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Ontario International Airport Buoyed by Freight Shipments in September
OC Fair Food Drive-Thru Enters Final Weeks
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Go to DuarteDispatch.com for Duarte Specific News M O N D AY, O C T O B E R 19 - O C T O B E R 25, 2020
V O L U M E 9, N O. 42
White Supremacist Lies to Obtain Security Clearance at Defense Facility A former member of two white supremacist organizations has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge that he failed to disclose his past membership in two hate groups in order to obtain a security clearance and employment at a defense contractor. Decker Hayes Ramsay, 23, of Rolling Hills, agreed to plead guilty to a single-count information charging him with making false statements. Ramsay’s plea agreement was filed in United States District Court. According to his plea agreement, in April 2018, Ramsay knowingly and willfully made a materially false statement on an Electronic Questionnaire for Investigations Processing (e-QIP), which is used by the United States Office of Personnel Management’s National Background Investigations Bureau as part of its background investigation of prospective federal employees
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and contractors. Ramsay submitted an e-QIP as part of his application for employment at a defense contractor, named in court documents as Company 1, a job that required him to obtain a national security clearance. As part of the background investigation, applicants for security clearances were required to certify that “I understand that a knowing and willful false statement on this form can be punished by fine or imprisonment or
both,” the plea agreement states. Ramsay admitted that he falsely represented on his e-QIP that he had never been a member of an organization that advocates or practices commission of acts of force or violence to discourage others from exercising their constitutional rights. In reality, Ramsay previously belonged to Vanguard America, a white supremacist group that opposes multiculturalism and believes that the
United States should be an exclusively white nation. He also belonged to Aryan Underground, a white supremacist group established in 2017 that upheld Nazi ideology. Ramsay admitted that he lied on the form in order to obtain employment at Company 1. His false statement was material because, as a result of it, Ramsay obtained a security clearance that he might have otherwise not received had he been truthful about his white supremacist ties. Ramsay is expected to make his initial court appearance in the coming weeks. Upon entering his guilty plea, he will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated this matter. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Reema M. El-Amamy of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section.
City Of Glendale Bans Mylar Balloons
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On Tuesday, October 13, 2020, the Glendale City Council adopted a new Mylar Balloon Ordinance, which prohibits the sale of electrically conductive Mylar Balloons filled with helium or gas lighter than air within city limits. The new ordinance allows only air filled Mylar Balloons affixed to a decorative structure, such as a post or balloon arch, at the point of sale. This new ordinance stems from many years of power interruptions due to the Mylar Balloons drifting into power lines and causing long outages and damages to GWP’s power infrastructure. “We look forward to new developments in the balloon industry that include non-conductive balloons that will not cause
outages. However, this new ordinance will help reduce outages and damages caused to our system until a new solution is in place,” stated Steve Zurn, General Manager of GWP. The new ordinance will take effect on November 30, 2020 and will impose administrative citations and fines, and may result in the filing of misdemeanor charges, on businesses that sell Mylar balloons inflated with helium or gas lighter than air. For more information on the new ordinance, please click here. To learn more about the dangers of Mylar Balloons and to see a video explaining just how dangerous Mylar Balloons are to power lines and equipment, visit bit.ly/mylrbln
Glendale Payday Loan Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud A payday loan company owner pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge for defrauding money transmitting companies by failing to remit to them, as promised, nearly $1 million of wire transfers sent on behalf of his customers over just two weeks. Arsen Khumaryan, 41, of Glendale, pleaded guilty
to one count of wire fraud. United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt has scheduled a January 28 sentencing hearing, at which time Khumaryan will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Khumaryan owns Ask Inter Inc. (AII), a Glendale-based company that does business as Monroe’s
Payday Advance, a financial services and checkcashing store. AII was an agent of MoneyGram and Ria Money Transfer, businesses that quickly provide money for a fee to individuals and companies in need of it. As part of AII’s contracts with MoneyGram and Ria, Khumaryan was required to deposit
into a trust account the money he received from his customers. After the wire transfer requests were made, MoneyGram and Ria would use their own funds to wire money to the recipients. AII was then required remit the customers’ funds from the trust account to Money-
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