Goldman Sachs Faces Criminal Charges in Malaysia for Helping Billions Vanish from State Fund

Corruption is Everywhere - in Malaysia, in Goldman Sachs, apparently

FILE PHOTO: A Goldman Sachs sign at the New York Stock Exchange © Reuters / Lucas Jackson

Malaysia filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs and two ex-bankers over the multi-billion dollar looting of state fund, 1MDB. The US bank denies the accusation, claiming it was deceived by the previous Malaysian government.

The subsidiaries of the Wall Street banking giant and its former key employees, ex-chairman of Goldman’s South East Asia, Tim Leissner, and ex-managing director, Roger Ng, are accused of giving false statements when helping to arrange bonds for 1MDB, Malaysia’s Attorney General Tommy Thomas announced on Monday.

Malaysia says the accused wanted to misappropriate $2.7 billion from $6.5 billion in bonds, issued by 1MDB and underwritten by Goldman Sachs, in three separate offerings between 2012 and 2013.

Malaysia also filed charges against former employee of 1MDB Jasmine Loo Ai Swan and local financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, who maintains his innocence. The prosecution believes the duo conspired with Leissner and Ng to bribe officials in order to procure the selection, involvement and participation of Goldman Sachs in these bond issuances.

Now Kuala Lumpur is seeking to take back the misappropriated $2.7 billion from Goldman Sachs as well as $600 million in fees received by the bank. The prosecution is demanding fines and up to 10 years behind bars for each of the accused. The fines may amount to at least 1 million ringgit ($240,000), according to the charge sheets, seen by Reuters.

Billions of dollars from the Malaysian fund were reportedly used to buy everything from Beverly hills mansions, yachts and a private jet to artworks among other things in a fraud that allegedly involved former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

As Malaysia brought the charges, the bank hit back, claiming that it was the victim of deceptive Malaysian officials. The long-running scandal has already rocked the bank’s shares this year, which dropped more than 30 percent.

“Certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to Goldman Sachs, outside counsel and others about the use of proceeds from these transactions,” Goldman said in a statement cited by media. It added that the charges have no effect on its “ability to conduct our current business globally.”

Analysts warn that the scandal is just the tip of the iceberg of the bank’s “criminal” deeds. Despite being investigated in several countries, including in the US, no matter the crimes, Goldman chiefs will never go to jail as they are too close to both sides of the US political aisle, Jack Rasmus, professor of political economy at St. Mary's College told RT. He also warned that the bank is driving the world to the next financial crisis.

“They just haven’t been caught in the other places,” Rasmus said in an interview to RT. “We’re on the verge of another financial crisis that will make the last one pale in comparison and Goldman Sachs and businesses like them are at the center of the cause of this.”

Belgian PM Resigns After UN Migrant Pact Row Results in No Confidence Motion

Islamization Backlash - in Belgium?

Belgian PM Charles Michel ©  Reuters / Eric Vidal

Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel has announced his immediate resignation after a no-confidence motion against his government was introduced.

Speaking to the parliament, Michel admitted that his call for a “coalition of the willing” to govern until the next election – scheduled for May 2019 – had “not been heard,” adding that he would respect this outcome and resign.

His speech received standing ovation, according to the Belgian media.

Michel's decision came after the opposition Green and Socialist parties tabled a no-confidence motion against his government. The move was allegedly provoked by the ruling coalition’s failure to agree on some budget proposals.

The Belgian government was already weakened earlier this month, when the center-right New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), which is actually the largest political force in the parliament, quit the ruling coalition citing disagreements with its partners over the controversial UN Migration Pact. Michel had to reshuffle his cabinet and planned to make his government continue its work as a minority one.

The UN-backed pact that has turned out to be a stumbling block for the Belgian government was approved by more than 160 nations in Marrakech, Morocco earlier in December.

Some nations have openly opposed it, while many others, including Belgium, witnessed widespread protests of their citizens against it. The US, which was the first to openly oppose the pact, said the agreement was “dead even before it's been signed.”

Although the text is not legally binding and is regarded as more of a declaration, the pact is worded in a way that encourages domestic courts and authorities to consider it when making decisions based on interpretations of their laws.

Such provisions have prompted Austria, Hungary, Israel and several other countries to reject the pact. Critics claim that the deal is inadequate for managing global migration flows and might negatively affect their national immigration policies.

Paraguay Arrests 18 Police over Brazilian Inmates' Escape

Also, 18-y/o girl smuggled into prison and murdered

Corruption is Everywhere - definitely in Paraguayan prisons

By Renzo Pipoli

Authorities said two Brazilian inmates escaped from a Paraguay prison on Sunday.

File Photo by f11photo/Shutterstock/UPI

(UPI) -- Paraguay officials detained 18 police guards and placed them under investigation after an escape Sunday of two Brazilian inmates from a high-security prison.

Paraguay's internal security vice minister said inmates Thiago Ximenes, identified as a criminal band leader, and Reinaldo Araujo, identified as a hitman, escaped without a shot being fired from the Agrupamiento Especializado prison in Asuncion.

"Evidently there was police complicity in the escape of two members of the Fist Commando Capital," Paraguayan President Mario Abdo said Monday, reported 45 Ultima Hora.

He said 18 police officers, including two higher ranking officials, are under investigation for potential complicity.

The first stage of the escape, that involved cutting iron bars, occurred in a prison section where the guard in charge had requested permission to leave for family reasons, but superiors did not replace him. Security cameras in other areas that could have foiled the escape were damaged.

The detentions occur within of a month of a deadly incident in the same jail that sparked replacements of Paraguay's top police officials. In November, a Brazilian leader of the Comando Vermelho bank, Marcelo Pinheiro, was able to get an 18-year old girl inside his cell.

The incident became known after the girl was killed. Authorities said Pinheiro may have killed her to avoid extradition to Brazil, possibly because he has privileges in Paraguay he wouldn't have in Brazil.

Instead of being retained in Paraguay for a murder trial, he was immediately expelled by the Paraguayan government, which had already prepared his extradition.

An investigation by Paraguayan newspaper ABC cited a police source that said Paraguay criminals can pay up to $1,600 to arrange for illegal visiting privileges in high-security prisons.

Jail guards are also involved in selling weapons to inmates, it added. Weapons are sold "in parts" and assembled inside jails, the report said. Police uniforms have also been sold to Brazilian criminals who planned to use them to escape, it added.

The border between Brazil and Paraguay is a point from which drugs and weapons are smuggled into Brazil. They end up in the poorest neighborhoods of Brazil's biggest cities, which are plagued by drug related violence, according to Brazilian authorities. Brazilian police have cracked down on such organizations in recent months.

Police Arrest Dozens of Suspected MS Gang Members in El Salvador Raids

Probably the main reason why Central Americans are flooding into the USA is because most of Central America is run by violent gangs of drug traffickers. Rape and murder is common in most cities and it is almost impossible for a teenager to grow up without being recruited into a gang, whether they want to or not.

This is a good sign that at least one government is tackling the issue, although I would be more convinced if some of the arrests had occurred in San Salvador. 5 clans raided out of 600 or so, is a small beginning, but a beginning. 

Will this begin to clean up El Salvador, or will it start an all-out war on the feds?

By Renzo Pipoli

El Salvadoran police captured dozens of suspected gang members during raids across the country Tuesday.

Photo by Rodrigo Sura/EPA-EFE

(UPI) -- El Salvador police arrested dozens of suspected members of the country's most dangerous gangs during coordinated raids Tuesday, officials said.

Police captured 37 suspected MS (Mara Salvatrucha) members early Tuesday through registrations and home searches in different municipalities, the prosecutor's office in San Salvador said. Local media reported high numbers of arrests, with diverse counts.

The prosecutor's office said dozens of arrests were made through coordinated, simultaneous operations, all involving alleged MS gang members and crimes including homicide, extortion, drug trafficking, kidnapping, theft and terrorism.

A total of 227 arrest warrants were issued and directed against the MS and Barrio 18 gangs as part of the operation, Salvadoran newspaper El Mundo reported. Five different clans belonging to the two gangs were targeted, it said.

The arrest warrants are associated with 90 homicides, 47 cases of extortion and four kidnappings. Three other cases involved conspiracy to commit homicide and drug trafficking.

The gangs operated in the regions of Santa Ana, La Libertad, San Vicente, Cuscatlan, Cabanas, San Miguel and Morazan, El Mundo's report said.

One-hundred people were arrested, including the 37 cited by the prosecutor and others that resulted from operations in other regions, ElSalvador.com reported. El Salvador saw a murder rate of 103 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015, but that figure fell to 60 per 100,000 last year, the report noted.

The MS13 and Barrio 18 gangs have some 600 clans, or subgroups, throughout El Salvador. The country's government blames the two groups for most of the violence in the Central American country.

MS 13 originated in Los Angeles in the 1970s and later spread to other parts of the world -- Central and North America and Europe, with some members operating in Italy and Spain. In the U.S., the group's largest presence outside California is in Texas, and members are also found in several eastern states from Georgia to New York.

The gang is said to have been originally created by undocumented immigrants who wanted to protect themselves from other gangs in Los Angeles. It gained strength during the 1990s after it added some troops who were trained by the United States military during the civil war in El Salvador.

U.S. deportations of Salvadorans in recent decades contributed to the strengthening in Central America. Many of the migrants leaving Central America now do so because of the widespread violence.

The USA should be helping Central American governments, including Mexico, re-take their countries from the criminals who control it. It is the best thing they can do to slow the flow of migrants. And then they should help rebuild their economies.

Kiev Proclaims Its Own Orthodox Church, Hails ‘Unification’ After Holding ‘Schismatic’ Council

©  Global Look Press

Ukraine has created an Orthodox church of its own, proclaiming “independence from Moscow.” While the majority of its hierarchs represented schismatic “churches,” Kiev authorities have hailed a supposed “unity” they have achieved.

The so-called “unity council” took place on Saturday in Kiev, with the country’s president Petro Poroshenko and other top officials in attendance. The overwhelming majority of participants represented two non-canonical entities – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the self-styled ‘Kiev Patriarchy’ and the so-called Ukrainian autocephalous Orthodox Church. The two unrecognized entities have announced voluntary dissolution ahead of the event.

Just two hierarchs from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy participated in event, metropolitan bishops Simeon and Aleksandr. The Church as a whole refused to partake in the gathering, denouncing it as schismatic.

Metropolitan bishop Simeon even ran for the post of the head of the new entity, yet lost to ‘metropolitan’ Epiphany, who had been a hierarch within the unrecognized Kiev Patriarchate.

The head of the schismatic entity –self-styled ‘patriarch’ Filaret– has received the lifetime title of ‘Honorary Patriarch’ within the new structure. The title appears to be not without clout, since it’s established in the charter of the new church, which was adopted at the gathering as well.

It was not immediately clear what exact wording the document contains, since it was reportedly being actively negotiated until the last minute. The draft variant, however, which was unveiled earlier this month, made the new church fully subordinate to the Constantinople Patriarchate, regardless of all the talk about “independence.”

Constantinople has already expressed its support for the new religious entity, confirming it will recognize it officially in early January, which likely means the adopted charter suits Patriarch Bartholomew well.

The Russian Orthodox Church had, consequently, cut ties with Constantinople in the biggest split in modern Orthodox history.

The gathering, however, was swiftly denounced by the Russian Orthodox Church, which branded its decisions to be “void.”

“The non-canonical gathering … under general the guidance of a layman and the country’s head, as well as a foreigner, who doesn’t know the local language, has picked a non-canonical ‘bishop’ to become an equally non-canonical ‘primate,’” deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate, Protoiereus Nikolay Balashov, said, adding that the whole event meant “nothing” to the Church.

A similar opinion was voiced by the Belarusian Orthodox Church – subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate – which ruled out any official contacts with the new Ukrainian entity, calling it “evidently schismatic.”

Another American Teacher Fired for Not Joining the Politically Correct Madness

A high school teacher fired after he refused to refer to

a female student as a 'boy'

THEBLAZE STAFF

Monday, on "Pat Gray Unleashed," Pat Gray and his producer, Keith Malinak, weighed in on a high school French teacher who was fired from West Point High School last week after he refused to refer to one of his female student as "him."

Last Thursday, Fox News reported, "As detailed during the course of the public hearing, Mr. Vlaming was recommended for termination due to his insubordination and repeated refusal to comply with directives made to him by multiple WPPS administrators," West Point schools Superintendent Laura Abel said in a statement.

According to reports, both the student and one of her parents had expressed that she felt "ostracized" when Vlaming referred to her using female pronouns, thereby creating a "hostile learning environment."

Fox News reported, "The School Board made a difficult decision after thoughtful consideration. It is the Board's responsibility to adopt and uphold policy, and we unanimously voted to affirm the superintendent's recommendation to terminate Mr. Vlaming."

Pat called this situation "insanity" and asked in a rhetorical tone if this type of situation is one worth fighting.

"Yes," Pat exclaimed, adding that you have to fight.

Education in most of the western world has been taken over by liberals while many of them are far-left liberals. Their goals seem to be compassionate enough, however, they are extremely short-sighted, dishonest, and without truth or common sense. Education must be rescued from the far-left!

Click here for the full article on TheBlaze.com.

Florida Teacher Diane Tirado Was Fired For Giving Zeros To Students That Failed To Hand In Their Work

This Politically Correct, New Age philosophy is completely dishonest

By Bernadette Deron, ati

“It’s absurd to give someone something for nothing and 

to do that is creating a future that is pretty darn bleak."

Diane Tirado

Diane Tirado was fired from her school after giving students zeros for not handing in homework.

An eighth-grade teacher in Florida has gone on the offensive against her former school after she claimed to have been fired for doling out “zero” grades to students who failed to hand in their homework.

Social studies teacher Diane Tirado, 52, was fired from West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie in south Florida after she had been working there for just two months.

Apparently, the school employs a “no zero” policy that Tirado is said to have violated after a group of students failed to hand in one of their first major assignments of the school year. This resulted in Tirado’s forced departure.

The assignment that ended Tirado’s career called for the students to keep an “explorer’s notebook” for two weeks in the same way a 15th-century explorer might have kept a journal in their time.

Diane Tirado claims that parents complained to her over the workloads that their kids received and criticized the teacher of 17 years for giving the eighth graders too much to handle.

“I got called down to the principal’s office because parents were not happy with me,” Tirado said in an interview. “It was ruining my life for weeks.”

She said that during this meeting the principal informed her of the alleged “no zero” policy: “I was not allowed to give anything lower than a 50.”

The school that Tirado was fired from was West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, Florida.  Dreamstime.com

But after a group of students from her class didn’t hand in any work at all, Tirado felt that they didn’t deserve any credit at all, let alone 50 percent, and so handed them “zero” grades.

“I’m used to kids not handing in work… but then chasing them until the report cards are in to make sure they make it up with extra credit,” she said. “But I don’t give a grade for nothing.”

Tirado was fired on Sept. 14, and the principal’s letter of termination reportedly mentioned no official cause for her dismissal. The teacher says that this is because she was working under her probationary period at the time she was fired, which doesn’t require that an explicit reason be stated.

But Tirado believes that it was the “zero” grades that caused her firing. “I refused to do their policy. I guess you would call that defiance,” she said. “I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50 percent for not handing anything in.”

The school, however, said that their alleged “no zero” policy doesn’t exist. “There is no district or individual school policy prohibiting teachers from recording a grade of zero for work not turned in,” the school’s spokesman reported.

But Tirado says that the policy is clearly outlined in the school’s West Gate student and parent handbook. An image she shared with the Post states in bright red capital letters, “NO ZERO’S – LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%.”

A screen shot of the “no zero” policy allegedly taken out of the school’s handbook.

This school’s alleged “no zero” policy is an example of one of the latest parenting trends known as the “participation trophy” which claims that rewarding kids for mere participation will boost their self-esteem. Those that support “participation trophies” believe that eliminating the possibility of a “loser” gives all kids the recognition required to improve their confidence.

But critics of this style of child-rearing say that this hinders children from reaching their ultimate abilities by eliminating the concept of a “loser” in academics and other activities.

It also rewards them for doing nothing, or, even worse, for ignoring what is required of them. It is, in fact, teaching them to be losers. 

Giving 50% for 0% effort is completely dishonest. It is no wonder the principal denied that the policy exists. Dishonesty appears to be part of the culture these days.

Tirado is one such critic: “It’s absurd to give someone something for nothing and to do that is creating a future that is pretty darn bleak.”

“We’re creating monsters out of our children,” she added. “We have a nation of kids that are expecting to get paid and live their life just for showing up and it’s not real…people that experience that kind of childhood…then you’re entitled for the rest of your life.”

An attitude of entitlement makes for good liberals!