Emily Hikade didn't plan on running a fast-growing startup. After a near-death experience, one thing just led to another. A case officer working undercover for the Central Intelligence Agency, Hikade's job had taken her family to nine countries on three continents, and she wanted a safer life for her children. During a flight over the Indian Ocean to meet an affiliate of a known terrorist group, Hikade's plane started to nosedive. "The lights went out and people were screaming," Hikade told Inc. 's What I Know podcast . "I had three little boys at home, and my youngest one wasn't even a year old. I could see them so clearly in my head, and I felt really profoundly sad that they were going to grow up without a mother." While aspiring entrepreneurs can feel like there's no ideal time to start a company, as the plane righted itself, Hikade thought, well, this is as good a time as any. In 2015, while working in East Africa, Hikade launched Petite Plume, a high-end … [Read more...] about She Worked Undercover for the CIA. Now, Her Apparel Company Tops $10 Million in Annual Sales
Rupee one sale
U.S. Fines Wells Fargo Nearly $100 Million For Sanctions Violations
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department fined Wells Fargo $97.8 million on Thursday for allowing a foreign bank to make hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions that were prohibited under U.S. sanctions laws, the latest multi-million-dollar penalty from regulators to hit Wells Fargo in recent years. Key Facts Wells Fargo is accused of allowing an unnamed foreign bank to process $532 million worth of prohibited transactions on its Eximbills financial platform from 2010 to 2015, the Federal Reserve Board said in an announcement. The bank kicked the foreign client off its platform in 2015 and reported the issue to the Fed and the Treasury, according to a filing from U.S. regulators. The Treasury says the bank—which agreed to a settlement with the federal government—violated sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan. The Federal Reserve fined the bank $67.8 million, and the Treasury … [Read more...] about U.S. Fines Wells Fargo Nearly $100 Million For Sanctions Violations
‘QAnon Shaman’ Jacob Chansley Released Early From Prison After Jan. 6 Conviction
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Jacob Chansley—whose horned fur hat, American flag face paint and bare chest made him one of the most recognizable January 6 rioters—was released from prison and sent to a halfway house earlier than scheduled this week, which some right-wing figures are celebrating as a victory following a push for his release. Key Facts Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Scott Taylor said Chansley was moved Tuesday from his low-level-security prison in southeastern Arizona to a halfway house in Phoenix, where he will be released May 25. Chansley—who also went by “Jake Angeli” and was known as the “QAnon Shaman”—was set for a July release following his 2021 guilty plea for obstructing an official proceeding, after he joined the mob invading the Capitol and became one of a handful of rioters who stood at the presiding seat of the Senate dais. Chansley was first arrested and jailed days after the January 6 riot, and … [Read more...] about ‘QAnon Shaman’ Jacob Chansley Released Early From Prison After Jan. 6 Conviction
U.S. Government Sells Bitcoin Seized From Silk Road Case, Netting Over $215 Million
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The U.S. government is back into cryptocurrency trading. According to a memo filed Friday in the Southern District of New York, on March 14th the U.S. sold 9,861.1707894 of the 50,000 of bitcoin bitcoin it seized in the case of a hack of the Silk Road marketplace. The government raked in $215.5 million after transaction fees. The per-coin sale price of about $21,877 was $2,000 less than the going rate on that particular day. The sale didn’t appear to impact bitcoin’s price, which gained 2.43% the day of the transaction. Bitcoin’s value currently sits at around $28,000, so maybe the government could have timed the market a little better. Twitter had a bit of fun at the government’s paying $215,000 in transaction fees — about 0.1% of the total amount sold. It seems traders for the U.S. could learn a thing or two from the crypto community about minimizing costs. For example, Gemini, the crypto exchange run by the … [Read more...] about U.S. Government Sells Bitcoin Seized From Silk Road Case, Netting Over $215 Million
The Social Security Earnings Test Should Be Eliminated
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin By Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Next Avenue Social Security's Earnings Test tops my list for our government's most senseless and personally financially destructive policy. The Earnings Test is a massive tax that isn't. It's a tax that's levied and then secretly returned making no money on balance for the government (as measured on an actuarial present value basis). Its sole purpose is to con Social Security beneficiaries below age 67 into thinking that earning money beyond a di minimis amount will come at a huge loss in current net income as well as lifetime benefits. Here's how Social Security describes the Earnings Test. This text appeared in a letter I received in December, 2022. The letter, which announced the system's 2023 COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustment) was, I presume, sent to each of Social Security's 70 million beneficiaries: Working and Getting Social Security at the Same Time You can work and … [Read more...] about The Social Security Earnings Test Should Be Eliminated