Puerto Rico News

Friday, March 30, 2012

11:07 AM 3/30/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items | Challenge to Puerto Rico as 51st State via 80grados.net by Maritza Stanchich on 3/30/12

11:07 AM 3/30/2012

Mike Nova's starred items

Challenge to Puerto Rico as 51st State

via 80grados.net by Maritza Stanchich on 3/30/12

La primaria republicana en Puerto Rico y las visitas de Romney y Santorum colocan sobre el tapete la discusión de la posibilidad de una estadidad en español, pero sin consecuencias.

PUERTO RICO: The GOP Primary, Latino Vote and Statehood - Salem-News.Com

via puerto rico - Google News on 3/30/12

Salem-News.Com

PUERTO RICO: The GOP Primary, Latino Vote and Statehood
Salem-News.Com
During our visit, the GOP hopefuls, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum personally campaigned for Puerto Rico's 20 delegates. (SAN FRANCISCO) - My wife and I just returned from a visit to Puerto Rico. The temperatures were in the high 80s with very little ...

Link | 8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items

via Puerto Rico News - Archive Links's Facebook Wall by Puerto Rico News - Archive Links on 3/29/12

Link | 8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items

‎Link | 8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items
‎8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items 8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items Mike Nova's starred items Billions Lost In Tax-Refund Scam - Wall Street Journal via puerto rico - Google News on 3/29/12 Wall Street Journal Billions Lost In Tax-Refund ScamWall Street JournalBy REED ALBERGOTTI Federal authorities are struggling to crack down on what they describe as a widespread scheme that has already likely defrauded the Internal

8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items

via Puerto Rico News - Archive Links's Facebook Wall by Puerto Rico News - Archive Links on 3/29/12

8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items

8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items
Mike Nova's starred items Billions Lost In Tax-Refund Scam - Wall Street Journal via puerto rico - Google News on 3/29/12 Wall Street Journal Billions Lost In Tax-Refund ScamWall Street JournalBy REED ALBERGOTTI Federal authorities are struggling to crack down on what they describe as a widespread scheme that has already likely defrauded the Internal Revenue Service of billions of dollars using the stolen identities of Puerto Rican citizens....

(title unknown)

via Puerto Rico News - Archive Links's Facebook Wall by Puerto Rico News - Archive Links on 3/29/12

Latino security shakedown in Arizona
www.youtube.com
People are questioning security searches of Latinos in Arizona. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports.

http://www.vocero.com/seis-meses-de-carcel-para-piculin/

via Puerto Rico News's Facebook Wall by Puerto Rico News on 3/29/12

http://www.vocero.com/seis-meses-de-carcel-para-piculin/

Seis meses de cárcel para ‘Piculín’
www.vocero.com
El ex baloncelista podría salir de prisión en aproximadamente un mes, debido a acreditación de tiempo encarcelado.

http://www.elnuevodia.com/baleanapatrullaenlaavenidabaldoriotydecastro-1224516.h...

via Ponce News's Facebook Wall by Ponce News on 3/29/12

http://www.elnuevodia.com/baleanapatrullaenlaavenidabaldoriotydecastro-1224516.html Estan Malas las Cosas...

Balean a patrulla en la avenida Baldorioty de Castro - El Nuevo Día
www.elnuevodia.com
La guagua se fue a la fuga. Policía investiga la escena.

http://www.elnuevodia.com/acusanasargentodelapoliciaporagresionsexual-1224417.ht...

via Ponce News's Facebook Wall by Ponce News on 3/29/12

http://www.elnuevodia.com/acusanasargentodelapoliciaporagresionsexual-1224417.html Que Pasa con La Policia????

Acusan a sargento de la Policía por agresión sexual - El Nuevo Día
www.elnuevodia.com
Melvin Hernández Hernández presuntamente cometió los actos contra una hijastra, desde que la niña tenía 8 años hasta los 14 años

The Debate On Freedom of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners (1 of 3)

via YouTube Videos matching query: puerto rico politics by riveraj78 on 5/13/10

The Debate On Freedom of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners (1 of 3)

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The Debate On Freedom of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners (2 of 3)

via YouTube Videos matching query: puerto rico politics by riveraj78 on 5/13/10

The Debate On Freedom of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners (2 of 3)

From:riveraj78

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Los mejores del kayaking en Puerto Rico

via YouTube Videos matching query: puerto rico politics by DeAquipaPuertoRico on 11/9/11

Los mejores del kayaking en Puerto Rico

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com BLOG: deaquipapuertorico.blogspot.com

From:DeAquipaPuertoRico

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The Debate On Freedom of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners (1 of 3)

via YouTube Videos matching query: puerto rico politics by riveraj78 on 5/13/10

The Debate On Freedom of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners (1 of 3)

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Xamurai Sport Karate News- entrevista a Jovan Medina

via YouTube Videos matching query: puerto rico sports news by xamuraiskn on 9/5/11

Xamurai Sport Karate News- entrevista a Jovan Medina

From:xamuraiskn

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The Latino Religious Experience and Political Engagement in the United States

via YouTube Videos matching query: puerto rico politics by CentroPR on 2/4/12

The Latino Religious Experience and Political Engagement in the United States

Culto y Vida: A Conference on Religiosity and Puerto Rican Studies Thursday, May 5, 3:30-8:00 pm Carlos Vargas-Ramos Research Associate Center for Puerto Rican Studies Hunter College "The Latino Religious Experience and Political Engagement in the United States"

From:CentroPR

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Guyana President: Caribbean Must See Itself as Part of Bigger Movement

via Caribbean Journal by admin on 3/29/12

Above: Guyana President Donald Ramotar

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Guyana President Donald Ramotar says that by broadening bilateral relations, Caribbean countries can better immunize themselves against the problems that affect other parts of the world.

Ramotar, who was speaking at a reception hosted by the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, said the region’s countries needed to bridge existing gaps and invest in one another’s countries.

“In Guyana, we are located in a position where we can not only facilitate integration in the Caribbean but, with South America as well,” Ramotar said. “The Caribbean must, more and more, begin to see itself as part of a bigger movement.”

One area in which the region can improve is protecting its food supply; with imminent growth in world population, the Caribbean can “definitely built its food security,” he said.

Cleo Huggins, executive director of Invest SVG in St Vincent and the Grenadines, said the Caribbean Association of Investemnt Promotions Agencies was trying to promote the Caribbean as an investment location rather than as individual countries.

“We believe that each individual [country] has its own strengths, but collectively it will be more attractive to investors from the rest of the world,” he said.

Miguel COTTO vs Antonio MARGARITO "Face Off with Max Kellerman" Preview (BoricuaBoxing.com)

via YouTube Videos matching query: puerto rico boxing news by BoricuaBoxingNews on 11/10/11

Miguel COTTO vs Antonio MARGARITO "Face Off with Max Kellerman" Preview (BoricuaBoxing.com)

BORICUABOXING.com -- This time it's personal. Three-division world champion and the Pride of Puerto Rico MIGUEL COTTO will make the second defense of his World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight title in the long-awaited rematch against professional rival and three-time welterweight world champion ANTONIO "The Tijuana Tornado" MARGARITO, of México, Saturday, December 3, at The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden. Cotto-Margarito II will be produced and distributed Live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9 pm ET / 6:00 pm PT. Their first encounter, on July 26, 2008, was a battle of epic proportion and arguably the Fight of the Year. Cotto and Margarito boast a combined record of 74-9 (56 KOs) -- a winning percentage of 89% and a victory by knockout ratio of 76% -- not to mention seven world titles between them. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Cotto Promotions, AT&T, and Madison Square Garden, tickets to Cotto-Margarito II, priced at $600, $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50, including applicable service charges

From:BoricuaBoxingNews

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Vehículo dispara al aire en la avenida Baldorioty

via Primera Hora : Noticias on 3/30/12

Al momento, no se ofrecieron otros detalles de la persecución del auto.

Ocupan laboratorio casero de marihuana en Isabela

via Primera Hora : Noticias on 3/30/12

Durante la intervención, se arrestó a Carlos Acevedo Fantauzzi, de 36 años.

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6:51 AM 3/30/2012 | Former FBI director tapped as P. Rico police chief - The Associated Press | Puerto Rico Police Chief Steps Down Amid Record Violence - InSight Crime

Former FBI Director Tapped as P. Rico Police Chief - ABC News

via puerto rico - Google News on 3/29/12

Former FBI Director Tapped as P. Rico Police Chief
ABC News
A former director of the FBI office based in Puerto Rico was nominated Thursday to lead the island's troubled police department, which US justice officials have accused of corruption, illegal killings and civil rights violations.

ABC News

Former FBI Director Tapped as P. Rico Police Chief

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico

go.com

A former director of the FBI office based in Puerto Rico was nominated Thursday to lead the island's troubled police department, which U.S. justice officials have accused of corruption, illegal killings and civil rights violations.

The nomination of Hector Pesquera comes just hours after police chief Emilio Diaz Colon resigned.

Pesquera would take on a 17,000-member police department that has struggled to contain a rise in violent crime while trying to adopt dozens of reforms demanded by the U.S. Justice Department in a scathing report released late last year.

"Hector Pesquera has the knowledge, the experience, the leadership, the commitment and a proven track record to successfully lead our police department," said Gov. Luis Fortuno, who is seeking a second term in this year's upcoming general elections in which crime has been a dominant issue.

The Senate, which is controlled by Fortuno's pro-statehood party, is expected to soon approve Pesquera's nomination.

The nominee, 65, said in a brief statement that he would develop new preventive measures to help fight crime.

In December 1995, Pesquera was the first Puerto Rican appointed to lead the local FBI office. He had been with the agency for 27 years before retiring in December 2003. He most recently served as assistant director for Miami's Port Authority.

Diaz led the department for nearly nine months and was heavily criticized for never presenting a plan to fight crime.

Fortuno said late Wednesday that Diaz resigned because he didn't want to affect reforms being undertaken.

Puerto Rico Police Chief Steps Down Amid Record Violence - InSight Crime

via puerto rico - Google News on 3/29/12

Puerto Rico Police Chief Steps Down Amid Record Violence
InSight Crime
Puerto Rico's police chief has resigned after less than a year on the job, leaving office in the middle of a record murder wave and reports of widespread corruption within the police force. Superintendent Emilio Diaz Colon presided over the Puerto ...

Thursday, 29 March 2012 10:12

Puerto Rico Police Chief Steps Down Amid Record Violence

Written by Christopher Looft

Puerto Rico's police chief has resigned after less than a year on the job, leaving office in the middle of a record murder wave and reports of widespread corruption within the police force.

Superintendent Emilio Diaz Colon presided over the Puerto Rican Police department (PRPD) during the most violent year in the U.S. territory's history, which saw 1136 homicides in 2011.

While sudden, Diaz's resignation was not entirely unforeseen. He had been widely criticized ever since his appointment in July 2011, when he stated that he had no plans to change the way the PRPD operated or to develop any kind of anti-crime strategy. His resignation followed a survey by newspaper El Nuevo Dia which showed only 25% of Puerto Ricans supported the retired two-star National Guard general.

InSight Crime Analysis

Diaz is Puerto Rico's second police superintendent in a row to resign due to accusations of incompetence. His predecessor, Jose Figueroa Sancha, also tendered his (likely forced) resignation in response to a surge in homicides.

Reform of the PRPD, which has been criticized by the Department of Justice for allegations of systemic corruption, has moved slowly. In September, Kenneth McClintock, the territory's lieutenant governor, told NPR that some analysts suggest it could take as long as 15 years to fully restore the confidence of US federal officials in Puerto Rico's police. While McClintock said he would prefer the process move faster, that grim assessment of the territory's police means Diaz's successor is sure to inherit a difficult job.

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Former FBI director tapped as P. Rico police chief

via Puerto Rico Newswire on 3/29/12

Friday, Mar 30, 2012

Posted on Thu, Mar. 29, 2012

Former FBI director tapped as P. Rico police chief

The Associated Press

The nomination of Hector Pesquera comes just hours after police chief Emilio Diaz Colon resigned.

The Senate, which is controlled by Fortuno's pro-statehood party, is expected to soon approve Pesquera's nomination.

The nominee, 65, said in a brief statement that he would develop new preventive measures to help fight crime.

Diaz led the department for nearly nine months and was heavily criticized for never presenting a plan to fight crime.

Fortuno said late Wednesday that Diaz resigned because he didn't want to affect reforms being undertaken.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

via Puerto Rico Daily Sun - Timely news about Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and the world on 3/29/12

Thursday, March 29, 2012

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Thursday, March 29, 2012

via Local News - Puerto Rico Daily Sun - Timely news about Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and the world on 3/29/12

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Díaz Colón resigns as Police Superintendent

By Rafael R. Díaz TorresOf the Daily Sun staffrdiaz@prdailysun.netPuerto Rico State Police Superintendent Emilio Díaz Colón left his position as leader of the island’s Police force Wednesday after months of denying he would resign.As in other recent local political controversies of relevance, the information was first presented in the afternoon on the popular television show “SuperXclusivo,” which is hosted by gossip reporter Antulio “Kobbo” Santarrosa (La Comay). While Santarrosa made reference to unidentified sources and argued Gov. Fortuño asked Díaz Colón to resign, the Daily Sun could not confirm that information.The island’s first executive accepted Díaz Colón’s... Read More

PDP files complaints against NPP March 29, 2012

32 drug cartel members indicted by feds March 29, 2012

ID theft ring busted March 29, 2012

San Juan tsunami drill deemed success March 29, 2012

Demographer: Lack of public policy contributes to ‘brain drain’
March 29, 2012

PR rum industry grows with new distillery
March 29, 2012

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via Puerto Rico Daily Sun - Timely news about Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and the world on 3/29/12

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Thursday, March 29, 2012

‎Link | 8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items

‎8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items

8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items

Mike Nova's starred items Billions Lost In Tax-Refund Scam - Wall Street Journal via puerto rico - Google News on 3/29/12 Wall Street Journal Billions Lost In Tax-Refund ScamWall Street JournalBy REED ALBERGOTTI Federal authorities are struggling to crack down on what they describe as a widespread scheme that has already likely defrauded the Internal Revenue Service of billions of dollars using the stolen identities of Puerto Rican citizens....

Source: Puerto Rico News

Published: 2012-03-30 00:45:00 GMT

Puerto Rico News - Archive Links

8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items

Mike Nova's starred items · The efforts in support of Section 933A bear fruit. via Puerto Rico News - El Nuevo Día on 3/29/12. The efforts in support of Section 933A bear fruit. 29 de marzo de 201...

8:44 PM 3/29/2012 | Mike Nova's starred items

Mike Nova's starred items

Billions Lost In Tax-Refund Scam - Wall Street Journal

via puerto rico - Google News on 3/29/12

Wall Street Journal

MARKETS
March 29, 2012, 6:56 p.m. ET

Billions Lost in Tax-Refund Scam

By REED ALBERGOTTI

Federal authorities are struggling to crack down on what they describe as a widespread scheme that has already likely defrauded the Internal Revenue Service of billions of dollars using the stolen identities of Puerto Rican citizens.

The perpetrators of the scheme, authorities say, swipe the Social Security numbers of Puerto Rican citizens, who don't have to pay federal income tax—and are less likely to be on the IRS radar—and use their information to file fake returns. In some cases, they enlist U.S. mail carriers to intercept the refund checks that are disbursed.

The plot, which includes participants from around the U.S. and Latin America, has been around for at least five years. Prosecutors have obtained multiple convictions but none involving those believed to be among the top players in the operation, according to several people briefed on investigations into the fraud.

PRTAX

"What we have uncovered may very well be the tip of the iceberg," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office was among the first to investigate the group. "It's a massive fraud."

Between October 2010 and June 2011, the IRS received phony tax returns based on stolen Puerto Rican identities that would have led to the disbursement of $5.6 billion to alleged fraudsters, two of these people said. It is unclear how much money the IRS ultimately sent but one person familiar with the matter said an estimated $2 billion in checks was distributed.

Robert Anthony Warren, a Bronx mail carrier, was sentenced in November to 36 months in prison for a related fraud. Having difficulty paying his rent, he agreed in 2007 to an offer from another mail carrier to accept $100 for each tax-refund check he intercepted, according to sentencing documents. Between 2007 and 2008, fraudulent tax-refund checks totaling millions of dollars came through Mr. Warren's route. He was paid more than $25,000 for his participation, the documents show. Mr. Warren couldn't be reached for comment.

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. Federal authorities caught on to it around 2007 and arrested people connected with the network, but have been unable to bring down people at the top level of the group, these people say.

"The scheme has metastasized and spread," from its epicenter in New York City and Boston, said Serrin Turner, an assistant U.S. Attorney in Manhattan in a sentencing memorandum filed as part of Mr. Warren's case. Mr. Turner said prosecutors in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Connecticut, Florida, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and California have been investigating similar schemes.

Some of the convictions illustrate the multiple levels involved in the plan.

In September, five men were sentenced to between 40 and 98 months in prison for cashing checks tied to fraudulent Puerto Rican tax returns. The men cashed them at money-service outlets in Lincolnton and Gastonia, N.C., according to prosecutors. The men were ordered to pay $12 million in restitution.

And Kelvin Crucey, who owned a tax-preparation business in New York, in February of 2011 was sentenced to 27 months in prison for preparing fraudulent returns based on stolen Puerto Rican identities. Mr. Crucey also helped to cash the refund checks. He was ordered to pay $249,000 in restitution. Mr. Crucey worked until 2010 as a senior vice president for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, a taxpayer-funded organization set up to revitalize distressed communities, and was a certified fraud examiner, prosecutors said. Mr. Crucey couldn't be reached for comment.

The IRS has made a big push in recent years to combat tax frauds facilitated by identity theft and says it stopped about $14 billion worth of fraudulent checks from going out last year, some of which includes refund requests using stolen Puerto Rican identities. The agency's goal is to stop every bad refund said spokesman Terry Lemons, but that has to be balanced with its desire to get refunds to taxpayers in a timely manner. "We cannot manually inspect more than 100 million tax refunds every year to make sure they're correct," he said.

The alleged scammers use the stolen Social Security numbers to file fake documents from companies purporting to withhold tax, then fake returns that are structured to ensure the filer is owed a refund.

The refund checks are mailed to the addresses on the forged documents even though the addressees don't live at those locations, which is why some postal workers have been recruited, according to people briefed on the investigations.

The cases of postal carriers taking bribes are rare instances that don't reflect the vast majority of carriers, said Thomas Boyle, a spokesman for the Postal Inspection Service, a unit of the U.S. Postal Service. He said many carriers have actually have helped catch instances of the fraud by notifying authorities after seeing a large number of refund checks going to the same addresses or to people who don't live at those addresses.

Once the checks are collected, participants in the fraud take them to bank tellers or employees at money-service locations who often have taken bribes, according to court documents submitted in several cases. The checks often are worth between $5,000 and $7,000 each, investigators say, with stolen identities of children sometimes used to add dependents to the returns in order to inflate the refunds.

If a Puerto Rican citizen has never paid federal income tax, it looks to the IRS as if the person filing a return simply moved to the continental U.S. and began working. According to criminal investigators, a single Puerto Rican Social Security number goes for about $8 to $10 on the black market.

Write to Reed Albergotti at reed.albergotti@wsj.com

Billions Lost In Tax-Refund Scam
Wall Street Journal
By REED ALBERGOTTI Federal authorities are struggling to crack down on what they describe as a widespread scheme that has already likely defrauded the Internal Revenue Service of billions of dollars using the stolen identities of Puerto Rican citizens.

The efforts in support of Section 933A bear fruit

via Puerto Rico News - El Nuevo Día on 3/29/12

The efforts in support of Section 933A bear fruit

29 de marzo de 2012 04:16 p.m.

By Joanisabel González / Joanisabel.gonzalez@elnuevodia.com

The bill that aims to grant corporations established in Puerto Rico the same tax treatment than individuals at a federal level could be included as a section in the tax reform to be discussed next yea...

Tribute to Antonio Luis Ferré

29 de marzo de 2012 00:00 a.m.

By Rafael Lama Bonilla / rlama@elnuevodia.com

The fourth edition of the Puerto Rico Conference set the stage for a tribute to Don Antonio Luis Ferré and his successful entrepreneurial career. During the event, which was organized by the Chamber o...