Shields Gets 8 Months For 9/11 Hero Fraud

Scott Shields, a former Westport and Greenwich man who credited himself and his golden retriever Bear with recovering bodies at the World Trade Center after Sept. 11, 2001, has been sentenced to eight months in federal prison after his conviction for fraudulently obtaining thousands of dollars in government relief funds, according to court records.

Shields pleaded guilty earlier this year to illegally obtaining government money from two agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and American Red Cross, according to documents on file in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

He was arrested, along with his sister, Patricia Shields, in March 2007 and init­ially pleaded not guilty, records show. In March 2008, Scott Shields changed his plea to guilty, according to court records.

"Mr. Shields has pleaded guilty to defrauding the American Red Cross and FEMA, in an attempt to exploit programs that were providing financial assistance to people affected by one of this country's greatest tragedies," read the sentencing opinion handed down by District Judge Robert Sweet on Oct. 14.

The sentence opinion said that Shields had a previous conviction for bank fraud 18 years ago involving a "significant sum."

After his release from prison, Shields will enter into three years of supervised release. He also was ordered pay back $49,439 to the government. His sister received an identical sentence.

According to court records, Scott and Patricia Shields applied for mortgage and rental assistance from FEMA after Sept. 11, 2001, claiming they lived in Manhattan at the time. However, government records show they were living and working in Greenwich and not eligible for FEMA assistance.

The aid only was meant for people who lived near the World Trade Center, those who had been injured by the events and businesses that were damaged.

Scott and Patricia Shields were evicted from their rental unit in Greenwich in October 2001 for nonpayment of rent, court documents show.

While they did move to lower Manhattan after their eviction, they were not eligible for the funds they received and did not use them to pay rent owned on their city apartment, according to court records.

They were evicted for nonpayment of rent at the Manhattan location, according to court records.

Scott Shields' sentencing comes after six years of making claims about his search and rescue exploits, which were detailed in a book titled Bear: Heart of a Hero, credited to Capt. Scott Shields and co-author Nancy West.

The book was pulled from shelves in 2006, according to a spokesman from the publisher, Hero Dog Publications, after the firm realized Shields was not a captain.

Shields' main claim was that he and his dog Bear aided in the rescue of victims at ground zero. Roy Gross, chief of the Department at the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, whose organization maintained logs of every dog who assisted in the rescue effort, said Shields and Bear were never documented in its records.

"He was a fraud, unfortunately," Gross said.

Shields claimed in a Greenwich Time article in 2001 that he was a marine safety specialist who consulted with the New York City parks department.

Phil Abramson, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, said the department was aware of Shields' claim, but that it was not true.

"Scott Shields was never employed by the parks department and he was never connected to the parks department," Abramson said.

Shields' Manhattan-based attorney, Joel Mark Stein, said he had no comment about the case.

Shields is scheduled to begin serving his term on Wednesday, according to the clerk's office for the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York.

Birmingham Conwoman preys on 9/11 heroes - Sunday Mercury

A CONVICTED Midlands fraudster is facing an FBI probe after being accused of trying to rip-off heroes of 9/11 in an £80 million scam.

Former Black Country businesswoman Gill Hope allegedly targeted ex-New York fireman Vincent Forras who worked at Ground Zero in the vain search for survivors in 2001.

The brave firefighter now battles for compensation for emergency workers who suffered health problems in the aftermath of the terrorist attack.

He was recently approached by the former fraudster, via Facebook, and says she offered his charity £80 million if it could raise the same amount – and allow her access to the cash.

Speaking from his home in Connecticut, Mr Forras said: “This woman is a disgrace and what she is trying to do is deplorable.

“I knew something wasn’t right from the start but I was amazed to see how quickly our communication went from friendly introductions to talk about millions of dollars.”

Hope, originally from Wolverhampton, strongly denies the claims.

Mr Forras set up his Gear Up Foundation after the 9/11 attacks. He has been fated for his tireless charity work by the likes of former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani and Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

But his high-profile role attracted the attention of Hope.

The firefighter said: “She approached me on Facebook and proposed that she had already secured £80 million and just needed to set up final meetings in New York with the Mayor and people like that.

“I knew something was not quite right but I was amazed to discover the truth about her past when I found previous Sunday Mercury articles about her on-line.

“I told the FBI immediately who are currently investigating. To think she would try and do this to the firefighters who responded to Ground Zero on 9/11 when I lost so many brothers is disgusting.”

It is not the first time Hope, formerly known as Gill Edwards and who now calls herself an ‘Ambassador’, has caused controversy in the USA. We previously revealed how she had transformed herself into a bizarre Mother Teresa-style figure, who claimed to know President Bush and A-list celebrities including Angelina Jolie and Elton John.

She also once posed as a nun and appeared in bizarre videos on YouTube to promote her supposed humanitarian work.

Hope fled Britain in 2002 while a warrant was out for her arrest for charges brought by the then Department of Trade and Industry. But it was withdrawn in June 2004 after the authorities failed to trace her.

Yet she was a one-time star of the Midlands’ business world.

In 1988 she scooped the prestigious British Sales and Marketing Award – but after that things went downhill.

Marketing and advertising company E.G. Group of Dudley, where she was managing director, collapsed with debts of almost £250,000.

She later became a director of Global Vouchers plc, of Redditch, Worcestershire, but this firm also crashed with £600,000 debts.

Yet despite being insolvent, the firm carried on trading.

Hope was the only director to be prosecuted and was jailed for 12 months in 1994 for fraudulent trading. She was also disqualified from being a company director for seven years. The fraudster eventually skipped Britain for the US after failing to turn up at court to answer charges brought by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Yet when contacted by the Sunday Mercury, Hope claimed that the 9/11 scam accusations were completely false.

She said: “I think Vinny has misinterpreted our discussions and requests as we have not made any offer of funding to Gear Up Foundation. We have developed a solution for these unmet social needs including two financing offers.

“This is a serious humanitarian and Homeland Security issue and needs to be addressed.

“It would be awesome if you would actually write about what’s possible with imagination, innovation and a desire to provide solutions.”

* To donate to the Gear Up Foundation visit www.gearupfoundation.org

Sunday Mercury: source

World trade center thermite demolition angle cuts

Great Angle Cut was made by a linear shaped charge, using thermite or thermate.

Fred "Scumbag" Parisi faked letter from priest

Prosecutor: Alleged 9/11 con man faked priest letter

A letter from a priest to the Morris County Prosecutor's Office last month heaped praise on a Jefferson man now under investigation for allegedly defrauding people who donated money to his 9/11 charity.

In the letter, "Archbishop" Stephen Petrovich called Fred Parisi a Sept. 11 hero who is being unfairly treated by Jefferson police and wrote that the police department needed to be investigated, not Parisi.

But Petrovich never wrote that letter, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said.

Petrovich said Parisi wrote the letter. And Petrovich added in an interview that he is a priest, but not an archbishop.

"He called me and told me he wrote it last month after he sent it," Petrovich said. "I told him he can't do that. That's not right."

Bianchi said the matter remains under investigation.

Parisi, 40, was arrested March 29 and remains at the Morris County jail in lieu of $250,000. He is charged with theft and failure to allow his business partner to access company money -- some $235,000.

Those charges are unrelated to Parisi's charity, the 9/11 Rescue Workers Foundation. But because of his arrest, his 9/11 fundraising activities are now being reviewed.

Although he claims he was a New York City police officer who rescued thousands from Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001, authorities said Parisi was a police recruit training miles away in Brooklyn on that day.

Petrovich, a 57-year-old retired Ukrainian Orthodox priest who lives in Ohio, met Parisi by phone three months ago when the priest was calling 9/11 groups to find volunteer mental health workers to assist a friend providing counseling to rescue workers who moved to Florida.

14 Structural Engineers demand answers

14 Structural Engineers Now Publicly Challenge Government's Explanation for Destruction of the World Trade Center

14 structural engineers now publicly challenge the government's account of the destruction of the Trade Centers on 9/11:

A prominent engineer with 55 years experience, in charge of the design of hundreds of major building projects including high rise offices, former member of the California Seismic Safety Commission and former member of the National Institute of Sciences Building Safety Council (Marx Ayres) believes that the World Trade Centers were brought down by controlled demolition (see also this)

Two professors of structural engineering at a prestigious Swiss university (Dr. Joerg Schneider and Dr. Hugo Bachmann) said that, on 9/11, World Trade Center 7 was brought down by controlled demolition (translation here)

Kamal S. Obeid, structural engineer, with a masters degree in Engineering from UC Berkeley, of Fremont, California, says:

"Photos of the steel, evidence about how the buildings collapsed, the unexplainable collapse of WTC 7, evidence of thermite in the debris as well as several other red flags, are quite troubling indications of well planned and controlled demolition"

Ronald H. Brookman, structural engineer, with a masters degree in Engineering from UC Davis, of Novato California, writes:

"Why would all 110 stories drop straight down to the ground in about 10 seconds, pulverizing the contents into dust and ash - twice. Why would all 47 stories of WTC 7 fall straight down to the ground in about seven seconds the same day? It was not struck by any aircraft or engulfed in any fire. An independent investigation is justified for all three collapses including the surviving steel samples and the composition of the dust."

Graham John Inman, structural engineer, of London, England, points out:

"WTC 7 Building could not have collapsed as a result of internal fire and external debris. NO plane hit this building. This is the only case of a steel frame building collapsing through fire in the world. The fire on this building was small & localized therefore what is the cause?"

Paul W. Mason, structural engineer, of Melbourne, Australia, argues:

"In my view, the chances of the three buildings collapsing symmetrically into their own footprint, at freefall speed, by any other means than by controlled demolition, are so remote that there is no other plausible explanation!"

Mills M. Kay Mackey, structural engineer, of Denver, Colorado, points out:

"The force from the jets and the burning fuel could not have been sufficient to make the building collapse. Why doesn't the media mention that the 11th floor was completely immolated on February 13th, 1975? It had the weight of nearly 100 stories on top of it but it did not collapse?"

Haluk Akol, Structural Engineer and architect (ret.)

Charles Pegelow, structural engineer, of Houston, Texas (and see this)
Dennis Kollar, structural engineer, of West Bend, Wisconsin

Doyle Winterton, structural engineer (retired)

Michael T. Donly, P.E., structural engineer

William Rice, P.E., structural engineer, former professor of Vermont Technical College

There are many other structural engineers who have questioned the government's account in private. We support them

Source: georgewashington.blogspot.com

Clueless: Heartless GOP rep. Darrell Issa

San Diego right wing wacko - GOP Rep. Darrell Issa under fire from everywhere after 9/11 comments

BY RICHARD SISK and MICHAEL McCAULIFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Thursday, April 3rd 2008, 4:00 AM

Hamburg/News

San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with 'a fire' that 'simply was an aircraft' hitting the WTC.

WASHINGTON - The California congressman who called the Sept. 11 attacks "simply" a plane crash ran for cover Wednesday under a barrage of ridicule from fellow Republicans, first responders and victims' families.

San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with "a fire" that "simply was an aircraft" hitting the World Trade Center.

"That is a pretty distorted view of things," said Frank Fraone, a Menlo Park, Calif., fire chief who led a 67-man crew at Ground Zero. "Whether they're a couple of planes or a couple of missiles, they still did the same damage."

"New York was attacked by Al Qaeda. It doesn't have to be attacked by Congress," added Long Island Rep. Pete King, a Republican.

"I'm really surprised by Darrell Issa," King added. "It showed such a cavalier dismissal of what happened to New York. It's wrong and inexcusable."

Lorie Van Aucken, who lost her husband, Kenneth, in the attacks, slammed Issa's "cruel and heartless" comments.

"It's really discouraging. People stepped up and did the right thing. They sacrificed themselves and now a lot of people are getting really horrible illnesses," she added.

Under pressure from all sides, the Golden State pol - who got rich selling car alarms after getting busted for car theft as a teen - pulled a partial U-turn. He issued a statement but cowered from the press.

"I continue to support federal assistance for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks," he said.

But he didn't retract his wacked-out rhetoric claiming the feds "just threw" buckets of cash at New York for an attack "that had no dirty bomb in it, it had no chemical munitions in it."

He went on: "I have to ask ... why the firefighters who went there and everybody in the city of New York needs to come to the federal government for the dollars versus this being primarily a state consideration."

In his statement yesterday, Issa insisted he only "asked tough questions about the expenditures" during a hearing Tuesday on an aid bill for sick New Yorkers.

"He realized he stepped in it," said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan), who was leading the hearing when Issa popped off.

"The sound I'm hearing is him slamming the brakes and going in reverse," crowed Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn-Queens). Issa also belatedly admitted 9/11 was "an attack on America" in his statement.

It shouldn't have been that hard.

He took to the floor of Congress on Sept. 11, 2001, to argue passionately that America - not just New York - had been attacked, but conveniently forgot that during his Tuesday diatribe.

"It seems that with the passage of time, something happened along the way where the scope of the problem and the real extent of the problem has not drifted out to California," fumed Staten Island GOP Rep. Vito Fossella.

Health officials estimate it could cost $1 billion to care properly for the ailments that may emerge in the people who lived through the horror of Sept. 11 or breathed that toxic dust.

New York lawmakers now want Democratic leaders to bring the 9/11 care bill to the floor soon - before more members of Congress start spouting off like Issa.

Source: nydailynews.com

Another scumbag: Capt'n Clown Scott Shields pleads guilty

Editor: Scumbag Scott Shields with a new dog former dog (Bear) has passed away- Notice rescue vest and patches! This dog has no training! How many people has this idiot put in danger? -I hope someone is able to care for this beautiful animal and possibly arrange for the proper training when the Scumbag starts doing his time!

He faces a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison and deserves to do some time for defrauding so many well intentioned people....

Shields' attorney, Jonathan Marks, confirmed that Shields pleaded guilty yesterday to all counts of a federal indictment alleging he lied about needing housing assistance funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Shields has not been sentenced and the guilty plea, entered at a federal court in New York, was not contingent on any agreement regarding sentencing, Marks said.

Combined, the crimes of theft of government funds, mail fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States carry a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison

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News article related to Scumbag Scott Shields pleading guilty:
Scott Shields pleads guilty in 9/11 rescue fraud case

Scott Shields and Theodore, a successor to Bear, the rescue dog Mr. Shields claimed performed heroic work at the World Trade Center site following the Sept. 11 attacks. Photo was taken in 2005. Staff photo by Mark Czajkowski

WEST WINDSOR — A West Windsor man has pleaded guilty to fraud charges for the misuse of Sept. 11-related funds after he made false claims of rescuing victims with his dog Bear from the rubble of the 2001 terrorist attack.

The resident, Scott Shields, pleaded guilty on Thursday to all counts.

That guilty plea pertained to the crimes of theft of government funds, mail fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States after receiving almost $50,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross between November 2000 and early 2002.

Mr. Shields was actually living in Greenwich, Conn., at the time, but he signed assistance papers certifying he was living below Canal Street in Manhattan, and needed federal money due to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Those funds were supposed to be used for assistance for people living in and around Ground Zero, but Mr. Shields instead lied on his application, according to his attorney, Jonathan Marks.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

”He admitted he knew that the funds that he was getting from FEMA were to pay for rent only, and he used them to get a new apartment,” said Mr. Marks.

Mr. Shields now awaits sentencing in a New York federal court, where he faces a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison.

His initial fame stemmed from his story of searching and locating victims in the debris left over from the collapse of the Twin Towers with his golden retriever Bear.

Following the publicity surrounding Mr. Shields, law enforcement officials and other critics eventually countered those claims. Mr. Shields was ordered to leave the disaster site with his untrained dog, they said.

A book about his alleged exploits in lower Manhattan — “Bear: Heart of a Hero” — was also disputed after its release by the book’s co-author, Nancy West, who eventually denied much of the information contained in the book.

Mr. Shields’ attorney maintained that his client had assisted in the rescue efforts, stating there was a video posted online showing rescue workers speaking about the efforts of Mr. Shields and his dog.

”There is certainly evidence that Bear was successful in finding some of the victims, and there is a tape on YouTube,” Mr. Marks said, referring to the Internet video site.

More information related to this scumbag:
Scott Shields fraud: http://www.scottshieldsfraud.com/
Trading in on Tragedy: http://landofpuregold.com/truthiness.htm
Man admits 9/11 fraud: http://www.nj.com/news/times
UK group exposing the Clown: scottshieldsfraud.co.uk

Tags: Bear, Scott Shields, Golden retriever, fraud, Ground Zero, 9/11, rescue dog,