The Daily MuckA report by the Government Accountability Office says that more than $2 billion given to Pakistan by the U.S. government to fund counterterrorism efforts may not have been used for its intended purpose. U.S.-funded army roads and bunkers may never have even been built, with the millions of U.S. dollars going to unknown uses. (Washington Post)
A U.S. Army officer, Maj. John Cockerham, and his wife, Melissa Cockerham, pleaded guilty to a money laundering scheme involving contracts in Iraq. Maj. Cockerham, who was responsible for awarding contracts worth millions of dollars, admitted to taking or being promised over 9 million dollars in bribes for contracts while in Kuwait. (Associated Press)
The Attorney General’s office in Illinois is planning to file a civil suit Wednesday against mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp and its chief executive Angelo Mozilo after an investigation which began last fall. The Attorney General’s office claims that Countrywide engaged in “unfair and deceptive practices” in the sale of their mortgage loans to homeowners. (Wall Street Journal)
With the Supreme Court ruling to allow detainees the right to appeal their imprisonment two weeks ago, a law firm that accepted the cases of six Algerian detainees at Gitmo has larger than expected commitments to its clients. The Boston law firm Wilmer Hale donated nearly $17 million in free legal help to the accused thus far, making it the largest pro bono case in the history of the 90-year old firm. (Boston Globe)
Two American businessmen were charged on Monday for selling military parts to Iran for the Iranian air fleet. The two men ran a company in Fort Lauderdale shipping aviation parts to the United Arab Emirates for resale in Iran. This is the latest in a series of cases this year of U.S. businesspeople selling aircraft parts, weapons, and engineering software to Iran. (New York Times)
The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating the nation’s largest immigrant law firm over allegations that it helped U.S. corporations hire thousands of immigrants for high-paying jobs over American job applicants. While it is legal for law firms to suggest people for companies to hire, it is illegal for them to dissuade companies from hiring U.S workers. (Associated Press)
Adam Kidan, a former partner of lobbyist Jack Abramoff in a Florida casino deal, is seeking a sentence relief after pleading guilty in 2006 to fraud. Kidan, to be released in 2011, blames the ongoing investigation of Abramoff as reason for his prolonged wait for an abbreviated sentence. (Fort Mill Times)
Former U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary Jack Kemp is implicated through his equity groups part in an FBI investigation of a Philadelphia-based loan broker’s financial and real estate firms. The investigation stems from allegations that the groups’ “Advance Fee” plan collected nonrefundable fees from potential borrowers with “no intention of providing financing.” (Wall Street Journal)
The legendary espionage case of Julius and Ethen Rosenberg received new life this week, as a federal district court approved the public release of nearly 60-year-old grand jury testimony from the trial. Prosecutors only agreed to publish the testimony of deceased witnesses, and still oppose offering any records involving the ten witnesses still alive. (New York Times)
