ACORN Dumped Sensitive Documents as Probe Began, Private Investigator Says
Leroy N. Soetoro
r4:c0.112926:b29026860:z10
A private investigator says he found tens of thousands of sensitive
documents dumped outside a California ACORN office just days after the
state attorney general announced an inquiry into the community organizing
group.
Derrick Roach, a licensed investigator based in San Diego, told
FoxNews.com he paid an impromptu visit to the city's ACORN branch on Oct.
9 and watched from his car as a man tossed bags of files into a Dumpster
outside the building.
After ACORN staff left for the day, he says, he searched the trash bin and
discovered more than 20,000 documents he believes point to illicit
relationships between ACORN and a bank and a labor union � as well as
confidential information that could put thousands at risk for identity
theft.
"We're talking people's driver's license numbers, dates of birth, Social
Security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, tax returns,
credit reports" � all tossed in public view in the Dumpster, he said.
In one document shared with FoxNews.com, an ACORN employee's name,
address, date of birth, Social Security number and driver's license number
were revealed, and photocopies of the employee's license and Social
Security card were also included. Another document showed bank account
information for a woman paying an ACORN membership fee by check.
"It was just a careless disregard for the people that ACORN claimed to be
helping," Roach told FoxNews.com. "They put these people at risk."
Roach said that data breach laws bar dumping like the kind he uncovered at
ACORN's office. Tossing the documents into a Dumpster, he said,
constitutes a crime in California.
"So if someone wanted to, they could bring legal action against ACORN for
doing this," he said.
A top ACORN official in California apologized for the lapse Monday, saying
that some confidential information might have been thrown away during a
massive clean-up of their offices last month.
"In early October, when our San Diego staff were doing an office clean-up
in preparation for a major 10-station phone bank program being set up in
our offices, it appears that included in the piles of garbage being thrown
out may have been some documents containing private information," said Amy
Schur, state head organizer for California ACORN, in an e-mailed
statement.
Schur implied that "this guy" Roach, a former Republican candidate for
statewide office, may have had political motivations for unearthing the
documents. She said ACORN would seek the return of the documents "so that
we may give proper notice of the compromising of the information as
required by law."
Roach told FoxNews.com he has been going over the trove of ACORN files and
has found connections to the California Teachers Association and to
Citibank.
"ACORN was acting as an agent" for Citibank, Roach charged. "They had
mortgage information for homeowners ... who were in foreclosure, who were
in default."
Roach says that the documents suggest that ACORN staffers would go out on
"assignments" to take pictures of some residences or even to "go out and
actually make contact" with people living in homes financed by Citibank
loans.
He said he believes Citibank will have to report to its customers that
their information may have been at risk when ACORN threw it away. "They
took information and they just dumped it in the garbage," he said.
Citibank ran an outreach program through ACORN that utilized the group's
local staff to encourage homeowners at risk of defaulting on their
mortgages to contact the bank and work on avoiding defaults. That
relationship has since been severed, a spokesman for Citigroup told
FoxNews.com in an e-mail.
"Over time, Citi has worked with a variety of not-for-profit partners,
including ACORN, to provide financial education, meet affordable lending
needs, promote stable homeownership for low- to moderate- income consumers
and help in foreclosure prevention," the spokesman said.
"We are deeply concerned about the recent media reports regarding ACORN.
We recently suspended our charitable financial support and program
relationships with ACORN, and we are waiting for the results of the
independent audit of ACORN's activities now underway."
Roach also charged that the California Teachers Association, the state's
largest teachers' union, was "funneling information to ACORN for political
activity" � a relationship that he said would not be illegal but would
require ACORN and the CTA to disclose fully.
"I've done some checking into the reports that have been filed for the
CTA, for ACORN, and I'm not finding any of this information being
disclosed," he said. He did not provide any documents illustrating the
relationship to FoxNews.com.
CTA spokesman Mike Myslinksi said the union had no comment on documents it
had not seen. "That's out of left field," he said.
Roach's accusation comes in the wake of a national scandal for ACORN, the
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Staffers were
caught on tape this summer in six cities offering to help a pair of
filmmakers posing as a pimp and prostitute to lie to the IRS and acquire
illegal home loans.
ACORN fired an employee in its San Diego office, Juan Carlos Vera, after
video surfaced of him offering to help the "pimp" and "prostitute" smuggle
in girls from Tijuana, Mexico, noting that he had many contacts in the
city who could assist in smuggling them across the border.
The group is now under investigation by a number of city, state and
federal agencies, and Congress has cut off funding for the group.
On Oct. 1, California Attorney General Jerry Brown launched a state
investigation of ACORN. It was just eight days later that Roach says he
retrieved the sensitive files � timing he says he finds fishy.
"I think if you look at the timeline of events when the attorney general
made the announcement, when the documents were dumped, I think that it's
highly suspicious."
--
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
Rangel's tax evasion.
Escape_the_Cult_Now
"Leroy N. Soetoro" <leroys...@usurper.org> wrote in message
news:Xns9CCF8E8BBD...@202.177.16.121...
They all belong in prison.
Frank Pittel
: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576466,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:
: r4:c0.112926:b29026860:z10
: A private investigator says he found tens of thousands of sensitive
: documents dumped outside a California ACORN office just days after the
: state attorney general announced an inquiry into the community organizing
: group.
: Derrick Roach, a licensed investigator based in San Diego, told
: FoxNews.com he paid an impromptu visit to the city's ACORN branch on Oct.
: 9 and watched from his car as a man tossed bags of files into a Dumpster
: outside the building.
: After ACORN staff left for the day, he says, he searched the trash bin and
: discovered more than 20,000 documents he believes point to illicit
: relationships between ACORN and a bank and a labor union ? as well as
: confidential information that could put thousands at risk for identity
: theft.
: "We're talking people's driver's license numbers, dates of birth, Social
: Security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, tax returns,
: credit reports" ? all tossed in public view in the Dumpster, he said.
: activity" ? a relationship that he said would not be illegal but would
: require ACORN and the CTA to disclose fully.
: "I've done some checking into the reports that have been filed for the
: CTA, for ACORN, and I'm not finding any of this information being
: disclosed," he said. He did not provide any documents illustrating the
: relationship to FoxNews.com.
: CTA spokesman Mike Myslinksi said the union had no comment on documents it
: had not seen. "That's out of left field," he said.
: Roach's accusation comes in the wake of a national scandal for ACORN, the
: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Staffers were
: caught on tape this summer in six cities offering to help a pair of
: filmmakers posing as a pimp and prostitute to lie to the IRS and acquire
: illegal home loans.
: ACORN fired an employee in its San Diego office, Juan Carlos Vera, after
: video surfaced of him offering to help the "pimp" and "prostitute" smuggle
: in girls from Tijuana, Mexico, noting that he had many contacts in the
: city who could assist in smuggling them across the border.
: The group is now under investigation by a number of city, state and
: federal agencies, and Congress has cut off funding for the group.
: On Oct. 1, California Attorney General Jerry Brown launched a state
: investigation of ACORN. It was just eight days later that Roach says he
: retrieved the sensitive files ? timing he says he finds fishy.
: "I think if you look at the timeline of events when the attorney general
: made the announcement, when the documents were dumped, I think that it's
: highly suspicious."
It won't be long before dumbo steps in to defend his thugs.
--
-------------------
Keep working dumbo needs the money
Frank Pittel
: "Leroy N. Soetoro" <leroys...@usurper.org> wrote in message
: news:Xns9CCF8E8BBD...@202.177.16.121...
: > http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576466,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:
: > r4:c0.112926:b29026860:z10
: >
: > A private investigator says he found tens of thousands of sensitive
: > documents dumped outside a California ACORN office just days after the
: > state attorney general announced an inquiry into the community organizing
: > group.
: >
: > Derrick Roach, a licensed investigator based in San Diego, told
: > FoxNews.com he paid an impromptu visit to the city's ACORN branch on Oct.
: > 9 and watched from his car as a man tossed bags of files into a Dumpster
: > outside the building.
: >
: > After ACORN staff left for the day, he says, he searched the trash bin and
: > discovered more than 20,000 documents he believes point to illicit
: > relationships between ACORN and a bank and a labor union ? as well as
: > confidential information that could put thousands at risk for identity
: > theft.
: >
: > "We're talking people's driver's license numbers, dates of birth, Social
: > Security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, tax returns,
: > credit reports" ? all tossed in public view in the Dumpster, he said.
: > activity" ? a relationship that he said would not be illegal but would
: > require ACORN and the CTA to disclose fully.
: >
: > "I've done some checking into the reports that have been filed for the
: > CTA, for ACORN, and I'm not finding any of this information being
: > disclosed," he said. He did not provide any documents illustrating the
: > relationship to FoxNews.com.
: >
: > CTA spokesman Mike Myslinksi said the union had no comment on documents it
: > had not seen. "That's out of left field," he said.
: >
: > Roach's accusation comes in the wake of a national scandal for ACORN, the
: > Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Staffers were
: > caught on tape this summer in six cities offering to help a pair of
: > filmmakers posing as a pimp and prostitute to lie to the IRS and acquire
: > illegal home loans.
: >
: > ACORN fired an employee in its San Diego office, Juan Carlos Vera, after
: > video surfaced of him offering to help the "pimp" and "prostitute" smuggle
: > in girls from Tijuana, Mexico, noting that he had many contacts in the
: > city who could assist in smuggling them across the border.
: >
: > The group is now under investigation by a number of city, state and
: > federal agencies, and Congress has cut off funding for the group.
: >
: > On Oct. 1, California Attorney General Jerry Brown launched a state
: > investigation of ACORN. It was just eight days later that Roach says he
: > retrieved the sensitive files ? timing he says he finds fishy.
: >
: > "I think if you look at the timeline of events when the attorney general
: > made the announcement, when the documents were dumped, I think that it's
: > highly suspicious."
: >
: >
: >
: > --
: > Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
: > Rangel's tax evasion.
: They all belong in prison.
Dumbo will be sure to protect his thugs.