FOXNEWS: Feds arrest IT staffer for Wasserman Schultz trying to leave country

A House IT staffer at the center of a congressional computer equipment scandal has been arrested by federal officials and charged with bank fraud, Fox News has learned.

Fox News is told officers and agents from the U.S. Capitol Police, the FBI and Customs and Border Protection were involved in the arrest of Imran Awan at Dulles International Airport. 

Awan, 37, of Virginia, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one count of bank fraud during his arraignment in federal court in Washington, D.C. He was released but will have to wear a GPS monitor and abide by a curfew. 

Awan also was ordered to turn over all his passports. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 21. 

Law enforcement authorities for months have been looking into how Awan may have double-billed the House for equipment like computers, iPads, monitors, keyboards and routers. Several relatives of Awan worked for House Democrats and were fired months ago. Awan, however, was kept on staff by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., even though he was no longer allowed access to the House server network.

Wasserman Schultz, though, has now fired Awan. Spokesman David Damron said Tuesday in a statement:

"Mr. Awan previously served as a part-time employee but his services have been terminated. No charges, evidence or findings from the investigation have been formally shared with our office, so we cannot comment on them."

Authorities also have looked into IT workers putting sensitive House information on the “cloud” and potentially exposing it to outside sources.

Fox News is told that federal officials arrested Awan at Dulles airport in suburban Virginia as he was “trying to leave the country.” 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ TO ALLOW LAPTOP SCAN AFTER STONEWALLING

The criminal complaint and affidavit said he had bought a ticket to fly Monday to Doha, Qatar, and then Lahore, Pakistan, with a return flight booked for early January. The affidavit specifically alleged he engaged in a scheme to defraud a Congressional Federal Credit Union. It did not appear to go in depth into the other matters investigators have been looking into. 

Meanwhile, the counsel for Wasserman Schultz, the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, recently began negotiating with Capitol Police for access to her laptop in the case. Until this point, she had resisted USCP efforts to look at her computer – even suggesting “consequences” for the agency if the computer was not promptly returned.

Fox News first reported last week that arrests were coming in the case.

Awan and his relatives worked for House Democrats for more than a decade, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars. But Awan declared bankruptcy in 2012.

Awan is of Pakistani descent, and Democratic sources have argued the family’s ethnicity is a factor in the attention they’re receiving. 

Fox News' Chad Pergram and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

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Coronado National Forest - Risks, Desperation, Perspiration and Contamination

A little FYI

 

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The Pro Bono Network of Immigration Lawyers

I successfully represented several refugee clients seeking asylum in the United States, including a monk from Tibet, young men from Sudan, the Republic of Congo and Colombia, and women from Ecuador and the Gambia. In these cases, the clients seeking asylum were fleeing persecution in their homelands and would have likely faced arrest, torture and possible execution if deported. I also regularly help victims of domestic violence to complete U Visa applications, and have helped clients to apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. I supervise many pro bono matters.

But what about Americans ?

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VOICE: THE RUSSIAN-AMERICAN / TRUMP TOWER

NEW YORK

U.S. Attorney's Office
Southern District of New York
(212) 637-2600 

April 30, 2014

Two Defendants Sentenced for Participating in Racketeering Conspiracy with Russian-American Organized Crime Enterprise Operating International Sportsbook That Laundered More Than $100 Million

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ANATOLY GOLUBCHIK was sentenced yesterday in Manhattan federal court to five years in prison, and VADIM TRINCHER was also sentenced today to five years in prison for participating in a racketeering conspiracy in connection with their roles as members of a Russian-American organized crime enterprise. GOLUBCHIK and TRINCHER were also each ordered to forfeit more than $20 million in cash, investments, and real property. They were charged in April 2013 along with 32 other alleged members and associates of two Russian-American organized crime enterprises in an indictment that included racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and various gambling offenses. GOLUBCHIK and TRINCHER were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The sentences meted out to Anatoly Golubchik and Vadim Trincher are just and appropriate penalties for the roles the defendants played in this far-reaching, Russian-American organized crime ring. I’d like to thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service for their tireless efforts in working to ensure that the members of this underground enterprise were held to account for their crimes.”
According to the indictment, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made at various proceedings in this case, including today’s sentencing:
The Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization (the “Organization”) was a criminal enterprise with strong ties to Russia and Ukraine. The enterprise operated a high-stakes, illegal sports gambling business out of New York City that catered primarily to Russian oligarchs living in Ukraine and Russia. GOLUBCHIK and TRINCHER were U.S.-based participants in the enterprise. GOLUBCHIK and TRINCHER booked sports bets that reached into the millions of dollars and laundered the proceeds of the Organization’s international sportsbook. Between 2006 and April 2012, the enterprise laundered approximately $100 million in proceeds from their gambling operation in Russia and Ukraine through shell companies and bank accounts in Cyprus; and of this $100 million, approximately $50 million was subsequently sent from Cyprus into the United States. Once the money had been transferred to the United States, it was either laundered through additional shell companies or invested in legitimate investments, such as hedge funds and real estate.
The Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization operated under the protection of Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, who is known as a “Vor,” a term translated as “Thief-in-Law,” that refers to a member of a select group of high-level criminals from the former Soviet Union. Tokhtakhounov used his status as a Vor to resolve disputes with clients of the high-stakes illegal gambling operation with implicit and sometimes explicit threats of violence and economic harm. Between December 2011 and February 2013, Tokhtakhounov was paid at least approximately $12 million for his services by the Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization. Tokhtakhounov is also under indictment in the Southern District of New York for his alleged involvement in bribing officials at the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tokhtakhounov is a fugitive and is still being sought.
***
THE SURREAL MURDER CONNECTIONS  Kill Americans, Pay Off Police and Kill Mormons near Mitt Romney
Twenty-eight defendants in this case have pled guilty and two have entered into deferred prosecution agreements. The defendants who have pled to date have agreed to forfeit, in total, more than $68 million. The following defendants have pled guilty, and have been sentenced or await sentencing:

• Bryan Zuriff pled guilty to gambling charges on July 26, 2013, and was sentenced on November 25, 2013.
• William Barbalat pled guilty to gambling charges on August 14, 2013, and was sentenced on December 16, 2013.
• Kirill Rapoport pled guilty to gambling charges on August 16, 2013, and was sentenced on December 19, 2014.
• Edwin Ting and Justin Smith pled guilty to gambling charges on September 4, 2013, and were sentenced on January 21, 2014, and January 6, 2014, respectively.
• Dmitry Druzhinsky and David Aaron pled guilty to gambling charges on October 4, 2013, and were sentenced on April 18, 2014, and February 14, 2014, respectively.
• Alexander Zaverukha pled guilty to gambling charges on October 10, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1, 2014.
• Nicholas Hirsch pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud on October 16, 2013, and was sentenced on February 25, 2014.
• Anatoly Shteyngrob pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering on October 17, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10, 2014.
• Yugeshwar Rajkumar pled guilty to gambling charges on October 18, 2013, and was sentenced on March 25, 2014.
• Stan Greenberg pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on October 22, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2, 2014.
• Arthur Azen pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering and conspiring to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means on November 5, 2013, and was sentenced on April 9, 2014.
• Hillel Nahmad pled guilty to gambling charges on November 12, 2013, and was sentenced on April 30, 2014.
• Vadim Trincher pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 14, 2013, and was sentenced on April 30, 2014.
• Eugene Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 14, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2014.
• Anatoly Golubchik pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 15, 2013, and was sentenced on April 29, 2014.
• Illya Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 15, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 8, 2014.
• Ronald Uy pled guilty to structuring financial transactions on November 25, 2013, and was sentenced on March 27, 2014.
• Moshe Oratz pled guilty to gambling charges on December 3, 2013, and was sentenced on April 9, 2014.
• Michael Sall pled guilty to interstate travel in aid of an unlawful activity (illegal gambling) and Jonathan Hirsch pled guilty to gambling charges on December 4, 2013. Sall was sentenced on April 18, 2014, and Hirsch is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2014.
• Noah Siegel pled guilty to gambling charges on December 5, 2013, and was sentenced on April 10, 2014.
• Molly Bloom pled guilty to gambling charges on December 12, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2, 2014.
• Alexander Katchaloff pled guilty to gambling charges on January 16, 2014, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20, 2014.
• Donald McCalmont, John Jarekci, a/k/a “John Hanson,” and Abraham Mosseri pled guilty to making a fraudulent tax statement, to failing to file a tax return, and causing a financial institution to participate in a lottery related matter, respectively, on January 24, 2014, and are scheduled to be sentenced on May 29, 2014, May 28, 2014, and May 21, 2014, respectively.
• William Edler and Peter Feldman entered into deferred prosecution agreements on April 11, 2014.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harris M. Fischman, Joshua A. Naftalis, Peter J. Skinner, and Kristy J. Greenberg of the Violent and Organized Crime Unit are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant
U.S. Attorney Alexander Wilson of the Office’s Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit is responsible for the forfeiture aspects of the case.
This content has been reproduced from its original source.

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VOICE: THE RUSSIAN-AMERICAN / TRUMP TOWER @realdonaldtrump @hillaryclinton @fbi @dhs @senatorfeinstein

WE NEED MORE VISAS

NEW YORK

U.S. Attorney's Office
Southern District of New York
(212) 637-2600
Share on Twitter Twitter Share on Facebook Facebook Email Email
April 30, 2014

Two Defendants Sentenced for Participating in Racketeering Conspiracy with Russian-American Organized Crime Enterprise Operating International Sportsbook That Laundered More Than $100 Million

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ANATOLY GOLUBCHIK was sentenced yesterday in Manhattan federal court to five years in prison, and VADIM TRINCHER was also sentenced today to five years in prison for participating in a racketeering conspiracy in connection with their roles as members of a Russian-American organized crime enterprise. GOLUBCHIK and TRINCHER were also each ordered to forfeit more than $20 million in cash, investments, and real property. They were charged in April 2013 along with 32 other alleged members and associates of two Russian-American organized crime enterprises in an indictment that included racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and various gambling offenses. GOLUBCHIK and TRINCHER were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The sentences meted out to Anatoly Golubchik and Vadim Trincher are just and appropriate penalties for the roles the defendants played in this far-reaching, Russian-American organized crime ring. I’d like to thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service for their tireless efforts in working to ensure that the members of this underground enterprise were held to account for their crimes.”
According to the indictment, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made at various proceedings in this case, including today’s sentencing:
The Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization (the “Organization”) was a criminal enterprise with strong ties to Russia and Ukraine. The enterprise operated a high-stakes, illegal sports gambling business out of New York City that catered primarily to Russian oligarchs living in Ukraine and Russia. GOLUBCHIK and TRINCHER were U.S.-based participants in the enterprise. GOLUBCHIK and TRINCHER booked sports bets that reached into the millions of dollars and laundered the proceeds of the Organization’s international sportsbook. Between 2006 and April 2012, the enterprise laundered approximately $100 million in proceeds from their gambling operation in Russia and Ukraine through shell companies and bank accounts in Cyprus; and of this $100 million, approximately $50 million was subsequently sent from Cyprus into the United States. Once the money had been transferred to the United States, it was either laundered through additional shell companies or invested in legitimate investments, such as hedge funds and real estate.
The Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization operated under the protection of Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, who is known as a “Vor,” a term translated as “Thief-in-Law,” that refers to a member of a select group of high-level criminals from the former Soviet Union. Tokhtakhounov used his status as a Vor to resolve disputes with clients of the high-stakes illegal gambling operation with implicit and sometimes explicit threats of violence and economic harm. Between December 2011 and February 2013, Tokhtakhounov was paid at least approximately $12 million for his services by the Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization. Tokhtakhounov is also under indictment in the Southern District of New York for his alleged involvement in bribing officials at the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tokhtakhounov is a fugitive and is still being sought.
***
Twenty-eight defendants in this case have pled guilty and two have entered into deferred prosecution agreements. The defendants who have pled to date have agreed to forfeit, in total, more than $68 million. The following defendants have pled guilty, and have been sentenced or await sentencing:

• Bryan Zuriff pled guilty to gambling charges on July 26, 2013, and was sentenced on November 25, 2013.
• William Barbalat pled guilty to gambling charges on August 14, 2013, and was sentenced on December 16, 2013.
• Kirill Rapoport pled guilty to gambling charges on August 16, 2013, and was sentenced on December 19, 2014.
• Edwin Ting and Justin Smith pled guilty to gambling charges on September 4, 2013, and were sentenced on January 21, 2014, and January 6, 2014, respectively.
• Dmitry Druzhinsky and David Aaron pled guilty to gambling charges on October 4, 2013, and were sentenced on April 18, 2014, and February 14, 2014, respectively.
• Alexander Zaverukha pled guilty to gambling charges on October 10, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1, 2014.
• Nicholas Hirsch pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud on October 16, 2013, and was sentenced on February 25, 2014.
• Anatoly Shteyngrob pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering on October 17, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10, 2014.
• Yugeshwar Rajkumar pled guilty to gambling charges on October 18, 2013, and was sentenced on March 25, 2014.
• Stan Greenberg pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on October 22, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2, 2014.
• Arthur Azen pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering and conspiring to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means on November 5, 2013, and was sentenced on April 9, 2014.
• Hillel Nahmad pled guilty to gambling charges on November 12, 2013, and was sentenced on April 30, 2014.
• Vadim Trincher pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 14, 2013, and was sentenced on April 30, 2014.
• Eugene Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 14, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2014.
• Anatoly Golubchik pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 15, 2013, and was sentenced on April 29, 2014.
• Illya Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 15, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 8, 2014.
• Ronald Uy pled guilty to structuring financial transactions on November 25, 2013, and was sentenced on March 27, 2014.
• Moshe Oratz pled guilty to gambling charges on December 3, 2013, and was sentenced on April 9, 2014.
• Michael Sall pled guilty to interstate travel in aid of an unlawful activity (illegal gambling) and Jonathan Hirsch pled guilty to gambling charges on December 4, 2013. Sall was sentenced on April 18, 2014, and Hirsch is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2014.
• Noah Siegel pled guilty to gambling charges on December 5, 2013, and was sentenced on April 10, 2014.
• Molly Bloom pled guilty to gambling charges on December 12, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2, 2014.
• Alexander Katchaloff pled guilty to gambling charges on January 16, 2014, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20, 2014.
• Donald McCalmont, John Jarekci, a/k/a “John Hanson,” and Abraham Mosseri pled guilty to making a fraudulent tax statement, to failing to file a tax return, and causing a financial institution to participate in a lottery related matter, respectively, on January 24, 2014, and are scheduled to be sentenced on May 29, 2014, May 28, 2014, and May 21, 2014, respectively.
• William Edler and Peter Feldman entered into deferred prosecution agreements on April 11, 2014.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harris M. Fischman, Joshua A. Naftalis, Peter J. Skinner, and Kristy J. Greenberg of the Violent and Organized Crime Unit are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant
U.S. Attorney Alexander Wilson of the Office’s Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit is responsible for the forfeiture aspects of the case.
This content has been reproduced from its original source.

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More H-1b requests

Reserved for the endless H-1b visa requests

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The Murders near Pete Bennett operator of nomoreh1b.blogspot.com

LEFT TO RIGHT
TOP: Dine Ghilotti, Michael McNulty, Chuck Silverman, Lorreta Hale, Roma Bhatia, Officer Kenyon Youngstrom
MIDDLE: Nate Greenan, Catherine Perata, Peter & Mona Branagh, Ian Lotta Scott, DJ/KJ, Gary Vinson Collins, Bill Pollecek
BOTTOM: Christopher Butler, Norman Wielsch, Stephen Tanabe (All Convicted), Officer Lester Garnier, Anthony Banta Jr., Councilman Mike Shimansky and Councilman Gary Bell.
I'm connected to 15 persons on this collage  but many politicians knew better than me
I am alive because I raised my voice and blogged the story that no one would admit was happening.

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Sfgate: H-1B visas: who gets them, where they go @oracle

H-1B visas: who gets them, where they go

By Joaquin Palomino and Emma O'Neill

 

April 29, 2016

Before hiring a foreign worker on an H-1B visa, an employer must submit a Labor Condition Application (LCA) with the U.S. Department of Labor, which details the position the company hopes to fill, the prevailing wage for the job and the pay being offered to the prospective worker. The intent is to ensure that overseas employees will be paid a fair wage if they receive a visa.
More than one employee can be attached to an LCA, and there’s no limit on how many a company can submit. As a result, the number of LCAs accepted by the Department of Labor often far exceeds the number of H-1B visas issued.

Over the years, the number of approved LCAs has increased. In 2008, the federal government certified about 370,000 applications for roughly 650,000 workers, according to a Chronicle review of federal Department of Labor data. Last year, more than 530,000 LCAs were approved for 1.14 million workers (applications certified then withdrawn by the company were not included).
About 10 percent of the LCAs approved last year, or 53,500, were for jobs in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Companies in the region overwhelmingly sought high-paid computer programmers and other similar tech workers.

Which Silicon Valley and San Francisco companies pursued H-1B workers in 2015

visas requested by County

by Company

for Salary

Source: Office of Foreign Labor Certification data. All data is from FY 2015. Company data includes all subsidiaries.

 

By county, Santa Clara sought the most H-1B workers, not just in the Bay Area, but in the entire country. San Francisco just edged out San Jose as the region’s most popular city for H-1B applicants (it ranks third nationwide behind New York City and Houston).

A handful of major firms filled out the majority of applications in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The tax and financial services giant Deloitte and its subsidiaries submitted LCA applications for more than 10,000 workers locally. Apple hoped to fill 8,650 positions with foreign professionals, most at its Cupertino campus. And both Facebook and Google requested at least 2,200 workers each.
Not every major Bay Area tech firm tried to recruit an abundance of foreign professionals. Salesforce, for example, sought to fill roughly 475 positions in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Twitter submitted applications for just 350 H-1B workers locally.

It’s unclear how many positions at major companies were filled by India-based subcontracting firms. Such outfits have become major players in bringing H-1B workers into the United States, hiring pools of workers on behalf of other companies.

Tata, Wipro, Infosys and HCL America are some of the largest outsourcing companies based in India. Some have accused them of gaming the H-1B visa system by flooding the Department of Labor with LCA applications, thus increasing their odds of obtaining H-1B visas via the computerized lottery used to distribute them.

Last year, Infosys, Tata and Wipro — and any subsidiaries affiliated with the companies — filed more LCAs nationally than any other firm besides IBM.

Top companies recruiting H-1B workers nationwide in 2015

LCAs filed

Workers requested

Private companies

US-based outsourcing firm

India-based outsourcing firm

Foreign-based outsourcing firm

Infosys

33425

Tata

16651

IBM

11421

Wipro

10499

Deloitte

9827

Accenture

9467

HCL America

6089

Igate

4395

Cognizant

3388

Capgemini

2833

PwC

1884

Apple

1349

Mindtree

1307

Syntel

1088

Oracle

1069

Mphasis

994

 

Source: Office of Foreign Labor Certification data. All data is from FY 2015. Company data includes all subsidiaries.

 

Wipro, Tata and Infosys have been the subject of labor and discrimination lawsuits. The latter two were the subject of a Senate inquiry. All three firms tend to seek lower-paid and less-skilled workers than other major companies.

Last year, the average salary of an H-1B worker requested by Tata was about $69,700 per -year, at Wipro it was $70,200, and Infosys’ salaries were $79,100 on average, according to the Chronicle analysis.

Google, on the other hand, offered an average salary of nearly $130,000 to its H-1B workers. Apple’s H-1B positions paid between $123,600 and $154,200, on average. And Facebook offered roughly $141,000 to the average H-1B applicant.
As India-based subcontractors have expanded, so has the number of Indian H-1B workers coming into the United States.

Where H-1B recipients came from in 2004

Choose a year:

Continent Key

Europe

Asia

North America

South America

Oceania

Hover over or click on a bubble for more information.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs

In fiscal year 2015, about 177,750 H-1B visas were issued, according to State Department data. These included 85,000 new three-year visas, approved extensions and other positions exempt from the H-1B cap. More than 69 percent went to workers from India — the highest proportion in nearly two decades.
For more in-depth coverage, see the Chronicle's related story.

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