Page 6 - Fbi

Who is Asif Merchant: Pak national charged with US assassination plots

Asif Merchant has been charged with murder-for-hire in connection with a foiled assassination plot targeting US politicians or government officials

Trump agrees to be interviewed in investigation of his assassination bid

Former President Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into his attempted assassination in Pennsylvania earlier this month, a special agent said on Monday in disclosing how the gunman prior to the shooting had researched mass attacks and explosive devices. The expected interview with the 2024 Republican presidential nominee is part of the FBI's standard protocol to speak with victims during the course of their criminal investigations. The FBI said on Friday that Trump was struck by a bullet or a fragment of one during the July 13 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. "We want to get his perspective on what he observed," said Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office. "It is a standard victim interview like we would do for any other victim of crime, under any other circumstances." Through roughly 450 interviews, the FBI has fleshed out a portrait of the gunman, Thomas Matthew .

Trump was indeed struck by bullet during assassination attempt, says FBI

The FBI swiftly labelled the incident as an act of domestic terrorism and an attempted assassination

Real-life Narcos busted: US authorities capture top Sinaloa Cartel leaders

Two top leaders of Mexican drug cartel known as El Mayo and El Chapo were arrested by US authorities in a major operation involving the FBI, DEA, and Homeland Security investigations

FBI Director Wray grilled by lawmakers on Trump rally shooting incident

The shooting at Trump's rally on July 13 shocked the nation, resulting in the death of one attendee and leaving two others seriously injured

FBI chief Wray to face questions over Trump's assassination attempt

FBI Director Christopher Wray is set to testify Wednesday about the bureau's investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, with lawmakers at a congressional hearing likely to press him for fresh details about the gunman's motive and background. The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee will represent Wray's most detailed comments to date about a shooting that has again thrust the FBI into the political maelstrom as agents continue to investigate the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. The hearing had been scheduled well before the June 13 shooting as part of the committee's routine oversight of the FBI and Justice Department, and though lawmakers may touch on a broad array of topics, questions about the shooting are expected to dominate the session. Despite being appointed by Trump, Wray typically faces antagonistic

Gunman in Trump attack flew drone over rally site ahead of event: Official

The gunman in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is believed to have flown a drone around the Pennsylvania rally site ahead of time in an apparent attempt to scope out the site before the event, a law enforcement official said Saturday. The drone has been recovered by the FBI, which is leading the investigation into last Saturday's shooting at the rally by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Crooks fired multiple rounds from the roof of a building adjacent to the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump was speaking, before being fatally shot by a Secret Service counter sniper. The existence of the device and its use at some point before the shooting could help explain why Crooks knew to fire from the point. The official who described the drone was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Details of the drone were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Trump said this week that one bulle

Trump assassination bid: What is US Secret Service, why is it under scanner

Donald Trump assassination attempt: Donald Trump narrowly escaped a bid on his life at an election rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. He miraculously escaped with an injury to his right ear

Baltimore bridge collapse: Ship crew may leave US if they comply with probe

Crew members on the cargo ship Dali can head home as soon as Thursday under an agreement that allows lawyers to question them as part of investigations into the cause of the deadly collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. Attorneys had asked the judge Tuesday to prevent the roughly two dozen total crew members - all hailing from India or Sri Lanka - from leaving. Eight of the Dali's crew members were scheduled to return home, according to emails included in court filings. None of the crew members has been able to leave the U.S. since their ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns on March 26. Under the agreement, which was confirmed by U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar during a hearing Thursday, the crew can return home but must be available for depositions. In the court filings, attorneys representing the City of Baltimore said the men should remain in the U.S. so they can be deposed in ongoing civil litigation to decide who is responsible

Baltimore port reopens 11 weeks after Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse

The Baltimore port, one of America's largest shipping hubs, formally reopened on Wednesday, 11 weeks after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed when it was struck by a massive cargo ship mostly manned by Indians. The 2.6-km-long, four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River collapsed on March 26 after the 984-foot ship Dali' crashed into it. The crew onboard the crippled ship included 20 Indians and one Sri Lankan. I made clear that my Administration would move heaven and earth to reopen the Port of Baltimore one of our nation's largest shipping hubs. Today, thanks to the tireless work by the men and women in the Unified Command, the full navigation channel is now open to all vessel traffic, allowing a full return of commerce to the Port of Baltimore, US President Joe Biden said in a statement. Disruptions from the March 26 bridge collapse have cost the Baltimore region's economy about USD 1.2 billion, said Anirban Basu, an economist with Sage Policy Group, a ...

Man suspected of operating 'world's largest ever' cybercrime botnet held

An international law enforcement team has arrested a Chinese national and disrupted a major botnet that officials said he ran for nearly a decade, amassing at least USD 99 million in profits by reselling access to criminals who used it for identity theft, child exploitation, and financial fraud, including pandemic relief scams. The US Department of Justice quoted FBI Director Christopher Wray as saying on Wednesday that the 911 S5 botnet a network of malware-infected computers in nearly 200 countries was likely the world's largest. Justice said in a news release that Yunhe Wang, 35, was arrested May 24. Wang was arrested in Singapore, and search warrants were executed there and in Thailand, the FBI's deputy assistant director for cyber operations, Brett Leatherman, said in a LinkedIn post. Authorities also seized USD 29 million in cryptocurrency, Leatherman said. Cybercriminals used Wang's network of zombie residential computers to steal billions of dollars from financial ...

Adversaries could use AI to spread disinformation about US elections: FBI

The FBI is concerned that foreign adversaries could deploy artificial intelligence as a means to interfere in American elections and spread disinformation, a senior official said Thursday, describing the technology as an area that's probably going to see growth over the coming years. The threat is more than theoretical given the prevalence of AI deepfakes and robocalls and the way such technology has already surfaced in politics. The official noted an episode in Slovakia early this year in which audio clips resembling the voice of the liberal party chief purportedly capturing him talking about hiking beer prices and rigging the vote were shared widely on social media just days before parliamentary elections. The clips were deepfakes. An incident in the U.S. involved robocalls impersonating President Joe Biden that urged voters in New Hampshire to abstain from voting in January's primary election. The robocalls were later traced to a political consultant who said he was trying to .

As China and Iran hunt for dissidents in US, FBI races to counter threat

After a participant in the historic Tiananmen Square protests entered a 2022 congressional race in New York City, a Chinese intelligence operative wasted little time enlisting a private investigator to hunt for any mistresses or tax problems that could upend the candidate's bid, prosecutors say. In the end, the operative ominously told his contact, violence would be fine too. As an Iranian journalist and activist living in exile in the United States aired criticism of Iran's human rights abuses, Tehran was listening too. Members of an Eastern European organised crime gang scouted her Brooklyn home and plotted to kill her in a murder-for-hire scheme directed from Iran, according to the Justice Department, which foiled the plan and brought criminal charges. The episodes reflect the extreme measures taken by countries like China and Iran to intimidate, harass and sometimes plot attacks against political opponents and activists who live in the US. They show the frightening consequences

Baltimore bridge collapse: FBI opens criminal probe, fourth body recovered

The investigation into the collapse will focus in part on whether the crew of the Dali left the port knowing the freighter had serious problems with its systems, the Washington Post reported earlier

FBI offers reward of $250,000 on arrest of Indian wanted for killing wife

The FBI is now offering a reward of up to USD 250,000 for information leading to the arrest of a 33-year-old "extremely dangerous" Indian national who is wanted in the US for allegedly killing his wife in 2015. Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel, who was last known to be in the Newark area of New Jersey, is wanted for allegedly killing his wife Palak Patel by striking her multiple times with an object when they worked at a doughnut shop in Hanover, Maryland. Patel is on the FBI's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives' and the federal agency announced a reward of up to USD 250,000 for information leading to his arrest. Initially, the FBI had offered a USD 100,000 reward for information about Patel. Patel has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and dangerous weapons with intent to injure, the FBI said in a statement. A federal arrest warrant was issued in the Maryland district court on April 20, 2015, after Patel was char

Apple refuses to help ED in unlocking Arvind Kejriwal's iPhone: Report

Indian agency made an informal request to tech giant after arresting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 21

Indian American indicted in a Ponzi scheme, victims asked to come forward

An Indian-American has been indicted by a grand jury in a Ponzi scheme with the FBI urging victims of the investment adviser in Texas to come forward. Siddharth Jawahar, 36, has been ordered imprisonment until sentencing by the court. The FBI on Wednesday said it is seeking potential Miami-area victims of Jawahar who has been accused of running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. According to the indictment, from July 2016 through roughly December 2023, Jawahar took in more than USD 35 million from Swiftarc investors but spent about USD 10 million on investments in companies. Jawahar used the money from new investors to repay older investors and to fuel an extravagant lifestyle that included flights on private planes, stays at luxury hotels and expensive outings at lavish restaurants, the indictment says. In 2015, Jawahar began investing the majority of client funds in a single investment, Philip Morris Pakistan (PMP), the indictment says, and eventually, 99 per cent of client fund

Former Jaguars manager who stole $22 mn from team gets 78 months in prison

A former Jacksonville Jaguars financial manager who pled guilty to stealing more than $22 million from the NFL franchise through its virtual credit card programme was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison Tuesday. Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr sentenced Amit Patel, 31, in US District Court in Jacksonville. Patel, wearing a charcoal suit and a burgundy tie, showed no emotion inside the packed courthouse as the punishment was handed down. Prosecutors said Patel has returned $1.89 million, leaving his restitution tab at $21,132,454.40 -- a figure the judge acknowledged he will never be able to pay back following a felony conviction. Patel pled guilty in December to one count of wire fraud and one count of making an illegal monetary transaction. The judge sentenced Patel to 78 months on each count, to run concurrently. It was the lowest number under sentencing guidelines. He also got three years of supervised release. Patel's lawyer argued for a lighter sentence Tuesday, asking for no mo

FBI, UK crime agency disrupt Lockbit's website used for ransomware payments

Law enforcement from 11 different countries took part in the operation, which seized 11,000 domains used by LockBit and its affiliates to facilitate ransomware, an FBI official said

Law enforcement agencies infiltrate, disrupt ransomware group LockBit

Law-enforcement agencies have infiltrated and disrupted Lockbit, a prolific ransomware syndicate behind cyberattacks around the world, Britain's National Crime Agency said Tuesday. The agency said it led an international operation targeting LockBit, which provides ransomware as a service to so-called affiliates who infect victim networks with the computer-crippling malware and negotiate ransoms. The group has been linked to thousands of attacks since 2019. Hours before the announcement, the front page of LockBit's site was replaced with the words this site is now under control of law enforcement, alongside the flags of the UK, the US and several other nations. The message said the website was under the control of the UK's National Crime Agency working in close cooperation with the FBI and the international law enforcement task force, Operation Cronos." It says it is an ongoing and developing operation that also involves agencies from Germany, France, Japan, Australia, New Zealand a