Rental ads detected in London excluding applicants based on religion and offering “Muslims only” housing, a practice under scrutiny for potential illegality under UK law

Rental ads detected in London excluding applicants based on religion and offering “Muslims only” housing, a practice under scrutiny for potential illegality under UK law

Rental ads detected in London excluding applicants based on religion and offering “Muslims only” housing, a practice under scrutiny for potential illegality under UK law
April 23, 2026

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Author: Gateway Hispanic

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro Files Massive Charges Against Chinese Slave-Labor Scam Lords Operations in Burma and Cambodia

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro Files Massive Charges Against Chinese Slave-Labor Scam Lords Operations in Burma and Cambodia

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro Files Massive Charges Against Chinese Slave-Labor Scam Lords Operations in Burma and Cambodia
April 23, 2026

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro just announced a massive takedown of Chinese-run slave labor scam compounds in Burma and Cambodia, operations that trafficked, beat, and enslaved thousands of victims to steal billions from hard-working Americans.

According to the Department of Justice, these weren’t just scams, they were industrial-scale criminal enterprises built on human trafficking, torture, and deception.

Federal investigators say the Chinese-run compound in Burma functioned like a modern-day prison camp.

Victims, many lured with promises of high-paying jobs, had their passports confiscated and were forced under threat of violence to run online scams targeting Americans.

Inside these compounds:

  • Workers were allegedly beaten, threatened, and held at gunpoint
  • Forced to impersonate U.S. banks and even the NYPD
  • Ordered to scam Americans, often elderly, out of their life savings

Authorities described the operation as one of the fastest-growing and most devastating forms of cybercrime, costing Americans billions.

The DOJ’s newly launched Scam Center Strike Force is already delivering results:

  • $700 million in cryptocurrency seized tied to fraud operations
  • 503 scam websites shut down
  • A Telegram channel dismantled that was used to lure victims into forced labor camps

Federal agents also recovered thousands of devices used in the schemes, exposing the sheer scale of the operation.

According to the DOJ:

Background: Cyber-Enabled and Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud in Southeast Asian Scam Centers 

Cyber-enabled and cryptocurrency investment fraud (referred to by the scammers as “pig butchering”) is among the fastest growing and most financially devastating forms of cybercrime targeting Americans. In these schemes, victims are cultivated over time and deceived into depositing funds into fraudulent investment platforms that appear to show substantial returns. In reality, all victim funds flow directly to the scammers. The scam continues until the victim runs out of money or discovers the fraud, at which point the scammers cease contact.

According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), investment scams became the most commonly reported crime type in 2023, with cryptocurrency investment fraud comprising 83 percent of that category. Reported losses from these scams rose from $3.96 billion in 2023 to $5.8 billion in 2024. Reported losses rose 24 percent in 2025 to over $7.2 billion, according to IC3’s newly released 2025 annual report. Those figures, based largely on victim reports, are believed to significantly underrepresent actual losses, as most victims do not report to law enforcement. According to the United States Institute of Peace, a conservative estimate of the annual value of funds stolen by scam syndicates worldwide approached $64 billion as of the end of 2023.

Many of these schemes are run out of industrial-scale compounds along the Burma-Thailand border and in Cambodia. Criminal syndicates often lure workers to Thailand with promises of high-paying technical jobs, then seize their identification documents and traffic them to work in scam compounds. Within the compounds, trafficked workers are frequently forced to conduct fraud operations against victims in the United States and elsewhere under threat of violence. Public reporting on these compounds has documented beatings, electrocutions, and murder.

Criminal Charges: Shunda Compound, Min Let Pan, Burma 

The Strike Force unsealed criminal complaints and arrest warrants against two Chinese nationals in connection with cryptocurrency investment fraud operations at the Shunda compound in Min Let Pan, Burma: two managers in the compound, Huang Xingshan, also known as “Ah Zhe,” and “Huang Xing Saan” and Jiang Wen Jie, also known as “Jiang Nan.”  They are charged with wire fraud conspiracy.

Aerial surveillance photo of the Shunda compound in Burma, where forced-labor conducted fraud operations under threat of violence.

Aerial surveillance photo of the Shunda compound in Burma, where forced-labor conducted fraud operations under threat of violence.

The Shunda compound operated from at least January 2025 until approximately November 2025, when it was seized by the Karen National Liberation Army of Burma. The compound used scam websites and mobile applications disguised as legitimate investment platforms to defraud victims, including Americans. Workers within the compound were trafficked individuals who were held against their will and forced to defraud victims under the threat of violence and torture.

The FBI deployed personnel to Thailand following the compound’s seizure. Working with Thai authorities, FBI agents reviewed thousands of mobile devices and over 1,300 desktop computers recovered from Shunda. Agents also interviewed tens of former compound workers. That investigation identified a hierarchical organization of Chinese operators running the compound and supported the charges against the two defendants.

Phones seized from the Shunda compound.

Phones seized from the Shunda compound.

According to the investigation, Huang served at Shunda as a high-level manager and enforcer and personally participated in the physical punishment of trafficked compound workers. Jiang served as a team leader directly supervising workers who specifically targeted American victims. Under Jiang’s supervision, one of the people under his command successfully defrauded a single American victim of over $3 million utilizing a fraudulent investment platform. The theft was celebrated within the organization as a paradigm of success.

The interior of one of the buildings in the Shunda compound in Burma.

The interior of one of the buildings in the Shunda compound in Burma.

After the Shunda compound was seized, Huang and Jiang relocated to another scam compound located in Cambodia where they attempted to continue their cryptocurrency investment fraud operation. In early 2026, Huang and Jiang decided to return to Burma, traveling through Thailand.

Huang and Jiang were arrested on immigration charges by Thai law enforcement in early 2026 in Thailand. The case is being investigated by FBI’s New York Field Office with substantial assistance from the FBI Legal Attaché in Bangkok and Thai authorities.

Telegram Channel Seizure 

The Strike Force conducted a first-of-its-kind seizure of a Telegram channel with more than 6,000 followers that was used to recruit individuals to travel to Cambodia under false promises of high-paying employment. Once there, recruited workers were held against their will and forced to defraud victims, including Americans, as part of a sophisticated law enforcement impersonation scheme.

The Telegram channel included postings for jobs in Cambodia that were specifically for workers who spoke with “American” accents, would work a night shift (i.e., during U.S. daytime hours), and some specifically sought attractive female candidates. The Telegram channel was connected to a scam compound in rural Cambodia near the Thai border.

The Telegram channel that was used to recruit individuals to work in Cambodia.

The Telegram channel that was used to recruit individuals to work in Cambodia.

A job post on the Telegram channel.

A job post on the Telegram channel.

Once at the scam compound, the scam workers specifically targeted U.S. persons. In the fraud scheme, victims received cold calls from individuals posing as bank representatives, including impersonators of JPMorgan or other U.S. bank customer service agents, warning them that their bank accounts had been used to purchase firearms from an actual U.S. gun store website. Victims were then transferred to individuals posing as “NYPD detectives” or other supposed law enforcement, and later sent to the “New York Supreme Court” or other purported prosecutorial officials. Through sustained pressure conducted over WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams, victims were induced to disclose their bank account information and ultimately transfer their savings to the scammers.

Individuals posed as bank representatives, worked from a script, and told their intended victims that their bank accounts had been used to purchase firearms from a gun store website.

Individuals posed as bank representatives, worked from a script, and told their intended victims that their bank accounts had been used to purchase firearms from a gun store website.

The Telegram seizure case is being handled by FBI’s Miami Field Office, USSS Headquarters, and investigators at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. As part of the Strike Forces’s efforts at public-private collaboration on the scam center threat, after being alerted by law enforcement, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, and Meta voluntarily took internal investigative measures to combat the fraud operating on their systems and occurring under their names.

503 Web Domain Seizures 

The Strike Force announced the seizure of more than 503 .com web domains identified through the Operation Level Up initiative as having been used to defraud U.S. victims. The seized domains all were disguised as legitimate “investment platforms,” which victims reported to law enforcement were causing them to unknowingly deposit cryptocurrency funds and view supposed “returns” on what they believed were legitimate investments.

Operation Level Up, established in January 2024, by FBI and USSS is an ongoing proactive initiative to identify and notify victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud. As of March 2026: (i) Operation Level Up has notified 8,935 victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud; (ii) 77% of those victims were unaware they were being scammed; (iii) the estimated savings to victims is $562,726,245 of monies they otherwise would have sent to their scammers; and (iv) ninety-three victims have been referred to an FBI victim specialist for suicide intervention due to the devastating nature of these scams. Some victims have reported to law enforcement that—prior to being notified by the FBI about the scam—they were in the process of liquidating their 401K, selling their home, or obtaining a sizable loan. One elderly victim was surviving on disability pay; he had already paid the scammers $1,200 and would have cut into money he needed for food to pay more. Each of the 503 .com domains seized was identified by a victim contacted by Operation Level Up and involved in laundering that victim’s cryptocurrency funds.

Visitors to these domains are now informed on a splash page that it has been seized by law enforcement. The investigation was conducted by the Operation Level Up Initiative, with the FBI’s Detroit and Phoenix Field Offices handling the seizure with support from investigators at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Examples of the seized domains that were disguised as legitimate investment platforms, causing victims to unknowingly deposit funds.
Examples of the seized domains that were disguised as legitimate investment platforms, causing victims to unknowingly deposit funds.

Examples of the seized domains that were disguised as legitimate investment platforms, causing victims to unknowingly deposit funds.

Restraint of Cryptocurrency Involved in Money Laundering from Scams

The Scam Center Strike Force continues its work to identify, seize, and forfeit funds involved in money laundering related to scams, so that funds can be returned to victims whenever possible. Under leadership from the FBI and the USSS, more than $701,962,392.15 million in cryptocurrency has been identified as allegedly involved in laundering of funds stolen from victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud and restrained through voluntary actions of cryptocurrency providers, as well as U.S. legal process. The Strike Force is working tirelessly to forfeit funds with its goal of returning funds to victims, and it continues to support victims who have lost homes and life savings to these schemes. FBI San Francisco, San Diego, Washington, Seattle, Phoenix, Nashville, and Honolulu Field Offices, and the USSS Headquarters, San Francisco, Nashville, and Washington Field Offices investigated these matters and conducted associated seizures.

State Department Rewards and Actions Related to Tai Chang

Consistent with the Strike Force’s whole of government approach, in a coordinated action, the Department of State today announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the seizure or recovery of proceeds from fraud and money laundering schemes associated with the Tai Chang scam centers in Burma’s Karen State.

The Strike Force also announced the seizure of the latest domain used by the Tai Chang scam centers, fortuneprimeglobalirts.com. The domain was a new iteration of the centers’ fraudulent investment platform and was launched after the Strike Force seized its predecessor domain, tickmilleas.com. The latest seized domain was designed and functioned similarly to its predecessor scam investment website. Visitors to the domain are now informed on a splash page that it has been seized by law enforcement, and victims are encouraged to submit complaints to the FBI. The Tai Chang scam centers were subject of web domain seizures by the Strike Force and designations by the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced in November 2025.

FBI’s San Diego Field Office is investigating the case in conjuction with the FBI Law Enforcement Attaché in Bangkok. Tips should be sent to them at TaiChangTIPS@fbi.gov.

Treasury Department Sanctions 

Also in a coordinated action, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced new sanctions against individuals and entities perpetrating cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes against Americans using forced labor and violence in Cambodia. The sanctions target Cambodian Senator Kok An, Cambodian businessman Rithy Raksmei, several associates, and their respective business empires, including holding companies for scam center operations.

The post US Attorney Jeanine Pirro Files Massive Charges Against Chinese Slave-Labor Scam Lords Operations in Burma and Cambodia appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Jim Hᴏft

Victor Reacts: No Child Is Born “Transgender,” but Adults Try to Make Them “Transgender” (VIDEO)

Victor Reacts: No Child Is Born “Transgender,” but Adults Try to Make Them “Transgender” (VIDEO)

Victor Reacts: No Child Is Born “Transgender,” but Adults Try to Make Them “Transgender” (VIDEO)
April 23, 2026

Young man speaking on a video about child custody and identity issues, with a blurred group of women and children in the background.

No child is born into the wrong body.

There is no “transgender” child, but there are plenty of adults who want to force confusion upon them.

A transgender man is being charged with international parental kidnapping for taking his 10-year-old son to Cuba for gender reassignment surgery.

The Gateway Pundit reported,

The Trump administration took the extraordinary step of sending a U.S. government aircraft to Cuba to recover a 10-year-old American child at the center of a disturbing custody battle involving gender identity and plans for medical transition.

According to court filings and a DOJ announcement, 42-year-old Rose Inessa-Ethington, the child’s biological father, who identifies as a transgender woman and previously went by Eri Ethington, along with partner Blue Inessa-Ethington, 32, took the 10-year-old boy (and reportedly Blue’s 3-year-old child) under false pretenses during what was supposed to be a family camping trip to Canada.

Instead, the pair allegedly fled to Mexico and then on to Havana, Cuba, with $10,000 in cash, raising immediate alarms that the boy was being transported for “gender reassignment surgery prior to puberty.”

A Utah court had already granted the biological mother, identified as “LB,” exclusive custody and ordered the immediate return of the child. But the trans couple ignored the ruling and went on the run.

The FBI, under the Trump administration’s direction, coordinated with Cuban authorities, who actually assisted in locating and arresting the pair on April 16, and sent a Department of Justice Boeing 757 directly to Cuba on Monday to bring the boy home safely. He has now been reunited with his biological mother.

The two suspects face federal charges of international parental kidnapping.

Adults who want to force bizarre sexual confusion onto children should not be allowed anywhere near kids.

Thank God the Trump administration helped stop the mutilation of this child.

The Democrat party is married to radical gender ideology. If they obtain power, they will no doubt continue pushing for the gender transition of little kids again.

The post Victor Reacts: No Child Is Born “Transgender,” but Adults Try to Make Them “Transgender” (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Victor Nieves

FBI Arrests 43 Mexican Mafia Gang Members in Orange County, California

FBI Arrests 43 Mexican Mafia Gang Members in Orange County, California

FBI Arrests 43 Mexican Mafia Gang Members in Orange County, California
April 23, 2026

The FBI on Thursday arrested 43 Mexican Mafia gang members in Orange County, California.

According to the feds, the gang members committed various crimes such as kidnapping, extortion, trafficking drugs, running gambling businesses, and murder.

The defendants were charged with 66 counts, including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, violent crimes in aid of racketeering, trafficking narcotics such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine, and using firearms during a crime of violence.

“Gang members who murder, extort, kidnap, and traffic drugs and firearms are a menace to our communities and our way of life,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Today’s arrests highlight the continuing cooperation between federal and local law enforcement against violent felons and our unyielding determination to crack down on organized crime in our prisons and our streets.”

Per the DOJ:

Twenty-five members and associates of the Mexican Mafia prison gang were arrested today on three federal indictments charging them with committing scores of crimes in Orange County, including kidnapping, extortion, trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine, running illegal gambling businesses, and murdering a victim last year at a gang-controlled Anaheim motel.

The defendants arrested this morning include:

  • Jaime Alvarado, 42, a.k.a. “Junior” and “Brian Barbas,” of Lake Elsinore;
  • Karina Cesena, 32, also of Lake Elsinore; and
  • Mario Flores, 40, a.k.a. “Happy,” of Anaheim.

Senior gang members already in state custody who are expected to make their initial appearances and be arraigned in the coming weeks include:

  • Luis Cardenas, 48, a.k.a. “Gangster,” “Pops” and “Tio,” an inmate at Ironwood State Prison;
  • Jose Antonio Ochoa Madrigal, 41, a.k.a. “Sparky,” of Santa Ana, who incarcerated in an Orange County jail.

The Mexican Mafia, a.k.a. “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that has immense control over Hispanic street gangs in Southern California, directing illegal activities from prisons and collecting a portion of the proceeds from drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and other crimes committed on the streets.

The case’s main indictment charges 40 defendants with a series of felonies, including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, violent crimes in aid of racketeering, trafficking narcotics such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine, and using firearms during a crime of violence.

According to this 66-count indictment, from June 2024 to April 2026, Cardenas oversaw the Mexican Mafia’s criminal activities in Orange County and within Orange County jail and prison facilities. Alvarado, Cesena, Madrigal, and Flores held the position of high-ranking associates for Cardenas.

From his prison cell, Cardenas used an encrypted messaging application on contraband cell phones to direct Alvarado in the operation of the Mexican Mafia’s activities in Orange County.

Cardenas directed others to kidnap and assault people in bad standing with him, and Alvarado, Cesena, and others carried out his directions. Defendants operating for the Mexican Mafia shot at and assaulted victims.

The gang also sold narcotics – including fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine – via slap houses (illegal gambling houses), gangs, and drug dealers in Orange County.

It ran illegal gambling businesses within commercial strip malls and private residences. The gang collected extortionate taxes and provided security, including the use of violence, to protect the illegal gambling businesses.

The post FBI Arrests 43 Mexican Mafia Gang Members in Orange County, California appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Cristina Laila

US Army Soldier Arrested For Using Classified Information to Profit $400,000 on Capture of Maduro with Polymarket Bets

US Army Soldier Arrested For Using Classified Information to Profit $400,000 on Capture of Maduro with Polymarket Bets

US Army Soldier Arrested For Using Classified Information to Profit $400,000 on Capture of Maduro with Polymarket Bets
April 23, 2026

Person wearing protective eyewear and headphones holds a water bottle while engaged in a specialized activity, showcasing safety measures in a controlled environment.

A US Army soldier was arrested and charged for using classified information to profit more than $400,00 on the capture of Maduro betting on Polymarket, a prediction marketplace.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday announced the unsealing of an indictment charging US Army soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction.

The US Army’s Delta Force captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January.

The feds allege that Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who participated in the planning and execution of the U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, called “Operation Absolute Resolve,” used his access to classified information about that operation to personally profit.

“Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information in order to accomplish their mission as safely and effectively as possible, and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information fully apply,” Blanche said.

Per the Justice Department:

As alleged in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]

VAN DYKE has been an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Bragg, a military base located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In connection with his work, VAN DYKE signed nondisclosure agreements in which he promised to “never divulge, publish, or reveal by writing, words, conduct, or otherwise . . . any classified or sensitive information” relating to military operations. Starting around December 8, 2025, and continuing through at least January 6, 2026, VAN DYKE was involved in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve, a military operation to capture Maduro, and had access to sensitive, nonpublic, classified information about that operation.

In 2025, Polymarket, a prediction marketplace operated by Blockratize, Inc., began offering binary event contracts related to whether certain events involving Venezuela and/or Maduro would, or would not, occur. Those event contracts included the future likelihood of “US forces in Venezuela by” certain dates, the future likelihood of Maduro being “out” of or removed from power by certain dates, the future likelihood of the U.S. invading Venezuela by on or before January 31, 2026, and the future likelihood of President Trump “invokeing War Powers against Venezuela” by a certain date.

As alleged, on or about December 26, 2025, VAN DYKE created a Polymarket account, funded it, and began trading on Maduro- and Venezuela-related markets. In total, VAN DYKE made approximately 13 bets from December 27, 2025, through the evening of January 2, 2026. Those bets all took the “YES” position on “U.S. Forces in Venezuela . . . by January 31, 2026”; “Maduro out by . . . January 31, 2026”; “Will the U.S. invade Venezuela by . . . January 31,”; or “Trump invokes War Powers against Venezuela by . . . January 31.” VAN DYKE bet a total of approximately $33,034 on those outcomes while in possession of classified nonpublic information about Operation Absolute Resolve.

In the predawn hours of January 3, 2026, U.S. special forces apprehended Maduro and his wife at a residence in Caracas, Venezuela, and hours later the President of the United States announced the successful operation. Following the President’s public announcement, Polymarket resolved several Maduro- and Venezuela-related contracts to “YES,” including the markets “Maduro out by . . . January 31, 2026,” and “US forces in Venezuela by . . . January 31, 2026.” As a result, VAN DYKE won his wagers on those contracts. In total, VAN DYKE allegedly profited approximately $409,881.

Following his successful trading relating to Maduro- and Venezuela-related contracts, VAN DYKE allegedly sent most of his proceeds to a foreign cryptocurrency vault before depositing them into a newly created online brokerage account. The same day of the operation, VAN DYKE withdrew the majority of his allegedly unlawful proceeds from his Polymarket account. Shortly after the announcement of Operation Absolute Resolve, reports of unusual trading in Maduro-related contracts on Polymarket appeared in the press and on social media.

VAN DYKE then took steps to conceal his identity as the trader in the Maduro- and Venezuela-related markets. On or about January 6, 2026, for example, VAN DYKE asked Polymarket to delete his Polymarket account, falsely claiming that he had lost access to the email address to which the account had been associated. That same day, VAN DYKE changed the email registered to his cryptocurrency exchange account to an email address that was not subscribed to in his name, and which he had created on or about December 14, 2025.

The post US Army Soldier Arrested For Using Classified Information to Profit $400,000 on Capture of Maduro with Polymarket Bets appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Cristina Laila