Day: October 2, 2013

El Cajon: Food stamp fraud bust led by Immigration Enforcement?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This would be your run-of-the-mill half a million dollar rip-off of the US taxpayer, except for the fact that ICE ran the investigation.  Readers, usually in these cases we see the FBI and the US Department of Agriculture, but I’ve never seen ICE running the show, so clearly these crooks have immigration problems (that law enforcement is willing to admit, just not to the public!).

Will a mainstream media reporter ever look into the connection between legal immigration, convenience stores and food stamp fraud?

For new readers, food stamp fraud is a hobby here at RRW.  We aren’t saying refugees are behind these scams, but surely without the huge increase in food stamp use by refugees and everyone else, these scammers wouldn’t have any clientele.

Also, for new readers, note that El Cajon is a preferred resettlement site for refugee contractors (click here for our archive).  I see in one story we posted in the summer of 2012, city officials were planning a trip to DC to beg the State Department/others for financial relief from their refugee overload.

Here is the food stamp fraud bust at ABC10 News:

EL CAJON, Calif. – Two store owners in El Cajon suspected of defrauding a federal and state food stamp program of nearly $500,000 have been arrested. The claims came to light after a yearlong undercover sting operation.

Those with limited financial means can buy groceries using an electronic food stamp card, which looks similar to a credit card. The store that sold the items gets reimbursed by the state.

According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the owner of Arturo’s Market on El Cajon Boulevard and the owner of Athena Food on W. Main Street defrauded the state over a two-year period.

On Monday, federal agents arrested Rod Toma of Arturo’s Market and Serror Zakar of Athena Food. They are suspected of electronically submitting hundreds of phony claims.

If this case ends like so many others, they will get short prison sentences, be out running the store again and not being deported.

For all of our dozens and dozens of food stamp fraud stories, go here.

Speaking of immigrant fraud schemes, did you see the indictment in New Jersey in the $200 million credit card fraud scheme?

Here it is, hat tip Cathy, at Shariah Finance Watch.  Makes these food stamp rip-offs look like chump change!

Bosnian man at center of airport bomb scare; was he a refugee?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Is Zeljko Causevic a refugee? Only the US State Department and his federal resettlement contractor know for sure!

We brought tens of thousands of Bosnians into the US in the wake of Bill Clinton’s phoney-baloney war and they keep turning up in the most interesting places (check our archive on Bosnians, here, and see what I mean!).

This story from Jacksonville, FL yesterday is another good catch by ‘pungentpeppers.’  From AP at NPR:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities said a man arrested at Jacksonville International Airport told security screeners he had a bomb in his backpack but they only found a luggage scale with a microchip inside, along with a remote control device he called a “detonator.”

Zeljko Causevic, 39, was booked into jail early Wednesday and was being held without bond on charges that included making a false report about planting a bomb or explosive and manufacturing, possessing, selling or delivering a hoax bomb, according to an arrest report.

The arrest report indicates Causevic approached a TSA agent Tuesday and said he had a bomb in his bag. The TSA agents notified authorities. Airport spokesman Michael Stewart said Causevic was detained between 5:30 and 6 p.m. The airport was evacuated and flights were stopped before reaching the gates. Passengers were displaced for nearly five hours.

Causevic was scheduled to appear in bond court in Jacksonville at 1 p.m. An arrest report indicates he is originally from Bosnia.

All I can say is, it is a good thing we have Obamacare and it will take care of all these mentally ill immigrants and refugees.

Kiribati man looking to be the first “climate refugee” allowed to stay in New Zealand

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Oh brother, here we go (again)!

Australian Refugee Council President, Phil Glendenning: “This is a new cohort of people who are emerging, the rest of the world needs to pay attention.”

Never mind that the release a week or so ago of the latest UN report on the climate admitted to a “lull in warming” for the last 15 years or so.

Here is the story from New Zealand, originally written by AP but apparently re-worked at “Climate Progress” a publication of Soros’ Think Progress.

Readers may wish to go back to our previous post on Kiribati to learn about the massive engineering project the government there might like to undertake (they will need your $$$).

Climate Progress:

If ocean levels rise by as much as three feet by the end of the century, as predicted by the Fifth IPCC Assessment report released last week, the Pacific island nation of Kiribati — composed of 32 atolls — would mostly disappear.

The potential impacts on the 100,000 citizens of Kiribati, not to mention the millions of others living in low-lying island nations and coastal areas, of this climate change-induced forced exodus are already playing out in New Zealand where a Kiribati man is trying to convince the court that he’s a climate refugee.

“AF” came to New Zealand for “better prospects.”   He is an “economic migrant” not a “refugee!”

The man, referred to as “AF” in hearings, and his wife came to New Zealand six years ago for higher ground and better prospects, according to The Associated Press. Since then, immigration authorities have twice rejected his argument that rising sea levels make it too dangerous for him and his family to return to Kiribati.

On October 16 the case will go before New Zealand’s High Court.

Bruce Burson, a member of New Zealand’s Immigration and Protection Tribunal, has said that the legal concept of a refugee is someone that is being persecuted, which requires human interaction. Burson also said that the man’s claim was rejected because the family’s predicament was the same as faced by the entire population of Kiribati.

As I mentioned in previous posts on the subject, there is a Leftwing internal squabble on-going between the faction that wishes to keep as its own, and the one wishing to take control of, the word “refugee.”  Underlying both of the factions is the ultimate goal of pouring the ‘have-nots’ into the West to create chaos and bring “change.”

You can see the potential for an even greater stampede to the West from the third world if migrants like “AF” are successful.

The legal case remains a long shot, but one that deserves close attention due to the likelihood of similar cases in the future. Sea level rise impacts not only low-lying islands with small populations but also heavily populated coastal regions, such as Kolkata, India and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

I didn’t know that refugee advocates in Australia were pushing this new designation back in April.  Here is Australia’s Refugee Council head honcho, Phil Glendenning.  This is, of course, B.A. (before Abbott!).

In April the Refugee Council of Australia implored the Australian government to become the first nation in the world to recognize populations displaced due to changes in climate as “climate refugees.”

Phil Glendenning, president of the Refugee Council of Australia, told The Guardian, “These are people who are not suffering from persecution because of their beliefs, race or because they belong to a particular group.” As a result, “they don’t meet the Refugee Convention criteria but, nevertheless, there will be a need for people to be resettled because they have been displaced by climate change. This is a new cohort of people who are emerging, the rest of the world needs to pay attention.”

For more, see our ‘climate refugees’ category, here.