MILAN, Italy - Italian financial police have busted a ring of counterfeiters who built fake Ferraris and sold them for as little as $30,000 a car, officials said Thursday.
Authorities have confiscated 14 fake Ferrari Modena 360s seven sold and seven under construction in an operation reaching from Palermo to Milan, said Guido Geremia, head of the Palermo unit that led the investigation.
Investigators do not know how many of the cars have been sold in the past but Geremia said the buyers knew the cars were fakes and were clearly seeking to impress unknowing neighbors with the sleek-bodied speed machines."That is the only reason," he said.
Eight people are under investigation, authorities said. The ring used mostly Pontiacs as their base, but also Mercedes and Toyotas, building a copy of a Ferrari body over the original car's engine. "It was done very well they were very skilled," Geremia said. Pontiacs?
The financial police, who lead Italy's fight against the counterfeiters who cash in on the peninsula's reputation for quality in everything from handbags to prosciutto, launched the Ferrari investigation six months ago. Geremia said they were helped by Internet sites where the cars were offered up for sale.
The 360 Modena went out of production in 2004, and was priced at the time at $215,000, said Ferrari spokeswoman Mariella Mengozzi. The current suggested retail price by Italy's consumer auto magazine for a 2004 model is around $150,000.
Mengozzi said it is not the first time the Ferrari brand has been copied and that the automaker, which is owned by the Fiat Group, monitors Web sites for evidence of fakes. "Ferrari is a product that maintains its value over time and of course we try to protect our clients who buy the real thing," Mengozzi said.
WAUKEGAN, Ill. - A large explosion has been reported at a shopping plaza in Waukegan, Ill., and a town official says there are multiple injuries. Mayor Richard Hyde told MSNBC he's been told by authorities there are "a multitude of injuries."
Television images of the Chicago-area shopping center show a collapsed ceiling above a tuxedo shop, cellular phone store and a hair salon. It isn't clear what caused the blast. Authorities were on the scene.
h/t Tim Blair
Machete wielding masked bandits picked the wrong club to rob yesterday - 50 bikie club members were meeting there.
Police said the robbers raided the Regents Park Sporting Club about 8.50pm yesterday, ordering people at the bar to lie on the floor. But the robbers failed to notice 50 members of the Southern Cross Cruiser Club enjoying a drink in the nearby auditorium. "Fifty of us jumped out of our seats and raced out to the main bar," said club president Jerry "Jester" van Cornewal.
On seeing the bikers approaching, the robbers fled. One sprinted past patrons playing poker machines towards the back of the club when he came to closed glass door. He charged through the glass, leapt off a five-metre balcony and ran through a bowling green.
The other escaped through an exit behind the bar. But Jester ran to the back of the club, waiting for the robber to emerge from the back roller door. "He came out the door wielding what I thought was a tyre lever, but was actually a samurai sword. I raced in and tackled him to the ground, footy-style, onto the concrete," Jester said.
The man wriggled free, but was pursued by Jester and two other club members named "Bulldog" and Brad, and was crash-tackled again. The trio hogtied the man and waited for police to arrive. Police soon also located the second robber nearby.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/28/2008 07:09 ||
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#5
If they didn't get free booze for the rest of the night and a permanent invitation to meet there whenever they wanted then there is something seriously wrong at the Regents Park Sporting Club.
If I owned the place I'd put up cameras so that if that ever happened again we'd have replays over and over. What a freaking great story.
#6
Humungus, ruler of the wasteland, Ayotollah of Rock and rolla, without the nuclear holocaust and fall of civilization the might have made him famous in an alternate Mad Max Earth, found that being a member of a biker club was just dandy as long as the occasional idiot robbers showed up.
In a gruesome coincidence, an 11-year-old boy who fell into a water cistern, deep below an abandoned building, led rescuers to discover the remains of two other boys, lying a few yards away in the dark.
The decomposed bodies are thought to be those of two brothers, Francesco and Salvatore Pappalardi, whose disappearance from the south-eastern Italian town of Gravina almost two years ago caused a national sensation. Their father was jailed in November on suspicion of murdering them.
Emilio Marzano, the chief prosecutor of nearby Bari, said after visiting the scene that the two boys appeared to have suffered "horrible deaths". The Pappalardi brothers' mother is due to identify the bodies today.
The news agency Ansa reported that their bodies were found some distance from the opening of the 65ft (20m) shaft that leads down to the cistern, suggesting they were able to walk or crawl after falling in. However, checks were being carried out yesterday to see if there was any other way into the underground cavity.
The prefect of Bari, Carlo Schiladri, said they were dressed in what appeared to be the clothes that Francesco, 13, and Salvatore, 11, were wearing when last seen.
If they did fall into the cistern, then it remains unclear whether it was by accident or because they were thrown in. Vincenzo Maria Speranza, Bari's police chief, said: "I would not want to rule out the possibility of an accidental fall."
But he added that the evidence against their father was strong and that his statements to investigators contained a "series of contradictions".
The boy who fell into the cistern late on Monday while playing with friends, identified only as Filippo, broke both legs. He was rescued by firefighters in a two-hour operation.
This is the NYT writing about a Republican. Maybe it should be filed under "Signs and Portents."
BATON ROUGE, La. Six weeks into the term of Gov. Bobby Jindal, an extensive package of ethics bills was approved here this week, signaling a shift in the political culture of a state proud of its brazen style. Mr. Jindal, the earnest son of Indian immigrants, quickly declared open season on the cozy fusion of interests and social habits that have prevailed among lobbyists, state legislators and state agencies here for decades. Mostly, he got what he wanted.
Grudgingly, pushed by public opinion and business pressure, it went along. When the legislative session ended Tuesday, lawmakers had passed bills aimed at making their finances less opaque, barring their lucrative contracts with the state some have been known to do good business with them and cutting down on perks like free tickets to sporting events.
Mr. Jindal overcame resistance by convincing lawmakers that no job growth would occur in the state until it cleaned up its act and brought its ethics laws into the national mainstream.
The new requirements will force all state legislators, as well as most other elected and appointed officials around the state, to disclose all sources of income, real estate holdings and debts over $10,000. (Judges are exempted.) Judges should be exempted. And you can quote me on that.
Lawmakers and executive branch officials will no longer be able to get contracts for state-financed or disaster-related work. Lobbyists will also have to disclose their sources of income and will be limited to spending no more than $50 per elected official, per meal; splitting the tab, say among other lobbyists or legislators, will also be prohibited.
Mr. Jindal took that penchant on as well, effectively aiming a blow at the Capitols de facto sister institution, Ruths Chris Steak House, where business is transacted nightly. This is a factual inaccuracy. Business actually begins around 11:00AM.
The governor, ignoring cries of pain and going against the unswerving devotion to Louisianas food culture, pushed for the $50-a-meal cap, at any restaurant. No more unlimited spending.
In a town where legislators have been known to proclaim paid-for meals a principal draw to public service, this was an especially unpopular move. Last week, State Representative Charmaine L. Marchand of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans said the limit would force her and her colleagues to dine at Taco Bell, and urged that it be pushed to $75 per person, to give them wiggle room. How do you like getting yer name in the newspaper, Rep. Marchand? Notice the lack of party affiliation after her name, by the way.
No public groundswell took up her cause, and the $50 limit held.
In the legislative chambers, the votes for this ethics makeover were mostly unanimous, though the sarcastic commentary suggested that enthusiasm might not have been what was motivating legislators. Mr. Jindal has public opinion on his side, however.
In an interview in his office, words and prescriptions come shooting out in a rapid-fire nonstop monologue. Inside of a half-hour, Mr. Jindal shoehorned a brief history of Louisianas political and economic problems, a historical excursion on the office he was sitting in, an agenda for his remaining four years, an analysis of why the states government had failed, a recapitulation of his recent campaign, a paean to his father, an explanation of why he pushed the ethics bills, and other topics. My governor can out-talk your governor. Blhh!!!
Mr. Jindal said Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had presented him with a unique moment in his states history to enact reforms; as he put it, the storms caused people to rethink how they wanted their social institutions to be designed, how they wanted services to be delivered, what kind of state they wanted to call home. Like some Brit or other supposedly said, "when a man knows he is to be hanged it concentrates the mind wonderfully."
He has already talked of cutting taxes on business, prompting questions about whether he will move beyond such extremely successful traditional Republican economic strategies. The tragedy in this is that if Jindal had beaten Blanco four years ago, and he very nearly did, we'd be looking at a serious presidential contender this year. This guy would unravel Obama like a cheap suit.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/28/2008 17:48 ||
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Bobby's got a bright future
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/28/2008 19:28 Comments ||
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If When he does run for President, he'll get MAJOR bucks from me.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/28/2008 19:47 Comments ||
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Me too, Barbara. I LIKE this kid.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
02/28/2008 22:17 Comments ||
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Federal and state agents raided two Mid-South truck driving schools and a Memphis driver's license center on February 25, 2008. Both schools, one on Brooks Road in Memphis, and the other on Veterans Parkway in Millington, are operated by Swift Transportation. The state run license center on Shelby Drive in Whitehaven was also targeted in the investigation.
The FBI confirms that documents were seized during the raids but a spokesperson says no arrests were made.
Sources say the feds are looking for information about truck drivers who illegally obtained their commercial drivers licenses. While the investigation continues, the Tennessee Department of Safety announced that the licensing centers inside the schools and the one on Shelby Drive aren't allowed to issue any new Commercial Drivers Licenses.
"That's messed up," says Memphian Dewayne Matlock, who was stunned when troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol turned him and dozens of others away from the licensing station on Shelby Drive. When told why Memphis drivers couldn't take care of their business at that drivers license station Monday, February 25, 2008, Matlock responded, "If that's what it takes to keep us safe, it's worth it."
David Turner, whose beer distribution company employs truckers, says if the investigation revolves around the issuing of fraudulent commercial drivers licenses, that means there are truck drivers on the road who don't have the training needed to drive safely. "That's very scary," says Turner. "I hope that's not what's going on. But that's part of what the Department of Transportation's job is and part of the FBI's job. That's why they're here. So there must be problems."
At the West Memphis Pilot truck stop, long-haul trucker Daimond Blackmon says inexperienced drivers give the trucking industry a bad name when it's already getting criticized. "I mean, this is real serious," says Blackmon.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, large trucks make up just 4-percent of all registered vehicles in the U.S. Yet big rigs are involved in 11-percent of all fatal crashes. And when a tractor trailer collides with a car, statistics provided by RoadSafeAmerica.org, say 98-percent of deaths occur in the car.
That's why Daimond Blackmon says a poorly trained trucker doesn't belong on the road. "Oh, Lord no," says Blackmon. "With a fraudulent license you don't get to learn what it really takes to drive."
Blackmon says the government should definitely put the brakes on phony CDL's. "I think the U.S. needs to come down on that and do something to prevent that from happening," says Blackmon. "Because if they don't, there's going to be a lot more accidents out here with truckers."
Swift Transportation employs 21,000 drivers in more than 40 locations around the country. A company spokesperson says Swift is cooperating fully with law enforcement and that they have been advised Swift is not the target of the investigation. The raids were headed by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. Other agencies include the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the A-T-F, the United States Secret Service and federal immigration officials.
#1
Other agencies include the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the A-T-F, the United States Secret Service and federal immigration officials..
Hm. I can't for the life of me figure out why immigration would be involved in this. No sirree-bob. I also can't figure out why this was only mentioned in passing at the very end of the article.
#2
Let me guess. Certain swarthy driving students who wanted to learn how to use the gas pedal but had no interest in braking?
Posted by: ed ||
02/28/2008 8:54 Comments ||
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I heard last night on the radio that thousands of foreigners have received their pilot's license here in the US of A, even though the Patriot Act forbids it.
Who the hell is watching the store ?
At least five people, including four members of the same family, have been killed in a clash between two rival families in Gugawala area, under the jurisdiction of the Badabher Police Station here on Wednesday, police sources said. While working in his fields, Gul Sher from the Kajar family was gunned down on Wednesday by members of the Malian family. In reaction to the murder, Kajar family members attacked members of the Malian family, killing three brothers Awal, Libas and Firdous Khan and their nephew Tahir. The brothers are said to be in their twenties. The culprits managed to escape from the scene. Police have registered cases against members of both the families. A property feud has been running between the two families for two decades and several people have been killed during similar encounters.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2008 00:00 ||
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"We surveyed 100 Pakistanis, top five answers are on the board: How would you solve a property dispute with your neighbor?"
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
WAUKEGAN, Ill. - A large explosion has been reported at a shopping plaza in Waukegan, Ill., and a town official says there are multiple injuries. Mayor Richard Hyde told MSNBC he's been told by authorities there are "a multitude of injuries."
At least five people, including four members of the same family, have been killed in a clash between two rival families in Gugawala area, under the jurisdiction of the Badabher Police Station here on Wednesday, police sources said. While working in his fields, Gul Sher from the Kajar family was gunned down on Wednesday by members of the Malian family. In reaction to the murder, Kajar family members attacked members of the Malian family, killing three brothers Awal, Libas and Firdous Khan and their nephew Tahir. The brothers are said to be in their twenties. The culprits managed to escape from the scene. Police have registered cases against members of both the families. A property feud has been running between the two families for two decades and several people have been killed during similar encounters.
