Everett Stern

Everett A. Stern
30-ish man seated with book in lap.
R candidate for United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 2016
Election date Primary: April 26, 2016 General Election: November 8, 2016
Opponent	Pat Toomey (R)
Incumbent	Pat Toomey
Personal details
Born	United States Senate (1984-08-29) August 29, 1984 New York City, New York United States
Died	United States Senate
Resting place	United States Senate
Political party	R
Parent	United States Senate
Residence(s)	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Alma mater	Stetson University (MBA)
Occupation	Intelligence Director, CEO, whistleblower
Website	http://www.everettstern.com/ http://www.TacticalRabbit.com

Everett Stern is a whistleblower, CEO, Intelligence Director, and 2016 United States Senate Candidate. As the whistleblower in the HSBC money laundering scandal, he uncovered billions of dollars of illegal money laundering transactions which led to an SEC investigation and a $1.92 billion fine against HSBC in 2012.

Early life, education, and early career

Stern was born in New York City, New York, the son of Cheryl Ellen Schwam of The Bronx and Henry J. Stern of New Jersey. He was raised by Jewish parents, and is the firstborn of two children. His father is of German descent and his mother is of Polish ancestry. His father is a physician with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and his mother is as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice. His younger brother, Gavin Marshall Stern, is a news producer for The E. W. Scripps Company. After moving several times, the family settled in Wellington, Florida where Stern attended Wellington High School. He received a BA degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2008. After being rejected for a position with the CIA, Stern decided to pursue business, earning an MBA from Stetson University in 2010. After working at banking giant HSBC for 13 months in 2010-2011 (see below), Stern went on to found Tactical Rabbit, Inc. in 2012, a private intelligence company based in Pennsylvania, where he currently serves as CEO and Intelligence Director.

HSBC scandal

After graduating from Stetson, Everett Stern took a position as an AML compliance officer for HSBC in their New Castle, Delaware office in October 2010, where he monitored the bank's Middle Eastern transactions. After coming across many suspicious transactions tied to terrorist groups in the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah, he repeatedly alerted his supervisors, who ignored his warnings. Specifically, he uncovered a multinational money-laundering network that generated millions for Hezbollah through the Lebanese brothers Ali, Husayn, and Kassim Tajideen through their Gambia-based company, Tajco Ltd. After several such episodes, Stern made contact with the FBI and CIA, which began to investigate HSBC. He left work at HSBC in November 2011. By the summer of 2012, the inquiry had broadened to the bank’s money laundering operations in the Middle East, Mexico, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea. A July 2012 congressional report found that from 2001 through 2010, HSBC had “exposed the U.S. financial system to a wide array of money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing risks due to poor anti-money laundering controls.” In December 2012, HSBC came to a settlement with U.S. authorities which required it to pay a record $1.92 billion fine, as well as improve its anti-money laundering controls, in exchange for a deferment of criminal prosecution for five years.

Post-HSBC career and further allegations

Stern left HSBC in October 2011, and began working at a P.F. Chang’s restaurant as a server before starting Tactical Rabbit in the following year. In March 2013, Stern and the law firm Berger & Montague submitted evidence collected by Stern to the SEC that HSBC had continued to violate anti-money laundering regulations through October 2011, when Stern’s employment with HSBC ended. In August 2013, Stern joined with an Occupy Wall Street working group called Alternative Banking to further publicize his allegations against HSBC. At a protest held on August 29, 2013 in New York City, Stern publicly alleged that HSBC had committed anti-laundering violations through the end of his employment in 2011, and asked that the government re-open the case against HSBC.

In December 2013, HSBC reached a settlement with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control regarding funds that had been transferred to financiers of the terrorist organization Hezbollah between December 2010 and April 2011. HSBC was required to pay $32,400. The Treasury department stated that this settlement was “unrelated to the bank’s December 2012 agreement.” Stern has continued to speak publicly through the media about his HSBC allegations, especially as they relate to the funding of terrorist groups and activities.

Stern is the CEO and Intelligence Director of Tactical Rabbit, a private intelligence firm offering customized investigation services for both private clients and government agencies.

In June 2014, Stern and Tactical Rabbit investigated the potential merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. He suspected the proposed merger would make the market “more cooperative than competitive” and allow prices to be more easily regulated. Because of the potential for antitrust law violations, Tactical Rabbit accurately predicted the merger would not succeed.

In August 2014, Stern announced an investigation of Students for Justice in Palestine, a student organization found in colleges across America. He reported his findings to federal law enforcement after the Tactical Rabbit investigation indicated possible Hamas financing.

In September 2014, Tactical Rabbit launched an investigation into JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stern and Tactical Rabbit reported to regulators that JPMorgan Chase & Co. was violating OCC and BSA regulations.

In March 2015, Tactical Rabbit launched an investigation into Lifelock, Inc. Stern commented that he believed "LifeLock has not simply made false advertising claims, but has criminally ascertained critical and sensitive information of its customers under false pretenses."

In May 2015, Intelligence Director Everett Stern announced an investigation into the closing of Sweet Briar College. Stern held a press conference on May 9, 2015 at Sweet Briar College and explained that the Tactical Rabbit intelligence operation revealed fraud. Stern pleaded for the American public and the FBI to get involved. Stern noted that "Saving Sweet Briar is not a Virginia problem, but it is a national problem requiring all Americans to act." In May 2015 Stern issued a public letter to FBI Director James Comey asking for an FBI investigation into his company's findings on the closing of Sweet Briar College.

Political career

In the fall of 2013, Stern worked with Maxine Waters, D-CA, ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, on the “Holding Individuals Accountable and Deterring Money Laundering Act,” which sought to give the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network the authority to litigate on its own, and to stiffen penalties and prison sentences for bank executives involved in money laundering.

In February 2014, Stern, a Republican, announced he was running for Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district in the 2014 elections. He withdrew from the race before the April 2014 filing deadline. In April 2015, Everett Stern announced his candidacy for United States Senate as the Republican candidate from Pennsylvania, challenging Pat Toomey for the PA seat in the 2016 election.

Political positions

Constitution and Bill of Rights

Stern is a strong advocate of Second Amendment gun rights, believing that law abiding citizens should always have a constitutionally protected right to bear arms. Stern himself is a gun owner with a "concealed carry" permit. He believes groups like the Hobby Lobby have the right to stand by their religious beliefs. He is adamant about uncovering and prosecuting banks and other companies whose money laundering activities finance terrorists and drug cartels.

Economy

Stern promotes "...pro-growth policies focusing on small business and job creation," including decreasing the tax burden on small businesses, preventing illegal workers being favored over citizens, and making it easier for small businesses to obtain loans.

Education

Stern opposes the Common Core standards in public education. He is also against the over-emphasis on standardized test scores that results in teachers who spend too much time teaching to the test at the expense of a well-rounded education. He believes school systems need to be held accountable within a competitive environment of continual improvement and adequate funding.

Energy

Stern is a strong advocate for using such natural resources as oil, natural gas, and coal to meet energy needs and provide jobs to citizens. He is not opposed to hydraulic fracking. He wants to restrict federal legislation that stands in the way using those resources and use energy revenues to fund school improvements, infrastructure, job creation, and small business opportunities.

Healthcare

Stern is an advocate for overhauling the mental health system to treat people more humanely. He is strongly opposed to Obamacare and will work to repeal it.

Immigration

Stern is strongly opposed to illegal immigration. He supports overhauling immigration policies and laws to better support citizens and secure the nation's borders.

National Security

Stern believes in protecting the freedom and security of citizens against terrorism, as well as taking a hard line against any companies that launder money which finds its way to terrorists.

Troops and Veterans

Stern is a strong advocate for protecting troops and veterans both at home and abroad. He will work to adequately fund the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide the support veterans deserve for their service.

External links

• www.everettstern.com
• www.tacticalrabbit.com