, and it's natural to think, 'That could be me tomorrow,'" said Claudio Lopes, Rio state's attorney general. "But if this was done to intimidate justice, it is backfiring. We will be more rigorous than ever." The work is not only dangerous, it's difficult. Militias infiltrate the state from local police departments to state legislatures. They have a particularly nefarious effect on the legal system because they blur the boundaries between legitimate agents of the law and criminals, Lopes said. "They're often composed of people credentialed by the state to promote public safety, and they turn against the state, against the public," he said. "They usurp the authority of the state. In this way, they are a danger that goes deeper than drug traffickers." Even a few years ago, some politicians still praised militias for doing what the state couldn't do: take on drug dealers entrenched in the city's shantytowns. Former Rio Mayor Cesar Maia welcomed them as a "lesser evil" and a form of "community self-defense" against drug gangs, according to the newspaper O Globo in 2006. Current Mayor Eduardo Paes praised militias in a July 2008 interview on Globo television, saying they "brought peace to the population" in areas where the state had lost sovereignty to drug lords. Such views are changing as the body count rises. The 2008 investigation led by Marcelo Freixo, head of the state legislature's human rights commission, led to the arrest of one state representative and six city council members for militia activity. Hundreds were arrested on other charges because of information detailed in the report. One of those arrested, Rio City Councilman Luiz Andre Ferreira da Silva, is accused of plotting to kill the city's police chief and Freixo. In Sao Goncalo, 34 officers were put on leave after Acioli's death because they face serious criminal charges such as murder, according to Rio state's Supreme Court. Arrest warrants have been issued for 28 of them. In spite of the threats to Acioli, court officials had cut her security detail from four to one in 2007, said Tecio Lins e Silva, an attorney representing her family. "This is a matter involving my life, and it is very important," Acioli wrote in a letter appealing the decision. "I don't understand the treatment being given to the case." But the security officers were not reinstated. At the moment she was shot, no one was there to protect her.

'Rogue trader' Kweku Adoboli faces fraud charges dating back to 2008

 

tearful Kweku Adoboli, the alleged rogue trader at the centre of a $2bn (£1.3bn) loss at Swiss bank UBS, appeared before magistrates on Friday to be charged with fraud and false accounting dating back to 2008. A clerk at City of London magistrates court handed the 31-year-old Ghanaian a tissue as the 15-minute proceedings began, after which the one-time star trader was led away to remain in custody until a bail hearing on 22 September. Adoboli's charge sheet appeared to allege that he had taken steps to cover loss-making trades as long ago as 2008. A committal hearing was set for 28 October. The timescale of the allegations will raise questions about risk management procedures at the bank, put intense pressure on the chief executive, Oswald Grübel, and fuel calls from some Swiss politicians for the bank to exit its investment banking business, putting thousands of jobs at risk in the City. Many UBS bankers already fear for their year-end bonuses. Smiling at times, Adoboli spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth, while the Swiss bank refused to add anything to the statement it issued on Thursday when it revealed it had called in City of London police at 1am to investigate Adoboli after uncovering "unauthorised trading". British-educated Adoboli – whose passport spells his name as Kwaku – joined UBS in 2006 and was a member of the so-called delta one trading desk, where, among other things, he traded exchange traded funds (ETFs). These complex financial instruments, on which the regulators issued warnings earlier this year, are structured to mimic market movements. His registration with the Financial Services Authority was switched to "inactive" on Friday at the request of the firm – indicating that he is no longer performing that role. Two charges claim that Adoboli falsified records of ETFs between October 2008 and December 2009 and then January 2010 and September 2011. A third charge alleges that he committed fraud between January 2011 and September 2011 while senior trader in global synthetic equities. His lawyers at Kingsley Napley – the law firm that advised Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who broke Barings – did not issue a statement or enter pleas to the charges. His father, John, told Reuters from Tema, Ghana: "I want the world to have an open mind. He should not be sentenced before the trial begins." The former United Nations worker is hoping to fly to the UK this week and is applying for a visa. The City of London police, who arrested Adoboli at his luxury home on the edge of the City at 3.30am on Thursday, said their investigation was continuing, in "close collaboration" with the Financial Services Authority, the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. Adoboli's trading activity, by its nature, required him to perform frequent numbers of small trades. One of the last postings on his Facebook page – "need a miracle" – came at around the time the Swiss National Bank intervened to reduce the value of the Swiss franc, which has prompted speculation that this helped expose his losses. The bank, which employs 6,000 staff in London, will now have to pay for a detailed investigation being launched by the FSA and the Swiss regulator, Finma, into the control systems at UBS, the failures that permitted the losses to occur, and details of the unauthorised trading activity. The "comprehensive, independent investigation" will be carried out by one of the big four accountancy firms, although no timescale has been given for when it might be completed. The discovery of the "unauthorised trading" has come at a sensitive time for the City, coinciding as it does with the third anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and coming after calls from politicians in the UK and Switzerland for the break-up of high street banks to separate "casino" investment banking arms. "It shows that investment banking is a high-risk field and it's important that we clearly separate systemically important functions from the rest of the banking business," said Caspar Baader, of the Swiss People's party. Switzerland's Social Democratic party called for "consequences" such as a ban on "proprietary trading" and replacing "egomaniacal, arrogant and irresponsible managers". Even a year after the banking crisis of 2008, during which Swiss taxpayers contributed to a $60bn bailout of UBS, the nation's banking assets totalled SFr3.47tr – nearly seven times the country's gross domestic product. New laws requiring UBS and Credit Suisse to rein in risk and hoard capital to a higher level than required elsewhere in Europe have already been passed in the first chamber of the Swiss parliament and were debated this week in the upper house, known as the national council. Moves to hive off riskier investment banking and private client operations from those banking functions vital to the smooth operation of the Swiss economy also form part of the legislation, but would not be implemented immediately. Banking analysts believe UBS may now have to scale back its investment banking business and axe even more jobs on top of the 3,500 group-wide cuts announced last month in a bid to save £1.5bn – a similar amount to the losses the bank now fears it faces from the alleged "unauthorised trading". "We are making further cuts in our 2012 profit estimates, as we believe that UBS is set to announce a more streamlined investment banking business strategy in November, with certain business units being closed and additional jobs being lost. This is part of the bank's efforts to address the long-term structural issues within the financial services industry," said Christopher Wheeler, an analyst at Mediobanca. Ratings agencies warned of a downgrade of the bank's credit rating. Standard & Poor's placed the bank on its Creditwatch list, citing factors including the "setback to UBS's efforts to rebuild its reputation and demonstrate strengthened risk-management following its weak performance in 2007-2009", when it almost collapsed during the credit crunch.

Met chief to 'tag and test' drinkers in crime drive

 

Problem drinkers in London could be tagged and given twice-daily tests in a new "total war" on crime. Scotland Yard's new police chief today pledged to take on the capital's binge drinking as he unveiled tough crackdowns on anti-social behaviour, illegal drivers and gangs. Bernard Hogan-Howe, 53, the newly elected Metropolitan Police Commissioner, declared an "uncompromising" war on crime and criminals. His new measures include: Plans to flood the streets with thousands of officers on two days a month in single crime crackdowns. Seizing thousands of uninsured cars from motorists and criminals and putting them on public display. Boosting the Met's fight against gangs with reinforcements for a specialist gang-busting squad. Mr Hogan-Howe also said he backed a US-style crackdown on drink drivers and problem drinkers in which they faced twice-daily sobriety tests and the threat of jail if they continue drinking. Mr Hogan-Howe said the scheme, first introduced in Dakota, could involve people convicted of alcohol-related offences wearing tags or armbands which can detect if they had been drinking. He said : "There are two big aggravating features for any criminal activity, one is alcohol. About 80 per cent of the people in our cells overnight will have a drink issue. The other is drugs." In a frank interview, he also told how he had called in an outside force to carry out an independent review of the Met's investigation into phone-hacking. Mr Hogan-Howe was parachuted into the role of deputy commissioner in July after former chief Sir Paul Stephenson quit in the wake of the scandal. He said : "I have asked another force to have a look at the inquiry to reassure us we are going in the right direction and I think we are." He revealed he had also ordered a full review of the Met's response to the riots and declared he had not ruled out the possibility of using water cannon to "save lives" in possible future unrest. Mr Hogan-Howe won praise for slashing crime as chief constable of Merseyside with a zero tolerance crackdown on criminals dubbed "Total Policing". He said : "It is not just about being gung-ho, it is about helping victims, being professional and using technology." He also pledged to boost the Met's Operation Connect fight against gangs to cover a third of London within the next six months

Man quizzed over UBS rogue trading

 

31-year-old man was arrested in London today in connection with allegations of £1.3 billion of rogue trading at Swiss banking giant UBS. The man, named in reports as Kweku Adoboli, was arrested at 3.30am on suspicion of fraud by abuse of position and remains in police custody, sources said. Related articles Notoriety awaits UBS rogue trader French banks scramble to prove they're strong enough for debt crisis Search the news archive for more stories The bank, which has 6,000 staff in the UK, revealed earlier that a trader had lost two billion US dollars (£1.3 billion) on unauthorised trades and warned that the activity could have tipped the bank to a third-quarter loss. Oswald Gruebel, UBS chief executive, called the loss "distressing" and said he "will spare no effort to establish how it happened". According to his LinkedIn profile, Adoboli works as a director in European equity trading and was previously a trade support analyst at UBS. He was a student at the University of Nottingham, according to his profile on the business networking website.

UBS hit by $2bn rogue trade

 

Matthew Czepliewicz, an analyst at Collins Stewart, said the unauthorised loss cuts his 2011 earnings-per-share estimate for UBS by about 30pc - "a huge hit". He continued: "A loss of this magnitude will very likely have occurred in the FICC (Fixed Incomes, Currencies and Commodities) division, the very division UBS has been systematically rebuilding after shrinking it by 40pc during the credit crisis. That an unauthorised position of this size could have escaped oversight will renew pressure on management to radically scale back the FICC business, a volatile and capital-intensive business overall." He said that his upgrade of UBS to "buy" from "hold" on September 6 "now looks memorable, to say the least", but added: "As large and embarrassing as the loss is, it may in fact drive a positive strategic overhaul of the company. In the meantime, we await further detail on what went wrong and how management will respond." Andrew Lim, analyst at Espirito Santo, said the loss was manageable at group level at UBS. He added: "The $2 billion loss compares to our current estimate for the (third-quarter) group net earnings of 1.1 billion Swiss francs and (full-year estimated) net earnings of 5.1 billion Swiss francs. "The loss is therefore manageable at the group level, but is obviously not helpful for sentiment and confidence in the bank's risk management following the near-death experience of 2008/9." Fiona Swaffield, analyst at RBC, put the loss in context: "Assuming the loss is not revised at CHF1.7bn this is 3.4% of tangible book value end Q2 2011 and CHF0.35ps. Relative to target Basel III risk weighted assets of CHF300bn this is some 44bp. UBS on the most conservative measure has core T1 of 10% forecast end 2012 Basel III pre this and 13% with phased=in deductions. This would fall to 9.8% and 12.4%, respectively, so still respectable and above CS (8.8% on look through Basel III end 2012) but obviously hardly a positive as its strong capital base relative was an attraction." But she added the real issue over and above the financial impact is the reflection on risk management at UBS: "UBS was seen to have recovered significantly from the credit crisis and to have improved its risk management in the investment bank in spite of its struggle to improve returns. This obviously brings this very much into question." Goldman Sachs analysts Jernei Omahen and Peter Skoog wrote in a note: "This loss has the scope to have a material impact on the perception of UBS' private bank, impacting its future operating trends. "Today's announcement therefore adds to the long list of arguments (and pressure) for a substantially smaller investment bank." Louise Cooper, markets analyst at BGC Partners, said: "According to Bloomberg analysts were forecasting about a SFR 7bn or approx £5bn pre tax profit for UBS for the 2011, therefore a £1.3bn trading loss hits full year earnings by about a third." She added: "The jewel in the crown of UBS is its private banking business, producing consistent, quality earnings. An unexpected trading loss could do significant reputational damage to the bank especially given its track record during the crisis (massive recapitalisation and regulatory fines). Rich people tend not to want to do business with a bank where there are questions over risk control. UBS needs to do a good job in explaining what went wrong and assuring its clients that it will not affect them." Joshua Raymond, chief market strategist at City Index, commented: "Whilst the incredible volatility seen recently in the markets would have likely seen some traders lose and win big, the news that a rogue trader was allowed to stack up losses of $2bn will inevitably send nervous shockwaves through to those investors who have only just returned to the bank after a severe loss of confidence. "The Swiss firm has fought hard in the last few years to restore its credibility from having to be bailed out by the Swiss authorities, suffering a large fine for tax evasion and after it agreed to disclose the accounts of thousands of its clients to US tax authorities."

Three bailed over murder of ex-gangster Dave Courtney's stepson Genson Courtney

 

THREE men have been released on bail over the murder of Genson Courtney in Greenwich. Police found Mr Courtney suffering from gunshot wounds in a black Volkswagen Golf at around 10.50pm on July 3 in Banning Street. The 23-year-old, stepson of ex-gangster Dave Courtney, was taken by ambulance to hospital but was pronounced dead at 3.43am. A post-mortem gave the cause of death as gunshot wounds to the head. Three men, aged 28, 34 and 27, who were arrested at addresses in east and south London on suspicion of murder, have been released on bail to return on November 8. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Gower from the Met’s Trident unit is still appealing for witnesses. He said: “I am appealing to anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious to contact the police. "I would like to reassure anyone concerned about contacting the police that Trident has great expertise in protecting witnesses and there are a huge variety of measures that can be put in place to protect you."

Heroin back with a vengeance

 

HEALTH experts are calling for more full-time drug and alcohol support services in the the north-west to reduce alarming rates of heroin overdose. The most-recent Ambulance Victoria statistics show Brimbank had the third-highest rate of heroin overdoses attended by paramedics in Victoria. In 2009-10, there were 111 overdoses during the year, compared to 87 in 2008-09. Heroin overdose attendances by paramedics were also up in Melton Shire, with 23 in 2009-10 compared to 10 in 2008-09. The Stepping Up consortium, which runs the only drug and alcohol support service in Melton, has seen about 200 people from the area since opening in January. General manager Shelley Cross said she was initially worried the four-year pilot project wouldn't reach client targets set by the Department of Health. But the service has already surpassed that target. She said the demand for additional services was strong in high-growth areas like Melton. Team leader Raymond Beacham said there was a need for more full-time services. "We're starting to see more clients come in from Caroline Springs and most of our clients use more than one substance," he said. "Melton never really had full-time drug and alcohol services until we came in and it would make it a lot easier for people to access support if there were more full-time services around." Mr Beacham said services provided education to drug users so they were more aware of what they were injecting. "Most overdoses are accidental and they often occur because drug users don't know the strength of what they are using or they're mixing substances. "People who overdose from drugs are at risk of developing brain damage and can die from it." Family members of overdose victims reflected on their loss on Overdose Awareness Day on August 31. Drug and alcohol support service providers, like Health Works in Footscray, held ceremonies to remember people who died of an overdose, as well as those who live with permanent injuries. Head of clinical services at Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre in Fitzroy, Dr Matthew Frei, said substance addictions could be associated with conditions like depression and required medical treatment. "There is a certain stigma attached to drug users and people who die from overdose, but we need to encourage drug users to seek treatment to reduce harm to the individual and the community," Dr Frei said.

Woman caught bringing heroin to her prison pal

 

WOMAN pal of a man jailed over a €440m drugs seizure has been caught smuggling €6,000 of heroin into his prison. The middle-aged woman was caught by prison officers last week when she arrived at the Midlands Prison for a visit to Joe Daly (44). He is serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted of possessing the biggest cocaine haul in the State's history -- a seizure of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine at Dunlough Bay in 2007. Prison staff contacted gardai, who then arrested the woman. She was brought to Portlaoise Garda Station where she was questioned by detectives before being released without charge. A file is now being prepared for the DPP. Captured Sources say if the heroin had got into the jail, it would have had a value of "well over four times" the estimated street value that gardai put on the drug. The woman was not allowed to visit English national Daly after being caught with the drugs. Daly and three other English criminals are serving lengthy jail terms for their role in the plot to smuggle €440m worth of cocaine into Ireland in July 2007. Martin Wanden (48), police- killer Perry Wharrie (51), Gerard Hagan (27) and Daly were captured after diesel, instead of petrol, was put into the fuel tanks of their boat, which was carrying the drugs off the coast of Co Cork. When the vessel capsized, 62 bales of cocaine weighing over 1.5 tonnes were thrown into stormy seas, scuppering a huge drugs operation that had been months in the planning. Liverpool criminal Hagan admitted his role in the enterprise and was jailed for 10 years. However the other three men contested the charges but were convicted after a marathon 10-week trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court which heard from 200 witnesses. Two of the defendants claimed in direct evidence that they were entirely the victims of circumstances, coincidence and bad luck. Joe Daly said he had only gone to west Cork as a favour for his brother, who had wanted a RIB delivered. But it would later emerge that Joe Daly's brother was Michael Daly (50) -- a former Metropolitan Police detective who is now serving combined sentences totalling 29 years in a UK prison in relation to the Co Cork plot and another cocaine importation plot. Gardai believe that Joe Daly became involved in the drugs smuggling operation through his older brother, Michael. Daly presented a defence that depicted him as very much under the influence of the brother. Children Born in London to Irish parents from west Cork, Daly worked as a bricklayer with his own business, JD Bricklaying, is married with three children and lived in Bexley, Kent. It emerged that he had a number of previous convictions in the UK for offences including threatening and abusive behaviour, assaults on police officers and possessing a blade. During the trial, his uncle, Tom Lydon, told how Daly visited him on the day before the drugs seizure and watched the Munster football final between Cork and Kerry on TV. He described him as very obliging -- "the first man to come around" if anyone needed help.

shut down drive-through drug operation near University Mall, expect more arrests

 

One by one, motorists arrived, rolling down windows and giving up cash, as they would at a fast-food restaurant. This drive-through opened at 11 a.m. some days, but lunch was never on the menu. Instead, customers could order cocaine, oxycodone, ecstasy and marijuana. Guns, too. At a news conference Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office announced that it had broken up a drug trafficking ring that caught even investigators by surprise. About 11 months ago, deputies began building cases against two men reputed to be dealing drugs in a neighborhood near University Mall. Investigators thought Zavien Brand, 28, and Joseph Nurse, 35, might lead them to a few more people, maybe six or eight, said sheriff's Maj. J.R. Burton. But the small undercover probe soon turned into a larger investigation — dubbed Operation Pandora's Box — as deputies realized the area's loose-knit group of dealers included dozens of people. On Wednesday, sheriff's officials announced they had 54 warrants and, as of 4 p.m., 32 arrests, most on drug and gun possession charges. "We had no idea this was going on," Burton said. They focused on several addresses in the neighborhood near Nebraska and Fletcher avenues. The drive-through was at the Pines I Apartments at 11720 N 14th St., deputies said. Deputies took 29 guns off the street, including seven assault rifles and two weapons believed to be linked to shootings in the area. Also seized: about 1.3 pounds of crack cocaine, 0.64 ounces of powder cocaine, 0.25 ounces of oxycodone and some ecstasy — valued at about $75,000 total, Burton said. Burton hopes the operation sends a message to an area that has long struggled with crime, and he wants residents to know that deputies aren't done. Brand was charged with dealing crack cocaine and being a felon in possession of a gun. Nurse was charged with dealing crack cocaine, marijuana and stolen property. Deputies planned to continue executing search warrants until they arrest all 54 suspects.

DEA Bans Synthetic Cocaine Masked As Bath Salts

 

The U.S Drug Enforcement Agency's war on drugs continues with a nationwide ban of synthetic cocaine. Labeled as bath salts, the hallucinogenic drug has become more available in the Grand Junction area as part of a trend seen across the country. In response to increased emergency room visits, the federal agency has moved to emergency control these synthetic stimulants. This action makes it illegal to possess or sell Mephedrone, Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), and Methylone or any products containing them for the next year. These chemicals are most often found in forms of 'legal ecstasy' or 'legal cocaine.' During the temporary ban, the DEA will team up with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to further study whether these chemicals should be permanently banned. In June, we introduced you to these bath salts in this article. Back then, they were an unregulated drug taking the place of recently banned synthetic forms of marijuana. "It is actually like a synthetic cocaine slash methamphetamine," Jim Schrant with the DEA told us at the time. "So, it's really the worst of both." The bath salts sell at a price of $40 per gram. They are mainly sold at smoke shops. But, in June, Schrant told us that his agency could not find any local dealers. Today, there are at least two. "They're putting it into packaging which is pleasing to the eye with market names of "Blue Dreams," things like that," Schrant said. "And, they're intentionally trying to target that young adult crowd." As part of this emergency control, businesses and citizens have 30 days to get rid of the banned products. At that time, the DEA will publish a Final Order in the Federal Register making the drugs Scheduled 1 substances. That category is the harshest and is reserved for unsafe, highly abused chemicals with no known medical use in the U.S. Violating that law is punishable by jail time. Employees at smoke shops in the area tell us that synthetic cocaine isn't that popular. But, local high school students have heard all about it. "I don't think they care if it's legal," Grand Junction High School freshman Hannah Rady said of some of her classmates. "Nobody does." Just like K2 and Spice, bath salts are labeled "not for human consumption." But, these students say that is not stopping anyone and neither is the law. "People just ask me 'Have you done spice before?' I'm just like, 'No,'" GJHS freshman Emilio Lazcano said. He knows Governor John Hickenlooper made those forms of synthetic marijuana illegal starting July 1, but he says fellow classmates continue to tell bother about it. "They're like 'Oh, well you're supposed to smoke it like this and that,' and I'm like 'Oh, well cool. I'm not really into that stuff.'" "They tell us that it doesn't make their eyes red, so it's way easier to bypass by your parents," GJHS junior Joe Gedscad added. The most common symptoms of these synthetic stimulants include impaired perception, reduced motor control, disorientation, extreme paranoia, and violent episodes. The DEA says the long-term physical and psychological effects are not known but potentially severe. Including Colorado, 33 states have already taken action to control or ban other synthetic stimulants. Most states pass these laws after the DEA files an emergency control on certain chemicals.

South London men face furniture drug smuggling charges

 

Six men have gone on trial accused of conspiring to smuggle more than £2.5m of cocaine into the country. Kevin Hill, 27, of Cartmel Gardens, Morden, Wayne Smith, 19, of Westmoreland Way, Mitcham and Carl Charles, 33, of Yorkshire Road, Mitcham, face charges of attemtping to import 13.5kg of the drug. Three other men Craig Hughes, 35, from Orpington, Conrad Crandon, 55, from Edmonton and Terence Tremblett, 32, from Brixton, also face the same charge. The offences date back to October and November, in 2009, when border agency officers at Tilbury Docks, in Essex, flagged up a container holding a number of items of wicker furniture and brush mats. After closer inspection, the jury heard, the officers found the brush mats had been injected with cocaine which, when separated, came to a total of more than £2.5m. Simon Wild, prosecuting, told the court that a respectable removal firm, called Grants of Cheam, based in Coomber Lane, Croydon, had allegedly received a phone call from a Keith Thompson in late October, 2009, who said he wanted to store a shipment. Grants of Cheam, unknowingly, agreed to take on the shipment but they did not hear from Mr Thompson for two weeks, the court heard. On November 10, 2009, Mr Thompson allegedly arranged for the furniture and mats to be delivered and they arrived that day. There followed a series of arrests after the items had reached Croydon and all six men were charged with conspiracy to smuggle, which they all deny. The trial, which started at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday (September 7), is expected to last three weeks.

Illegal alcohol find ‘one of the UK’s largest seizures’

 

A QUARTER of a million pounds worth of illegal alcohol has been seized in a raid in Glasgow. Officers from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) took the illegal alcohol and dismantled an alcohol relabeling factory after a two-day operation and have claimed the seizure is one of the largest in the UK. A Glasgow man has been charged with evasion of duty following the discovery last week.

Madeleine Cops In Portugal

 

They may not have welcomed the order from Downing Street to launch an investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, but at least Scotland Yard detectives have made a first visit to Portugual. I can't imagine they were given a warm welcome by their Portuguese colleagues whose work (failure to solve the mystery) the Met team is reviewing. Still, it's a step in the right direction and officially the two groups met "with very good co-operation and liaison will continue." There are 30 Met officers - the equivalent of a murder squad - working on the review and I'm told that a senior officer is having to give regular spending updates to the Home Office which is funding an operation that will cost several millions and last many months. It's four months since the review was launched with great fanfare by the Prime Minister after a plea from Kate and Gerry McCann. The couple had long felt abandoned by the British and Portuguese authorities to hunt alone for their missing daughter. But it's difficult to get much information about the operation from the cops, No 10 or the Home Office. A recent Freedom of Information request for answers to a dozen of so questions has been held up by the Yard's FOI man while he considers if the info sought is in the public interest.

Zemun gangsters enter pleas in PM murder case

 

Addressing the Special Court in Belgrade, Kalinić confirmed that the shooter was Zvezdan Jovanović. Jovanović has already been found guilty and convicted on the charge, along with Milorad Ulemek Legija, who was tried as the main conspirator. "After the murder I was sitting with Jovanović and (one of Zemun Clan leaders) Mile Luković Kum, and we were watching TV when Jovanović said, 'I guarantee that he is not alive'," Kalinić told the judges as his retrial in the Đinđić murder case started on Monday. He also claimed that Luković told him that "Zveki (Zvezdan Jovanović) bumped off the prime minister", and that Jovanović himself confirmed this. But Kalinić denied that he had any role in the assassination, and told the judges he was "asleep" when the murder took place on March 12, 2003, and that Luković "called him around 13:00". He confirmed that he was acquainted with Jovanović since 1993, that he "saw Milorad Ulemek (Legija) once in Bosnia", and that he met the Zemun Clan leader Dušan Spasojević, "a couple of years before the murder of Đinđić". Kalinić also denied that he was a member of the Zemun Clan. Another gangster that spent years on the run after the assassination, Miloš Simović, was in the courtroom for the start of his retrial in the case. Both were originally found guilty and each sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison, but the retrial was granted on grounds that they were "tried in absentia". Unlike Kalinić, Simović admitted to taking part in the murder, and said he "also knew about the political background", but refused to elaborate on this point. Last June, Simović shot and wounded Kalinić in Zagreb, Croatia, and was arrested several days later while attempting to cross the border between into Serbia. Kalinić was arrested in Croatia and later extradited to Serbia.

Olympic starting pistols converted into guns by Tottenham gangster

 

TOTTENHAM man who specialised in converting Olympic starting pistols into deadly firearms has been jailed for seven years. James Jones, 27, ran a gun conversion business out of a suitcase which was uncovered when officers raided his home last year and arrested him. The Collingwood Road resident is one of 37 people caught in the Boombox music store sting by Enfield Police, to catch gangsters trading guns, ammunition, weapons, and drugs. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Harwood, who ran the major undercover operation – codenamed Peyzac – said: “It is believed that James Jones had converted many more firearms than actually recovered. “He specialised in Olympic 38 starting pistols, which he converted to live firing firearms. This particular make of starting pistol is now illegal to possess in the UK.” Boombox, in Fore Street, was wired with hidden cameras and listening devices, and operated for more than a year with a functioning shop at the front and a backroom for criminals to trade in. Loaded guns, thousands of pounds of drugs, and ammunition were all brought into the shop, and sold to police. Among those jailed at Wood Green Crown Court in the Boombox case, Damien McGowan, 33, of Collingwood Road, Tottenham, received a ten-year prison term for conspiracy to supply nine firearms and ammunition. Kasheef Hardy, 25, of Mount View Court, Green Lanes, was also jailed for ten years for leading a group who sold a gun and ammunition to police in January last year. And Junior Homer, 21, of Bath Road, Edmonton, was jailed for ten-and-a-half-years for conspiracy to supply firearms, conspiracy to supply drugs, receiving stolen goods, and passing counterfeit currency. Judge Fraser Morrison, who oversaw all 37 cases, said on Friday at the sentencing of the final two defendants: “I need to say for the record, being involved in the movement of guns is very serious indeed. “The reason why it is viewed so seriously is the items can dispatch lethal force. There is a lot of violence in this country with guns when people suffer very severe consequences.”

Microsoft online services hit by major failure

 

Millions of Microsoft users were left unable to access some online services overnight because of a major service failure. Hotmail, Office 365 and Skydrive were among the services affected. Microsoft was still analysing the cause of the problem on Friday morning, but said it appeared to be related to the internet's DNS address system. Such a major problem is likely to raise questions about the reliability of cloud computing versus local storage. Especially embarrassing is the temporary loss of Office 365, the company's alternative to Google's suite of online apps. Its service also went offline briefly in mid-August, less than two months after it launched. The latest disruption is believed to have lasted for around two-and-a-half hours, between 0300 GMT and 0530 GMT. In a blog, posted at 0649 GMT, Microsoft said: "We have completed propagating our DNS configuration changes around the world, and have restored service for most customers." The Domain Name System (DNS) is responsible for translating URL web addresses , such as bbc.co.uk into the internet's native system of IP addresses, e.g. 212.58.246.95.

Dramatic new phone hacking twist as police quiz top Guardian writer

 

A Guardian newspaper reporter has been questioned under caution by detectives investigating phone-hacking at the News of the World. Amelia Hill, who has broken major scoops about the scandal engulfing the Murdoch media empire, was quizzed by police probing alleged leaks from the investigation into News International. It is understood the 37-year-old reporter had a friendship with a detective who works on Operation Weeting. A Scotland Yard officer has been arrested and suspended on suspicion of leaking information to the Guardian. It marks an extraordinary twist in the five-year saga that has led to the arrest of 16 people, including Prime Minister David Cameron's spin doctor Andy Coulson, and the resignation of NI chief executive Rebekah Brooks. A Guardian News & Media spokesman said: "We can confirm Amelia Hill has been questioned in connection with an investigation into alleged leaks. On a broader point, journalists would no doubt be concerned if the police sought to criminalise conversations between off-record sources and reporters." In July Hill broke the Guardian's Milly Dowler story - described as a "tipping point" in the scandal - which revealed that private investigators working for the NoW hacked the voicemails of the murdered schoolgirl after she went missing. Within weeks, Mrs Brooks, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Les Hinton, media mogul Rupert Murdoch's right-hand man for more than 50 years, had all resigned. It is understood Hill received police tip-offs about impending arrests. The Evening Standard has been told the police officer suspended from Operation Weeting called the Guardian the night he was arrested asking to speak to Hill. The Guardian has broken key scoops relating to the scandal which began when former NoW royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed for hacking the voicemails of royal aides in 2006. In July 2009, the newspaper also revealed NI had paid £700,000 to football union boss Gordon Taylor in a bid to cover up alleged widespread phone-hacking at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid. Dan Roberts, the Guardian's national news editor, said on Twitter that the developments were a "bleak day for journalism when (a) reporter behind vital hacking revelations is criminalised for doing her job". Two separate internal inquiries into police relationships with the media were launched after it emerged that the NoW had allegedly paid more than £100,000 to corrupt royal protection officers in return for information. An inquiry by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary is examining "alleged corruption and abuse of power" in police relationships with the media. Separately, former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Elizabeth Filkin is drawing up a framework for how police officers handle their relationships with reporters. Three years ago, a case against Sally Murrer, a reporter on the Milton Keynes Citizen, and a former Thames Valley police detective Mark Kearney was thrown out. Kearney had been accused of leaking information to her. Meanwhile, police arrested another 35-year-old man at his home at 5.55am on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages. He was taken to a north London police station for questioning. He is the 16th suspect to be held since the scandal broke. The dawn raid came as it emerged that Mr Coulson is refusing to give evidence to the House of Commons committee investigating the scandal. MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee have asked him to comment on claims that he knew that hacking was widespread on the NoW when he was editor

The Liberal Democrats' biggest donor, who has been on the run for three years after being convicted of a multimillion pound theft, is hiding in the Dominican Republic under a false British identity

Michael Brown has been on the run for three years after being convicted of a multimillion pound theft. Photograph: Rex Features

 

Michael Brown, 45, the convicted Glaswegian who bankrolled the party with £2.4m of stolen money, is being sought by British authorities on the Caribbean island but is currently at large. Brown disappeared from Britain while on parole and was sentenced in his absence to seven years in prison.

The disclosure of Brown's bolthole will be an embarrassment for Nick Clegg. His party has refused to compensate Brown's victims, some of whom claim their money went directly into the party's coffers to finance the 2005 election campaign.

City of London police detectives have been in talks with the Crown Prosecution Service over how to bring back Brown. The Dominican Republic does not have an extradition treaty with Britain. The Home Office is believed to have approached its government for help in apprehending him.

While on the island, Brown has been based in the province of La Altagracia, the easternmost tip of the Republic close to some of its most beautiful beaches.

One source with knowledge of Brown said he has lived a low-key but pleasant life. "His businesses have been doing OK. He has lived in a wealthy area, he loves the beaches and he plays golf on some of the world's best courses. It could be worse."

Brown, who was using an alias, was held on remand by the Dominican authorities while he was investigated over an oil deal. Court papers from the country's capital in Santa Domingo show he was accused by a Dominican businessman in February of failing to honour a contract for 4,820 tonnes of oil.

He was ordered to be held for three months while the investigation continued. Its outcome is not known.

It has also been established that he launched a real estate business in 2008 based in the Republic, and has launched a subsidiary in Nassau in the Bahamas.

Michael Robert Alexander Brown appeared from nowhere when he approached the Liberal Democrats in November 2004 with a generous offer of money for Charles Kennedy's impending election campaign.

The brash, ponytailed Brown claimed to be an offshore trader living in Majorca. His claimed his clients were vetted by US embassy officials. Despite not being a party member, not being registered to vote and living abroad, he was welcomed with open arms by the party's grandees. Money came through his company, 5th Avenue Partners, in four tranches. It remains the biggest donation ever received by the party from an individual.

In the general election, the party increased its share of the vote by nearly 4% after the cash was spent on posters and advertising.

Brown told journalists that he had given the enormous donation because he liked Kennedy. "Charles is my kind of man. And I like to see a level playing field," he said.

Within months, Brown was flying Kennedy across Britain in a private jet and was being invited to dinners in Mayfair. Former Lib Dem insiders say he dazzled them with stories of Gordonstoun public school and St Andrew's University.

In fact, he had failed his maths O-level at his local school and completed a City and Guilds in catering at Glasgow College of Food Technology. He had no US government links – although he was wanted in Florida for cheque fraud.

Brown was arrested in late 2005 after four former clients came forward claiming he had duped them out of more than £40m in a high-yield fraud.

His victims included Martin Edwards, the former Manchester United chairman, who had invested £8m with 5th Avenue Partners.

In June 2008, while awaiting trial for theft, false accounting and perverting the course of justice, Brown fled and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

In the weeks before he disappeared from his Hampstead bail address in north London, he changed his name on the electoral roll to Campbell-Brown and allowed his hair to turn grey.

In his absence the court was told that the political donation was made to impress clients and create an air of importance and influence around Brown.

The disclosure of his whereabouts has given hope to Brown's victims who are still owed millions.

A copy of the passport that Brown has been using has been obtained by the Guardian. It shows a noticeably older and gaunt Brown, sporting dark hair and a goatee beard, compared with photographs taken four years ago when he was awaiting trial. He is believed to have adopted someone else's real identity which has been obscured at the request of the police.

Tony Brown, managing partner at law firm Bivonas which represents US attorney Robert Mann who was lost more than $5m (£3m), said: "This development may allow us to pursue Brown's assets in the Dominican Republic for our client."

Mann's legal team was forced last year to drop a high court claim against the Lib Dems for the return of around $600,000 after running out of funds. He hopes that if Brown is returned to Britain, any subsequent court case could cause further uncomfortable questions for the party.The Liberal Democrats have maintained that the money was received in good faith and have been cleared by an Electoral Commission inquiry into Brown's donations.

A police investigation has been launched this week into how Brown fraudulently obtained a passport. A spokesman for City of London police declined to comment. The Home Office declined to comment.

Annan man was part of £40M cocaine gang

 

THREE DUMFRIESSHIRE men were part of an international drug smuggling gang which brought up to £40 million of cocaine into the UK. Keith Blenkinsop of Annan was one of the ringleaders in the group which also included Robert Dalrymple of Gretna, David Harbison of Annan and three others. But their drugs network, which stretched from Columbia to Scotland via Spain, unravelled after Harbison turned supergrass. The drugs courier was caught with some counterfeit £20 notes and blurted out details of the drugs operation to police who quizzed him in Dumfries. A five-week trial at Glasgow High Court heard how the gang was importing massive amounts of cocaine into the country between 2007 to 2009 and distributing it in the Glasgow area with some also being sold in Dumfries and Galloway. Blenkinsop, with fellow ringleader Lindsay Harkins of Helensburgh, sewed the cocaine into suitcases in Barcelona and used couriers to bring it into Glasgow, Prestwick and Newcastle airports. Over a two-year period the gang flew out to Spain with suitcases full of Euros and came back with two kilos of cocaine at a time. At the conclusion of the trial on Wednesday, Blenkinsop, 43, of Winterhope Road, Annan; Harkins, 44, of Helensburgh, Andrew Burns, 56, of Helensburgh, Robert Dalrymple, 43, of Loanwath Road, Gretna, and James Elvin, 35, of Clydebank, were all convicted of being concerned in the supply of cocaine in Scotland, England, and Spain. Dalrymple and Elvin were only convicted of being involved in the drugs operation as couriers in 2009. The court heard that despite the massive size of their operation, the gang managed to remain completely under the radar of the UK’s drug enforcement agencies. The gang was snared because a teller in a Marks and Spencer’s bureau de change in Carlisle noticed counterfeit notes among a bundle of sterling that gang member David Harbinson was wanting to change into Euros. When Harbinson was arrested by police, he turned supergrass and gave evidence which put his former associates behind bars. He has now been placed on a witness protection programme. He told advocate depute Iain McSporran, prosecuting, that the gang had a direct connection to Columbian drug barons. Harbinson said that Blenkinsop and Harkins were the brains behind the operation and the other accused were merely couriers paid to take Euros to Spain and bring back drugs. In fact the gang exchanged so much sterling in Euros that Blenkinsop’s local post office won an award for the amount of Euros it sold. The jury was told they sourced their cocaine from the Columbians based in Barcelona and transferred them to Harkins’ house in Barcelona. Harbinson even told police that Harkins had an X-ray machine at the Barcelona house, like those used at airports, to make sure that the drugs would not be spotted – although he never said this in the witness box. When Blenkinsop’s house in Annan was searched 12 kilos of cannabis resin were found in a holdall in the attic. Dad-of-two Harbinson, 41, said that he would fly out to Barcelona with Euros in his suitcase and travel back to Newcastle with two kilos of cocaine. He told the court that he was offered £2,000 per kilo of cocaine to bring it into the UK and added: “I was told that Lindsay would fit up a suitcase and you would never know it was there.” Mr Harbinson said had changed a total of £250,000 sterling into Euros for Keith Blenkinsop in the Dumfries and Carlisle areas. All accused claimed that Harbinson was a liar and a self-confessed cocaine addict and said that no one would have used him as a drugs courier. Blenkinsop was also convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of being involved in the supply of cannabis resin and amphetamines between January 2007 and June 19, 2009. Harkins was found guilty of being involved in the supply of amphetamine. Blenkinsop was caught with three others off the Spanish coast in a yacht containing four tonnes of cannabis resin worth £12 million. Prosecutor Mr McSporran told the court that Blenkinsop had been sentence to four years imprisonment in Spain in 2004 for a drugs offence. All five will be sentenced next month. Judge Lord Doherty ordered background reports before sentencing them. Yesterday, Detective Inspector Gary Coupland who headed up a team of up to 30 officers who worked on the case for around nine months, told the Standard: “This was quite a complicated operation and we used Interpol to gather evidence in South America and Spain. It is a good example of how serious organised crime does not just affect the large city areas.”

Authorities Confirm Gun Found In Arizona Is Third At U.S. Crime Scene Tied To ATF's 'Fast And Furious'

 

Authorities confirm a weapon from the failed ATF program 'Operation Fast and Furious' was found at a violent crime scene in Maricopa, Ariz. in 2010. This is the latest in a series of cases where Fast and Furious guns have been linked to violent crimes across the U.S. and Mexico. The two guns found at the scene were an AK-47 and a Beretta pistol, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The AK-47 is linked to Fast and Furious, according to ATF. The weapons were found inside a stolen truck in March 2010 after the driver slammed into two DPS vehicles while trying to evade members of the Arizona Vehicle Theft Task Force, ABC 15 reports. The driver, Angel Hernandez Diaz, was reportedly arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, aggravated assault on an officer with a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon, theft of means of transportation and misconduct involving a weapon, according to court documents. Fast and Furious was an operation launched in late 2009 by the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to follow gun purchasers in hopes that suspects would lead investigators to the heads of Mexican cartels. But hundreds of high-powered rifles and other guns ended up in Mexico, and many now accuse the ATF and the Justice Department of letting the guns "walk" even after safety concerns were raised. Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich said last week that three weapons linked to Operation Fast and Furious had been used in violent crimes in the U.S.  Weapons linked to the program were used in a December attack along the Southwest border that killed U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Months later, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif, launched his committee's investigation, as the Justice Department's inspector general also opened an inquiry, at Attorney General Eric Holder's direction. On Wednesday, Holder said for the first time that not only he but also other higher-ups at the Justice Department were not aware of the operation as it was being carried out. Holder also suggested politics could be a driving force behind Republican lawmakers' forceful inquiries into the matter. Recently, the man who headed ATF in the midst of it, Ken Melson, was reassigned, and U.S. attorney Dennis Burke, who oversaw the prosecution of cases coming out of the operation, abruptly resigned. At least three men have been charged in connection with the murder of agent Terry, though only one is in U.S. custody. The Justice Department recently informed lawmakers that cases coming out of Operation Fast and Furious will now be led by prosecutors from outside Arizona.

Police officer who shot dead Mark Duggan will NOT return to duty until probe is complete

 

The firearms officer who shot dead Mark Duggan, the event believed to have triggered the London riots, has not returned to active duty despite reports to the contrary, Scotland Yard has confirmed. Mr Duggan, a father-of-four, was shot in the chest and arm after the taxi he was travelling in was stopped by police near Tottenham Hale on August 5 His death sparked protests in the area which were later followed by rioting. It had been reported that the officer who fired the fatal shot had been returned to duty as part of the Metropolitan Police's CO19 firearms unit, but Scotland Yard have denied this saying he will remain suspended until investigations have been completed. The funeral of Mr Duggan is due to be held today with between 1,500 and 3,000 people expected join a procession through the Broadwater Farm estate where he lived. It was initially reported that Mr Duggan, 29, had shot at police. But ballistic tests later found that a bullet which lodged itself in one officer's radio was police issue. Mr Duggan's relatives have accused officers of deciding to 'shoot to kill' and say they do not believe the gun discovered hidden in a sock belonged to him.