Bandit Gang Writ Large

French officials abuse visa-free travel to spy on tax dodgers in Switzerland

"The French tax officials reportedly travel to Switzerland with a friend or family member when they are supposed to be officially on holiday. They use private credit cards for all purchases in Switzerland and to avoid being caught by Swiss customs or radars, the officials purportedly use cars with interchangeable number plates or take a train. Once in Switzerland they travel around to make sure Swiss-based companies allegedly belonging to French citizens actually have real offices, employees and clients." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench officials abuse visa-free travel to spy on tax dodgers in Switzerland

French officials abuse visa-free travel to spy on tax dodgers in Switzerland

"The French tax officials reportedly travel to Switzerland with a friend or family member when they are supposed to be officially on holiday. They use private credit cards for all purchases in Switzerland and to avoid being caught by Swiss customs or radars, the officials purportedly use cars with interchangeable number plates or take a train. Once in Switzerland they travel around to make sure Swiss-based companies allegedly belonging to French citizens actually have real offices, employees and clients." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench officials abuse visa-free travel to spy on tax dodgers in Switzerland

2013 Federal Income Tax (Fiscal Cliff) Calculator

"This U.S. Federal Individual income tax calculator shows the estimated personal taxes owed by both individuals and married couples, whether employed or self-employed. The 2013 income tax calculations are what the law currently specifies will be owed by Americans in the year 2013, unless Congress (beleaguered by the debt ceiling, a Presidential election, and massive looming automatic budget cuts) has the time and wherewithal to change the law." Continue reading →

Continue Reading2013 Federal Income Tax (Fiscal Cliff) Calculator

Department Of Homeland Security To Scan Payment Cards At Borders And Airports

"Travelers leaving or entering the United States have long had to declare aggregated cash and other monetary instruments exceeding $10,000. Now, under a proposed amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act, FinCEN will also require travelers to declare the value of prepaid cards that they are carrying, known now as 'tangible prepaid access devices.' Enforceability falls to the Department of Homeland Security, which is already developing advanced handheld card readers that can ascertain whether a traveler is carrying a credit card, debit card, or prepaid card." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDepartment Of Homeland Security To Scan Payment Cards At Borders And Airports

Feds to Bal Harbour: Hand over seized drug loot

"The U.S. Justice Department shut down Bal Harbour’s celebrated federal forfeiture program and ordered the police to return more than $4 million, slapping the agency with crushing sanctions for tapping into drug money to pay for first-class flights, luxury car rentals, and payments to informants across the country. For years, the small coastal town known for speed traps became one of the most successful in Florida, with plainclothes cops jetting across the nation toting bags stuffed with cash from investigations that had no connection to Bal Harbour — and making few arrests." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds to Bal Harbour: Hand over seized drug loot

POLICING FOR PROFIT: Feds try to take innocent elderly couple’s Mom-and-Pop motel

"Because their property was worth one million dollars and carried no mortgage, and because a handful of drug crimes had taken place on the property over 20 years (which represent less than .05 percent of the 125,000 rooms the Caswells rented over that period of time), the federal government is trying to take the Caswell's property through civil forfeiture, sell the land and keep the money. Under a process known as 'equitable sharing,' the federal government would keep 20 percent of what they net and the local police department would pocket 80 percent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPOLICING FOR PROFIT: Feds try to take innocent elderly couple’s Mom-and-Pop motel

Former North Chicago police chief accused of stealing seized drug money

"Former Chief Michael Newsome was accused of using the money to buy a new car and do home repairs on his kitchen, among other personal expenditures, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Steve Scheller said. Newsome, who left office in February amid a public uproar over alleged police brutality within the department, was charged with an ongoing theft of more than $140,000 from April of 2011 through March 31 of this year, Scheller said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer North Chicago police chief accused of stealing seized drug money

Obama Top Adviser Robert Gibbs Justifies Murder of 16 Year Old

"With no response about the NDAA, Luke later asks Robert Gibbs on how President Obama will defend having a secret kill list in the debates. Gibbs gives a standard response on the administration doing what it has to do to handle the threat of Alqaeda. Sierra Adamson then follows up by questioning if there is justification for killings such as Anwar al-Awlaki's 16 year old son who was an American citizen, to which Gibbs lays the blame of his death on Anwar al-Awlaki not being a responsible father." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Top Adviser Robert Gibbs Justifies Murder of 16 Year Old

60 Minutes: The new tax havens

"Companies searching out tax havens is nothing new. In the 80s and 90s, there was an exodus to Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, where there are no taxes at all. When President Obama threatened to clamp down on tax dodging, many companies decided to leave the Caribbean, but instead of coming back home, they went to safer havens like a small, quaint medieval town in Switzerland called Zug. Hans Marti, who heads Zug's economic development office, showed off the nearby snow-covered mountains. But Zug's main selling point isn't a view of the Alps: he told Lesley Stahl the taxes are somewhere between 15 and 16 percent." Continue reading →

Continue Reading60 Minutes: The new tax havens