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hopeforamerica
03-06-2008, 10:04 AM
I'm so tired of getting responses like this one:

"The Patriot Act seems to be doing its job. I would be more concerned about it if I had heard any stories of U.S. citizens' rights being infringed upon. To the best of my knowledge this is not the case, and I am sure the ACLU is keeping track. In the past there have been times when the federal government has had to push the limits of its power in order to protect America from her enemies, and when the threat passes, the limits to our government are enforced by the people. The founding fathers created a system of government that was really very flexible in this way."

This is from a guy running for a house seat in AZ. His website seemed really good and so I questioned him on a few things, including the patriot act. Above was his response.

Can someone give me a source of documented stuff where the patriot act has indeed infringed on our rights. I know it has, I have read the stories, I just need a source.

Thanks!

Bryan
03-06-2008, 10:24 AM
I can pull some cases up for you later but keep in mind in some situations it's illegal to document this- for example, with the Patriot Act you can have your home searched without a warrant and it can be a crime tell anyone about it.

This reminds me of a question one of my friends was once asked, "How come I never hear about these secret courts?" :rolleyes:

pacelli
03-06-2008, 10:27 AM
Using new provisions of the Patriot Act, ICE has launched a nationwide campaign against illegal/unlicensed money transmittal businesses that has resulted in the arrest of more than 155 individuals and 142 criminal indictments, over $25 million in illicit profits seized, and several unlicensed money transmittal businesses shut down.

The following are examples of how the Patriot Act facilitated ICE investigations:

* On September 22, 2005, a key player in a scheme to illegally transfer more than $100 million to Pakistan through a New Jersey money transmittal business was sentenced to nearly four years in prison as a result of an investigation by ICE and IRS agents. Umer Darr, a Pakistani native and naturalized U.S. citizen was first arrested in June 2003 along with five other men. ICE agents found that Darr and his associates were affiliated with a money transmitting firm called Access Inc. of USA, which operated out of a small, upstairs apartment of a suburban house. The business kept an unlisted number; did not advertise in the Yellow Pages, and could only be accessed through an unmarked rear door. Yet through this small hidden business, more than $100 million in virtually untraceable funds were illegally moved to Pakistan. Several defendants in this ongoing case have been convicted.

* On September 16, 2005, a man who testified before the U.S. Senate shortly after 9/11 about the dangers of unlicensed money transmittal businesses was himself sentenced to jail for operating one of these illegal businesses. Rahim Bariek of Herndon, Virginia, was sentenced to 18 months in jail for operating an illegal money transmitting business (commonly known as “hawala”) without a license, in violation of provisions of the USA Patriot Act. In November 2001, Bariek had testified before Congress about the need for hawala operators like himself to abide by federal laws governing such businesses. A subsequent ICE investigation revealed that Bariak was in fact operating an illegal hawala that received at least $4.9 million in funds to transfer to Iran and Pakistan. Bariek also transmitted funds to Afghanistan after the September 11th terrorist attacks when Afghanistan was still under the control of the Taliban, and a base for Al-Qaeda operations.

* On September 13, 2005, ICE achieved the first ever conviction in the District of Columbia under Title 18 USC Section 1960 of the USA Patriot Act. Aissatou Pita Barry, 38, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business that illegally wired more than $15.5 million around the globe on behalf of 5,000 relatively unknown customers. Barry’s company, Guinex International, never asked customers about the source of their funds, yet conducted roughly 65,000 transactions on their behalf. Barry and other Guinex employees also provided customers with the numbers of various bank accounts controlled by Barry and instructed customers that they could make deposits directly into those accounts. Pita-Barry was in the United States on a Diplomatic Passport that authorized her only to work at the Guinea Embassy.

* On August 11, 2005, a federal grand jury in Boston indicted Mario Viana, 39, and Julio Viana, 37, for operating an illegal money transmittal business. Mario Viana was also charged with four counts of alien smuggling. In addition, Julio Viana was charged with thirteen counts of structuring. The defendants allegedly assisted in smuggling aliens into the United States, charging some $10,000 for each person. After being smuggled into the country, the illegal aliens would work at the Viana family business to repay the debt they incurred. The pair also allegedly operated an unlicensed money remittal business, wiring some $1.1 million within the United States and abroad.

* On July 27, 2005, Ali Abdurahman, 37, pleaded guilty to federal charges of operating an unlicensed money transfer business in California that illegally funneled nearly $2 million to the Middle East and other countries overseas. The charge against Abdurahman is the culmination of a probe by ICE that began more than two years ago after ICE received a tip from a San Francisco-based investigator for Bank of America regarding suspicious financial transactions in the Orange County area. ICE's investigation revealed that the airport shuttle driver deposited more than $2.4 million into his personal accounts at several local banks. Financial records show he wired more than $1.6 million of those funds overseas, primarily to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). One of Abdurahman's clients was an Ethiopian national named Abubakar Baharun. Baharun, 37, was recently arrested and indicted by a grand jury in Santa Ana in connection with a bank fraud and check-kiting scheme. ICE investigators revealed that Baharun used Abdurahman's money transmitter service to wire the proceeds from his illegal activities to an account in the UAE.

* On May 13, 2005, Eltaib Yousif, 41, a resident of Castro Valley, California, made his initial court appearance in federal court in San Francisco after being arrested by ICE agents on charges of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. According to the indictment, Yousif illegally moved more than $1.5 million outside the country between September 2001 and November 2003. The investigation began after San Francisco ICE agents received a tip from ICE agents in New York about suspicious deposits being made into accounts at Citibank branches there and in the Bay Area.

* On April 19, 2005, Seide Venord, the owner and anti-money laundering compliance officer for a Philadelphia money transfer firm was indicted on 23 counts of money laundering after an undercover ICE investigation. He faces a potential 860 years in prison and a $21.5 million fine. The indictment alleges that Venord arranged 43 wire transfers of money totaling $267,195 that he believed were proceeds of drug activity. He is also accused of structuring these transactions to evade federal currency transaction reporting requirements and permitting the use of false identification to conceal the true identity of the sender of the money.

* On March 22, 2005, ICE agents arrested Hossein Esfahani, in Lincolnwood, Illinois, on charges of operating an illegal money transmittal business and transferring funds to Iran in violation of the U.S. embargo on Iran. The criminal complaint alleges that Esfahani moved more than $3.75 million to domestic and international locations from his unlicensed money service business in Illinois from 1999 through 2003. The majority of Esfahami’s illegal money transmittals were directed to money exchanges in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Those Dubai money exchanges, in turn, converted the wired funds into Iranian currency and then directed the funds to recipients throughout Iran, according to the complaint. During the enforcement action, Esfahani resisted arrest and ICE agents found a loaded .22 caliber pistol in his house that he was not licensed to possess.

* On March 15, 2005, ICE agents arrested Louay Habbal, 45, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Syria, for operating an unlicensed money transmittal business located at his Vienna, Virginia, residence. Habbal was arrested upon his arrival at Dulles International Airport in the United States on a flight from Damascus, Syria. The indictment alleges that Habbal operated a business called Mena Exchange that received funds from customers nationwide and deposited these funds in bank accounts in Virginia and elsewhere. After taking a portion of these funds as a fee, Mena Exchange transferred more than $23 million to Syria and other nations between November 2001 and July 2004. ICE agents seized more than $100,000 from the company’s accounts.

* On November 4, 2004, a federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, issued a 38-count indictment against Mohammad Anvari-Hamedani charging him with money laundering, illegal exports to Iran, and filing false tax returns. The ICE investigation revealed that Anvari-Hamedani illegally transferred more than $4 million to Iran using bank accounts in the United States, Great Britain, and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, the investigation revealed that funds were also transferred to Iran using a “hawala” scheme using several individuals from various locations in the United States.

* On May 5, 2004, a federal grand jury in Philadelphia, PA, charged Michael Rakita, a local businessman and Russian émigré, with one count of operating an illegal money transmitting business and four counts of money laundering. The indictment alleges that from Jan. 1994 through Feb. 2002, Rakita operated an unlicensed money transfer business that wire transferred roughly $680 million to numerous bank/investment accounts in Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States. The indictment further alleges that in 2000, Rakita laundered roughly $250,000 in funds that he believed to be the proceeds of health care fraud. The case was investigated by ICE, the FBI, and the IRS.

* In 2003, Libardo Florez-Gomez was convicted of operating an unlicensed money remitting business and sentenced to 18 months incarceration. Florez-Gomez had arrived in Miami on a flight from overseas in October 2002. Upon his arrival, border inspectors discovered that he had failed to declare approximately $182,000 worth of Eurodollars. Inspectors also found documents that appeared to be from the Colombian government. Those documents and subsequent investigation by ICE determined that Florez-Gomez was a major financier for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a designated terrorist organization. Florez-Gomez was later charged with operating an unlicensed money transmittal business and convicted.

###

December 14, 2005

http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0815.shtm

hopeforamerica
03-06-2008, 11:16 AM
I can pull some cases up for you later but keep in mind in some situations it's illegal to document this- for example, with the Patriot Act you can have your home searched without a warrant and it can be a crime tell anyone about it.

This reminds me of a question one of my friends was once asked, "How come I never hear about these secret courts?" :rolleyes:

Good point! Thanks in advance if you can pull up some cases. Or just tell me where to look and I'll do it.

limequat
03-06-2008, 11:26 AM
I think you are doing a good thing here by talking to this guy...

But, from where I stand, he's already been disqualified. We could come up with a list a mile long of abuses that stemmed from the Patriot act. While these things are horrible and tyrannical, what is the root of the matter is that the Patriot act is unconstitutional on its face.

In fact, the more I read that BS response, the more I know that that particular rep is a lying, pandering, scumbag. Add him to your "to-be-replaced" list!

hopeforamerica
03-06-2008, 11:41 AM
I think you are doing a good thing here by talking to this guy...

But, from where I stand, he's already been disqualified. We could come up with a list a mile long of abuses that stemmed from the Patriot act. While these things are horrible and tyrannical, what is the root of the matter is that the Patriot act is unconstitutional on its face.

In fact, the more I read that BS response, the more I know that that particular rep is a lying, pandering, scumbag. Add him to your "to-be-replaced" list!

No doubt! I just want to school him a bit. He's also for the war. Funny though on everything else, he sounds good on paper. That is why I emailed him. Right now in AZ we have only 2 people I can consider supporting. No one in my district. I've been pressured to run, but I have an obligation to be home for my kid. My husband and I worked hard to have me home to raise her.

Ex Post Facto
03-06-2008, 12:45 PM
Dang just saw an article on yahoo news last night where the FBI admitted over stepping it's boundaries and not controlling agents discretion to perform wire taps. There is also the 900,000 people listed as Terrorists on the watch list which grows at a rate of 20,000 a month.
I'll see if I can find some stuff for you. However, most MSM types won't report the failures of the programs, which gives us "unreliable" news sources and blogs to source from.

Here is that article from Yahoo news. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080306/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/senate_fbi_15