Threatening letters sent this week to banks and financial institutions declare “it’s payback time” and promise death to its readers, the text of the message released on Thursday reads.
More than 50 letters were mailed to Chase Bank branches and federal regulatory offices in 12 cities this week. Three of the letters showed up on Thursday at the headquarters of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, or FDIC.
Most of the letters were in envelopes containing white powder, which so far has tested negative for any dangerous toxins.
But the FBI says the hoax still is a serious crime and is investigating the letters as a possible first, if extreme, public backlash over the financial crisis in the US.
“Steal tens of thousands of people’s money and not expect reprercussions [sic],” says the letter, which is written in all capital letters. “It’s payback time. What you just breathed in will kill you within 10 days. Thank [name redacted] and the FDIC for your demise.”
FDIC stands for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, an independent government-backed agency that insures most deposits in US banks.
The FBI would not identify the person whose name was deleted. A US official said the name is a person who may have played a role in the nation’s financial crisis, but not a government official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Authorities said the letters appear to be from the same source and were focusing on possible suspects near Amarillo, Texas, where the envelopes were postmarked.
The FBI released the text in hopes that the public would help lead investigators to the letter’s writer.
Since Monday the letters have been opened in the offices of Chase Bank branches, the FDIC and the US Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates all federal and many state thrift institutions. They were sent to offices in or near 12 cities: Arlington, Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Newark, New Jersey; New York City; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Phoenix, Arizona; San Francisco, California; and Washington.
An FBI spokesman said letters sent to Oklahoma were filled with harmless calcium.
The US Postal Inspection Service has offered a reward of up to US$100,000 for help in arresting the letter mailers.
Authorities “are following several good leads, but we are always looking for more information,” FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said. “And we hope that when people see this letter and writing style, it will encourage someone with information to contact the FBI or other authorities.”
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
RSS