
Ex-chair of FCC broadband committee gets five years in prison for fraud - howard941
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/06/ajit-pais-ex-advisor-gets-five-years-in-prison-for-lying-to-investors/
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btown
Wow, pretty blatant stuff here. Forged signatures! But some of this could have
been prevented. For instance, one of the defrauded equity investors was
apparently promised a guaranteed 8% annual return, and was asked to wire money
in advance of deal documentation [0]... both of which should have immediately
been red flags.

Raw press release here. [1]

[0] Jensen complaint: [https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-
uploads/adn/wp...](https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-
uploads/adn/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/27081106/03.0-Amended-
Complaint-11-22-17.pdf)

[1] [https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-ceo-alaska-
based...](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-ceo-alaska-based-fiber-
optic-cable-company-sentenced-5-years-prison-defrauding)

~~~
khawkins
This certainly begs the question as to whether she sought out the FCC position
in hopes of directing Federal money towards projects like hers. It seems like
she was desperate to cover up her fraud for 2 years, and especially around the
time she took her post in the FCC.

~~~
peterwwillis
[https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/16137/begs-
the-q...](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/16137/begs-the-question-
or-raises-the-question#16138)

~~~
scott_s
We lost. You'll feel better if you give up, too.

~~~
peterwwillis
Oh I'm not trying to feel better, I'm trying to help people understand why
they say the things they say. And a lot of people don't know about rhetoric.

~~~
scott_s
I don't think what you linked has anything to do with _why_. The why is
straight-forward: what the phrase means in formal logic is not intuitive, and
how people use the phrase colloquially is intuitive.

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midnitewarrior
I wonder how many years Ajit Pai will get when it's his turn?

~~~
zaroth
I always find its best not to defame someone, no matter how much you might
dislike them or their policies, unless you have a specific fact you want to
cite?

~~~
midnitewarrior
How about his willful undermining of the integrity of the public comment
process for the Net Neutrality regulations for starters?

He got his way aside by refusing to investigate the tens of thousands of fake
comments supporting the repeal of Net Neutrality regulations.

~~~
jjeaff
Considering that the comments are completely useless for anything except to
let the commissioner know what the public opinion is on a topic, it's not like
he actually changed any outcomes by not investigating. The comments aren't
votes.

~~~
trhway
Russian election meddling was mainly fake comments/posts on FB, Twitter, etc.
Similarly to Pai, the current administration refuses to investigate those fake
comments too. Looks like a trend :)

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sunkensheep
Astounds me how anti-human organizations such as ALEC are granted such
influence by Republican and Democrat alike in the USA. The fraud on the other
hand, doesn't surprise me. Despite their power, these regulatory institutions
seem more captured by vested interests and partisan politics than the public
good they should be providing.

~~~
pwodhouse
ALEC is a conservative organization with 98% Republican membership.

~~~
ncmncm
That seems like a contradiction. I cannot think of any conservative policies
advanced lately by the Republican leadership.

~~~
bayareanative
No, it's not. Conservative corporate policies desire restoration of a
regressive, apartheid theocracy... think Clarence Thomas and Scalia.

~~~
ncmncm
That is hardly a conservative goal; it is radically reactionary. Actually
conservative policies would resist change, not seek it out.

