In OneCoin Case Sentencing of Konstantin Ignatov Pushed Back 6 Months For Cooperation

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

BBC - Decrypt - LightRead - Honduras - Source

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Nov 10 -- For money laundering for scam crypto currency OneCoin, lawyer Mark Scott was convicted by a jury after testimony by Konstantin Ignatov and others but was allowed to remain free on bail pending sentencing.

  On April 7, Konstantin Ignatov's sentencing was adjourned, to July 8. But on July 7, there were no sentencing letters.

  And when Inner City Press at 3 pm checked the July 8 calendar, at 10 am Judge Ramos had another case, for Isaiah Figueroa, on violation of supervised released - NOT Konstantin Ignatov.

 And after 5 pm, the US Attorney's Office filed this: "Re: United States v. Konstantin Ignatov, S7 17 Cr. 630 (ER) Dear Judge Ramos: A sentencing control date is presently set in the above-captioned case for July 8, 2020, at 10:00 AM. Because the defendant’s cooperation is not yet complete, the Government respectfully requests that the sentencing control date be adjourned for approximately four months. The defense consents to this application."

 And now four months later on November 10, this: "Re: United States v. Konstantin Ignatov, S7 17 Cr. 630 (ER) Dear Judge Ramos: A sentencing control date is presently set in the above-captioned case for November 11, 2020. Because the defendant’s cooperation is not yet complete, the Government respectfully requests that the sentencing control date be adjourned for approximately six months. The defense consents to this application. Respectfully submitted, AUDREY STRAUSS Acting United States Attorney  By: /s Christopher J. DiMase / Nicholas Folly."

  Update: An it was endorsed, and pushed to May 14.  And what about notifying victims?

On July 6 in another (insider trading) case, Inner City Press published an unredacted copy of a sentencing submission which revealed the sweet deal the SDNY prosecutors had given one John Dodelande, story here, photos here. Inner City Press is monitoring the docket(s). Watch this site.

  (Second comparative note: in Singapore, they move more quickly -- Fok Fook Seng was charged in April 2020, with Lim Yoong Fok, and now fined $72,000. What will Konstantin Ignatov's deal and sentence be?)

   Sebastian Greenwood has now been charged, see below. But his court date was pushed back, Inner City Press first reported: "ORDER as to Karl Sebastian Greenwood: The conference scheduled for June 3, 2020, is hereby RESCHEDULED to occur as a videoconference using the CourtCall platform on June 24, 2020 (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 6/5/2020)."

  Now it's pushed back into August: "MEMO ENDORSEMENT as to Karl Sebastian Greenwood (5) on [293] LETTER MOTION addressed to Judge Edgardo Ramos from Bruce Barket dated June 17, 2020 re: Request to adjourn conference. ENDORSEMENT: The June 24 pretrial conference is adjourned to August 5, 2020, at 9:00 AM. (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 6/19/2020) (ap)."

The basis of the request?  "On the government’s consent, we are writing to request an adjournment of next week’s court conference from June 24, 2020 to August 5, 2020. The reason for this request is that while we are still navigating the voluminous and complex discovery, our ability to confer with our client remains substantially limited. Under normal circumstances we would have been able to meet with our client for several hours per day, several days per week, to discuss and prepare the case as necessary. But under current restrictions we are limited to a single thirty-minute phone call per week. The requested adjournment will thus account for these restrictions, and it will allow us sufficient time to communicate with Mr. Greenwood before our next appearance in Court." When is justice delayed, justice denied? Watch this site.

 In a parallel world on March 12 the US Attorney's Office belatedly moved to revoke Scott's bail, citing Scott's continue use of OneCoin derived funds and, explicitly, Inner City Press' "blog post" about Scott dining out in Florida while on home incarceration. 

 Assistant US Attorney Chris Demase said they have first read out it in the blog post and couldn't believe it - but that it was proved by GPS information from Scott's location monitoring ankle bracelet.  

  Mark Scott's Florida based lawyer David M. Garvin sputtered over the telephone from Florida, with Scott next to him, that the dinner had involved lawyers. He tried to explain Scott's use of OneCoin funds. But Scott was ordered to turn himself in to the US Bureau of Prisons on March 13. And on that day, Konstantin Ignatov was released. Strange symmetry.

Another of his lawyers, when Inner City Press left the courtroom, was arranging to pay for a transcript, perhaps to appeal. Inner City Press on March 13 asked the US Attorney's Office Press Office for its filings not yet in the public docket.  Here is Inner City Press' Periscope video upon leaving the courthouse. The case is US v. Scott, 17-cr-630 (Ramos). 

In UN Corrupted by Guterres Now Lowcock Aims To Move Staff Without Any Consultation

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon

BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - CJR - PFT

UN GATE, Nov 10 – In the United Nations from which SG Antonio Guterres has banned Inner City Press 861 days for asking about his complicity in the killing of civilians in Cameroon and Sudan and their mass imprisonment by China in Xinjiang, there are blatantly double or triple standards between national staff, "regular" international staff and then, at the top, corrupt Tony and his cronies.

   Below Inner City Press publishes a complaint sent to it on November 10 by OCHA staff, about USG Mark Lowcock (who refuses to file any public financial disclosure) deciding to move them out of Geneva without consultation: "Geneva, 10 November 2020  Dear Mr. Lowcock, I would like to commend through you all OCHA staff for their hard work in delivering OCHA’s mandate under very difficult and increasingly challenging humanitarian and personal circumstances. I am writing to you following the information that we have recently received regarding the relocation of 23 positions at the professional level from OCHA Geneva office to Istanbul and the abolition of 6 General Service positions in 2021, which comes in addition to the first wave of relocations to The Hague that led to a reduction of staff in 2020. We have also learnt about your intention to offshore administrative positions from Geneva for financial reasons and to make future positions in Geneva as temporary job openings in order to make OCHA staff more mobile. We are seriously concerned regarding these decisions that were never consulted with the staff representatives despite the fact that they have a clear impact on the future of the Geneva office and its staff. First of all, based on the information that has been communicated to staff, the main reason behind the relocation is to get closer to those who benefit from OCHA’s humanitarian assistance. If this is indeed the case, we wonder about the rationale behind the choice of both The Hague and Istanbul as places for the relocation. We also wonder why the Geneva office is the one that has been witnessing a significant reduction in its staff since the beginning of the process. The logical conclusion that can be drawn is that the only rationale behind these decisions is a short-term one, with the aim to cutting costs by considerably reducing the size of the Geneva office, yet missing out on the long-term benefits of being located in a humanitarian hub. Further, this restructuring and relocation process has been ongoing for more than two years and comes quick on the heels of earlier restructuring and relocation processes. Cumulatively, this has created huge uncertainty and unnecessary stress for staff. Year after year they live in fear of having their position abolished or relocated, often for no obvious reason. The stress inflicted on OCHA staff by its leadership has been exacerbated by its occurring during the pandemic. Staff were and are still obliged to take decisions about their move despite the fact that the overall world, including the United Nations, is struggling to overcome the pandemic and its consequences on the health and lives of people. As one staff member rightly put it: “While the UN continues to focus on the stresses caused by COVID, they have completely ignored those caused by the cruel approaches OCHA senior management has taken to decentralization”. It is unfortunate to conclude that this reflects a total lack of duty of care from OCHA towards its own staff. In addition, we regret to note that relocation decisions are being taken without putting the staff at the center, as it should be for a humanitarian entity like OCHA. We also fail to understand what OCHA is trying to achieve by forcing staff who are close to retirement or who have personal constraints, to move against their own will. As you know, refusing to relocate means for many staff leaving OCHA despite years of dedicated service. While we understand the  need for mobility of staff, we believe that decisions should be first and foremost human- centered. Instead, your leadership has conspired to take the human out of “humanitarian”.  Based on the above, we would like to get a confirmation from you that your decisions in terms of relocation do not aim at closing the Geneva office. We also would like to kindly ask you to  inform us about the real rationale behind the choices of Istanbul and The Hague as places to relocate. We also would like to see an immediate suspension of the relocation process until the pandemic, currently raging across Europe, is well contained. As you know, without a pool of dedicated staff, OCHA will not be able to deliver on its crucial mandate. Making savings at the expenses of your own staff is not the best way to go." But this is Guterres' corrupt UN. Inner City Press will ask his spokespeople Stephane Dujarric and Melissa Fleming in writing - but probably they will not answer. Totally UNaccountable.

And here's one from October 31 by UN national staff in Sudan, screwed as the UN and AU close down the failed but cash cow UNAMID mission.

  The complaint was triggered by the total contempt shown to them by Tony's head of peacekeeping, the sixth Frenchman in a row to hold the post, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. He is traveling around, which would in New York require a two week quarantine upon return.

(Guterres complained of this in a Zoom call with diplomats that Inner City Press published, with Guterres bragged he's doing to Boston to meet a plane from Portugal, evading the rules amid the UN Covid outbreak).

  So can it be that Guterres lets his highest cronies live wherever in the world they want, on the public dime, while "regular" international staff were all told they had to return to their duty stations like New York, or not get paid? Who else has this secret and sleazy deal? Guterres' spokespeople Stephane Dujarric and Melissa Fleming refuse to answer any of Inner City Press' written questions, so we'll find out in other ways - watch this site.

 The Sudan national staff says they have been in a sit-in strike in front of the mission since August. But gallivanting Lacroix didn't even stop to see them. We'll have more on this, too.

  Back on September 1 Inner City Press wrote to the Niger Mission, as incoming UN Security Council president, with questions about Cameroon, Somalia and UNsexploitation.

 The email address on the Niger Mission's UN web page did not work; it bounced back. A Direct Message on Twitter to @Niger_ONU was not answered.

  And now as the UN closes down for COVID spread multiple sources told Inner City Press it is the Niger Mission. Inner City Press was the first to report this. And also, Guterres' sleazy plan to evade quarantine, even now, and spread it to Boston.

   The United Nations General Assembly in New York will be closed on October 27 as at least five members on a member state's mission have tested positive for COVID-19, letter first tweeted by Inner City Press here
and below.

 But many hours later, at 8:30 am on October 27, still nothing from Guterers or his Media Acceditation and Liaison Unit. It is surmised that Guterres, ever selfish, still wants to slip away to Boston and meet a plane from Lisbon this coming weekend. As if Massachusetts should let him in without quarantining there? No answers.

"Following information from the Secretariat regarding five COVID infections at a Mission of a Member State, the advice of the Medical Unit is to cancel in-person meetings at UNHQ tomorrow, Tuesday 27 October, pending contact tracing. Accordingly, after consulting the Main Committee Chairs, and in light of the need to safeguard public health, all in-person meetings of the Main Committees of the General Assembly tomorrow are cancelled."

  This is the UN whose Secretary General Antonio Guterres, a week ago bragged about evading quarantine, video here. This while his spokesman Stephane Dujarric briefing maskless in a windowless room, five feet from equally maskless correspondents from Al Jazeera and other state media, here. Their UN should leave New York.

This as Sani I. Mahamadou, Deputy Chief of Staff to Niger's president, bragged online of a "Very big day for Niger, who begins his month of presidency of the United Nations Security Council." They're off to a terrible start.

  Apparently Niger PR Abdou Abarry could only handle questions from pre-screened in-house correspondents, one of whose media has no story by her since 2017, another with no stories at all, at least one - actually, more -- a repeated #MeToo violator. Periscope here.

 Niger has not said a word about the slaughter in Cameroon, nor about the UN Peacekeeping sexploitation exposed by Inner City Press.

  The Program belatedly went up - with countries on which Niger ignored and censored questions: Myanmar, Somalia, where UNMAS sent local staff to be killed, and Colombia and South Sudan. There will be Francophonie on September 8. We have now written directly to the Mission's 404 spokesman - and will have more on this.

When Guterres' spokes- / hatchetman Stephane Dujarric holds his noon briefings this month while refusing all questions from Inner City Press despite an on camera promise. And Indonesia? We'll report.

Watch this site.

SDNY Grand Jury Probe of 2017-20 Has Balde Moving To Dismiss Indictment Others to Follow

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive, Patreon

BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - The Source

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Nov 9 – On a legal call designed to give defense counsel information about White Plains grand juries in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, live tweeted by Inner City Press, it emerged that a grand jury has "met" in the SDNY in Manhattan in the last week.

Apparently, some grand jurors participated by video.

 This seems noteworthy, given for example that in March allowing a single juror in the US v. Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad trial to deliberate by video required the defendant's consent. Why not this? Below is the blow by blow, then background on one of the underlying cases, US v. Balde (there is also US v. Schulte, and other cases).

 On August 27, in the lead Balde case, "Defendant did not receive the expected production from the Jury Administrator."

  On September 14, another proceeding in Balde which Inner City Press covered. Robert Rogers, Counsel to the Clerk of Court and Gilbert Cardona, Assistant Jury Administrator, were present - and it was explained that Excel spread sheets are limited to just over one million records, and these Manhattan and White Plains "wheels" had more.

That's now fixed, and the process was described as filling and empty buckets, based on who votes in Presidential elections. On September 16 from Balde's lawyers, this: "Re: United States v. Souleymane Balde 20 Cr. 281 (KPF) Dear Judge Failla: We write to follow up on two issues raised at the conference on September 14, 2020: the requested timeframe for the Qualified Wheel data and information regarding our anticipated motion practice. As it relates to the first issue, we originally demanded “The District, Manhattan Division, and White Plains Division Qualified Jury Wheel data as described in the Jury Plan Section III D….” ECF No. 14 (Attachment 1, Item 17). Given the revelation during the September 14, 2020 conference the Qualified wheel is constantly in flux, the Court posited three different ways that the request could be fulfilled. After consulting with our expert regarding a timeframe for the requested data, we believe the Qualified Wheel information for everyone who was ever qualified from the inception of the wheel 2017 until the present would provide us with the most fruitful information, and we therefore request that timeframe of data. Second, we are prepared to inform the Court and the government that we plan to engage in motion practice as it relates to this data, and in particular, we plan to file a motion to dismiss the indictment."

And now, late on November 9, they have: "Souleymane Balde, will move this Court, before the Honorable Katherine Polk Failla, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, at a time to be set by the Court, for an Order dismissing the indictment as it was obtained in violation of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution and in violation of the Jury Selection and Service Act. DATED: New York, New York November 9, 2020 Respectfully submitted, DAVID E. PATTON, ESQ. Federal Defenders of New York By: Annalisa Mirón, Esq., Jennifer Willis, Esq." Watch this site - we'll have more, much more, on this.

Counsel for Josh Schulte was on the September 14 call. This grand jury issue spread to a case before Judge Rakoff, and US v. Matthews before Judge Vyskocil; Inner City Press asked Acting US Attorney Strauss about it on "dirty doctor" Robert Hadden.  Watch this site.

Previously, Judge Failla questioned SDNY jury administrator.

Q: Can you answer for your staff? A: Yes.

Q: What does a jury administrator do? A: I oversee line staff, my jury clerks here. I create pools for cases to go forward. We create a master jury wheel with a vendor

 A: I have a staff of nine. We do petit as well as grand juries.... We have an outside vendor prepare the summons. We check: do they live in the District, are they a citizen, etc. Then we put them in the qualified wheel that I pick pools from.

 Judge Failla: What is the master jury wheel? A: We get registered vote list and pull names.  We get three to five million names in the master jury wheel. Judge Failla: How often do you update it? A: We rebuild the wheel every four years.

Judge Failla: Please turn to page 2 of the government's June __ 2020 letter. Where it says "Divisional wheel." A: NYC is Division 1 - Bronx, Manhattan. Westchester, Putnam and Rockland are in that and White Plains, Division 7, which contains more counties.

Judge Failla: What is the AO-12 form? A: It has race and other information, a statistical sampling to compare to population data, in the census data.  Judge Failla: What's the JS-12 form? A: Race, gender and ethnicity, but not compared to census.

 A: Let me add, to get 90 to 120 jurors, I have to send out 400 summonses.  Judge Failla: Those who show up go to jury assembly room? A: Yes. Grand juries, too. A Magistrate Judge presides.  Judge Failla: Is there an AUSA there? A: Yes.Judge Failla: Are you working under a jury plan now? A: Yes, dated February ... 2009. It's called "Amended Plan for the Random Selection of Grand and Petit Juries for the SDNY." Judge Failla: Any amendments? A: Only two orders signed by Chief Judge recently.

Judge Failla: Are you in compliance with Chief Judge McMahon's order? A (after a laugh) Yes. Judge Failla: When was the last grand jury in Manhattan SDNY? A: March 26. Q: So after that, all in White Plains? A: I would assume. Judge Failla: Who is the vendor? A: Michael Sutera Data Systems. Judge Failla: When were the grand jurors summoned in my case, US v. Balde?

A: November 2019. Balde's lawyer: We'll need date about this Division 7 wheel. Can I ask a question? Judge Failla: You can ask me, and I'll decide if I ask Ms. Thomas. Balde's lawyer: Are the reports A0-12 routinely produced? Where are they stored?

 Judge Failla: Is it the that an A0-12 is generated during the building of an initial wheel? A: Yes. Judge Failla: So February 2017? A: I would think so.Judge Failla: Is it the that an A0-12 is generated during the building of an initial wheel? A: Yes. Judge Failla: So February 2017? A: I would think so.

Judge Failla: I could order you to create an A0-12... Do you have any? Any other judge ordered it? A: I have been ordered by another judge. Judge Failla: Let's imagine a judge not surnamed Failla ordered an A0-12, would you keep it? A: Yes.

Judge Failla: Ms Willis [Balde's lawyer], is that enough? A: Yes. Judge Failla: I suggest defense counsel caucus and how they propose to proceed. And speak with your expert.

 Federal Defender: A few on this call have received notice that the pool their client was indicted from was from Manhattan but sitting elsewhere? AUSA McKay: There's been a new grand jury in Manhattan, in the last week. Drawn from Division 1.

McKay: "It's possible that some of the grand jurors from the northern counties were allowed to sit virtually."

Really? After the proceeding, this was filed: "Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Katherine Polk Failla: Telephone Conference as to Souleymane Balde held on 6/30/2020. Defendant Souleymane Balde's presence waived; Attorney Jennifer Willis representing Defendant present. AUSAs Kiersten Fletcher, Mary Christine Slavik and Thomas McKay present. Court reporter Pamela Utter present. Thomas Burnett, Nick Chiuchiolo, Peter Davis, Sid Kamaraju, Lindsey Keenan, Sarah Kushner, Tom McKay, Daniel Nessim, Josiah Pertz, Andrew Rohrbach, Thomas Wright, Annalisa Miron, Ariel Werner, Christopher Flood, David Patton, Robert Baum, Edward Zas, Jonathan Marvinny, Donna Newman, Sabrina Shroff, Bobbi Sternheim, Michael Bachrach, Ken Montgomery, Counsel in the following cases, also present: 20 Cr. 288(LJL), 20 Cr. 293(LJL), 20 Cr. 286(WHP), 17 Cr. 548(PAC), 20 Cr. 301(PKC), 20 Cr. 300(PAC), 20 Cr. 303(RMB), 20 Cr. 294(PKC), 20 Cr. 292(PKC), 20 Cr. 304(AJN). Jury Administrator Linda Thomas and Counsel to the Clerk of Court Robert Rogers present. By 7/14/20, and after consultation with the expert, other defense counsel and the government, Ms. Willis hall file a letter in the Balde case, with defendant's request for records." We will have more on this.

  The case is now US v. Balde, 20-cr-281 (Failla).

In Wire Transfers Case Citibank For Family Link Nixes TrialGraffix So YouTube Mulled

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Nov 9 – For the Citibank wire transfers virtual trial scheduled for December 9, there is a dispute about which technological platform to use.

  On November 9 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Jesse M. Furman held proceeding. Inner City Press covered it. 

  Judge Furman has written in advance that he "is currently conducting a fully remote bench trial - using TrialGraphix, which is a zoom-based platform - and it has worked remarkably well."   

Then Citibank's lawyer John Baughman complained that the lead defense counsel Michael Carlinksy's brother is a principal in TrialGraphix, and Citibank does not want that platform used. 

  Judge Furman asked the parties to propose to him other platforms. To his credit he said he'd like if possible to provide video and not just telephone access to the press and public. A YouTube channel was suggested.

The case is In re Citibank August 11, 2020 Wire Transfers, 20-cv-6539 (Furman)

US Is Sued For Moves On Swiss Bank Accounts Under Little Tucker Act SDNY Motions Coming

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Nov 9 – Jonathan Zuhovitzky has sued the US under the Little Tucker Act for what he says is impropriate actions on Swiss bank accounts - his wife is not a US citizen. 

 On November 9 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge John G. Koeltl held a proceeding. Inner City Press covered it. 

   The US said it intends to file a motion to dismissed and/or for summary judgement.

Judge Koeltl said go ahead, setting December 4 as the US' deadline with Zuhovitsky to response by December 30.

The case is Zuhovitzky v. USA, et al., 20-cv-4937 (Koeltl)