Eideard

Dawn and Roland back in the day…

Five years after their disappearance, jewels thought stolen from the wife of the US ambassador to the Netherlands in 2006 have been found in the Hague.

Dawn Arnall realised her $9.3 million in gems were missing months after staying in a Dutch hotel.

Unknown to her, the jewellery had been found and was held for safekeeping by the hotel, AFP reports, before being given to an employee as unclaimed. The employee, assuming the items were costume jewellery, forgot about them.

Only after she recently found them in a drawer and took them to a jeweller for valuation did their true worth emerge. They were then handed in to police and have since been returned to the US.

Mrs Arnall, whose husband Roland was the US ambassador to the country prior to his death in 2008, had received an insurance payout for her loss.

No one knows if the honest employee who turned in the jewels – has received a reward.

Shall we reflect for a minute or two upon the class of political hacks who are rewarded for their fundraising tasks by appointment to Holland or somewhere else [is there a sliding scale?] as a reward. People so fracking rich it takes them months to notice they mislaid $9 million worth of jewelry!

His favorite Xmas Card photo

He rubbed elbows with some of the country’s highest politicians, and promised to help out America’s heroes. But, officials said he stole from veterans to the tune of nearly $100 million .

He went on the run and there is good information that he’s hiding here in New Mexico.

“He’s definitely a business man,” Deputy Ben Segotta said. A business man whose Christmas card included a picture with President George W. Bush. But the man who’s been going by the name Bobby Thompson is also a fake…

Thompson started a phony organization called the U.S. Navy Veterans Association. It raised about a $100 million which he promised would be used to help veterans. But, investigators claim he contributed some of it to high profile republican politicians, and pocketed the rest.

U.S. Marshals said he has lived in Albuquerque and knows the area. Recently new information pointed to him hiding out here.

“He is known for his ability to blend in or change his appearance or something. So he may not really be low profile he may just be using an alias.”

Segotta said they want him in handcuffs badly, “He solicited hundred of millions of dollars from people in order to help veterans and betrayed that trust between people and our military.”

Thompson is a fake name and officials don’t really know who this guy is…He’s 5 feet 8 inches about 160 pounds and said to be a heavy and often violent drinker.

If you suspect you know where this thug is – call your local coppers. Don’t be silly enough to try to take him down on your own.

If they get hard up for Euros they could always convert to condos

Greek authorities…jailed the abbot of a 1,000-year-old Greek Orthodox monastery pending trial for what officials said was a key role in a land deal with the state that became a major political scandal.

Investigators have said the deal, which was revealed several years ago, was weighted in favor of Vatopedi Monastery in northern Greece and cost taxpayers the equivalent of about $131 million. Two ministers in a previous, conservative government lost their jobs over the deal, which was ultimately canceled, although legal issues have delayed full restitution.

The scandal nonetheless contributed significantly to the conservatives’ 2009 general election defeat.

Abbot Efraim, 55, was led to the Korydallos prison in Athens after spending the night in the capital’s police headquarters. He had traveled 370 miles from the Orthodox monastic sanctuary of Mount Athos, from which women and female animals have been banned since 1046…

Female animals, eh? We know what that’s about.

No trial date has been set, and the abbot’s lawyers are expected to apply for his release. Under Greek law, suspects can be jailed for up to 18 months pending trial.

Greek politicians embroiled in the scandal will not stand trial, as Parliament ruled this year that the statute of limitations had expired.

Vatopedi Monastery has a treasure trove of medieval artifacts and books. It has attracted large numbers of male guests, including Prince Charles of Britain, who is a frequent visitor to Mount Athos.

But, no women guests, no female pets. I guess.

A fleet of high-performance cars, including eight Ferraris, has been involved in one of the most expensive accidents in history after an astonishing multi-car pile-up in Japan. Police said three Mercedes Benz cars and a Lamborghini Diablo were also involved in the massive crash at the weekend on the Chugoku Expressway, in the country’s south-west.

While the majority of the 14 vehicles – which also included a Japanese supercar Nissan GT-R Skyline and a Toyota Prius – were travelling along the Osaka Prefecture-bound bended lane at least one Mercedes CL600 was driving in the opposite direction.

Television footage showed the cars – either wrecked or destroyed – spread across the highway, in a trail of crumpled metal and broken glass. Several of the vehicles were wedged up against the metal barriers. Miraculously, none of drivers – the majority of whom are reported to be foreign car enthusiasts – were seriously hurt in the wreckage but the bill is still bound to be painful nonetheless.

Such was the severity of the damage, several of the luxury cars have been written off, leaving their owners with the nightmare scenario of seeing their prized possessions turned into expensive scrap metal.

The total damage bill is expected to hit several million pounds. A new Ferrari 355 retails for several hundred thousand pounds. The other Ferrari models understood to have been involved in the pile-up include a F512, F355, F430 and a F360…

It is thought the crash occurred when the lead driver hit a central barrier after losing control of their Ferrari while trying to overtake in wet conditions. They are then reported to have hit the central reservation before rebounding into the path of the oncoming traffic.

They then caused a chain reaction of accidents over several hundred yards as other drivers went around the bend and unable to avoid the accident.

The highway was closed for more than six hours while authorities removed the wrecked cars.

Insurance companies are going to love this one. Especially whoever is covering the poor bugger whose Prius was thumped by all the expensive alloy and horsepower.

Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

Soldiers in Mexico have seized $15.3 million in cash, believed to belong to the country’s most wanted drug lord, Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman.

The security forces said they found the money when they searched a car in a well-to do neighbourhood of Tijuana, on the US-Mexico border. They said the money was being taken to a safe house used by Shorty Guzman and his gang, the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

It is the second largest cash seizure since Felipe Calderon became president.

Defence Ministry spokesman Gen Ricardo Trevilla said the find was made during a “surprise operation” in the Cumbres de Juarez neighbourhood of Tijuana, in Baja California state.

He said the soldiers found $15.35m in cash, 3kg of cocaine, four weapons, and jewellery inside the car…

He did not say what led the troops to the cash. No arrests were made.

No arrests were made? No idea who the car belonged to? No search of nearby houses?

Are we to think the drogas drop a car full of cash and coke blocks away from easy access?

The owner of a large southwest Alabama car dealership derided as “Taliban Toyota” by a competitor has been awarded $7.5 million in damages after a jury trial for his slander claim.

Iranian-born Shawn Esfahani, owner of Eastern Shore Toyota in Daphne, Alabama, sought $28 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Bob Tyler Toyota, claiming employees at that Pensacola, Florida-based dealership falsely portrayed him as an Islamist militant to customers.

“The feeling I received in the courtroom for the truth to come out was worth a lot more than any money anybody can give me,” Esfahani told Reuters…

Esfahani’s lawsuit said that Bob Tyler sales manager Fred Kenner told at least one couple considering buying from Eastern Shore Toyota in 2009 that Esfahani was of Middle Eastern descent and was “helping fund the insurgents there and is also laundering money for them…”

A Bob Tyler salesman was accused of telling the same couple that Esfahani was from Iraq and calling him a “terrorist” who put soldiers including the salesman’s brother in harm’s way…

The jury deliberated for three hours before awarding Esfahani $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages on Monday evening…

Esfahani said the dollar amount awarded by the jury was irrelevant unless the case sets a precedent by which other business owners can seek recourse against tactics he considers “un-American.”

Slimeballs who perpetuate slander and discrimination against minorities – whether for business or demented pleasure – represent the sickest form of bigotry. They are so preoccupied with their Limbaugh-like hatred they pay no heed to ordinary standards of civility or public conduct.

A judgement like this one warm the cockles of my heart. Hitting these creeps where it hurts them most – in the wallet – is especially just.

“I switched back to Windows, this time!”

When the California Christian group known as Family Radio predicted the beginning of the end of the world as we know it back in the spring (not for the first time), Harold Camping and his followers splashed dire warnings on billboards around the globe.

But then nothing happened on May 21. There was no rapture and true believers weren’t swept to heaven while everyone else was left waiting to be consumed in the total destruction of Earth by Oct. 21.

Despite that setback, the California-based group is still looking on Friday as a day of reckoning, even if its predictions have been toned down.

There aren’t any billboards this time, and the 90-year-old Camping has shifted from definitive language to adding the word “probably” to his vocabulary.

So, if history repeats itself, the world will be just fine on Saturday. In fact, one observer expects Family Radio, which describes itself as a “non-profit, non-commercial Christian radio network,” will keep sending out its signals, too.

I doubt that Camping’s followers will experience sufficient frustration over his latest klutzup to stop sending in their hard-earned money. One thing that’s consistent about True Believers is that repeated failure does not constitute contradiction.

Thanks, Cinaedh

Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

Sacked Olympus chief executive Michael Woodford says he has contacted the UK’s Serious Fraud Office about the Japanese firm’s accounting practices.

Mr Woodford, who was dismissed last week, told the BBC that he believed the camera-maker had paid out excessive sums in relation to takeover deals. He says he was fired for raising the issue, but Olympus says his different management style was to blame.

The SFO confirmed that Mr Woodford had contacted it.

Olympus said it would “consider” taking legal action against Mr Woodford for disclosing confidential information.

Mr Woodford said he had commissioned auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers to look into an alleged $687 million payment by Olympus to a Cayman Island company. He told the BBC that he was ousted after he distributed a copy of the PwC report on Wednesday night…

He says he was called into a board meeting on Friday at which the agenda had been changed. The only new item to discuss was his dismissal as chief executive with immediate effect, for which, he said, no reason was given.

After the board voted for his dismissal, he left the meeting and was followed to his office by a colleague…He was asked for the key to his flat, 51% of which he owned, and was told to get the bus to the airport as they had taken away his car…

According to Mr Woodford, auditors were unable to establish who owned the company in the Cayman Islands. He said questions still had to be answered: “To whom and for what did we pay this money..?”

A perfectly legitimate question within any legal corporate structure. Whether that structure is manipulated by officers dedicated to criminal pursuits is an entirely relevant question.

Sounds like Mr. Woodford asked that question. His dismissal is the only answer, so far.

Electronics giant Sony Corp has suffered a fresh blow after several of its Bravia LCD televisions sets emitted smoke or parts began to melt. Sony said it will offer free inspection and repairs available to 1.6 million of the TV sets.

Sony’s television unit is already heading for its eighth straight year of losses, as it battles fierce competition from Samsung and LG of South Korea.

The 11 overheating incidents all took place in Japan, but the faulty parts may affect TV sets sold around the world, the company said in a news release.

There have been no reports of injuries or damage to anything other than the televisions, Sony said.

Sony hasn’t figured out, yet, whether to compete head-to-head in a commoditized market – or try to come up with a product sufficiently advanced to survive as an upper end niche.

The fact that Howard Stringer shut down most of their R&D as one of his earliest decisions in just another symptom of the incompetence he brought to leadership of that once-great company.

In Democratic circles, the 58-year-old bookkeeper with at least 398 bank accounts for political campaigns and nonprofit groups had a reputation for being prompt and responsive.

Neighbors and associates say there’s nothing in Kinde Durkee’s background, demeanor or lifestyle to suggest that she “masterminded a multimillion dollar fraudulent scheme,” as U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein charged in a Sept. 23 lawsuit. While Feinstein reported $5 million in cash to the Federal Election Commission as of June 30, the bank found only $662,100 on Sept. 21, according to court documents…

The scope of the alleged embezzlements from Durkee- controlled funds for federal politicians is the largest at least since the Federal Election Campaign Act became law in 1972, said Kent Cooper, a former Federal Election Commission official.

“There’s been no one else who even comes close,” Cooper, who now runs the money-in-politics database Capitol Hill Access…

Feinstein’s campaign also sued First California Bank, the operating unit of Westlake Village, California-based First California Financial Group Inc. (FCAL), where Durkee had 398 accounts. Chief Executive Officer Chong Guk Kum didn’t respond to voice mail messages requesting comment. Gary Horgan, a company lawyer, said in an e-mail that the bank would not comment.

Things started to unravel for Durkee in 2010, when the California Fair Political Practices Commission found irregularities while auditing the political finances of Jerome Horton, the chairman of the Board of Equalization, the state’s tax administrator. Horton said Durkee “acknowledged her mistakes” during the audit and agreed to pay the commission’s $13,000 fine and his legal bills.

“I had no knowledge of the magnitude of her fraud or the extent to which others were involved until I read it in the paper,” Horton wrote in an e-mail message to Bloomberg News.

After auditing another Durkee-managed account, the commission in November 2010 called the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Public Corruption Squad in Sacramento, according to court documents. In an affidavit, FBI Special Agent Reginald Coleman said it appeared that Durkee moved money from campaign accounts to her company’s bank accounts and then transferred other candidates’ funds to cover shortfalls. She covered up her actions by filing false disclosure forms, according to the affidavit…

Several lawyers for Durkee-managed campaign accounts said they’re mystified about where any misappropriated money might have gone, noting that Durkee [and her hubbie, her staff] gave no signs of flaunting wealth.

“I find the whole thing remarkable,” said Stephen Kaufman, the lawyer for the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and several other Durkee clients, in an interview. “We have no idea where all the money went.”

Surely does sound like Madoff all over again – especially everyone being astounded at the revelations. Apparently California bureaucrats are as diligent as the SEC at oversight.

RTFA. Example after example of folks thinking they had millions in the bank when they really had a tenth of what Kinde Durkee’s paperwork told them. Personally, I can never understand how people can become divorced from their funds. Even my little checking account gets checked online every month when my social security check is due to arrive.