FBI raid in Monsey - Amother enabled

cnc

Wed, Mar 16 2016, 11:46 pm

amother wrote:

Not every school raided is guilty. How can an innocent school protect itself from guilt by association? How do you protect yourself from being tainted by this as a frum Jew?

The guilty schools probably sanitized their records because enough time passed. The innocent and guilty schools both lost their efficient operating abilities today.

Forget about the federal government, I think it's pretty obvious to me and you which schools are guilty. Who are we trying to kid? Take one look at the list of schools and tell me which ones you would assume used the grant money for the specified and intended purposes.

And in case you're wondering what exactly the specified and intended purposes are just Google e-rate program.

amother

Royalblue

Wed, Mar 16 2016, 11:55 pm

treestump wrote:

I actually think having an open, frightening raid IS for the benefit of innocent schools.

It serves as a mighty deterrent for them not to engage in crooked behavior, however tempting, even if it seems that every other school is doing it and getting away with it. It reconfirms that no one is above the law, and no one should think they are.

That being said, I can't even begin to comprehend how these schools thought they could get away with it infinitely.

Why not raid everyone all the time to keep to keep them from committing fraud? For that matter, you should be arrested as a deterrent to you committing future crimes.

I wasn't frightened by the raid today. I know I am clean, and I know I wasn't in danger. I was worried about the students who were traumatized.

amother

Royalblue

Wed, Mar 16 2016, 11:58 pm

treestump wrote:

I think Maya was responding to the first post, where the OP seemed to imply that all the schools were innocent.

I am the OP, and that isn't my intention. I also think there are guilty schools.

amother

Aubergine

Wed, Mar 16 2016, 11:58 pm

They raids are not random but raids do not equal guilt. They suspect that a particular company that installs telephone and internet systems and who serviced a number of schools was involved in illegal activity, so ANY school that the company serviced is now under a microscope.

vintagebknyc

Wed, Mar 16 2016, 11:58 pm

amother wrote:

You are biased and often wrong. The truth is often not as broad based as you assert. You wouldn't like it if people decided your husband is a crook because you lived in Williamsburg. Believe it or not - not every person of Satmar origins is a thief, yet you lump everyone together and call yourselves criminals.

So Maya, no one should listen to you because you are a criminal from Williamsburg. That is the way you present your arguments.

Why are you amother? You're not allowed to use amother for personal attacks, it's unkind and cowardly. I tell you this because it appears you're new here and don't seem to know the rules of the site.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:04 am

cnc wrote:

Also, I highly doubt they're raiding random schools.
They're most likely raiding the schools that used the grant money/billed for services!

Thank you. My point is that they targeted a certain type of school that used the grant whether it was used as intended or misappropriated.

If a school followed the rules they suffer the same bad publicity and hardship as those that didn't.

treestump

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:05 am

amother wrote:

Oh, please.

I see that you clarified that you think some schools are innocent and should have been more protected from the harsh raid.

When I wrote the post, I was responding to the first post, before your edit, where it seemed as though you though the raid should have been done quietly after hours to avoid media attention.

I misunderstood. My apologies. But I still maintain that it is a good thing for other schools and people in general to see the consequences of crooked practices, and that these things catch up in the end even if they were able to get away with it for years. I meant it as a general statement.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:09 am

amother wrote:

I agree that it is fair to investigate. I don't agree with the raids during school hours, nor do I agree with publishing the names of schools unless they have evidence of guilt.

cnc

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:15 am

amother wrote:

I "followed the FBI" on social media as they raided the schools throughout the day. I can't imagine that a single one of the schools named used the grant appropriately by funding technology for their students. If any of them did, please enlighten me (you can PM me). I would love to know which of these schools actually used the money for a proper library and Internet connection throughout.

Hey, it's 2016 -maybe the schools are advancing (although I'm not sure how that would work with all the Internet bans..)

cnc

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:17 am

amother wrote:

I agree that it is fair to investigate. I don't agree with the raids during school hours, nor do I agree with publishing the names of schools unless they have evidence of guilt.

I hear your point regarding raids during school hours, but that's commonly the way it's done. The FBI usually shows up at inconvenient times purposely.
They're not exactly looking to make it easy for those under investigation.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:21 am

treestump wrote:

I think all the children should have been protected from the trauma. The raids should have been done after school hours for all schools. It could also have been done lower key to minimize the drama, but that would have lessened the headlines.

I do think the publicity is wrong; and it is designed for political grandstanding. The publicity should be reserved when there is evidence of actual guilt rather than guilt by association.

treestump

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:24 am

I agree with you that children should have been protected from the trauma - whatever their administrators may have done, they are innocent.

But that's not the way the FBI works. It's not discriminatory to these specific schools; it's how they generally operate.

cmalky

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:25 am

Mevater wrote:

I hope schools who dont allow computer instruction for their students, dont get caught having billed the government for computers for their students! Oy.

E-Rate is actually for more than just computers and Internet for students use... I happen to work in one of the biggest schools in Monsey that relies on E-Rate a lot and a nice chunk of it doesn't go to the student. And no, we were not raided today. It's all legal. I think people are way too quick to judge... It's perfectly legal for a school that doesn't teach computers to the students to get computers through E-Rate for the offices and such....

cnc

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:28 am

cmalky wrote:

It is. But it doesn't "shtim" when a school bills 1 million dollars for computers that are just for their office. Even if you buy top of the line computers, something doesn't add up and you're ASKING to be investigated.

cmalky

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:32 am

cnc wrote:

I agree with you. My question is, is anyone certain that schools billed for a million dollars??? I know quite a few schools that use E-Rate legally; in Monsey and Brooklyn.

I don't mean to come out against you personally, I'm just trying to bring across my point that very often people judge without knowing all details...

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:34 am

cnc wrote:

I rather not say the school because of privacy reasons; however, the Internet is used with filters.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:38 am

treestump wrote:

My point of the big headlines is that often it shakes out the prosecutors were wrong. Other countries do not allow the publicity at this stage in investigations. There are no headlines when investigations are dropped.

amother

Denim

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:39 am

Maya wrote:

Yeah sure. All these poor innocent schools. Let's take the side of the criminals, and call those who don't deny the truth biased.

I don't even know the details, nor do I even want to know the statement I made was a general statement regarding different threads.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:44 am

cmalky wrote:

OP here: As an aside, I wasn't expecting to be raided because we are so careful to follow the rules & regulations and do things legally. I wasn't totality surprised because I know how these things are done.