Your debt collector?
Is this the kinds of things your debt collectors are also involved in?
August 2004
Why do I care about the probe?
Because you, as a resident or devotee of Philadelphia, are pathologically drawn to corruption and its seedy accomplices, and the federal investigation into the awarding of city contracts offers a rich stew of them: mob bosses, union bosses, mistresses, collection agencies, religiously-inspired name changes, the lovely Sky Asian Bistro at the Philadelphia International Airport, those “umbrella-like organizations where artistry and criminality often mutually coexist” (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/21/03) known as rap groups, the slum-healing power of fried chicken and … oh yes, City Hall. Because a very naive and sick part of you is charmed by tales of Italian Catholics, black Muslims and WASP bankers all harmoniously gorging Philadelphia's fleshy underbelly with fatty municipal contracts. Because everyone is talking about it, and you, reader, are everyone's resident know-it-all.
How did the probe start?
Where there are drugs, there are bugs. If the Taliban hadn't been trafficking heroin, the C.I.A. might never know they were also playing host to Al Qaeda boot camps.
Click here for the rest of the story
Then the government got into the act
There are many more instances of collection agencies being set up and used by terrorist groups to defraud Americans and American financial institutions.
The Federal Probe: An Explainer
by INDEPENDENT STAFFAugust 2004
Why do I care about the probe?
Because you, as a resident or devotee of Philadelphia, are pathologically drawn to corruption and its seedy accomplices, and the federal investigation into the awarding of city contracts offers a rich stew of them: mob bosses, union bosses, mistresses, collection agencies, religiously-inspired name changes, the lovely Sky Asian Bistro at the Philadelphia International Airport, those “umbrella-like organizations where artistry and criminality often mutually coexist” (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/21/03) known as rap groups, the slum-healing power of fried chicken and … oh yes, City Hall. Because a very naive and sick part of you is charmed by tales of Italian Catholics, black Muslims and WASP bankers all harmoniously gorging Philadelphia's fleshy underbelly with fatty municipal contracts. Because everyone is talking about it, and you, reader, are everyone's resident know-it-all.
How did the probe start?
Where there are drugs, there are bugs. If the Taliban hadn't been trafficking heroin, the C.I.A. might never know they were also playing host to Al Qaeda boot camps.
Click here for the rest of the story
Then the government got into the act
There are many more instances of collection agencies being set up and used by terrorist groups to defraud Americans and American financial institutions.
posted by Creditwrench at 10:53 AM
