Journalists play the fool in the ‘economic reform’ theatre of the absurd
Journos seemingly can't remember that a couple of years ago they paraded the business lobby's same economic reform lies.
6th Circuit Holds Excessive Restitution Cannot Be Reduced thus Denying IRS Authority to Reduce Excessive Restitution-Based Assessment
United States v. Asker (6th Cir. No. 21-1643 5/11/23) (Nonpublished) (CA6 here and GS here), the court held that where the restitution for tax loss ordered by the sentencing court for tax crimes was allegedly higher than the actual tax due, the district court had no authority to reduce the amount. At sentencing, there was confusion among the players as to the actual tax loss for restitution purposes.* In trying to determine the amount in the confusion, the court has this Q&A with counsel:
During sentencing, however, the court asked what would happen if it were later determined he owed less than $2.5 million in taxes:
Court: You don’t anticipate that what is owed will be more than 2.5?
Government: It is hard to say at this point. It is going to depend—
Court: What if it is? Do you anticipate that 2.5 precludes your client from paying back the rest?
Asker’s Counsel: I wouldn’t think that if it comes out—I would not think that this Court’s restitution award would be conclusive on the IRS. In fact, if there was some civil basis to seek additional penalties or interests, the IRS could do that.
I suppose if it turns out the number is less, we may probably come back and apply to the Court for some relief from the restitution amount.
Government: That is correct, Your Honor.
Court: I just—my concern is that if it turns out to be more, I think that is owed.
Asker’s Counsel: Yes, Ma’am. We don’t disagree with that.
Court: Okay.
The sentencing court assessed $2.5 million in restitution.
Swedish criminal gangs using fake Spotify streams to launder money. (Given Spotify's tiny payouts, this actually seems like a very slow way to launder money...)
BBC under fire after linking ‘fanatic Jews’ of history to 9/11 terror
Contextualizing Deepfake Threats to Organizations
Joint CSI – Contextualizing Deepfake Threats to Organizations – Executive summary. “Threats from synthetic media, such as deepfakes, present a growing challenge for all users of modern technology and communications, including National Security Systems (NSS), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), and national critical infrastructure owners and operators.
As with many technologies, synthetic media techniques can be used for both positive and malicious purposes. While there are limited indications of significant use of synthetic media techniques by malicious state-sponsored actors, the increasing availability and efficiency of synthetic media techniques available to less capable malicious cyber actors indicate these types of techniques will likely increase in frequency and sophistication. Synthetic media threats broadly exist across technologies associated with the use of text, video, audio, and images which are used for a variety of purposes online and in conjunction with communications of all types.
Deepfakes are a particularly concerning type of synthetic media that utilizes artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) to create believable and highly realistic media. The most substantial threats from the abuse of synthetic media include techniques that threaten an organization’s brand, impersonate leaders and financial officers, and use fraudulent communications to enable access to an organization’s networks, communications, and sensitive information..”
