High-tech crimes

Financial and high-tech crimes – currency counterfeiting, money laundering, intellectual property crime, payment card fraud, computer virus attacks and cyber-terrorism, for example – can affect all levels of society.

Currency counterfeiting and money laundering have the potential to destabilise national economies and threaten global security, as these activities are sometimes used by terrorists and other dangerous criminals to finance their activities or conceal their profits.

Intellectual property crime is a serious financial concern for car manufacturers, luxury goods makers, media firms and drug companies. Most alarmingly, counterfeiting endangers public health, especially in developing countries, where the World Health Organization estimates more than 60 per cent of pharmaceuticals are fake.

‘Spam’ is becoming more than just a nuisance for Internet users, as criminals are using it in increasingly sophisticated ways to defraud consumers, cripple computer systems and release viruses. In 2000, the so-called ‘Love Bug’ virus, which affected millions of computers around the world within hours, exposed the vulnerability of corporate and government networks to such attacks.

New technologies open up many possibilities for criminals to carry out traditional financial crimes in new ways. One notable example is ‘phishing’, whereby a criminal attempts to acquire through e-mail or instant messaging sensitive information such as passwords or credit card details by pretending to be a legitimate business representative. With this information, the criminal can commit fraud and even money laundering.

INTERPOL has stepped up its efforts in this area, working with stakeholders such as pharmaceutical makers, Internet service providers, software companies, central banks and other relevant bodies to devise solutions to thwart criminals and protect consumers.

INTERPOL’s chief initiatives in the area of financial and high-tech crime focus on:

• Payment cards
• Money laundering
• Intellectual property crime
• Currency counterfeiting
• New technologies
• Financial fraud

Fraud

Financial industry sources estimate that losses associated with credit card fraud are in the billions of dollars annually. The Secret Service is the primary federal agency tasked with investigating access device fraud and its related activities under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029. Although it is commonly called the credit card statute, this law also applies to other crimes involving access device numbers including debit cards, automated teller machine (ATM) cards, computer passwords, personal identification numbers (PINs) used to activate ATMs, credit card or debit card account numbers, long-distance access codes, and the computer chips in cellular phones that assign billing. During fiscal year 1996, the Secret Service opened 2,467 cases, closed 2,963 cases, and arrested 2,429 individuals for access device fraud. Industry sources estimate that losses associated with credit card fraud are in the billions of dollars annually.

What to do if you have been the victim of credit card fraud or identity theft:

1. If your complaint is essentially a non-criminal dispute with a retailer or other business, you must immediately dispute the charge(s) in writing with the customer relations office of your credit card company.
   
   
2. If you have been the victim of credit card fraud or identity theft, the following tips will assist you:
   
   
   • Report the crime to the police immediately. Get a copy of your police report or case number. Credit card companies, your bank, and the insurance company may ask you to reference the report to verify the crime.
     
     
   • Immediately contact your credit card issuers. Get replacement cards with new account numbers and ask that the old account be processed as "account closed at consumer’s request" for credit record purposes. You should also follow up this telephone conversation with a letter to the credit card company that summarizes your request in writing.
     
     
   • Call the fraud units of the three credit reporting bureaus. Report the theft of your credit cards and/or numbers. Ask that your accounts be flagged. Also, add a victim’s statement to your report that requests that they contact you to verify future credit applications. The following is a list of addresses and numbers to the three credit bureaus:

Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal

The Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal was established in 1946 by the government of Chiang Kai-Shek to judge four Japanese Imperial Army officers accused of crimes committed during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was one of thirteen tribunals established by the Nationalist government.

The accused were Lieutenant General Hisao Tani, company commander Captain Gunkichi Tanaka and Second Lieutenants Toshiaki Mukai and Tsuyoshi Noda, made famous by the contest to kill 100 people using a sword.

General Yasuji Okamura was convicted of war crimes in July 1948 by the Tribunal, but was immediately protected by the personal order of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek^[1], who retained him as a military adviser for the Kuomintang (KMT). ^[2]

While he was questioned by the investigators, he however testified about the Nanking massacre :

"I surmised the following based on what I heard from Staff Officer Miyazaki, CCAA Special Service Department Chief Harada and Hangzhou Special Service Department Chief Hagiwara a day or two after I arrived in Shanghai. First, it is true that tens of thousands of acts of violence, such as looting and rape, took place against civilians during the assault on Nanking. Second, front-line troops indulged in the evil practice of executing POWs on the pretext of (lacking) rations."

^[3]

As Iwane Matsui had been judged by the Tokyo tribunal; Prince Kotohito Kan'in, Kesago Nakajima and Heisuke Yanagawa had been dead since 1945; Isamu Cho had committed suicide and Prince Asaka had been granted immunity by General Douglas MacArthur as member of the imperial family, Hisao Tani was the only officer prosecuted for the Nanking massacre. He was found guilty on 6 February 1947 and executed on 10 March by a firing squad. All the accused were sentenced to death in 1947.

According to the verdict of the Tribunal for Tani, on 10 March 1947, there were more than 190,000 civilians and Chinese soldiers killed by machine gun whose corpses were burned to destroy proof. Besides, we count more than 150,000 victims of barbarous acts buried by the charity organisms. We thus have a total of more than 300,000 victims.» ^[4] This estimate was made from burial records and eyewitness accounts.

The death toll of 300,000 is the official estimate engraved on the stone wall at the entrance of the Memorial Hall for Compatriot Victims of the Japanese Military's Nanjing Massacre in Nanjing.

Elizabeth Smart abduction case

For two weeks, psychiatrists, law-enforcement officers, relatives and others will give their opinions and impressions of Brian David Mitchell, the street preacher accused of the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart.

The testimony, which starts Monday, will help U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball decide whether Mitchell is competent, and therefore able to understand the charges against him and assist his lawyers in his defense.

The decision could send the alleged kidnapper back to Utah State Hospital or move the case closer to a trial. The ruling is not expected immediately. Mitchell, 56, is being held in a Salt Lake County jail.

Mitchell was first charged in the state's 3rd District Court, where mental-health experts who testified at a competency hearing were divided over his fitness to stand trial. Judge Judith Atherton ruled in 2005 that he was not competent and sent him to Utah State Hospital for treatment.

Atherton ruled in later hearings that Mitchell was still incompetent and that he could not be forcibly medicated to try to restore his competency because the likelihood of success was too low. The U.S. Attorney's Office then brought the case to a federal grand jury, which indicted Mitchell last year. The charges started a new round of evaluations and litigation over his mental state.

Court records indicate that two psychiatrists believe Mitchell is mentally competent, while three psychologists believe he is incompetent. All are expected to testify at the hearing.

Also on the list are Richard Forbes, a retired police officer who has studied cults and taught a class on the subject at Salt Lake Community College; and Daniel Peterson, a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University. The two will testify that the psychologists who found Mitchell incompetent "seriously misjudged" his religious writing, according to court records. Prosecutors say Mitchell wanted to make Smart a plural wife.

Other witnesses include Mitchell's mother-in-law, former neighbors, acquaintances, employees at Utah State Hospital, ecclesiastical leaders and people the self-proclaimed prophet befriended when he needed food or shelter. Some will take the stand, while the observations of others will be incorporated in the testimony of the mental-health experts who interviewed them for their own reports.

Smart testified Oct. 1 about her interactions with Mitchell. Her testimony was taken early because she was entering language training to prepare for a mission to Paris for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Teenage crime

Amanda Knox Expert Disputes Murder Weapon Theory

"The smaller wound is absolutely incompatible with the knife in question," he testified. "For the larger wound, I cannot rule it out, but it could have been made by a myriad of knives," he added in reply to a question from the prosecutor. "Everything leads me to believe that that is not the murder weapon," he said, referring to the knife found in Sollecito's home.

When asked if there could have been two knives involved, a theory put forth by the prosecution when it had to admit that the smaller wounds could not have been made by the big kitchen knife, Torre replied, "It would be the first time in history that a murder was done with two knives."

Torre, a professorial type with unruly white hair, also said the knife had an unusual "regularity" to the top edge of the blade that also seemed to have a notch on it similar to a "survival" knife of the kind used by a "Rambo."
Torre contradicted the theory of both the prosecution and the medical examiner hired by Sollecito regarding the position in which Kercher was when she was killed.

Torre said he felt Kercher was murdered when she was on her back, her head lifted "a palm and a half off the floor." Francesco Introna, Sollecito's consultant, told the court last month that Kercher was knifed from behind, a lone killer holding her chin with one hand and the knife in the other. The prosecutors also believe she was attacked from behind, but think she was held by Sollecito and Guede, with Knox wielding the knife.

Torre said it was "more logical to think" that she was killed from the front, and that "it seems difficult that it was from behind," but did not totally discount the idea.

Torre also pointed out that the luminol footprints that investigators say are of Knox's bare feet cannot be because Knox's second toe is longer than her big toe, and that characteristic is not apparent in the lumino-enhanced prints. He also pointed out that the bare footprints of the other two women who lived in the house were not taken for comparison, nor were those of the victim.

In another important affirmation, Torre told the court "there is not a single element that leads one to think more than one person could have comitted the crime." The defenses of both defendants believe the murder was the work of a single thief turned killer, Guede, according to Sollecito's lawyer Luca Maori.

Amanda Knox to Celebrate Birthday in Jail

At the end of the day, Knox's mother told reporters she felt the hearing had gone well, though she does not understand the proceedings in Italian. "Everyone seems happy with how it went," she said. When she was able to see her daughter briefly at the end of the hearing, Amanda, who understands Italian, told her the hearing was very technical, and that it had been a long day.

Knox will celebrate her 22nd birthday July 9th -- her second in prison. "She did not want to spend a second birthday in prison," Mellas told ABC News as tears filled her eyes. "But it will definitely be the last one if all is right in the world and things go the way they should."

Thursday is a visiting day in the Capanne prison, so Knox will be able to celebrate with her mother, two sisters, best friend Paxton and an aunt from Germany.

"We cannot wrap presents for her, but will be bringing her a couple of shirts for court, some CDs and books, and lots of birthday cards from family and friends," her mother said.

Sollecito, Knox's former boyfriend, has asked to be allowed to give Knox a box of chocolates for her birthday, according to his lawyer.