Sunday, April 22, 2012

Google Reader - Crime in Puerto Rico

Google Reader - Crime in Puerto Rico


Wall Street Journal

Billions Lost in Tax-Refund Scam
Wall Street Journal
At least two other mail carriers have been sentenced for similar crimes tied to stolen identities from Puerto Rico. Two people familiar with the investigation say the Puerto Rican tax scam was masterminded by a group in the Dominican Republic.
US cracking down on international ID theft schemeNew York Post
Tax refunds scam costs IRS, taxpayers as much as $2Babc7.com

all 39 news articles »
 

Staying Safe Abroad: Puerto Rico: Another US Tourist Raped

Staying Safe Abroad: Puerto Rico: Another US Tourist Raped

Tuesday, April 17, 2012


Puerto Rico: Another US Tourist Raped

For our readers who may recall my April 3 posting, which describing the rape of a vacationing US medical student from Massachusetts on the nearby island of Vieques, another US tourist, 21, was raped on Saturday (April 14), in San Juan's upscale Condado district, by an ex-cop who had been fired for cause.

According to EFE, William Rodriguez, has been charged with the crime against the victim. How he was able to even get work as a security guard has yet to be explained.

The chief of the San Juan police district, Maj. Orlando Rivera, said that the alleged rape occurred on the rooftop of the building where Rodriguez was employed. Rodriguez was unable to post bail, set at $500,000, and was remanded in the San Juan suburb of Bayamon.

The director of the state tourism agency, Luis Rivera Marín, acknowledged the authorities’ concern after the violent attack suffered by an American woman on the small island of Vieques, one of Puerto Rico’s top tourist attractions. That victim, a vacationing US medical student, 29, was severely beaten by her assailant on Vieques’ Coconut Beach. He has yet to comment on Saturday's assault.

COMMENT: Despite how small the island of Vieques is (population 9,300), no arrest has been made in the case of the US medical student who was raped and beaten.

Although two rapes of tourists does not make a crisis, the fact is that any rape is too many, particularly on an island of 4 million.

Unfortunately, though, Puerto Rico's overall crime problem IS a major crisis with one of the highest per capita rates of homicide of any US state.

Added to that is a serious problem with police corruption and an extraordinarily high rate of drug violence. For an island that prides itself in being a top tourist destination, the factors just described are not reassuring.


Even though the island's top cop recently resigned because of his inability to control crime, it could easily be a couple of years before the FBI veteran who just replaced him will be able to demonstrate improvement in the situation.

Consequently, I would suggest that tourists wanting to go to Puerto Rico reconsider, as I would be happy to suggest other islands in the Caribbean that are much safer. Simply drop me an email at ed@sbrisksolutions.com.
 

Google Reader - Crime in Puerto Rico

Google Reader - Crime in Puerto Rico

Book Review - 'The Poisoner’s Handbook - Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York,' by Deborah Blum - Review - NYTimes.com

Book Review - 'The Poisoner’s Handbook - Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York,' by Deborah Blum - Review - NYTimes.com

Murder by the Drop

Published: February 25, 2010
At the beginning of Deborah Blum’s “Poisoner’s Handbook,” a murderer named Frederic Mors gets off virtually scot-free after confessing to multiple killings by poison, then disappears without a trace. Though Blum leaves the reader with the impression that Mors — whose adopted surname means “death” in Latin — will return, she never comes back to his story. But death moves throughout her latest book via myriad poisons administered by impatient heirs, unhappy spouses and psychopaths — or innocently ingested, because the science of forensic toxicology has not yet caught up with these deadly chemicals.