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Twincougars

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  1. http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2012/09/22/2-who-bought-Iraqi-currency-file-suit-against-indicted-sellers-firms.html A civil lawsuit was filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court Friday by two Texas investors against four men and their companies accused of a criminal scam involving the sale of Iraqi currency. In the civil case, John R. Merritt and Arley G. Lee say they each purchased several thousand dollars of Iraqi dinar based on the representations of the defendants and that the defendants’ actions were in violation of the U.S. securities laws. Toledo attorney Thomas Pigott, who filed the complaint, said that he plans to ask that the lawsuit be made into a class action to cover all the investors who bought into the alleged scheme. “Our case is different than the federal criminal allegations in that we are alleging violations of the federal securities act,” Mr. Pigott said. In addition to the four defendants, the lawsuit specifically names Energy Savers Advisors LLC, which does business as the BH Group; Bayshore Capital Investments LLC of Jacksonville; Treasury Vault LLC of Draper, Utah; and Dinar Trade Inc., of Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the Ottawa Hills owner of one of the businesses — based in downtown Toledo — was ordered on Friday released from jail, but with tighter restrictions than two employees also charged in the case. Bradford L. Huebner, 65, of 2936 Pembroke Rd., Ottawa Hills, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and multiple counts of money laundering. An 83-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo naming Mr. Huebner, who is chairman of BH Group, 17 N. St. Clair St., which specialized in the sale of Iraqi currency; Charles Emmenecker, 65, and Michael Teadt, 66, was unsealed Thursday after the three men were arrested. Later that day, all three men pleaded not guilty during their arraignments in U.S. District Court in Toledo. Also indicted was Rudolph Coenen, 47, of Jacksonville, the owner of Bayshore Capital Investments LLC. He is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. According to the indictment, the men fraudulently marketed and sold dinars, the currency of Iraq, causing investors of the BH Group to lose nearly $23.8 million. They also are accused of selling more than $700,000 in nonexistent hedge-fund assets. The sale of Iraqi dinar is not illegal. But the indictment said that beginning in August, 2010, the defendants falsely told investors and promoted through the Internet, email, and weekly telephone conferences that buying the dinar involved minimal risks because the currency was protected and regulated by the "Overseas Investment Protection Act and a presidential executive order, guaranteeing 90 percent reimbursement," among other misrepresentations. During Mr. Huebner's Friday detention hearing in federal court, special agent Erik Kost of the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigations division testified that the BH Group was still selling dinars and holding its weekly conference calls as of Tuesday. The lawsuit asks the court to order the defendants to immediately desist from further sales and seeks damages in excess of $23 million and that a receiver be appointed over the businesses. Mr. Kost testified Friday that the IRS began investigating the defendants in the fall of 2010 because of unusual financial transactions. They began taping the BH Group's telephone conferences in February, 2011, and an undercover agent bought into a non-existent hedge fund run by Mr. Coenen. Agents raided the St. Clair Street office and Mr. Huebner's home July 27, 2011, and seized documents and a significant amount of money, including more than $1.7 million in Iraqi dinar. Beyond the false dinar claims, Mr. Kost testified about what agents believed were transactions structured to evade reporting requirement, Mr. Coenen's false claims about his financial and military history, and the sale of seats on the hedge funds. Mr. Coenen's fake persona lent credibility to the company's dinar sales and was used to counter claims on Internet sites that the company was a sham. Mr. Kost said that Mr. Huebner should have easily known Mr. Coenen was never a vice president for JPMorgan Chase as he claimed to investors, because he is dyslexic, among other reasons. Attorney Richard Kerger, who represents Mr. Huebner, has said that the operation and representation of the dinar and hedge funds offered by BH Group was “entirely lawful." Mr. Huebner's attorneys argue he was unaware of Mr. Coenen's claims. And Mr. Kerger said his client actually voluntarily came forward to the FBI over concerns about Mr. Coenen the day of the raid before IRS agents acted, unaware he was under investigation. Mr. Emmenecker and Mr. Teadt were both released from jail Thursday after posting $250,000 unsecured bonds. But federal prosecutors asked in a detention hearing today that Mr. Huebner be held without bail, arguing that he couldn't be trusted to return to court and was a flight risk because he may own properties in other countries, frequently traveled abroad in recent years, and may have held residency in at least two other states. Judge Jack Zouhary allowed Mr. Huebner to be released, but ordered his bond be $500,000 unsecured. He noted that Mr. Huebner has known he was under investigation since at least last year, yet he has not fled prosecution. Mr. Huebner will also be placed on electronic home monitoring, and will only be allowed to go between his home and his office on North St. Clair Street. Contact Erica Blake at:eblake@theblade.comor 419-213-2134.
  2. Could War Flare Again Between Iraq and Kuwait? by: John Daly Friday December 9, 2011 - 00:20 According to Iraqi Council of Representatives Oil and Energy Committee member Furat al-Sharei, the 10 oil fields that spread across the Iraqi-Kuwaiti frontier are still waiting to have a line drawn through them to delineate the border, more than eight years after a coalition led by U.S. forces toppled the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. According to al-Sharei, the two countries must first collaborate in developing legislation for equitably sharing the fields before oil extraction can begin, noting, "The problem of the common fields can be resolved by developing legal mechanisms." While Iraq and Kuwait are now at peace, many of the border issues that led to conflict two decades ago remain, which no amount of diplomatic bonhomie can completely paper over. In 1993 the United Nations Security Council Resolution 833 precisely delineated the previous borders between Iraq and Kuwait following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of his neighbor in August 1990. Iraqi forces were summarily expelled by a 34-nation coalition led by the United States during Operation Desert Storm, which began in February 1991. That conflict left Iraq with a $22 billion reparations bill to Kuwait that it is still struggling to pay off, tithing 5 percent of its oil revenue to its tiny plutocratic southern neighbor. What were some of Saddam Hussein’s grievances against Kuwait? By the time Iraq signed the ceasefire in its punishing eight year war with Iran in August 1988, Iraq was virtually bankrupt, owing $80 billion in debt to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which now pressured Baghdad for repayment with interest. Iraq pressured both nations to forgive the debts, but they refused. Iraq also accused Kuwait of exceeding its OPEC quotas and driving down the price of oil, thus further hurting the Iraqi economy, as collapsing oil prices further decimated the Iraqi economy. Baghdad also repeatedly protested to no avail about what it claimed was economic warfare waged by Kuwait’s slant-drilling into disputed border regions, which reached as far as Iraq’s Rumaila oil field Despite the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in March 2003, two years later Kuwait began the construction of a 125-mile metal barrier along its land borders with Iraq in early 2005. But with a new administration in Baghdad, on 23 November 2006 Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters following talks with Iraq’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Mohammad al-Haj, “We have signed a deal ... after which Kuwait will be able to complete the construction of the security fence,” noting that as the arrangement calls for the payment of "compensation to Iraqi farmers" on the border, the requisite amount "had been deposited with the United Nations." Al-Haj added, "We have completed the practical requirements for the demarcation of borders," based on UN Security Council Resolution 833. Five years later, little has moved since "the practical requirements for the demarcation of borders." The reestablishment of bilateral Iraqi-Kuwaiti diplomatic relations has been even more glacial. Kuwait reopened its embassy in Iraq in 2008 after nearly 19 years of broken diplomatic relations, while the Consulate of Iraq was again opened in Kuwait only last year. Local Iraqis based in Basra have a very different view of UN Security Council Resolution 833, stating that it led to the transfer of a significant amount of Iraqi land, hosting both oil wells and agriculture such as tomato farms to Kuwait, as well as the establishment of a wide zone of neutrality between the two countries which again favored the emirate. A high-ranking Iraqi government official in the Safwan border region, who had had some of his own land confiscated when the new border was marked out, commented that the locals describe “the unjust demarcation of borders as well as their government’s reluctance to put an end to this injustice.” Once again, local Iraqis two decades later are complaining that Kuwaitis are “stealing” Iraqi oil in border areas by using directional drilling techniques. Local Basra government officials say that they have proof of the Kuwaiti theft and have forwarded it to Baghdad, offering as proof the fact that pressure in some oil reservoirs near the border has dropped significantly, which local Iraqi government officials believe has been caused by Kuwaiti drilling to tap the same reservoirs. Ratcheting up the tension, Kuwait’s ambassador to Baghdad, Ali al-Mu’men recently denied Iraqi allegations and instead, accused Iraqi companies of extracting oil from Kuwaiti oil reserves. For Farid Khalid, head of the energy committee of the Basra provincial council, the issue is simple - “No oil work was done on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti-Iranian borders by the Iraqi government for years which is why the oil reserves were open for looting.” So, as in the immediate aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, Kuwait has the cash and the backing of the U.S. government – hardly a recipe for regional stability. Further weighting the scales in Kuwait’s favor, as some of the U.S. forces leaving Iraq by year’s end are due to redeploy there, with the Pentagon discussing shifting a combat brigade team of about 3,500 troops and possibly other units to Kuwait to join the roughly 20,000 U.S. forces already there. For those seeking to read the tea leaves about Iraq’s oil future, Iraq also has ten common oilfields on its eastern border with Iran that are waiting for the demarcation process to be completed before extraction can begin, but that’s another story for another time. http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article21483
  3. Lets say you buy a bunch of dinars for $X and when the RV comes, you unload them for a profit, which would be (assuming you reported it to the IRS) taxable as capital gains. However, embedded in that transaction is the CBI spread, which is, IMO, is an expense in doing the exchange of dinars to dollars, and therefore should be a deductible expense. What do you think?
  4. I don't post very often so I am not sure if I am out of place in saying this, but in Adam's chat he said "and we are showing our support by pulling out -" I would have to disagree. We are pulling out, not to fulfill Obama's old campaign promise--in his lame bid for re-election--but because the folks in Iraq will not grant immunity to our troops from local prosecution for any crimes committed. If they were given that immunity, you can be sure our troops would still be there.
  5. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201161962910765678.html?utm_content=news_AJEContentFireHose&utm_campaign=socialflowtest&utm_source=twitter&utm_term=twitter&utm_medium=tweet Missing Iraq cash 'as high as $18 billion' Iraq's parliament speaker tells Al Jazeera unaccounted reconstruction money is three times the reported $6.6bn. Last Modified: 19 Jun 2011 07:08 Osama al-Najai, the Iraqi parliament speaker, has told Al Jazeera that the amount of Iraqi money unaccounted for by the US is $18.7bn - three times more than the reported $6.6bn. Just before departing for a visit to the US, al-Najai said that he has received a report this week based on information from US and Iraqi auditors that the amount of money withdrawn from a fund from Iraqi oil proceeds, but unaccounted for, is much more than the $6.6bn reported missing last week. "There is a lot of money missing during the first American administration of Iraqi money in the first year of occupation. "Iraq's development fund has lost around $18bn of Iraqi money in these operations - their location is unknown. Also missing are the documents of expenditure. "I think it will be discussed soon. There should be an answer to where has Iraqi money gone." The Bush administration flew in a total of $20bn in cash into the country in 2004. This was money that had come from Iraqi oil sales, surplus funds from the UN oil-for-food programme and seized Iraqi assets. Officials in Iraq were supposed to give out the money to Iraqi ministries and US contractors, intended for the reconstruction of the country. 'No trace' The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Iraqi officials argue that the US government was supposed to safeguard the stash under a 2004 legal agreement it signed with Iraq, hence making Washington responsible for the cash that has disappeared. Pentagon officials have contended for the last six years that they could account for the money if given enough time to track down the records. The US has audited the money three times, but has still not been able to say exactly where it went. Al Jazeera's Iraq correspondent, Jane Arraf, reported from Baghdad that "It's an absolutely astonishing figure - this goes back to 2003 and 2004. "There is going to be a fairly wide net cast - some of them (involved in mishandling of this money) are thought to be US officials and some are thought to be Iraqis. "Safeguarding the money was up to the Americans....after the invasion, provisional authority here was run by the American military. "Piles and piles of shrink wrapped US dollars came here, but the cash coming in is not the important part but it iss what happened to it after (it got here). "There are no documents to indicate who got it, where it was spent and what was ever built from it."
  6. http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2011/2/25/libya-and-beyond-liveblog-the-fighting-nears-tripoli.html 0830 GMT: Reports from Iraq now streaming in, including demonstrations of 1000 in Baghdad, amidst a heavy military presence, chanting, "[Prime Minister] Nouri al Maliki is a liar!", and 2000 people in rally in Basra. There are claims that the Governor of Basra has resigned and three protesters have killed in Kirkuk.
  7. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12035746 Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki to unveil new government By Gabriel Gatehouse BBC News, Baghdad Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki (file photo Nov 2010) It will be a delicate balancing act for Mr Maliki Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is due to unveil his cabinet shortly, more than nine months after inconclusive parliamentary elections. It is expected to include all the major factions, including the Kurds, Shia and Sunni Arabs. Each of the prime minister's nominations will still have to be approved by the Iraqi parliament. But it is hoped the move will end a protracted period of political deadlock. This day has been a very long time coming, and there are still a few potential hurdles ahead. There are 37 posts in all, and dividing up portfolios among Iraq's diverse and often mutually antagonistic factions has been the focus of the past month's political wrangling. Continue reading the main story Iraq government deadlock * March: Elections give two-seat lead to former PM Iyad Allawi - not enough to form a government * June: Parliament meets for 20 minutes, MPs sworn in but delay formal return to work to give time for coalition talks * August: Iraq's Supreme Court orders parliament to re-convene * November: power-sharing deal agreed. Shia bloc to get premiership, Sunnis to get speaker plus new role for Mr Allawi. Kurds keep presidency. * Iraq's great balancing act * Profile: Nouri al-Maliki It will be a delicate balancing act for Mr Maliki, who has to reconcile various Shiite groups, as well as the Sunnis and the Kurds, to put together government of national unity that has at least a chance of being able to work together. It has taken a world-record-breaking nine and a bit months to get this far. When the government is finally formed, it will be seen as a major breakthrough. But the real test of this coalition will come when these newly-appointed ministers get down to work, and start to tackle the country's many problems - from neglected and crumbling infrastructure to continuing violence and instability.
  8. Maliki Unlikely to Form Gov’t Until 2011 http://www.iran-daily.com/ Political Desk Iraq's prime minister is still seeking cabinet nominations from the country's top politicians, signaling he likely will not form a new government much earlier than the Dec. 25 deadline, as promised. Nouri Al-Maliki had pledged to announce his new government by Dec. 15 and end the political deadlock that began with inconclusive parliamentary elections nine months ago, AP reported. He appealed for nominations Saturday at a meeting of the Kurdish Democratic Party and said he would still meet the constitutional deadline of Dec. 25 for announcing the new leadership. The meeting was also attended by Sunni and Shiite Arab politicians with whom Maliki has had to create uneasy alliances after his political party fell short of winning the most seats in parliament in the March elections. Kurdish Self-Determination Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani Saturday called for the right to self-determination of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, which could lead to a breakup of the country. Speaking at a congress of his Kurdistan Democratic Party, Barzani said "the issue of self-determination," which was considered "a right," would be presented to those attending the conference "to be studied and discussed." Barzani's comments were made to an audience that included Maliki, parliament speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi and Iyad Allawi, whose Iraqiya bloc won the most seats in March elections, AFP reported. Barzani's KDP is a key member of Maliki's governing coalition. Iraq's Kurdish north, made up of three provinces, has its own parliament and exerts control over all areas of policy except for national defense and foreign affairs. Allawi Threat Allawi threatened to quit a power-sharing government in an interview with Britain's Times newspaper on Thursday. "Power-sharing is not happening," Allawi said. "It is not set to work in a meaningful way... If it does not change, I will not participate." Despite being lauded by international leaders including US President Barack Obama, Iraq's power-sharing pact has looked fragile ever since it was agreed last month after an eight-month impasse. Despite his Iraqiya block narrowly winning elections in March, Allawi has seen religious parties coalesce to form the biggest grouping in the new parliament led by Maliki. Allawi, a Shiite, claimed that Iraq's political system meant a non-sectarian politician could never succeed. He said Iraqis were likely to quickly become disillusioned with any government that is formed. "There is a lot of disillusionment among Iraqis, whether they voted for us or not," Allawi said. "They associated democracy with the fact that whoever got the highest numbers should spearhead the formation of the government." The Times said Allawi had also confirmed that many imprisoned members of the Al-Mahdi Army, followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, had been released as part of a deal struck between Maliki and Sadr two months ago. Asked how Iraq's political landscape would look in a year's time, Allawi told the paper: "Really, I don't know."
  9. I am afraid I do not grasp the significance of this, if there is any. Protecting the Iraqi money, to me, is like holding it in a trust. But, that does not necessarily protect the money's VALUE.
  10. Well, what a nice polite way to welcome a newcomer. Are you for real? Are other members of this forum as rude as you? If you are the exception, is there some way I can ban posts from you from showing up when I view the forum? BTW, I did send in my money for 100K of dinars today. I figure it's better than a lottery ticket. Even if there were to be no RV, at least there is some value in the dinar, whereas with a lottery ticket, you loose and you have nothing. As far as not posting, I was asked to post an introduction, so I did. Sorry you didn't like it.
  11. Hi everyone; just joined & looking forward to learning more avout the rumored RV of the dinar. What keeps bothering me is that if what I hear is true, it would suddenly turn thousands and thousands of relatively poor Middle-easterners into instant millionaires (dollar, not dinar millionaires). Doesn't sound logical to me. When the rest of the world's currency seems to be going down the toilet, the only RV I would think would occur would be for the dinar to become worth LESS, not more.
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