Replies to post #174959 on DD Support Board and Research Team

[Monksdream]

After become capo, Pagano became the Genovese family contact in the "Gasoline Bootlegging Rackets". Originated in 1987 by the Organizatsiya, a Russian criminal organization in Brooklyn, the scam involved fake transactions of large quantities of gasoline and diesel that were designed to defraud the State of New York out of excise taxes. When the New York Cosa Nostra families discovered the scam, the Genovese and three other families forced Organizatsiya to pay them a cut of their illegal profits. The families set up a group known as the Association to run the scam. Pagano and his trusted aide, mobster Anthony Palumbo, represented the Genovese interests in the Association.[5][6]

In late 1992 or early 1993, Pagano thwarted a proposed murder of a Russian mobster. Palumbo's business partner, Russian mobster Victor Zilber, asked him to arrange the murder of a Zilber employee, Russian mobster Monya Elson. When Palumbo approached Pagano for approval, Pagano immediately vetoed the hit. Pagano was afraid that killing Elson would cause major problems with the Organizatsia.[7]

In the early-1990s, the FBI and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) set up a fake fuel company in Trenton, New Jersey, as part of "Red Daisy", a sting operation aimed against the bootlegging ring. In February 1992, a suspicious fire destroyed the company facilities. Soon after the fire, a mob associate approached the company owners and informed them that they would have to pay a "mob tax" to sell the bootleg gasoline.

In September 1996, Pagano and Palumbo were indicted on charges of defrauding the government of $77 million in tax revenues. In September 1999, Pagano pleaded guilty to motor fuel tax evasion and was sentenced to 105 months in prison.[8] As a result of his imprisonment, Pagano lost control of many of his former rackets, including the Pisacano brothers illegal gambling operation. On May 12, 2007, Pagano was released from federal prison.[9

[janice shell]

lol, I do remember that. But Byrne isn't quite right in the head.

The Rocker brothers were hilarious. Back in the 90s, they were on CNBC a good deal. They shouted at the top of their lungs.

[integral]

Back in the mid 90's Barbara Walters did an episode on 20/20 about the mob on wall st. instead of shaking down store owners the finally figured out how to rig the penny stock market. I watched the episode by accident.

[DrContango]

PATRIC BYRNE BACK IN THE NEWS!

Trump assembles a ragtag crew of conspiracy-minded allies in flailing bid to reverse election loss

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-assembles-a-ragtag-crew-of-conspiracy-minded-allies-in-flailing-bid-to-reverse-election-loss/2020/12/21/d7674cd2-43b2-11eb-b0e4-0f182923a025_story.html

While Powell, Flynn and Giuliani were well-known advisers to Trump even before the election, Byrne has emerged as a relatively new character in the president’s orbit. He has filled a void left after longtime aides including Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, campaign manager Bill Stepien and his deputy, Justin Clark, have largely disappeared from the scene.

?Byrne wasted no time sparring with Trump’s remaining advisers.?He has taken to social media to taunt the other officials present for Friday’s meeting, accusing Cipollone of being a “leaker” and saying the president is surrounded by “mendacious mediocrities” who want him to lose — including his chief lawyer and his chief of staff.?

As the founder and chief executive of Overstock, Byrne was known as an eccentric but often prophetic financial forecaster. For years, he maintained a blog called Deep Capture, in which he spun wild conspiracy tales, claiming he was a target of international Russian mobsters because of his exposure of short-selling stock schemes on Wall Street.

?He resigned from the retailer in August 2019, after revealing that he had engaged in a multiyear romantic relationship with Maria Butina, the Russian graduate student who pleaded guilty in April 2019 to conspiring to act as a Russian agent and trying to build inroads on behalf of the Kremlin with prominent Republican politicians and conservative organizations, including the National Rifle Association.?

Butina served five months in federal prison and was deported to Russia in October 2019.?Byrne has said he came to believe Butina was merely an inquisitive student and has alleged that the charges against her were part of a “deep state” plot to hurt Trump. The allegations, which he initially put forward on Overstock letterhead, led the company’s stock to plummet last year and, ultimately, to his ouster as CEO.?

In interviews with conservative media personalities in recent weeks, Byrne has promoted the same conspiracy theories about the 2020 election that have been backed by Powell. He has claimed that he is working with hackers who have shown that enormous security lapses allowed votes to be manipulated in key counties, stealing the presidency from Trump.?

“This is a soft coup, make no mistake,” he told conservative radio personality Glenn Beck earlier this month.?Byrne, who did not respond to interview requests, says he has spent millions of dollars on probing the election out of concern for the nation. He describes himself as a libertarian who did not vote for Trump.?

But speaking at a pro-Trump rally in Washington earlier this month, he called the election a “psyop” by hostile foreign states, including China and Iran.

?On Sunday, Byrne turned his ire toward Trump’s aides. The president, he wrote on Twitter, was being “terribly served” by officials in the White House — a comment endorsed Monday by former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.?Trump, Byrne said, “is standing up to his waist in snakes,” adding that he should trust only Giuliani and Powell.


Doc