Author Archives: Site Administrator
Investigation Unveils Corrupt Buyers in Miami’s ‘Secret Shell Game’
A look at the eye-opening report from the Miami Herald The Miami Herald, in conjunction with 100 global news partners, published a new series based on 11.5 million secret files leaked from inside Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, exposing the “Secret Shell Game” in South Florida’s luxury real-estate world.The year-long investigation exposed many of… Read More »
How secret offshore money helps fuel Miami’s luxury real-estate boom
At the end of 2011, a company called Isaias 21 Property paid nearly $3 million — in cash — for an oceanfront Bal Harbour condo. But it wasn’t clear who really owned the three-bedroom unit at the newly built St. Regis, an ultra-luxury high-rise that pampers residents with 24-hour room service and a private… Read More »
Brazil’s former top judge hid price he paid for Miami condo
When Brazilian news outlets found out then-Supreme Court chief justice Joaquim Barbosa had bought a Brickell condo in 2012, they asked the well-respected jurist how much he paid. Barbosa refused to say. The problem? In Florida, real-estate sales are public. But not Barbosa’s. Miami-Dade County property records seemed to suggest the 61-year-old paid a big,… Read More »
Supreme Court rules for Miami defendant in Medicare fraud case
Sila Luis can get her money now, or at least her lawyers can. A divided Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that federal prosecutors had violated the Cuban immigrant’s constitutional right to hire an attorney of her choosing by freezing all her assets, without regard to how she had come by them. Luis, who arrived in… Read More »
President Obama commutes 61 prison sentences, including six from South Florida
President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentences of 61 people on Wednesday, all of them convicted on drug-related charges. More than a third of the 61 individuals were serving life sentences, and six were from South Florida. In total, during his administration, Obama has commuted the sentences of 248 people, which according to the… Read More »
Obama Bans Solitary Confinement of Juveniles in Federal Prisons
President Obama on Monday banned the practice of holding juveniles in solitary confinement in federal prisons, saying it could lead to “devastating, lasting psychological consequences.” The move, which Mr. Obama outlined in an op-ed article published by The Washington Post on Monday night, adds the weight of the federal government to a growing movement… Read More »
U.S. judges see ‘epidemic’ of prosecutorial misconduct in state
The hearing seemed largely routine until a state prosecutor approached the lectern. Deputy Atty. Gen. Kevin R. Vienna was there to urge three judges on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold murder convictions against Johnny Baca for two 1995 killings in Riverside County. Other courts had already determined that prosecutors had… Read More »
Justice Department shut down a huge asset forfeiture program
The Department of Justice announced this week that it’s suspending a controversial program that allows local police departments to keep a large portion of assets seized from citizens under federal law and funnel it into their own coffers. The “equitable-sharing” program gives police the option of prosecuting asset forfeiture cases under federal instead of state law…. Read More »
Cash bail system under attack as unconstitutional
SAN FRANCISCO — Crystal Patterson didn’t have the cash or assets to post $150,000 bail and get out of jail after her arrest on an assault charge in October. So Patterson, 39, promised to pay a bail bonds company $15,000 plus interest to put up the $150,000 bail for her, allowing her to go… Read More »
Prison phone company secretly records attorney-client calls
Secret ‘recordings’ could be last straw for prison phone companyBy Josh Kosman New York Post 11/11/15 Prison phone company Securus Technologies is no longer a secure investment. Securus, owned by private equity firm Abry Partners, had its cloud storage system hacked recently, revealing it has apparently recorded 14,000 phone calls between inmates and their lawyers,… Read More »
