On Mar 10, 8:04 pm, Ignoramus25976 ignoramus25...@NOSPAM.
25976.invalid wrote:
For an hour of ****ing, these prostitutes can earn an equivalent of 27
hydraulic 20 ton presses from Harbor Freight, or a Miller Dynasty 200DX
welding machine with a new Coolmate 3.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080310/..._spitzer_dc_15
I am shocked by this and cannot even fathom what is it that they do
with their clients that makes them worth so much. Especially since
they cannot even keep secrets.
Doubtfully Elliott Spitzer was actually paying them with cash,
probably some favors were exchanged related to his official capacity.
Maybe he endorsed Hillary due to those sexual favors.
i
Well after reading this story I am starting to wonder if the FBI is
watching me.
But a few machines, $4000 there, $5000 here and pretty soon the
government will think that I am buying love instead of old American
iron.
Okay, okay ...maybe it is the same thing. ;)
TMT
Spitzer tripped up on laws he enforced By SAMANTHA GROSS and DEVLIN
BARRETT, Associated Press Writers
46 minutes ago
Eliot Spitzer knew how to catch bad guys by following the money. As
attorney general, he once broke up a call-girl ring and locked up 18
people on corruption, money-laundering and prostitution charges. He
ruthlessly investigated the pay packages of Wall Street executives and
was so familiar with shady financial maneuvers that he rose to become
the top racketeering prosecutor in Manhattan.
But in the end, it appears that Spitzer may have been done in by the
same behavior he built a career out of prosecuting.
In fact, it seems he was tripped up by some of the very financial
accounting methods he used so successfully against multibillion-dollar
Wall Street firms.
For one thing, the governor initially drew the attention of federal
investigators because of cash payments to an account operated by a
call-girl ring, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on
condition of because of the sensitivity of the case.
Banks are required to file Suspicious Activity Reports to the
government whenever they observe something they fear may be a crime.
In court papers, Client 9 -- identified by another law enforcement
official as Spitzer -- hurried to get more than $4,000 in cash to pay a
call girl at a Washington hotel.
That kind of activity, repeated over time, is just the kind of thing
that would set off alarm bells with a bank's compliance officer, who
is trained to be on the lookout for what is called structuring or
"smurfing" -- a pattern of transactions aimed at hiding the nature or
purpose of certain money.
Spitzer of all people should have known that, said Miami-based lawyer
Gregory Baldwin, credited with coining the term "smurfing" in the
1980s as a federal prosecutor.
"I think he's done enough cases where he's charged money laundering
that he would know exactly what kind of information you get from the
banks. It's such a perfect example of what goes around, comes around,"
he said.
By the time the scandal broke this week, Spitzer's financial
transactions had been monitored, his phone calls had been caught on
tape, and his actions had been scrutinized by federal prosecutors. It
could have been straight out of the Spitzer prosecution playbook.
Whether Spitzer thought he was smarter than the feds because of his
own professional experience is, for now at least, a matter for
psychologists to speculate on.
As New York attorney general, Spitzer was also familiar with how to
bust up a prostitution ring.
Spitzer proudly announced on April 8, 2004, that authorities had
arrested 18 people on promoting prostitution and related charges --
including money laundering and falsifying business records -- in an
investigation of escort services in New York.
"This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered
management structure," Spitzer said at the time. "It was, however,
nothing more than a prostitution ring, and now its owners and
operators will be held accountable."
In the 2004 probe, investigators used wiretaps and other surveillance
to build their case, said Vincent Romano, who defended the man accused
of running the ring. Prosecutors also charged some of the defendants
with enterprise corruption -- a charge carrying heavier penalties than
simple prostitution. No charges were brought against the ring's
customers, just those accused of working for or running the service.
"It was a big splash. They had the perp walk. He caused a lot of
embarrassment to a lot of people in the case to his benefit. What he
put their families through at the time, he's probably experiencing
now: the level of embarrassment and ridicule," Romano said.
"He's got this overzealous, mean-spirited prosecution, but behind
closed doors in another state, he's doing the identical thing that
he's accusing others of doing," he added. "And the other irony of it
is that you've made a career off of a wiretap, and your demise is by
the same prosecutorial tool."
The investigation that could spell Spitzer's ruin found that Client 9
was apparently a repeat customer with the Emperors Club VIP, a
lucrative prostitution service where some call girls pulled in $5,500
an hour. The governor has not been charged, and prosecutors would not
comment on the case.
A person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press
that the probe began with a referral from banks to an Internal Revenue
Service office on Long Island about suspicious transactions involving
accounts ultimately traced to Spitzer. The IRS studied the records and
then referred the case to federal prosecutors in October. It was then
assigned to the public corruption unit of the federal prosecutor's
office in Manhattan.
The precise details of what set off alarm bells for federal
authorities are still unclear.
But authorities believe Spitzer may have spent tens of thousands of
dollars, apparently transferring only personal funds -- not campaign
contributions or state taxpayer dollars -- between accounts to pay for
the prostitute service, according to a law enforcement official who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another official said the amount could be as much as $80,000.
A half-million or so times every year, banks alert the federal
government that a suspicious transaction has occurred. Although the
public sometimes thinks it requires a transfer of $10,000 or more to
attract attention, banks can label transactions suspicious even if
they involve far less money, said Walter Pagano, a former IRS agent
who has testified in court on white-collar crime.
Spitzer might have tried to keep his transfers below the $10,000
threshold, underestimating the scrutiny that banks give to lesser
amounts.
Spitzer prosecuted cases in New York for two decades before becoming
governor. From 1986 to 1992, he was an assistant district attorney in
Manhattan. While there, he rose to become chief of the labor
racketeering unit.
While attorney general, he also went up against two men he accused of
using their tour company to promote "sex tourism" in the Philippines
and Thailand -- first suing them in civil court and then bringing
criminal charges.
One defense attorney on the case said it was politically motivated.
"He prosecuted a couple of little guys who were easy targets when he
was running for governor," Daniel Hochheiser said. "The whole
situation is marked by irony, hypocrisy and self-righteousness."
___
Associated Press Writer Devlin Barrett contributed to this report from
Washington and AP Writer Larry Neumeister contributed from New York.