U.S. prosecutors have filed a superseding indictment against Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend, longtime business associate, and alleged co-perpetrator of crimes with the late serial rapist Jeffrey Epstein. Read the rest
The Nigerian Prince Scam — also known as a "419 Fraud" — has a long, weird, and fascinating history. But the basics of it are pretty easy to understand: a random phishing message riddled with grammatical errors, from a stranger claiming to be Nigerian Prince (or representative of one), who needs help shifting some money around through US bank accounts. If you would be so kind as to help this Prince launder his inheritance or whatever it is, he will bequeath you with a substantial portion of his wealth as a token of his gratitude. All you need to do is provide him with all the information he would need to access your bank account, and in six months, you'll be tens of millions of dollars richer!
It feels like an old joke at this point, but weirdly, it still works: in 2018, scammers managed to make nearly a million dollars off the ol' classic. There are other variations, of course, with wealthy orphans, lottery winners, et cetera. The trademark poor grammar is actually a deliberate mechanism used to help the victims self-select by weeding out false positives; basically, if you're smart enough to realize how poorly written it is, the scammers are better off not wasting their time with you. If you're gullible enough to fall for the fake bad grammar, then they know they have a sucker.
I share all of this, because of an email I received today:
Read the restTIRED: Nigerian Prince Scams
WIRED: Jeffrey Epstein's Financial Assistant Scams?
Today, the Boston Globe's investigative reporter Deirdre Fernandes reports that sex offender and accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein had his very own personal office at Harvard University, and visited dozens of times in the years after he was released from his 2008 prison sentence -- all the way through 2018. Read the rest
Video taken of Jeffrey Epstein's cell on the night of his first suicide attempt was deleted by mistake, according to federal prosecutors
Just keeps getting weirder, doesn't it. Read the rest
The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office refused to comment on the news that surveillance camera video outside Jeffrey Epstein’s cell suddenly went missing.
From Radar Online:
News of the missing surveillance footage was exposed after Epstein’s cellmate at the time of his suicide attempt, Nick Tartaglione, formally requested that video be preserved as evidence.
Tartaglione, a former cop who was awaiting trial for four counts of murder, was accused of attacking Epstein on July 23, but he denied the claims, saying he actually tried to stop the late financier from taking his own life.
“We want to be sure that all the evidence is preserved to show that Nick behaved appropriately and even admirably that evening,” Barket said in court. “We asked for all the video and photographic evidence to be preserved, specifically this surveillance video. Now it’s gone.”
Image: By State of Florida - https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/CallImage?imgID=1665905, retrieved July 12 2019. archive.org, Public Domain, Link Read the rest
New flash: Trump has been caught lying. Currently in the U.K., Trump (a pal of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein) was asked about Prince Andrew (another pal of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein), and he replied: “I don’t know Prince Andrew, but it’s a tough story, it’s a very tough story.”
NY Magazine has three photos of Trump with Andrew dating back to 2000.
The Washington Post reports that Trump and Prince Andrew had a breakfast meeting in June:
Trump says he doesn’t know Britain’s Prince Andrew.
They had a breakfast meeting in June. https://t.co/iuEsrHbUKx pic.twitter.com/Gxr2NdTB1x
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 3, 2019
The Daily Beast also has numerous photos of Trump and the Prince:
Trump denies knowing Prince Andrew, despite numerous photos of them together including with Jeffrey Epstein https://t.co/M2G02kJv7Q
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 3, 2019
Trump just said "I don't know Prince Andrew, but that's a tough story, it's a very tough story, I don't know"
Here he is not knowing him at Westminster Abbey, taking a nice stroll on a separate occasion he didn't know him and finally not knowing him whilst partying with Epstein. pic.twitter.com/wpVoVdfwBn
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) December 3, 2019
Image of Prince Andrew: By Northern Ireland Office - https://www.flickr.com/photos/niogovuk/14649728080/, CC BY 2.0, Link. Image of Trump: By Shealah Craighead - White House, Public Domain, Link Read the rest
The past two years have seen a tremendous shift in the public perception of capitalism and socialism, the character of philanthropy as reputation-laundry rather than generosity, and the nature of wealth as an indicator of sociopathy, not virtue or cleverness. Read the rest
There are interesting details in today's federal criminal indictments against two jail guards at the Manhattan jail where pedophile and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein died. Read the rest
In a BBC interview, noted playboy Prince Andrew said he regrets visiting the home of of his friend Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein had been convicted for sex crimes against minors. But the reason he went to Epstein's house for four days, explains the Prince, is because he wanted to end their friendship in person. Everyone thinks this excuse, and almost everything else he says in his well-rehearsed answers, is a load of codswallop. Read the rest
The following email was sent today to the MIT community by President L. Rafael Reif. Read the rest
David Folkenflik of NPR News has a report today about how Jeffrey Epstein terrorized members of the press who sought to report on his activity, alternating between attempting to intimidate or buy off the media. One significant episode involved Vanity Fair, under former editor in chief Graydon Carter (pictured here).
The sexual predator and accused global sex trafficker's methods included a severed cat's head, and a bullet on a doorstep. Read the rest
No surprises in Jeffrey Epstein's social media accounts. Read the rest
Ken "Popehat" White (previously) has expanded on his excellent Twitter thread about Jeffrey Epstein's suicide in jail, and just how (shamefully) normal it is for prisoners to die in custody due to indifference, overwork, malfeasance and sadism on the part of prison authorities. Read the rest
Jeffrey Epstein is dead.
The convicted sexual predator committed suicide overnight at MCC Manhattan, the federal lockup where he had been held pending trial on federal sex trafficking charges, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
He was on “suicide watch,” but the MCC jail failed, twice, to prevent attempts of suicide. The second time, his attempt to escape justice through death worked.
The Miami Herald has confirmed that accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has committed suicide in jail in Manhattan. Story to come. @MiamiHerald
— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) August 10, 2019
From ABC News:
Read the restBillionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein has died by suicide in his Manhattan jail early Saturday morning, three law enforcement officials told ABC News.
He was being held without bail at the Metropolitan Correctional Center awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a judge said he wouldn't face trial before June 2020.
He's accused of arranging to have sex with girls as young as age 14 in the early 2000s at Epstein's residences in Manhattan and Florida.
The 66-year-old was also hospitalized in July after he was found unresponsive in what appeared to be a possible suicide attempt.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe urged a June trial date, saying there is "a public interest in bringing this case to trial as swiftly as possible." But Epstein's lawyer, Martin Weinberg, said the case is far from "ordinary," adding the defense team won't be ready before Labor Day 2020.
