Tag: crime
US Judge: Passengers in Fatal Boeing 737 MAX Crashes are ‘Crime Victims’
In December, some crash victims’ relatives said the U.S. Justice Department violated their legal rights when it struck a January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement with the planemaker over two crashes that killed 346 people. The families argued the government “lied and violated their rights through a secret process” and asked U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to rescind Boeing’s immunity from criminal prosecution — which was part of the $2.5 billion agreement — and order the planemaker publicly arraigned on felony charges.
O’Connor ruled on Friday that “in sum, but for Boeing’s criminal conspiracy to defraud the (Federal Aviation Administration), 346 people would not have lost their lives in the crashes.”
Paul Cassell, a lawyer for the families, said the ruling “is a tremendous victory” and “sets the stage for a pivotal hearing, where we will present proposed remedies that will allow criminal prosecution to hold Boeing fully accountable.”
Boeing did not immediately comment.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The Psychological Impact of Consuming True Crime
Meet Gudmundur Kristjansson, CEO at AML & Financial Crime Technology Company: Lucinity
Lucinity is an AML and compliance software platform that uses augmented intelligence to aid financial crime professionals in banks and…
The post Meet Gudmundur Kristjansson, CEO at AML & Financial Crime Technology Company: Lucinity appeared first on TechRound.
I was banned from Airbnb over a ‘minor crime’ committed a DECADE ago – even though I’ve used service for years
A WOMAN has been banned from Airbnb for LIFE after a background check flagged up an offence she committed nearly a decade ago.
Bethany Hallam, 32, was stunned when she received the explosive email just three hours after booking a pad.
Bethany Hallam, 32, was hit with a lifetime ban from Airbnb due to a conviction dating back nine years[/caption]
The rental platform informed her a criminal background check had flagged up her past offence[/caption]
The sports fan had booked her “dream birthday trip” for five nights to catch a few football games in late October.
But on Tuesday she was informed her £1,030 accommodation in Miami, Florida, had been cancelled and refunded.
Bethany, of Pittsburgh, US, had been using the rental service for several years before they suddenly informed her she was banned.
Airbnb notified her they had found a “criminal records match” while performing an “evaluation” of her account.
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The company told Bethany the discovery meant she would be dealt a lifetime ban – despite the offence being nine years ago.
The frustrated 32-year-old was horrified by the harsh ruling in relation to an offence back in 2013.
She was jailed for five months for drug possession after she was caught with suboxone, a medicine to treat dependence on opioids.
But her time behind bars gave Bethany the push to turn her life around – seeing her become a councillor in Allegheny County.
Most read in The Sun
She told CoventryLive: “After I got out of jail I put all the energy I used to put into getting high back into my community.
“I got out of jail, got into recovery and then got into politics.”
So she could hardly believe that Airbnb had dug up her old life and were seemingly punishing her for it nearly a decade on.
Any convictions on her record were from before 2015 – when Airbnb brought in its criminal background check policy in the US.
Bethany continued: “I know my record because I talk about it a lot.
“For them to ban me for that — it was confusing. What are the guidelines for who gets banned?”
But she was even more baffled as she had used the booking site for years without any issues.
‘SHOCK AND FRUSTRATION’
The customer shared a screenshot of the email exchange on social media which later went viral, prompting the platform to contact her.
In a dramatic U-turn, Airbnb then unbanned Bethany, allowing her to use their service again.
But the scorned councillor said: “I don’t really care about me being reinstated, my reaction was more shock and frustration.
“I am more concerned about everyone else who isn’t an elected official, and doesn’t have a social media platform to help them get reinstated.
“So many people are discriminated against because of their past, reversing the ban doesn’t solve the problem, I see it as a PR stunt.
“Airbnb can think that I will just shut up and go away because I was reinstated, but I am going to keep fighting them.”
She claims that a string of disgruntled users have contacted her complaining of similar scenarios in wake of the incident.
Airbnb can think that I will just shut up and go away because I was reinstated, but I am going to keep fighting them.
Bethany Hallam
According to their website, Airbnb conduct background check’s on hosts and guest in both the United States and India.
It states: “We check certain databases of public state and county criminal records as well as state and national sex offender registries.”
They explain removal from their platform depends on the severity of the offence, meaning “lesser crimes like disorderly conduct or marijuana possession” will not impact a customer’s account.
But they warn users convicted of the likes of burglary, larceny, fraud, murder, terrorism or rape may face permanent removal.
It adds: “Other crimes may result in further review, removal, or ineligibility for some time after the offense if it happened within a certain period.”
Airbnb’s Communication Director Ben Breit said the firm uses background checks to ensure the safety of hosts and customers.
He said users may be banned if they have “certain convictions, or have multiple prior convictions,” adding that Bethany’s account was reinstated based on their appeals process.
A spokesman for the company said: “This has been resolved with the guest, and we have fully reinstated their account.
“For the safety of our community, Airbnb runs background checks in the US only and may take action to remove people with certain convictions, or who have multiple prior convictions.
Read More on The Sun
“We do not run background checks in the UK.
“We understand that there may be a number of reasons why someone may have a criminal conviction on their record, so we developed an evidence-based appeals process that takes into account the type of crime and evidence of rehabilitation when considering reinstatement.”
10 Most Haunted Crime & Punishment Locations
‘Susie Searches’ review: True crime podcasts get a darkly funny reckoning
True crime podcasts have swiftly gone from a fringe hobby to a booming business, spurring not only a slew of shows, much merch, and a hit TV comedy series, but also a lot of questions about the ethics of civilians poking their noses into real-life tragedies. Everyone wants to be a hero. But what lengths might one go to get there? This is the winsome yet disturbing journey at the center of Susie Searches.
Kiersey Clemons stars as Susie Wallis, a socially awkward college student with a mind for solving mysteries. Naturally, she has her own true crime podcast called Susie Searches, so when fellow student/meditation influencer Jesse (Alex Wolff) goes missing, her interest in cracking the case isn’t exactly selfless. If she finds the internet-adored victim, she and her podcast could score the validation she desperately craves. Whether she’s squeezing the sheriff (Jim Gaffigan) for clues, eying a convenient creep (Ken Marino) as a suspect, or scouting out evidence, Susie is on a mission to save the day…and promote herself.
Susie Searches feels like an Only Murders in the Building sibling.
Credit: TIFF
Forget the hardscrabble detectives of film noir; Susie has more in common with Oliver Putnam than she does Sam Spade. Rather than a gun and a trench coat, she carries a big smile smacked with colorful braces and a disarming demeanor that tends to make people underestimate her. She seems childish for a college student and ridiculous as an investigator. But! Plot twist: Susie swiftly discovers the missing student. So, just when you think you’ve fallen into the cozy stroll of a comfort crime watch, Susie Searches unearths new clues and tantalizing twists.
Susie is our chipper tour guide through her yarn wall of conspiracy theories, suspects, and kidnapping drama. However, as she grows closer to finding Jesse, she learns not everything — or everyone — is as they seem. Like Only Murders in the Building, this independent comedy is popping with colorful characters brought to life by chaotically charismatic performers.
Clemons, who has earned praise for tough girl turns in Dope and Sweetheart, plays a plucky oddball with aplomb. Wolff, who horrified in Hereditary, proves a terrific foil as the almost annoyingly zen Jesse. David Walton and Jim Gaffigan add a bit of grit as a pair of world-weary officers who find Susie equal parts pesky and peculiar. Ken Marino is smartly cast as an aggressive fast food joint manager who seems like a funhouse mirror version of his Party Down fool. And Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby, Bodies Bodies Bodies) is a sparkling scene-stealer as a snotty mean girl who has no time but plenty of side-eye for our perky protagonist.
Susie Searches cuttingly critiques true crime obsession.
Credit: TIFF
Co-writer/helmer Sophie Kargman makes her feature directorial debut with this charming comedy, which is based on her first short film. In 2020’s “Susie Searches,” she also starred as the brace-faced sleuth. However, in re-imaging the conceit for a feature-length film, she and William Day Frank have smartly pivoted to build a string of reveals that keeps the macabre thrills coming. Admittedly, these jolts can make the movie feel episodic, leading me to wonder if they’d initially conceived of this as a web series or TV show. In the right headspace, this uneven ride can feel like binge-watching an addictive limited series. And, frankly, I value the rough edges when they come with such unexpected fun.
For the first act, Susie Searches runs the risk of feeling dated, presenting an amateur detective in the guileless light of literal kids stuff, like Harriet the Spy or Scooby Doo. At this point, we’ve been so glutted with crime shows that this tact feels tired. However, as Susie solves her mystery, the movie moves into motivations, urging the audience to reconsider their heroine, to re-examine the clues, and to question whether what we want is justice or just a good story.
Kargman and Day weave together a deceptively chipper tone with a cynical thread and an appetite for tension for a finale that is outrageous and rewarding. A bright color palette and a score of playful xylophone music knowingly collides with grim content and an alarming reflection of how social media can function — for better but mostly for worse — when a true crime tale becomes national news.
All of this earnestness and energy is intoxicating, whether coming from the score, the flurry of internet graphics, a penchant for split-screen presentations, or Clemons’s direct-address declarations, which radiate with try-hard podcast voice. Even during its bumpiest bits, Susie Searches is a smartly savage and satisfying ride.
Susie Searches made its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival in the Discovery slate.
Livia Benisty, Banking Circle: AI And The State Of Financial Crime
Livia Benisty, Head of AML at Banking Circle explores… More than $2 billion in global money laundering fines were…
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