Obama Justice Department Decapitates Gun Industry: FBI Arrest 21 Gun Industry Executives in Las Vegas to Attend Gun Show
llinois Gun
Infowars.com
January 23, 2010
What’s being touted as the largest single investigation and prosecution against individuals in the history of the Justice Department’s enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act occurred Monday in Las Vegas.
The individuals arrested are executives and employees of military and law enforcement products companies that were in Las Vegas to attend the 2010 Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (Shot show) and are charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
The indictments allege that the defendants engaged in a scheme to pay bribes to the minister of defense for a country in Africa but the alleged sales agent was in reality an undercover FBI agent.
The defendants allegedly agreed to pay a 20 percent commission to a sales agent who the defendants believed represented the minister of defense of an African country in order to win a portion of a $15 million sale to outfit the country’s presidential guard.
The Las Vegas Sun is reporting the names of those arrested and the location of their companies as being;
Daniel Alvirez and Lee Allen Tolleson, Bull Shoals, Ark., Helmie Ashiblie, Woodbridge, Va., Andrew Bigelow, Sarasota, Fla., R. Patrick Caldwell and Stephen Gerard Giordanella, Sunrise, Fla., Yochanan Cohen, San Francisco, Haim Geri, North Miami Beach, Fla., Amaro Goncalves, Springfield, Mass., John Gregory Godsey and Mark Frederick Morales, Decatur, Ga., Saul Mishkin, Aventura, Fla., John and Jeana Mushriqui, Upper Darby, Pa., David Painter and Lee Wares, United Kingdom, Pankesh Patel, United Kingdom, Ofer Paz, Israel, Israel Weisler and Michael Sachs, Stearns, Ky., and John Benson Wier III, St. Petersburg, Fla.
One name on the list, Amaro Goncalves is reported to be a vice-president of sales for Smith & Wesson (SWHC)
According to reports the arrest did not take place at the SHOT show but the FBI did use the show as an oportunity to bring all of the people together in one place for arrest.
Needless to say with the recent incident involving the BATFE and the Texas Gun Show, this action by the Justice Department and the FBI is causing concern and confusion for patroits and gun owners nation wide.
David Codrea of the Gun Rights Examiner is asking “why the mass arrests here and now”?
One of the main comments from bloggers is “what’s wrong with paying a commission.”
Since the election of Obama the main question for gun owners as been, “when will Obama come after the guns”?
It looks like that question has been answered!
Links of interest
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jan/19/fbi-arrests-21-las-vegas-foreign-bribery-casehttp://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m1d21-Whats-going-on-with-SHOT-Show-sting?#commentshttp://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m1d21-What-is-the-Foreign-Corrupt-Practices-Acthttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_05/b4165000370242.htm
