List of whistleblowers
2010s
Table:
Year

Image

Name

Organization

Action

2010

Andrew Maguire (whistleblower)

Andrew Maguire is a British commodities trader and whistleblower. He presented evidence to United States regulators alleging that fraud had been committed, and that prices in the international gold and silver markets had been manipulated. He went public in April 2010 with assertions of market manipulation by JPMorgan Chase and HSBC of the gold and silver markets.[197]

2010

Chelsea Manning

United States Army

U.S. Army intelligence analyst who released the largest set of classified documents ever, mostly published by WikiLeaks and their media partners. The material included videos of the July 12, 2007, Baghdad airstrike and the 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan; 250,000 United States diplomatic cables; and 500,000 army reports that came to be known as the Iraq War logs and Afghan War logs.[198] Manning was convicted of violating the Espionage Act and other offenses and sentenced to 35 years in prison.[199]

2002–2010

Cheryl D. Eckard

GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) whistleblower Cheryl D. Eckard exposed contamination problems at GSK's pharmaceutical manufacturing operations, which led to a $750 million settlement with the U.S. government related to civil and criminal charges that the firm manufactured and sold adulterated pharmaceutical products. Eckard was awarded $96 million in 2010, a record for an individual whistleblower, since surpassed by UBS AG whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld's $104 million award.[200]

2010

Jennifer Bond

Boeing

Project on Government Oversight Page.

In July 2007, Boeing manager Dave Draffin, who managed Ms. Bond in her prior work as contractor, began efforts to recruit Ms. Bond back to Boeing to assist with the BEST SOX compliance due to her effectiveness in 2006. He contacted her again in October 2007 to recruit her as a permanent employee. Ms. Bond became a contractor employee again in November 2007 and immediately resumed her SOX compliance efforts while Managers Draffin and Bruce Warr continued to lobby Ms. Bond to be a permanent Boeing employee based on her knowledge and skills and prior performance achievements (as well as her ability to hit the ground running). She became a permanent employee of Boeing effective February 22, 2008.

Indeed, Ms. Bond had a very difficult assignment that by its nature often put her in conflict with the individuals and processes that she was required to police. Ms. Bond’s advanced knowledge of SOX as well as her ethical obligations as a certified auditor led her to raise and escalate a number of important concerns in 2009 and 2010 involving the lack of internal controls, improper attempts to subvert existing internal controls, as well as other staffing and process complaints.

Instead of informing Ms. Bond of the positive outcome and changes Boeing would be implementing as a result of her protected disclosure, her managers chastised her for raising those concerns at all, never confirming for her the obvious value of what she had disclosed.

In a meeting with Managers Draffin and Wright, Ms. Bond was instructed by Manager Wright to not report any findings prior to discussing them with Mr. Draffin and reprimanded by Mr. Wright for causing him trouble. Additionally, Ms. Bond filed and pursued her SOX complaints, including each of those concerns articulated above, with OSHA a month before she was even identified as a candidate for layoff. On January 15, 2010, Ms. Bond contacted OSHA with her SOX concerns and told them she would like to file a complaint. Ms. Bond filed a formal complaint on January 19, 2010.

After raising and pursuing her protected disclosures, Boeing began to subject Ms. Bond to a series of hostile actions, including harassment, giving her Corrective Action Memos, initiating an “investigation”, downgrading her performance without justification, and ultimately causing her layoff. Not only were these actions suspect in their timing, immediately following Ms. Bond’s disclosures and escalations of these disclosures, they were unjustified.On September 29, 2009, just a few months after escalating her SOX concerns, Boeing Manager Joel Wright issued her two Employee Corrective Action memos, for “failure to follow management directives” and for “not respecting a co-worker”.

2010

Jim Wetta

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca (AZ) whistleblower Jim (James) Wetta filed a False Claims qui-tam case that triggered the United States Department of Justice investigation into AstraZeneca violating the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and promoting the unapproved use of the (anti-psychotic) drug Seroquel.[201]

In September 2000, the drug Seroquel received FDA approval for the short-term treatment of schizophrenia, then in 2004, for bipolar depression. James Wetta exposed the company's alleged fraud, where sales reps were promoting the drug for a wide range of less serious disorders which included aggression, Alzheimer's disease, anger management, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar maintenance, dementia, depression, mood disorder, sleeplessness and post-traumatic stress disorder. Promoting drugs off-label amounts to fraud under the False Claims Act, as the unapproved uses were not medically accepted indications for which the federal and state Medicaid programs provided coverage. Under the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, a company must specify the intended use of a product in its new drug application to the FDA. Once the drug is approved by the FDA, the drug may not be marketed or promoted for off-label uses.[202] The civil settlement agreement required AstraZeneca to pay $520 million to the federal government to resolve civil settlements. Jim Wetta provided the information which proved the drug was promoted for conditions other than the FDA medical indication.[203]

2011

Michael Woodford

Olympus Corporation

Corporate president, revealed past losses concealed and written off via excessive fee payments[204]

2011

Clare Rewcastle Brown

Sarawak Report

Operated and founded the radio network Radio Free Sarawak and whistleblowing site Sarawak Report. Before February 2011, Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak operated anonymously. However, Rewcastle Brown and Radio Free Sarawak's DJ is Peter John Jaban decided to go public after one of her informants, a former Taib aide, was found dead.[205] Ross Boyert, who used to head Taib's supposed real estate arm in the United States, was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room with a plastic bag around his head in September 2011.[206] Boyert had claimed that he and his family had been harassed since he filed a lawsuit against the real estate company in 2007.[206] Sarawak Report later revealed a barrage of exposés including the April 2011 Sarawak election's fraud, FBC Media's scandal, Musa Aman timber corruption, Red Granite Pictures' controversy and with her latest being the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.

2011

M. N. Vijayakumar

Indian Administrative Service

Exposed serious corrupt practices at high levels.[207][208]

2011

Blake Percival

USIS

Percival filed a Qui Tam Whistleblower claim under seal in 7/2011 alleging that USIS had defrauded the U.S. Government by submitting unfinished background investigations to the government for payment.[209] USIS has been under scrutiny since it was revealed that they had performed the background investigation of Edward Snowden and Aaron Alexis.[210]

2011

Everett Stern

HSBC

AML compliance officer for HSBC who uncovered billions of dollars of illegal money laundering transactions that he began reporting to the FBI and the CIA in 2011, which led to an SEC investigation and a $1.92 billion fine against HSBC the following year. These encompassed charges of money laundering for drug traffickers, terrorist financiers, and nations under U.S. and international sanctions.[211]

2011

Manasse Nzobonimpa

EALA

In 2011, Manasse Nzobonimpa made allegations accusing a group of officials of the Burundi Government (including the President Pierre Nkurunziza) of corruption and human rights violations. He was then forced into exile with his family[212]

2012

Ted Siska

Ward Diesel Filter Systems, Inc. of New York

Ward Diesel Filter Systems Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $628,000 to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted false claims to federal agencies under a contract to provide diesel exhaust filtering systems for fire engines through the General Services Administration's (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule program, the Justice Department announced on June 26, 2012. The government's investigation was initiated by a lawsuit, U.S. ex rel. Siska v. Ward Diesel Filter Systems, Inc., filed under the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions, which permit private parties to sue for false claims on behalf of the United States and to share in any recovery. The whistleblower, Ted Siska, will receive $94,200 of the settlement.[213]

2012

Vijay Pandhare

Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, Government of Maharashtra

Pandhare was a bureaucrat belonging to the Irrigation Department in the Indian state of Maharashtra. He blew the whistle on the Maharashtra Irrigation Scam of 2012 that led to the resignation of Maharashtra Deputy Chief MinisterAjit Pawar.[214]

2012

Joshua Wilson

Captain, United States Air Force

Wilson and Major Jeremy Gordon exposed the malfunctioning oxygen system on board the F-22 Raptor systems that were causing pilots to become disoriented, first to superior officers and then to CBS 60 Minutes. As a result, Wilson's superiors cancelled his promotion to Major, took him off flying duty and threatened to take away his wings. Wilson was also forced out of his desk job at Air Combat Command. No such actions faced Major Gordon.[215]

2012

Carmen Segarra

U.S. New York Federal Reserve's appointed regulator to Goldman Sachs

Carmen Segarra discovered that Goldman Sachs did not have a conflict of interest policy when it advised El Paso Corp. on selling itself to Kinder Morgan, a company which Goldman Sachs owned a $4 billion stake. She was forced by her superiors at the Federal Reserve to falsify her report, but stated that her professional view of the situation had not changed. She was shortly thereafter fired.[216] The New York Federal Reserve disputes that she was fired in retaliation.[217]

2012

Silver Meikar

Estonian Reform Party

In May 2012 Meikar published an article, admitting that he had donated cash to Estonian Reform Party in 2009 and 2010, coming from unknown sources and given him by co-politician Kalev Lillo, according to a proposition made by Kristen Michal, Reform Party's secretary general.[218] The scandal became known as Silvergate. Lillo and Michal were presented with criminal charges. After a long and heated discussion in media, charges were dropped, as it was not possible to gather enough evidence. On October 24, 2012, Meikar was expelled from the party.[219] Consequently, Kristen Michal stepped down as the minister of justice.

2012

Antoine Deltour

PricewaterhouseCoopers

In 2012 Deltour's leaking of 28,000 pages of confidential documents revealing how multinational companies routed funds to lower corporate tax bills, gave rise to the Luxembourg Leaks journalistic investigation and attracted international attention to tax avoidance schemes in Luxembourg and elsewhere.[220] There was no suggestion that the arrangements were illegal under Luxembourg law, but the disclosures prompted wider public debate on corporate tax avoidance schemes and criminal charges against Deltour.

2013

David P. Weber

United States Securities and Exchange Commission

Weber, an attorney and Certified Fraud Examiner, was the assistant inspector general of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He learned of misconduct in the Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford investigations, and of suspected hacking by a unit of the Chinese military.[221][222] He insisted that agency management report the misconduct and hacking to Congressional Oversight Committees, but instead was terminated for supposedly unrelated reasons. Shortly after his lawsuit became public, news stories broke that the People's Liberation Army compromised information technology at 160 U.S. corporations and government agencies.[223][224]

2013

Edward Snowden

National Security Agency

Booz Allen Hamilton contractor Snowden released classified material on top-secret NSA programs including the PRISM surveillance program to The Guardian and The Washington Post in June 2013.[225][226]

2013

Laurence do Rego

Executive Director in Charge of Risk and Finance Ecobank Transnational

In a letter to the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission highlighted attempts by the bank's chairman and Executive Director to sell off assets well below the market value, write off debt, manipulate financial results and award the incoming chief executive an unapproved bonus of US$1.14 million.[227] As a result, do Rego was suspended from her role in the bank. After a nine-month battle over allegations of mismanagement, the Ecobank board decided to unanimously remove the controversial chief executive and reinstate do Rego to her post.[228]

With reference to the following table together with the passages below.

Give the answer to the question: The whistleblower who was assigned in 2009 to an Army unit in Iraq leaked to a website founded in which country ? Respond with the correct answer (omit explanations) in JSON format as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

Andrew Maguire is a British commodities trader and whistleblower . He presented evidence to United States regulators alleging that fraud had been committed , and that prices in the international gold and silver markets had been manipulated . No regulatory or legal action has been taken as a result of his accusations .
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City . JPMorgan Chase is ranked by S & P Global as the largest bank in the United States and the sixth largest bank in the world by total assets , with total assets of US $ 2.687 trillion . It is also the world 's most valuable bank by market capitalization . JPMorgan Chase is incorporated in Delaware . As a Bulge Bracket bank , it is a major provider of various investment banking and financial services . It is one of America 's Big Four banks , along with Bank of America , Citigroup , and Wells Fargo . JPMorgan Chase is considered to be a universal bank and a custodian bank . The J.P. Morgan brand , is used by the investment banking , asset management , private banking , private wealth management , and treasury services divisions . Fiduciary activity within private banking and private wealth management is done under the aegis of JPMorgan Chase Bank , N.A . - the actual trustee . The Chase brand is used for credit card services in the United States and Canada , the bank 's retail banking activities in the United States , and commercial banking . Both the retail and commercial bank and the bank 's corporate headquarters are currently located at 383 Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan , New York City , while the prior headquarters building directly across the street , 270 Park Avenue , is demolished and replaced with a new building .
HSBC Holdings plc is an English multinational investment bank and financial services holding company . It was the 7th largest bank in the world by 2018 , and the largest in Europe , with total assets of US $ 2.558 trillion ( as of December 2018 [ update ] ) . HSBC traces its origin to a hong in Hong Kong , and its present form was established in London by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company in 1991 ; its name derives from that company 's initials . The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opened branches in Shanghai in 1865 and was first formally incorporated in 1866 . HSBC has around 3,900 offices in 65 countries and territories across Africa , Asia , Oceania , Europe , North America , and South America , and around 38 million customers . As of 2014 , it was the world 's sixth-largest public company , according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine . HSBC is organised within four business groups : Commercial Banking , Global Banking and Markets ( investment banking ) , Retail Banking and Wealth Management , and Global Private Banking . HSBC has a dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index and the FTSE 100 Index . As of 6 July 2012 , it had a market capitalisation of £102.7 billion , the second-largest company listed on the London Stock Exchange , after Royal Dutch Shell . It has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange , Euronext Paris , and the Bermuda Stock Exchange .
Chelsea Elizabeth Manning ( born Bradley Edward Manning , December 17 , 1987 ) is an American activist and whistleblower . She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses , after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly 750,000 classified , or unclassified but sensitive , military and diplomatic documents . She was imprisoned from 2010 until 2017 when her sentence was commuted . Manning is currently in jail for her continued refusal to testify before a grand jury against Julian Assange . A trans woman , Manning released a statement in 2013 explaining she had a female gender identity since childhood and wanted to be known as Chelsea Manning . She also expressed a desire to begin hormone replacement therapy . Assigned in 2009 to an Army unit in Iraq as an intelligence analyst , Manning had access to classified databases . In early 2010 , she leaked classified information to WikiLeaks and confided this to Adrian Lamo , an online acquaintance . Lamo indirectly informed the Army 's Criminal Investigation Command , and Manning was arrested in May that same year . The material included videos of the July 12 , 2007 , Baghdad airstrike and the 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan ; 251,287 U.S. diplomatic cables ; and 482,832 Army reports that came to be known as the Iraq War Logs and Afghan War Diary . The material was published by WikiLeaks and its media partners between April 2010 and April 2011 . Manning was charged with 22 offenses , including aiding the enemy , which was the most serious charge and could have resulted in a death sentence .
The United States Army ( USA ) is the land warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces . It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services , and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution . As the oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence , the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army , which was formed ( 14 June 1775 ) to fight the American Revolutionary War ( 1775-1783 ) - before the United States of America was established as a country . After the Revolutionary War , the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army . The United States Army considers itself descended from the Continental Army , and considers its institutional inception to be the origin of that armed force in 1775 . As a uniformed military service , the U.S. Army is part of the Department of the Army , which is one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense . The U.S. Army is headed by a civilian senior appointed civil servant , the secretary of the Army ( SECARMY ) and by a chief military officer , the chief of staff of the Army ( CSA ) who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . It is the largest military branch , and in the fiscal year 2017 , the projected end strength for the Regular Army ( USA ) was 476,000 soldiers ; the Army National Guard ( ARNG ) had 343,000 soldiers and the U.S. Army Reserve ( USAR ) had 199,000 soldiers ; the combined-component strength of the U.S. Army was 1,018,000 soldiers . As a branch of the armed forces , the mission of the U.S. Army is to fight and win our Nation 's wars , by providing prompt , sustained land dominance , across the full range of military operations and the spectrum of conflict , in support of combatant commanders . The branch participates in conflicts worldwide and is the major ground-based offensive and defensive force of the United States .
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions . This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a range of sources , directed towards the commanders ' mission requirements or responding to questions as part of operational or campaign planning . To provide an analysis , the commander 's information requirements are first identified , which are then incorporated into intelligence collection , analysis , and dissemination . Areas of study may include the operational environment , hostile , friendly and neutral forces , the civilian population in an area of combat operations , and other broader areas of interest . Intelligence activities are conducted at all levels , from tactical to strategic , in peacetime , the period of transition to war , and during a war itself . Most governments maintain a military intelligence capability to provide analytical and information collection personnel in both specialist units and from other arms and services . The military and civilian intelligence capabilities collaborate to inform the spectrum of political and military activities . Personnel performing intelligence duties may be selected for their analytical abilities and personal intelligence before receiving formal training .
WikiLeaks ( /ˈwɪkiliːks/ ) is an international non-profit organisation that publishes news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources . Its website , initiated in 2006 in Iceland by the organisation Sunshine Press , claimed in 2016 to have released online 10 million documents in its first 10 years . Julian Assange , an Australian Internet activist , is generally described as its founder and director . Since September 2018 , Kristinn Hrafnsson has served as its editor-in-chief . The group has released a number of prominent document caches . Early releases included documentation of equipment expenditures and holdings in the Afghanistan war , a report informing a corruption investigation in Kenya , and a manual for operations at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . In April 2010 , WikiLeaks released the Collateral Murder footage from the 12 July 2007 Baghdad airstrike in which Iraqi journalists were among those killed . Other releases in 2010 included the Afghan War Diary and the Iraq War Logs . The latter allowed the mapping of 109,032 deaths in significant attacks by insurgents in Iraq that had been reported to Multi-National Force - Iraq , including about 15,000 that had not been previously published . In 2010 , WikiLeaks also released the US State Department diplomatic cables , classified cables that had been sent to the US State Department . In April 2011 , WikiLeaks began publishing 779 secret files relating to prisoners detained in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp . In 2012 , WikiLeaks released the Syria Files , over two million emails sent by Syrian politicians , corporations and government ministries .
The July 12 , 2007 , Baghdad airstrikes were a series of air-to-ground attacks conducted by a team of two U.S. AH-64 Apache helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah , New Baghdad during the Iraqi insurgency which followed the Iraq War . On April 5 , 2010 , the attacks received worldwide coverage and controversy following the release of 39 minutes of gunsight footage by the Internet whistleblower website WikiLeaks . The footage was portrayed as classified , but its confessed leaker , U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning , testified in 2013 that the video was not classified . The video , which WikiLeaks titled Collateral Murder , showed that the crew fired on a group of men and laughed at some of the casualties , some of whom were civilians and reporters . An anonymous U.S. military official confirmed the authenticity of the footage , which provoked global discussion on the legality and morality of the attacks . In the first strike , the crews of two Apaches directed 30 mm cannon fire at a group of ten Iraqi men , including some armed men , standing where insurgents earlier that day had shot at an American Humvee with small arms fire . Among the group were two Iraqi war correspondents working for Reuters , Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen . Seven men ( including Noor-Eldeen ) were killed during this first strike ; Saeed Chmagh , who was injured , later died in a hospital . The second strike , also using 30 mm rounds , was directed at a van whose driver , Saleh Matasher Tomal , appeared to happen to drive by and who proceeded to help the wounded Chmagh . However , in the long version of the video this van was targeted prior to the first engagement by one Apache ( Crazyhorse 1/8 ) as it traveled south toward the Reuters employees who were , simultaneously , targeted by the other Apache ( Crazyhorse 1/9 ) as they walked north on the same road toward the van . Minutes after the first engagement ended the van returned traveling in an opposite direction ( north ) once again on this same road . Two men assisting in the rescue effort were from a group of five standing at an intersection - seen in the upper right corner of the video when the Reuters employees arrive in the courtyard - reported to Apaches as being a second position combatants were using to attack the Humvee .
The Granai airstrike , sometimes called the Granai massacre , refers to the killing of approximately 86 to 147 Afghan civilians by an airstrike by a US Air Force B-1 Bomber on May 4 , 2009 , in the village of Granai ( sometimes spelled Garani or Gerani ) in Farah Province , south of Herat , Afghanistan . The United States admitted significant errors were made in carrying out the airstrike , stating the inability to discern the presence of civilians and avoid and/or minimize accompanying collateral damage resulted in the unintended consequence of civilian casualties . The Afghan government has said that around 140 civilians were killed , of whom 22 were adult males and 93 were children . Afghanistan 's top rights body has said 97 civilians were killed , most of them children . Other estimates range from 86 to 147 civilians killed . An earlier probe by the US military had said that 20-30 civilians were killed along with 60-65 insurgents . A partially released American inquiry stated no one will ever be able conclusively to determine the number of civilian casualties that occurred . The Australian has said that the airstrike resulted in one of the highest civilian death tolls from Western military action since foreign forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 .
The United States diplomatic cables leak , widely known as Cablegate , began on Sunday , 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks - a non-profit organization that publishes submissions from anonymous whistleblowers - began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates , embassies , and diplomatic missions around the world . Dated between December 1966 and February 2010 , the cables contain diplomatic analysis from world leaders , and the diplomats ' assessment of host countries and their officials . According to WikiLeaks , the 251,287 cables consist of 261,276,536 words , making Cablegate the largest set of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain . Today , more recent leaks have surpassed that amount . On 30 July 2013 , Chelsea Manning was convicted for theft of the cables and violations of the Espionage Act , in a court martial proceeding , and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment . She was released on 17 May 2017 , after 7 years total confinement , after her sentence had been commuted by President Barack Obama earlier that year .
The Iraq War documents leak is the disclosure to WikiLeaks of 391,832 United States Army field reports , also called the Iraq War Logs , of the Iraq War from 2004 to 2009 and published on the Internet on 22 October 2010 . The files record 66,081 civilian deaths out of 109,000 recorded deaths . The leak resulted in the Iraq Body Count project adding 15,000 civilian deaths to their count , bringing their total to over 150,000 , with roughly 80% of those civilians . It is the biggest leak in the military history of the United States , surpassing the Afghan War documents leak of 25 July 2010 .
The Afghan War documents leak , also called the Afghan War Diary , is the disclosure of a collection of internal U.S. military logs of the War in Afghanistan , which were published by WikiLeaks on 25 July 2010 . The logs consist of over 91,000 Afghan War documents , covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009 . Most of the documents are classified secret . As of 28 July 2010 , only 75,000 of the documents have been released to the public , a move which WikiLeaks says is part of a harm minimization process demanded by [ the ] source . Prior to releasing the initial 75,000 documents , WikiLeaks made the logs available to The Guardian , The New York Times and Der Spiegel in its German and English online edition , which published reports in line with an agreement made earlier the same day , 25 July 2010 . The leak , which is considered to be one of the largest in U.S. military history , revealed information on the deaths of civilians , increased Taliban attacks , and involvement by Pakistan and Iran in the insurgency . WikiLeaks says it does not know the source of the leaked data . The three outlets which had received the documents in advance , The New York Times , The Guardian , and Der Spiegel , have all concluded that they are genuine when compared with independent reports . The New York Times described the leak as a six-year archive of classified military documents [ that ] offers an unvarnished and grim picture of the Afghan war . The Guardian called the material one of the biggest leaks in U.S. military history . a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan , revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents , Taliban attacks have soared and NATO commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency . Der Spiegel wrote that the editors in chief of Spiegel , The New York Times and the Guardian were 'unanimous in their belief that there is a justified public interest in the material ' .
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law passed on June 15 , 1917 , shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I . It has been amended numerous times over the years . It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code ( War ) but is now found under Title 18 , Crime . Specifically , it is 18 U.S.C . ch . 37 ( 18 U.S.C . § 792 et seq . ) It was intended to prohibit interference with military operations or recruitment , to prevent insubordination in the military , and to prevent the support of United States enemies during wartime . In 1919 , the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled through Schenck v. United States that the act did not violate the freedom of speech of those convicted under its provisions . The constitutionality of the law , its relationship to free speech , and the meaning of its language have been contested in court ever since . Among those charged with offenses under the Act are German-American socialist congressman and newspaper editor Victor L. Berger , labor leader and five-time Socialist Party of America candidate , Eugene V. Debs , anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman , former Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society president Joseph Franklin Rutherford , communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg , Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg , Cablegate whistleblower Chelsea Manning , WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange , Defense Intelligence Agency employee Henry Kyle Frese , and National Security Agency ( NSA ) contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden . Rutherford 's conviction was overturned on appeal .
GlaxoSmithKline plc ( GSK ) is a British multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Brentford , London . Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham , GSK was the world 's seventh largest pharmaceutical company as of 2015 , after Johnson & Johnson , Pfizer , Novartis , Merck , Hoffmann-La Roche and Sanofi . [ n 1 ] Emma Walmsley became CEO on 31 March 2017 and is the first female CEO of the company . The company has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index . As of August 2016 it had a market capitalisation of £81 billion ( around $ 107 billion ) , the fourth largest on the London Stock Exchange . It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange . GSK 's drugs and vaccines earned revenue of £21.3 billion in 2013 . Its top-selling products that year were Advair , Avodart , Flovent , Augmentin , Lovaza and Lamictal . GSK 's consumer products , which earned revenue of £5.2 billion in 2013 , include Sensodyne and Aquafresh toothpaste , the malted-milk drink Horlicks , Abreva for cold sores , Breathe Right nasal strips , Nicoderm and Nicorette nicotine replacements , and Night Nurse , a cold remedy . The company developed the first malaria vaccine , RTS , S , which it said in 2014 it would make available for five percent above cost . Legacy products developed at GSK include several listed in the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines , such as amoxicillin , mercaptopurine , pyrimethamine and zidovudine . In 2012 , GSK pleaded guilty to promotion of drugs for unapproved uses , failure to report safety data , and kickbacks to physicians in the United States and agreed to pay a $ 3 billion ( £1.9bn ) settlement .
UBS Group AG [ nb 1 ] is a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland . Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel , it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swiss banking institution in the world . UBS client services are known for their strict bank-client confidentiality and culture of banking secrecy . [ nb 2 ] The bank 's large positions in the Americas , EMEA , and Asia Pacific markets make it a global systemically important financial institution . UBS was founded in 1862 as the Bank in Winterthur alongside the advent of the Swiss banking industry . During the 1890s , the Swiss Bank Corporation ( SBC ) was founded , forming a private banking syndicate that expanded aided by Switzerland 's international neutrality . The Bank of Winterthur merged with Toggenburger Bank in 1912 to form the Union Bank of Switzerland ( UBS ) and grew rapidly after the Banking Law of 1934 codified Swiss banking secrecy . Following decades of market competition between the SBC and UBS , the two merged in 1998 to create a single company known solely as UBS . [ nb 3 ] Through mergers and acquisitions up to the early 2000s , UBS together with Credit Suisse held more than 50% of all deposits in Switzerland . After UBS managed heavy losses during the 2008 financial crisis with an asset relief recovery program , it was hit with the 2011 rogue trader scandal resulting in a US $ 2 billion trading loss . In 2012 the bank reoriented itself around wealth management and limited its sell side operations . In the years since , the company 's capital strength , security protocols , and reputation for discretion has yielded a substantial market share in banking and high level of brand loyalty .
Bradley Charles Birkenfeld ( born February 26 , 1965 ) is an American private banker , convicted felon , whistleblower and multi-millionaire . During the mid- to late-2000s , he made a series of disclosures about UBS Group AG clients , in violation of Swiss banking secrecy laws , to the U.S. government alleging possible tax evasion . Known as the 2007 Birkenfeld Disclosure , the U.S. Department of Justice ( DOJ ) announced it had reached a deferred prosecution agreement with UBS that resulted in a US $ 780 million fine and the release of previously privileged information on American tax evaders . In the United States , he was convicted by the DOJ for a single charge of fraud conspiracy and served 31 months in a federal penitentiary from 2010 to 2012 with a fine of $ 30,000 . After he applied for whistleblower status and protection , the Internal Revenue Service ( IRS ) awarded him a settlement of $ 104 million through their Whistleblower Office , the largest award in US history .
The Boeing Company , commonly known as Boeing ( /ˈboʊɪŋ/ ) , is an American multinational corporation that designs , manufactures , and sells airplanes , rotorcraft , rockets , satellites , telecommunications equipment , and missiles worldwide . The company also provides leasing and product support services . Boeing is among the largest global aerospace manufacturers ; it is the second-largest defense contractor in the world based on 2018 revenue , and is the largest exporter in the United States by dollar value . Boeing stock is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average . Boeing is incorporated in Delaware . Boeing was founded by William Boeing in Seattle , Washington on July 15 , 1916 . The present corporation is the result of the merger of Boeing with McDonnell Douglas on August 1 , 1997 . Then chairman and CEO of Boeing , Philip M. Condit , assumed those roles in the combined company , while Harry Stonecipher , former CEO of McDonnell Douglas , became president and COO . The Boeing Company has its corporate headquarters in Chicago , Illinois . Boeing is organized into five primary divisions : Boeing Commercial Airplanes ( BCA ) ; Boeing Defense , Space & Security ( BDS ) ; Engineering , Operations & Technology ; Boeing Capital ; and Boeing Shared Services Group . In 2017 , Boeing recorded US $ 93.3 billion in sales , ranked 24th on the Fortune magazine Fortune 500 list ( 2018 ) , ranked 64th on the Fortune Global 500 list ( 2018 ) , and ranked 19th on the World 's Most Admired Companies list ( 2018 ) . In 2019 , Boeing 's global reputation , commercial business , and financial rating suffered after the 737 MAX was grounded worldwide following two fatal crashes in late 2018 and early 2019 .
AstraZeneca plc is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company . In 2013 , it moved its headquarters to Cambridge , United Kingdom , and concentrated its R & D in three sites : Cambridge ; Gaithersburg , Maryland , USA ( location of MedImmune ) for work on biopharmaceuticals ; and Mölndal ( near Gothenburg ) in Sweden , for research on traditional chemical drugs . AstraZeneca has a portfolio of products for major disease areas including cancer , cardiovascular , gastrointestinal , infection , neuroscience , respiratory and inflammation . The company was founded in 1999 through the merger of the Swedish Astra AB and the British Zeneca Group ( itself formed by the demerger of the pharmaceutical operations of Imperial Chemical Industries in 1993 ) . Since the merger it has been among the world 's largest pharmaceutical companies and has made numerous corporate acquisitions , including Cambridge Antibody Technology ( in 2006 ) , MedImmune ( in 2007 ) , Spirogen ( in 2013 ) and Definiens ( by MedImmune in 2014 ) . AstraZeneca has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index . It has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange and the OMX exchange .
Michael Christopher Woodford , MBE ( born ( 1960-06-12 ) 12 June 1960 ) is a British businessman who was formerly president and COO ( April 2011 ) and CEO ( October 2011 ) of Olympus Corporation , a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products . Joining Olympus in 1981 and rising to manage its European operations , Woodford was the first non-Japanese person to be appointed as the company 's CEO in October 2011 , having exceeded expectations as president and chief operating officer for the previous six months . Within two months , he became a central figure in exposing the Olympus scandal , having been removed from his position after serving two weeks , when he persisted in questioning fees in excess of US $ 1 billion that Olympus had paid to obscure companies , which appear to have been used to hide old losses and appeared to have organised crime connections . The scandal rocked Japanese corporate governance , led to the resignation of the entire Olympus board and several arrests of senior executives , including the previous CEO and chairman , and the company 's former auditor and bankers among others , and made Woodford one of the most highly placed executives to turn whistleblower . By 2012 the scandal he exposed had developed into one of the biggest and longest-lived loss-concealing financial scandals in the history of corporate Japan . His bravery and stance in the scandal , in which he understood his life was at risk due to the criminal organisation connections of some of the suspect monies he had questioned , earned him several prestigious awards for Businessperson of the Year . Following a settlement for defamation and wrongful dismissal by Olympus , Woodford now consults on corporate governance worldwide , speaks on human rights , whistleblower laws and road safety . He also undertakes philanthropy , and has stated he has given several millions of pounds to charities . In November 2012 Woodford published a book about the Olympus scandal , and a film was also underway .
Olympus Corporation ( オリンパス株式会社 , Orinpasu Kabushiki-gaisha ) is a Japanese manufacturer of optics and reprography products . Olympus was established on 12 October 1919 , initially specializing in microscopes and thermometers . Olympus holds roughly a 70-percent share of the global endoscope market , estimated to be worth approximately US $ 2.5 billion . Its global headquarters are located in Shinjuku , Tokyo , Japan . In 2011 , Olympus attracted worldwide media scrutiny when it fired its CEO and the matter snowballed into a corporate corruption investigation with multiple arrests . It paid $ 646 million in kickback fines in 2016 .
Clare Rewcastle Brown is a British investigative journalist . Born in the former British Crown Colony of Sarawak ( now part of Malaysia ) , she is the founder of Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak which are openly critical of the Barisan Nasional-led state government of Sarawak .
Sarawak Report is an investigative journalism online news resource operated from London since 2010 by Clare Rewcastle Brown , sister-in-law of the former British prime minister Gordon Brown . The website reported on the welfare of the indigenous people in Sarawak followed by exposés on corruption scandals in Sarawak and Malaysia in general . The website was blocked by the Barisan Nasional led government from 2015 to 2018 due its reporting on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad ( 1MDB ) scandal . After 2018 Malaysian general election , the new Pakatan Harapan led government unblocked the website .
Radio Free Sarawak ( Malay : Radio Sarawak Bebas ) is a pirate radio station established by journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown and helmed by former Cats FM presenter Peter John Jaban ( Papa Orang Utan ) , Christina Suntai who graduated from Florida Technical College in computer science and computer programming , and Michael Ngau . First broadcast on 16 November 2010 , the station can be received by shortwave on 15420 kHz . It also produced podcasts for its programmes daily from 1100-1300 UTC or 7:00-9:00 pm at Sarawak local time ( UTC+8 ) . The station received wide publicity in Malaysia after the brief disappearance of Jaban . However it was later discovered that he had gone into hiding voluntarily . On 15 November 2014 , the radio suspended its shortwave transmission services and claimed the Sarawak state government has jammed its service .
The tenth Sarawak state election was held on Saturday , 16 April 2011 after nomination for candidates on Wednesday , 6 April 2011 . The purpose of the election was to elect 71 representatives to the Sarawak State Assembly . The ninth state assembly was dissolved by Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak , Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng on the advice of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud on 21 March 2011 . The previous state election in Sarawak was held in 2006 . The election resulted in Barisan Nasional ( BN ) retaining its two-thirds majority , albeit by a reduced margin . BN lost eight seats , mainly through the Sarawak United People 's Party ( SUPP ) . SUPP leader and deputy chief minister George Chan Hong Nam lost his seat . The opposition Pakatan Rakyat made gains , but fell short of its goal to deny a two-thirds majority for BN . The party with the single biggest gain on the day was the Democratic Action Party ( DAP ) , which doubled its seats to 12 . Taib , who had served as Chief Minister for 30 years , was sworn in for his eighth term on the same night . Wong Ho Leng was reappointed as opposition leader after his party ( DAP ) won the most seats for the opposition bench . Before this , Baru Bian was being nominated as chief minister-in-waiting by Pakatan Rakyat .
FBC Media Limited ( initials for FactBased Communications ) is a media and public relations company based in London currently under administration . It specializes in television content creation , production and distribution and global communication campaigns on behalf of governments , non-governmental organizations and other companies . FBC was incorporated in 1998 and had offices in London , Mumbai and Rome . Among its key figures were its founder and chairman , Alan Friedman , and president John Defterios , currently a presenter on CNN . FBC produced World Business on CNBC which won a Grand Prix Award in Europe for best global business and financial program . It also produced One Square Mile and Develop or Die , which featured reports from developing nations , on BBC World News . Clients of FBC Media included Viktor Yanukovych , the former president of Ukraine , who reportedly hired FBC to work with Paul Manafort to provide negative coverage of Yanukovych 's political opponent Yulia Tymoshenko .
Musa Bin Haji Aman ( born 30 March 1951 ) is the 14th and former Chief Minister of the state of Sabah in Malaysia , in office since March 2003 until May 2018 . He was also the Sabah finance minister , the chairman of United Malays National Organisation ( UMNO ) for Sabah , and the older half brother of Anifah Aman , former Foreign Minister of Malaysia .
Red Granite Pictures is an American film production and distribution company , co-founded by Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland in 2010 .
The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal or 1MDB scandal is an ongoing political scandal occurring in Malaysia . In 2015 , Malaysia 's then-Prime Minister Najib Razak was accused of channelling over RM 2.67 billion ( ≈ US $ 700 million ) from 1Malaysia Development Berhad ( 1MDB ) , a government-run strategic development company , to his personal bank accounts . The event triggered widespread criticism among Malaysians , with many calling for Najib Razak 's resignation - including Dr. Mahathir Mohamad , one of Najib 's predecessors as Prime Minister , who eventually defeated Najib to return to power after the 2018 general election . Political leader Anwar Ibrahim has openly questioned the credentials of 1MDB . He told Parliament that according to the records held by the companies commission , the company has no business address and no appointed auditor . According to its publicly filed accounts , 1MDB has nearly RM 42 billion ( US $ 11.73 billion ) in debt . Some of this debt resulted from a $ 3 billion state-guaranteed 2013 bond issue led by Goldman Sachs , who is believed to have made as much as $ 300 million in fees from that deal alone , although it disputes this figure . Conference of Rulers in Malaysia has called for the investigations by the government to be completed as soon as possible , saying that the issue is causing a crisis of confidence in Malaysia . After the 2018 election , the newly elected Prime Minister , Mahathir Mohamad , said there was enough evidence to reopen a probe into the 1MDB scandal . In the months after the election , Malaysian authorities barred Najib Razak from leaving the country , seized a huge haul of cash and valuable items from premises linked to him , and charged him with criminal breach of trust , money laundering and abuse of power , while Jho Low was charged with money laundering . Having filed complaints alleging that more than US $ 4.5 billion was diverted from 1MDB by Jho Low and other conspirators including officials from Malaysia , Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates , the U.S. Department of Justice said it would continue to pursue investigations into 1MDB and looked forward to working with Malaysian authorities . The whistle-blower was the Swiss banker and former director of PetroSaudi Xavier Justo .
The Indian Administrative Service ( IAS ) is the administrative arm of the All India Services . Considered the premier civil service of India , the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian Police Service ( IPS ) and the Indian Forest Service [ citation needed ] ( IFS ) . Members of these three services serve the Government of India as well as the individual states . IAS officers may also be deployed to various public sector undertakings . As with other countries following the Westminster parliamentary system of government , the IAS is a part of the permanent bureaucracy of the nation , and is an inseparable part of the executive of the Government of India . As such , the bureaucracy remains politically neutral and guarantees administrative continuity to the ruling party or coalition . Upon confirmation of service , an IAS officer serves a probationary period as a sub-divisional magistrate . Completion of this probation is followed by an executive administrative role in a district as a district magistrate and collector which lasts several years , as long as sixteen years in some states . After this tenure , an officer may be promoted to head a whole state division , as a divisional commissioner . On attaining the higher scales of the pay matrix , IAS officers may lead government departments or ministries . In these roles , IAS officers represent the country at the international level in bilateral and multilateral negotiations . If serving on a deputation , they may be employed in intergovernmental organisations such as the World Bank , the International Monetary Fund , the Asian Development Bank , the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , or the United Nations , or its agencies .
Blake Percival was the Director of Fieldwork Services , Western Pennsylvania , ( WPA ) , for USIS . He became a whistleblower in July 2011 , when he filed a qui tam suit saying he was fired from USIS , for not ordering his subordinates to submit cases to the U.S. Government for payment , that had not been completed . He had worked for USIS from January 2001 to June 2011 . In his suit he stated he had been fired after he refused to order his employees to continue an elaborate fraud known as dumping . The suit was filed under seal in U.S. District Court in Montgomery , Alabama . His allegations were investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice ( DOJ ) and in October 2013 the DOJ joined Percivals suit and removed the seal . The case , United States of America ex rel . Blake Percival v. U.S . Investigations Services , Civil Action No . 11-CV-527-WKW , was filed in U.S. District Court , Middle District of Alabama ( Northern Division ) . On January 22 , 2014 the DOJ filed their formal complaint against USIS . In their filing the DOJ stated that USIS committed fraud on at least 665,000 background investigations .
USIS ( US Investigation Services ) was a US corporation that provided security-based information and service solutions to both government and corporate customers , in the United States and abroad . Its corporate headquarters were in Falls Church , in Greater Washington , D.C. Training took place in Boyers , PA. USIS was a part of Altegrity Inc. , a company headquartered in the Falls Church area that was owned by Providence Equity Partners .
USIS ( US Investigation Services ) was a US corporation that provided security-based information and service solutions to both government and corporate customers , in the United States and abroad . Its corporate headquarters were in Falls Church , in Greater Washington , D.C. Training took place in Boyers , PA. USIS was a part of Altegrity Inc. , a company headquartered in the Falls Church area that was owned by Providence Equity Partners .
Edward Joseph Snowden ( born June 21 , 1983 ) is an American whistleblower who copied and leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency ( NSA ) in 2013 when he was a Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) employee and subcontractor . His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs , many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments , and prompted a cultural discussion about national security and individual privacy . In 2013 , Snowden was hired by an NSA contractor , Booz Allen Hamilton , after previous employment with Dell and the CIA . Snowden says he gradually became disillusioned with the programs with which he was involved and that he tried to raise his ethical concerns through internal channels but was ignored . On May 20 , 2013 , Snowden flew to Hong Kong after leaving his job at an NSA facility in Hawaii , and in early June he revealed thousands of classified NSA documents to journalists Glenn Greenwald , Laura Poitras , and Ewen MacAskill . Snowden came to international attention after stories based on the material appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post . Further disclosures were made by other publications including Der Spiegel and The New York Times . On June 21 , 2013 , the United States Department of Justice unsealed charges against Snowden of two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property , following which the Department of State revoked his passport . Two days later , he flew into Moscow 's Sheremetyevo Airport , where Russian authorities noted that his U.S. passport had been cancelled , and he was restricted to the airport terminal for over one month . Russia later granted Snowden the right of asylum with an initial visa for residence for one year , and repeated extensions have permitted him to stay at least until 2020 . In early 2016 , he became the president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation , a San Francisco-based organization that states its purpose is to protect journalists from hacking and government surveillance . As of 2017 he is married and living in Moscow .
The Washington Navy Yard shooting occurred on September 16 , 2013 when 34-year-old Aaron Alexis fatally shot 12 people and injured three others in a mass shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command ( NAVSEA ) inside the Washington Navy Yard in southeast Washington , D.C . The attack took place in the Navy Yard 's Building 197 ; it began around 8:16 a.m. EDT and ended when Alexis was killed by police around 9:25 a.m . It was the second-deadliest mass murder on a U.S. military base , behind the 2009 Fort Hood shooting .
Everett A. Stern is a whistleblower , politician , and the intelligence director of Tactical Rabbit , Inc . He is best known for his actions in an HSBC money laundering scandal , where he uncovered billions of dollars in illegal money laundering transactions , which led to an SEC investigation and a $ 1.92 billion fine against HSBC in 2012 .
The Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency . Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice , the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence . A leading U.S. counter-terrorism , counterintelligence , and criminal investigative organization , the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes . Although many of the FBI 's functions are unique , its activities in support of national security are comparable to those of the British MI5 and the Russian FSB . Unlike the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) , which has no law enforcement authority and is focused on intelligence collection abroad , the FBI is primarily a domestic agency , maintaining 56 field offices in major cities throughout the United States , and more than 400 resident agencies in smaller cities and areas across the nation . At an FBI field office , a senior-level FBI officer concurrently serves as the representative of the Director of National Intelligence . Despite its domestic focus , the FBI also maintains a significant international footprint , operating 60 Legal Attache ( LEGAT ) offices and 15 sub-offices in U.S. embassies and consulates across the globe . These foreign offices exist primarily for the purpose of coordination with foreign security services and do not usually conduct unilateral operations in the host countries . The FBI can and does at times carry out secret activities overseas , just as the CIA has a limited domestic function ; these activities generally require coordination across government agencies . The FBI was established in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation , the BOI or BI for short . Its name was changed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) in 1935 . The FBI headquarters is the J. Edgar Hoover Building , located in Washington , D.C .
The Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States , tasked with gathering , processing , and analyzing national security information from around the world , primarily through the use of human intelligence ( HUMINT ) . As one of the principal members of the United States Intelligence Community ( IC ) , the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States . Unlike the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) , which is a domestic security service , the CIA has no law enforcement function and is mainly focused on overseas intelligence gathering , with only limited domestic intelligence collection . Though it is not the only agency of the federal government of the United States specializing in HUMINT , the CIA serves as the national manager for coordination of HUMINT activities across the U.S. intelligence community . Moreover , the CIA is the only agency authorized by law to carry out and oversee covert action at the behest of the President . It exerts foreign political influence through its tactical divisions , such as the Special Activities Center . The CIA was also instrumental in establishing intelligence services in several U.S. allied countries , such as Germany 's BND . Before the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 , the CIA Director concurrently served as the head of the Intelligence Community ; today , the CIA is organized under the Director of National Intelligence ( DNI ) . Despite transferring some of its powers to the DNI , the CIA has grown in size as a result of the September 11 attacks . In 2013 , The Washington Post reported that in the fiscal year 2010 , the CIA had the largest budget of all IC agencies , exceeding previous estimates . The CIA has increasingly expanded its role , including covert paramilitary operations . One of its largest divisions , the Information Operations Center ( IOC ) , has shifted focus from counter-terrorism to offensive cyber-operations .
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) is an independent agency of the United States federal government . The SEC holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws , proposing securities rules , and regulating the securities industry , which is the nation 's stock and options exchanges , and other activities and organizations , including the electronic securities markets in the United States . In addition to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 , which created it , the SEC enforces the Securities Act of 1933 , the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 , the Investment Company Act of 1940 , the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 , the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 , and other statutes . The SEC was created by Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( now codified as 15 U.S.C . § 78d and commonly referred to as the Exchange Act or the 1934 Act ) .
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The East African Legislative Assembly ( EALA ) is a sub-organ of the larger East African Community , being the legislative arm of the Community . Members are sworn into five-year terms .
Pierre Nkurunziza ( French pronunciation : ​ [ pjɛʁ n̪kyʁœ̃ziza ] ; born 18 December 1963 ) is a Burundian politician who has been in power in Burundi since 2005 . He was the Chairman of the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy ( CNDD-FDD ) , the ruling party , until he was elected as President of Burundi . In 2015 , Nkurunziza was controversially nominated by his party for a third term in office . Supporters and opponents of Nkurunziza disagreed as to whether it was legal for him to run again , and protests followed . More than two months of anti-Nkurunziza protests , which were often violently repressed , left at least 100 dead . On 13 May 2015 , a coup attempt against Nkurunziza occurred while he was out of the country ; the coup leader , Godefroid Niyombare , claimed to have ousted Nkurunziza , although Nkurunziza loyalists disputed the claim . Facing resistance from Nkurunziza loyalists , the coup collapsed and forces loyal to Nkurunziza appeared to be back in full control by 15 May . Independent media was shut down and many opponents fled , joining an exodus of more than 400,000 Burundians . Amidst an opposition boycott , Nkurunziza was re-elected for a third term in the July 2015 presidential election . On 7 June 2018 , Nkurunziza announced that he would not seek another term and step down when his current term ends in 2020 .
Vijay Pandhare is a former bureaucrat from Maharashtra , India . He was the Chief Engineer of the Water Resources Department and a member of the state level technical advisory committee . He is state executive committee Member at Aam Aadmi Party Maharashtra .
The Government of Maharashtra is the government for the state of Maharashtra in India . It is an elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the legislative assembly for a five-year term . Maharashtra has a bicameral legislature which consists of two Houses , the Vidhan Sabha ( legislative assembly ) and the Vidhan Parishad ( legislative council ) . As is the case in a parliamentary system , the government is formed by the party , alliance or group of assembly members who command the majority in the lower House . Lower House majority leader becomes the Chief Minister and selects the cabinet members from both Houses . In case an unelected person becomes the Chief Minister , they must be elected to either House within the following 6 months .
Maharashtra ( /mɑːhəˈrɑːʃtrə/ ; Marathi : [ məharaːʂʈrə ] ( listen ) , abbr . MH ) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau . It is the second-most populous state and third-largest state by area . Spread over 307,713 km2 ( 118,809 sq mi ) , it is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west , the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south , Telangana to the southeast and Chhattisgarh to the east , Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to the north , and the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the north west . It is also the world 's third-most populous subnational entity . Maharashtra was formed by merging the western and south-western parts of the Bombay State , Berar and Vidarbha , and the north-western parts of the Hyderabad State and splitting Saurashtra ( in present-day Gujarat ) by the States Reorganisation Act . It has over 112 million inhabitants and its capital , Mumbai , has a population around 18 million making it the most populous urban area in India . Nagpur hosts the winter session of the state legislature . Pune is known as the 'Oxford of the East ' due to the presence of several well-known educational institutions . Nashik is known as the 'Wine Capital of India ' as it has the largest number of wineries and vineyards in the country . The Godavari and the Krishna are the two major rivers in the state . The Narmada and Tapi Rivers flow near the border between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat .
A whistleblower ( also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower ) is a person who exposes secretive information or activity that is deemed illegal , unethical , or not correct within a private or public organization . The information of alleged wrongdoing can be classified in many ways : violation of company policy/rules , law , regulation , or threat to public interest/national security , as well as fraud , and corruption . Those who become whistleblowers can choose to bring information or allegations to surface either internally or externally . Internally , a whistleblower can bring his/her accusations to the attention of other people within the accused organization such as an immediate supervisor . Externally , a whistleblower can bring allegations to light by contacting a third party outside of an accused organization such as the media , government , law enforcement , or those who are concerned . Whistleblowers , however , take the risk of facing stiff reprisal and retaliation from those who are accused or alleged of wrongdoing . Because of this , a number of laws exist to protect whistleblowers . Some third-party groups even offer protection to whistleblowers , but that protection can only go so far . Whistleblowers face legal action , criminal charges , social stigma , and termination from any position , office , or job . Two other classifications of whistleblowing are private and public . The classifications relate to the type of organizations someone chooses to whistle-blow on : private sector , or public sector . Depending on many factors , both can have varying results .
Ajit Anantrao Pawar ( born 22 July 1959 ) is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra , who is the current Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra . He is a from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly representing Baramati constituency . He is the nephew of Sharad Pawar , the chief of Nationalist Congress Party . Besides being the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra , he is also the Finance Minister of Maharashtra .
The United States Air Force ( USAF ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces . It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services . Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907 , the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947 . It is the second youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces , [ a ] and the fourth in order of precedence . The U.S. Air Force articulates its core missions as air superiority , global integrated intelligence , surveillance , and reconnaissance , rapid global mobility , global strike , and command and control . The U.S. Air Force is a military service branch organized within the Department of the Air Force , one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense . The Air Force , through the Department of the Air Force , is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force , who reports to the Secretary of Defense , and is appointed by the President with Senate confirmation . The highest-ranking military officer in the Air Force is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force , who exercises supervision over Air Force units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Certain Air Force components are assigned , as directed by the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Air Force , to unified combatant commands . Combatant commanders are delegated operational authority of the forces assigned to them , while the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force retain administrative authority over their members . Along with conducting independent air operations , the U.S. Air Force provides air support for land and naval forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field . As of 2017 [ update ] , the service operates more than 5,369 military aircraft , 406 ICBMs and 170 military satellites .
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is a single-seat , twin-engine , all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force ( USAF ) . The result of the USAF 's Advanced Tactical Fighter ( ATF ) program , the aircraft was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter , but also has ground attack , electronic warfare , and signal intelligence capabilities . The prime contractor , Lockheed Martin , built most of the F-22 's airframe and weapons systems and conducted final assembly , while Boeing provided the wings , aft fuselage , avionics integration , and training systems . The aircraft was variously designated F-22 and F/A-22 before it formally entered service in December 2005 as the F-22A . Despite its protracted development and various operational issues , USAF officials consider the F-22 a critical component of the service 's tactical air power . Its combination of stealth , aerodynamic performance , and situational awareness enable unprecedented air combat capabilities . Service officials had originally planned to buy a total of 750 ATFs . In 2009 , the program was cut to 187 operational production aircraft due to high costs , a lack of clear air-to-air missions due to delays in Russian and Chinese fighter programs , a ban on exports , and development of the more versatile F-35 . [ N 1 ] The last F-22 was delivered in 2012 .
CBS ( an initialism of the network 's former name , the Columbia Broadcasting System ) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network that is the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of ViacomCBS . The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major production facilities and operations in New York City ( at the CBS Broadcast Center ) and Los Angeles ( at CBS Television City and the CBS Studio Center ) . CBS is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network , in reference to the company 's trademark symbol , in use since 1951 . It has also been called the Tiffany Network , alluding to the perceived high quality of CBS programming during the tenure of William S. Paley . It can also refer to some of CBS 's first demonstrations of color television , which were held in a former Tiffany & Co. building in New York City in 1950 . The network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc. , a collection of 16 radio stations purchased by Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System . Under Paley 's guidance , CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States , and eventually one of the Big Three American broadcast television networks . In 1974 CBS dropped its former full name and became known simply as CBS , Inc . The Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired the network in 1995 , renamed its corporate entity to the current CBS Broadcasting , Inc. in 1997 , and eventually adopted the name of the company it had acquired to become CBS Corporation . In 2000 CBS came under the control of the first Viacom , which was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971 . In late 2005 , Viacom split itself into two separate companies and re-established CBS Corporation through the spin-off of its broadcast television , radio , and select cable television and non-broadcasting assets , with the CBS television network at its core . CBS Corporation was controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements , which also controlled the second Viacom until December 4 , 2019 , when the two separated companies agreed to re-merge to become the new single entity known as ViacomCBS .
60 Minutes is an American news magazine and television program broadcast on the CBS television network . Debuting in 1968 , the program was created by Don Hewitt , who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation . In 2002 , 60 Minutes was ranked at No . 6 on TV Guide 's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time and in 2013 , it was ranked # 24 on TV Guide 's 60 Best Series of All Time . The New York Times has called it one of the most esteemed news magazines on American television .
Air Combat Command ( ACC ) is one of nine Major Commands ( MAJCOMs ) in the United States Air Force , reporting to Headquarters , United States Air Force ( HAF ) at the Pentagon . It is the primary provider of air combat forces for the Air Force , and it is the direct successor to Tactical Air Command . Air Combat Command is headquartered at Langley Air Force Base , Joint Base Langley-Eustis , Virginia , United States .
Carmen Segarra was a US New York Federal Reserve-appointed regulator to Goldman Sachs for seven months from October 2011 . She discovered that Goldman Sachs did not have any policy on conflict of interest when it advised El Paso Corporation on selling itself to Kinder Morgan , a company in which Goldman Sachs owned a US $ 4 billion stake , and with several former Goldman Sachs employees who had previously worked for Kinder Morgan on the El Paso team . She was pressured by her superiors at the Federal Reserve to alter her report , but stated that her professional view of the situation did not change , and refused to do so . She was dismissed shortly after . Segarra filed suit against the Federal Reserve in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York , alleging that she was terminated due to reporting to her superiors that the Goldman Sachs Group did not have a firmwide conflict-of-interest policy . Segarra alleged that her termination violated the whistleblower protection provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act , 12 U.S.C . § 1831j . Also included as defendants were Jonathan Kim , Segarra 's supervisor , and two employees who were responsible for managing the relationship between Goldman and the Federal Reserve . The case was dismissed because Segarra failed to allege that she was terminated because she 'reported ' violations of anything other than SR 08-08 . ( Emphasis in original . ) Because SR 08-08 is an advisory letter and does not carry the force of law , the court found , an allegation that she was fired for reporting its violation did not entitle Segarra to bring a claim under the whistleblower protection provision of 12 U.S.C . § 1831j .
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States . It is located at 33 Liberty Street , New York , New York . It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System , which encompasses New York State , the 12 northern counties of New Jersey , Fairfield County in Connecticut , Puerto Rico , and the U.S. Virgin Islands . Working within the Federal Reserve System , the Federal Reserve Bank of New York implements monetary policy , supervises and regulates financial institutions and helps maintain the nation 's payment systems . Among the other regional banks , the New York Fed and its president are considered first among equals . Its current president is John C. Williams . It is by far the largest ( by assets ) , most active ( by volume ) and most influential of the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks .
The Goldman Sachs Group , Inc. , is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York City . It offers services in investment management , securities , asset management , prime brokerage , and securities underwriting . The bank is one of the largest investment banking enterprises in the world , and is a primary dealer in the United States Treasury security market and more generally , a prominent market maker . The group also owns Goldman Sachs Bank USA , a direct bank . Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 and is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan with additional offices in other international financial centers . As a result of its involvement in securitization during the subprime mortgage crisis , Goldman Sachs suffered during the financial crisis of 2007-2008 , and received a $ 10 billion investment from the United States Department of the Treasury as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program , a financial bailout created by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 . The investment was made in November 2008 and was repaid in June 2009 . Former employees of Goldman Sachs have moved on to government positions . Notable examples includes former U.S . Secretaries of the Treasury Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson ; current United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin ; former Under Secretary of State John C. Whitehead ; former chief economic advisor Gary Cohn ; United States Senator and former Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine ; former Prime Minister of Italy Mario Monti ; European Central Bank President Mario Draghi ; former Bank of Canada Governor and current Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney ; and the former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull . In addition , former Goldman employees have headed the New York Stock Exchange , the World Bank , and competing banks such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch . The company is ranked 62nd on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue .
El Paso Corporation was a provider of natural gas and related energy products and was one of North America 's largest natural gas producers until its acquisition by Kinder Morgan in 2012 . It was headquartered in Houston , Texas . United States . Prior to the takeover by Kinder Morgan , the company owned North America 's largest natural gas pipeline system which traveled from border-to-border and coast-to-coast . The pipeline system included Colorado Interstate Gas ; El Paso Natural Gas ; Southern Natural Gas ; Tennessee Gas Pipeline ; Cheyenne Plains Pipeline ; Mojave Pipeline ; Elba Express Pipeline ; Young Gas Storage ; Wyoming Interstate Company ; and Ruby Pipeline . The El Paso Corporation also owned fifty percent of Great Lakes Transmission and Florida Gas Transmission and employed 6,000 people . Florida Gas is part of Southern Natural Gas . In 1999 the company doubled in size when it merged with Birmingham , Alabama based natural gas giant Sonat . [ citation needed ] It went on to acquire Coastal Corporation in 2001 . The company 's major offices were located in Houston , Texas ; Birmingham , Alabama ; and Colorado Springs , Colorado . The company 's CEO at the time of sale to Kinder Morgan was Douglas L. Foshee .
Kinder Morgan , Inc. is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America . The company specializes in owning and controlling oil and gas pipelines and terminals . Kinder Morgan owns an interest in or operates approximately 85,000 miles ( 137 000 km ) of pipelines and 152 terminals . The company 's pipelines transports natural gas , refined petroleum products , crude oil , carbon dioxide and more . Kinder Morgan also stores or handles a variety of products and materials at their terminals such as gasoline , jet fuel , ethanol , coal , petroleum coke and steel . The company has approximately 72,000 miles ( 115 900 km ) of natural gas pipelines and moves about 38 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States . Kinder Morgan is also the largest independent terminal operator and the largest independent transporter of petroleum products in North America . The company 's CO2 division provides carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) for enhanced oil recovery projects in North America . The company is headquartered in Houston , Texas .
Silver Meikar ( born February 12 , 1978 ) is an Estonian human rights activist , a freelance journalist and founder of the Estonian Institute of Digital Rights . Silver Meikar was a member of the parliament of Estonia - Riigikogu in 2003-2004 and 2006-2011 in the Estonian Reform Party faction . Silver Meikar was born in Tartu and received the basic and secondary school education in Tartu Miina Härma Gymnasium . He graduated from the University of Tartu with a degree in economics in 2005 . He served as a member of Tartu City Council in 1999 - 2002 and 2005 - 2006 . In 2003 Silver Meikar became a substitute member of the parliament of Estonia as Margus Hanson became the minister of defence . Silver Meikar was set up as a candidate to the European Parliament in 2004 . He lost his seat in Riigikogu as Margus Hanson was dismissed in November 2004 due to the theft of classified documents from his home . Silver Meikar re-gained his seat on November 23 , 2006 as Margus Hanson was convicted for leaking state-classified data . Silver Meikar was re-elected to Riigikogu on March 4 , 2007 and he served throughout his mandate as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee . He became notable with political activities that encompass defending the Human rights in Belarus , Burma , China , Russia and elsewhere , drawing attention to the difficult situation in developing countries and supporting the reform process in Ukraine and Georgia . He has also been advocating for the respect of civil liberties in Estonia .
The Estonian Reform Party ( Estonian : Eesti Reformierakond ) is a liberal political party in Estonia . The party is led by Kaja Kallas and has 34 members in the 101-member Riigikogu , making it the largest party in the legislature . The party was founded by then-President of the Bank of Estonia Siim Kallas as a split from National Coalition Party Pro Patria . At the 1995 election , it won 19 seats in the Riigikogu , making it the second largest party . The Reform Party replaced the Estonian Centre Party in government in autumn 1995 , and remained there until 1996 . In 1999 , the party lost a seat , but returned to the cabinet in coalition with the Pro Patria Union and the Moderate People 's Party . The party has remained in various coalitions since then , with Andrus Ansip as Prime Minister since 2005 . At the 2007 parliamentary election , the party won 31 seats , becoming the largest party for the first time , and increased its seat tally again in 2011 , with 33 seats . It narrowly won the 2015 general election , losing 3 mandates compared to its 2011 result , ending up with 30 seats . After being in opposition since November 2016 , the party won the 2019 parliamentary election with a convincing lead and expanded its number of mandates to 34 . As the Reform Party has participated in most of the government coalitions in Estonia since the mid-1990s , its influence has been significant , especially regarding Estonia 's free market and low taxes policies . The party has been a full member of Liberal International since 1996 , having been an observer member between 1994-1996 , and a full member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ( ALDE ) .
Kristen Michal ( born 12 July 1975 ) is an Estonian politician . member of the Estonian Reform Party , he was the minister of economic affairs and infrastructure in Taavi Rõivas ' cabinet between 9 April 2015 and 22 November 2016 . Previously , Michal served as the minister of justice from 2011 to 2012 .
Luxembourg Leaks ( sometimes shortened to Lux Leaks or LuxLeaks ) is the name of a financial scandal revealed in November 2014 by a journalistic investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists . It is based on confidential information about Luxembourg 's tax rulings set up by PricewaterhouseCoopers from 2002 to 2010 to the benefits of its clients . This investigation resulted in making available to the public tax rulings for over three hundred multinational companies based in Luxembourg . The LuxLeaks ' disclosures attracted international attention and comment about tax avoidance schemes in Luxembourg and elsewhere . This scandal contributed to the implementation of measures aiming at reducing tax dumping and regulating tax avoidance schemes beneficial to multinational companies . The judicial aspects of this case concern the persons charged by Luxembourg justice for participating in the revelations . No multinational company was charged . The LuxLeaks trial took place in spring 2016 and led to the condemnation of the two whistleblowers . The appeal trial 's judgment was delivered in March 2017 , upholding monetary fines and reducing the suspended jail sentence for Deltour .
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a multinational professional services network of firms operating as partnerships under the PwC brand . The term PwC may be used to refer to an individual member firm within the PwC network , or to several or all of them collectively . PwC ranks as the second largest professional services firm network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting firms , along with Deloitte , EY and KPMG . PwC firms operate in 158 countries , 721 locations , with 250,930 people . As of 2018 , 28% of the workforce worked in Asia , 28% in North America and the Caribbean and 30% in Western Europe . The company 's global revenues were $ 41.3 billion in FY 2018 , of which $ 17.06 billion was generated by its Assurance practice , $ 10.45 billion by its Tax practice and $ 13.78 billion by its Advisory practice . PwC provides services to 420 out of 500 Fortune 500 companies . The firm in its present form was created in 1998 by a merger between two accounting firms ; Coopers & Lybrand , and Price Waterhouse . Both firms had histories dating back to the 19th century . The trading name was shortened to PwC in September 2010 as part of a rebranding effort . PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited , based in London , United Kingdom is a co-ordinating entity for the global network of firms . It manages the global brand and develops policies and initiatives to create a common and coordinated approach in areas such as risk , quality and strategy .
Luxembourg Leaks ( sometimes shortened to Lux Leaks or LuxLeaks ) is the name of a financial scandal revealed in November 2014 by a journalistic investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists . It is based on confidential information about Luxembourg 's tax rulings set up by PricewaterhouseCoopers from 2002 to 2010 to the benefits of its clients . This investigation resulted in making available to the public tax rulings for over three hundred multinational companies based in Luxembourg . The LuxLeaks ' disclosures attracted international attention and comment about tax avoidance schemes in Luxembourg and elsewhere . This scandal contributed to the implementation of measures aiming at reducing tax dumping and regulating tax avoidance schemes beneficial to multinational companies . The judicial aspects of this case concern the persons charged by Luxembourg justice for participating in the revelations . No multinational company was charged . The LuxLeaks trial took place in spring 2016 and led to the condemnation of the two whistleblowers . The appeal trial 's judgment was delivered in March 2017 , upholding monetary fines and reducing the suspended jail sentence for Deltour .
Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one 's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law . Tax sheltering is very similar , although unlike tax avoidance tax sheltering is not necessarily legal . Tax havens are jurisdictions which facilitate reduced taxes . While forms of tax avoidance which use tax laws in ways not intended by governments may be considered legal , it is almost never considered moral in the court of public opinion and rarely in journalism . Many corporations and businesses which take part in the practice experience a backlash , either from their active customers or online . Conversely , benefiting from tax laws in ways which were intended by governments is sometimes referred to as tax planning . The World Bank 's World Development Report 2019 on the future of work supports increased government efforts to curb tax avoidance as part of a new social contract focused on human capital investments and expanded social protection . Tax mitigation , tax aggressive , aggressive tax avoidance or tax neutral schemes generally refer to multi-territory schemes that fall into the grey area between commonplace and well-accepted tax avoidance ( such as purchasing municipal bonds in the United States ) and evasion , but are widely viewed as unethical , especially if they are involved in profit-shifting from high-tax to low-tax territories and territories recognised as tax havens . Since 1995 , trillions of dollars have been transferred from OECD and developing countries into tax havens using these schemes . Laws known as a General Anti-Avoidance Rule ( GAAR ) statutes which prohibit tax aggressive avoidance have been passed in several countries and regions including Canada , Australia , New Zealand , South Africa , Norway , Hong Kong and the United Kingdom . In addition , judicial doctrines have accomplished the similar purpose , notably in the United States through the business purpose and economic substance doctrines established in Gregory v. Helvering and in the UK through the Ramsay case . Though the specifics may vary according to jurisdiction , these rules invalidate tax avoidance which is technically legal but not for a business purpose or in violation of the spirit of the tax code .
David Paul Weber is a former Assistant Inspector General for Investigations at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) . Weber was a whistleblower who reported allegations about foreign espionage against the stock exchanges , and misconduct in the Bernard L. Madoff and R. Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme investigations . He was terminated months later for supposedly unrelated reasons . He sued the SEC , claiming wrongful termination and retaliation against him for coming forward as a whistleblower . In June 2013 , the SEC settled with Weber his whistleblower protection and U.S. District Court lawsuits by reinstating him and paying him $ 580,000 , one of the largest federal whistleblower settlements in US history . In 2014 , author and blogger Larry Doyle named Weber as one of his top 5 whistleblowers . On July 30 , 2015 , Weber was recognized by six United States Senators and one member of the House of Representatives at the First Congressional Celebration of National Whistleblower Appreciation Day . Weber is now in private practice of law .
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) is an independent agency of the United States federal government . The SEC holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws , proposing securities rules , and regulating the securities industry , which is the nation 's stock and options exchanges , and other activities and organizations , including the electronic securities markets in the United States . In addition to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 , which created it , the SEC enforces the Securities Act of 1933 , the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 , the Investment Company Act of 1940 , the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 , the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 , and other statutes . The SEC was created by Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( now codified as 15 U.S.C . § 78d and commonly referred to as the Exchange Act or the 1934 Act ) .
The Certified Fraud Examiner ( CFE ) is a credential awarded by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners ( ACFE ) . The ACFE association is a provider of anti-fraud training and education . To become a Certified Fraud Examiner ( CFE ) , one must meet the following requirements :
Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( /ˈmeɪdɔːf/ ; born April 29 , 1938 ) is an American former market maker , investment advisor and financier who is currently serving a federal prison sentence for offenses related to a massive Ponzi scheme . He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market , the confessed operator of the largest Ponzi scheme in world history , and the largest financial fraud in U.S. history . Prosecutors estimated the fraud to be worth $ 64.8 billion based on the amounts in the accounts of Madoff 's 4,800 clients as of November 30 , 2008 . Madoff founded a penny stock brokerage in 1960 which eventually grew into Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities . He served as its chairman until his arrest on December 11 , 2008 . The firm was one of the top market maker businesses on Wall Street , which bypassed specialist firms by directly executing orders over the counter from retail brokers . At the firm , he employed his brother Peter Madoff as senior managing director and chief compliance officer , Peter 's daughter Shana Madoff as the firm 's rules and compliance officer and attorney , and his now deceased sons Andrew and Mark . Peter was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Mark committed suicide by hanging exactly two years after his father 's arrest . Andrew died of lymphoma on September 3 , 2014 . On December 10 , 2008 , Madoff 's sons told authorities that their father had confessed to them that the asset management unit of his firm was a massive Ponzi scheme , and quoted him as saying that it was one big lie . The following day , FBI agents arrested Madoff and charged him with one count of securities fraud . The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) had previously conducted multiple investigations into his business practices but had not uncovered the massive fraud .
Robert Allen Stanford ( born March 24 , 1950 ) , known primarily by his middle name , is an American convicted financial fraudster and former financier and was also a sponsor of professional sports . He is currently serving a 110-year federal prison sentence , having been convicted in 2012 of charges that his investment company was a massive Ponzi scheme and fraud . Stanford was the chairman of the now defunct Stanford Financial Group of Companies . A fifth-generation Texan who once resided in Saint Croix , U.S. Virgin Islands , he holds dual citizenship , being a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and the United States . He contributed millions of dollars to politicians in both Antigua and the United States amongst other countries . In early 2009 , Stanford became the subject of several fraud investigations , and on February 17 , 2009 , was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) with fraud and multiple violations of U.S. securities laws for alleged massive ongoing fraud involving $ 7 billion in certificates of deposits . The Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) raided Stanford 's offices in Houston , Texas ; Memphis , Tennessee ; and Tupelo , Mississippi . On February 27 , 2009 , the SEC amended its complaint to describe the alleged fraud as a massive Ponzi scheme . He voluntarily surrendered to authorities on June 18 , 2009 . On March 6 , 2012 , Stanford was convicted on all charges except a single count of wire fraud . He is serving his 110-year sentence at United States Penitentiary , Coleman in Coleman , Florida . In September 2014 , Stanford appealed his conviction ; however , the appeals court rejected the appeal in October 2015 .
The National Security Agency ( NSA ) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense , under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence . The NSA is responsible for global monitoring , collection , and processing of information and data for foreign and domestic intelligence and counterintelligence purposes , specializing in a discipline known as signals intelligence ( SIGINT ) . The NSA is also tasked with the protection of U.S. communications networks and information systems . The NSA relies on a variety of measures to accomplish its mission , the majority of which are clandestine . Originating as a unit to decipher coded communications in World War II , it was officially formed as the NSA by President Harry S. Truman in 1952 . Since then , it has become the largest of the U.S. intelligence organizations in terms of personnel and budget . The NSA currently conducts worldwide mass data collection and has been known to physically bug electronic systems as one method to this end . The NSA is also alleged to have been behind such attack software as Stuxnet , which severely damaged Iran 's nuclear program . The NSA , alongside the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) , maintains a physical presence in many countries across the globe ; the CIA/NSA joint Special Collection Service ( a highly classified intelligence team ) inserts eavesdropping devices in high value targets ( such as Presidential palaces or embassies ) . SCS collection tactics allegedly encompass close surveillance , burglary , wiretapping , [ and ] breaking and entering . Unlike the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency ( DIA ) , both of which specialize primarily in foreign human espionage , the NSA does not publicly conduct human-source intelligence gathering . The NSA is entrusted with providing assistance to , and the coordination of , SIGINT elements for other government organizations - which are prevented by law from engaging in such activities on their own .
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation ( informally Booz Allen ) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. , an American management and information technology consulting firm , headquartered in McLean , Virginia , in Greater Washington , D.C. , with 80 other offices around the globe . The company 's stated core business is to provide consulting , analysis and engineering services to public and private sector organizations and nonprofits .
Ongoing news reports in the international media have revealed operational details about the United States National Security Agency ( NSA ) and its international partners ' global surveillance of both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens . The reports mostly emanate from a cache of top secret documents leaked by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden , which he obtained whilst working for Booz Allen Hamilton , one of the largest contractors for defense and intelligence in the United States . In addition to a trove of U.S. federal documents , Snowden 's cache reportedly contains thousands of Australian , British and Canadian intelligence files that he had accessed via the exclusive Five Eyes network . In June 2013 , the first of Snowden 's documents were published simultaneously by The Washington Post and The Guardian , attracting considerable public attention . The disclosure continued throughout 2013 , and a small portion of the estimated full cache of documents was later published by other media outlets worldwide , most notably The New York Times ( United States ) , the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , the Australian Broadcasting Corporation , Der Spiegel ( Germany ) , O Globo ( Brazil ) , Le Monde ( France ) , L'espresso ( Italy ) , NRC Handelsblad ( the Netherlands ) , Dagbladet ( Norway ) , El País ( Spain ) , and Sveriges Television ( Sweden ) . These media reports have shed light on the implications of several secret treaties signed by members of the UKUSA community in their efforts to implement global surveillance . For example , Der Spiegel revealed how the German Foreign Intelligence Service ( German : Bundesnachrichtendienst ; BND ) transfers massive amounts of intercepted data to the NSA , while Swedish Television revealed the National Defence Radio Establishment ( FRA ) provided the NSA with data from its cable collection , under a secret treaty signed in 1954 for bilateral cooperation on surveillance . Other security and intelligence agencies involved in the practice of global surveillance include those in Australia ( ASD ) , Britain ( GCHQ ) , Canada ( CSEC ) , Denmark ( PET ) , France ( DGSE ) , Germany ( BND ) , Italy ( AISE ) , the Netherlands ( AIVD ) , Norway ( NIS ) , Spain ( CNI ) , Switzerland ( NDB ) , Singapore ( SID ) as well as Israel ( ISNU ) , which receives raw , unfiltered data of U.S. citizens that is shared by the NSA . On June 14 , 2013 , United States prosecutors charged Edward Snowden with espionage and theft of government property . In late July 2013 , he was granted a one-year temporary asylum by the Russian government , contributing to a deterioration of Russia-United States relations . On August 6 , 2013 , U.S. President Barack Obama made a public appearance on national television where he told Americans that We do n't have a domestic spying program and that There is no spying on Americans . Towards the end of October 2013 , the British Prime Minister David Cameron warned The Guardian not to publish any more leaks , or it will receive a DA-Notice .
PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency ( NSA ) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies . The program is also known by the SIGAD US-984XN . PRISM collects stored internet communications based on demands made to internet companies such as Google LLC under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to turn over any data that match court-approved search terms . The NSA can use these PRISM requests to target communications that were encrypted when they traveled across the internet backbone , to focus on stored data that telecommunication filtering systems discarded earlier , and to get data that is easier to handle , among other things . PRISM began in 2007 in the wake of the passage of the Protect America Act under the Bush Administration . The program is operated under the supervision of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ( FISA Court , or FISC ) pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ( FISA ) . Its existence was leaked six years later by NSA contractor Edward Snowden , who warned that the extent of mass data collection was far greater than the public knew and included what he characterized as dangerous and criminal activities . The disclosures were published by The Guardian and The Washington Post on June 6 , 2013 . Subsequent documents have demonstrated a financial arrangement between the NSA 's Special Source Operations division ( SSO ) and PRISM partners in the millions of dollars . Documents indicate that PRISM is the number one source of raw intelligence used for NSA analytic reports , and it accounts for 91% of the NSA 's internet traffic acquired under FISA section 702 authority . The leaked information came after the revelation that the FISA Court had been ordering a subsidiary of telecommunications company Verizon Communications to turn over to the NSA logs tracking all of its customers ' telephone calls . U.S. government officials have disputed criticisms of PRISM in the Guardian and Washington Post articles and have defended the program , asserting that it can not be used on domestic targets without a warrant , that it has helped to prevent acts of terrorism , and that it receives independent oversight from the federal government 's executive , judicial and legislative branches .
The Guardian is a British daily newspaper . It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian , and changed its name in 1959 . Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly , The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group , owned by the Scott Trust . The trust was created in 1936 to secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference . The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008 , with a constitution written so as to maintain for The Guardian the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators . Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders . The editor in chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015 . Since 2018 , the paper 's main newsprint sections have been published in tabloid format . As of November that year , its print edition had a daily circulation of 136,834 . The newspaper has an online edition , TheGuardian.com , as well as two international websites , Guardian Australia ( founded in 2013 ) and Guardian US ( founded in 2011 ) . The paper 's readership is generally on the mainstream left of British political opinion , and its reputation as a platform for liberal and left-wing editorial has led to the use of the Guardian reader and Guardianista as often-pejorative epithets for those of left-leaning or politically correct tendencies . Frequent typographical errors during the age of manual typesetting paper led Private Eye magazine to dub the paper the Grauniad in the 1960s , a nickname still used today .
The Washington Post ( sometimes abbreviated to WaPo ) is a major American daily newspaper published in Washington , D.C. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for the District of Columbia , Maryland , and Virginia . The newspaper has won 47 Pulitzer Prizes . This includes six separate Pulitzers awarded in 2008 , second only to The New York Times 's seven awards in 2002 for the highest number ever awarded to a single newspaper in one year . Post journalists have also received 18 Nieman Fellowships and 368 White House News Photographers Association awards . In the early 1970s , in the best-known episode in the newspaper 's history , reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the American press 's investigation into what became known as the Watergate scandal . Their reporting in The Washington Post greatly contributed to the resignation of President Richard Nixon . In years since , the Post 's investigations have led to increased review of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center . In October 2013 , the paper 's longtime controlling family , the Graham family , sold the newspaper to Nash Holdings , a holding company established by Jeff Bezos , for $ 250 million in cash .
Ecobank , whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Inc. ( ETI ) , is a pan-African banking conglomerate , with banking operations in 36 African countries . It is the leading independent regional banking group in West Africa and Central Africa , serving wholesale and retail customers . It also maintains subsidiaries in Eastern and Southern Africa . ETI has representative offices in Angola , China , Dubai , France , South Africa , and the United Kingdom .
The Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) is the main regulatory institution of the Nigerian capital market . It is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Finance . The Nigerian Stock Exchange ( NSE ) is privately owned and self-regulating , but the SEC maintains surveillance over it with the mandate of ensuring orderly and equitable dealings in securities , and protecting the market against insider trading abuses .