The Daily MuckFormer UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld appears in court today and is expected to enter a guilty plea in a tax evasion scam. Birkenfeld and his fugitive co-worker Mario Staggls stand accused of helping their ultra-high-net worth clients evade hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the U.S. government. (WRS Worldradio.ch)
The dominoes continue to fall for Wall Street banks in the wake of the mortgage fallout. Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were arrested this morning on charges of securities fraud. Matthew Tannin and Ralph Cioffi are the first executives to face criminal charges as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.
(Associated Press)
A massive report issued by Physicians for Human Rights detailing torture suffered by 11 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib was released Wednesday, the most extensive such study done on the torture tactics used on detainees. One of the interviewed detainees, Ali al-Qaisi, detailed horrors of defecation, sodomy, excruciating pain and humiliation. (Associated Press and Physicians for Human Rights)
Members of Congress have called for increased attention into an ABC News report that revealed government-run pharmaceutical drug testing was done on mentally distressed veterans. The members, in a letter to the Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs, called for an end to the testing of the drug Chantix that has been linked to nearly 40 veteran suicides and over 400 incidents of suicidal behavior. (ABC News)
A U.S. district court chief judge met with lawyers for detainees and the Justice Dept. to discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling that will allow prisoners to challenge their legal proceedings for the first time. Over 200 cases are currently pending at Gitmo. (Reuters)
The Government Accountability Office has requested that the Department of Defense re-assess its contract-awarding practices after Boeing cried foul on an Air Force contract given to two of its rivals. Boeing protested the contract claiming the Air Force should have selected an American company. (The Hill)
Hundreds of sensitive nuclear missile components have gone missing according to Pentagon officials. This is the latest in a series of gaffes from the military, culminating with Defense Secretary Robert Gates firing two Air Force officials for accidentally shipping nuclear cones to Taiwan. (Financial Times)
A Justice Department official is under investigation regarding his penchant for golfing during official conferences and hiring a Honduran colonel to push the Bush administration’s faith-based initiatives. (ABC News)
