Thursday, December 18, 2008
Scrooges in St.Augustine Still Harassing Artists and Entertainers, Resulting in a Dull St. George Street, Discouraging Visitors
Pity WILLIAM B. HARRISS. He got his way. Our City has repeatedly violated the First Amendment, treating St. George Street artists and entertainers like vermin to be suppressed. Look at St. George Street today. Are you happy, Mr. HARRISS? Respond here.
Getting 'up-to-date' on St. George performers
Web posted Monday, July 31, 2000
Getting 'up-to-date' on St. George performers
By PETER GUINTA
Staff Writer
It puzzles citizens of foreign nations to learn that what has long been permitted in almost all countries -- playing a musical instrument or selling one's art on the street -- is against the law in St. Augustine.
Hundreds of people all over the world have have been recorded as signing on to a World Wide Web site dedicated to St. Augustine's street artists, said its creator, J.D. Pleasant of St. Augustine.
Pleasant, an independent videographer, said he created the Web site two or three months ago, after the city reinstated its ban against performances or sales on St. George Street.
"I had been videotaping that story for five years, before the last ban,'' he said. ""That (ban) was overturned (in federal court) and there were a lot of colorful people involved in the celebration. There was a rally in the Plaza, a torchlight parade down St. George Street and jugglers.''
But when a new ban was imposed, he said, there was shock among the artists.
"The public outrage of the locals and tourists is much more notable this time. I couldn't find anybody to support the ban except for some of the merchants on St. George Street,'' Pleasant said.
He started a Web site to post photographs from his digital videos. The address is: www.geocities.com/pics--to--go.
Twice Pleasant's video camera has been grabbed by angry merchants while trying to film the street performers playing for the Fox Network.
Pleasant said, "That was one of the things that made it personal. Also, it was a human drama and I was there.''
He's now working on a documentary about the issue and each time he goes into the editing phase of the project, something else happens. Recently, for example, the Hispanic Garden was closed by the St. Augustine Foundation.
The Garden was a place where many street artists played to avoid arrest.
"The other day, I was at St. George Street and noticed how empty it was (without the artists drawing crowds),'' he said. "You could have shot a cannon down the street and not hit anyone.''
Trying to help the street artists and performers in her own way is Judy Lease of St. Augustine, who knew many of the musicians and performers over the years she has lived in the city.
She said most are poor and cannot afford to pay for paper or copying when they need flyers done.
In a computer store one day, she had an idea: make a calendar.
"I said, "I can do this.' I got a program that makes the calendar outline, then put photographs on top of them. Most of the pictures are mine,'' she said.
She had them wire-bound, bringing her total cost to about $6 each. Twice she sold her entire stock at $8 each and is having the third run printed now.
They are very crudely done, with fuzzy black and white photographs having no identifications of who is pictured, but she uses any money she makes for flyers or printing services for the artists.
"They're like an extended family to me,'' Lease said. ""They got a raw deal in 1995 and 1998, and are getting one this year. As many times as (the ban's) been overturned, why keep using taxpayer money to keep them out? They're not hurting anybody.''
Getting 'up-to-date' on St. George performers
By PETER GUINTA
Staff Writer
It puzzles citizens of foreign nations to learn that what has long been permitted in almost all countries -- playing a musical instrument or selling one's art on the street -- is against the law in St. Augustine.
Hundreds of people all over the world have have been recorded as signing on to a World Wide Web site dedicated to St. Augustine's street artists, said its creator, J.D. Pleasant of St. Augustine.
Pleasant, an independent videographer, said he created the Web site two or three months ago, after the city reinstated its ban against performances or sales on St. George Street.
"I had been videotaping that story for five years, before the last ban,'' he said. ""That (ban) was overturned (in federal court) and there were a lot of colorful people involved in the celebration. There was a rally in the Plaza, a torchlight parade down St. George Street and jugglers.''
But when a new ban was imposed, he said, there was shock among the artists.
"The public outrage of the locals and tourists is much more notable this time. I couldn't find anybody to support the ban except for some of the merchants on St. George Street,'' Pleasant said.
He started a Web site to post photographs from his digital videos. The address is: www.geocities.com/pics--to--go.
Twice Pleasant's video camera has been grabbed by angry merchants while trying to film the street performers playing for the Fox Network.
Pleasant said, "That was one of the things that made it personal. Also, it was a human drama and I was there.''
He's now working on a documentary about the issue and each time he goes into the editing phase of the project, something else happens. Recently, for example, the Hispanic Garden was closed by the St. Augustine Foundation.
The Garden was a place where many street artists played to avoid arrest.
"The other day, I was at St. George Street and noticed how empty it was (without the artists drawing crowds),'' he said. "You could have shot a cannon down the street and not hit anyone.''
Trying to help the street artists and performers in her own way is Judy Lease of St. Augustine, who knew many of the musicians and performers over the years she has lived in the city.
She said most are poor and cannot afford to pay for paper or copying when they need flyers done.
In a computer store one day, she had an idea: make a calendar.
"I said, "I can do this.' I got a program that makes the calendar outline, then put photographs on top of them. Most of the pictures are mine,'' she said.
She had them wire-bound, bringing her total cost to about $6 each. Twice she sold her entire stock at $8 each and is having the third run printed now.
They are very crudely done, with fuzzy black and white photographs having no identifications of who is pictured, but she uses any money she makes for flyers or printing services for the artists.
"They're like an extended family to me,'' Lease said. ""They got a raw deal in 1995 and 1998, and are getting one this year. As many times as (the ban's) been overturned, why keep using taxpayer money to keep them out? They're not hurting anybody.''
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
NY TIMES: Is Florida the most corrupt state in America? Perhaps yes, based on number of convicted officials.
By BILL MARSH
Published: December 13, 2008
Where is officialdom most crooked? Last week, many guessed it must be Illinois, after news that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taped making brazen personal demands in exchange for his selection of a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama.
In Illinois, a Virtual Expectation of Corruption (December 14, 2008)
Times Topics: Rod R. BlagojevichThe state's image took a hit despite its long history of producing famously principled political figures, from the bowtied Senator Paul Simon to the great man on the penny.
But bloggers from competing hotbeds of wrongdoing proclaimed that theirs were the worst officials in the land, thank you. New Jerseyans seemed especially sure that their leadership came out on top in the race to the bottom.
Not so. And not so for Illinois, either.
There are several ways to gauge levels of government corruption, all of them a bit, well, corrupt. We present three methods here in the interest of keeping the arguments going.
Number of Guilty Officials (Graphic)
In a Department of Justice tally covering the last decade, Florida wins by its sheer number of guilty. The report, released last week, itemizes convictions in federal public corruption cases at local, state and federal levels in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and three United States territories.
Illinois ranks only seventh, with 502 convictions. At the squeaky-clean end of the scale, Nebraska barely managed an average of about one guilty official per year.
But the bigger the state, generally, the more officials it has, criminal or otherwise. So places like Florida, New York and Texas pile up big numbers. Let's adjust the data for population.
The Guilty, per Capita (Graphic)
A better measure, perhaps, showing how many convicted officials are produced for every one million constituents. Seems fair - unless you're North Dakota.
The District of Columbia wins big, for obvious reasons: its high concentration of public officials amid a relatively small population. Also, the local United States attorney's office focuses on rooting out corruption, adding to conviction rates.
USA Today published a similar list last week, declaring North Dakota the most corrupt state. Statewide outrage followed. (The newspaper omitted the District and the United States territories.) Mike Jacobs, the editor and publisher of the Grand Forks Herald, called it "a stunning and incomprehensible result" and could recall few cases of public misdeeds over his four decades in North Dakota journalism. (One that sprang into his mind: the head of a state office who was accused of shoplifting peanuts in a grocery store. The charges were dropped. That was in 1981.)
So what's going on out on the Prairie? Two large cases of embezzlement by local officials ran up the conviction numbers, plus a smattering of mostly small-bore crime. Selling a Senate seat? Not yet.
Meanwhile, Nebraska continues to shine as a beacon of good government.
A Survey of Journalists (Graphic)
Researchers asked state house reporters to assess their subjects and ranked responses on a scale of 1 (clean) to 7 (crooked) in a 2003 study. Nebraska? Good, not great. For North Dakota, sweet vindication: it tied with South Dakota and Colorado for least corrupt.
Published: December 13, 2008
Where is officialdom most crooked? Last week, many guessed it must be Illinois, after news that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taped making brazen personal demands in exchange for his selection of a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama.
In Illinois, a Virtual Expectation of Corruption (December 14, 2008)
Times Topics: Rod R. BlagojevichThe state's image took a hit despite its long history of producing famously principled political figures, from the bowtied Senator Paul Simon to the great man on the penny.
But bloggers from competing hotbeds of wrongdoing proclaimed that theirs were the worst officials in the land, thank you. New Jerseyans seemed especially sure that their leadership came out on top in the race to the bottom.
Not so. And not so for Illinois, either.
There are several ways to gauge levels of government corruption, all of them a bit, well, corrupt. We present three methods here in the interest of keeping the arguments going.
Number of Guilty Officials (Graphic)
In a Department of Justice tally covering the last decade, Florida wins by its sheer number of guilty. The report, released last week, itemizes convictions in federal public corruption cases at local, state and federal levels in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and three United States territories.
Illinois ranks only seventh, with 502 convictions. At the squeaky-clean end of the scale, Nebraska barely managed an average of about one guilty official per year.
But the bigger the state, generally, the more officials it has, criminal or otherwise. So places like Florida, New York and Texas pile up big numbers. Let's adjust the data for population.
The Guilty, per Capita (Graphic)
A better measure, perhaps, showing how many convicted officials are produced for every one million constituents. Seems fair - unless you're North Dakota.
The District of Columbia wins big, for obvious reasons: its high concentration of public officials amid a relatively small population. Also, the local United States attorney's office focuses on rooting out corruption, adding to conviction rates.
USA Today published a similar list last week, declaring North Dakota the most corrupt state. Statewide outrage followed. (The newspaper omitted the District and the United States territories.) Mike Jacobs, the editor and publisher of the Grand Forks Herald, called it "a stunning and incomprehensible result" and could recall few cases of public misdeeds over his four decades in North Dakota journalism. (One that sprang into his mind: the head of a state office who was accused of shoplifting peanuts in a grocery store. The charges were dropped. That was in 1981.)
So what's going on out on the Prairie? Two large cases of embezzlement by local officials ran up the conviction numbers, plus a smattering of mostly small-bore crime. Selling a Senate seat? Not yet.
Meanwhile, Nebraska continues to shine as a beacon of good government.
A Survey of Journalists (Graphic)
Researchers asked state house reporters to assess their subjects and ranked responses on a scale of 1 (clean) to 7 (crooked) in a 2003 study. Nebraska? Good, not great. For North Dakota, sweet vindication: it tied with South Dakota and Colorado for least corrupt.
USDOJ Press Release: National Lampoon CEO Among 7 Individuals Charged with Securities Fraud
Department of Justice Press Release
For Immediate Release
December 15, 2008 United States Attorney's Office
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Contact: Patricia Hartman, (215) 861-8525
National Lampoon CEO Among 7 Individuals Charged with Securities Fraud
PHILADELPHIA - Acting United States Attorney Laurie Magid today announced the unsealing of three indictments and an information1 charging seven individuals with conspiracy and securities fraud. The charges pertain to four separate schemes designed to artificially inflate the prices of publicly traded stocks. Among those charged is Daniel Laikin, CEO of National Lampoon, Inc. which owns interests in the film Animal House and the Vacation series. These cases were the result of a long-term investigation, conducted in coordination with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), that detected ongoing stock manipulation schemes in the national securities markets. The SEC today filed separate civil actions against the same individuals.
“Protecting the integrity of our financial markets is a critical function of federal law enforcement,” said Magid. “These defendants all sought to defraud the investing public through their manipulative conduct by artificially inflating the stocks to make them appear more valuable than they were. These schemes were designed to corrupt the market and reap large profits for these defendants at the expense of the average investor.” “The defendants in this case engaged in organized and on-going schemes to manipulate and artificially inflate stock prices of publicly traded companies for their own financial benefit,” said Janice K. Fedarcyk, special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI. “And in so doing, they defrauded all of the legitimate market investors who bought and sold shares in these companies. The entire investment market suffers when individuals violate the legal and fiduciary trust of their positions.”
All of the schemes involved efforts to manipulate the prices of publicly traded stocks by paying undisclosed kickbacks to individuals to purchase and hold the stock to create the illusion of market interest in the stocks. The objective was to induce the investing public to purchase a stock based on this artificial trading volume and, thus, increase the stock’s value. Most of the charged defendants, including the corporate officers described below, had significant holdings in the stock or stocks they sought to manipulate and could have made millions of dollars if they had successfully inflated the stock prices. The remaining defendants benefitted financially by receiving the illegal kickbacks to purchase the stocks.
To make the increased interest in the stock appear more legitimate, the defendants coordinated purchases with the release of news by the companies and frequently shared nonpublic information about the company with other co-conspirators. In each case, a witness secretly cooperating with law enforcement (the “CW”) was paid a kickback to make purchases in the target stock with the objective of artificially inflating its value.
The schemes involved the following stocks2:
National Lampoon, Inc.
National Lampoon, Inc. (“National Lampoon”) is a company based in Los Angeles,
California, that is involved primarily in media projects including feature films, television programming, online and interactive entertainment, home video, and book publishing. National Lampoon owns interests in all major National Lampoon properties, including the movies Animal House and the Vacation series. National Lampoon also operates a college television network and humor website. National Lampoon is publicly traded under symbol “NLN” on the American Stock Exchange.3
According to the charges, between March and June 2008, National Lampoon CEO Daniel
Laikin conspired with Dennis Barsky, who is listed on National Lampoon SEC filings as a “consultant,” to pay others, including Eduardo Rodriguez and the CW, to artificially inflate the price of National Lampoon stock. Rodriguez enlisted Tim Dougherty, a Rochester, New York stock promoter, to assist in the scheme. Dougherty was paid approximately $40,000 to make purchases in National Lampoon stock with the objective of driving up the share price. Dougherty made his purchases over the course of a number of days and used various accounts to give the false impression of a steady demand for the stock.
Rodriguez 2 is also charged with a scheme to manipulate the price of a stock that has not yet been publicly identified due to an ongoing investigation.
3 Effective October 1, 2008, the American Stock Exchange became known as “NYSE
Alternext.”
Laikin told Rodriguez and the CW that he wanted the stock price to increase from approximately $2 per share to $5 per share to make it more attractive for “strategic partnerships” and “acquisitions.” In addition to paying others to purchase the stock, Laikin shared confidential financial information regarding the stock, non-public news releases, and confidential shareholder lists, and coordinated the release of news with the illegal purchases in the stock. Barsky helped direct the purchases and facilitated the kickback payments.stock based on this artificial trading volume and, thus, increase the stock’s value. Most of the charged defendants, including the corporate officers described below, had significant holdings in the stock or stocks they sought to manipulate and could have made millions of dollars if they had successfully inflated the stock prices. The remaining defendants benefitted financially by receiving the illegal kickbacks to purchase the stocks.
Advatech, Corp.
Advatech Corporation (“Advatech”) is a West Palm Beach, Florida, corporation that describes itself as an early stage biotechnology company engaged in the research and development and the commercialization of non-invasive electrical therapies. Advatech stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbol “ADVA” on Pink OTC Markets Inc., an inter-dealer electronic quotation and trading system in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) securities market commonly referred to as the “Pink Sheets.”4
Defendant Richard J. Margulies is the chief financial officer and a director of Advatech.
Margulies owns and/or controls significant portions of Advatech stock either directly or through nominees. In June 2008, Margulies paid Rodriguez and the CW a 20-percent kickback on purchases of Advatech stock that were made as part of the undercover investigation. Before Rodriguez and the CW made the illegal purchases, Margulies provided them with shareholder lists, confidential information about the company, and non-public press releases. Margulies coordinated the release of news with the purchases and instructed the CW that they should “move [the stock] up nice and slow, so it doesn’t look like we’re a bunch of idiots.”
Swedish Vegas, Inc.
Swedish Vegas, Inc. (“Swedish Vegas”) is a Delaware corporation, based in Arcadia,
California, that describes itself as “building a global brand name with a website, a line of
microbrewed beer and a restaurant/bar concept.” The company’s stated plan was to “launch a series of themed eateries with an extensive beer and wine menu and reasonably priced lunches, dinners and appetizers.” Swedish Vegas was publicly traded under the ticker symbol “SWDV” on the Pink Sheets.
4The companies traded on the Pink Sheets tend to be closely held, extremely small, and/or thinly traded. Most do not meet the minimum listing requirements for trading on a national securities exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ Stock Market.
According to the charges, between June and July 2008, defendants Alex Kanakaris and
Richard Epstein, two significant investors in Swedish Vegas, paid a kickback to Rodriguez and the CW to buy and hold Swedish Vegas stock. The objective was to make the stock price “fly.” Kanakaris and Epstein believed that a portion of the money they paid the CW was being used to secretly bribe brokers to purchase and hold the stock in their clients’ accounts. In reality, CW “purchased” the stock using undercover FBI funds. After CW made an initial stock purchase in July 2008, the SEC halted trading in the stock.
INFORMATION REGARDING THE DEFENDANTS
NAME ADDRESS AGE OR DATE OF BIRTH
Daniel Laikin Los Angeles, CA 46
Dennis Barsky Las Vegas, NV 60
Tim Dougherty Webster, NY 29
Eduardo Rodriguez Livingston, NJ 49
Richard J. Margulies Edison, NJ 58
Alex Kanakaris Newport Beach, CA 52
Richard Epstein Parkland, FL 60
If convicted of all charges, defendants Laikin, Barsky, Dougherty, Margulies, Kanakaris, and Epstein each face up to 25 years in prison and defendant Eduardo Rodriguez faces up to 80 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Derek A. Cohen and Louis D. Lappen.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE Contact: PATTY HARTMAN
EASTERN DISTRICT, PENNSYLVANIA Media Contact
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street 215-861-8525
Philadelphia, PA 19106
COPIES OF NEWS MEMOS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS CAN ALSO BE FOUND AT
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae
For Immediate Release
December 15, 2008 United States Attorney's Office
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Contact: Patricia Hartman, (215) 861-8525
National Lampoon CEO Among 7 Individuals Charged with Securities Fraud
PHILADELPHIA - Acting United States Attorney Laurie Magid today announced the unsealing of three indictments and an information1 charging seven individuals with conspiracy and securities fraud. The charges pertain to four separate schemes designed to artificially inflate the prices of publicly traded stocks. Among those charged is Daniel Laikin, CEO of National Lampoon, Inc. which owns interests in the film Animal House and the Vacation series. These cases were the result of a long-term investigation, conducted in coordination with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), that detected ongoing stock manipulation schemes in the national securities markets. The SEC today filed separate civil actions against the same individuals.
“Protecting the integrity of our financial markets is a critical function of federal law enforcement,” said Magid. “These defendants all sought to defraud the investing public through their manipulative conduct by artificially inflating the stocks to make them appear more valuable than they were. These schemes were designed to corrupt the market and reap large profits for these defendants at the expense of the average investor.” “The defendants in this case engaged in organized and on-going schemes to manipulate and artificially inflate stock prices of publicly traded companies for their own financial benefit,” said Janice K. Fedarcyk, special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI. “And in so doing, they defrauded all of the legitimate market investors who bought and sold shares in these companies. The entire investment market suffers when individuals violate the legal and fiduciary trust of their positions.”
All of the schemes involved efforts to manipulate the prices of publicly traded stocks by paying undisclosed kickbacks to individuals to purchase and hold the stock to create the illusion of market interest in the stocks. The objective was to induce the investing public to purchase a stock based on this artificial trading volume and, thus, increase the stock’s value. Most of the charged defendants, including the corporate officers described below, had significant holdings in the stock or stocks they sought to manipulate and could have made millions of dollars if they had successfully inflated the stock prices. The remaining defendants benefitted financially by receiving the illegal kickbacks to purchase the stocks.
To make the increased interest in the stock appear more legitimate, the defendants coordinated purchases with the release of news by the companies and frequently shared nonpublic information about the company with other co-conspirators. In each case, a witness secretly cooperating with law enforcement (the “CW”) was paid a kickback to make purchases in the target stock with the objective of artificially inflating its value.
The schemes involved the following stocks2:
National Lampoon, Inc.
National Lampoon, Inc. (“National Lampoon”) is a company based in Los Angeles,
California, that is involved primarily in media projects including feature films, television programming, online and interactive entertainment, home video, and book publishing. National Lampoon owns interests in all major National Lampoon properties, including the movies Animal House and the Vacation series. National Lampoon also operates a college television network and humor website. National Lampoon is publicly traded under symbol “NLN” on the American Stock Exchange.3
According to the charges, between March and June 2008, National Lampoon CEO Daniel
Laikin conspired with Dennis Barsky, who is listed on National Lampoon SEC filings as a “consultant,” to pay others, including Eduardo Rodriguez and the CW, to artificially inflate the price of National Lampoon stock. Rodriguez enlisted Tim Dougherty, a Rochester, New York stock promoter, to assist in the scheme. Dougherty was paid approximately $40,000 to make purchases in National Lampoon stock with the objective of driving up the share price. Dougherty made his purchases over the course of a number of days and used various accounts to give the false impression of a steady demand for the stock.
Rodriguez 2 is also charged with a scheme to manipulate the price of a stock that has not yet been publicly identified due to an ongoing investigation.
3 Effective October 1, 2008, the American Stock Exchange became known as “NYSE
Alternext.”
Laikin told Rodriguez and the CW that he wanted the stock price to increase from approximately $2 per share to $5 per share to make it more attractive for “strategic partnerships” and “acquisitions.” In addition to paying others to purchase the stock, Laikin shared confidential financial information regarding the stock, non-public news releases, and confidential shareholder lists, and coordinated the release of news with the illegal purchases in the stock. Barsky helped direct the purchases and facilitated the kickback payments.stock based on this artificial trading volume and, thus, increase the stock’s value. Most of the charged defendants, including the corporate officers described below, had significant holdings in the stock or stocks they sought to manipulate and could have made millions of dollars if they had successfully inflated the stock prices. The remaining defendants benefitted financially by receiving the illegal kickbacks to purchase the stocks.
Advatech, Corp.
Advatech Corporation (“Advatech”) is a West Palm Beach, Florida, corporation that describes itself as an early stage biotechnology company engaged in the research and development and the commercialization of non-invasive electrical therapies. Advatech stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbol “ADVA” on Pink OTC Markets Inc., an inter-dealer electronic quotation and trading system in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) securities market commonly referred to as the “Pink Sheets.”4
Defendant Richard J. Margulies is the chief financial officer and a director of Advatech.
Margulies owns and/or controls significant portions of Advatech stock either directly or through nominees. In June 2008, Margulies paid Rodriguez and the CW a 20-percent kickback on purchases of Advatech stock that were made as part of the undercover investigation. Before Rodriguez and the CW made the illegal purchases, Margulies provided them with shareholder lists, confidential information about the company, and non-public press releases. Margulies coordinated the release of news with the purchases and instructed the CW that they should “move [the stock] up nice and slow, so it doesn’t look like we’re a bunch of idiots.”
Swedish Vegas, Inc.
Swedish Vegas, Inc. (“Swedish Vegas”) is a Delaware corporation, based in Arcadia,
California, that describes itself as “building a global brand name with a website, a line of
microbrewed beer and a restaurant/bar concept.” The company’s stated plan was to “launch a series of themed eateries with an extensive beer and wine menu and reasonably priced lunches, dinners and appetizers.” Swedish Vegas was publicly traded under the ticker symbol “SWDV” on the Pink Sheets.
4The companies traded on the Pink Sheets tend to be closely held, extremely small, and/or thinly traded. Most do not meet the minimum listing requirements for trading on a national securities exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ Stock Market.
According to the charges, between June and July 2008, defendants Alex Kanakaris and
Richard Epstein, two significant investors in Swedish Vegas, paid a kickback to Rodriguez and the CW to buy and hold Swedish Vegas stock. The objective was to make the stock price “fly.” Kanakaris and Epstein believed that a portion of the money they paid the CW was being used to secretly bribe brokers to purchase and hold the stock in their clients’ accounts. In reality, CW “purchased” the stock using undercover FBI funds. After CW made an initial stock purchase in July 2008, the SEC halted trading in the stock.
INFORMATION REGARDING THE DEFENDANTS
NAME ADDRESS AGE OR DATE OF BIRTH
Daniel Laikin Los Angeles, CA 46
Dennis Barsky Las Vegas, NV 60
Tim Dougherty Webster, NY 29
Eduardo Rodriguez Livingston, NJ 49
Richard J. Margulies Edison, NJ 58
Alex Kanakaris Newport Beach, CA 52
Richard Epstein Parkland, FL 60
If convicted of all charges, defendants Laikin, Barsky, Dougherty, Margulies, Kanakaris, and Epstein each face up to 25 years in prison and defendant Eduardo Rodriguez faces up to 80 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Derek A. Cohen and Louis D. Lappen.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE Contact: PATTY HARTMAN
EASTERN DISTRICT, PENNSYLVANIA Media Contact
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street 215-861-8525
Philadelphia, PA 19106
COPIES OF NEWS MEMOS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS CAN ALSO BE FOUND AT
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae
"School Board counsel has not given us legal advice on this situation or training on First Amendment rights".and it is an embarassment to our County!
Mr. Slavin,
Per your request, our IT Department has furnished us with the e-mails regarding the St. Augustine Record cartoon you mentioned. We have them on disc and you are welcome to pick it up or we can mail it to you.
In regard to Question 5, we have no documents on that subject. In regard to Question 9, the School Board counsel has not given us legal advice on this situation or training on First Amendment rights.
Dr. Joyner informed me that he spoke with you on the telephone concerning the other questions you posed.
Please let us know how you prefer to receive the disc. Attached is an invoice for the charges.
Margie Davidson
Director of Community Relations
904-547-7504 (phone)
904-547-7523 (fax)
All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the Public Records Law of the State of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature
Per your request, our IT Department has furnished us with the e-mails regarding the St. Augustine Record cartoon you mentioned. We have them on disc and you are welcome to pick it up or we can mail it to you.
In regard to Question 5, we have no documents on that subject. In regard to Question 9, the School Board counsel has not given us legal advice on this situation or training on First Amendment rights.
Dr. Joyner informed me that he spoke with you on the telephone concerning the other questions you posed.
Please let us know how you prefer to receive the disc. Attached is an invoice for the charges.
Margie Davidson
Director of Community Relations
904-547-7504 (phone)
904-547-7523 (fax)
All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the Public Records Law of the State of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature
School Board Employees Play Scrooge With Cartoonist's Civil and Constitutional Rights
You've got to hand it to PHIL McDANIEL, TOMMY BLEDSOE, SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT JOSPEH JOYNER and the St. AUGUSTINE RECORD -- when it comes to playing Scrooge, they've got it covered. Because they were "tired of listening" to criticism, even of other school districts, these mindless lugubrious goobers got cartoonist Ed Hall fired, after years of distinguished service with the Record.
They expect reporters and cartoonists to be servile units.
They expect cartoonists to "research" according to their tastes.
Do these boorish Philistines with chips on their shoulders have any taste?
Have they ever published anything in a peer-reviwed journal?
Have they ever created any art that was in a juried competition?
What arts publications to they read?
Do they know anything about political cartooning -- an art form, not reportage?
Do they know the history of powerful figures like Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, whom the cartoonist Herbert Block (Herblock) brought down for his abuse of citizens' rights?
Do they read any publication other than the St. Augustine Record?
Do they read the NY Times?
Do they see a resemblance between themselves and Sarah Palin, who sought to censor books in Wakilla, Alaska?
Do they not sound like a bunch of cronies, inbred, self-referential, self-absorbed, discussing the merits of "Diane" from the Board of County Commissioners, daring to insult her behind her back because there is democracy there?
They remind me of Henry II, saying "who will rid me of this meddlesome priest? Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Beckett was murdered as a result.
In the words of the great American lawyer, Joseph Welch, at the Army-McCarthy hearings, "at long last, have [they] no sense of decency?"
What do you reckon? Is the School Board, School Supt JOSEPH JOYNER, PHIL THE SHILL McDANIEL, et al. too big for their britches? What do they have to hide that they are willing to get a cartoonist fired at Christmastime?
School Board E-mails Show Confederacy of Scrooges Out to "Get" Cartoonist Ed Hall for Cartoon
Message
Joseph Joyner
Tue, Nov 25, 2008 10:49 AMMessage
Message Tue, Nov 25, 2008 10:49 AM
From: Tommy Bledsoe
To: Joseph Joyner
Subject: Re(2): Fwd: Editorial Cartoon
The more serious issue is why the Record would touch this cartoon in the first place. As I said, the agenda seems to be heat, not light.
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
Joseph Joyner on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 9:23 AM -0500 wrote:
Thanks Tommy. I appreciate the support and after reading the blog this guy disgusts me even more.
Tommy Bledsoe writes:
Dr. Joyner, I was compelled to address the artist about his editorial cartoon, so I sent the email below directly to him (halltoons@aol.com). I also ran across this posting on his blog (http://www.halltoons.blogspot.com/) that seems to be the rationale for the cartoon:
I'm getting a little tired of listening to over-paid school board administrators tell how if they "don't get some help soon" they're going to have to eliminate a school day. Uh huh. Maybe they should take a hint from some of these fat cat bankers and insurance executives and give up their bonuses for a year. Let some of that cash trickle back into the school budget. Right, like that's gonna happen. Is it Monday? Feels like a Monday - I'm a little more snarky than usual.
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
----- Original Message -----
Mr. Hall, I saw your editorial artwork in the St. Augustine Record on Saturday, Nov. 22 depicting a bloated, greedy school administrator threatening to cut art, music and athletics while protecting his paid leave. I have seen your cartoons in the past and they usually hold truth as the guiding principle, however broadly represented. This one is an exception...it is ill-informed, distorts truth, and is mean-spirited. This is especially disturbing in light of the current and upcoming cutbacks in education funding resulting from the global economic meltdown and priorities at the state level.
Here are some facts. Florida is 50th out of all the states in money spent on school administration. That is last and least. St. Johns County School District's administrative budget is 64th out of 67 counties in Florida, with only only three counties spending less than we do. In spite of this, we have art and music teachers in all 18 elementary schools, 8 middle schools and 6 high schools. We also have the St. Johns County Center for the Arts at both middle and high school levels, where students can take sequential courses, not only in art and music, but in dance, drama and guitar, and master classes in all disciplines for career track students. A charter school also provides art and music integrated into the curriculum.
Athletics have not been cut and are unlikely to be cut. Look at the local sports page and you will see that our soccer, basketball, football, baseball, softball, swimming, diving, track, cross country, etc. are active and growing. This year, the district has begun implementation of a mandatory physical education program, an unfunded mandate from the state which creates even more challenges to funding in the classroom, including elective courses.
Our district faced over $11 million of cutbacks for the 2008-09 school year. We are told that we are facing over $20 million additional cuts. When the cuts come, there are no sacred (administrative) cows. When a school district is required to cut 15% of it's budget, something's going to suffer. There may have to be cuts in electives, like arts and music, but it will not be so that Dr. Joyner or the administrative staff will deploy golden parachutes or lounge in Caribbean resorts. Cuts will be made in every department, but our priority will be providing service to the student and teacher in the classroom .
There are reasons that our district consistently scores near the top of the state in FCAT scores and School Ratings (which are based partly on student learning gains, especially among lowest performing students, and reducing dropout rates). One of the reasons is a leadership that has set priorities of quality education, including electives, and fiscal responsibility.
The citizens of St. Johns County expect children to enter a safe learning environment with high standards, a relatively low student-teacher ratio, and available electives, like art and music. That requires teachers in the classroom with support in everything from transportation to facility maintenance, service of special needs children, and administrative support at all levels to ensure the teachers can teach. We are the county's largest employer, but it is not because we hire too many administrators. There has been a freeze on administrative hiring for 2 years, causing many departments to be understaffed.
Continue your important work of bringing attention to ineptitude and injustice through art and humor. However, make sure you do the critical research and fact checking before using too broad a brush. Here is a source for some information on the district http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/admin/supt/stateofschools0809
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
Joseph G. Joyner, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
St. Johns County School District
(904) 547-7502 Phone
(904) 547-7515 Fax
"All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the public records law of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature."
---------------
Message
Joseph Joyner
Tue, Nov 25, 2008 10:49 AMMessage
Message Tue, Nov 25, 2008 10:49 AM
From: Tommy Bledsoe
To: Joseph Joyner
Subject: Re(2): Fwd: Editorial Cartoon
The more serious issue is why the Record would touch this cartoon in the first place. As I said, the agenda seems to be heat, not light.
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
Joseph Joyner on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 9:23 AM -0500 wrote:
Thanks Tommy. I appreciate the support and after reading the blog this guy disgusts me even more.
Tommy Bledsoe writes:
Dr. Joyner, I was compelled to address the artist about his editorial cartoon, so I sent the email below directly to him (halltoons@aol.com). I also ran across this posting on his blog (http://www.halltoons.blogspot.com/) that seems to be the rationale for the cartoon:
I'm getting a little tired of listening to over-paid school board administrators tell how if they "don't get some help soon" they're going to have to eliminate a school day. Uh huh. Maybe they should take a hint from some of these fat cat bankers and insurance executives and give up their bonuses for a year. Let some of that cash trickle back into the school budget. Right, like that's gonna happen. Is it Monday? Feels like a Monday - I'm a little more snarky than usual.
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
----- Original Message -----
Mr. Hall, I saw your editorial artwork in the St. Augustine Record on Saturday, Nov. 22 depicting a bloated, greedy school administrator threatening to cut art, music and athletics while protecting his paid leave. I have seen your cartoons in the past and they usually hold truth as the guiding principle, however broadly represented. This one is an exception...it is ill-informed, distorts truth, and is mean-spirited. This is especially disturbing in light of the current and upcoming cutbacks in education funding resulting from the global economic meltdown and priorities at the state level.
Here are some facts. Florida is 50th out of all the states in money spent on school administration. That is last and least. St. Johns County School District's administrative budget is 64th out of 67 counties in Florida, with only only three counties spending less than we do. In spite of this, we have art and music teachers in all 18 elementary schools, 8 middle schools and 6 high schools. We also have the St. Johns County Center for the Arts at both middle and high school levels, where students can take sequential courses, not only in art and music, but in dance, drama and guitar, and master classes in all disciplines for career track students. A charter school also provides art and music integrated into the curriculum.
Athletics have not been cut and are unlikely to be cut. Look at the local sports page and you will see that our soccer, basketball, football, baseball, softball, swimming, diving, track, cross country, etc. are active and growing. This year, the district has begun implementation of a mandatory physical education program, an unfunded mandate from the state which creates even more challenges to funding in the classroom, including elective courses.
Our district faced over $11 million of cutbacks for the 2008-09 school year. We are told that we are facing over $20 million additional cuts. When the cuts come, there are no sacred (administrative) cows. When a school district is required to cut 15% of it's budget, something's going to suffer. There may have to be cuts in electives, like arts and music, but it will not be so that Dr. Joyner or the administrative staff will deploy golden parachutes or lounge in Caribbean resorts. Cuts will be made in every department, but our priority will be providing service to the student and teacher in the classroom .
There are reasons that our district consistently scores near the top of the state in FCAT scores and School Ratings (which are based partly on student learning gains, especially among lowest performing students, and reducing dropout rates). One of the reasons is a leadership that has set priorities of quality education, including electives, and fiscal responsibility.
The citizens of St. Johns County expect children to enter a safe learning environment with high standards, a relatively low student-teacher ratio, and available electives, like art and music. That requires teachers in the classroom with support in everything from transportation to facility maintenance, service of special needs children, and administrative support at all levels to ensure the teachers can teach. We are the county's largest employer, but it is not because we hire too many administrators. There has been a freeze on administrative hiring for 2 years, causing many departments to be understaffed.
Continue your important work of bringing attention to ineptitude and injustice through art and humor. However, make sure you do the critical research and fact checking before using too broad a brush. Here is a source for some information on the district http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/admin/supt/stateofschools0809
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
Joseph G. Joyner, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
St. Johns County School District
(904) 547-7502 Phone
(904) 547-7515 Fax
"All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the public records law of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature."
--------------------------
Message
Philip McDaniel
Mon, Dec 01, 2008 7:48 AMMessage
Message Mon, Dec 01, 2008 7:48 AM
From: Joseph Joyner
To: "Philip McDaniel"
Subject: Re: FW: disagree
WOW. I have no problem with Political satire........I only think that it should be based in some part in fact. I wonder what she thinks after seeing the editorial Sunday that reiterated the truth about administrators and the budget. Perhaps too much time with the BCC??????
"Philip McDaniel" writes:
A guy can’t win for losing. This from the secretary of the Board of County Commissioners. She has assumed so much and is wrong on nearly all of her points. Ahhhhhh… I would never survive the scrutiny and barbs that accompany public life.
You make it look so easy!
Best
PM
-----------------
From: Diane [mailto:stayinput@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 6:35 PM
To: philip@mcdaniel.net
Subject: disagree
Importance: High
Phil,
One of the amazing gifts we are given as citizens of the United States of America is the gift of free speech. I am appalled that you chose to use a satirical cartoon for political gain. I I know we are very close in age, and honestly, I cannot believe you would speak out against an artist publicly and cause the artist to be suspended. Andy Warhol? Lou Reed? Playboy Magazine? Political satire has been around for centuries, it is part of our heritage. If I cannot paint or draw or sculpt with the freedom to create, what is the point? I'm disappointed with your letter to the editor and disgusted with the St. Augustine Record's response.
Diane
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
Joseph G. Joyner, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
St. Johns County School District
(904) 547-7502 Phone
(904) 547-7515 Fax
"All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the public records law of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature."
----------------------------------
Message
Philip McDaniel
Mon, Dec 01, 2008 9:53 AMMessage
Message Mon, Dec 01, 2008 9:53 AM
From: "Philip McDaniel"
To: Joseph Joyner
Subject: RE: FW: disagree
Attachments:
Agree 100%. It appears her thinking may have been, through all the craziness at the BCC in the last 24 months, jaded by the people she worked with. Hopefully with some new blood in there, she will come back to her senses. I certainly want to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Best – PM
-----------------
From: Joseph Joyner [mailto:joynerj@stjohns.k12.fl.us]
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 7:49 AM
To: Philip McDaniel
Subject: Re: FW: disagree
WOW. I have no problem with Political satire........I only think that it should be based in some part in fact. I wonder what she thinks after seeing the editorial Sunday that reiterated the truth about administrators and the budget. Perhaps too much time with the BCC??????
"Philip McDaniel" writes:
A guy can’t win for losing. This from the secretary of the Board of County Commissioners. She has assumed so much and is wrong on nearly all of her points. Ahhhhhh… I would never survive the scrutiny and barbs that accompany public life.
You make it look so easy!
Best
PM
-----------------
From: Diane [mailto:stayinput@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 6:35 PM
To: philip@mcdaniel.net
Subject: disagree
Importance: High
Phil,
One of the amazing gifts we are given as citizens of the United States of America is the gift of free speech. I am appalled that you chose to use a satirical cartoon for political gain. I I know we are very close in age, and honestly, I cannot believe you would speak out against an artist publicly and cause the artist to be suspended. Andy Warhol? Lou Reed? Playboy Magazine? Political satire has been around for centuries, it is part of our heritage. If I cannot paint or draw or sculpt with the freedom to create, what is the point? I'm disappointed with your letter to the editor and disgusted with the St. Augustine Record's response.
Diane
-------------------
Message
Philip McDaniel
Thu, Dec 04, 2008 11:32 AMUrgent: Message
Urgent: Message Thu, Dec 04, 2008 11:32 AM
From: "Philip McDaniel"Administratorjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.netJoseph Joynerroot@stjohns.k12.fl.us"Philip McDaniel" Administratorjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.netJoseph Joynerroot@stjohns.k12.fl.us"Philip McDaniel" Administratorjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.netJoseph Joynerroot@stjohns.k12.fl.us"Philip McDaniel" Administratorjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.netJoseph Joynerroot@stjohns.k12.fl.us"Philip McDaniel" Administratorjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.netJoseph Joynerroot@stjohns.k12.fl.us
To: Brandon BillingsleyAdministratorarchiver@arcmail.stjohns.k12.fl.usjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.net"Margo Pope"Brandon BillingsleyAdministratorarchiver@arcmail.stjohns.k12.fl.usjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.net"Margo Pope" Brandon BillingsleyAdministratorarchiver@arcmail.stjohns.k12.fl.usjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.net"Margo Pope" Brandon BillingsleyAdministratorarchiver@arcmail.stjohns.k12.fl.usjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.net"Margo Pope" Brandon BillingsleyAdministratorarchiver@arcmail.stjohns.k12.fl.usjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.net"Margo Pope" Brandon BillingsleyAdministratorarchiver@arcmail.stjohns.k12.fl.usjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.net"Margo Pope" Brandon BillingsleyAdministratorarchiver@arcmail.stjohns.k12.fl.usjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.net"Margo Pope"
Subject: [Defender Restored] Margo - Can you please try to get editorial in soon.... Happy
Attachments:
Cartoon Needs to be Re-Drawn
I was saddened and disappointed to see the cartoon in Sunday’s Record regarding the school district administration. The image was as offensive as it was inaccurate.
Since well before my involvement with the St. Johns Cultural Council, I have known and admired Dr. Joe Joyner. We met in the Leadership St. Johns class of 2004. From our very first conversation, I knew that Joe understood and valued visual and performing arts as an integral part of a high-quality, public education.
For your information, every elementary school in the district offers art and music, along with all our middle and high schools. National studies confirm the correlation between strong arts curriculum and academic achievement. I firmly believe that this one of the main reasons why St. Johns County schools consistently rank in the top three counties (out of 67) in the state.
To further the point of the district’s support of arts and music, we are perhaps the only county of our size in the state to have not one, but two specialized centers for arts learning: St. Augustine High and Murray Middle School Centers for the Arts.
While we may be in for some rough times in the next 12 – 24 months, I sleep well at night knowing our school district’s administration will continue to protect and support student access to arts, music, and theater.
On behalf of the St. Johns County Cultural Council, we are proud of our partnership with the county’s artists, cultural organizations and, in particular, our school district.
Please check your facts next time before you mislead the public with a rendering as erroneous as the one in question. It’s ironic that you would have used your artistic skills in defamation of the very subject that is one the most valued in our school district.
Philip McDaniel is a 15-year resident of St. Augustine and has been associated with several quality of life projects including Project S.W.I.N.G., the New Davis Shores Park, and the restoration of the Cultural Center at St. Augustine Beach Pier. He currently serves as board president for the St. Johns County Cultural Council, the local arts agency for St. Johns County.
Philip
Philip McDaniel
St. Augustine, FL 32084
Tel: 904-806-1440
E Mail: philip@mcdaniel.net
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
Joseph G. Joyner, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
St. Johns County School District
(904) 547-7502 Phone
(904) 547-7515 Fax
"All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the public records law of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature."
---------------------------------
Joseph Joyner
Tue, Nov 25, 2008 10:49 AMMessage
Message Tue, Nov 25, 2008 10:49 AM
From: Tommy Bledsoe
To: Joseph Joyner
Subject: Re(2): Fwd: Editorial Cartoon
The more serious issue is why the Record would touch this cartoon in the first place. As I said, the agenda seems to be heat, not light.
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
Joseph Joyner on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 9:23 AM -0500 wrote:
Thanks Tommy. I appreciate the support and after reading the blog this guy disgusts me even more.
Tommy Bledsoe writes:
Dr. Joyner, I was compelled to address the artist about his editorial cartoon, so I sent the email below directly to him (halltoons@aol.com). I also ran across this posting on his blog (http://www.halltoons.blogspot.com/) that seems to be the rationale for the cartoon:
I'm getting a little tired of listening to over-paid school board administrators tell how if they "don't get some help soon" they're going to have to eliminate a school day. Uh huh. Maybe they should take a hint from some of these fat cat bankers and insurance executives and give up their bonuses for a year. Let some of that cash trickle back into the school budget. Right, like that's gonna happen. Is it Monday? Feels like a Monday - I'm a little more snarky than usual.
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
----- Original Message -----
Mr. Hall, I saw your editorial artwork in the St. Augustine Record on Saturday, Nov. 22 depicting a bloated, greedy school administrator threatening to cut art, music and athletics while protecting his paid leave. I have seen your cartoons in the past and they usually hold truth as the guiding principle, however broadly represented. This one is an exception...it is ill-informed, distorts truth, and is mean-spirited. This is especially disturbing in light of the current and upcoming cutbacks in education funding resulting from the global economic meltdown and priorities at the state level.
Here are some facts. Florida is 50th out of all the states in money spent on school administration. That is last and least. St. Johns County School District's administrative budget is 64th out of 67 counties in Florida, with only only three counties spending less than we do. In spite of this, we have art and music teachers in all 18 elementary schools, 8 middle schools and 6 high schools. We also have the St. Johns County Center for the Arts at both middle and high school levels, where students can take sequential courses, not only in art and music, but in dance, drama and guitar, and master classes in all disciplines for career track students. A charter school also provides art and music integrated into the curriculum.
Athletics have not been cut and are unlikely to be cut. Look at the local sports page and you will see that our soccer, basketball, football, baseball, softball, swimming, diving, track, cross country, etc. are active and growing. This year, the district has begun implementation of a mandatory physical education program, an unfunded mandate from the state which creates even more challenges to funding in the classroom, including elective courses.
Our district faced over $11 million of cutbacks for the 2008-09 school year. We are told that we are facing over $20 million additional cuts. When the cuts come, there are no sacred (administrative) cows. When a school district is required to cut 15% of it's budget, something's going to suffer. There may have to be cuts in electives, like arts and music, but it will not be so that Dr. Joyner or the administrative staff will deploy golden parachutes or lounge in Caribbean resorts. Cuts will be made in every department, but our priority will be providing service to the student and teacher in the classroom .
There are reasons that our district consistently scores near the top of the state in FCAT scores and School Ratings (which are based partly on student learning gains, especially among lowest performing students, and reducing dropout rates). One of the reasons is a leadership that has set priorities of quality education, including electives, and fiscal responsibility.
The citizens of St. Johns County expect children to enter a safe learning environment with high standards, a relatively low student-teacher ratio, and available electives, like art and music. That requires teachers in the classroom with support in everything from transportation to facility maintenance, service of special needs children, and administrative support at all levels to ensure the teachers can teach. We are the county's largest employer, but it is not because we hire too many administrators. There has been a freeze on administrative hiring for 2 years, causing many departments to be understaffed.
Continue your important work of bringing attention to ineptitude and injustice through art and humor. However, make sure you do the critical research and fact checking before using too broad a brush. Here is a source for some information on the district http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/admin/supt/stateofschools0809
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
Joseph G. Joyner, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
St. Johns County School District
(904) 547-7502 Phone
(904) 547-7515 Fax
"All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the public records law of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature."
---------------
Message
Joseph Joyner
Tue, Nov 25, 2008 10:49 AMMessage
Message Tue, Nov 25, 2008 10:49 AM
From: Tommy Bledsoe
To: Joseph Joyner
Subject: Re(2): Fwd: Editorial Cartoon
The more serious issue is why the Record would touch this cartoon in the first place. As I said, the agenda seems to be heat, not light.
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
Joseph Joyner on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 9:23 AM -0500 wrote:
Thanks Tommy. I appreciate the support and after reading the blog this guy disgusts me even more.
Tommy Bledsoe writes:
Dr. Joyner, I was compelled to address the artist about his editorial cartoon, so I sent the email below directly to him (halltoons@aol.com). I also ran across this posting on his blog (http://www.halltoons.blogspot.com/) that seems to be the rationale for the cartoon:
I'm getting a little tired of listening to over-paid school board administrators tell how if they "don't get some help soon" they're going to have to eliminate a school day. Uh huh. Maybe they should take a hint from some of these fat cat bankers and insurance executives and give up their bonuses for a year. Let some of that cash trickle back into the school budget. Right, like that's gonna happen. Is it Monday? Feels like a Monday - I'm a little more snarky than usual.
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
----- Original Message -----
Mr. Hall, I saw your editorial artwork in the St. Augustine Record on Saturday, Nov. 22 depicting a bloated, greedy school administrator threatening to cut art, music and athletics while protecting his paid leave. I have seen your cartoons in the past and they usually hold truth as the guiding principle, however broadly represented. This one is an exception...it is ill-informed, distorts truth, and is mean-spirited. This is especially disturbing in light of the current and upcoming cutbacks in education funding resulting from the global economic meltdown and priorities at the state level.
Here are some facts. Florida is 50th out of all the states in money spent on school administration. That is last and least. St. Johns County School District's administrative budget is 64th out of 67 counties in Florida, with only only three counties spending less than we do. In spite of this, we have art and music teachers in all 18 elementary schools, 8 middle schools and 6 high schools. We also have the St. Johns County Center for the Arts at both middle and high school levels, where students can take sequential courses, not only in art and music, but in dance, drama and guitar, and master classes in all disciplines for career track students. A charter school also provides art and music integrated into the curriculum.
Athletics have not been cut and are unlikely to be cut. Look at the local sports page and you will see that our soccer, basketball, football, baseball, softball, swimming, diving, track, cross country, etc. are active and growing. This year, the district has begun implementation of a mandatory physical education program, an unfunded mandate from the state which creates even more challenges to funding in the classroom, including elective courses.
Our district faced over $11 million of cutbacks for the 2008-09 school year. We are told that we are facing over $20 million additional cuts. When the cuts come, there are no sacred (administrative) cows. When a school district is required to cut 15% of it's budget, something's going to suffer. There may have to be cuts in electives, like arts and music, but it will not be so that Dr. Joyner or the administrative staff will deploy golden parachutes or lounge in Caribbean resorts. Cuts will be made in every department, but our priority will be providing service to the student and teacher in the classroom .
There are reasons that our district consistently scores near the top of the state in FCAT scores and School Ratings (which are based partly on student learning gains, especially among lowest performing students, and reducing dropout rates). One of the reasons is a leadership that has set priorities of quality education, including electives, and fiscal responsibility.
The citizens of St. Johns County expect children to enter a safe learning environment with high standards, a relatively low student-teacher ratio, and available electives, like art and music. That requires teachers in the classroom with support in everything from transportation to facility maintenance, service of special needs children, and administrative support at all levels to ensure the teachers can teach. We are the county's largest employer, but it is not because we hire too many administrators. There has been a freeze on administrative hiring for 2 years, causing many departments to be understaffed.
Continue your important work of bringing attention to ineptitude and injustice through art and humor. However, make sure you do the critical research and fact checking before using too broad a brush. Here is a source for some information on the district http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/admin/supt/stateofschools0809
Tommy Bledsoe
Arts and Foreign Language Program Specialist
St. Johns County School District
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-547-7565 fax: 904-547-7544 cell: 904-806-3921
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/is/art/
Joseph G. Joyner, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
St. Johns County School District
(904) 547-7502 Phone
(904) 547-7515 Fax
"All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the public records law of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature."
--------------------------
Message
Philip McDaniel
Mon, Dec 01, 2008 7:48 AMMessage
Message Mon, Dec 01, 2008 7:48 AM
From: Joseph Joyner
To: "Philip McDaniel"
Subject: Re: FW: disagree
WOW. I have no problem with Political satire........I only think that it should be based in some part in fact. I wonder what she thinks after seeing the editorial Sunday that reiterated the truth about administrators and the budget. Perhaps too much time with the BCC??????
"Philip McDaniel"
A guy can’t win for losing. This from the secretary of the Board of County Commissioners. She has assumed so much and is wrong on nearly all of her points. Ahhhhhh… I would never survive the scrutiny and barbs that accompany public life.
You make it look so easy!
Best
PM
-----------------
From: Diane [mailto:stayinput@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 6:35 PM
To: philip@mcdaniel.net
Subject: disagree
Importance: High
Phil,
One of the amazing gifts we are given as citizens of the United States of America is the gift of free speech. I am appalled that you chose to use a satirical cartoon for political gain. I I know we are very close in age, and honestly, I cannot believe you would speak out against an artist publicly and cause the artist to be suspended. Andy Warhol? Lou Reed? Playboy Magazine? Political satire has been around for centuries, it is part of our heritage. If I cannot paint or draw or sculpt with the freedom to create, what is the point? I'm disappointed with your letter to the editor and disgusted with the St. Augustine Record's response.
Diane
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
Joseph G. Joyner, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
St. Johns County School District
(904) 547-7502 Phone
(904) 547-7515 Fax
"All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the public records law of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature."
----------------------------------
Message
Philip McDaniel
Mon, Dec 01, 2008 9:53 AMMessage
Message Mon, Dec 01, 2008 9:53 AM
From: "Philip McDaniel"
To: Joseph Joyner
Subject: RE: FW: disagree
Attachments:
Agree 100%. It appears her thinking may have been, through all the craziness at the BCC in the last 24 months, jaded by the people she worked with. Hopefully with some new blood in there, she will come back to her senses. I certainly want to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Best – PM
-----------------
From: Joseph Joyner [mailto:joynerj@stjohns.k12.fl.us]
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 7:49 AM
To: Philip McDaniel
Subject: Re: FW: disagree
WOW. I have no problem with Political satire........I only think that it should be based in some part in fact. I wonder what she thinks after seeing the editorial Sunday that reiterated the truth about administrators and the budget. Perhaps too much time with the BCC??????
"Philip McDaniel"
A guy can’t win for losing. This from the secretary of the Board of County Commissioners. She has assumed so much and is wrong on nearly all of her points. Ahhhhhh… I would never survive the scrutiny and barbs that accompany public life.
You make it look so easy!
Best
PM
-----------------
From: Diane [mailto:stayinput@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 6:35 PM
To: philip@mcdaniel.net
Subject: disagree
Importance: High
Phil,
One of the amazing gifts we are given as citizens of the United States of America is the gift of free speech. I am appalled that you chose to use a satirical cartoon for political gain. I I know we are very close in age, and honestly, I cannot believe you would speak out against an artist publicly and cause the artist to be suspended. Andy Warhol? Lou Reed? Playboy Magazine? Political satire has been around for centuries, it is part of our heritage. If I cannot paint or draw or sculpt with the freedom to create, what is the point? I'm disappointed with your letter to the editor and disgusted with the St. Augustine Record's response.
Diane
-------------------
Message
Philip McDaniel
Thu, Dec 04, 2008 11:32 AMUrgent: Message
Urgent: Message Thu, Dec 04, 2008 11:32 AM
From: "Philip McDaniel"
To: Brandon BillingsleyAdministratorarchiver@arcmail.stjohns.k12.fl.usjoe.joyner@att.blackberry.net"Margo Pope"
Subject: [Defender Restored] Margo - Can you please try to get editorial in soon.... Happy
Attachments:
Cartoon Needs to be Re-Drawn
I was saddened and disappointed to see the cartoon in Sunday’s Record regarding the school district administration. The image was as offensive as it was inaccurate.
Since well before my involvement with the St. Johns Cultural Council, I have known and admired Dr. Joe Joyner. We met in the Leadership St. Johns class of 2004. From our very first conversation, I knew that Joe understood and valued visual and performing arts as an integral part of a high-quality, public education.
For your information, every elementary school in the district offers art and music, along with all our middle and high schools. National studies confirm the correlation between strong arts curriculum and academic achievement. I firmly believe that this one of the main reasons why St. Johns County schools consistently rank in the top three counties (out of 67) in the state.
To further the point of the district’s support of arts and music, we are perhaps the only county of our size in the state to have not one, but two specialized centers for arts learning: St. Augustine High and Murray Middle School Centers for the Arts.
While we may be in for some rough times in the next 12 – 24 months, I sleep well at night knowing our school district’s administration will continue to protect and support student access to arts, music, and theater.
On behalf of the St. Johns County Cultural Council, we are proud of our partnership with the county’s artists, cultural organizations and, in particular, our school district.
Please check your facts next time before you mislead the public with a rendering as erroneous as the one in question. It’s ironic that you would have used your artistic skills in defamation of the very subject that is one the most valued in our school district.
Philip McDaniel is a 15-year resident of St. Augustine and has been associated with several quality of life projects including Project S.W.I.N.G., the New Davis Shores Park, and the restoration of the Cultural Center at St. Augustine Beach Pier. He currently serves as board president for the St. Johns County Cultural Council, the local arts agency for St. Johns County.
Philip
Philip McDaniel
St. Augustine, FL 32084
Tel: 904-806-1440
E Mail: philip@mcdaniel.net
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
Joseph G. Joyner, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
St. Johns County School District
(904) 547-7502 Phone
(904) 547-7515 Fax
"All correspondence sent to and from St. Johns County School District is subject to the public records law of Florida. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Legislature."
---------------------------------
USDOJ Press Release: Corrupt German Corporation to Pay $1.6 Billion for International Corporate Bribery in Violation of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 15, 2008
CRM
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888
Siemens AG and Three Subsidiaries Plead Guilty to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Violations and Agree to Pay $450 Million in Combined Criminal Fines
Coordinated Enforcement Actions by DOJ, SEC and German Authorities Result in Penalties of $1.6 Billion
WASHINGTON—Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Siemens AG), a German corporation, and three of its subsidiaries today pleaded guilty to violations of and charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced.
At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon in the District of Columbia, Siemens AG pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging criminal violations of the FCPA’s internal controls and books and records provisions. Siemens S.A.- Argentina (Siemens Argentina) pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging conspiracy to violate the books and records provisions of the FCPA. Siemens Bangladesh Limited (Siemens Bangladesh) and Siemens S.A. - Venezuela (Siemens Venezuela), each pleaded guilty to separate one-count informations charging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the FCPA. As part of the plea agreements, Siemens AG agreed to pay a $448.5 million fine; and Siemens Argentina, Bangladesh , and Venezuela each agreed to pay a $500,000 fine, for a combined total criminal fine of $450 million.
According to court documents, beginning in the mid-1990s, Siemens AG engaged in systematic efforts to falsify its corporate books and records and knowingly failed to implement and circumvent existing internal controls. As a result of Siemens AG’s knowing failures in and circumvention of internal controls, from the time of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange on March 12, 2001, through approximately 2007, Siemens AG made payments totaling approximately $1.36 billion through various mechanisms. Of this amount, approximately $554.5 million was paid for unknown purposes, including approximately $341 million in direct payments to business consultants for unknown purposes. The remaining $805.5 million of this amount was intended in whole or in part as corrupt payments to foreign officials through the payment mechanisms, which included cash desks and slush funds.
From 2000 to 2002, four Siemens AG subsidiaries—Siemens S.A.S. of France (Siemens France), Siemens Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. of Turkey (Siemens Turkey), Osram Middle East FZE (Osram Middle East) and Gas Turbine Technologies S.p.A. (GTT)—each wholly owned by Siemens AG or one of its subsidiaries, were awarded 42 contracts with a combined value of more than $80 million with the Ministries of Electricity and Oil of the government of the Republic of Iraq under the United Nations Oil for Food Program. To obtain these contracts, Siemens France, Siemens Turkey, Osram Middle East and GTT paid a total of at least $1,736,076 in kickbacks to the Iraqi government, and they collectively earned more $38 million in profits on those 42 contracts. Siemens France, Siemens Turkey, Osram Middle East and GTT inflated the price of the contracts by approximately 10 percent before submitting them to the United Nations for approval and improperly characterized payments to purported business consultants, part of which were paid as kickbacks to the Iraqi government as “commissions” to the business consultants. For the relevant years, the books and records of Siemens France, Siemens Turkey, Osram Middle East and GTT, including those containing false characterizations of the kickbacks paid to the Iraqi government, were part of the books and records of Siemens AG.
As the charging and plea documents reflect, beginning around September 1998 and continuing until 2007, Siemens Argentina made and caused to be made significant payments to various Argentine officials, both directly and indirectly, in exchange for favorable business treatment in connection with a $1 billion national identity card project. From the date that Siemens AG became listed on the New York Stock Exchange on March 12, 2001, through approximately January 2007, Siemens Argentina made approximately $31,263,000 in corrupt payments to various Argentine officials through purported consultants and other conduit entities, and improperly characterized those corrupt payments in its books and records as legitimate payments for “consulting fees” or “legal fees.” Siemens Argentina’s books and records, including those containing the false characterizations of the corrupt payments, were part of the books and records of Siemens AG.
According to court documents, beginning around November 2001 and continuing until approximately May 2007, Siemens Venezuela admitted it made and caused to be made corrupt payments of at least $18,782,965 to various Venezuelan officials, indirectly through purported business consultants, in exchange for favorable business treatment in connection with two major metropolitan mass transit projects called Metro Valencia and Metro Maracaibo. Some of those payments were made using U.S. bank accounts controlled by the purported business consultants.
In the charging and plea documents, Siemens Bangladesh admitted that from May 2001 to August 2006, it caused corrupt payments of at least $5,319,839 to be made through purported business consultants to various Bangladeshi officials in exchange for favorable treatment during the bidding process on a mobile telephone project. At least one payment to each of these purported consultants was paid from a U.S. bank account.
“Today’s filings make clear that for much of its operations across the globe, bribery was nothing less than standard operating procedure for Siemens. It should be equally clear that Siemens has undertaken significant remedial measures, instituted real reforms and cooperated from the inception of this investigation,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich. “The Department and our international colleagues will continue our efforts to level the business playing field, making it free from corruption and fair to those who seek to participate in it.”
“The coordinated efforts of U.S. and German law enforcement authorities in this case set the standard for multi-national cooperation in the fight against corrupt business practices,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey A. Taylor. “To its credit, Siemens has taken extraordinary steps to reveal its long-standing, systemic criminal conduct and it has fundamentally restructured its operations to make them transparent and honest going forward.”
“This pattern of bribery by Siemens was unprecedented in scale and geographic reach. The corruption involved more than $1.4 billion in bribes to government officials in Asia , Africa , Europe , the Middle East and the Americas ,” said Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. “Our success in bringing the company to justice is a testament to the close, coordinated working relationship among the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice, and other U.S. and international law enforcement, particularly the Office of the Prosecutor General in Munich .”
“Today’s announcement of the guilty pleas entered by Siemens AG and several of its regional companies reflects the FBI’s dedication to enforce the provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” said Joseph Persichini Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Simply stated, it is a federal crime for U.S. citizens and companies traded on U.S. markets to pay bribes in return for business. The FBI will continue to assist its law enforcement partners to ensure that the corporate and business communities are not tarnished with violations of the kind we are presenting here today.”
“Complicated schemes involving high finance, bribery and corruption, particularly in the international arena, are often solved most efficiently through a multiple-agency approach to crime fighting,” said Eileen Mayer, Chief of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Division. “As the IRS expands its international presence and impact, we are proud to lend our financial investigative expertise to this formidable multi-agency approach that has culminated with today’s guilty pleas.”
The resolution of the U.S. criminal investigation of Siemens AG and its subsidiaries reflects, in large part, the actions of Siemens AG and its audit committee in disclosing potential FCPA violations to the Department after the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated searches of multiple Siemens AG offices and homes of Siemens AG employees. Siemens AG and its subsidiaries disclosed these violations after initiating an internal FCPA investigation of unprecedented scope; shared the results of that investigation with the Department efficiently and continuously; cooperated extensively and authentically with the Department in its ongoing investigation; took appropriate disciplinary action against individual wrongdoers, including senior management with involvement in or knowledge of the violations; and took remedial action, including the complete restructuring of Siemens AG and the implementation of a sophisticated compliance program and organization.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Siemens AG agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for a four-year period to oversee the continued implementation and maintenance of a robust compliance program and to make reports to the company and the Department of Justice. Siemens AG also agreed to continue fully cooperating with the Department in ongoing investigations of corrupt payments by company employees and agents.
Today, Siemens AG also reached a settlement of a related civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), charging Siemens AG with violating the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions in connection with many of its international operations including those discussed in the criminal charges. Siemens AG agreed to pay $350 million in disgorgement of profits relating to those violations.
Also today, Siemens AG agreed to a disposition resolving an ongoing investigation by the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office of Siemens AG’s operating groups other than the Telecommunications group. The charges were based on corporate failure to supervise its officers and employees, and in connection with those charges Siemens AG agreed to pay €395 million or approximately $569 million, including a €250,000 corporate fine and €394.75 million in disgorgement of profits. In October 2007, in connection with charges related to corrupt payments to foreign officials by Siemens AG’s Telecommunications operating group, the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office announced a settlement with Siemens AG under which Siemens AG agreed to pay €201 million, or approximately $287 million, including a €1 million fine and €200 million in disgorgement of profits.
In connection with the cases brought by the Department, the SEC and the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office, Siemens AG will pay a combined total of more than $1.6 billion in fines, penalties and disgorgement of profits, including $800 million to U.S. authorities, making the combined U.S. penalties the largest monetary sanction ever imposed in an FCPA case since the act was passed by Congress in 1977.
The Department and the SEC closely collaborated with the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office in bringing these cases. The high level of cooperation, including sharing information and evidence, was made possible by the use of mutual legal assistance provisions of the 1997 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, which entered into force on Feb. 15, 1999 .
The criminal case is being prosecuted by Deputy Chief Mark F. Mendelsohn and Trial Attorney Lori A. Weinstein of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and by Assistant U.S. Attorney John D. Griffith from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia . The criminal case was investigated by FBI agents who are part of the Washington Field Office’s dedicated FCPA squad. Investigative assistance also was provided by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.
The Department acknowledges and expresses its appreciation of the significant assistance provided by the staff of the SEC during the course of this investigation. The Department also acknowledges the exceptional help provided, in the form of mutual legal assistance, by the authorities of Germany , including in particular by the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Monday, December 15, 2008
CRM
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888
Siemens AG and Three Subsidiaries Plead Guilty to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Violations and Agree to Pay $450 Million in Combined Criminal Fines
Coordinated Enforcement Actions by DOJ, SEC and German Authorities Result in Penalties of $1.6 Billion
WASHINGTON—Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Siemens AG), a German corporation, and three of its subsidiaries today pleaded guilty to violations of and charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced.
At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon in the District of Columbia, Siemens AG pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging criminal violations of the FCPA’s internal controls and books and records provisions. Siemens S.A.- Argentina (Siemens Argentina) pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging conspiracy to violate the books and records provisions of the FCPA. Siemens Bangladesh Limited (Siemens Bangladesh) and Siemens S.A. - Venezuela (Siemens Venezuela), each pleaded guilty to separate one-count informations charging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the FCPA. As part of the plea agreements, Siemens AG agreed to pay a $448.5 million fine; and Siemens Argentina, Bangladesh , and Venezuela each agreed to pay a $500,000 fine, for a combined total criminal fine of $450 million.
According to court documents, beginning in the mid-1990s, Siemens AG engaged in systematic efforts to falsify its corporate books and records and knowingly failed to implement and circumvent existing internal controls. As a result of Siemens AG’s knowing failures in and circumvention of internal controls, from the time of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange on March 12, 2001, through approximately 2007, Siemens AG made payments totaling approximately $1.36 billion through various mechanisms. Of this amount, approximately $554.5 million was paid for unknown purposes, including approximately $341 million in direct payments to business consultants for unknown purposes. The remaining $805.5 million of this amount was intended in whole or in part as corrupt payments to foreign officials through the payment mechanisms, which included cash desks and slush funds.
From 2000 to 2002, four Siemens AG subsidiaries—Siemens S.A.S. of France (Siemens France), Siemens Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. of Turkey (Siemens Turkey), Osram Middle East FZE (Osram Middle East) and Gas Turbine Technologies S.p.A. (GTT)—each wholly owned by Siemens AG or one of its subsidiaries, were awarded 42 contracts with a combined value of more than $80 million with the Ministries of Electricity and Oil of the government of the Republic of Iraq under the United Nations Oil for Food Program. To obtain these contracts, Siemens France, Siemens Turkey, Osram Middle East and GTT paid a total of at least $1,736,076 in kickbacks to the Iraqi government, and they collectively earned more $38 million in profits on those 42 contracts. Siemens France, Siemens Turkey, Osram Middle East and GTT inflated the price of the contracts by approximately 10 percent before submitting them to the United Nations for approval and improperly characterized payments to purported business consultants, part of which were paid as kickbacks to the Iraqi government as “commissions” to the business consultants. For the relevant years, the books and records of Siemens France, Siemens Turkey, Osram Middle East and GTT, including those containing false characterizations of the kickbacks paid to the Iraqi government, were part of the books and records of Siemens AG.
As the charging and plea documents reflect, beginning around September 1998 and continuing until 2007, Siemens Argentina made and caused to be made significant payments to various Argentine officials, both directly and indirectly, in exchange for favorable business treatment in connection with a $1 billion national identity card project. From the date that Siemens AG became listed on the New York Stock Exchange on March 12, 2001, through approximately January 2007, Siemens Argentina made approximately $31,263,000 in corrupt payments to various Argentine officials through purported consultants and other conduit entities, and improperly characterized those corrupt payments in its books and records as legitimate payments for “consulting fees” or “legal fees.” Siemens Argentina’s books and records, including those containing the false characterizations of the corrupt payments, were part of the books and records of Siemens AG.
According to court documents, beginning around November 2001 and continuing until approximately May 2007, Siemens Venezuela admitted it made and caused to be made corrupt payments of at least $18,782,965 to various Venezuelan officials, indirectly through purported business consultants, in exchange for favorable business treatment in connection with two major metropolitan mass transit projects called Metro Valencia and Metro Maracaibo. Some of those payments were made using U.S. bank accounts controlled by the purported business consultants.
In the charging and plea documents, Siemens Bangladesh admitted that from May 2001 to August 2006, it caused corrupt payments of at least $5,319,839 to be made through purported business consultants to various Bangladeshi officials in exchange for favorable treatment during the bidding process on a mobile telephone project. At least one payment to each of these purported consultants was paid from a U.S. bank account.
“Today’s filings make clear that for much of its operations across the globe, bribery was nothing less than standard operating procedure for Siemens. It should be equally clear that Siemens has undertaken significant remedial measures, instituted real reforms and cooperated from the inception of this investigation,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich. “The Department and our international colleagues will continue our efforts to level the business playing field, making it free from corruption and fair to those who seek to participate in it.”
“The coordinated efforts of U.S. and German law enforcement authorities in this case set the standard for multi-national cooperation in the fight against corrupt business practices,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey A. Taylor. “To its credit, Siemens has taken extraordinary steps to reveal its long-standing, systemic criminal conduct and it has fundamentally restructured its operations to make them transparent and honest going forward.”
“This pattern of bribery by Siemens was unprecedented in scale and geographic reach. The corruption involved more than $1.4 billion in bribes to government officials in Asia , Africa , Europe , the Middle East and the Americas ,” said Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. “Our success in bringing the company to justice is a testament to the close, coordinated working relationship among the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice, and other U.S. and international law enforcement, particularly the Office of the Prosecutor General in Munich .”
“Today’s announcement of the guilty pleas entered by Siemens AG and several of its regional companies reflects the FBI’s dedication to enforce the provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” said Joseph Persichini Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Simply stated, it is a federal crime for U.S. citizens and companies traded on U.S. markets to pay bribes in return for business. The FBI will continue to assist its law enforcement partners to ensure that the corporate and business communities are not tarnished with violations of the kind we are presenting here today.”
“Complicated schemes involving high finance, bribery and corruption, particularly in the international arena, are often solved most efficiently through a multiple-agency approach to crime fighting,” said Eileen Mayer, Chief of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Division. “As the IRS expands its international presence and impact, we are proud to lend our financial investigative expertise to this formidable multi-agency approach that has culminated with today’s guilty pleas.”
The resolution of the U.S. criminal investigation of Siemens AG and its subsidiaries reflects, in large part, the actions of Siemens AG and its audit committee in disclosing potential FCPA violations to the Department after the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated searches of multiple Siemens AG offices and homes of Siemens AG employees. Siemens AG and its subsidiaries disclosed these violations after initiating an internal FCPA investigation of unprecedented scope; shared the results of that investigation with the Department efficiently and continuously; cooperated extensively and authentically with the Department in its ongoing investigation; took appropriate disciplinary action against individual wrongdoers, including senior management with involvement in or knowledge of the violations; and took remedial action, including the complete restructuring of Siemens AG and the implementation of a sophisticated compliance program and organization.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Siemens AG agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for a four-year period to oversee the continued implementation and maintenance of a robust compliance program and to make reports to the company and the Department of Justice. Siemens AG also agreed to continue fully cooperating with the Department in ongoing investigations of corrupt payments by company employees and agents.
Today, Siemens AG also reached a settlement of a related civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), charging Siemens AG with violating the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions in connection with many of its international operations including those discussed in the criminal charges. Siemens AG agreed to pay $350 million in disgorgement of profits relating to those violations.
Also today, Siemens AG agreed to a disposition resolving an ongoing investigation by the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office of Siemens AG’s operating groups other than the Telecommunications group. The charges were based on corporate failure to supervise its officers and employees, and in connection with those charges Siemens AG agreed to pay €395 million or approximately $569 million, including a €250,000 corporate fine and €394.75 million in disgorgement of profits. In October 2007, in connection with charges related to corrupt payments to foreign officials by Siemens AG’s Telecommunications operating group, the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office announced a settlement with Siemens AG under which Siemens AG agreed to pay €201 million, or approximately $287 million, including a €1 million fine and €200 million in disgorgement of profits.
In connection with the cases brought by the Department, the SEC and the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office, Siemens AG will pay a combined total of more than $1.6 billion in fines, penalties and disgorgement of profits, including $800 million to U.S. authorities, making the combined U.S. penalties the largest monetary sanction ever imposed in an FCPA case since the act was passed by Congress in 1977.
The Department and the SEC closely collaborated with the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office in bringing these cases. The high level of cooperation, including sharing information and evidence, was made possible by the use of mutual legal assistance provisions of the 1997 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, which entered into force on Feb. 15, 1999 .
The criminal case is being prosecuted by Deputy Chief Mark F. Mendelsohn and Trial Attorney Lori A. Weinstein of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and by Assistant U.S. Attorney John D. Griffith from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia . The criminal case was investigated by FBI agents who are part of the Washington Field Office’s dedicated FCPA squad. Investigative assistance also was provided by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.
The Department acknowledges and expresses its appreciation of the significant assistance provided by the staff of the SEC during the course of this investigation. The Department also acknowledges the exceptional help provided, in the form of mutual legal assistance, by the authorities of Germany , including in particular by the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office.
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