The FBI has apparently killed Ibragim Todashev, a man with close ties to one of the Boston Bombing suspects who feared for his own life shortly before he supposedly went crazy and had to be taken down. … Read More
FBI shoot Chechen dead in Florida, suspect questioned in Boston bombings – report
The shooting transpired just after midnight in an apartment complex after a special agent was reportedly attacked after encountering the suspect. The FBI has not released the name of the suspect, though friends identified the man who was shot and killed as Ibragim Todashev, 27.Kushen Taramov, a friend of the suspect, said he and Todashev were interviewed by FBI agents for nearly three hours on Tuesday in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings.“(The FBI) took me and my friend, the suspect that got killed. They were talking to us, both of us, right? And they said they need him for a little more, for a couple more hours, and I left, and they told me they’re going to bring him back. They never brought him back,” WESH Orlando cites Taramov as saying.Taramov said after he concluded the interview, he came back to the apartments to discover that there had been a shooting.The FBI has not confirmed any link between Todashev and the Boston bombings, but Taramov told WKMG Local that the suspect had known Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died from injuries sustained in a shootout with police days after the Boston marathon bombing. … Read More
A $2,400 Fine for an Airbnb Host
A New York man who rented his room in a two-bedroom apartment on Airbnb must pay a $2,400 fine for violating the city’s administrative code, a judge has ruled. … Read More
Wells Fargo sued on claims it wrongfully litigated California man to death
The retired 62-year-old US Navy veteran had been battling Wells Fargo for two years, following a mistake by the bank which held him liable for property taxes actually owed by a neighbor – $13,361 which the bank paid in order to keep that property’s mortgage afloat.Unfortunately for Delassus, described as a quiet man who suffered from a rare and debilitating blood clot disorder known as Budd-Chiari syndrome, the simple typo that caused Wells Fargo to misidentify him for his neighbor seemed to be an error that the fourth-largest bank in the United States simply would not rectify.According to an investigation conducted by LA Weekly, even after admitting that a mis-entered number had dragged Delassus into the ordeal, the bank eventually foreclosed upon and sold his condominium apartment. This was after increasing his mortgage payments from $1,237.69 to $2,429.13 in order to recover the $13,361 in taxes he never owed.Delassus, a retiree living on a limited budget, couldn’t meet the increased mortgage bill, and once he stopped paying became delinquent. Following the foreclosure on his home, he had to move to a small apartment in an assisted-living home.In January 2009 Delassus was first informed that he owed tens of thousands in property taxes. After consulting with Anthony Trujillo, his attorney and next-door neighbor, Trujillo confirmed that he was actually six months ahead on those taxes, paid directly to Los Angeles County. By March 2009 the bank had doubled his mortgage payment, and by December of that year the bank was ready to foreclose.It was not until May 2010 that Trujillo discovered that in the fine print the initial letter sent to Delassus had his property parcel number off by two digits, and that he had been mistaken for a neighbor.In court documents later, LA Weekly reports that Wells Fargo attorney Robert Bailey of Anglin Flewelling Rasmussen Campbell & Trytten LLP admitted the bank’s original error: “Wells Fargo paid the amount it determined was owed to the County Assessor: approximately $10,500. This was a mistake. The $10,500 was the tax amount owed on a neighboring property, not Plaintiff’s.”Despite admitting to that mistake, the bank would not allow Delassus to pay his original mortgage payment, and demanded the past due amount plus fees called “reinstatement.” During a phone conversation recorded by Trujillo, bank representatives were unable to tell Delassus what the total amount due was, and eventually simply hung up.Six days after that phone call attempt, on January 25, 2011, Delassus finally heard back from Wells Fargo, which wanted a total sum of $337,250.40 – and required payment the very next day.Delassus instead decided to sue Wells Fargo with Trujillo’s help for negligence and discrimination against a disabled person. It was during a hearing for that case in December 2012 that he died in court.Following his death, a close friend of Delassus, Debbie Popovich, along with Trujillo, filed a wrongful death claim in April. According to Courthouse News Service, Popovich seeks restitution, costs, civil penalties and punitive damages on behalf of his estate.In a scathing legal complaint filed by the two, Wells Fargo is accused of nothing less than litigating Delassus to death.”At the very end, with his home being sold by the Bank and resold by the purchaser within months for nearly twice what he paid, Larry Delassus, now living in a boarding home, was still fighting for what he and many Americans believe is right by going to court. Wells Fargo, with its virtually unlimited resources, filed a series of procedural motions in its defense, needlessly forcing an ailing Larry to appear in court. Delassus valiantly continued to fight the best he could until his body gave up,” reads the complaint. … Read More
Stockholm man shot dead by police
Police fatally shot a 69-year-old man in an apartment in north Stockholm on Monday evening after responding to calls that a man armed with a machete was menacing the neighbourhood. … Read More
Deadly homophobia: Man ‘killed for being gay’ in Southern Russia
“The motive for the crime was the [victim's] non-traditional sexual orientation,” senior regional investigator Andrey Gapchenko said, adding that two suspected attackers have been arrested and another man is a witness in the case.The naked body of the deceased 23-year-old man was discovered in the courtyard of an apartment building in Volgograd on May 10, the day after Russia celebrated Victory Day, which commemorates the end of World War II.According to one of the suspects, the victim came out as a homosexual to his friends while they were drinking beer on a bench outside. His friends reportedly decided to taunt him by making him walk home naked, and began ripping off his clothes. “When they were done, the men decided not to stop there,” Gapchenko said.The victim’s skull was smashed with a 20-kilogram (44-pound) rock, and the body was apparently raped with beer bottles, local media reported. The suspects also tried and failed to burn his body by putting pieces of carton boxes underneath it and lighting them on fire.After brutally assaulting the victim, the men left, but later returned after realizing that the victim would call the police if he regained consciousness. After returning to the scene, the perpetrator decided to beat the victim to death. One of the suspects picked up a rock and hit the victim with it eight times in the head.Currently, there are two suspects in the case: A 22-year-old man, who went to school with the victim, and his 27-year-old friend, who has a criminal record for theft. The latter man has confessed to the murder, according to investigators. A third person is being treated as a witness in the investigation. If convicted, the perpetrators face up to 15 years in jail.The investigators’ confirmation that homophobia was a motive in the murder is a rare acknowledgement in Russia, as most such cases are investigated as domestic crimes, RIA Novosti reported, citing LGBT activists. Nikolay Alekseyev, a leader in Russia’s LGBT community, said he will be lobbying to tighten accountability for crimes committed on the basis of hatred of sexual orientation, Interfax quoted him as saying.”The brutal incident that occurred in Volgograd, demonstrates the results of the ongoing national homophobic policy, which initiated banning the promotion of homosexuality,” Alekseyev said. “If the policy does not change then every year there will be more of such crimes.” … Read More
Woman’s flat in ruins after mystery bomb blast
What police are calling a bomb was thrown into an apartment in southern Sweden early on Monday morning, leaving parts of the flat “totally destroyed”. … Read More
