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Post by avordvet on Apr 16, 2017 6:51:11 GMT -5
The ATF had a secret slush fund — financed by cigarette smugglingJeremy M. Lange/The New York Times, February 22, 2017 WASHINGTON — Working from an office suite behind a Burger King in southern Virginia, operatives used a web of shadowy cigarette sales to funnel tens of millions of dollars into a secret bank account. They weren’t known smugglers, but rather agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The operation, not authorized under Justice Department rules, gave agents an off-the-books way to finance undercover investigations and pay informants without the usual cumbersome paperwork and close oversight, according to court records and people close to the operation. The secret account is at the heart of a federal racketeering lawsuit brought by a collective of tobacco farmers who say they were swindled out of $24 million. A pair of ATF informants received at least $1 million each from that sum, records show. The scheme relied on phony shipments of snack food disguised as tobacco. The agents were experts: Their job was to catch cigarette smugglers, so they knew exactly how it was done. www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2017/02/22/the-atf-had-secret-slush-fund-financed-cigarette-smuggling/fImi0t2wxpM54qwtlB4s4L/story.html
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