The Secret Service scandal involving prostitutes in Colombia appears to be moving in a logical direction.

Two Secret Service agents have resigned and a third is retiring, Bloomberg news reported. The men were reportedly part of the advance team for the president.

News agencies have reported that the Secret Service wants to give polygraph exams to those involved.

By WILLIAM NEUMAN

CARTAGENA, Colombia — A Secret Service agent preparing for President Obama’s arrival at an international summit meeting and a single mother from Colombia who makes a living as a high-priced escort faced off in a room at the Hotel Caribe a week ago over how much he owed her for the previous night’s intercourse. “I tell him, ‘Baby, my cash money,’ ” the woman said in her first public comments on a spat that would soon spiral into a full-blown scandal.

The dispute — he offered $30 for services she thought they had agreed were worth 25 times that — triggered a tense early morning struggle in the hallway of the posh hotel involving the woman, another prostitute, Colombian police officers arguing on the women’s behalf and American federal agents who tried but failed to keep the matter — which has shaken the reputation of the Secret Service — from escalating.

Sitting on a couch in her living room wearing a short jean skirt, high-heeled espadrilles and a tight spandex top with a plunging neckline, the woman described how she and a girlfriend were approached by a group of American men at a discotheque. To read full story click here.

photo courtesy FBI

Sticky-fingered John Patrick Weismiller will be breaking his habit with a year in prison.

The Oregonian was sentenced last month for making a career out of petty shoplifting, after his prolific thievery caught the eye of the FBI.

According to an FBI press release yesterday, 41-year- old Weismiller was caught on tape stuffing his pockets over 100 times at Safeway alone in 2011. Targeting big chain box stores, he earned $43k reselling the merchandise online, and cost stores $73k in losses.

The FBI reports that industry experts estimate retail criminals, including ‘boosters’ like Weismiller, cost the U.S. about $30 billion a year. The result is higher prices for American consumers and less sales tax revenue for state and local governments.

“This guy was incredibly brazen,” FBI Special Agent Joe Boyer in Portland said in a statement Tuesday. “This was his full-time job. He lived in a nice house in the suburbs with his wife and kids. If you lived next door, you would have no idea he was a thief.”

To read more click here.

 

Ex-FBI agent Thomas F. Minton III  will head up the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, the governor’s office announced.

Minton, 52, served most of his 22 years with the FBI investigating national security matters with a focus on terrorism, according to a press release. Minton was involved in key investigations such as  the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, the bombing of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the 9/11 attacks on America.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Tom Minton’s caliber, character and expertise to direct our Office of Homeland Security,” Governor Tom Corbett said. “The addition of Tom to our team of leaders in public safety will ensure the security of Pennsylvanians for years to come.”

Shoshanna Utchenik

Ex-FBI agent Harvey C. Flemister 85, a 27-year veteran of the  bureau, died of congestive heart failure March 18 at his home in Silver Springs, Md.

The Washington Post reports Flemister retired in 1977 as chief of the FBI intelligence division’s liaison section. Having started his career as a special agent in field offices in Pittsburgh and Detroit, he worked at FBI headquarters in Washington from 1957 until retirement.

He then continued to serve as treasurer and chairman of the D.C. chapter of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, as well as remaining active in St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Silver Spring.

He leaves behind a wife, four children, four step children and ten grandchildren.

To read more click here.

ice video photo

 It’s all fun and games til your toy purchases may be supporting international drug cartels.

An 18-month investigation of L.A.company, Woody’s Toys Inc., by Homeland Security’s ICE and the DEA’s Southern California Drug Task Force yielded video of employees receiving bricks of cash in fast food chain parking lots, among other incriminating evidence.

Homeland Security’s press release states the co-owners and three employees of Woody’s Toys have been indicted  on charges of  orchestrating an elaborate financial scheme to launder millions of dollars for drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and Colombia.

Two Mexico-based toy dealers are charged as well.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, legitimate teddy bear buyers don’t close the sale with stacks of cash in restaurant parking lots,” said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles in a statement. “The reality is, unscrupulous companies that conspire to help the cartels cover their financial tracks are contributing in no small way to the devastation wrought by the international drug trade.”

To read more click here.

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST

• Holder Appearance Sign of Sharpton’s Growing Clout? (CNN)
• Dixon Illinois Comptroller Arrested–Charged with Misappropriating $30Million (WIFR)
• FBI Counterterror Hiring Program Works, but Needs Study (Gov Security News)
• Russian Charged in NJ in $1 Mil Trading Account Hack, Securities Fraud Scheme (FBI)
• Baltimore Cop Sentenced to 30 Months Jail in Majestic Towing Extortion Scheme (FBI)
• Cop Shoots Himself at Police Dept. (AP)

U.S. law enforcement officials continue to trek to Israel to learn a thing or two about dealing with terrorism and homeland security.

The latest group included Assistant D.C. police chief Diane Groomes and U.S. Park Police Deputy Chief Robert MacLean of the U.S. Park Police, the Associated Press reported.

The week-long trip, completed last month, was sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League as part of of an ongoing program to show American authorities how Israel deals with the ongoing threats.

AP reported that D.C. cop Groomes was impressed show the Israeli national police force responds to a disaster and how accepting Israelis are of the security precautions taken in that country.

“I was just struck by how they can handle a scene, process and clear it and plant within it” in hours, Groomes told AP. “If we had a bomb on a bus, it would take us maybe a day or to handle. They said they just want life to go back to normal as soon as possible.”

FBI's Shawn Henry/ file photo fbi

Shawn Henry, the FBI’s top cyber cop up until his recent retirement, is putting his FBI skill to use in the private sector.

The Wall Street Journal’s Devlin Barrett reports that ex-FBI official Shawn Henry is joining an Irvine, Calif. upstart computer security firm called CrowdStrike Inc.

The Journal reports that Henry will lead a unit “that will provide vulnerability assessments and instant response for hacking incidents.”