Saturday, January 21, 2006

US Military Analyst spied for Israel: 12 years in jail

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Google search - more links below - Israel spying in/on the US? - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8w2xy

Former Military Analyst Gets Prison Term for Passing Information

"An unnamed foreign power that government officials identified as Israel."

By DAVID JOHNSTON - New York Times - January 21, 2006

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 - A federal judge sentenced a former Defense Department analyst to 12 years and seven months in prison on Friday after the analyst admitted passing classified military information about Iran and Iraq to two pro-Israel lobbyists and an Israeli diplomat.

The sentence given to the analyst, Lawrence A. Franklin, by Judge T. S. Ellis III of Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., was at the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines. Judge Ellis said at the hearing that he did not excuse the actions of Mr. Franklin, 59, but that Mr. Franklin had been motivated by a desire to help the United States.

Mr. Franklin's sentence was the government's first victory in an unusual case in which prosecutors have also indicted the lobbyists to whom he gave the information. The charges against Mr. Franklin and the lobbyists were offenses under the Espionage Act.

THE LOBBYISTS, STEVEN J. ROSEN AND KEITH WEISSMAN, WERE SENIOR STAFF MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, A PRO-ISRAEL LOBBYING ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS AIPAC THAT WAS CLOSE TO OFFICIALS IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.

Their prosecution represents a novel case because neither Mr. Rosen nor Mr. Weissman held security clearances that required them to protect classified information. Neither was a government employee nor had any official connection to any foreign government.

They operated in a circle of lobbyists who had traditionally traded gossip, political insights and intelligence with administration officials, Congressional aides and journalists. But prosecutors have suggested that their actions took them beyond the accepted boundaries of information swapping to include the passing on of military secrets whose disclosure could have damaged the United States.

Mr. Franklin pleaded guilty in October to three felony counts in exchange for his cooperation and the government's willingness to drop three other charges. He will not begin his sentence until after legal proceedings against Mr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman are completed.

Plato Cacheris, a lawyer for Mr. Franklin, said, "Mr. Franklin will not have to commence his sentence until after he completes his cooperation, at which time the court will entertain a motion to reduce his sentence."

Mr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman, who are scheduled for trial in April, were charged with conspiring to disclose classified information to journalists and an unnamed foreign power that government officials identified as Israel. The two men have denied any wrongdoing, but Aipac dismissed them last April.

The indictment said the two men had gathered and disclosed classified information about several subjects, including American policy in Iran, terrorism in Central Asia, Al Qaeda and the bombing in 1996 of the Khobar Towers building in Saudi Arabia, which killed 23 Americans.

Lawyers who contend that Mr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman did nothing wrong have sought to have the indictment dismissed, partly on grounds that in meeting with Mr. Franklin they were exercising their First Amendment rights.

As Aipac's director of foreign policy issues, Mr. Rosen was well known in Washington. He was instrumental in helping the organization define its lobbying agenda on the Middle East, and he forged important relationships with powerful conservatives in the Bush administration. Mr. Weissman was a senior Middle East analyst.


[andend] - 2006The New York Times - Url.: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/21/national/21franklin.html?th&emc=th

RELATED:

Video: Israel Is Spying In And On The US? Part 1

These items have since been removed from the FOX News web site:. Carl Cameron Investigates Part 1 - Israel Is Spying In And On The US? Author: Carl Cameron ... Url.: www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7545.htm

Sam Husseini: Israeli Spying on the US: a Long History

[This survey of Israeli spying on the US was compiled in 1997.] ... For detailed analysis of the Israel-US relationship, including covert operations ... Url.: www.counterpunch.org/husseini08302004.html

The Israeli Spy Ring

Let us be clear here. There is nothing benign about Israel spying on the United States. When Jonathan Pollard stole our nuclear secrets (which your taxes ... Url.: www.whatreallyhappened.com/spyring.html

WHATREALLYHAPPENED.COM - Are US and Israel planning War against Iran for late March? ... US official quoted in Carl Cameron's Fox News report on the Israeli spy ring and its ... Url.: www.whatreallyhappened.com/ - 75k - 19 Jan 2006
[More results from www.whatreallyhappened.com ]

The Daily Star - Politics - New spy scandal comes as major blow to Israel, AIPAC Serious implications can lie ahead for US-Israeli ties By Hussein Ibish Daily Star staff ... Url.: www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=7909

* "Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - George Bush Senior speaking in an interview with Sarah McClendon in December 1992. - 'The Demonic Cabal - (excellent article!) Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bvtvd

* One of the best videos made: British MP George Galloway has told US 'senators' - who accused him of profiting from Iraq oil dealings - their claims were the "mother of all smokescreens". - Full testimony in transcript and a video which is a great pleasure to watch, seeing Galloway sweep the floor with neocon rat Coleman - 47 Minutes - Url.: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8868.htm

* 'Crying Wolf' - Media Disinformation and Death Squads in Occupied Iraq - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7ttx8

* Who's financing? - The 'Federal Reserve' and it's usurers is the absolute biggest crime against all humanity ever. - Url.: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm

* NWO letter: ''we can cancel your credit or freeze your accounts'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/cjo7l

* Wayne Madsen - ''The neo-cons have done to the U.S. Intelligence Community what Hurricane Katrina did to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. America has never been weaker. Rather than creating a "New American Century," the neo-cons have created a new global "Dark Age" of fear and constant war.'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bj754

* MSNBC - Live Vote: Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? - Url.: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/

*Read the Fightin' Cock Flyer - Url.: http://fightincockflyer.blogspot.com/

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://tinyurl.com/6v8ru
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/amn3q
The Netherlands
FPF@Chello.nl

-0-

Dutch 'Govt' condemns to radiation death - Moret warns Asia

SPECIAL NOTE TO POLITICIANS AND THEIR MANAGERS IN THE NETHERLANDS & SOME OTHER NEOCON COLONIES BECAUSE THE DUTCH NEOCONS ARE PLANNING TO SEND - NOT THEIR KIDS - BUT ANOTHER 1500 SOLDIERS TO AFGHANISTAN'S KILLING & DEPLETED URANIUM FIELDS. - [http://tinyurl.com/bxpgk]

THERE ARE A 1000 ILLEGALLY THERE ALREADY: AS CANNONFODDER FOR THE AMERICANS - ALL INHUMANELY CONDEMNED TO CERTAIN RADIATION AND/OR DEATH. -[http://www.wise-uranium.org/diss.html]

IN MOST CASES A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH WHICH MAY INCLUDE MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILY, AND INSURANCE WILL NOT COVER.

To: All People concerned about American Wars Worldwide

From: Leuren Moret

Subject: Warning to SE Asian countries about Iran war and monsoon rains depositing radiation in environment

Dear Editor and Staff,

The United states has now caused depleted uranium illnesses in more than 50% of our soldiers who have served on the depleted uranium battlefields in Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. "Depleted Uranium: Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets"

A death sentence here and abroad - Url.:

http://www.sfbayview.com/081804/Depleteduranium081804.shtml

People at the top of the US govt and Military know this: "Terrell E. Arnold, who has been responsible for training our most senior and most promising military officers as chairman of the Department of International Studies at the U.S. National War College in Washington, reports that Coalition dead and wounded may actually be twice what the US government admits and that, including the effects of our use of depleted uranium and other toxic weapons, "a long-term casualty rate for American forces of 40-50 percent appears realistic.""

THE US AND ISRAEL ARE THREATENING NUCLEAR WAR ON IRAN.

The Chinese intelligence have already warned countries that will be contaminated with radiation from monsoon rainout of nuclear materials:


http://www.waynemadsenreport

.com/dec30-jan606.htm Page Down the page for the article on Chinese Intelligence.

"Southeast Asian intelligence sources report that Burma's (Myanmar's) recent abrupt decision to move its capital from Rangoon (Yangon) to remote Pyinmana, 200 miles to the north, is a result of Chinese intelligence warnings to its Burmese allies about the effects of radiation resulting from a U.S. conventional or tactical nuclear attack on Iranian nuclear facilities."

"There is concern that a series of attacks on Iranian nuclear installations will create a Chernobyl-like radioactive cloud that would be caught up in monsoon weather in the Indian Ocean."

"Reports from Yemen indicate that western oil companies are concerned about U.S. intentions in Iran since the southern Arabian country catches the edge of the monsoon rains that could contain radioactive fallout from an attack, endangering their workers in the country."

"Low-lying Rangoon lies in the path of monsoon rains that would continue to carry radioactive fallout from Iran over South and Southeast Asia between May and October."

"Coastal Indian Ocean cities like Rangoon, Dhaka, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, and Colombo would be affected by the radioactive fallout more than higher elevation cities since humidity intensifies the effects of the fallout. Thousands of government workers were given only two days' notice to pack up and leave Rangoon for the higher (and dryer) mountainous Pyinmana."

Moret continues: I have been on SAHAR TV - Teheran Office - warning about this radiation and discussing other issues. Please contact Afsaneh Ostovar, the Producer of the programs if you would like more information. You should do a big story on this coming nightmare from the "Infidels". I have lived in Iran briefly. I love Iran and the people. This cannot be allowed to happen to Iran by the people of the world. It will make the country radioactive forever. Please do what you can to help.

Here is an article I wrote for the World Affairs Journal. Look at the map and see where Iran is in this nuclear war: "Depleted Uranium: The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War"

http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2004/DU-Trojan-Horse1jul04 .htm

Or, TinyUrl.: http://tinyurl.com/7dydm


Here is a Letter to the Editor for you to post everywhere:

BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER ˆ Letter to Editor/Opinion, August 9, 2005

Depleted uranium is WMD by Leuren Moret


http://www.battlecreekenquirer
.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050809/OPINION02/508090332/1014/OPINION

Or, TinyUrl.: http://tinyurl.com/87crs


Thank you,

Leuren Moret

==============================================================

Fwd. in full agreement with Leuren Moret by:

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://forpressfound.blogspot.com/
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/amn3q
The Netherlands
fpf@chello.nl

* "Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - George Bush Senior speaking in an interview with Sarah McClendon in December 1992. - 'The Demonic Cabal - (excellent article!) Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bvtvd

* MSNBC - Live Vote: Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? - Url.: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/

* "Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful." - Henry Kissinger speaking at Evian, France, May 21, 1992 Bilderburgers meeting. Unbeknownst to Kissinger, his speech was taped by a Swiss delegate to the meeting.

* And global warcriminal Henry Kissinger and his ilk succeeded, but nobody apart from 'them' was 'grateful'. On the contrary: own US troops - even with tanks - appeared in the streets of Los Angeles: against anti-war protesters! - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7qh65

* 'American Military Personnel - Know Why You're Being Sacrificed' - by Robert L. Johnson: "When I joined the United States Marines in September of 1973, I swore an oath..." - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/75pl3

* 'The war in Iraq is illegal' - BBC: video & text-interview of the United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5pl2v

* "People do not forget. They do not forget the death of their fellows, they do not forget torture and mutilation, they do not forget injustice, they do not forget oppression, they do not forget the terrorism of mighty powers. They not only don't forget: they also strike back." - 2005 Nobel Literature Prize winner Harold Pinter - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9cyeq

* Reference guide to the Geneva Conventions - Url.: http://www.genevaconventions.org

* The infamous US 'Lie Factory' -  Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8ncal

* Help all the troops - of whatever nationality - to come back from abroad! - AND WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE WERE FORCED TO PAY FOR BY TAXES - [http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm ] - We need them badly at home in many countries to fight with us against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers - Url.: http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/

FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.: http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html

-0-

Dutch 'Govt' condemns to radiation death - Moret warns Asia

SPECIAL NOTE TO POLITICIANS AND THEIR MANAGERS IN THE NETHERLANDS & SOME OTHER NEOCON COLONIES BECAUSE THE DUTCH NEOCONS ARE PLANNING TO SEND - NOT THEIR KIDS - BUT ANOTHER 1500 SOLDIERS TO AFGHANISTAN'S KILLING & DEPLETED URANIUM FIELDS. - [http://tinyurl.com/bxpgk]

THERE ARE A 1000 ILLEGALLY THERE ALREADY: AS CANNONFODDER FOR THE AMERICANS - ALL INHUMANELY CONDEMNED TO CERTAIN RADIATION AND/OR DEATH. -[http://www.wise-uranium.org/diss.html] - IN MOST CASES A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH WHICH MAY INCLUDE MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILY, AND INSURANCE WILL NOT COVER.

To: All People concerned about American Wars Worldwide

From: Leuren Moret
Subject: Warning to SE Asian countries about Iran war and monsoon rains depositing radiation in environment

Dear Editor and Staff,

The United states has now caused depleted uranium illnesses in more than 50% of our soldiers who have served on the depleted uranium battlefields in Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. "Depleted Uranium: Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets"

A death sentence here and abroad - Url.:

http://www.sfbayview.com/081804/Depleteduranium081804.shtml

People at the top of the US govt and Military know this: "Terrell E. Arnold, who has been responsible for training our most senior and most promising military officers as chairman of the Department of International Studies at the U.S. National War College in Washington, reports that Coalition dead and wounded may actually be twice what the US government admits and that, including the effects of our use of depleted uranium and other toxic weapons, "a long-term casualty rate for American forces of 40-50 percent appears realistic.""

THE US AND ISRAEL ARE THREATENING NUCLEAR WAR ON IRAN.

The Chinese intelligence have already warned countries that will be contaminated with radiation from monsoon rainout of nuclear materials:


http://www.waynemadsenreport

.com/dec30-jan606.htm Page Down the page for the article on Chinese Intelligence.

"Southeast Asian intelligence sources report that Burma's (Myanmar's) recent abrupt decision to move its capital from Rangoon (Yangon) to remote Pyinmana, 200 miles to the north, is a result of Chinese intelligence warnings to its Burmese allies about the effects of radiation resulting from a U.S. conventional or tactical nuclear attack on Iranian nuclear facilities."

"There is concern that a series of attacks on Iranian nuclear installations will create a Chernobyl-like radioactive cloud that would be caught up in monsoon weather in the Indian Ocean."

"Reports from Yemen indicate that western oil companies are concerned about U.S. intentions in Iran since the southern Arabian country catches the edge of the monsoon rains that could contain radioactive fallout from an attack, endangering their workers in the country."

"Low-lying Rangoon lies in the path of monsoon rains that would continue to carry radioactive fallout from Iran over South and Southeast Asia between May and October."

"Coastal Indian Ocean cities like Rangoon, Dhaka, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, and Colombo would be affected by the radioactive fallout more than higher elevation cities since humidity intensifies the effects of the fallout. Thousands of government workers were given only two days' notice to pack up and leave Rangoon for the higher (and dryer) mountainous Pyinmana."

Moret continues: I have been on SAHAR TV - Teheran Office - warning about this radiation and discussing other issues. Please contact Afsaneh Ostovar, the Producer of the programs if you would like more information. You should do a big story on this coming nightmare from the "Infidels". I have lived in Iran briefly. I love Iran and the people. This cannot be allowed to happen to Iran by the people of the world. It will make the country radioactive forever. Please do what you can to help.

Here is an article I wrote for the World Affairs Journal. Look at the map and see where Iran is in this nuclear war: "Depleted Uranium: The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War"

http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2004/DU-Trojan-Horse1jul04 .htm

Or, TinyUrl.: http://tinyurl.com/7dydm


Here is a Letter to the Editor for you to post everywhere:

BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER ˆ Letter to Editor/Opinion, August 9, 2005

Depleted uranium is WMD by Leuren Moret


http://www.battlecreekenquirer
.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050809/OPINION02/508090332/1014/OPINION

Or, TinyUrl.: http://tinyurl.com/87crs


Thank you,

Leuren Moret


LeurenMoret@yahoo.com

==============================================================

Fwd. in full agreement with Leuren Moret by:

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://forpressfound.blogspot.com/
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/amn3q
The Netherlands
fpf@chello.nl

* "Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - George Bush Senior speaking in an interview with Sarah McClendon in December 1992. - 'The Demonic Cabal - (excellent article!) Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bvtvd

* MSNBC - Live Vote: Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? - Url.: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/

* "Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful." - Henry Kissinger speaking at Evian, France, May 21, 1992 Bilderburgers meeting. Unbeknownst to Kissinger, his speech was taped by a Swiss delegate to the meeting.

* And global warcriminal Henry Kissinger and his ilk succeeded, but nobody apart from 'them' was 'grateful'. On the contrary: own US troops - even with tanks - appeared in the streets of Los Angeles: against anti-war protesters! - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7qh65

* 'American Military Personnel - Know Why You're Being Sacrificed' - by Robert L. Johnson: "When I joined the United States Marines in September of 1973, I swore an oath..." - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/75pl3

* 'The war in Iraq is illegal' - BBC: video & text-interview of the United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5pl2v

* "People do not forget. They do not forget the death of their fellows, they do not forget torture and mutilation, they do not forget injustice, they do not forget oppression, they do not forget the terrorism of mighty powers. They not only don't forget: they also strike back." - 2005 Nobel Literature Prize winner Harold Pinter - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9cyeq

* Reference guide to the Geneva Conventions - Url.: http://www.genevaconventions.org

* The infamous US 'Lie Factory' -  Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8ncal

* Help all the troops - of whatever nationality - to come back from abroad! - AND WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE WERE FORCED TO PAY FOR BY TAXES - [http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm ] - We need them badly at home in many countries to fight with us against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers - Url.: http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/

FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.: http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html

-0-

No jail? Usurer Arnall new US ambassador to Holland?

FPF+ Fwd. from the Los Angeles Times

NO JAIL? USURER ARNALL NEW US AMBASSADOR TO THE NETHERLANDS?

TODAY: According to the Los Angeles Times Arnall via his loan sharking 'deceived borrowers, falsified loan documents and pressured appraisers to overstate home values.' If any normal human being would dare to commit the same crimes he or she would go to jail for a long tome. Not when you are one of the prime neocons and befriended with the Bush's apparently: "Settling the case also is expected to clear the way for Ameriquest's founder, Los Angeles billionaire Roland E. Arnall, to become the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands." -

The settlement is expected to be disclosed by California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, Iowa Atty. Gen. Tom Miller and others at a Los Angeles news conference next Monday. As written earlier: "The Dutch Foreign Office in The Hague, many of the people who know about this and the 'Corps Diplomatique' do have a problem: the American neocon junta has nominated one of their own - a person who even in the US papers is depicted as a criminal and greedy loan shark - as the neocon's new Ambassador to the Netherlands: billionaire and infamous businessman Roland Arnall." - [http://tinyurl.com/9krd6]

If this Shylock is ever accepted and accredited as a US ambassador by the present US neocon's puppet 'government' of The Netherlands, it will once more confirm the depth of the gutter in which they socialize. This criminal racket must be stopped and jailed as soon as is possible.

THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST AMERIQUEST LED SENATE DEMOCRATS LAST FALL TO HOLD UP A VOTE TO CONFIRM ARNALL AS THE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE NETHERLANDS. - [ ]

AMERIQUEST SETTLES CLAIMS

Accused of misleading borrowers with credit problems, the mortgage company will overhaul its lending practices and pay $325 million.

By E. Scott Reckard - Times Staff Writer

January 21, 2006 - In a deal that could change how millions of credit-strapped Americans get their home loans, Ameriquest Mortgage Co. has finalized a $325-million settlement of allegations that it deceived borrowers, falsified loan documents and pressured appraisers to overstate home values.

A task force of 49 states and the District of Columbia plans to announce Monday that the Orange-based company and two affiliates — all specialists in higher-cost mortgages to borrowers unable to qualify for bank loans — had agreed to overhaul their lending practices.

Industry experts say the deal could in effect force rival lenders in the higher-cost loan market to adopt similar standards to avoid legal challenges from both regulators and consumers. These loans have been the fastest-growing segment of the mortgage market and now account for an estimated 20% of all such lending.

Settling the case also is expected to clear the way for Ameriquest's founder, Los Angeles billionaire Roland E. Arnall, to become the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands.

The settlement is expected to be disclosed by California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, Iowa Atty. Gen. Tom Miller and others at a Los Angeles news conference Monday.

According to people familiar with the agreement, key provisions will include appointment of an independent monitor to ensure compliance, and new rules forcing loan agents to give better disclosure of mortgage terms to customers throughout the approval process.

UNDER THE DEAL, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR REFUNDS.

The agreement would also:

•  Prohibit Ameriquest from offering incentives that might encourage loan officers to unfairly impose higher fees, closing costs or early payoff penalties on customers.

•  Ban "unreasonable" sales quotas for loan officers, and bar regional loan supervisors from setting quotas that exceed those set by corporate headquarters.

•  Centralize property appraisals so that loan officers can't influence appraisers to inflate home values, and require the use of outside agents to close mortgages to ensure borrowers aren't pressured by their loan agent into signing final papers.

•  Ban Ameriquest or its employees from colluding with debt collectors to pressure borrowers into refinancing.

[ 'SETTLEMENT' IS ANOTHER WORD FOR: 'FINE AND REPAYMENT OF WHAT YOU HAVE STOLEN'. WHY DO THE THIEVES NOT GO TO PRISON?]

The settlement would be the second-largest to date involving a mortgage loan company, after a $484-million pact signed by Household International and 50 states in 2002.

"This agreement is good for consumers and good for the company," Ameriquest said in a statement Friday. "We worked closely with the states to address their concerns. These improved business practices will enhance our ability to serve our customers."

The agreement is expected to apply to all states except for Virginia, where Ameriquest does not operate.

The settlement terms are designed to address a variety of improper lending practices detailed in a series of Los Angeles Times articles in the last year.

In those stories, former and current employees said that top-down pressure to boost loan sales created a "boiler room" atmosphere* where workers forged documents, misled borrowers about rates and fees and inflated borrowers' incomes and home values to qualify them for loans they couldn't afford.

The company acknowledged there had been problems but denied they were systematic. They attributed misdeeds to rogue employees disregarding company policies.

THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST AMERIQUEST LED SENATE DEMOCRATS LAST FALL TO HOLD UP A VOTE TO CONFIRM ARNALL AS THE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE NETHERLANDS.

Arnall, a major contributor to President Bush, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other politicians, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at his confirmation hearing that Ameriquest already was making key reforms. Those included steps to centralize appraisals and to use independent agents to close loans, both of which are expected to be part of the settlement.

Arnall, 66, founded Ameriquest in 1979 as Long Beach Savings. His Ameriquest Capital Corp., which includes several loan companies including Ameriquest Mortgage, has mushroomed into the nation's largest lender in the so-called sub-prime market. This is the market for borrowers who have credit problems, can't document their incomes, or want to borrow more money with less collateral than traditional lenders permit.

The draft settlement classifies borrowers in two camps — those who received loans from 1999 through the first quarter of 2003, and those who got loans after that period, when software designed to curb lending abuses was in effect.

The first group — about 235,000 borrowers, according to government mortgage data — would share restitution of $175 million, or more than $700 each on average if all eligible borrowers accepted the settlement. A national administrator would determine how those funds would be allocated.

An additional $120 million would be set aside so that states could devise formulas of their own to refund borrowers or refinance their loans. That group would include borrowers with loans from April 1, 2003, to the present — a larger group, reflecting three years in which Ameriquest rose to become the top sub-prime lender.

Borrowers would get letters informing them of the minimum amount to expect if they agreed to the settlement. To get the money, they would have to waive their right to sue Ameriquest. Borrowers forced into foreclosure proceedings because of alleged abuses would retain their right to sue.

In the case of Household, payments averaged about $1,500 for each eligible borrower who accepted the settlement, said Kathleen Rizzo Young, a spokeswoman for HSBC Group, Household's parent company.

The settlement applies to Ameriquest Mortgage, Town & Country Credit Corp. and AMC Mortgage Services Inc. (formerly known as Bedford Home Loans), all subsidiaries of Ameriquest Capital Corp. The three companies' immediate parent, ACC Capital Holdings Corp., is a party to the agreement as well.

Special correspondent Mike Hudson contributed to this report.

[andend] - Los Angeles Times - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/757bd

FPF - Google HR +Arnall - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7m3xb

RELATED:

LATimes gives all the background and a nasty lot more on this usurer: Workers Say Lender Ran 'Boiler
Rooms' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/c2lbk

'Boiler Room' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9gfpy

Arnall in The Netherlands - As 'Gauleiter'? - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/e3278

Devil's Island - Wikipedia - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/cdqvg

Picture - The Arnalls with one of the biggest crooks in the US Congress mr. Lieberman - Url.:
http://tinyurl.com/d2667


* "Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - George Bush Senior speaking in an interview with Sarah McClendon in December 1992. - 'The Demonic Cabal - (excellent article!) Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bvtvd

* Amnesty International reports on the inhuman American 'Gulag' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/caut7

* MSNBC - Live Vote: Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? - Url.: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/

"People do not forget. They do not forget the death of their fellows, they do not forget torture and mutilation, they do not forget injustice, they do not forget oppression, they do not forget the terrorism of mighty powers. They not only don't forget: they also strike back." - 2005 Nobel Literature Prize winner Harold Pinter - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9cyeq

* One of the best videos made: British MP George Galloway has told US senators who accused him of profiting from Iraq oil dealings their claims were the "mother of all smokescreens". - Full testimony in transcript and a video which is a great pleasure to watch, seeing Galloway sweep the floor with neocon rat Coleman - 47 Minutes - Url.: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8868.htm

* The Nuremberg principles: "Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefor and liable to punishment." - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/byurp

* 'The war in Iraq is illegal' - BBC: video & text-interview of the United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5pl2v

* Reference guide to the Geneva Conventions - Url.: http://www.genevaconventions.org

* The leaked 'Downing Street Memos' expose the criminal lies by war criminals like Bush, Blair, Berlusconi (It.) Balkenende (NL) - their collaborating media and other malignant ilk - Url.:  http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/

* Wayne Madsen - ''The neo-cons have done to the U.S. Intelligence Community what Hurricane Katrina did to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. America has never been weaker. Rather than creating a "New American Century," the neo-cons have created a new global "Dark Age" of fear and constant war.'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bj754

* Who's financing? - The 'Federal Reserve' and it's usurers is the absolute biggest crime against all humanity ever. - Url.: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm

* NWO letter: ''we can cancel your credit or freeze your accounts'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/cjo7l

*Read the Fightin' Cock Flyer - Url.: http://fightincockflyer.blogspot.com/

* The infamous US 'Lie Factory' -  Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8ncal

* Help all the troops - of whatever nationality - to come back from abroad! - AND WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE WERE FORCED TO PAY FOR BY TAXES - [http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm ] - We need them badly at home in many countries to fight with us against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers - Url.: http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/

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