A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’
bbc.com
bbc.com
Putting wealthy people in jail doesn't normally happen. And even when it does happen, their stays usually aren't half as bad.
This particular dude plead guilty... and his sentence? "The sentence was 43 days in prison and a $250,000 fine". Most states won't even transfer you to prison for a month and a half, they'll just keep you in jail. And not only that, but he was able to get out early because he gave money to charity.
I've known folks get put in jail for not being able to afford child support. Many folks spend that long in jail just awaiting trial.
When and how does this stuff catch up with them in the end?
This is the same line of thinking that we all apply for things such as "Karma".
Just because we believe we live in a just world, it doesn't make it so.
It is why crucial for people to remain vigilant of legal loopholes and apply political pressure to make any changes.
As citizens, we have more power than we realize.
It also allows for selective prosecution. You prosecute some individuals for something everyone does as a punishment for totally unrelated matters.
It's very effective.
"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." - Voltaire
Plenty of current examples from all types of states.
He or she was talking about the deaths in siviet goulags.
So, what was this? Was Sissoko acting as a mule for getting money out of the bank and transferring it to other places?
One way to launder money is to buy things after all. Luxury goods like food, wine and art are particularly good for this. If I need to give you $1000 with plausible deniability, then if I go to your restaurant and pay $1000 for a $50 meal, that does the job.
So, someone wanted to quietly move millions of dollars out of a bank, and then gave it to someone who possibly laundered it, and did things like running and airline and buying military helicopters (what other military hardware was he not caught buying?).
Then the US diplomatic system went to bat for him in court. Black magic or black budget?
(Edit: the spies angle is probably a bit of a push, but I think speculating he was laundering for a bigger fish isn't)
I can see how it works in the short term e.g. you give me money, I give you double, you give me lots of money and I disappear with it. But it seems he had an ongoing relationship with the Daubi bank manager, how is that possible?
Once the mark has been tricked into giving away a small sum, you can now hold it over their head as blackmail to give you a larger sum - they are as fired/going-to-jail after giving away $X as for $10X, so with the stick of telling their bosses what they've done and the carrot of "maybe I can get you out of this if you give me a little more", the con artist can keep coming back to the same victim over and over.
... Mohammed Ayoub had claimed at his trial that Sissoko had put him under a spell ...
Or maybe there were a bunch of them stealing and Sissoko was laundering for them and Ayoub was the designated fall guy, and this was the best lie the group could come up with.
Going back to MMOs, scammers in EVE have a jumble of variants on this scam. Typically they'll double your money if it's below a certain amount, but run away with any larger sums. Sometimes they frame the game as a lottery or game of skill: only the first person whose cash transfer shows up in their wallet will have their money doubled. With arbitrary rules like that, it's easier to give excuses as to why they weren't able to double the money. Oh, you didn't read the fine print in my bio: better luck next time! A good rube might fork over multiple donations before he realizes his money won't be coming back. Of course, scamming in that game is perfectly legal, so it's a lot easier to just block and ignore your marks.
When someone got caught, that was the best lie they could come up with.
And 3 years, the sentences, way to little, something doesn't add up, I'm inclined to believe that he actually was some kind of scapegoat, that yes he received money from the bank, but a cover up, also the bank didn't noticed, so much money going out without justification?
In a culture of woo, this doubtless makes some kind of sense.
Cf. ICOs, irrational exuberance, etc.
Then you can get a brand new story every time there is a contradiction.
This guy is smooth.
Well that's good. We really can't have people going around practicing magic, who knows what could come of it.
You don't need to add [sic] when it's correct (this is a British news site).
Also found this article from '98 where a coworker asks the same thing and gets the same answer Ayyoub gave other people: "I asked how he had transferred so much money without approval or authorization," Salim later recalled. "Ayyoub said he had been under the influence of, or pressured by, the rich man to transfer the money." http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/babas-big-bucks-6359873
Also, this 2001 article suggests the transfers "were disguised in falsified bank ledgers" http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/general/jail-sentences-dropped-...
It would seem that it was REALLY easy to rob banks in the past.
I wonder what Dillenger's actual networth would have been...
Think of a last-pass for all your varied accounts, where the service allows you to update your core information and then select which of your accounts who have subscribed to your profile info should just be updated by the service.
So if you move - with one click, update all your linked account details for zip/billing/shipping/etc...
Obviously provide a diff review opportunity and a MFA heavy confirmation process - but with an easily revertible process as well.
as well as monitoring of logins to all, and alerts for any changes to any...
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43081499
> Then this week, the same bank publicly alleged that the jeweller was among those involved in an alleged $1.8bn fraud - which has led to fears for India's second-largest state-run bank.
Who could play the man?
How's the drama/comedy split on this one?
Denzel Washington might be a little old for his earlier exploits, but don't count him out.
Well. That's a bit of a circular argument.