[privacy] Big Brother is watching

[Richard M. Smith]

Newsday says otherwise:

Eliot Spitzer's bank turned him in to the IRS
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-stspitzerbank0312,0,2116749.story

Sounds like he started paying with cash only after realizing wire-transfers
were a dumb idea.  Spitzer also got the Feds interested in the agency, not
the other way around.

Richard


-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Seltzer [mailto:Larry at larryseltzer.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 10:54 AM
To: Richard M. Smith; privacy at whitestar.linuxbox.org
Subject: RE: [privacy] Big Brother is watching

No, he didn't pay with wire transfers. That much was in the affadavit that
talked about Client-9. He sent in envelopes of cash. The feds found out who
Client-9 was because the agency gave him up. 

Larry Seltzer
eWEEK.com Security Center Editor
http://security.eweek.com/
http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/
Contributing Editor, PC Magazine
larry.seltzer at ziffdavisenterprise.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Richard M. Smith [mailto:rms at computerbytesman.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 9:32 AM
To: privacy at whitestar.linuxbox.org
Subject: Re: [privacy] Big Brother is watching

Actually, everything was done with wire transfers.  The prostitution ring
set up a front consulting company to collect the money.  Here's their Web
site:

   http://www.qatgroup.com

Their domain registration information seems to be up to date and
accurate:

   http://whois.domaintools.com/qatgroup.com

Clearly Spitzer was self-destructive.  Sooner or later, the ring would start
extorting money from him or one of his "dates" would go public for the media
attention.  The Feds simply got to him first.

There is at least one other person that I can think of whom else's business
it is:  Spitzer's wife.

Richard

-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Seltzer [mailto:Larry at larryseltzer.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 9:11 AM
To: Richard M. Smith; privacy at whitestar.linuxbox.org
Subject: RE: [privacy] Big Brother is watching

It sounded to me like he was getting cash out of ATMs in order not to use
their usual method of payment, a wire transfer. 

I guess taking a few grand out of ATMs might be suspicious, especially if
you do it frequently. Is it anyone else's business? That's another question.

Larry Seltzer
eWEEK.com Security Center Editor
http://security.eweek.com/
http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/
Contributing Editor, PC Magazine
larry.seltzer at ziffdavisenterprise.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Richard M. Smith [mailto:rms at computerbytesman.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 7:43 AM
To: privacy at whitestar.linuxbox.org
Subject: [privacy] Big Brother is watching

Revelations Began in Routine Tax Inquiry
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/nyregion/11inquire.html?_r=1&hp&oref=s
logi
n

The rendezvous that established Gov. Eliot Spitzer's involvement with
high-priced prostitutes occurred last month in one of Washington's grandest
hotels, but the criminal investigation that discovered the tryst began last
year in a nondescript office building opposite a Dunkin' Donuts on Long
Island, according to law enforcement officials.

There, in the Hauppauge offices of the Internal Revenue Service,
investigators conducting a routine examination of suspicious financial
transactions reported to them by banks found several unusual movements of
cash involving the governor of New York, several officials said.

The investigators working out of the three-story office building, which
faces Veterans Highway, typically review such reports, the officials said.
But this was not typical: transactions by a governor who appeared to be
trying to conceal the source, destination or purpose of the movement of
thousands of dollars in cash, said the officials, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.

...


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