The ESL Free Press

Plotting with the Wrong People

A man was arrested on Wednesday for planning to bomb the Metrorail train system in Washington, DC.

Farooque Ahmed believed he was working with al-Qaeda members, the charge says. But the people he saw were all part of an FBI investigation.

There was never any danger, the FBI says.

Ahmed is a U.S. citizen born in Pakistan. He is accused of taking pictures of Metrorail stations and planning the best times and places to put bombs on the trains.

source

printable:Download Plotting with the Wrong People.pdf (18.3K)

The Washington Metrorail, Washington, D.C. Photographic Print
Garrett, Kenneth
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Gray Market

A company has been accused of selling the wrong medical test supplies, and has agreed to solve the problem.

American Health Care sells test strips for people with diabetes. The diabetics put a drop of their blood on the strip to see how much glucose (sugar) is in their blood. They need this to care for themselves.

These strips are made all over the world. Some are not meant for North America. People there have no way to call the maker if they have problems with the strips.

But there is a "gray market" for these strips. The ones made outside the U.S. are cheaper. American Health Care is accused of buying them, and using stickers to cover up the words "Not for sale in North America" on the boxes.

The company president, Edward Letko, has agreed that his workers will not do this in future.

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Former Health Care Executive Arrested in Mexico

A woman who left the U.S. after she was found guilty of fraud has been arrested in Jalisco, Mexico.

Rebecca Parrett was once an executive at National Century Financial Enterprises. The company financed health care providers. Ms. Parrett and nine others lied about how they spent the company's money, and how well the company was doing. NCFE went bankrupt in 2002. So did many of the health care providers that had depended on it.

Ms. Parrett and the other executives were found guilty. In March, 2009, she was sentenced to 25 years in prison. She was also ordered to pay billions of dollars to those who had lost money.

Instead, she fled to Mexico. Mexican police arrested her there and took her to Los Angeles.

U.S. Marshal Cathy Jones says that criminals who run away, even if they have enough money to leave the U.S. and hide for years, "will always have to look over their shoulder".

source

Printable:Download Former Health Care Executive Arrested in Mexico.pdf (20.7K)

 

Making Money from Dying Brother

A man in Washington, DC, has been found guilty of insurance fraud.

Roscoe Grant had a brother who was very sick. He got life insurance on his brother, to be paid to him when the brother died. Grant forged his brother's signature on the insurance papers. He also lied on the papers, saying his brother was working and in good health.

His brother died in July 2005. The insurance company paid Grant over $33,000.

source

printable:Download Making Money from Dying Brother.pdf (19.0K)

Links to October 27th's Top News Stories

The tsunami in Sumatra has killed at least 272 people.Now Mount Merapi, a volcano in another part of Indonesia, has erupted and killed at least 30. Read more.

The French government has voted to raise the country's retirement age from 60 to 62. This happened although workers protested against it for weeks. Read more.

A Palestinian jihadist has been killed near the border between Israel and Gaza. Read more.

Who was the man with the most influence on people this year? The comedian Jon Stewart, says a survey on AskMen.com. Read more.

Charged with Lying About Terrorism

Hameed Shehadeh, a U.S. citizen, has been charged with lying about things involving terrorism -- a trip he took to Pakistan, and his reasons for trying to join the U.S. Army.

Shehadeh is 21 and now lives in Hawaii. While living in New York, he traveled to Pakistan on a one-way ticket. But he was not allowed in. When Shehadeh went back to the U.S., police and the FBI questioned him many times about his trip. He said he had gone for a friend's wedding and a university visit. The charge says he meant to join the Taliban or a similar group.

Later, Shehadeh tried to join the U.S. Army. He was turned down because he did not tell about his trip to Pakistan. The charge says Shehadeh meant to go to Iraq with the Army, then desert and join Iraqi rebels.

source

printable:Download Charged with Lying About Terrorism.pdf (21.4K)

 

Art: Real and Not

The FBI Art Crime Team has seized a forged painting and some items from ancient times.

The painting was a copy of Snow Birds by Andrew Wyeth, an American artist. The painting was sent to an auction house to be sold. But people began wondering if it was the real one. A museum worker checked the records on the real Snow Birds. She found some differences and told the U.S. Attorney's office. The government has taken the painting.

Wyeth often painted country scenes. He painted the real Snow Birds in 1970. Wyeth died last year.

Another art crime involved the real thing -- ancient items from Mesopotamia (now southern Iraq).

An antique dealer in California had these. They had been smuggled to the U.S. from Iraq. No one knows who did this.

The items are mostly clay tablets with writing on them. This is how ancient Mesopotamians kept records. They wrote on the clay while it was still soft, then let it harden.

The government has also taken the tablets. Iraq wants them back.

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printable:Download Art_ Real and Not.pdf (19.8K)

Squall

Art Print
Wyeth, Andrew
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Tablet with Cuneiform Script Detailing a Contract for Selling a Field and a House, from Shuruppak

Giclee Print
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Links to October 26th's Top News Stories

The earthquake off Sumatra yesterday caused a tsunami. It killed 108 people, and over 500 are missing. Read more.

Iran has started putting fuel into its nuclear reactor near Bushehr. Read more.

Terrorist Omar Khadr has pleaded guilty at Guantanamo Bay. In return, after a year he can ask to be sent back to Canada, where he was born. Read more.

A doctor from Ghana has been elected mayor of a town in Slovenia. He is, of course, the country's first black mayor. Read more.

Pakistani Student Sentenced for Plans to Support Taliban

A Pakistani who went to the U.S. on a student visa has been sent to prison for 15 years. He has been found guilty of planning to send money to the Taliban, and illegally owning a gun.

Adan Mirza was living in Houston, Texas. He went to a community college. On weekends, he and others went camping to practice using guns. They were training for a jihad (Muslim war).

Mirza and the others planned to send money to the Taliban. He also had a gun, which is illegal for foreign students living in the U.S.

source

printable:Download Pakistani Student Sentenced for Plans to Support Taliban.pdf (19.3K)