WASHINGTON: The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday against three Iranian operatives suspected of hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and disseminating stolen information to media organizations.
The three accused hackers were employed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and their operation also targeted a broad swath of targets, including government officials, members of the media and non-governmental organizations, the Justice Department said.
The Trump campaign disclosed on Aug. 10 that it had been hacked and said Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents. Multiple major news organizations that said they were leaked confidential information from inside the Trump campaign, including Politico, The New York Times and The Washington Post, declined to publish it.
US intelligence officials subsequently linked Iran to a hack of the Trump campaign and to an attempted breach of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign. They said the hack-and-dump operation was meant to sow discord, exploit divisions within American society and potentially influence the outcome of elections that Iran perceives to be “particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests.”
Last week, officials also revealed that the Iranians in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails containing excerpts of the hacked information to people associated with the Biden campaign. None of the recipients replied. The Harris campaign said the emails resembled spam or a phishing attempt and condemned the outreach to the Iranians as “unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity.”
The indictment comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel escalate attacks against each other, raising concerns about the prospect of an all-out war, and as US officials say they continue to track physical threats by Iran against a number of officials including Trump.
Iranian operatives charged in the US with hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign
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Iranian operatives charged in the US with hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign
- Three accused hackers were employed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Justice Department said
- Trump campaign said on Aug. 10 it had been hacked, Iranian actors stole sensitive internal documents
French pay tribute to student murdered in Paris
- The killing of 19-year-old student has led to fresh demands to crack down on illegal immigration
VERSAILLES, France: Nearly 3,000 people on Friday attended the funeral of a Paris student who was raped and murdered in a case that has inflamed a French debate on migration after a Moroccan was named as the suspected attacker.
The killing of the 19-year-old, named only as Philippine, whose body was found half-buried in a park in western Paris, has led to fresh demands to crack down on illegal immigration.
A 22-year-old Moroccan arrested in Geneva has been named as the suspected attacker.
Mourners packed Saint-Louis Cathedral in Versailles outside Paris for the funeral, with many waiting outside as the student’s wooden coffin was carried in.
“I thought it was important to come here to reflect and pay my respects,” said one 15-year-old girl, clutching a bouquet of white and purple flowers.
FASTFACT
A 22-year-old Moroccan arrested in Geneva has been named as the suspected attacker.
The girl’s mother, Anouck B., said many people were affected by the tragedy. “It was important to come and support the whole family,” she said.
The Moroccan suspect is expected to be extradited to France. French authorities say he had been previously convicted of rape and been the subject of an expulsion order.
On Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron, speaking on a visit to Montreal, called Philippine’s murder “a heinous and atrocious crime” and added that “we need to protect the public better.”
The conservative interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, has vowed to change immigration rules after the murder.
The student’s body was found in the Bois de Boulogne Park, not far from Paris-Dauphine University in the affluent 16th district.
According to prosecutors, the suspect was convicted in 2021 of a rape committed in 2019 when he was a minor.
He was released in June, served his sentence, and placed in an administrative detention center.
In early September, a judge freed him on condition he reported regularly to the authorities.
Since the murder, conservative and far-right politicians have urged harsh measures, saying deportation orders are not enforced properly.
“How many tragedies will France endure before our leaders react?” Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally, said on the X social media platform.
However, some rights groups and left-wingers said the focus should not be on immigration but rather “feminicide.”
“Misogyny kills. Let’s not have the wrong debate,” said the women’s rights group CIDFF.
US charges British man over ‘hack-to-trade’ scheme
- The US Department of Justice will seek the extradition of Robert Westbrook, 39, of London, to face securities fraud, wire fraud and five computer fraud charges
- Westbrook was arrested this week in the United Kingdom, and also faces related US Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges
WASHINGTON: A British man has been arrested and charged by US authorities with hacking into the computers of five companies to obtain details about their expected earnings and making $3.75 million of illegal profit by trading before results were released.
The US Department of Justice will seek the extradition of Robert Westbrook, 39, of London, to face securities fraud, wire fraud and five computer fraud charges contained in a criminal indictment made public on Friday.
Westbrook was arrested this week in the United Kingdom, and also faces related US Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges. His lawyer could not immediately be identified.
The companies were not identified by name in court papers filed in federal court in Newark, New Jersey.
Financial and stock price details in the SEC complaint suggest the companies are food container maker Tupperware, general contractor Tutor Perini, software provider Guidewire Software, gas station operator Murphy USA and telecommunications equipment maker Lumentum Holdings.
Authorities said Westbrook’s “hack-to-trade” scheme involved gaining access to executives’ email accounts between January 2019 and May 2020, and using material nonpublic information to buy stocks and options prior to at least 14 earnings announcements.
On several occasions, Westbrook allegedly implemented rules to have content from executives’ email accounts automatically forwarded to his own accounts.
Jorge Tenreiro, acting chief of the SEC’s crypto assets and cyber unit, called Westbrook’s activity a “sophisticated international hacking,” including the use of anonymous email accounts, VPN services, and bitcoin to conceal wrongdoing.
None of the five companies was accused of wrongdoing.
The securities fraud and wire fraud counts each carry a maximum 20-year prison term, while each computer fraud count carries a maximum five-year term.
Iranian operatives charged in the US with hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign
- US intelligence officials subsequently linked Iran to a hack of the Trump campaign and to an attempted breach of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign
- The indictment comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran
WASHINGTON: The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday against three Iranian operatives suspected of hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and disseminating stolen information to media organizations.
The three accused hackers were employed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and their operation also targeted a broad swath of targets, including government officials, members of the media and non-governmental organizations, the Justice Department said.
The Trump campaign disclosed on Aug. 10 that it had been hacked and said Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents. Multiple major news organizations that said they were leaked confidential information from inside the Trump campaign, including Politico, The New York Times and The Washington Post, declined to publish it.
US intelligence officials subsequently linked Iran to a hack of the Trump campaign and to an attempted breach of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign. They said the hack-and-dump operation was meant to sow discord, exploit divisions within American society and potentially influence the outcome of elections that Iran perceives to be “particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests.”
Last week, officials also revealed that the Iranians in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails containing excerpts of the hacked information to people associated with the Biden campaign. None of the recipients replied. The Harris campaign said the emails resembled spam or a phishing attempt and condemned the outreach to the Iranians as “unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity.”
The indictment comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel escalate attacks against each other, raising concerns about the prospect of an all-out war, and as US officials say they continue to track physical threats by Iran against a number of officials including Trump.
Afghan embassy in UK shutters after Taliban cuts ties
- Afghan embassy’s consular section in London closed on September 20, according to its website
- UK does not recognize Taliban government, does not have formal diplomatic relations with the country
LONDON: Afghanistan’s embassy in London closed on Friday after Taliban authorities cut ties with diplomatic missions set up by the previous government in Kabul and fired its UK staff.
An AFP reporter saw a notice hung on the gate to the consular section reading: “The embassy of the Republic of Afghanistan is closed.”
No one answered the door but the country’s flag was still flying.
Afghan ambassador to the UK Zalmai Rassoul announced on social media earlier this month that the embassy would close “at the official request of the host country” on September 27.
The UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) denied that it was behind the closure.
“This decision was not made by the UK government,” a spokesperson said. “The State of Afghanistan decided to close the Afghan Embassy in London and dismiss its staff.
“We continue to support the people of Afghanistan and provide humanitarian assistance to those most in need.”
The FCDO has not indicated whether a new Afghan ambassador would be accredited in London.
The UK does not recognize the Taliban government as legitimate and does not have formal diplomatic relations with the country.
But in line with the United States and the European Union, London acknowledges that there is “no alternative to engaging pragmatically with the current administration of Afghanistan.”
The UK mission to Afghanistan is currently based in Doha.
The Afghan embassy’s consular section in London closed on September 20, according to its website.
On Friday, Rassoul reposted an X post in which the German ambassador to the UK said it was a “pleasure” to work with his Afghan counterpart over the years and condemned the “appalling situation for women and girls under the Taliban.”
Over the past three years, the Taliban has imposed an austere interpretation of Islam and progressively driven women out of public spaces.
Despite the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, embassies continued to operate with diplomatic staff loyal to the previous foreign-backed government.
At the end of July, the Taliban foreign affairs ministry said it “bears no responsibility” for credentials including passports and visas issued by missions out of step with Kabul’s new rulers.
These include Afghan embassies in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Canada and Australia.
The Taliban government has said Afghans living abroad should deal instead with missions affiliated with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — its self-styled name for the country since taking over.
The authorities have not been officially recognized by any country, but Pakistan, China and Russia are hosting Afghan embassies working on order from the Taliban government.
Diplomats at the UK embassy have reportedly been advised to leave the UK or apply for political asylum, according to the BBC.
Model Naomi Campbell barred from being charity trustee in England and Wales
- Campbell, 54, said she was “extremely concerned” by the findings of the regulator
LONDON: British supermodel Naomi Campbell has been barred from being a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years after the poverty charity she founded nearly two decades ago was deemed Thursday to have been “poorly governed” with “inadequate financial management.”
Following a three-year investigation into the financial activities of “Fashion for Relief,” the Charity Commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, said it had found “multiple instances of misconduct and/or mismanagement,” and that only 8.5% of the charity’s overall expenditure went on charitable grants in a six-year period from 2016.
For example, it said that thousands of pounds worth of charity funds were used to pay for a luxury hotel stay in Cannes, France, for Campbell as well as spa treatments, room service and even cigarettes. The regulator sought explanations from the trustees but said no evidence was provided to back up their explanation that hotel costs were typically covered by a donor to the charity, therefore not costing the charity, said the Associated Press.
Campbell, 54, said she was “extremely concerned” by the findings of the regulator and that an investigation on her part was underway.
“I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a legal employer,” she said in response to a question from the AP after being named a knight in France’s Order of Arts and Letters at the country's culture ministry for her contribution to French culture. "We are investigating to find out what and how, and everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes to charity.”
The commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, also found that fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich received around 290,000 pounds ($385,000) of unauthorized funds for consultancy services, which was in breach of the charity's constitution. She has been disqualified as a trustee for nine years. The other trustee, Veronica Chou, was barred for four years.
“Trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities,” said Tim Hopkins, deputy director for specialist investigations and standards. “Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them.”
The charity, which was founded in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year. On its website, which is still active, the charity said that it presented fashion initiatives and projects in New York, London, Cannes, Moscow, Mumbai and Dar es Salaam, raising more than $15 million for good causes around the world.
The charity had been set up with the aim of uniting the fashion industry to relieve poverty and advance health and education, by making grants to other organizations and giving resources towards global disasters.
The commission said that around 344,000 pounds ($460,000) has been recovered and that a further 98,000 pounds of charitable funds have been protected. These funds were used to make donations to two other charities and settle outstanding liabilities.
“I am pleased that the inquiry has seen donations made to other charities which this charity has previously supported,” said the regulator's Hopkins.
* This article originally appeared on Asharq Al-Awsat, click here to read it.
