FBI claims corrupt LA cops helped crypto CEO's cash grab

Adam Iza, the founder of cryptocurrency trading platform Zort, has been charged with tax evasion and conspiracy in a bizarre tale of corrupt cops and Facebook employees, stolen digicash, and an alleged $30 million scam. According to court documents [PDF], Iza – aka Ahmed Faiq, aka "The Godfather" – is accused of paying off …

[Anonymous Coward]

Dubai

Crime, vulgarity, flashy cars, of course he fled to Dubai. The place that turned not extraditing fugitives into a business model.

[Pascal Monett]

Los Angeles

A hive of scum and villany, apparently.

Corrupt cops are the worst. They swore to defend and protect. I hope the FBI nails them to the wall.

Literally.

[KittenHuffer]

Re: Los Angeles

I think they thought they were all just extras in Hollywood films. Where the directors wanted gritty realism, and used hidden cameras! And that the money they received was just their wages!

[Sam not the Viking]

Re: Los Angeles

I suspect your 'Joke' icon is misdirected.

The 'actors' involved only have to do what they're told and receive payment. "And don't tell anyone; you'll spoil the denouement."

Someone should make a film about it.

[spacecadet66]

Re: Los Angeles

They did. "Training Day" (2001), starring Ethan Hawke as the idealistic fresh-faced rookie LAPD cop, and Denzel Washington as the veteran who corrupts him. Of course, that movie came out 23 years ago, so no doubt the LAPD has cleaned house since then. /s

[rcxb]

Re: Los Angeles

Los Angeles, quite famously, has a police department ("LAPD"), NOT a sheriff (LASD).

Article repeatedly says "LASD" which means Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The City of Los Angeles is just one small corner of Los Angeles County, and one of just 88 incorporated cities, according to Wikipedia.

"The LASD provides municipal police services to the unincorporated communities and 42 of the 88 cities within Los Angeles County"

There's some grey area of course... Outsiders might be happy to call West Hollywood "L.A.", but NOBODY would call Lancaster "L.A." despite being in the county (over the mountains, out in the desert).

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Los Angeles

Thanks for explaining that! As a right-pondian it had me puzzled as to why L.A. had two separate law enforcement departments. The article totally failed to differentiate between city and county, making a wild assumption that readers not in L.A. would understand the local differences.

[spacecadet66]

Re: Los Angeles

I have said for a long time that, if a cop is convicted of a crime, they should be sentenced more harshly than a non-cop who committed the same crime. If the crime had any hint of abuse of their official authority, lose the keys.

It's never going to happen, though.

[Tom66]

Huh. Crypto used by criminals and bad guys to hide income and launder money.

Who would've seen that coming.

[Anonymous Coward]

BTC price already seem to correlate with boom/bust cycles of cyber crime.

[Alan Brown]

Which is ironic given that blockchain means every step along the way is documented

[Tom66]

But not really given you can just put it through a tumbler (like Tornado Cash, others are available) and it's effectively untraceable.

[MiguelC]

Re: effectively untraceable

several convicts also thought so

[Anonymous Coward]

Corrupt cops in LA? No shit, Sherlock!

[abend0c4]

...and leg extensions?

They're increasingly popular in the US, partly due to the established correlation between height and earning potential.

However, it must be one of the few cases of an alleged ne'er-do-well handing over wads of cash to ensure his legs do get broken.

[dbayly]

Felled by Gyazo?

The gyazo I have access to doesn't seem to stream which the article seemed to imply was happening. SHades of Micorsoft Recall...

[Martin Gregorie]

Amazing

So Real Life (TM) finally rips off a Raymond Chandler or Micket Spillane novel.

Thats something I really never expected to read about in real life.

When is the film or TV series due for release, who is starring in it, and are the perps getting a cut when it screens?

[Anonymous Coward]

Shell companies and tax havens

These tiny countries seem more powerful than the US and the rest together. What's their secret?

[Jellied Eel]

Re: Shell companies and tax havens

These tiny countries seem more powerful than the US and the rest together. What's their secret?

Off-shore banking and banking secrecy, non-extradition and the ability to part fools from their money.

[IGotOut]

Re: Shell companies and tax havens

Because those that run the US are the same ones that hide their money in these places.

Panama papers anyone?

[Brian 3]

And we also noticed how the sheriffs were laid off, not arrested or charged. Just Business As Usual down at the Cop Shop.

[DS999]

Of course not, cops are immune to prosecution unless they murder someone and makes national news, and even then they often get off.

They'll simply be quietly hired somewhere else, and the people they "serve" will have no idea that common criminals who should be in prison for a decade are wearing a badge in their town/county. I wouldn't be shocked if one of them continues doing the same activities in his new home, once he connects with the local criminal element and makes sure they know they can get off scot free if they grease his palm.