Justice, Chicago style
By: Barbara Hollingsworth
Local Opinion Editor
07/26/10 12:45 PM EDT
UPDATE: “Chicago judge to decide if his own accuser goes to jail,” March 26
A Chicago businessman with no previous record has been ordered to report to the infamous Cook County Jail Monday to finish serving his 60-day sentence for criminal contempt of court – the longest such sentence in Illinois history. To put this in perspective, the sentence was twice as long as a man in neighboring DuPage County got for throwing an object at a judge’s head.
Michael Lynch’s offense? He complained about judicial corruption. In Chicago, that gets you thrown in the slammer.
Even more outrageous, Lynch was sentenced by one of the same judges he accused of fixing cases for organized crime – and also happens to be a witness in an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into bankruptcy fraud.
In May 2006, Lynch filed a sworn affidavit with the court claiming that he had “material evidence” of judicial corruption involving several Chicago judges – including Circuit Court Judge Alexander White – and asked for another judge to hear the case. In the affidavit, Lynch accused White of being a beneficiary of the Five Whites LLC trust fund used to launder bribe money from an organized crime family in Arizona.
Lynch told The Examiner that Judge White told him and his attorneys – in court – that he wanted to assign him to house arrest because Lynch’s wife has Stage 4 cancer. But the judge said he received a visit in his chambers from First Appellate Justice Mary Jane Theis (whose father was reportedly part of the Greylord judicial corruption scandal during the 1980’s) who reportedly told him to “put Lynch back in Cook County.”
The Examiner asked Justice Theis – twice – if she had pressured Judge White to throw Lynch back in jail, but she did not answer the question, referring us to several opinions she wrote in which she concluded that Lynch’s motion “contained unsubstantiated and far-flung allegations that Judge White was a participant in an organized crime scheme in Arizona.”
But Lynch said he never got a chance to present his evidence of judicial corruption while appealing the contempt sentence because Judge McNamara insisted he produce his out-of-state witnesses (a forensics expert and a former member of the organized crime family) within three hours – which was clearly impossible. He also refused, for their protection, to publicly identify them.
In the four years since he filed his affidavit, Lynch says, his witnesses have never been interviewed by law enforcement. Since the allegations were never investigated, how does Justice Theis know whether they’re “unsubstantiated” or not? Furthermore, strange behavior by two previous judges in the case indicates otherwise.
After Judge Barbara Disco entered an $1.8 million dollar judgment against him in the civil case, Lynch says he filed a motion asking her “to admit or deny that she was a member of organized crime.” Attached to the motion was a document listing Disco’s alleged hidden trust.
Lynch says he was sentenced for contempt on Oct. 13, 2006 by former Judge Paddy McNamara with no mandated sentencing hearing and no bond. Lynch’s affidavit also accused McNamara of accepting payoffs through Crown Central Asset Fund, Crown Central Systems, Crown Ambassador Enterprises, and Fidelity Investments.
Disco abruptly retired while Lynch was serving the first 17 days of his 60-day sentence at Cook County Jail. “The day I was released, Judge McNamara also suddenly retired and stepped down from the bench. Every one was stunned,” Lynch told The Examiner.
As I reported back in March, Lynch alleged massive judicial corruption in Chicago’s state and federal courts after his firm, McCook Metals, was forced into bankruptcy after winning an anti-trust lawsuit against Alcoa.
Lynch’s sworn affidavit specifically accuses Chief Bankruptcy Judge Eugene R. Wedoff, who presided over the McCook bankruptcy, and Judge White, who recently ordered Lynch jailed, of being part of a nationwide racketeering enterprise that launders illegally obtained funds through the court system using a “systematic code-based creation of fraudulent documents and identity theft” – including fraudulent federal marshal credentials.
Lynch says a federal auditor he hired through the Independent Federal Fund Oversight Committee in Topeka, Kansas uncovered material evidence – including specific bank account numbers – alleging that Judge Wedoff (who also presided over the United Airlines bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy case in U.S. history) personally oversaw a $39 million “bribery fund” in return for a verdict favorable to McCook lender General Electric Commercial Finance (GECC) and Alcoa, McCook’s competitor, in violation of anti-trust laws.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, Lynch alleged that Wedoff blocked his subpoenas for the financial records of two bankruptcy trustees in on the scheme and refused to read an affidavit signed by a federal agent documenting Wedoff’s participation, including a pure trust called “ERW” that was allegedly used to hide payoffs from federal authorities.
He also accused Judge Wedoff of allowing GECC and Alcoa to disregard ERISA and bankruptcy laws by dumping McCook’s pension obligations on the taxpayer-supported Pension Benefit Guaranty Board (PBGC).
But none of these extremely serious allegations of judicial misconduct have been investigated by the either the FBI or the Justice Department, even though Lynch says he handed over the evidence to authorities four years ago. Instead, the same judge he accused of corruption is sending him back to jail.
That’s contempt, all right, but not by Michael Lynch.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
SEC Settles with Aguirre
WHISTLEBLOWING AIRLINE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
"Patriotism and Freedom of Speech in Action"
To All:
This is huge...see below! At least the SEC is acknowledging their mistakes. Gary Agguire was a federal employee who went the MSPB legal route and won. Bradley Birkenfeld wasn't so lucky as a civil employee. Harry Markopolous was, but it took him years to nail Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.
Please keep the legal/political heat on! It's the only way we can collectively nail these corporate white-collar criminals!
Besides the SEC/DOJ purported blind-eyes mentioned in the article below, our association wants to prove the lengths that airline manager's and government will go through in silencing airline pilots who attempt to speak out on safety issues during financially distressful times, but are slam-dunked by the system...their heads squashed like grapes...for speaking out. It is a very dangerous scenario for the unwary traveling public and must be stopped. We are certain that the Colgan Air 3407next-of-kin very much appreciate our efforts in this regard.
I wasn't a federal employee in 2003, but a federally-licensed and medically certificated pilot, so I couldn't go the MSPB legal route. My only recourse in 2003, 2006, and at present was in filing FAA Whistleblower Reports, but have been stonewalled repeatedly by all levels and branches of government, as has Continental whistleblower Newton Dickson and others.
As a life-long pilot, I strongly feel that if we can prove the apparent and alleged SEC/DOJ/DOT-FAA collusion, then we can drag these latter allegations regarding public air transportation safety and security into the public limelight in an effort to prevent another Colgan Air 3407 disaster wherein 50 good people unnecessarily lost their lives because much less experienced airline pilots were suppressed from speaking out on safety issues...at a low-cost air carrier...never mind the alleged pension theft of 150,000 employees and millions bilked from investors and vendors alike at United Airlines and elsewhere!
There are presently many other Sarbanes-Oxley/RICO witnesses coming forth with evidence to SEC Atlanta, but it remains to be seen as to whether or not our Department of Justice will partake in this investigation. To date, the DOJ IG has twice stated that they 'do not have jurisdiction in matters such as these'.
Please read these articles for amplification:
Update: SEC IG looks into United Airlines bankruptcy
UPDATE: FBI, DOJ refuse to investigate charges of judicial corruption
Whistleblowers punished for warning of aviation security lapses
Pilots: United Airlines bankruptcy never should have happened
Chicago judge to decide if his own accuser goes to jail
UPDATE: DOT IG urged to investigate one of FAA’s top docs
Porn-surfing SEC missed investigating United's bankruptcy
Message to federal employees: Keep your mouth shut
Thank you very much, Washington Examiner Reporter Barbara Hollingsworth! ABC Anna Schecter and CBS Pia Malbran...where are you? Whistleblower Protection Senators Leahy, Grassley, and McCaskill, we need your support and protection!
President Obama and Attorney General Holder please keep your 2008 campaign promises concerning enhanced protection for federal whistleblowers!
In the meantime, judicial whistleblower Michael Lynch...one of our key Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblowers, is scheduled to enter dangerous Cook County jail on July 26th for 13 days for attempting to expose judicial corruption, but none of the mainstream media outlets are reporting on this flagrant violation of witness protection afforded under SOX that was requested in consonance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 1107 of this letter sent to then SEC Chairman Christopher Cox on October 18, 2007. Why not?
Please read on below the article published by the Government Accountability Project Office in Washington DC for additional information. Do you feel we need much stronger whistleblower protection legislation in place that includes jury trials for those willing to step forth with evidence/information? I do...so too does Michael Lynch, Newton Dickson, Gabe Bruno, Robert MacLean, Bogdan Dzakovic, and so many other honest citizen patriots in this country.
It is incumbent upon each of us to demand that congress immediately pass this much-needed legislation...or provide 'We the People' the reason(s) why they feel that this is not necessary.
Many Thanks!
Captain Dan Hanley
National Public Spokesperson
Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
~ Margaret Mead ~
SEC Settles with Aguirre
(Washington, D.C.) – In what may be the largest settlement of its kind, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to pay $755,000 to settle the wrongful termination claim of Gary J. Aguirre, the attorney who headed the SEC’s insider trading investigation of Pequot Capital Management until his firing in September 2005.
A judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the federal agency with jurisdiction over Aguirre’s termination claim, issued an order today finalizing the settlement. The settlement sum equals Aguirre’s pay for four years and ten months (the elapsed period since his September 2005 discharge), plus his attorneys’ fees. Aguirre agreed to dismiss two related cases against the SEC.
Government Accountability Project Legal Director Tom Devine stated “Unfortunately, this large settlement is the exception that proves the rule. Until Congress provides real protections for financial regulatory employees such as Aguirre, existing law will remain the best excuse for government regulators to turn a blind eye.”
The SEC’s settlement with Aguirre comes one month after the SEC filed insider trading charges against Pequot, its founder, Arthur Samberg, and David Zilkha, a former Pequot employee, based on facts uncovered by Aguirre. Pequot and Samberg paid the SEC $28 million to settle the charges against them. The case against Zilkha continues.
In August 2007, two Senate committees published a scathing 108-page report criticizing the SEC’s decision to fire Aguirre and close the Pequot investigation, which included Pequot’s suspected insider trading in securities of 20 publics companies.
The Senate report chronicles Aguirre’s promising career at the SEC, including management’s decision to give him a two-step pay raise at the end of his first year for “consistently [going] the extra mile, and then some.”
But the praise vanished when Aguirre tried to subpoena an elite Wall Street banker, John Mack. His supervisors blocked the subpoena, telling Aguirre that Mack had “juice” and “political clout.”
Aguirre’s July 27, 2005, email to his supervisors explained why the Mack subpoena was essential and expressed concern that “treating Mack differently is [not] consistent with the Commission’s mission.” The Senate Report tells what happened next: “Just days after Aguirre sent an e-mail to Associate Director Paul Berger detailing his allegations, his supervisors prepared a negative re-evaluation outside the SEC’s ordinary performance appraisal process.”
One month later, the SEC fired him without warning. The Senate report concluded that Aguirre’s “termination appears to be merely the culmination of the process of reprisal that began with the August 1 re-evaluation.”
Approximately one year after the Senate report, SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz delivered his own report on Aguirre’s firing to then-SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. Kotz recommended that Aguirre’s supervisors be disciplined. To date, neither the current SEC Chairman, Mary Schapiro, nor Cox, has done so.
The Pequot investigation appeared to have run its course when the SEC released its “Case Closing Report” in December 2006, explaining its decision to close the entire investigation, including Pequot’s trading in Microsoft options, without filing charges.
But Aguirre did not stop his Pequot investigation. He continued to collect and piece together the evidence that Samberg had used illegal tips to trade options on Microsoft stock. In April 2008, Aguirre obtained a court order forcing the SEC, over its objection, to turn over to him key records of its Pequot investigation.
In late 2008, Aguirre uncovered the last pieces of evidence necessary to prove an insider trading charge against Pequot, Samberg, and Zilkha. On January 2, 2009, Aguirre sent a letter to SEC Chairman Cox enclosing the new evidence.
Aguirre’s 16-page letter explained how this new evidence, when combined with the evidence uncovered by him in 2005, proved that Samberg had used illegal tips in directing trades in Microsoft options, generating $14.2 million in profits to Pequot hedge funds under his management. But still the SEC would not file a case.
On May 26, 2010, Aguirre filed papers in his FOIA case seeking an order directing the SEC to release additional Pequot records to him. He argued the SEC had to turn over the records under FOIA, because it had filed no case against Pequot or anyone else. Early the next morning, the SEC filed charges against Pequot, Samberg, and Zilkha. The allegations closely track the facts stated in Aguirre’s January 2, 2009 letter.
Asked how he feels about the settlement, Aguirre replied, “I think it’s fair to the public that the SEC pays for my work over the past four years and ten months, since it generated $28 million to the U.S. Treasury. But it’s a shame the team I worked with at the SEC did not get to complete the Pequot investigation. The filing of the case in 2005 or 2006, before the financial crisis, would have been exactly what Wall Street elite needed to hear at the perfect moment: the SEC goes after big fish too.”
The email below was transmitted with the identical hyper-linked pages as above. We are hopeful of a government response with enhanced legal and physical protection for federal whistleblowers and key witnesses in this case from OUR government.
from Dan Hanley
to SEC ATL ATTY Debbie Hampton,
Washington Examiner Reporter Barbara Hollingsworth,
Louis Markopolous,
Federal Judicial Whistleblower Michael Lynch,
TSA Whistleblower Bogdan Dzakovic,
Hollywood Fleur De Lis Studios Film Producer/Director BJ Davis,
Hollywood Fleur De Lis Studios Screenplay WriterJulia Davis,
David Gibbons,
Radio Host David Gibbons and Producer Jeff Spinard,
"White Collar Corruption Executive Director Dr. Jan Schwartz, PhD",
POPULAR Attorney Zena Crenshaw,
Government Accountability Project Legal Director AttorneyTom Devine,
Government Accountability Project Shanna Devine,
National Whistleblower Center Senior Counsel Dave Colapinto,
National Whistleblower Center Jane Turner,
Medical Whistleblower Executive Director Janet Parker,
Project on Government Oversight Keith Rutter,
"Judicial Whistleblower Dr.Sheila Mannix, PhD",
Buffalo News DC Bureau Chief Jerry Zremski,
Rodney Stich,
RodneyStichWhistleblower,
FAA Whistleblowers Alliance Executive Director Gabe Bruno,
ABC National Reporter Anna Schecter,
CBS National News Producer Pia Malbran,
FAA Whistleblower Rich Wyeroski,
FAA Air Traffic Controller Whistleblower Anne Whiteman,
Fired Federal Air Marshal Whistleblower Robert Maclean,
Retaliated Federal Air Marshal Whistleblower Craig Sawyer,
CBS National News Tyler Jahn,
Bloomberg News Holly Rosenkrantz,
"\"Plane Business\" Editor Holly Hegeman",
Continental Airlines Pilot Whistleblower Newton Dickson,
Delta Airlines Whistleblower Captain Wayne Witter,
"SafeSkies.ca Canadian Kirsten Stevens",
Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform Executive Director David Hutton,
"Aerotoxic.org Executive Director Captain John Hoyte",
New York Times Aviation Reporter Matthew Wald,
Investigative Journalist/Pulitzer Prize Winner David Cay Johnston,
Huffington Post Dan Froomkin,
New York Times DOJ Reporter Eric Lichtblau,
Mary Williams-Walsh,
"U.S. Deputy Marshal Whistleblower Matthew Fogg",
Captain Dan Hanley - National Public Spokesperson - Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association
cc Securities and Exchange Commission Inspector General David Kotz,
Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mary Shapiro,
Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel III,
FAA Adminstrator Randy Babbitt,
Colgan Air 3407 Next-of-Kin Congressional Hearing Spokesperson Scott Maurer,
"Ms. Heather Albert - Director of FAA Complaint Analysis - Department of Transportation Inspector General",
Attorney General of the United States Eric Holder,
FBI Director Robert Mueller,
Chicago FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Grant,
US District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald,
Senator Leahy Staffer Lydia Griggsby,
Senator Byron Dorgan,
Senator Dorgan Staffer Rich Swayze,
Congressman Jerry Costello,
ALPA National President Captain John Prater,
Former Department of Transportation Inspector General Attorney Mary Schiavo,
Former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta,
Senator Claire McCaskill,
Senator Levin Subcommittee on Investigations,
Senator Charles Grassley,
Senator Daniel Akaka,
Senator Johnny Isakson,
Senator Saxby Chambliss,
Congressman Lynn Westmoreland,
Congressman Lynn Westmoreland,
Senator Charles Grassley,
CBS 60 Minutes <60m@cbsnews.com>,
CBS Chicago News Michelle Youngerman,
NBC National News Producer Anita McQuillan,
Chicago Tribune Reporter John Kass,
Chicago Tribune Columnist Clarence Page,
Chicago Sun-Times David Roeder,
Newsweek Howard Fineman,
Newsweek Richard Wollfe,
Salon Media Group Glen Greenwald,
Salon Media Group Joan Walsh,
"GritTV.org Laura Flanders",
Media Matters David Brock,
Washington Post Caroline Little,
Washington Post Ed O'Keefe,
BizBash CEO David Adler,
OpEd News Editor Rob Kall,
Tom Dispatch Editor Tom Engelhart,
Author/Journalist Andy Worthington,
New York Times Editor Ron Lieber,
Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner,
Patrick O'Carroll,
"Department of Labor Inspector General Gordon S. Heddell",
Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation Director Vincent Snowbarger,
Department of Treasury Inspector General Eric Thorson,
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
date Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 1:31 PM
subject SEC Settles with SEC Whistleblower Gary Aguirre!
mailed-bygmail.com
To All:
This is huge...see below! At least the SEC is acknowledging their mistakes. Gary Agguire was a federal employee who went the MSPB legal route and won. Bradley Birkenfeld wasn't so lucky as a civil employee. Harry Markopolous was, but it took him years to nail Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.
Please keep the legal/political heat on! It's the only way we can collectively nail these corporate white-collar criminals!
Besides the SEC/DOJ purported blind-eyes mentioned in the article below, our association wants to prove the lengths that airline manager's and government will go through in silencing airline pilots who attempt to speak out on safety issues during financially distressful times, but are slam-dunked by the system...their heads squashed like grapes...for speaking out. It is a very dangerous scenario for the unwary traveling public and must be stopped. We are certain that the Colgan Air 3407next-of-kin very much appreciate our efforts in this regard.
I wasn't a federal employee in 2003, but a federally-licensed and medically certificated pilot, so I couldn't go the MSPB legal route. My only recourse in 2003, 2006, and at present was in filing FAA Whistleblower Reports, but have been stonewalled repeatedly by all levels and branches of government, as has Continental whistleblower Newton Dickson and others.
As a life-long pilot, I strongly feel that if we can prove the apparent and alleged SEC/DOJ/DOT-FAA collusion, then we can drag these latter allegations regarding public air transportation safety and security into the public limelight in an effort to prevent another Colgan Air 3407 disaster wherein 50 good people unnecessarily lost their lives because much less experienced airline pilots were suppressed from speaking out on safety issues...at a low-cost air carrier...never mind the alleged pension theft of 150,000 employees and millions bilked from investors and vendors alike at United Airlines and elsewhere!
There are presently many other Sarbanes-Oxley/RICO witnesses coming forth with evidence to SEC Atlanta, but it remains to be seen as to whether or not our Department of Justice will partake in this investigation. To date, the DOJ IG has twice stated that they 'do not have jurisdiction in matters such as these'.
Please read these articles for amplification:
Update: SEC IG looks into United Airlines bankruptcy
UPDATE: FBI, DOJ refuse to investigate charges of judicial corruption
Whistleblowers punished for warning of aviation security lapses
Pilots: United Airlines bankruptcy never should have happened
Chicago judge to decide if his own accuser goes to jail
UPDATE: DOT IG urged to investigate one of FAA’s top docs
Porn-surfing SEC missed investigating United's bankruptcy
Message to federal employees: Keep your mouth shut
Thank you very much, Washington Examiner Reporter Barbara Hollingsworth! ABC Anna Schecter and CBS Pia Malbran...where are you? Whistleblower Protection Senators Leahy, Grassley, and McCaskill, we need your support and protection!
President Obama and Attorney General Holder please keep your 2008 campaign promises concerning enhanced protection for federal whistleblowers!
In the meantime, judicial whistleblower Michael Lynch...one of our key Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblowers, is scheduled to enter dangerous Cook County jail on July 26th for 13 days for attempting to expose judicial corruption, but none of the mainstream media outlets are reporting on this flagrant violation of witness protection afforded under SOX that was requested in consonance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 1107 of this letter sent to then SEC Chairman Christopher Cox on October 18, 2007. Why not?
Please read on below the article published by the Government Accountability Project Office in Washington DC for additional information. Do you feel we need much stronger whistleblower protection legislation in place that includes jury trials for those willing to step forth with evidence/information? I do...so too does Michael Lynch, Newton Dickson, Gabe Bruno, Robert MacLean, Bogdan Dzakovic, and so many other honest citizen patriots in this country.
It is incumbent upon each of us to demand that congress immediately pass this much-needed legislation...or provide 'We the People' the reason(s) why they feel that this is not necessary.
Many Thanks!
SEC Settles with Aguirre
(Washington, D.C.) – In what may be the largest settlement of its kind, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to pay $755,000 to settle the wrongful termination claim of Gary J. Aguirre, the attorney who headed the SEC’s insider trading investigation of Pequot Capital Management until his firing in September 2005.
A judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the federal agency with jurisdiction over Aguirre’s termination claim, issued an order today finalizing the settlement. The settlement sum equals Aguirre’s pay for four years and ten months (the elapsed period since his September 2005 discharge), plus his attorneys’ fees. Aguirre agreed to dismiss two related cases against the SEC.
Government Accountability Project Legal Director Tom Devine stated “Unfortunately, this large settlement is the exception that proves the rule. Until Congress provides real protections for financial regulatory employees such as Aguirre, existing law will remain the best excuse for government regulators to turn a blind eye.”
The SEC’s settlement with Aguirre comes one month after the SEC filed insider trading charges against Pequot, its founder, Arthur Samberg, and David Zilkha, a former Pequot employee, based on facts uncovered by Aguirre. Pequot and Samberg paid the SEC $28 million to settle the charges against them. The case against Zilkha continues.
In August 2007, two Senate committees published a scathing 108-page report criticizing the SEC’s decision to fire Aguirre and close the Pequot investigation, which included Pequot’s suspected insider trading in securities of 20 publics companies.
The Senate report chronicles Aguirre’s promising career at the SEC, including management’s decision to give him a two-step pay raise at the end of his first year for “consistently [going] the extra mile, and then some.”
But the praise vanished when Aguirre tried to subpoena an elite Wall Street banker, John Mack. His supervisors blocked the subpoena, telling Aguirre that Mack had “juice” and “political clout.”
Aguirre’s July 27, 2005, email to his supervisors explained why the Mack subpoena was essential and expressed concern that “treating Mack differently is [not] consistent with the Commission’s mission.” The Senate Report tells what happened next: “Just days after Aguirre sent an e-mail to Associate Director Paul Berger detailing his allegations, his supervisors prepared a negative re-evaluation outside the SEC’s ordinary performance appraisal process.”
One month later, the SEC fired him without warning. The Senate report concluded that Aguirre’s “termination appears to be merely the culmination of the process of reprisal that began with the August 1 re-evaluation.”
Approximately one year after the Senate report, SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz delivered his own report on Aguirre’s firing to then-SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. Kotz recommended that Aguirre’s supervisors be disciplined. To date, neither the current SEC Chairman, Mary Schapiro, nor Cox, has done so.
The Pequot investigation appeared to have run its course when the SEC released its “Case Closing Report” in December 2006, explaining its decision to close the entire investigation, including Pequot’s trading in Microsoft options, without filing charges.
But Aguirre did not stop his Pequot investigation. He continued to collect and piece together the evidence that Samberg had used illegal tips to trade options on Microsoft stock. In April 2008, Aguirre obtained a court order forcing the SEC, over its objection, to turn over to him key records of its Pequot investigation.
In late 2008, Aguirre uncovered the last pieces of evidence necessary to prove an insider trading charge against Pequot, Samberg, and Zilkha. On January 2, 2009, Aguirre sent a letter to SEC Chairman Cox enclosing the new evidence.
Aguirre’s 16-page letter explained how this new evidence, when combined with the evidence uncovered by him in 2005, proved that Samberg had used illegal tips in directing trades in Microsoft options, generating $14.2 million in profits to Pequot hedge funds under his management. But still the SEC would not file a case.
On May 26, 2010, Aguirre filed papers in his FOIA case seeking an order directing the SEC to release additional Pequot records to him. He argued the SEC had to turn over the records under FOIA, because it had filed no case against Pequot or anyone else. Early the next morning, the SEC filed charges against Pequot, Samberg, and Zilkha. The allegations closely track the facts stated in Aguirre’s January 2, 2009 letter.
Asked how he feels about the settlement, Aguirre replied, “I think it’s fair to the public that the SEC pays for my work over the past four years and ten months, since it generated $28 million to the U.S. Treasury. But it’s a shame the team I worked with at the SEC did not get to complete the Pequot investigation. The filing of the case in 2005 or 2006, before the financial crisis, would have been exactly what Wall Street elite needed to hear at the perfect moment: the SEC goes after big fish too.”
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Captain Dan Hanley
National Public Spokesperson
Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
~ Margaret Mead ~
"Patriotism and Freedom of Speech in Action"
To All:
This is huge...see below! At least the SEC is acknowledging their mistakes. Gary Agguire was a federal employee who went the MSPB legal route and won. Bradley Birkenfeld wasn't so lucky as a civil employee. Harry Markopolous was, but it took him years to nail Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.
Please keep the legal/political heat on! It's the only way we can collectively nail these corporate white-collar criminals!
Besides the SEC/DOJ purported blind-eyes mentioned in the article below, our association wants to prove the lengths that airline manager's and government will go through in silencing airline pilots who attempt to speak out on safety issues during financially distressful times, but are slam-dunked by the system...their heads squashed like grapes...for speaking out. It is a very dangerous scenario for the unwary traveling public and must be stopped. We are certain that the Colgan Air 3407next-of-kin very much appreciate our efforts in this regard.
I wasn't a federal employee in 2003, but a federally-licensed and medically certificated pilot, so I couldn't go the MSPB legal route. My only recourse in 2003, 2006, and at present was in filing FAA Whistleblower Reports, but have been stonewalled repeatedly by all levels and branches of government, as has Continental whistleblower Newton Dickson and others.
As a life-long pilot, I strongly feel that if we can prove the apparent and alleged SEC/DOJ/DOT-FAA collusion, then we can drag these latter allegations regarding public air transportation safety and security into the public limelight in an effort to prevent another Colgan Air 3407 disaster wherein 50 good people unnecessarily lost their lives because much less experienced airline pilots were suppressed from speaking out on safety issues...at a low-cost air carrier...never mind the alleged pension theft of 150,000 employees and millions bilked from investors and vendors alike at United Airlines and elsewhere!
There are presently many other Sarbanes-Oxley/RICO witnesses coming forth with evidence to SEC Atlanta, but it remains to be seen as to whether or not our Department of Justice will partake in this investigation. To date, the DOJ IG has twice stated that they 'do not have jurisdiction in matters such as these'.
Please read these articles for amplification:
Update: SEC IG looks into United Airlines bankruptcy
UPDATE: FBI, DOJ refuse to investigate charges of judicial corruption
Whistleblowers punished for warning of aviation security lapses
Pilots: United Airlines bankruptcy never should have happened
Chicago judge to decide if his own accuser goes to jail
UPDATE: DOT IG urged to investigate one of FAA’s top docs
Porn-surfing SEC missed investigating United's bankruptcy
Message to federal employees: Keep your mouth shut
Thank you very much, Washington Examiner Reporter Barbara Hollingsworth! ABC Anna Schecter and CBS Pia Malbran...where are you? Whistleblower Protection Senators Leahy, Grassley, and McCaskill, we need your support and protection!
President Obama and Attorney General Holder please keep your 2008 campaign promises concerning enhanced protection for federal whistleblowers!
In the meantime, judicial whistleblower Michael Lynch...one of our key Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblowers, is scheduled to enter dangerous Cook County jail on July 26th for 13 days for attempting to expose judicial corruption, but none of the mainstream media outlets are reporting on this flagrant violation of witness protection afforded under SOX that was requested in consonance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 1107 of this letter sent to then SEC Chairman Christopher Cox on October 18, 2007. Why not?
Please read on below the article published by the Government Accountability Project Office in Washington DC for additional information. Do you feel we need much stronger whistleblower protection legislation in place that includes jury trials for those willing to step forth with evidence/information? I do...so too does Michael Lynch, Newton Dickson, Gabe Bruno, Robert MacLean, Bogdan Dzakovic, and so many other honest citizen patriots in this country.
It is incumbent upon each of us to demand that congress immediately pass this much-needed legislation...or provide 'We the People' the reason(s) why they feel that this is not necessary.
Many Thanks!
Captain Dan Hanley
National Public Spokesperson
Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
~ Margaret Mead ~
SEC Settles with Aguirre
(Washington, D.C.) – In what may be the largest settlement of its kind, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to pay $755,000 to settle the wrongful termination claim of Gary J. Aguirre, the attorney who headed the SEC’s insider trading investigation of Pequot Capital Management until his firing in September 2005.
A judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the federal agency with jurisdiction over Aguirre’s termination claim, issued an order today finalizing the settlement. The settlement sum equals Aguirre’s pay for four years and ten months (the elapsed period since his September 2005 discharge), plus his attorneys’ fees. Aguirre agreed to dismiss two related cases against the SEC.
Government Accountability Project Legal Director Tom Devine stated “Unfortunately, this large settlement is the exception that proves the rule. Until Congress provides real protections for financial regulatory employees such as Aguirre, existing law will remain the best excuse for government regulators to turn a blind eye.”
The SEC’s settlement with Aguirre comes one month after the SEC filed insider trading charges against Pequot, its founder, Arthur Samberg, and David Zilkha, a former Pequot employee, based on facts uncovered by Aguirre. Pequot and Samberg paid the SEC $28 million to settle the charges against them. The case against Zilkha continues.
In August 2007, two Senate committees published a scathing 108-page report criticizing the SEC’s decision to fire Aguirre and close the Pequot investigation, which included Pequot’s suspected insider trading in securities of 20 publics companies.
The Senate report chronicles Aguirre’s promising career at the SEC, including management’s decision to give him a two-step pay raise at the end of his first year for “consistently [going] the extra mile, and then some.”
But the praise vanished when Aguirre tried to subpoena an elite Wall Street banker, John Mack. His supervisors blocked the subpoena, telling Aguirre that Mack had “juice” and “political clout.”
Aguirre’s July 27, 2005, email to his supervisors explained why the Mack subpoena was essential and expressed concern that “treating Mack differently is [not] consistent with the Commission’s mission.” The Senate Report tells what happened next: “Just days after Aguirre sent an e-mail to Associate Director Paul Berger detailing his allegations, his supervisors prepared a negative re-evaluation outside the SEC’s ordinary performance appraisal process.”
One month later, the SEC fired him without warning. The Senate report concluded that Aguirre’s “termination appears to be merely the culmination of the process of reprisal that began with the August 1 re-evaluation.”
Approximately one year after the Senate report, SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz delivered his own report on Aguirre’s firing to then-SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. Kotz recommended that Aguirre’s supervisors be disciplined. To date, neither the current SEC Chairman, Mary Schapiro, nor Cox, has done so.
The Pequot investigation appeared to have run its course when the SEC released its “Case Closing Report” in December 2006, explaining its decision to close the entire investigation, including Pequot’s trading in Microsoft options, without filing charges.
But Aguirre did not stop his Pequot investigation. He continued to collect and piece together the evidence that Samberg had used illegal tips to trade options on Microsoft stock. In April 2008, Aguirre obtained a court order forcing the SEC, over its objection, to turn over to him key records of its Pequot investigation.
In late 2008, Aguirre uncovered the last pieces of evidence necessary to prove an insider trading charge against Pequot, Samberg, and Zilkha. On January 2, 2009, Aguirre sent a letter to SEC Chairman Cox enclosing the new evidence.
Aguirre’s 16-page letter explained how this new evidence, when combined with the evidence uncovered by him in 2005, proved that Samberg had used illegal tips in directing trades in Microsoft options, generating $14.2 million in profits to Pequot hedge funds under his management. But still the SEC would not file a case.
On May 26, 2010, Aguirre filed papers in his FOIA case seeking an order directing the SEC to release additional Pequot records to him. He argued the SEC had to turn over the records under FOIA, because it had filed no case against Pequot or anyone else. Early the next morning, the SEC filed charges against Pequot, Samberg, and Zilkha. The allegations closely track the facts stated in Aguirre’s January 2, 2009 letter.
Asked how he feels about the settlement, Aguirre replied, “I think it’s fair to the public that the SEC pays for my work over the past four years and ten months, since it generated $28 million to the U.S. Treasury. But it’s a shame the team I worked with at the SEC did not get to complete the Pequot investigation. The filing of the case in 2005 or 2006, before the financial crisis, would have been exactly what Wall Street elite needed to hear at the perfect moment: the SEC goes after big fish too.”
The email below was transmitted with the identical hyper-linked pages as above. We are hopeful of a government response with enhanced legal and physical protection for federal whistleblowers and key witnesses in this case from OUR government.
from Dan Hanley
to SEC ATL ATTY Debbie Hampton
Washington Examiner Reporter Barbara Hollingsworth
Louis Markopolous
Federal Judicial Whistleblower Michael Lynch
TSA Whistleblower Bogdan Dzakovic
Hollywood Fleur De Lis Studios Film Producer/Director BJ Davis
Hollywood Fleur De Lis Studios Screenplay WriterJulia Davis
David Gibbons
Radio Host David Gibbons and Producer Jeff Spinard
"White Collar Corruption Executive Director Dr. Jan Schwartz, PhD"
POPULAR Attorney Zena Crenshaw
Government Accountability Project Legal Director AttorneyTom Devine
Government Accountability Project Shanna Devine
National Whistleblower Center Senior Counsel Dave Colapinto
National Whistleblower Center Jane Turner
Medical Whistleblower Executive Director Janet Parker
Project on Government Oversight Keith Rutter
"Judicial Whistleblower Dr.Sheila Mannix, PhD"
Buffalo News DC Bureau Chief Jerry Zremski
Rodney Stich
RodneyStichWhistleblower
FAA Whistleblowers Alliance Executive Director Gabe Bruno
ABC National Reporter Anna Schecter
CBS National News Producer Pia Malbran
FAA Whistleblower Rich Wyeroski
FAA Air Traffic Controller Whistleblower Anne Whiteman
Fired Federal Air Marshal Whistleblower Robert Maclean
Retaliated Federal Air Marshal Whistleblower Craig Sawyer
CBS National News Tyler Jahn
Bloomberg News Holly Rosenkrantz
"\"Plane Business\" Editor Holly Hegeman"
Continental Airlines Pilot Whistleblower Newton Dickson
Delta Airlines Whistleblower Captain Wayne Witter
"SafeSkies.ca Canadian Kirsten Stevens"
Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform Executive Director David Hutton
"Aerotoxic.org Executive Director Captain John Hoyte"
New York Times Aviation Reporter Matthew Wald
Investigative Journalist/Pulitzer Prize Winner David Cay Johnston
Huffington Post Dan Froomkin
New York Times DOJ Reporter Eric Lichtblau
Mary Williams-Walsh
"U.S. Deputy Marshal Whistleblower Matthew Fogg"
Captain Dan Hanley - National Public Spokesperson - Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association
cc Securities and Exchange Commission Inspector General David Kotz
Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mary Shapiro
Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel III
FAA Adminstrator Randy Babbitt
Colgan Air 3407 Next-of-Kin Congressional Hearing Spokesperson Scott Maurer
"Ms. Heather Albert - Director of FAA Complaint Analysis - Department of Transportation Inspector General"
Attorney General of the United States Eric Holder
FBI Director Robert Mueller
Chicago FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Grant
US District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald
Senator Leahy Staffer Lydia Griggsby
Senator Byron Dorgan
Senator Dorgan Staffer Rich Swayze
Congressman Jerry Costello
ALPA National President Captain John Prater
Former Department of Transportation Inspector General Attorney Mary Schiavo
Former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta
Senator Claire McCaskill
Senator Levin Subcommittee on Investigations
Senator Charles Grassley
Senator Daniel Akaka
Senator Johnny Isakson
Senator Saxby Chambliss
Congressman Lynn Westmoreland
Congressman Lynn Westmoreland
Senator Charles Grassley
CBS 60 Minutes <60m@cbsnews.com>,
CBS Chicago News Michelle Youngerman
NBC National News Producer Anita McQuillan
Chicago Tribune Reporter John Kass
Chicago Tribune Columnist Clarence Page
Chicago Sun-Times David Roeder
Newsweek Howard Fineman
Newsweek Richard Wollfe
Salon Media Group Glen Greenwald
Salon Media Group Joan Walsh
"GritTV.org Laura Flanders"
Media Matters David Brock
Washington Post Caroline Little
Washington Post Ed O'Keefe
BizBash CEO David Adler
OpEd News Editor Rob Kall
Tom Dispatch Editor Tom Engelhart
Author/Journalist Andy Worthington
New York Times Editor Ron Lieber
Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner
Patrick O'Carroll
"Department of Labor Inspector General Gordon S. Heddell"
Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation Director Vincent Snowbarger
Department of Treasury Inspector General Eric Thorson
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
date Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 1:31 PM
subject SEC Settles with SEC Whistleblower Gary Aguirre!
mailed-bygmail.com
To All:
This is huge...see below! At least the SEC is acknowledging their mistakes. Gary Agguire was a federal employee who went the MSPB legal route and won. Bradley Birkenfeld wasn't so lucky as a civil employee. Harry Markopolous was, but it took him years to nail Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.
Please keep the legal/political heat on! It's the only way we can collectively nail these corporate white-collar criminals!
Besides the SEC/DOJ purported blind-eyes mentioned in the article below, our association wants to prove the lengths that airline manager's and government will go through in silencing airline pilots who attempt to speak out on safety issues during financially distressful times, but are slam-dunked by the system...their heads squashed like grapes...for speaking out. It is a very dangerous scenario for the unwary traveling public and must be stopped. We are certain that the Colgan Air 3407next-of-kin very much appreciate our efforts in this regard.
I wasn't a federal employee in 2003, but a federally-licensed and medically certificated pilot, so I couldn't go the MSPB legal route. My only recourse in 2003, 2006, and at present was in filing FAA Whistleblower Reports, but have been stonewalled repeatedly by all levels and branches of government, as has Continental whistleblower Newton Dickson and others.
As a life-long pilot, I strongly feel that if we can prove the apparent and alleged SEC/DOJ/DOT-FAA collusion, then we can drag these latter allegations regarding public air transportation safety and security into the public limelight in an effort to prevent another Colgan Air 3407 disaster wherein 50 good people unnecessarily lost their lives because much less experienced airline pilots were suppressed from speaking out on safety issues...at a low-cost air carrier...never mind the alleged pension theft of 150,000 employees and millions bilked from investors and vendors alike at United Airlines and elsewhere!
There are presently many other Sarbanes-Oxley/RICO witnesses coming forth with evidence to SEC Atlanta, but it remains to be seen as to whether or not our Department of Justice will partake in this investigation. To date, the DOJ IG has twice stated that they 'do not have jurisdiction in matters such as these'.
Please read these articles for amplification:
Update: SEC IG looks into United Airlines bankruptcy
UPDATE: FBI, DOJ refuse to investigate charges of judicial corruption
Whistleblowers punished for warning of aviation security lapses
Pilots: United Airlines bankruptcy never should have happened
Chicago judge to decide if his own accuser goes to jail
UPDATE: DOT IG urged to investigate one of FAA’s top docs
Porn-surfing SEC missed investigating United's bankruptcy
Message to federal employees: Keep your mouth shut
Thank you very much, Washington Examiner Reporter Barbara Hollingsworth! ABC Anna Schecter and CBS Pia Malbran...where are you? Whistleblower Protection Senators Leahy, Grassley, and McCaskill, we need your support and protection!
President Obama and Attorney General Holder please keep your 2008 campaign promises concerning enhanced protection for federal whistleblowers!
In the meantime, judicial whistleblower Michael Lynch...one of our key Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblowers, is scheduled to enter dangerous Cook County jail on July 26th for 13 days for attempting to expose judicial corruption, but none of the mainstream media outlets are reporting on this flagrant violation of witness protection afforded under SOX that was requested in consonance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 1107 of this letter sent to then SEC Chairman Christopher Cox on October 18, 2007. Why not?
Please read on below the article published by the Government Accountability Project Office in Washington DC for additional information. Do you feel we need much stronger whistleblower protection legislation in place that includes jury trials for those willing to step forth with evidence/information? I do...so too does Michael Lynch, Newton Dickson, Gabe Bruno, Robert MacLean, Bogdan Dzakovic, and so many other honest citizen patriots in this country.
It is incumbent upon each of us to demand that congress immediately pass this much-needed legislation...or provide 'We the People' the reason(s) why they feel that this is not necessary.
Many Thanks!
SEC Settles with Aguirre
(Washington, D.C.) – In what may be the largest settlement of its kind, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to pay $755,000 to settle the wrongful termination claim of Gary J. Aguirre, the attorney who headed the SEC’s insider trading investigation of Pequot Capital Management until his firing in September 2005.
A judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the federal agency with jurisdiction over Aguirre’s termination claim, issued an order today finalizing the settlement. The settlement sum equals Aguirre’s pay for four years and ten months (the elapsed period since his September 2005 discharge), plus his attorneys’ fees. Aguirre agreed to dismiss two related cases against the SEC.
Government Accountability Project Legal Director Tom Devine stated “Unfortunately, this large settlement is the exception that proves the rule. Until Congress provides real protections for financial regulatory employees such as Aguirre, existing law will remain the best excuse for government regulators to turn a blind eye.”
The SEC’s settlement with Aguirre comes one month after the SEC filed insider trading charges against Pequot, its founder, Arthur Samberg, and David Zilkha, a former Pequot employee, based on facts uncovered by Aguirre. Pequot and Samberg paid the SEC $28 million to settle the charges against them. The case against Zilkha continues.
In August 2007, two Senate committees published a scathing 108-page report criticizing the SEC’s decision to fire Aguirre and close the Pequot investigation, which included Pequot’s suspected insider trading in securities of 20 publics companies.
The Senate report chronicles Aguirre’s promising career at the SEC, including management’s decision to give him a two-step pay raise at the end of his first year for “consistently [going] the extra mile, and then some.”
But the praise vanished when Aguirre tried to subpoena an elite Wall Street banker, John Mack. His supervisors blocked the subpoena, telling Aguirre that Mack had “juice” and “political clout.”
Aguirre’s July 27, 2005, email to his supervisors explained why the Mack subpoena was essential and expressed concern that “treating Mack differently is [not] consistent with the Commission’s mission.” The Senate Report tells what happened next: “Just days after Aguirre sent an e-mail to Associate Director Paul Berger detailing his allegations, his supervisors prepared a negative re-evaluation outside the SEC’s ordinary performance appraisal process.”
One month later, the SEC fired him without warning. The Senate report concluded that Aguirre’s “termination appears to be merely the culmination of the process of reprisal that began with the August 1 re-evaluation.”
Approximately one year after the Senate report, SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz delivered his own report on Aguirre’s firing to then-SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. Kotz recommended that Aguirre’s supervisors be disciplined. To date, neither the current SEC Chairman, Mary Schapiro, nor Cox, has done so.
The Pequot investigation appeared to have run its course when the SEC released its “Case Closing Report” in December 2006, explaining its decision to close the entire investigation, including Pequot’s trading in Microsoft options, without filing charges.
But Aguirre did not stop his Pequot investigation. He continued to collect and piece together the evidence that Samberg had used illegal tips to trade options on Microsoft stock. In April 2008, Aguirre obtained a court order forcing the SEC, over its objection, to turn over to him key records of its Pequot investigation.
In late 2008, Aguirre uncovered the last pieces of evidence necessary to prove an insider trading charge against Pequot, Samberg, and Zilkha. On January 2, 2009, Aguirre sent a letter to SEC Chairman Cox enclosing the new evidence.
Aguirre’s 16-page letter explained how this new evidence, when combined with the evidence uncovered by him in 2005, proved that Samberg had used illegal tips in directing trades in Microsoft options, generating $14.2 million in profits to Pequot hedge funds under his management. But still the SEC would not file a case.
On May 26, 2010, Aguirre filed papers in his FOIA case seeking an order directing the SEC to release additional Pequot records to him. He argued the SEC had to turn over the records under FOIA, because it had filed no case against Pequot or anyone else. Early the next morning, the SEC filed charges against Pequot, Samberg, and Zilkha. The allegations closely track the facts stated in Aguirre’s January 2, 2009 letter.
Asked how he feels about the settlement, Aguirre replied, “I think it’s fair to the public that the SEC pays for my work over the past four years and ten months, since it generated $28 million to the U.S. Treasury. But it’s a shame the team I worked with at the SEC did not get to complete the Pequot investigation. The filing of the case in 2005 or 2006, before the financial crisis, would have been exactly what Wall Street elite needed to hear at the perfect moment: the SEC goes after big fish too.”
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Captain Dan Hanley
National Public Spokesperson
Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
~ Margaret Mead ~
Sarbanes-Oxley Judicial Whistleblower Michael Lynch Is Going To Jail
Sarbanes-Oxley Judicial Whistleblower Michael Lynch Is Going To Jail
UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld is currently serving a 40-month federal prison sentence for his honesty as a federal whistleblower involving U.S. tax cheats who off-shored their wealth in UBS accounts, while paying no taxes. The U.S. Department of Justice entered into a ’deferred prosecution agreement’ with UBS that protected over 10,000 of these tax cheats, whilst exonerating the white-collar criminals who perpetrated these federal crimes.
On March 4, 2009, internationally renown Los Angeles attorney Richard Fine, was charged with “contempt of court” and “moral turpitude,” disbarred by California’s Supreme Court and jailed by Superior Court Judge David Yaffe “in retaliation for bringing the cases and exposing the unconstitutional payments,” once later held to be unconstitutional. Fine’s case is currently before the US Supreme Court.
On July 26, 2010, United Airlines Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) whistleblower Michael Lynch will be incarcerated in Chicago’s Cook County jail to serve the remainder of his 60-day sentence handed down on October 13, 2006 by former Judge Paddy McNamara for ’contempt of court’ without due process of law being served in this case.
Mr. Lynch alleged judicial corruption during the October 13th hearing, which purportedly implicated the sitting Judge McNamara. Mr. Lynch never was granted a separate sentencing hearing, as mandated by law, but was marched directly from the court room by the bailiff to commence serving this sentence. By law, due to purported conflicting interests presented during this hearing, Judge McNamara perhaps should have recused herself. Instead, she retired from the bench to Florida while Mr. Lynch served the first several days of his sentence until released on appeal by the court.
Cook County jail was under investigation in 2008 by District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the Office of the Chicago FBI as one of the most corrupt and dangerous correctional institutions in the country.
In spite of the fact that Mr. Lynch serves as a key witness as a Sarbanes-Oxley judicial corruption whistleblower in the United Airlines bankruptcy currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which should have provided him with witness protection under federal law, the Department of Justice and their congressional oversight committees in the House and the Senate, consistently refuse to investigate his allegations of judicial misconduct involving the largest airline bankruptcy and pension termination in the history of the United States.
Mr. Lynch is currently in contact with Ms. Debbie Hampton, a senior attorney in the Atlanta office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who is currently overseeing the United Airlines investigation, as well as numerous print, radio, and TV investigative journalist reporting on this case. The Department of Justice has been apprised of these issues since late 2006, as has the President of the United States, but have not acted to legally and politically intercede on behalf of Mr. Lynch and his legal team in Chicago. Why?
In a legally parallel case, United Airlines federal bankruptcy Judge Eugene R. Wedoff refused to recuse himself in a case involving Mr. Lynch over similar issues concerning a conflict of interest and issues of alleged judicial corruption. Why?
The legal offices of the Government Accountability Project, the National Whistleblower Center, the Project on Government Oversight, POPULAR, and OAK, as well as many other white-collar crime and national judicial watch groups have been apprised of this case, as have the tens-of-thousand global members of the Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association. Mr. Lynch will appear in the very near future as a guest on international radio and TV to air his grievances for the court of public opinion to judge.
Not unlike now indicted former Governor Rod Blagojevich, who has employed the media in attempts to sway public opinion, Mr. Lynch and his legal team feel this purported unjust incarceration for honest whistleblower testimony presented before the court should be publicly reviewed on the global stage.
Our association has learned of a major forthcoming civil suit that perhaps will further expose and support the allegations currently under review by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Transportation Inspector General’s office. If successful, this suit will help to save the American tax-payer billions in lost revenue, while further amplifying the need for strengthening today’s almost meaningless weak federal whistleblower laws, and in particular, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 spared of the legal axe by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2010.
In late 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission ignored our petition to investigate these same allegations, while denying witness protection for key informants in this case. In late 2009, Securities and Exchange Commission Inspector General H. David Kotz acknowledged in a letter this remission in their oversight responsibilities, which led to the current SEC investigation in Atlanta.
It should be noted in the 2007 letter to then SEC Commissioner Christopher Cox, witness protection was requested for Mr. Lynch and his family. To date, this petition to both the SEC and DOJ has been ignored. Instead, Mr. Lynch is presently at grave risk on July 26th while being incarcerated yet another time in one of the nation’s most dangerous correctional facilities interned with the general criminal populace without added physical protection, as provided by SOX law. Why?
In 2008, President Obama campaigned on a promise of a greater openness in government with enhanced protection for federal whistleblowers. As an Illinois senator, he was apprised in November 2006 of the plight of Mr. Lynch as such and yet failed to respond to our petition for political intercession based on congressional jurisdiction issues at the time.
Should physical harm befall Mr. Lynch while he is incarcerated in Cook County jail this month, it will send a most chilling signal to any other would-be Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower in the country during a time of economic peril, as has the example set by the wrongful incarceration of UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld and whistleblower attorney Richard Fine.
With only a 2% probability of success for federal whistleblowers in this country, combined with the advent of ’deferred prosecution agreements’ and the purported wrongful incarceration of honest whistleblowers, it’s of little wonder why our country is experiencing the rampant criminal activity of white-collar criminals who are robbing the American tax-payer blind. They KNOW they can get away with it.
The physical protection of Michael Lynch while in Cook County jail is in the hands of the President, the Department of Justice, and key congressional committee oversight chairmen. Should harm come to Mr. Lynch whilst incarcerated, the American citizenry must demand that these offices respond to their failure to protect a key Sarbanes-Oxley federal witness and patriot who is acting in the public interest in potentially saving ’We the People’ billions in tax-savings.
Mr. Birkenfeld and Mr. Fine are presently asking our help while in jail.
Had enough yet?
UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld is currently serving a 40-month federal prison sentence for his honesty as a federal whistleblower involving U.S. tax cheats who off-shored their wealth in UBS accounts, while paying no taxes. The U.S. Department of Justice entered into a ’deferred prosecution agreement’ with UBS that protected over 10,000 of these tax cheats, whilst exonerating the white-collar criminals who perpetrated these federal crimes.
Our Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association website is currently being read/downloaded in over 100 countries around the world. Please visit this page of our site and it with our global friends.
Captain Dan Hanley
National Public Spokesperson
Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association
Never Forget!
UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld is currently serving a 40-month federal prison sentence for his honesty as a federal whistleblower involving U.S. tax cheats who off-shored their wealth in UBS accounts, while paying no taxes. The U.S. Department of Justice entered into a ’deferred prosecution agreement’ with UBS that protected over 10,000 of these tax cheats, whilst exonerating the white-collar criminals who perpetrated these federal crimes.
On March 4, 2009, internationally renown Los Angeles attorney Richard Fine, was charged with “contempt of court” and “moral turpitude,” disbarred by California’s Supreme Court and jailed by Superior Court Judge David Yaffe “in retaliation for bringing the cases and exposing the unconstitutional payments,” once later held to be unconstitutional. Fine’s case is currently before the US Supreme Court.
On July 26, 2010, United Airlines Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) whistleblower Michael Lynch will be incarcerated in Chicago’s Cook County jail to serve the remainder of his 60-day sentence handed down on October 13, 2006 by former Judge Paddy McNamara for ’contempt of court’ without due process of law being served in this case.
Mr. Lynch alleged judicial corruption during the October 13th hearing, which purportedly implicated the sitting Judge McNamara. Mr. Lynch never was granted a separate sentencing hearing, as mandated by law, but was marched directly from the court room by the bailiff to commence serving this sentence. By law, due to purported conflicting interests presented during this hearing, Judge McNamara perhaps should have recused herself. Instead, she retired from the bench to Florida while Mr. Lynch served the first several days of his sentence until released on appeal by the court.
Cook County jail was under investigation in 2008 by District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the Office of the Chicago FBI as one of the most corrupt and dangerous correctional institutions in the country.
In spite of the fact that Mr. Lynch serves as a key witness as a Sarbanes-Oxley judicial corruption whistleblower in the United Airlines bankruptcy currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which should have provided him with witness protection under federal law, the Department of Justice and their congressional oversight committees in the House and the Senate, consistently refuse to investigate his allegations of judicial misconduct involving the largest airline bankruptcy and pension termination in the history of the United States.
Mr. Lynch is currently in contact with Ms. Debbie Hampton, a senior attorney in the Atlanta office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who is currently overseeing the United Airlines investigation, as well as numerous print, radio, and TV investigative journalist reporting on this case. The Department of Justice has been apprised of these issues since late 2006, as has the President of the United States, but have not acted to legally and politically intercede on behalf of Mr. Lynch and his legal team in Chicago. Why?
In a legally parallel case, United Airlines federal bankruptcy Judge Eugene R. Wedoff refused to recuse himself in a case involving Mr. Lynch over similar issues concerning a conflict of interest and issues of alleged judicial corruption. Why?
The legal offices of the Government Accountability Project, the National Whistleblower Center, the Project on Government Oversight, POPULAR, and OAK, as well as many other white-collar crime and national judicial watch groups have been apprised of this case, as have the tens-of-thousand global members of the Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association. Mr. Lynch will appear in the very near future as a guest on international radio and TV to air his grievances for the court of public opinion to judge.
Not unlike now indicted former Governor Rod Blagojevich, who has employed the media in attempts to sway public opinion, Mr. Lynch and his legal team feel this purported unjust incarceration for honest whistleblower testimony presented before the court should be publicly reviewed on the global stage.
Our association has learned of a major forthcoming civil suit that perhaps will further expose and support the allegations currently under review by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Transportation Inspector General’s office. If successful, this suit will help to save the American tax-payer billions in lost revenue, while further amplifying the need for strengthening today’s almost meaningless weak federal whistleblower laws, and in particular, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 spared of the legal axe by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2010.
In late 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission ignored our petition to investigate these same allegations, while denying witness protection for key informants in this case. In late 2009, Securities and Exchange Commission Inspector General H. David Kotz acknowledged in a letter this remission in their oversight responsibilities, which led to the current SEC investigation in Atlanta.
It should be noted in the 2007 letter to then SEC Commissioner Christopher Cox, witness protection was requested for Mr. Lynch and his family. To date, this petition to both the SEC and DOJ has been ignored. Instead, Mr. Lynch is presently at grave risk on July 26th while being incarcerated yet another time in one of the nation’s most dangerous correctional facilities interned with the general criminal populace without added physical protection, as provided by SOX law. Why?
In 2008, President Obama campaigned on a promise of a greater openness in government with enhanced protection for federal whistleblowers. As an Illinois senator, he was apprised in November 2006 of the plight of Mr. Lynch as such and yet failed to respond to our petition for political intercession based on congressional jurisdiction issues at the time.
Should physical harm befall Mr. Lynch while he is incarcerated in Cook County jail this month, it will send a most chilling signal to any other would-be Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower in the country during a time of economic peril, as has the example set by the wrongful incarceration of UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld and whistleblower attorney Richard Fine.
With only a 2% probability of success for federal whistleblowers in this country, combined with the advent of ’deferred prosecution agreements’ and the purported wrongful incarceration of honest whistleblowers, it’s of little wonder why our country is experiencing the rampant criminal activity of white-collar criminals who are robbing the American tax-payer blind. They KNOW they can get away with it.
The physical protection of Michael Lynch while in Cook County jail is in the hands of the President, the Department of Justice, and key congressional committee oversight chairmen. Should harm come to Mr. Lynch whilst incarcerated, the American citizenry must demand that these offices respond to their failure to protect a key Sarbanes-Oxley federal witness and patriot who is acting in the public interest in potentially saving ’We the People’ billions in tax-savings.
Mr. Birkenfeld and Mr. Fine are presently asking our help while in jail.
Had enough yet?
UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld is currently serving a 40-month federal prison sentence for his honesty as a federal whistleblower involving U.S. tax cheats who off-shored their wealth in UBS accounts, while paying no taxes. The U.S. Department of Justice entered into a ’deferred prosecution agreement’ with UBS that protected over 10,000 of these tax cheats, whilst exonerating the white-collar criminals who perpetrated these federal crimes.
Our Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association website is currently being read/downloaded in over 100 countries around the world. Please visit this page of our site and it with our global friends.
Captain Dan Hanley
National Public Spokesperson
Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association
Never Forget!
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