#In Partnership With Trace TV

[creedslove]

BESTIEEE I know you’re probably not taking any request now but… since I’m a slut for angst… it came up in my mind reader and Joel being together, she wants kids, he doesn’t since he’s way older than her and already had Sarah so he’s not up to have another kid at his age and reader agreed with that for the sake of their relationship and because she just loves Joel so damn much so she’s willing to give up her desire of becoming a mom. But they’re like at a friend party or at the park and he sees her playing with some friend’s kids and her eyes just sparkle so Joel feels sad for taking away that from her and he gives her the talk “I love you but I need to let you go cause I just want your happiness so she can have kids with someone else and the end is up to you 🥹❤️❤️

No outbreak!Joel Miller x f!reader

A/N: hi bestie, I know it's been a few days since I got this ask, and even if I was focused on a certain cowboy, you can be sure this lovely idea hasn't left my mind because it's just so perfect and great, thank you for sharing 🤌

• when you'd traced plans in your life, you had always established some goals: study, get a nice job, travel, be happy, get married and have a family. That was pretty much all you wanted from life, since it seemed only fair you could have it all

• what you did not plan nor expect, was falling in love with a handsome, older and charming man; the heart wants what the heart wants and in your case, your heart (and let's be honest, your body and soul too) wanted Joel Miller, but who wouldn't want him?

• he was big, broad, handsome, strong, he had great hair, beautiful puppy brown eyes and we were only talking about his physical features, although he was much more than that: he was also smart, hardworking, responsible, he was a great dad and even if he seemed a little shy or like he kept to himself, he had so much love to give, and much to your luck, he wanted you as much as you wanted him

• so you simply clicked, despite Joel being older than you; it wasn't a deal breaker for you, it never was, because if by any means that became a problem, you wouldn't even start dating to begin with; although there were some generational conflicts that was quite amusing to see: Joel referred to TV shows, some movies or ads you'd never even heard of in your life, while he didn't get why you always thought those stupid silly videos on your phone were so funny. He didn't really get Taylor Swift - or he pretended he didn't - and you would absolutely fall asleep midway pretty much every movie he claimed he'd watched at the movies when he was a teen and it simply kicked ass

• bur nothing that came even close to being a problem. Sarah enjoyed that exchange, she knew her dad was a modern man, she also knew he looked good by the amount of women who would shamelessly swoon around him, but she always worried he would simply lock himself inside once she took off to live her own adventures, so she appreciated how much you loved and cared about him, making her happy to see how much her dad really loved and cared about you too

• you both had a great relationship, it was mature, sexy, full of understanding, passion and partnership, but Joel being an experienced man, knew it was important to put all the cards on the table before you two were in too deep to decide what was a deal breaker or not

• so you both talked openly about your plans and ambitions for the future, your no's and things like this, to decide beforehand if it was worthy

• you were on board with almost everything, with the exception of Joel being honest and clear about the fact he was older, he had already gone through the fatherhood experience - which had been quite traumatic even if Sarah was the thing he loved the most in his life - and that he didn't want to go through it again, which meant kids were definitely off the table

• you felt your heart shattering; you've always wanted to have kids, and not only that, you could see Joel being a perfect dad to your kids, because not only was he already an amazing father, but he had all the great qualities of a partner, and perhaps a future husband, and to make things worse, Joel did want all of those things with you, he wanted to spend the rest of his life by your side, to give you his name and a home, but not kids

• and even if he knew you wanted kids and you knew it too, you decided to suppress this side of you, because you loved him so much, you thought it was worth sacrificing your desire to have Joel in your life; maybe life would be easier and better if you just stayed with each other, you'd be happy, no doubt about it, and just hoped you wouldn't feel incomplete at everything else

• Joel wasn't insensitive though, he knew that decision took a toll on you, it was complicated and it pained him to think he was the reason why you still hadn't made your wish come true, but how could he get into something he didn't want to? If roles were reversed, it would be too unfair to ask you to have his child, so he tried telling himself he wasn't holding you back

• however, what was so hard was that in addition to knowing about your wish to be a mom, he could see how good you'd certainly be at it; the way little kids and babies immediately took a liking to you, often wanting to play and cuddle and the way you were always so caring and attentive towards them, it always brought a pang into his chest, it hurt to see you not having it because of him

• as much as he loved you and cherished your presence and relationship, that guilt started eating him up alive; he was getting more and more upset about it, the way you simply didn't complain or insist on it also made him upset and worried, he didn't know what to do, he got to the point where he felt tortured to see you interacting with little kids, because he could tell how much you wanted that reality for yourself but he was stopping you from it

• when you both were invited to one of his cousin's baby's first birthday, you immediately accepted the invitation. Joel thought about declining it, but then, what could he say? he had no excuses of any sorts to simply say no, so there was no way other than going and that was it

• he was sort of enjoying the party, having a beer with his relatives and having some treats when he spotted you around the kids: you were having so much fun, simply the life of the party, as the kids giggled and cheered around you, all happily and excitedly, and you wouldn't leave them at all

• Joel's heart shattered, he couldn't keep on doing that to you, it was too much, he loved you and if you love someone you gotta do your best to make them happy, and in that situation he was aware he wasn't doing everything at his power for that, so he swallowed hard, as he took a decision, it was a hard one, but it had to be done

• so once the party was over, you noticed Joel's sadden expression, even if you asked him what was going on, he didn't say it, he just shook it off and said it was work problems, not wanting to extend the subject, you just shrugged and didn't say anything else, leaving the tension home, sensing things weren't going to be easy

• so a couple of days after the party in which things weren't great, Joel finally took the courage to come forward and talk to you about things

"I love you, darling. I swear I do, with all my heart, but I know I'm not making you totally happy, not as happy as you can fully be. I can't stay here, preventing you from finding someone you will really be happy with, someone you will be able to build a life with. You deserve it, baby. I can't give it to you, but I can't see you suffering any longer"

• it broke your heart, you didn't want to break things up with Joel, you loved him, but you were honored to see how much he cared for you, it wasn't easy to recover and get things back on track, having to remodel your life after breaking up with Joel, getting used to being without him, but time heals all, you learned after a while

• Joel also had to relearn how to live his life without you; it was complicated but he loved you so, so he trusted his gut in letting you go, especially a couple of years later, when Sarah came over to visit him with her new boyfriend and handed him her phone: she'd found your Instagram and it showed you happily married to some guy named Marcus Pike, apparently he was an FBI agent, gentle and good-looking and extremely excited to announce he was going to be a dad for the first time ❤️

____

[nouklea]

Fic Tag Game!

I was tagged by @beri-allen, @writerrose1998, @cosmic-lullaby and @wileyonce. Thanks! <3

20 questions below the cut:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

16

2. What’s your AO3 word count?

136,228

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Wednesday for now. I used to write for StarWars (see question 12) but no traces remains from that era.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Woe of Wrath

I'm on my Way

Variations on a Main Theme - 1

A Second Chance for a First Impression

Five Minutes Earlier

5. Do you respond to comments?

As much as possible. Usually I respond to every comment, even if it's just to say a quick Thank You. The only fic on which I haven't done that is Woe of Wrath, if fell into limbo and I have a hard time focusing on it right now. And I feel kind of weird to answer comments after several months of silence, but the more I wait the weirder it gets...

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Doomed is a Dead Dove Do Not Eat fic. The entire text is dark, including the ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I will go with Double-Date With Dad. Farewell Xavier Thorpe ends on a really good note too (if you are not a fan of Xavier).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

It never happened. Fingers crossed.

9. Do you write smut? What kind?

I try. I find it difficult for two reasons. First, it's tough to avoid clichés. When you read smut, you end up noticing some general patterns, and I do my best to stay away from those. Second, I'm not a fan of some popular kinks, for instance I can't stand the expression "good girl", and therefore I'm not interested in writing it, even if I keep reading authors that use them. Some people probably think my smut fics are boring, too soft, too ordinary. But I don't care (yeah, I do, but shh).

10. Do you write cross-overs?

No. And I have a really hard time reading cross-overs too. And I hate cross-overs in tv shows. Complete respect to authors, however. It's just not my thing.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. I guess I could translate my own fics in French since it's my native language, but for now I don't see any reason to do so.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I did. It was a weird kind of toxic partnership. The other person was responsible for writing the general plot (because my ideas weren't good enough), and I had to turn every page he wrote into a three-pages long section, adding descriptions and filling the blanks. And correct the spelling and grammar, and add better vocabulary...

13. What WIP would you like to finish but doubt you ever will?

I hope I will finish every WIP I currently have, even if they tend to pile up (WIP bunnies...). My biggest challenge is to go back to Woe of Wrath. It is my first fic, it is a multi-chapter one, and I started to write it just to let the steam out after a twenty-years-long writing hiatus, so the outline was not super clear, there are many plot holes I try to fix, the sentences and vocabulary are bad... I know where I want to take the story and how it ends, but it's hard not to want to start over.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

For fanfics I'll say Weyler because it's the only thing I've ever written. Now besides that... For those who read Guy Gavriel Kay, I'm forever bound to the Diarmuid/Sharra ship, followed by Paul/Jaelle. Quite fond of the Clary/Jace ship in The Mortal Instruments (The books! Don't talk to me about the movie or the tv show!)

15. What are your writing strengths?

No damn idea. I've been asking myself the same question since I was thirteen.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably not being able to answer question 15. Imposter syndrome.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

In French it's not a problem, of course. I've done it in Impulsion. I have studied Latin for two years in highschool so I felt comfortable enough to translate a few sentences in Woe of Wrath. For other languages, I would only do so if I can find a beta reader fluent in this specific language to correct the grammar. I cringe everytime I read English fics with badly written French dialogs, it makes me loose the focus on the story (Same for tv shows, by the way. Come on, you have 2 millions $ to produce an episode and you can't find someone to double-check your French sentence?). It's really hard for me not to comment with a correction (AO3 etiquette: do not provide corrections unless the author specifically asked for it). I don't want to inflict that on my readers by butchering their native language.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Wars. It was a long time ago (in a galaxy far far away), when there were only three movies and a few books (Timothy Zahn forever!). And for those who wonder how old I am, I used to write with WordPerfect, DOS version (it was the pre-Windows era). It had a blue background (terrible for the eyes) and some keycodes you had to use to change the font to bold or italics. Since you can't visualize anything in DOS (it's not a wysiwyg), it used colors, so you had to remember what it meant (yellow letters meant italics...). And I used to save those texts on a floppy my mom took to her office to print.

19. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

It's not a popular one, but I really like Monologue for a Hyde. I like the tone. Pretty happy with Fuck Me Once Shame on You, Fuck Me Twice Shame on Me, too.

20. What fic would you want to rewrite one day?

Woe of Wrath without a doubt. With a proper plan, and a lot of plot holes avoided (that damn cellphone...)

I will tag the Death Metal and Glitter Club members whose Tumblr ids I know, aka @anotherbluesunday, @tastethesetears, @darling-gemini, @darlingfuego,

As well as @broken-everlark, @persephoneed, @bithablu, @allergictocolor and @insomniac1994.

[inkedroplets]

16!!!!!!!

16. Is there any written scene that you think about a lot?

So, a little context. the premise of the fic is that Lena gets cold feet about Non Nocere, but is hurting so much that she makes a deal with J'onn's brother to give him his freedom if he erases all her memories of Kara Danvers. It would have a domino effect of her forgetting everyone else as well since she met them through Kara. She would retain her memories of Supergirl however. But with their relationship frosty at best, she moves back to Metropolis without anything (Kara) keeping her there.

Kara would only be able to talk to Lena as Supergirl due to the risk that she might dredge up the memories that J'onn's brother erased . Pretty much what happened to Alex when she erased her memories of Kara but with the caveat that Lena doesn't want to remember so it's even more dangerous for her. Lena does actually manage to have a happy life in Metropolis. She even gets a girlfriend. But there's something missing that keeps bothering her. Dreams that she can't remember very well, ones that has her waking up in tears. Anyway the scene in question has Kara acting as a bodyguard for Lena, she's perched atop the penthouse roof after there's a threat on Lena's life. Lena takes the protection very begrudgingly and she spends it having an evening in with her girlfriend while Kara can overhear everything.

“There is something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Tatsu said, peering at Lena over the rim of her wine glass. She flashed her a slightly coy half-smile, not quite meeting Lena’s gaze although not actively shying from it either.

“You didn’t intentionally wait for me to have a couple glasses of wine before asking me, did you?” Lena teased. “If so, you might want to hold off until I’ve had a few more.” She arched an eyebrow, tracing her index finger alongside the rim of her glass. 

“Am I that transparent?” Tatsu grinned toothily. “I meant to ask you when we first met, actually, but it slipped my mind… Somehow.” Her smile shrunk, became more secretive and her gaze flickered away. “Flattery will get you everywhere,” Lena murmured, trying to mask the blush rising in her cheeks by pouring herself another glass of wine. “Fire away.”

“Nothing earth-shattering,” Tatsu assured her, running a hand lazily through her hair, a habit of hers that Lena had grown quite fond of. “Why did you move back to Metropolis? It was so sudden,” she added quickly, sounding slightly panicked as if she regretted asking Lena in the first place. “It was,” Lena agreed. She pursed her lips, momentarily lost in thought “I shouldn’t have asked.” Tatsu reached out and gave Lena’s arm a squeeze. “No,” Lena said and let out a little puff of laughter. “It’s really nothing, I just feel a little foolish, is all. I had my own reasons for moving to National City in the first place.” “Okay,” Tatsu said carefully, her hand still wrapped gently around Lena’s forearm. “I was watching TV and Supergirl was on the news and I don’t know why but I just had this idea, this stupid idea that we could work together. That all the good I wanted to do, we could do together.” She smiled sheepishly, not quite able to meet Tatsu’s gaze. “After Lex, I thought that I could undo some of the damage he caused, put more good into the world. A Luthor and a Super working together…” She chuckled. “Maybe I expected too much from both of us…” “Why her?” Tatsu asked. “Why not save yourself the agony of packing and strike up a partnership with Superman? Truth, Justice and a stick up his butt,” she said and toasted him. “I told you it was stupid,” Lena said and shook her head, raising her glass halfheartedly along with her. “I don’t know… Maybe I thought she would be different. That she could look past me being a Luthor and see me for me. Regardless, I figured out that we work much better as the ‘break glass in case of emergency’ kind of associates.” “Her loss.” Tatsu gave her a shy kind of shrug but didn’t shy away from her gaze. “Because you are very good company.” “Now I know you’ve had too much,” Lena fired back, pretending to make a grab for the bottle but smiling while she did so. “And you didn’t make any friends while you were there?” Tatsu asked, looking far more at ease.

“I didn’t go there to make friends,” Lena said, grinning. “And you’ve been around me long enough to know that most people give me a wide berth”

“Present company excluded.”

“For whatever reason,” Lena fired back, grinning.“Honestly, I don’t know why I moved back… I just woke up one day and realized that nothing was keeping me there and it just made sense to come back here…”

[badlydrawnhsr]

2.1 Livestream Summary

Codes:

3SRN6L3AADLK

YTRN743TSUL7

2S8N6M3ATV6T

Banners:

Acheron + Luocha first phase (with Gallagher)

Aventurine + Jingliu second phase

If you're interested in any of the new characters btw I HIGHLY recommend you watch the livestream segment for when they're introduced. Each of them got a very in depth discussion, and while its all very interesting, it's far too much for me to put here in a simple summary

Story:

New trailblaze mission - The Devil in Velvet

The new mission will include multiple povs similar to the luofu story, with a separate toggle to switch pov. These multiple povs are also displayed in the fates atlas menu to avoid confusion of the timeline. I'm assuming this means we'll have more control of our perspective, rather than having a forced break in the story to show what a different character is doing, but we'll have to wait to see how it's implemented.

Areas and Materials:

Clock Studios Theme Park

Themed around the mascots of Penacony, with an area dedicated to each. Minigames/puzzles are themed around shooting movies

Dewlight pavilion

Headquarters for the Oak family, owned by Sunday. Puzzles involve shrinking down into a replica model of Aideen Park?

Events:

Vignettes in a Cup

Drink mixing event similar to that of Belobog's museum or the Luofu's Aurum alley. Rewards a free 4* character of choice, which includes Gallagher

Tides of War

Combat event similar to that of the current Dreamjolt TV event? Details aren't entirely clear but that's what it seems like to me

Cosmodyssey

Game board event to celebrate HSR's first anniversary! Rewards are both individual and shared across the server I think?

Planar Fissure with triple rewards

Realm of the Strange with triple rewards

Festive Gifts - 20 free pulls

1,600 jades via mail on April 26th

A BUNCH of offline events and partnerships

Other:

New fire ascension material

New preservation trace material

New abundance trace material

Simulated Universe World 9

Includes 2 new relic sets, though the exact details weren't shown. One is a dps set while the other is meant for characters in a team with the same path as them. Difficulty iv will also be available immediately and all previous difficulty rewards can be claimed all at once (similar to Forgotten Hall) They also stated a big update to SU will happen in 2.3, including an easier way to farm relics.

Claim all/redeploy all button for assignments

Increased inventory for relics to 2000

A bunch of other stuff was talked about too! Future system to do with March, Xianzhou story updates (including possible Tingyun?)

[stingslikeabee]

@hisroyalmagnificence found the concierge

The fact that a hotel manager had business elsewhere in the city was not uncommon. Theirs was a different world that existed in the shadows of the general population and which had progressively expanded over the last decades, but still - alliances, partnerships, inspections and investments were done with those who did not necessarily trade gold coins from their presses.

What caused Melissa to grow concerned at first was the lack of communication - Magnifico did not often turn off his phone or failed to respond his wife. After all, theirs was a bond that surpassed etiquette and protocol. But maybe he had ran into someone from the High Table and devices had been collectively apprehended as tradition mandated... Perhaps she was worrying too much.

Until the first tape came in, delivered to their door in a nondescript envelope and by a street kid that merely said he had been paid to drop the package addressed to the concierge. It was an old cassette, but luckily there was an ancient TV and VCR set which was still functional in their surveillance room - but as soon as it started, Melissa wished it was all but an old, somewhat grainy movie.

There was no way that Magnifico - that her Nicolás - was in chains, strapped to a wall. Not him.

And yet, that was precisely what the video suggested; since the technology used was old, neither sound nor image quality were great, but the shows of torture were evident. Someone had kidnapped a Continental manager (off consecrated ground) and were subjecting him to unspeakable things while recording it all and sending it to his family. The first thing Melissa thought of was that she had to rescue him - immediately followed by a meeting with their daughters.

Now, the three beautiful daughters they had were no longer toddlers - instead, they had been groomed to take specific positions in that world of theirs. Rosalinda was next in line for manager; Narcissa had turned into a talented sniper and Florita was an expert in crafting poisons and working with toxins from their gardens. Each and every of the girls had a skillset, and they would need all of them - including Melissa's own training as the firstborn to a Welsh crime syndicate.

Together, they kept receiving and watching the tapes delivered every two hours or so - tracing the delivery kids was likely a dead end as they really were the homeless children that roamed around the district and who would have never been behind a master plot of that size. Instead, they joined forces in trying to see beyond the obvious, painful torture - any signs on the walls, trademarks on boxes, voices and hints that could disclose a location.

Melissa immediately contacted her peers; the girls used their own connections and pooled all resources together, from old-fashioned intel gathering to modern-day triangulation of Magnifico's phone and last known locations on CCTV. At some point, there was just one building that had been vacant within the designated perimeter which had seen suspicious movement of black cars parking around and people shuffling inside. That had to be their target.

With decisions made and all information available pulled up - from the map of the sewer tunnels to the nearby constructions for a good placement for snipers - Melissa did something that she never thought would happen: she unlocked the armory and grabbed most of the arsenal available there with her children. That damn book of his - the concierge had thought that it would protect him more than the fencing classes the brunette forced Magnifico to take.

Now, while she placed guns into holsters and checked the comms, Melissa felt her heart sinking - they were not too late, were they?

They would be able to reach Magnifico in time from whoever had taken him - there was no other possible scenario in her head. And, with a simple look at her kids while they got into a van to take them to the place he was likely being kept at, Melissa knew that the girls shared similar thoughts.

They would bring Nicolás home.

[24global-news]

The Cashier in Dubai

Investigative report tracks tangled route for money flowing to offshore companies from Moldova.

Part One

Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc left his home country in 2019 to avoid corruption charges. But an investigation into his business affairs, supported by newspress24-blog, shows that money continued to flow into his pockets long after he fled.

Black Box Plus, the investigative show of Moldova’s independent Tv channel TV8, acquired documents showing that Plahotniuc profited from every document Moldova’s Public Services Agency (ASP) issued between 2014-2019. Black Box TV followed the traces left by the businessman Alexandru Vilcu and Vladimir Andronachi, a former lawmaker with the Democratic Party (PD).

Documents show that the money reached Plahotniuc via Garsų Pasaulis, the Lithuanian printing house that won the public procurements for supplying blank cards the ASP uses to issue Moldovan documents, including passports. The financial circuit leads to a network of offshore companies registered in Cyprus, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In the summer of 2020, the scheme Plahotniuc built over the years was taken over by two Bulgaria-registered companies that appeared overnight.

These companies were the identical financial offshore vehicles through which Plahotniuc, former leader of the PD, raised alleged dividends from the auctions organised by the state telecom company Moldtelecom, the purchase of electricity from the breakaway region of Transnistria, the public-private partnership for hemodialysis services and the so–called heist of one billion US dollars from the Moldovan banking system.

The Lithuanian UAB (an acronym of uždaroji akcine bendrove, or private limited company) started supplying blank cards for Moldovan passports following tenders in 2014 and 2017. The main beneficiary of the Garsu Pasaulis company is Albert Mario Karaziwan, a Belgian citizen who owns Semlex Europe, an identification document and biometric device production company whose business practices have come under scrutiny. The Syrian-Belgium businessman has been targeted in several countries in criminal corruption cases and journalistic investigations by Reuters and OCCRP.

In 2014, Moldova’s minister of information and communications technology was Plahotniuc’s fellow party member Pavel Filip. The CRIS Registru state enterprise which in 2017 was re-organised as ASP, was headed by Sergey Railean, godfather of Filip's older son.

Between 2014 and 2021, ASP transferred 59.5 million euros to the Garsu Pasaulis company "for raw material, blank cards and personalisation services," according to documents obtained by Black Box.

ASP also paid the Lithuanian company a royalty fee for software developed for Moldova and used on three types of documents. For example, the royalty fee for each passport issued was 13.61 euros (14.49 US dollars). On October 22, 2021, prosecutors opened a criminal case against nine people from the Public Services Agency “targeted in a criminal case of abuse of office”. Prosecutors estimated that the state lost around 41 million euros (43.6 million dollars) in the case.

A LONG AND TANGLED PATH

A note from the Moldovan service for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering obtained by Black Box shows that more than 24 million euros (25.54 million dollars) did not stop in the company's accounts in Vilnius but ended up in Cyprus and the UAE.

“Of the 135 payments made throughout this period [2014-2019], I can tell you that the final beneficiary is obvious. At least, from what the criminal investigation bodies say, it is clear that the actual beneficiary is Vladimir Plahotniuc,” said ASP director Mircea Esanu.

Sergey Railean, the ASP former director under whose mandate the two contracts with Garsu Pasaulis were signed, said that he knew nothing about benefits for Plahotniuc.

"The tender took place according to the procedures. Therefore, nothing was outside the law," Railean said.

Told that Black Box reporters had established money transfers from Garsu Pasaulis to offshore companies affiliated with Plahotniuc, Railean was asked if he knew anything about it.

"No, absolutely not. Now it is a criminal case. The file must be completed after the trial,"he said. “[…] We did not order any software."

Railean added that ASP paid royalty fees to Garsu Pasaulis "because that was the contract".

On May 5, 2022 the Moldovan anti-corruption prosecutor's office announced that Railean had the status of accused in the so-called passport affair.

Filip, who held the post of prime minister in 2016-2019, did not answer the phone calls or requests for comment.

In May 2018, during a TV show broadcast by Prime, one of Plahotniuc's TV stations, Filip hinted that the state signed a more advantageous contract with Garsu Pasaulis than the previous one agreed in 2011 with a French company.

In 2011, Garsu Pasaulis had in fact tried to win a tender, but its application failed as it did not meet ASP’s criteria. A key condition was that applicants had experience manufacturing electronic passports for at least three European countries, as established by a decision of the Supreme Court of Justice. Garsu Pasaulis did not meet this requirement.

Garsu Pasaulis replied via e-mail that the company won the tenders and successfully delivered blank passport cards for ASP.

“As for the exact details of other commercial contracts, we cannot provide any details as confidentiality commitments bind us,” Andrius Lukosevicius, director of Garsu Pasaulis’ printing security department, wrote. “However, we can confirm that we have never had and do not currently have commercial or other relations with Mr Plahotniuc and [Romanian businesswoman] Mrs Ileana-Mihaela Burcea.”

The passport cash headed south, to the UAE firm Prime Union Solutions FZ LLC. Between January 1, 2018 and July 30, 2019 itreceived transfers for over 4.7 million euros ( five million dollars) from Garsu Pasaulis. The money continued to flow into Plahotniuc's coffers even after he fled Moldova in June 2019 when his name was linked to the disappearance of over a billion dollars - nearly one-eighth of Moldova's GDP - from the country's biggest banks between 2012 and 2014.

Employees at the Moldovan Money Laundering Prevention and Combating Service obtained information from their colleagues in Dubai and stated that the company's majority shareholders were the Romanian citizen Ileana-Mihaela Burcea and the company Inter Gnathonize Limited.

Between October 29, 2018, and July 30, 2019, a total of seven million euros (about 7.4 million dollars) were credited into Prime Union Solutions’ UAE bank account, largely sent from Garsu Pasaulis. The money then traveled to Burcea’s private account in UAE and six other offshore companies.

In liaison with UAE and Cyprus’ authorities, Moldova’s law enforcement agencies determined that Garsu Pasaulis transferred another 19.6 million euros (20.8 million dollars) to another Cyprus offshore company, Gnathonize Limited, also connected to Burcea.

The Cypriot firm opened a bank account in July 2014, four months after Garsu Pasaulis won the Moldova tender. The Lithuanian firm was the main contributor to the account until August 2018. After that, the money was transferred to the company Prime Union INC LTD in Hong Kong and marked as a "dividend payment".

[newspress24-blog]

The Cashier in Dubai

Investigative report tracks tangled route for money flowing to offshore companies from Moldova.

Part One

Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc left his home country in 2019 to avoid corruption charges. But an investigation into his business affairs, supported by newspress24-blog, shows that money continued to flow into his pockets long after he fled.

Black Box Plus, the investigative show of Moldova’s independent Tv channel TV8, acquired documents showing that Plahotniuc profited from every document Moldova’s Public Services Agency (ASP) issued between 2014-2019. Black Box TV followed the traces left by the businessman Alexandru Vilcu and Vladimir Andronachi, a former lawmaker with the Democratic Party (PD).

Documents show that the money reached Plahotniuc via Garsų Pasaulis, the Lithuanian printing house that won the public procurements for supplying blank cards the ASP uses to issue Moldovan documents, including passports. The financial circuit leads to a network of offshore companies registered in Cyprus, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In the summer of 2020, the scheme Plahotniuc built over the years was taken over by two Bulgaria-registered companies that appeared overnight.

These companies were the identical financial offshore vehicles through which Plahotniuc, former leader of the PD, raised alleged dividends from the auctions organised by the state telecom company Moldtelecom, the purchase of electricity from the breakaway region of Transnistria, the public-private partnership for hemodialysis services and the so–called heist of one billion US dollars from the Moldovan banking system.

The Lithuanian UAB (an acronym of uždaroji akcine bendrove, or private limited company) started supplying blank cards for Moldovan passports following tenders in 2014 and 2017. The main beneficiary of the Garsu Pasaulis company is Albert Mario Karaziwan, a Belgian citizen who owns Semlex Europe, an identification document and biometric device production company whose business practices have come under scrutiny. The Syrian-Belgium businessman has been targeted in several countries in criminal corruption cases and journalistic investigations by Reuters and OCCRP.

In 2014, Moldova’s minister of information and communications technology was Plahotniuc’s fellow party member Pavel Filip. The CRIS Registru state enterprise which in 2017 was re-organised as ASP, was headed by Sergey Railean, godfather of Filip's older son.

Between 2014 and 2021, ASP transferred 59.5 million euros to the Garsu Pasaulis company "for raw material, blank cards and personalisation services," according to documents obtained by Black Box.

ASP also paid the Lithuanian company a royalty fee for software developed for Moldova and used on three types of documents. For example, the royalty fee for each passport issued was 13.61 euros (14.49 US dollars). On October 22, 2021, prosecutors opened a criminal case against nine people from the Public Services Agency “targeted in a criminal case of abuse of office”. Prosecutors estimated that the state lost around 41 million euros (43.6 million dollars) in the case.

A LONG AND TANGLED PATH

A note from the Moldovan service for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering obtained by Black Box shows that more than 24 million euros (25.54 million dollars) did not stop in the company's accounts in Vilnius but ended up in Cyprus and the UAE.

“Of the 135 payments made throughout this period [2014-2019], I can tell you that the final beneficiary is obvious. At least, from what the criminal investigation bodies say, it is clear that the actual beneficiary is Vladimir Plahotniuc,” said ASP director Mircea Esanu.

Sergey Railean, the ASP former director under whose mandate the two contracts with Garsu Pasaulis were signed, said that he knew nothing about benefits for Plahotniuc.

"The tender took place according to the procedures. Therefore, nothing was outside the law," Railean said.

Told that Black Box reporters had established money transfers from Garsu Pasaulis to offshore companies affiliated with Plahotniuc, Railean was asked if he knew anything about it.

"No, absolutely not. Now it is a criminal case. The file must be completed after the trial,"he said. “[…] We did not order any software."

Railean added that ASP paid royalty fees to Garsu Pasaulis "because that was the contract".

On May 5, 2022 the Moldovan anti-corruption prosecutor's office announced that Railean had the status of accused in the so-called passport affair.

Filip, who held the post of prime minister in 2016-2019, did not answer the phone calls or requests for comment.

In May 2018, during a TV show broadcast by Prime, one of Plahotniuc's TV stations, Filip hinted that the state signed a more advantageous contract with Garsu Pasaulis than the previous one agreed in 2011 with a French company.

In 2011, Garsu Pasaulis had in fact tried to win a tender, but its application failed as it did not meet ASP’s criteria. A key condition was that applicants had experience manufacturing electronic passports for at least three European countries, as established by a decision of the Supreme Court of Justice. Garsu Pasaulis did not meet this requirement.

Garsu Pasaulis replied via e-mail that the company won the tenders and successfully delivered blank passport cards for ASP.

“As for the exact details of other commercial contracts, we cannot provide any details as confidentiality commitments bind us,” Andrius Lukosevicius, director of Garsu Pasaulis’ printing security department, wrote. “However, we can confirm that we have never had and do not currently have commercial or other relations with Mr Plahotniuc and [Romanian businesswoman] Mrs Ileana-Mihaela Burcea.”

The passport cash headed south, to the UAE firm Prime Union Solutions FZ LLC. Between January 1, 2018 and July 30, 2019 itreceived transfers for over 4.7 million euros ( five million dollars) from Garsu Pasaulis. The money continued to flow into Plahotniuc's coffers even after he fled Moldova in June 2019 when his name was linked to the disappearance of over a billion dollars - nearly one-eighth of Moldova's GDP - from the country's biggest banks between 2012 and 2014.

Employees at the Moldovan Money Laundering Prevention and Combating Service obtained information from their colleagues in Dubai and stated that the company's majority shareholders were the Romanian citizen Ileana-Mihaela Burcea and the company Inter Gnathonize Limited.

Between October 29, 2018, and July 30, 2019, a total of seven million euros (about 7.4 million dollars) were credited into Prime Union Solutions’ UAE bank account, largely sent from Garsu Pasaulis. The money then traveled to Burcea’s private account in UAE and six other offshore companies.

In liaison with UAE and Cyprus’ authorities, Moldova’s law enforcement agencies determined that Garsu Pasaulis transferred another 19.6 million euros (20.8 million dollars) to another Cyprus offshore company, Gnathonize Limited, also connected to Burcea.

The Cypriot firm opened a bank account in July 2014, four months after Garsu Pasaulis won the Moldova tender. The Lithuanian firm was the main contributor to the account until August 2018. After that, the money was transferred to the company Prime Union INC LTD in Hong Kong and marked as a "dividend payment".

Part Two

Documents from the Hong Kong public registry show that Burcea was one of Prime Union’s shareholders and in 2014-2019 the director. In 2020, Burcea requested the closing of the company. In 2018, over 600,000 euros (639,000 dollars) were transferred from one of Prime Union’s bank accounts to another offshore in Gibraltar.

In addition, 1.5 million euros (1.6 million dollars) arrived in Burcea`s personal account in the UAE and almost 800,000 euros (852,600 dollars) were directed to Recon Business Data Service, a company registered in Dubai led by Burcea. The company was closed in December 2019.

Burcea’s lawyer Cristina Savulescu declined to comment on the financial transfers from Garsu Pasaulis to her client. She also did not comment on Burcea’s connection with Plahotniuc. Savulescu said that any association of her client with an alleged criminal case was damaging to her client's image.

"The judicial procedure in any criminal case, from the time of notification to the competent bodies until the time of sending a particular person to court, is non-public and confidential, meaning that third parties cannot know the content of the carried-out procedures," Savulescu said.

Documents obtained by Black Box with the support of the OCCRP network of investigative journalists show that Plahotniuc used the same infrastructure of offshore companies to take yet more funds out of Moldova.

The former politician used the offshore network for the money obtained from other auctions organised by state enterprises including Moldtelecom, Moldova’s largest telecommunication operator, gas supplier Energocom and the health ministry for dialysis-related services.

The UAE’s Recon Business Data Services, connected to Burcea, was also involved in the financial circuit of money leaked by Plahotniuc from another scheme related to Moldtelecom, concerning public tenders won by Bass Systems SRL in PD`s ruling period.

Between March 2017 to January 2019 the Chisinau-based IT company delivered technical equipment and services for Moldtelecom worth about 41 million euros (43.6 million dollars). Out of this amount, eight million euros (8.5 million dollars) and six million dollars followed the same route to the UAE through Recon Business Data Services.

OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS

Another document obtained from the Moldovan service for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering shows that the Dubai-based company made several transactions to two offshores used by Plahotniuc: the UAE-based Vanguard International LTD and Vanguard International Group, registered in Samoa.

Both companies appeared in Plahotniuc's wealth statements in 2018. However, in the document submitted to Moldova’s Central Electoral Commission on the eve of the February 24, 2019 parliamentary elections, the oligarch declared 4.5 million euros (4.78 million dollars), over 11 million lei (around 585,000 dollars) and 347,000 dollars as dividends obtained from the Dubai-based Vanguard International Ltd.

Moldovan prosecutors established the origin of the money collected by Plahotniuc as "dividends".

Vanguard International LTD received 8.2 million euros (8.72 million dollars) and 2.5 million dollars from UAE-registered RECON SPC LIMITED from December 2017 to May 2019.

Burcea and another Romanian citizen, Silviu Tutuianu, were behind the company in different periods. Almost the entire amount came from the other similarly named firm, the Dubai-based Recon Business Data Service.

Plahotniuc also collected "dividends" worth 1.7 million euros (1.80 million dollars) and almost 350,000 US dollars through another offshore company, TGME INVESTMENTS SPC LTD, managed by Tutuianu.

All these companies were liquidated between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, after Plahotniuc fled Moldova. The Moldovan anti-corruption prosecutor's office opened a case for the purchase of equipment and services by Moldtelecom from SRL Bass Systems. The prosecutors confirmed that Burcea was interviewed in this criminal case, but did not disclose her status.

Burcea also managed a company that benefited from transfers from Plahotniuc’s Cyprus-registered Asia Pacific Textile Limited. This had transactions with the Cypriot offshore Melopmania Limited, the founder of BB-Dializa, a company which managed the dialysis services for the Moldovan health ministry.

BB Dializa also benefited from legal services from Cyprus-registered Kinanis offshore, founded by Burcea. The company also provided secretarial and legal services for Assentis Holdings Limited, one of the founders of Bass Systems SRL.

Asia Pacific Textile LTD received money from the Energokapital shell company. Between 2014 and 2016, the firm was used by Plahotniuc and Evgheni Shevciuk, former leader of Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria, to sell the electricity produced by the Russian-owned Moldgres Power Plant to Moldovan consumers.

The Black Box team tracked Energokapital's connections with Plahotniuc and the involvement of former DP deputy Vladimir Andronachi in the company's management.

Moldova’s service for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering established the connection between Burcea and two other offshore companies involved in looting a billion dollars from the country’s banking system: Sharp Prospects Limited and Lazomar Trading Limited, registered in Hong Kong and Cyprus respectively.

According to an international independent financial audit named the Kroll report, the Lazomar company received 5.6 million dollars in transfers to a Cypriot bank account. The Kroll report was commissioned by the National Bank of Moldova to investigate the theft that ravaged the country’s banking system.

Plahotniuc did not respond to requests for comment. His lawyer Lucian Rogac said that the former politician pleaded not guilty in the case generically called "blank passport cards".

"An indictment was presented to us. Other evidence to prove guilt was not shown by the prosecution. The only comment I can give you is that my client pleads not guilty to the charges," Rogac said.

In September 2022 Plahotniuc received an arrest warrant in absentia regarding the "blank passport cards" case, alongside Vladislav Zara, former director of the civil registry ASP, ex-PD deputy Andronachi and businessman Alexandru Vilcu. All of them have fled the country. According to Moldova’s ministry of justice, Plahotniuc is currently in Northern Cyprus.

[thehungrykat1]

Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill Opens First Restaurant in the Philippines at Newport World Resorts

I have always been a big fan of Chef Gordon Ramsay ever since I first watched him on television on Masterchef all those years ago. His knack for upholding the highest quality and cooking techniques from everyone actually inspired me to develop my own cooking skills at home. That's why I really enjoy going to his restaurants and trying out his signature dishes whenever I have the chance. During my fashion school studies in London, I used to dine and hang out at some of his restaurants, hoping for the chance to meet him in person if he should suddenly drop by for a visit. Well, that may not be too far from reality now because Gordon Ramsay has finally opened his first ever restaurant in the Philippines!

Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill opened its doors last August 31, 2024 at the second floor of Newport World Resorts Grand Wing. Newport World Resorts Chairman Kevin L. Tan made this historical partnership with chef, restaurateur, TV personality, author, and global culinary icon Gordon Ramsay to set the stage for the first Gordon Ramsay Restaurant in the Philippines. While the opening night dinner was reserved for VIP guests, selected media, owners, and partners, we made sure to get reservations for their first public lunch service the next day on September 1. We arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before they opened at 12:00nn and were the first guests to be led to their table.

Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill is just one of the many restaurant brands of world-renowned multi-Michelin starred Chef, Gordon Ramsay. The first outlet in the Philippines is part of the ever-expanding network of Gordon Ramsay Restaurants – with over 80 restaurants globally and a total of eight Michelin stars across their network. Although Chef Gordon did not personally make an appearance during the opening weekend, I'm hoping that he will eventually visit the country soon. Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill is open daily for lunch from 12:00nn to 3:00pm and dinner from 6:00pm to 10:00pm.

The restaurant is highlighted by interiors that pay homage to their Cool Britannia roots. The Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill concept traces its heritage from the royal borough of Chelsea and the affluent neighborhood of Mayfair in the heart of London. The dining venue is actually separated into three different areas. First is the Bar and Lounge area where guests can simply sit on the counter and order their choice of beverage. Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill offers an eclectic selection of wines and house-crafted cocktails as well.

The restaurant also offers two Private Dining Rooms which are perfect for intimate gatherings. Each room can accommodate up to 10 guests but can also be combined together to seat 20 guests. There is a minimum consumable amount of P30,000 for lunch and P50,000 for dinner to book the private rooms.

We were seated at the Main Dining Room which can offers tables for couples, families and bigger groups. The place gives off a cozy and casual vibe without really being too strict or too fine-dining. Smart casual attire is recommended according to their website.

The open kitchen is right beside the Main Dining Room so you can also see the very busy chefs working on your orders.

We got to meet Chef Ronald Kimbugwe, Culinary Director - International for Gordon Ramsay Restaurants. Chef Ronnie will be in charge of the kitchen and making sure that all of Chef Gordon's dishes and recipes get executed properly. Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill at Newport World Resorts serves a curated menu offering quintessential British cuisine featuring their signature Fish and Chips and the iconic Beef Wellington.

This is not the first time my husband and I will be dining together inside a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. During our European honeymoon last year, we made sure to visit the original branch of Bread Street Kitchen which is located at No. 10 Bread Street, just a few steps away from the famous St. Paul's Cathedral. Gordon Ramsay has 34 restaurants and bars in the United Kingdom alone, from casual dining venues like Street Pizza and Street Burger to upscale fine-dining restaurants like the flagship Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Savoy Grill and Petrus by Gordon Ramsay.

Just last June, we had lunch at Gordon Ramsay's Pub and Grill located inside The Londoner Macau. You can see that our usual go-to orders are the Fish and Chips and a Burger together with some cocktails. We did get to order a whole slab of Beef Wellington when we dined with some friends at Bread Street Kitchen Singapore last year.

We were happy to see that the Philippines menu also carried most of the signature dishes of Chef Gordon Ramsay. The prices are quite comparable to those in Macao and Singapore and even in London. Expect to spend around P3000 to P5000 per person if you want to get the full experience.

Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill Philippines Executive Chef Lois Brun makes sure that guests get the same dining experience you would expect in any Gordon Ramsay restaurant in the world. With this expert lineup of chefs back in the kitchen, I was really getting excited to start our British culinary adventure.

We started with some complimentary bread and butter which are served on each table. These soft rolls are refillable so you can enjoy as much as you like.

Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill serves some unique and interesting cocktails so we ordered a few from the beverage menu. The Chelsea Royal Garden (P650) is a refreshing glass of Prosecco combined with St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, fresh green apple and lemon bitters topped with edible gold leaf.

My husband Dexter got the fiery Strawberry Smash (P480) which had a mixture of Tito's vodka, St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, Colin dry vermouth, strawberry purée, and fresh lemon. It came with a little flair as the bartender used some cinnamon powder to light up the flames.

For our appetizer, we ordered the Crispy Crab Cake & Caviar (P880). This crispy pan fried crab cake comes topped with poached hen's egg and doused with creamy hollandaise sauce. To make it even more extravagant, caviar is added on top to crown this beautiful dish.

Cut the egg in half and let the yolk run down the crab cake. You can really taste the delicious crab meat that was seasoned very well. The serving is actually big enough to share for two persons.

Now it's time for our main courses. It was difficult to decide which of their specialties to try, so we ended up getting three main courses for ourselves.

The Grilled Tasmanian Salmon (P1500) is perfectly cooked, giving it a crispy outer skin but with a delicately soft salmon inside. It is served with charred broccolini and ikura fish roe then drizzled with dill beurre blanc, a French sauce made with butter, cream, and white wine.

Dexter likes burgers so his easy choice was the Bar & Grill Burger (P1450). It comes with 220 grams of Wagyu beef patty cooked medium to medium well. It is then garnished with sweet onion relish, American cheese, apple ketchup, butter lettuce, overnight tomatoes and sriracha mayo.

The Bar & Grill Burger also comes with a serving of Koffmann's Fries on the side. These crunchy double-fried potato fries pair so well with the savory burger.

The main attraction and the highlight of any visit to Gordon Ramsay's restaurants is definitely their Beef Wellington. I was really looking forward to this encounter since I very much enjoyed the Beef Wellington we had in Singapore.

Gordon’s Signature Beef Wellington (P3888) is an exquisitely plated slice of Beef Tenderloin wrapped in a layer of mushroom and truffle duxelles, encased within a buttery gold, flaky pastry, served with creamed potato and finished with a drizzle of red wine jus.

The flaky puff pastry is what sets this apart from other steak dishes. It takes great skill and technique to prepare this traditional English recipe that also comes with French influences. The dish is actually named after the first Duke of Wellington after his victory in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

I couldn't believe how tender the beef was, even though it is cooked almost rare in the center. The magnificent beef flavors were simply oozing with every bite. Don't worry, I gave a few small slices to my husband so he got to taste this as well.

For my sides, I ordered the Cured Ham Mac & Cheese (P650) to go along with my Beef Wellington. This provided a creamy balance to my beefy main dish.

For desserts, we had the Sticky Toffee Pudding (P550), a British dessert made with moist sponge cake and sweet butterscotch sauce served with Vanilla ice cream. This is also good enough to share for two persons.

Just when we thought our sumptuous lunch was finished, Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill General Manager Ryan Behr surprised us with a Caramelised Apple Tart Tatin (P780) as a free dessert to celebrate our upcoming wedding anniversary. This is just half of the serving since we were quite surprised and forgot to take a photo before it was cut and served to us. The apple tart slices are then served on these cute and romantic plates together with caramel sauce and two scoops of Vanilla ice cream. It was a very sweet and remarkable ending to our fantastic lunch.

But that wasn't all, because we were also presented with this letter containing handwritten notes from all of the staff including the chefs, waiters, and managers. That was such a heart-warming gesture from Gordon Ramsay's Bar and Grill that we truly appreciated. If you want to experience the same British culinary delights and hospitality, make sure to reserve your tables now at www.newportworldresorts.com/grbg because the next few weeks are already getting fully booked. I'll definitely be back next time to try more of Gordon Ramsay's signature dishes.

Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill PH

2/F Grand Wing, Newport World Resorts, Pasay City

(0917) 147-6576

www.newportworldresorts.com/grbg

www.facebook.com/gordonramsaybarandgrillph

Instagram: @gordonramsaybarandgrillph

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2 HOURS - LATER - ALWAYS - SOFT - GREEN

AS - THE - WILD - ANIMALS - TAKE - THEM - 2

HEAL - THEM - BRING - THEM - SOMEWHERE

DEAR - KOREAN - GIRLS - AND - BOYS,

YOU - WERE - BORN - 2 B - SLAUGHTERED

IN - SOUTH KOREA - AND - UNITED STATES

WHY - CIVILIANS - NO - WEAPONS - EVER

2 YEAR - MILITARY - 2 - TRAIN - MEN ONLY

THEY - DISAPPEAR - DURING - MARRIAGE

AGE - CONTINUING ...

[rmlnewstimes]

The Cashier in Dubai

Investigative report tracks tangled route for money flowing to offshore companies from Moldova.

Part One

Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc left his home country in 2019 to avoid corruption charges. But an investigation into his business affairs, shows that money continued to flow into his pockets long after he fled.

Black Box Plus, the investigative show of Moldova’s independent Tv channel TV8, acquired documents showing that Plahotniuc profited from every document Moldova’s Public Services Agency (ASP) issued between 2014-2019. Black Box TV followed the traces left by the businessman Alexandru Vilcu and Vladimir Andronachi, a former lawmaker with the Democratic Party (PD).

Documents show that the money reached Plahotniuc via Garsų Pasaulis, the Lithuanian printing house that won the public procurements for supplying blank cards the ASP uses to issue Moldovan documents, including passports. The financial circuit leads to a network of offshore companies registered in Cyprus, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In the summer of 2020, the scheme Plahotniuc built over the years was taken over by two Bulgaria-registered companies that appeared overnight.

These companies were the identical financial offshore vehicles through which Plahotniuc, former leader of the PD, raised alleged dividends from the auctions organised by the state telecom company Moldtelecom, the purchase of electricity from the breakaway region of Transnistria, the public-private partnership for hemodialysis services and the so–called heist of one billion US dollars from the Moldovan banking system.

The Lithuanian UAB (an acronym of uždaroji akcine bendrove, or private limited company) started supplying blank cards for Moldovan passports following tenders in 2014 and 2017. The main beneficiary of the Garsu Pasaulis company is Albert Mario Karaziwan, a Belgian citizen who owns Semlex Europe, an identification document and biometric device production company whose business practices have come under scrutiny. The Syrian-Belgium businessman has been targeted in several countries in criminal corruption cases and journalistic investigations by Reuters and OCCRP.

In 2014, Moldova’s minister of information and communications technology was Plahotniuc’s fellow party member Pavel Filip. The CRIS Registru state enterprise which in 2017 was re-organised as ASP, was headed by Sergey Railean, godfather of Filip's older son.

Between 2014 and 2021, ASP transferred 59.5 million euros to the Garsu Pasaulis company "for raw material, blank cards and personalisation services," according to documents obtained by Black Box.

ASP also paid the Lithuanian company a royalty fee for software developed for Moldova and used on three types of documents. For example, the royalty fee for each passport issued was 13.61 euros (14.49 US dollars). On October 22, 2021, prosecutors opened a criminal case against nine people from the Public Services Agency “targeted in a criminal case of abuse of office”. Prosecutors estimated that the state lost around 41 million euros (43.6 million dollars) in the case.

A LONG AND TANGLED PATH

A note from the Moldovan service for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering obtained by Black Box shows that more than 24 million euros (25.54 million dollars) did not stop in the company's accounts in Vilnius but ended up in Cyprus and the UAE.

“Of the 135 payments made throughout this period [2014-2019], I can tell you that the final beneficiary is obvious. At least, from what the criminal investigation bodies say, it is clear that the actual beneficiary is Vladimir Plahotniuc,” said ASP director Mircea Esanu.

Sergey Railean, the ASP former director under whose mandate the two contracts with Garsu Pasaulis were signed, said that he knew nothing about benefits for Plahotniuc.

"The tender took place according to the procedures. Therefore, nothing was outside the law," Railean said.

Told that Black Box reporters had established money transfers from Garsu Pasaulis to offshore companies affiliated with Plahotniuc, Railean was asked if he knew anything about it.

"No, absolutely not. Now it is a criminal case. The file must be completed after the trial,"he said. “[…] We did not order any software."

Railean added that ASP paid royalty fees to Garsu Pasaulis "because that was the contract".

On May 5, 2022 the Moldovan anti-corruption prosecutor's office announced that Railean had the status of accused in the so-called passport affair.

Filip, who held the post of prime minister in 2016-2019, did not answer the phone calls or requests for comment.

In May 2018, during a TV show broadcast by Prime, one of Plahotniuc's TV stations, Filip hinted that the state signed a more advantageous contract with Garsu Pasaulis than the previous one agreed in 2011 with a French company.

In 2011, Garsu Pasaulis had in fact tried to win a tender, but its application failed as it did not meet ASP’s criteria. A key condition was that applicants had experience manufacturing electronic passports for at least three European countries, as established by a decision of the Supreme Court of Justice. Garsu Pasaulis did not meet this requirement.

Garsu Pasaulis replied via e-mail that the company won the tenders and successfully delivered blank passport cards for ASP.

“As for the exact details of other commercial contracts, we cannot provide any details as confidentiality commitments bind us,” Andrius Lukosevicius, director of Garsu Pasaulis’ printing security department, wrote. “However, we can confirm that we have never had and do not currently have commercial or other relations with Mr Plahotniuc and [Romanian businesswoman] Mrs Ileana-Mihaela Burcea.”

The passport cash headed south, to the UAE firm Prime Union Solutions FZ LLC. Between January 1, 2018 and July 30, 2019 itreceived transfers for over 4.7 million euros ( five million dollars) from Garsu Pasaulis. The money continued to flow into Plahotniuc's coffers even after he fled Moldova in June 2019 when his name was linked to the disappearance of over a billion dollars - nearly one-eighth of Moldova's GDP - from the country's biggest banks between 2012 and 2014.

Employees at the Moldovan Money Laundering Prevention and Combating Service obtained information from their colleagues in Dubai and stated that the company's majority shareholders were the Romanian citizen Ileana-Mihaela Burcea and the company Inter Gnathonize Limited.

Between October 29, 2018, and July 30, 2019, a total of seven million euros (about 7.4 million dollars) were credited into Prime Union Solutions’ UAE bank account, largely sent from Garsu Pasaulis. The money then traveled to Burcea’s private account in UAE and six other offshore companies.

In liaison with UAE and Cyprus’ authorities, Moldova’s law enforcement agencies determined that Garsu Pasaulis transferred another 19.6 million euros (20.8 million dollars) to another Cyprus offshore company, Gnathonize Limited, also connected to Burcea.

The Cypriot firm opened a bank account in July 2014, four months after Garsu Pasaulis won the Moldova tender. The Lithuanian firm was the main contributor to the account until August 2018. After that, the money was transferred to the company Prime Union INC LTD in Hong Kong and marked as a "dividend payment".

Part Two

Documents from the Hong Kong public registry show that Burcea was one of Prime Union’s shareholders and in 2014-2019 the director. In 2020, Burcea requested the closing of the company. In 2018, over 600,000 euros (639,000 dollars) were transferred from one of Prime Union’s bank accounts to another offshore in Gibraltar.

In addition, 1.5 million euros (1.6 million dollars) arrived in Burcea`s personal account in the UAE and almost 800,000 euros (852,600 dollars) were directed to Recon Business Data Service, a company registered in Dubai led by Burcea. The company was closed in December 2019.

Burcea’s lawyer Cristina Savulescu declined to comment on the financial transfers from Garsu Pasaulis to her client. She also did not comment on Burcea’s connection with Plahotniuc. Savulescu said that any association of her client with an alleged criminal case was damaging to her client's image.

"The judicial procedure in any criminal case, from the time of notification to the competent bodies until the time of sending a particular person to court, is non-public and confidential, meaning that third parties cannot know the content of the carried-out procedures," Savulescu said.

Documents obtained by Black Box with the support of the OCCRP network of investigative journalists show that Plahotniuc used the same infrastructure of offshore companies to take yet more funds out of Moldova.

The former politician used the offshore network for the money obtained from other auctions organised by state enterprises including Moldtelecom, Moldova’s largest telecommunication operator, gas supplier Energocom and the health ministry for dialysis-related services.

The UAE’s Recon Business Data Services, connected to Burcea, was also involved in the financial circuit of money leaked by Plahotniuc from another scheme related to Moldtelecom, concerning public tenders won by Bass Systems SRL in PD`s ruling period.

Between March 2017 to January 2019 the Chisinau-based IT company delivered technical equipment and services for Moldtelecom worth about 41 million euros (43.6 million dollars). Out of this amount, eight million euros (8.5 million dollars) and six million dollars followed the same route to the UAE through Recon Business Data Services.

OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS

Another document obtained from the Moldovan service for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering shows that the Dubai-based company made several transactions to two offshores used by Plahotniuc: the UAE-based Vanguard International LTD and Vanguard International Group, registered in Samoa.

Both companies appeared in Plahotniuc's wealth statements in 2018. However, in the document submitted to Moldova’s Central Electoral Commission on the eve of the February 24, 2019 parliamentary elections, the oligarch declared 4.5 million euros (4.78 million dollars), over 11 million lei (around 585,000 dollars) and 347,000 dollars as dividends obtained from the Dubai-based Vanguard International Ltd.

Moldovan prosecutors established the origin of the money collected by Plahotniuc as "dividends".

Vanguard International LTD received 8.2 million euros (8.72 million dollars) and 2.5 million dollars from UAE-registered RECON SPC LIMITED from December 2017 to May 2019.

Burcea and another Romanian citizen, Silviu Tutuianu, were behind the company in different periods. Almost the entire amount came from the other similarly named firm, the Dubai-based Recon Business Data Service.

Plahotniuc also collected "dividends" worth 1.7 million euros (1.80 million dollars) and almost 350,000 US dollars through another offshore company, TGME INVESTMENTS SPC LTD, managed by Tutuianu.

All these companies were liquidated between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, after Plahotniuc fled Moldova. The Moldovan anti-corruption prosecutor's office opened a case for the purchase of equipment and services by Moldtelecom from SRL Bass Systems. The prosecutors confirmed that Burcea was interviewed in this criminal case, but did not disclose her status.

Burcea also managed a company that benefited from transfers from Plahotniuc’s Cyprus-registered Asia Pacific Textile Limited. This had transactions with the Cypriot offshore Melopmania Limited, the founder of BB-Dializa, a company which managed the dialysis services for the Moldovan health ministry.

BB Dializa also benefited from legal services from Cyprus-registered Kinanis offshore, founded by Burcea. The company also provided secretarial and legal services for Assentis Holdings Limited, one of the founders of Bass Systems SRL.

Asia Pacific Textile LTD received money from the Energokapital shell company. Between 2014 and 2016, the firm was used by Plahotniuc and Evgheni Shevciuk, former leader of Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria, to sell the electricity produced by the Russian-owned Moldgres Power Plant to Moldovan consumers.

The Black Box team tracked Energokapital's connections with Plahotniuc and the involvement of former DP deputy Vladimir Andronachi in the company's management.

Moldova’s service for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering established the connection between Burcea and two other offshore companies involved in looting a billion dollars from the country’s banking system: Sharp Prospects Limited and Lazomar Trading Limited, registered in Hong Kong and Cyprus respectively.

According to an international independent financial audit named the Kroll report, the Lazomar company received 5.6 million dollars in transfers to a Cypriot bank account. The Kroll report was commissioned by the National Bank of Moldova to investigate the theft that ravaged the country’s banking system.

Plahotniuc did not respond to requests for comment. His lawyer Lucian Rogac said that the former politician pleaded not guilty in the case generically called "blank passport cards".

"An indictment was presented to us. Other evidence to prove guilt was not shown by the prosecution. The only comment I can give you is that my client pleads not guilty to the charges," Rogac said.

In September 2022 Plahotniuc received an arrest warrant in absentia regarding the "blank passport cards" case, alongside Vladislav Zara, former director of the civil registry ASP, ex-PD deputy Andronachi and businessman Alexandru Vilcu. All of them have fled the country. According to Moldova’s ministry of justice, Plahotniuc is currently in Northern Cyprus.

Part Three

The scheme was taken over in the summer of 2020 by two Bulgarian companies.

In May 2020, the Lithuanian company UAB Garsu Pasaulis transferred the right for using the blank cards software to Optimo Service Ltd in Bulgaria, which ASP had co-opted to manage the documents’ personalisation programme.

"ASP proposed to have a third party take over the maintenance of the software from us. At the same time, we received proposals for cooperation from Optimo in Bulgaria," Garsu Pasaulis’ executive Andrius Lukosevicius said in a statement.

"Therefore, we wanted to avoid having any direct relationship with Optimo. While ASP persisted with its complaints [about improper maintenance of the software], we proposed to the client [ASP] that it consider entering into an agreement with Optimo (without us being involved in such a relationship) whereby Optimo would take over the software from us and its maintenance. We would no longer be responsible for this," he concluded.

Headquartered in Sofia’s luxury district of Manastirski Livadi, Optimo Service Ltd was founded on November 27, 2019, half a year before taking over the right to manage the software from Garsu Pasaulis. The founder is Russian citizen Sergey Pirojkov, while the manager is Bulgarian citizen Tsvetan Stoyanov Dimitrov.

The Bivol Investigative Journalism Centre reporter in Bulgaria, one of Black Box's partners in this investigation, went to the company's headquarters to talk to the owners. According to the documents detailing the company’s address, the offices are on the top floor of a residential building, where a beauty salon is also located. There is no plaque indicating the presence in this location of businesses involving ASP and Garsu Pasaulis.

In November 2022, a Bivol reporter knocked on the door. An employee of the beauty salon opened it and said that at the end of the corridor there was an office where "two Russian guys are working on computers, Serioja and Anton". The two men "rarely come to work".

On October 26, 2020, Optimo Service transferred its commitments to ASP to another Bulgarian company, Optimo IT Solutions LTD, whose owner is none other than Stoyanov, Optimo Service’s manager.

Two weeks before this deal, Stoyanov bought an older company and changed its name to Optimo IT Solutions.

Almost two months after Stoianov’s take over, the ASP funds began to flow into the accounts of Optimo IT Solutions as royalty fees for delivering the IDs and passports

According to documents seen by the Black Box team, between November 24, 2020, and August 13, 2021, ASP made 19 payments totaling 5.6 million euros (5.96 million dollars), to the newly established Optimo IT Solutions LTD.

The director of ASP, Mircea Esanu, told Black Box about the shady software rights transfer to Bulgarian companies.

"I assume who is [the beneficiary of those companies]. I have yet to see documents demonstrating where the money went from those accounts of the Bulgarian companies. But for me, it is strange when a company, even a printing house, sells practically for free to a Bulgarian company created overnight and later collects 5.6 million euros (5.96 million dollars) for a year,” he said.

On the same day in November 2022, the Bivol reporter returned to Optimo IT Solutions’ offices in central Sofia, to talk to the company's owner. The office is in an old building and access to the courtyard is prohibited. Employees of the company providing the space for rent refused to grant allow the reporter inside the building. The accountant of the same company refused to give any details.

Black Box called Optimo IT Solutions headquarters to talk to Stoyanov. The company secretary said to send questions by e-mail, but reporters did not receive an answer.

NEW MANAGEMENT

Returning to the summer of 2020, Optimo Service took over the royalty scheme. One month after transferring the rights to the document personalisation software, the Bulgarian company decided to take a Moldovan partner to represent its interests with ASP.

The company wrote to ASP that IT-LAB GRUP SRL would manage the software. The connections led to the Moldovan businessman Alexandru Vilcu.

According to the letter sent to the ASP by the Bulgarian company, IT-LAB GRUP was to deal not only with the technical servicing of the software but to also manage the entire business administration process.

Furthermore, the Moldovan business would be allowed to hold the Optimo Service company stamp, sign documents, and receive and make payments on behalf of the Bulgarian enterprise.

In November 2022, the founder of IT-LAB GRUP, Alexey Cioban, told Black Box that he did not provide any services to ASP because he no longer cooperated with the Bulgarian company. He claims that he was contacted directly from Sofia but did not say with whom he negotiated.

"We had some discussions about a potential partnership. I also went to ASP, and we discussed concluding a contract, but [we did not], with neither ASP nor the Bulgarian company. We did not reach an agreement. We didn't do any work. We didn't get any money and wanted to avoid collaborating with this company [Optimo],” Cioban said. "We had to take care of the technical part, the software, and the equipment installed at ASP. I talked with ASP, found out more details, and said it differs from our line of work. We refused."

Documents however show that the partnership between Optimo Service and IT-LAB lasted half a year and their collaboration contract was terminated in January 2021.

Cioban's firm, delegated by the Bulgarians to defend their interests in Moldova, has its legal address in Chisinau’s Rascani neighbourhood. According to the land registry, the building in which IT-LAB operates belongs to Tehnovin, a machinery manufacturing company owned by Vilcu.

Cioban categorically denied he ever collaborated with Vilcu in the business of Moldova’s public service agency.

In an exchange of messages with Black Box, Vilcu admitted that he tried to arrange a partnership with the company from Bulgaria and proposed a collaboration with IT-LAB. This contradicts Cioban, who denied his partner's involvement in the ASP case.

"We tried with Alexei [Cioban] to partner with those from Lithuania, but after an analysis, Alexei understood that he would not be able to cope with this and refused. And there, believe me, there was no mention of the figures I read in the files and the press,” Vilcu said.

He added it was a "decent proposal for Moldova," about "tens of thousands, not millions".

In September 2020, Vilcu received an arrest warrant in absentia; he did not appear at the hearing as requested by prosecutors.

Vilcu denies allegations that he was one of the beneficiaries of the ASP scheme and claims he initiated his own investigation to find out who benefited from the money stolen from the passports.

"I want to assure you that I did not participate in this affair. I had nothing to do with passports or other documents from Moldova. I have never dealt with a business that is outside the law. I was less interested in the Bulgarian company. I was more interested in the documents based on which the criminal file was opened against me," Vilcu said.

MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS

Another character targeted in the passport blanks case was the former deputy Vladimir Andronachi.

The anti-corruption prosecutor's office has established connections between the Bulgarian companies Optimo Service and Optimo IT Solutions with Andronachi and relationships with businessman Alexandru Vilcu.

The prosecutor's office stated that it is verifying Andronachi and Vilcu’s involvement in the ASP scheme.

“We inform you that a preliminary link of connection has been established between these natural and legal persons, but the criminal prosecution body still verifies the factual circumstances of these links. In this sense, requests for rogatory commissions are to be formulated," the statement read.

An official source said that the connection between Andronachi and the companies in Bulgaria was ensured by his family’s lawyer, Carolina Andriuta, who allegedly managed the Bulgarian companies from Chisinau. Black Box reporters have not been able to independently verify these allegations.

The anti-corruption prosecutor's office confirmed that Andriuta is accused in the criminal case “for complicity in the abuse of office and money laundering” but stated that the investigation continues.

Andriuta managed several companies connected to Andronachi. Currently, she is on the accused bench in a case concerning bank fraud, together with Nadejda Andronachi, Vladimir Andronachi’s wife.

Oleg Mita, Vladimir Andronachi’s lawyer, who was recently detained in Ukraine and extradited to Moldova on November 2, 2022 did not respond to questions.

Andronachi remains in prison and Mita states that he pleads not guilty in the “passport affairs” case.

"Mr Andronachi had been officially charged in this case. But he does not admit his fault. He explained to the prosecutors that he knew nothing about such actions related to so-called passport forgery schemes," the lawyer said.

Mita is also Carolina Andriuta's lawyer. Mita claims that Andriuta was not accused and also pleaded not guilty.

Melvin Kramer

[saintmeghanmarkle]

EXCLUSIVEMeghan's brand troubles: Netflix could step in to help run American Riviera Orchard after Duchess failed to find a CEO despite wide search - as streaming giant also plots new show and looks to US TV couple for inspiration. by u/Von_und_zu_

EXCLUSIVEMeghan's brand troubles: Netflix could step in to help run American Riviera Orchard after Duchess failed to find a CEO despite wide search - as streaming giant also plots new show and looks to US TV couple for inspiration. She is so lazy and no one wants to be her CEO. So now she wants NF to do it?How "intriguing." Really Richard? Intriguing?'The initial CEO search has not panned out so far,' a California-based source said.And her apparent difficulties have led to an intriguing new development: Meghan has begun negotiations with Netflix about the American streaming giant entering into a commercial partnership with American Riviera Orchard.She should have named her brand Grifteur.https://ift.tt/ORSaArl to add this bit from the article. I cannot stop laughing at this. She is updating, evolving, and curating her friends!!!! Is this how we are supposed to choose our friends in the brave new world?!?!PR gurus told MailOnline that Meghan's friendship circle had been updated, evolving to be in keeping with her new business venture, hence why the gang include others based in the Californian enclave or women in business.Culture expert Nick Ede told MailOnline: 'As with all friendships and circles they always change.'We can see from whose in and whose out that the old guard of celebrity friends from Meghan's pre Megxit days seem to have been excluded from this PR campaign and there is a new squad who live in and around the Montecito area and support women in business.'Meanwhile public relations expert Mark Borkowski said Meghan's updated circle of friends proves she still has 'profound influence' but added she has started to 'curate' friends that fit her new 'narrative'.The PR wiz said: 'Meghan's circle proves she has a profound influence and will continue*. The lineup of names surrounding her in this endeavor* certainly speaks volumes about her evolving inner circle*.*'Mindy Kaling and Tracee Ellis Ross, it's evident she's curating a circle of influencers and creatives, signaling a shift towards a more culturally resonant sphere.'As for those left out in the cold*, it's a curious mix of former confidants and acquaintances who perhaps didn't quite fit the new narrative. It's a strategic move, undoubtedly* showcasing Meghan's knack for reinvention and remaining in the news cycle.'Edit to add - surely this bit about the friends must be subtle snark from Richard. If this is how she thinks of friends, no wonder she has none.https://ift.tt/K8JztuH post link: https://ift.tt/S0AsM8r author: Von_und_zu_ submitted: April 27, 2024 at 12:18AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[pranalipawargis]

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[officialtayley]

I just want to mention that Hayley signed a 360 deal. This usually means the label typically takes a larger; bc they put up a lot of money up front in exchange for percentages of more than just the music. So the label literally takes a percentage of everything that Hayley Williams & Paramore does. Even things that aren’t related to music, touring, and merch. The label is entitled to cuts from features, sponsorships, appearances, tv/movie work, publishing, book deals, endorsements, and basically everything an artist does. The Paramore and HW websites were both directly linked to Atlantic. And as far as their socials, if they had monetization (like the stores/shops) or any link to the label it would make sense to wipe that all clean.

anon.... i know what a 360 deal is 😭 others here should do too since i've talked about it before. either way, as you can see social media earnings are left out from that. unless it were an endorsement/ad/paid partnership then they'd take money from it so twitter fans are being a bit odd.

someone simply asked about the brand that is paramore, in which hayley owns the various trademarks, which was smart on her part to at least be the owner. yes, it make sense to wipe socials clean to remove any trace of the label, but people on twitter in particular are going a bit........ well the theories are getting a bit out there. the label most likely don't own their social media accounts, but now they aren't with a label it's best to wipe it clean, and their website currently is down (it's owned by a proxy in florida as is hayley's), so it just makes sense to get rid of it all as they're not on the label and the label and them are probably sorting out ownership of the site and store (i would assume)

i just don't think the label owns their socials as tumblr and facebook have everything that was removed from ig and twitter.

[socialseasons]

Her stalker. Francesca felt herself wince at the ugliness of the word, hating how one person could change the entire outlook of her life simply by making a few threats -- It would be laughable if it wasn't so sinister, feeling more like a bad Halloween movie than her reality.

"Funny," she muttered at his quip, no trace of mirth even attempting to show in her expression. Still, she could not resist a neighbouring retort, "Why on earth would I do that? The yellow ones are the best."

Although her features remained fixed in their soured displeasure, Francesca could not help the slightest smirk tugging at her lips at that, brows furrowed as Ben started speaking of his job. A federal agent? God, Anthony really went all out on their security expenses.

"So I'm a punishment?" She should find it funny, should see the humour in such a statement, but all she could focus on was the sting that accompanied the revelation. Levelling her gaze on his expression, she so desperately wanted to ask what had caused him to earn such a fate, but perhaps that was best left to the imagination. "How very flattering."

"Look, we need to consider this a partnership. I'm sure you don't want to die, right?"

Her immediate response of "I-" was cut off before she could continue, lips clamped together as she took in his words.

"In order to keep you alive, we need to work together -- we need to corroborate in order to figure out if this stalker has actually been in your trajectory before."

Silence. It dawned on Francesca then that nobody had dared utter those words to her before, had never outwardly stated that her life would be in danger even if actions insinuated as such. Whoever this stalker was, she had no idea what they wanted -- Whether they loved or hated her, whether they were fans of her dad or not, whether she was the only target. She had seven siblings, after all -- Her three older brothers had been in a band together, her younger two siblings had their own TV show -- What made her so special?

"All right," she acceded, gaze travelling back to the blurred scenery beyond the passenger window. "Although I do think everybody is blowing this far out of proportion."

"I'm twenty, not twelve."

Briefly, Ben's eyes snapped toward her, taking in Francesca's sulky posture with scorn. "Could've fooled me," he muttered.

"What research did you do? Because most of the stuff out there isn't actually true."

"Not much," he admitted. "I well-versed myself in your life, mostly, so I could see if there's any traceable pattern you follow. If your stalker notices a routine, he or she will act upon it." Mouth curling, he coolly added, "So am I to take it you don't actually demand stainless steel straws in your dressing room, and that you don't require all the yellow M&Ms to be removed from your candy bowl?"

The idea was laughable -- he did smile, in fact -- and easing his vehicle up the neighboring street, he grew relieved once his GPS indicated that they only had a few more miles. God is good...

"How much is my brother paying you to do this? It has to be a lot, considering how little you seem to think of my family."

Ben finally did laugh, though the sound lacked mirth. "You think I'm the one being paid?" he asked. "I'm being punished. I'm a federal agent, Miss Bridgerton, not a babysitter, so if any money is passing between hands, it sure as hell isn't making its way into my pocket. And I don't hate you..."

He didn't. He couldn't find it in himself to hate anyone, though as Ben glanced toward Francesca again, it dawned on him that he was being intentionally cruel. All his life, he'd struggled with the idea of not giving anyone their proper due, even with those who were rude or unkind to him, and a sliver of guilt sliced from within, wriggling and writhing like a restless snake.

"I'm..." Ben exhaled, awkwardly flexing his hands around the steering wheel. "Look, we need to consider this a partnership. I'm sure you don't want to die, right?" Without waiting for an answer, he barreled on, "In order to keep you alive, we need to work together -- we need to corroborate in order to figure out if this stalker has actually been in your trajectory before."