That Coach Bag You Bought In Chinatown

WARNING: That Coach Bag You Bought In Chinatown Could Be Funding A Terrorist Group Meredith Galante coach online outlet coach factory outlet online Dec. 10, 2011, 10:08 PM 9,885 20 facebook linkedin twitter email print Bob Doran via FlickrIn a McMansion outside Los Angeles, a woman—let's call her Mercedes—lives a lavish lifestyle sending her three kids to private school, and most likely driving a car with her same namesake.Mercedes funds this life with her $300,000 a year salary, none of which is taxable because it's all earned on the black market.Mercedes is in the family business: Organized Retail Crime (ORC). She's a third generation member of a family from Colombia that sells from stolen designer bags and dresses from Neiman Marcus to Crest White Strips and makeup found in drug stores—and coachoutlet.com she's making a boat load doing so.Journalist Hitha Prabhakar interviewed Mercedes (her name has been changed for protection) and countless others while following the money trail of stolen designer bags and the other items that make up ORC rings. While reporting, Prabhakar uncovered that the money unassuming Americans pay for counterfeit or stolen designer bags actually ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations abroad.Her recently published book, "Black Market Billions," explains how organized retail crime, a $38 billion-a-year industry, funds global terrorism as kingpins funnel money back to their homelands.To put the $38 billion into perspective: Pablo Escobar's drug ring only brought in $30 billion a year.UNCOVERING THE ORC RINGIt all started when Prabhakar, a retail and fashion journalist who now works for BloombergTV, coach factory outlet online received an instant message from a former colleague asking if she wanted to buy a designer bag.He said he "had a hook up," Prabhakar said in the book.Prabhakar recounted the shock she felt when he told her that all the employees of designer hand bag companies were stealing bags and re-selling them at a third of the price."Everyone is doing it," he told her, she wrote.From her journalism experience, she knew that fashion lovers found ways to buy designer bags at a discount from less-than-legitimate sources, but her friend's description sounded as if it was a much larger problem than she originally thought.  "My book all started with the IM from my friend," Prabhakar said in a phone interview this week. "Just how prevalent is this? Is this just a group of thugs making extra buck or does he mean 'everyone?' Turns out ORC was a $38 billion business. And not just Barneys was being affected, but it spanned from Barneys to Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus, all the way down to Walgreens. It's fascinating."Next, read about how the money trail works. coachoutletonline Continue reading » 1 2 3 coach outlet online View As One Page More: Culture Luxury Crime Terrorism Shopping

Under police investigation, Blackhawks' Kane hires lawyer

Under police investigation, Blackhawks' Kane hires lawyer John Wawrow, Associated Press coach online outlet Aug. 8, 2015, 10:11 AM 100 facebook linkedin twitter email print FILE - In coach factory outlet online this June 6, 2015, file photo, Chicago coach online outlet Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane skates coachoutletonline against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period in Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final in Tampa, Fla. The NHL says it is "following developments" of a police investigation involving Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File) eapcontent.ap.org BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A lawyer has been hired to represent Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane, who is under police investigation over something that may have happened at his home last weekend. Lawyer coach online outlet Paul Cambria didn't provide any further information in a text message to The Associated Press on Saturday. Cambria represented Kane in 2009, when he faced charges for assaulting a Buffalo cab driver. In the meantime, Blackhawks spokesman Brandon Faber says Kane will spend Saturday with the Stanley Cup privately with his family in Buffalo. The developments come a day after Hamburg police confirmed Kane is under investigation for an "incident that allegedly occurred" at the player's offseason home in suburban Buffalo. Hamburg Police Chief Gregory Wickett did not discuss the nature of the investigation. He said police are gathering information and awaiting forensic tests. More from Associated Press:Texas coachoutlet.com Longhorns jump all the way up to No. 11 in latest AP poll after beating Notre DameA college professor has promised to consume only water and sports drinks after the university's president overrode a nearly unanimous decision to grant him tenureCraig Sager is hoping to return to NBA sidelines by November after receiving a rare third bone-marrow transplantDavid Ortiz honored with a corn maze cut in his likenessSwiss fighter plane goes missing in central Swiss Alps More: Associated Press