NY Gov. Elliot Spitzer (D) Pimp!

[MarkP]

. . . . Client #6, Client #9, . . . . and so it begins . . .

Duke of Westminster 'linked' to Eliot Spitzer prostitute scandal
The London Telegraph ^ | 3/12/08 | Gordy Raynor

The Duke of Westminster is an alleged former client of the escort agency used by Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced Governor of New York, it has emerged.

The Duke, whose ?7billion property empire makes him Britain’s third richest man, was accused of paying thousands of pounds to prostitutes he ordered through the London branch of Emperors Club VIP, which is at the centre of an FBI investigation into an international vice racket.

Court papers lodged by the FBI refer to a meeting in London between a call girl known as Astrid and a man referred to as “Client 6” . . .

Zana Brazdek, then aged 26, told the News of the World that the Duke had paid her ?2,000 for sex at a mews house he owns in St Anselm’s Place in Mayfair, West London. He had booked her through Emperors Club VIP.

Miss Brazdek claimed the Duke bragged to her that he knew how to find Osama bin Laden . . .​

I wonder which Client # bin Laden was?

 

[apg]

:rofl: BDS

Back to Spitz . . . prostitution may be the headline but for many he is a primary example of abuse of office.

Speaking of hypocrisy, I knew it wouldn't be long before you piped up, or rather, cut'n'pasted. And it is entirely UNsurprising that this affair is getting the traction that it is. I'm all in favor of turning the rascals out regardless of party affiliations, but let's not stop there. There are much bigger fishes to fry...for 'crimes' far worse.

I also don't find it surprising that the stories of folks like Larry Craig, Mark Foley or a handful of other GOP hangers-on like Jeff Gannon or "The Rev. Ted" got such little media coverage. Nope. "Nothing to see here. Now move along." In his favor, at least Spitzer was gettin' it on with a woman....

 

[jhmover]

He should have gone to Las Vegas "What happens in Vegas - stays in Vegas"...hehe.

 

[MarkP]

Spitzer is getting the attention because Wall Street broke out the Champagne. Spitz made himself to be bigger and badder than anyone around him.

Figure it out apg. If you want to imply that Bush committed crimes then go for it. In the mean time would you please also charge the Democrat Congress also? Appears they have passed everything Bush has requested even though they have made a lot of noise. In fact doesn't this sound like the Democrat Congress?

This guy is an angry, ruthless man who used the law to crush people for his personal political advantage, dropping charges after the headlines faded, and eradicating billions of shareholder value​

Substitute passing legislation for "dropping charges after the headlines"

 

[vray]

Allow me to cut 'n paste. No, this is vray, not markP



Some Questions About the Spitzer Incident
By: Jane Hamsher Monday March 10, 2008 5:39 pm

ABC is reporting that Eliot Spitzer came under the attention of the Feds because his bank reported "suspicious money transfers" to the IRS. The Justice Department brought it to the FBI's Public Corruption Squad, who looked into it and found that payments were made to a company called QET, which did business as The Emperor's Club.

All kinds of questions arise here:

1. Why would the bank tell the IRS and not Spitzer himself if there was a suspicious transfer? Spitzer is a longtime client, a rich guy and the governor. We're talking thousands of dollars here, not millions. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that they spotted a "suspicious transfer" made by the governor, and that this is how things began. It's possible it was just ordinary paperwork the bank had to file with the government whenever some particular flag was raised, but if that's the case, why did the DoJ go to DefCon 3?

2. What is a USA doing prosecuting a prostitution case? This isn't normally what the feds spend their time with.

3. Mike Garcia is a Chertoff crony. Sources familiar with the investigation say that he sent a prosecution memo to DC two months ago asking for authority to indict a public figure (Spitzer). Which means they had their case made long before the wire tap of February 13. Why did they then include this line from that conversation in the complaint?

LEWIS continued that from what she had been told "he" (believed to be a reference to Client-9) "would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe -- you know -- I mean that...very basic things...."Kristen" responded: "I have a way of dealing with that...I'd be like listen dude, you really want the sex?...You know what I mean."

This salacious detail does not seem like it's necessary to make their case, and appears to be added for no other purpose than to destroy Spitzer's career.

4. How did Spitzer's name get leaked to the media, and who did it? Didn't happen to Dave Vitter.

5. Why did Mike Bloomberg suddenly start talking about running for governor recently? And why did he give $500,000 to Joe Bruno? He's good buddies with Mike Mukasey. What did he know and how did he know it?

6. The Mann Act? Are you kidding?

7. Spitzer's been in the line of fire of the GOP hit squad for a while. Roger Stone, Roger Stone, Roger Stone.

There are all kinds of things about this that just don't pass the smell test.

 

[MarkP]

Allow me to cut 'n paste. No, this is vray, not markP


All kinds of questions arise here:

1. Why would the bank tell the IRS and not Spitzer himself if there was a suspicious transfer? Spitzer is a longtime client, a rich guy and the governor. We're talking thousands of dollars here, not millions. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that they spotted a "suspicious transfer" made by the governor, and that this is how things began. It's possible it was just ordinary paperwork the bank had to file with the government whenever some particular flag was raised, but if that's the case, why did the DoJ go to DefCon 3?

2. What is a USA doing prosecuting a prostitution case? This isn't normally what the feds spend their time with.

Easy one. It's called "Structuring". In the case of Spitzer, structuring of an amount approaching $100K. The bank noted it, looked at the name and was compelled to report it as possible corruption. The bank reports it to law-enforcement agencies, not the suspected criminal.

From The Hot Trail to Cold Cash

Under the Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions are required to report suspicious activity in their customer accounts and file an aptly named "Suspicious Activity Report" to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency (Fincen). Fincen collects the information in a database, which is accessible by law-enforcement agencies including the I.R.S., the F.B.I., the D.E.A., and various state regulatory agencies.

Officials say the suspicious activity in the case of Governor Eliot Spitzer was a money-laundering technique known as "structuring." Banks are required to file different forms for all customer transactions totaling $10,000 or more. In order to catch the bad guys who think they can fly under the radar by making a series of sub-$10,000 withdrawals, banks have developed systems to flag patterns of unusual activity like this.

S.A.R.'s have been required by law since 1996. . . .
​

Interesting conclusion to the article

"It's almost unfathomable," says David Caruso, chief executive of the antilaundering consulting firm Dominion Advisory Group. "He showed almost no level of sophistication whatsoever."

Structuring violations are prosecuted as federal money-laundering crimes.​

If anyone had it out for ole Spitz, it was the financial community. He made lots of enemies in his journey as DA to Governor. At $5K the customer most likely also expects a degree of animinoty. Spitzer prosecuted other prostitution rings. Eliminating the competition? I wouldn't be surprised to see his exposure (eew bad choice of words) tied to those he prosecuted.

 

[antichrist]

ABC is reporting that Eliot Spitzer came under the attention of the Feds because his bank reported "suspicious money transfers" to the IRS. The Justice Department brought it to the FBI's Public Corruption Squad, who looked into it and found that payments were made to a company called QET, which did business as The Emperor's Club.

All kinds of questions arise here:

1. Why would the bank tell the IRS and not Spitzer himself if there was a suspicious transfer? Spitzer is a longtime client, a rich guy and the governor. We're talking thousands of dollars here, not millions. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that they spotted a "suspicious transfer" made by the governor, and that this is how things began. It's possible it was just ordinary paperwork the bank had to file with the government whenever some particular flag was raised, but if that's the case, why did the DoJ go to DefCon 3?

Anything over $10,000 is required by law to be reported to the Feds. Do not contact the account holder, do not pass go.

 

[Yorker]

Allow me to cut 'n paste. No, this is vray, not markP



Some Questions About the Spitzer Incident
By: Jane Hamsher Monday March 10, 2008 5:39 pm

ABC is reporting that Eliot Spitzer came under the attention of the Feds because his bank reported "suspicious money transfers" to the IRS. The Justice Department brought it to the FBI's Public Corruption Squad, who looked into it and found that payments were made to a company called QET, which did business as The Emperor's Club.

All kinds of questions arise here:

1. Why would the bank tell the IRS and not Spitzer himself if there was a suspicious transfer? Spitzer is a longtime client, a rich guy and the governor. We're talking thousands of dollars here, not millions. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that they spotted a "suspicious transfer" made by the governor, and that this is how things began. It's possible it was just ordinary paperwork the bank had to file with the government whenever some particular flag was raised, but if that's the case, why did the DoJ go to DefCon 3?.

Bank Secrecy Act
"The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (or BSA, or otherwise known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act) requires U.S.A. financial institutions to assist U.S. government agencies to detect and prevent money laundering. Specifically, the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, file reports of cash transactions exceeding $10,000 (daily aggregate amount), and to report suspicious activity that might signify money laundering, tax evasion, or other criminal activities. It was passed by the Congress of the United States in 1970. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Secrecy_Act

Apparently Spitzer wired $ in excess of $10,000 to the front company for the prostitution ring- which then automatically required that the bank report it. To compound the problem he called the bank after the fact and asked that they remove his name from the transaction which raised further eyebrows.

He also wired $s in smaller amounts that would not exceed the $10,000 level however these triggered Suspicious Activity Reports...

Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, the official said that Spitzer was the initial target of the investigation, and that he was tracked using court-ordered wiretaps.
Investigators said the public-corruption unit of the U.S. attorney's office got involved after the IRS looked into a complaint of a potential violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, the government's main tool against money laundering.
The governor could potentially be charged with a crime called "structuring" ? meaning that the payments were designed to hide their actual purpose.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88094617


The Duke of Westminster must be a little pissed at Spitzer right now...

 

[jim-00-4.6]

Zana Brazdek, then aged 26, told the News of the World ...

Is this the grocery store checkout line paper? Right next to Weekly World News?
:smilelol:

As far as the bank telling the IRS about a "suspicious funds transfer", it used to be that cash transactions in excess of $10,000 had to be reported by the bank to the IRS.
-------------------------------
below, an MSB is a Money Service Business
an SAR is a Suspicious Activity Report
BOLD below is mine.

When to File a SAR

An MSB must file a SAR when it knows or suspects that:

* The funds come from illegal activity or disguise funds from illegal activity;
* The transaction is structured to evade BSA requirements or appears to serve no known business or apparent lawful purpose; or,
* The MSB is being used to facilitate criminal activity.

There are two different dollar thresholds that require a SAR. They depend on the stage of discovery and the type of transaction involved. A $2,000 threshold applies if a customer is conducting or attempting to conduct a transaction(s) that aggregates to $2,000 or more. A threshold of $5,000 applies for transactions identified by issuers of money orders or traveler’s checks from a review of clearance records. These thresholds are known as the $2,000 front door/$5,000 back door rule. The $2,000 front door transactions are face-to-face with the customer. The $5,000 rule applies after the records have been processed at the issuer level, thus the back door.

Quite a bit of leeway in this rule...

 

[KevinNY]

Anyone in the banking or investment business knows about the increased scrutiny of cash transactions and the reporting requirements when there is a suspicion of an effort to conceal the source or disposition of such funds. Anyone with a series 7 has to take annual anti money laundering training now.

 

[antichrist]

I work for a bank, a rather larger one, and I have to take anti-money laundering training every year. This in spite of the fact I'm a systems analyst, not customer facing and have nothing to do with customer data.
Banks take these rules very seriously.

If he was paying $1,000/hr it wouldn't take long to reach those trigegr thresholds.

 

[Ol'Drippy]

Ok, if you looked like Spitzer, and had $4300 to burn, and had the opportunity..



You wouldn't?

 

[kk88rrc]

If he was paying $1,000/hr it wouldn't take long to reach those trigegr thresholds.

So at $1000/hr... that's only $83.33 for 5 minutes!!

 

[fordbuilder98]

the cycle continues

 

[KevinNY]

A buddy of mine said, "Whackin' off is ALWAYS cheaper in the long run."

 

[apg]

Spitzer is getting the attention because Wall Street broke out the http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1984073/posts Champagne. Spitz made himself to be bigger and badder than anyone around him.

Freepers yet again...how about coming up with something *original* once in a while - like your own thoughts or conclusions instead of being a loyal sheeple all of the time.

No wonder Wall Street is celebrating - Spitzer went after some of the more egregious "robber barons". Unfortunately, his hubris got in the way. Yeah, resignation was his only choice, but not for visiting a pro, but rather being a hypocrite.

Figure it out apg. If you want to imply that Bush committed crimes then go for it. In the mean time would you please also charge the Democrat Congress also? Appears they have passed everything Bush has requested even though they have made a lot of noise. In fact doesn't this sound like the Democrat Congress?

Well, I'd like to turn most of 'em out, too - with a few notable exceptions. Not for committing so-called crimes, but for enabling Bush to perpetrate so many on the American public...like his reference to the Constitution as "a goddamed piece of paper." Or allowing so many executive orders and signing statements - without a legal challenge. Dennis Kucinnich started the impeachment paperwork rolling. Too bad so few in Congress sought to join his efforts.

I didn't hear a lot of righteous indignation when congressman David Vitter got caught with a pro...or Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias visiting the "DC Madam" - or any of the "hundreds" of others on her list. Ironically, one of Tobias' jobs under President Bush was to oversee a program helping men in poor countries ?develop healthy relationships with women,? no doubt one trick at a time. Hypocrisy exponentiated....

 

[JohnK]

He probably started out by going to Peep Shows...

 

[HunterAK]

Ok, if you looked like Spitzer, and had $4300 to burn, and had the opportunity..

View attachment 33452

You wouldn't?

Hmmmmmmmm..... not sold? How about this one?

 

[HunterAK]

BTW, call me crazy but is his wife not a MILF?

Are there pictures of his daughters?

 

[apg]

Easy one. It's called "Structuring". In the case of Spitzer, structuring of an amount approaching $100K. The bank noted it, looked at the name and was compelled to report it as possible corruption. The bank reports it to law-enforcement agencies, not the suspected criminal.

From The Hot Trail to Cold Cash

Under the Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions are required to report suspicious activity in their customer accounts and file an aptly named "Suspicious Activity Report" to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency (Fincen).

Structuring violations are prosecuted as federal money-laundering crimes.​

OK...if it's all about money, then why haven't we heard much - anything - about Christopher Ward? "Who?" you say? Chris Ward, as in the treasurer of the National Republican Congressional Committee; working full-time for the NRCC since the mid -1990's, he was promoted to the treasurer position in 2003. He worked for hundreds of PACs and campaigns, and was known as "a fix-it guy, and he was known to be good at it." The "gold standard" in campaign finance, as one former employee described him. Being one of the few people with so much expertise in election law, he oversaw the accounting for committees that raised nearly a half a billion in cash.

Turns out that a significant amount of that cash is missing - and the FBI is investigating. Ward quietly left in October, though he remains on the NRCC payroll as a $7,500 a month "consultant."

Soon thereafter, NRCC officials became suspicious at some "discrepancies" in the books. Ward was one of but two NRCC employees allowed to work as an "outside consultant" for GOP lawmakers, profiting handsomely from this side work. The new head of the audit sub-committee, Rep. Michael Conway, a CPA, repeatedly asked Ward for an outside audit prior to his departure. Instead, Ward kept stalling and making up excuses. Turns out there hadn't been a for-real audit since 2003, and the annual reports issued by Ward since were complete fabrications.

"They showed accurate balance sheets. This guy produced audits, and they looked fine," said Conway.

The committee is now working with the FBI since they realized the audits were faked; the NRCC has hired an outside auditor to oversee an internal investigation. As others have said, any material misstatement on a bank application is a federal crime.

"Follow the money," indeed....