Ponzi Schemer, Bernard Madoff's niece and another relative have been in touch with a consultant who gives lessons to white-collar criminals on survival strategies in prison and how early release might be obtained, sources said. Shana Madoff, 38, a former compliance officer with the now infamous Madoff firm, made contact with Larry Levine, a former federal prisoner, now turned consultant and founder of Wall Street Prison Consultants, the sources said.
Over 30,000 people from 45 states to attend this year’s celebration. The White House today announced that over 30,000 people from 45 states and the District of Columbia will attend this year’s Easter Egg Roll. This year’s theme ‘Let’s go play,’ encourages America’s youth to lead healthy and active lives.
Thursday, President Barack Obama announced that the General Services Administration (GSA) will accelerate its purchase of new cars for the government fleet by investing funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to buy about 17,600 new, fuel efficient vehicles produced by American auto companies by June 1, 2009. President Obama directed his administration to speed up the purchase of these vehicles to increase demand for American auto companies during these difficult economic times.
Thursday, the President, along with Secretary Gates and Secretary Shinseki, announced that the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have taken the first step in creating a Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record. Currently, there is no comprehensive system in place that allows for a streamlined transition of health care records between DOD and the VA.
As the Obama administration continues to loosen travel and other restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba, lawmakers of the Congressional Black Caucus, fresh from their Havana trip, are reporting that the Castro brothers are eager to see a new day in U.S.-Cuban relations. After a 50-year embargo against Cuba, the current White House could very well be on its way to taking a more enlightened foreign policy position toward that country, than hitherto has been the case.
As most economists feared, the U.S. unemployment rate reached 8.5 percent in March, the highest since 1983. The economy lost more jobs as employers laid off 663,000 workers, bringing the total number of job losses to about 5.1 million since the recession began, and the biggest slump in the postwar era.
The government moved yesterday, to confiscate the Florida assets of Ponzi Schemer, Bernard Madoff. Among the assets taken were a $ 9.4 million Palm Beach leaf mansion, an antique yacht and a smaller motor boat. Earlier, Madoff's 55-foot "Bull" yacht was seized in the Cayman Islands.
President Obama's aunt will remain in the U.S. until at least next year when she will get another chance to state her case before an immigration judge in her quest for asylum from her native Kenya. Aunt Zeituni made an initial appearance in U.S. Immigration Court in Boston today, Wednesday. The case will be heard on February 4, 2010.
Barack Obama's Kenyan aunt lost her bid for asylum more than four years ago, and a judge ordered her deported. Instead, Zeituni Onyango stayed, living for years in public housing. Now, a judge is set to re-visit her request for asylum, given that her nephew is currently the President of the most powerful country in the world.
James Davis, 60, former CFO of the Stanford Group Company recently did an about face and is cooperating with federal prosecutors, the SEC and the FBI, in the multi-billion dollar Stanford Group fraud case. Davis, a devout church-goer until earlier this year, is receiving prayers from the LifeWay Community and other congregants. Davis is accused of helping Allen Stanford run an $8 billion Ponzi scheme that swindled thousands of investors and customers.
Alan Greenspan is a liar. The Federal Reserve and its long standing partner, the US Treasury, engineered the housing bubble, including the fraudulent inducement of America as part of a financial coup d’etat. Our bankruptcy was not an accident. It was engineered at the highest levels.
President Barack Obama plans to use a prime-time press conference Tuesday night to appeal to a sense of “common purpose” that could rein in excesses on Wall Street — while also tempering calls in Congress for limits on pay and bonuses that could be seen as punitive.
President Barack Obama, six weeks ago, appointed a 16- member high level panel to assist him in digging America out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. To date, the board has not yet held an official public meeting, although it has been said that some members of the panel have been meeting in smaller gatherings. The question is, does an administration that committed itself to openness and transparency find it more convenient to conduct public business in private?
Once more, President Obama will turn to his "canvassers" in "Pledge Project Canvass" to assist him in getting support for his policies on energy, health and education. Pledge Project Canvass is an unprecedented effort by a President to reach beyond Congress and tap grassroots supporters for help.
Senator Christopher Dodd has now indicated he was aware of the AIG planned bonuses. He has suggested that, he made changes to the stimulus legislation at the request of the Obama administration. In an e-mail statement Dodd noted that "I did not want to make any changes to my original Senate-passed amendment but I did so at the request of administration officials."
Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-8) today expressed the outrage many American feel about the waste and egregious abuse of taxpayers dollars by AIG. The Congressman repeatedly demanded to know the names of the people who directly led to the destruction of the company.
The Obama administration may yet take the brunt of the public's outrage because of their lack of knowledge regarding the AIG $165 million payout. While claiming two weeks ago the administration knew how "every dime" of the bailout monies were being spent, evidently they seemed to be unaware of the hefty bonus packages.
The payout of $165 million to AIG executives after that company received $170 billion of bailout money from the Federal Reserve, adds fuel to fire for U.S. taxpayers. Their own financial losses coupled with this latest 'insult' could well form the underpinnings of a popular revolt in America.
Dozens of investors, after hearing Bernard Madoff’s admission that he ran a $65 billion Ponzi scheme in which he lied and stole for decades, applauded in federal court in New York as he was handcuffed and led to jail.
The jobless rate topped 10 percent in four states, led by Michigan, where at 11.6 percent it was the highest since May 1984, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. An average unemployment rate of 10 percent for a period of time is “certainly well within the realm of possibility,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said during congressional testimony on March 10.
Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, accused by regulators of an $8 billion investor fraud, invoked his right against self-incrimination under the U.S. Constitution and said he won’t testify in the case against him.
Disgraced financier Bernard L. Madoff on Thursday publicly admitted to running a massive, decades-long Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of billions of dollars, saying he was ashamed and acknowledging that he deeply hurt many people.
Sales at U.S. retailers in February fell less than forecast and January’s gain was almost double the previous estimate, indicating the biggest part of the economy may be starting to stabilize.
Bernard Madoff could be facing his final hours of freedom after acknowledging that he will plead guilty to charges that he engineered one of the largest investment scams in U.S. history and was ready to face a prison sentence of up to 150 years.
R. Allen Stanford, clad in jeans and a white polo shirt embroidered with his corporate eagle-shield logo, told employees on Antigua in 2005 that he spent “millions and millions and millions of dollars” on the island “to attract the wealthiest people in the world.”
Four crew members from Atlantic Southeast Airlines made history last month when Delta Connection Flight 5202 departed from Atlanta to Nashville, Tennessee.
Lyle Gramley and Greg Valliere get paid to anticipate noteworthy Washington developments. They missed the one where their company was thrown into receivership. Gramley, the former Federal Reserve governor, was a senior economic adviser for Stanford Washington Research Group. Valliere was a founder of the 35-year-old firm, which in 2005 joined the Stanford Group Co., headed by one R. Allen Stanford.
Have the Republicans reverted to a party with so little to say that they are reduced to making feeble jabs at Michelle Obama's biceps? Are they so afraid of the new Obama era that the First Lady's arms are enough of a symbol of power that they cower before them?
Earlier today, President Obama signed an executive order that would allow federal funding to be used for stem cell research. The President observed that, while the full promise of stem cell research remains unknown, scientists believe these tiny cells may have the potential to help us understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions: to regenerate a severed spinal cord and lift someone from a wheelchair; to spur insulin production and spare a child from a lifetime of needles; to treat Parkinson's, cancer, heart disease and others that affect millions of Americans and the people who love them.
The dollar fell to a one-week low against the euro after a report showed the U.S. unemployment rate rose to the highest level in more than 25 years. Employers eliminated 651,000 jobs last month, following a reduction of 655,000 in January, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a decrease of 650,000. The jobless rate increased to 8.1 percent, the highest level since December 1983, from 7.6 percent in the previous month.
