Crime

Campaigners against violence need to work out what ‘success’ means

There haven’t been many crimes in recent years as appalling as the murder of Sarah Everard. The horrific details of the case were made public last week, during the trial of Wayne Couzens, the man who raped and killed her; and they are made all the more difficult to stomach by the fact that he was a serving police officer. It’s the abuse of a position of trust that makes this crime particularly chilling.

What’s even more appalling is that Couzens had apparently committed indecent exposure twice: once in 2015 and once three days before Everard’s murder.

When prosecutors won’t prosecute, what can cops do?

Yet again, the Chicago Police Department finds itself at loggerheads with State’s Attorney Kim Foxx about charging a criminal with a crime. First, it was low-level crimes that Foxx declined to prosecute. Then it was celebrity nonsense, with the Jussie Smollett hate-crime hoax. Next, it was the murder of a little girl. And now, it’s a deadly gang shootout. The larger issue is whether the police (and the public) have any options when a prosecutor refuses to prosecute, even when the evidence for guilt seems overwhelming.

When lawyers for the estate of murdered billionaires Barry and Honey Sherman asked a judge to seal probate files in 2018, they warned the court of “risks of violence and kidnapping” to heirs and the estate trustees if the files became public.

That specific written warning was footnoted to a sealed court document known until recently only as the “affidavit of AB.”

But now that the mysterious affidavit has been unsealed by the Supreme Court of Canada, one thing is clear: The words “violence” and “kidnapping” were never there.

Peter Nygard has signed a consent form agreeing to be extradited to the United States to face charges there, Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench heard Friday morning.

Scott Farlinger, a lawyer for the Attorney General of Canada, which is representing the U.S. government in this case, said Nygard can’t be surrendered for at least 30 days and has the right to appeal the surrender order.

He could also apply for judicial interim release or bail, Farlinger said.

Why is the benefit of the doubt so often extended?

When did we know about R Kelly — singer, producer and sexual abuser? Definitely before Monday, when he was found guilty of all counts at his racketeering and sex trafficking trial in New York. Thanks to the evidence heard in court, we’ve learned a great deal more detail about the acts Kelly inflicted on women, girls and at least one boy.

In an unusual decision, the man accused of first-degree murder in the death of veteran Toronto Police Const. Jeffrey Northrup this summer will be released on $335,000 bail.

But why? We aren’t allowed to know.

Umar Zameer, 31, must live under house arrest with his sureties and be under electronic surveillance.

Release for an accused police killer is rare, but the reasons for Justice Jill Copeland’s decision are covered under a publication ban that is routine in bail decisions.

Ontario Provincial Police have charged a married couple linked to the alleged theft of $11 million in provincial COVID-19 relief funds.

Sanjay and Shalini Madan face money laundering and possession of stolen property charges.

They appeared in a Toronto bail court on Sunday. Sanjay has been remanded in custody until a hearing Wednesday while Shalini was released.

Police charged Sanjay Madan, 56, with two counts of fraud and two counts of breach of trust. He and Shalini Madan, 52, were also charged with laundering the proceeds of crime and possession of stolen property.

Outrageous fraud is common in the world of venture capital

With so much media focus on Elizabeth Holmes — currently on trial for fraud — you might think that cases like these, of outright fraudsters raising huge money from gullible venture capitalists, are few and far between. But as a VC myself I can tell you: most venture funds have their own Theranos story — they just prefer to keep them quiet.

I admit to a fascination with the Theranos trial. This is an interesting report from a “Secret VC.”

A bankruptcy court gave members of the pharma family immunity from further civil suits. They don’t have to admit wrongdoing – and they may end up richer than they started

Corporate money has a powerful and malign influence on so many aspects of American life. But even by that low standard, events this week in a New York bankruptcy court are shocking. The legal system has effectively allowed one of the country’s richest families to buy its way out of accountability for what a White House commission called “America’s national nightmare” of mass opioid addiction.

On Wednesday, the court approved a deal for the dissolution of the opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma, which kicked off the opioid epidemic two decades ago with its illegal drive to sell a high-strength painkiller, OxyContin. Purdue’s owners, members of two branches of the now-notorious Sackler family, are estimated to have made more than $10bn from the drug – even as the opioid crisis claimed more than 600,000 lives, with the toll climbing higher by the year.

“Nation Building”. Indeed, someone built this new USA. China? Corporations? Bought and paid for politicians? It looks like a planned event to me. https://t.co/j6JFa6dZaC

— DonaldBest.CA (@DonaldBestCA) September 6, 2021