How Wall Street Bankers Use Seamless To Feast On Free Lobster, Steak, And Beer

A former Morgan Stanley banker recently described his weekend food-ordering ritual at the height of the recession. While pulling Saturday hours, for example, he'd log onto the bank's account on Seamless, the online food-ordering service, and redeem his meal allowance--plus a few allowances from phantom coworkers who weren't actually in the office, allowing him to eat well above his pay grade. Sure, someone could have cross-checked actual office attendence with the online orders, but is such effort worth the investment bank's time? "If people weren't around, it was totally acceptable to take their allowance, and pool it together when you ordered," the banker recalls. "Almost every weekend I was at the office, I'd have a $90 dinner of steak, lobster, mac & cheese, and calamari." Until several years ago, corporate giants like Morgan Stanley made up roughly 85% of Seamless's customer base. That figure has now tipped in favor of individual consumers, but enterprise clients still represent a significant (and growing) part of the New York-based company's revenue--companies offer Seamless as a benefit to those who typically work long or late hours. But for employees of these roughly 3,500 corporate Seamless customers, the benefit represents a huge opportunity to game the system. And no one has worked the system for financial gain better than Wall Street hustlers. "Abuse of the system was rampant," recalls another former Morgan Stanley staffer. "I added up how much I ordered in my first year: It was more than $3,000 of food." Here's how it works. Typically, junior professionals are allotted about $25 per meal at the office. But there are tricks to leverage this cash on Seamless. If employees want to order dinner, for example, they have to stay until 8 p.m. "But you could still order for a 7 p.m. delivery at 6 p.m., then call the restaurant directly and tell them to bring it right away," one employee says. "So I'd finish work around 6:30 p.m., hit the company gym, and then grab my sushi--spicy tuna rolls--on the way out." A Seamless Scam How Gordon Gekko Orders On Seamless 1// Top Seamless Fiend According to Seamless' statistics, the highest ordering corporate user placed more than 2,600 orders in 2011, or more than 7 meals per day. 2// Top Cuisine By Industry Employees Investment Bankers: Sushi; Educators: Pizza 3// Top Ordering Patterns Corporate dinner-orders in New York's Financial District peak at 8 p.m. In Midtown, corporate orders peak at 7 p.m. Corporate dinner-orders are higher, on average, from 4-5 p.m. and lower between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Ordering groceries on Seamless was--and likely still is--another practice. (Representatives at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have not responded to requests for comment.) One employee, who lived by Morgan Stanley's Midtown offices, would even remote into her office computer from her apartment, place an order on Seamless, and then call the restaurant and change the delivery address to her apartment. The lobster-loving Morgan Stanley banker's take on that old switcheroo? "Classic." Another trick: Since employees aren't allowed to order beer or alcohol on the system, it's not uncommon to pool money together, place a large order for random items, then call the store and request that they bring beer instead. "We definitely get a lot of random orders," says Seamless CEO Jonathan Zabusky. "Once in a while, I'll sit on the customer-care desk, just to get a feel on the pulse of what's going on. You see these orders come through, and you're like, 'Why are 20 rolls of toilet paper going to 200 Vesey Street [the World Financial Center]? What the hell?'" One former employee at Morgan Stanley said he wasn't sure how pervasive the "switch-for-beer order" was at the investment bank, but said he personally pulled the move several times. "Wow, I feel so lame now because when I'd order from Seamless, I'd just get dinner," says one former Goldman Sachs employee. "I never heard of anyone else pulling a fast one [like that], but that doesn't mean it never happened." The daily Seamless stipend is considered sacred for employees, and any abuse of the system appears generally overlooked by higher-ups. When Lehman Brothers went under, for instance, Morgan Stanley lowered the Seamless limit from $30 to $25, much to the anger of workers. "People went nuts," recalls a former employee. "Every so often there were these fireside chats with [Morgan Stanley CEO] John Mack 'Da Knife' and a collection of analysts. One of the women on the call asked Mack to raise the limit to $30 again. Mack, not really having paid much attention to expenses, was surprised to hear it had been reduced. Concerned, he asked her why she needed $30 instead of just $25. She said that with the new reduction, 'I can't order my Perrier anymore.'" The next day, as legend has it, there was an entire case of Perrier on her desk--courtesy of John Mack. "What a baller," an employee says. Zabusky is sure abuse exists on Seamless, but says it's not likely that widespread. "I think it's pretty funny," the Seamless chief chuckles. "I mean, I know it probably frustrates a CFO at Goldman, who is giving these guys $25 to order while they work on deals, and they're ordering toilet paper and jars of mayonnaise and all this other stuff. But in the overall scope, it's probably pretty small." Small as the abuses might be in terms of Seamless's bottom line, there's no doubt it has a big impact on the morale of employees, who seem to take pride in manipulating money one way or another. According to Seamless's statistics, for example, the highest ordering corporate user placed more than 2,600 orders in 2011. "There's nothing grosser or more magnificent than eating $25 of delivered Taco Bell under the fluorescent, sober lights of an office building," says one employee. "Do you have any idea how much baja sauce you can get for that money?"

San Diego tax preparer for the wealthy accused of ordering hit on 2 witnesses in fraud trail

 former Internal Revenue Service agent whose tax preparation business catered to a wealthy clientele is accused of ordering at least two former customers killed as they prepared to testify against him on fraud charges. Federal prosecutors say the targets were key witnesses against Steven Martinez, 50, who was charged last year with stealing $11 million by preparing bogus tax returns for his customers. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? Personal Post Martinez’s limousine driver — Norman Russell Thellmann, 64 — was charged Monday with conspiracy to tamper with witnesses. Prosecutors allege he was ordered to deliver money to a hit man who was promised $100,000 for the two killings. Martinez did not enter a plea during his initial court appearance Monday on a charge of witness tampering. A federal magistrate judge ordered him held without bail. “I find it almost impossible to believe,” said David Demergian, his attorney. Martinez, an IRS agent from 1988 to 1992, faces a pretrial hearing March 19 on federal fraud charges and was free on bail until his arrest last week. An FBI agent’s affidavit says Martinez gave a former employee documents on four people about two weeks ago, including photos of one target from the wealthy suburb of Rancho Santa Fe and another target’s condominium in the upscale La Jolla area of San Diego. Martinez recommended the former employee use two different pistols for the killings and get a silencer, according to the affidavit. The former employee contacted the FBI, which recorded a meeting Thursday in which Martinez allegedly gave additional instructions like how to break into the La Jolla condominium. The targets were identified as 86-year-old Monique Siegel of La Jolla and Marianne Harmon of Rancho Santa Fe. The fraud complaint alleges that Martinez told customers to deposit their taxes into one of his bank accounts, promising to forward the money to state and federal authorities. He stated lower income on their tax returns without telling them, allowing him to pocket $11 million. The complaint identifies victims only by their initials. One “M.H.” had an income of $20.7 million in 2006 but Martinez filed a tax return for $2.1 million. One “M.S.” earned $200,046 in 2006 but Martinez’s return reported $32,900. Another customer who earned $12.2 million in 2005 reported income at $1.6 million, according to the complaint. The same customer earned $11 million in 2006, also reported as $1.6 million. Demergian, his attorney, said the fraud case was “certainly very defensible.” “He had a very dedicated loyal clientele,” Demergian said. “He was very successful.” Thellmann, who was arrested Friday night, told the FBI that Martinez sold him a limousine about three years ago and hired him as a chauffeur. He said Martinez told him to give $40,000 to a person who would call him with code. Thellmann denied he knew the money was to pay a hitman. FBI agents found $42,400 cash in a cereal box at his home.

Ponzi fraud: two men found guilty of involvement in £115m UK scam

Two men have been convicted of involvement in the UK's largest Ponzi fraud, which saw hundreds of people – among them the former cricketer Darren Gough and the actor Frances de la Tour – lose £115m. John Anderson, 46, and Kenneth Peacock, 43 were found guilty of unauthorised regulated activity at Southwark crown court in London on Monday, but were cleared of one count each of fraud. The jury is still deliberating over allegations that they deceived investors. The scheme's mastermind, Kautilya Pruthi, 41, of Wandsworth, London, has pleaded guilty to the fraud and is due to be sentenced later this week. Ponzi frauds – which take their name from the Italian conman Charles Ponzi, who was particularly fond of employing the scheme – use cash from new investors to pay returns to existing investors and depend on a constant stream of new investors to fund the payouts. The court heard that Gough and the actor and singer Jerome Flynn are each thought to have lost up to £1m in the fraud, which also duped De la Tour. Victims handed over their cash to Pruthi, who promised them safe investments with returns of up to 13%. Instead, he spent their money on entertaining women, paying his daughter's private school fees and chartering helicopters. He also bought a private jet and built a car collection that included three Bentleys, a Lamborghini, two Ferraris, two Mercedes, a Rolls Royce, a Jaguar and a Maserati. "Mr Pruthi is believed to be the UKs most successful Ponzi fraudster," said David Aaronberg QC, prosecuting. "He obtained some £38m from investors and caused contractual losses of over £115m." Aaronberg added: "He enjoyed the company of women and was generous in the payments he made to a number of female friends, for whom he bought cars as presents, in total giving them £373,149." Indian-born Pruthi came to the UK in 2004 having been deported to his homeland after serving a sentence for faking documents in the US. Jurors heard that on coming to the country, Pruthi was quickly able to pose as "a wealthy individual". After setting up his company, Business Consulting International, said Aaronberg, Pruthi accepted deposits and "orchestrated a large-scale and sophisticated collective investment scheme". He would send personally tailored emails claiming he could offer up to 13% returns on 12-month investments because the scheme was available to a limited clientele. But in reality, said the prosecutor, he was "robbing Peter to pay Paul". Pruthi, who was not registered with or authorised by the FSA, admitted four counts of obtaining money transfers by deception, one of participating in a fraudulent business, one of unauthorised regulated activity and one count of converting and removing criminal property. Peacock, of West Hampstead, north London, and Anderson, of Surrey, are alleged to have acted as "aggregators" who pooled funds from third parties and then passed them on to Pruthi, who had duped them into the fraud at the outset. Eventually the scheme collapsed as there were not enough new investors to bring in the money needed to keep the old investors happy. "The scale of this scheme was vast and the losses were immense; several investors lost their homes, others have been declared bankrupt," said Aaronberg. "The monies which Pruthi received were generally not invested anywhere, neither in the UK nor abroad." According to the prosecution, of the £38,631,792 Pruthi obtained, £28m was used to pay back other investors, while £10m was siphoned off for Pruthi's "lavish lifestyle".

Deadlocked Stanford Fraud Trial Jury Told to Keep Deliberating

 

The judge in R. Allen Stanford’s fraud trial ordered the jury to return to deliberations after the panel sent a note saying it couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in its fourth day of reviewing the evidence. The eight men and four women on the jury told U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston yesterday they were “unable to reach a verdict on each of the 14 counts,” the judge said, reading their note to attorneys for both sides. Enlarge image R. Allen Stanford, accused of leading a $7 billion investment fraud scheme, gestures as he exits the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse in Houston, Texas. Photographer: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg Hittner instructed jurors to “continue your deliberations in this case,” telling them the trial has been costly in terms of both time and money, that the lawyers were unlikely going to be able to put on a better trial and that another jury was unlikely to be more conscientious. “It is your duty to agree upon a verdict if you can do so, without surrendering your conscientious opinion,’” Hittner told them. Stanford, 61, is accused of leading a $7 billion international fraud scheme involving the sale of certificates of deposit issued by his Antigua-based bank. He faces as long as 20 years in prison if found guilty of the most severe charges, mail fraud and wire fraud. The financier maintains he is not guilty. After the jury returned to deliberations, lead prosecutor Gregg Costa told the judge the jury’s note could be construed as meaning it couldn’t agree on any one of the 14 counts against Stanford or upon all of the counts. ‘We’ll See’ While acknowledging the possibility of having to accept a partial verdict, Hitter said, “We’ll see what comes out next.” When Hittner instructed the jurors to “take all the time you may feel necessary” to reach a verdict, one of the jurors grimaced. The jury left for the day yesterday after being told to resume deliberations. Jury selection in the case began Jan. 23 and the panel heard five weeks of evidence. The government presented testimony at from investors who bought the allegedly fraudulent CDs as well as from the executives who helped sell them. The witnesses included government officials and former Stanford Group Co. Chief Financial Officer James M. Davis, who pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges in 2009 and testified for five days against Stanford. Davis, whose relationship with Stanford traces back to when they were Baylor University roommates, told the jury he knew the boss was committing fraud and didn’t stop it. The defense presented former Stanford employees who said they saw no evidence of fraud at the company. Some offered testimony in support of the defense’s contention that Stanford was an absentee visionary who left the details of running his operation to Davis. Stanford didn’t testify during the trial.

Mandela faces fraud charges

The liquidators of Aurora Empowerment Systems, which is accused of asset-stripping bankrupt Pamodzi Gold, will lay charges of fraud this week against Nelson Mandela’s grandson Zondwa, and Ahmed Amod, an attorney for the company. The liquidators are also said to be planning to lay charges this week against Aurora chairman Khulubuse Zuma and possibly other directors under section 424 of the Companies Act, under which directors can be held personally liable for company debts. The charges follow a threat by the liquidators to lay charges of perjury against Thulani Ngubane, a director of Aurora, after he gave evidence at an inquiry.

illegal immigrants desperate to escape squalor of Britain

 

They came to Britain illegally in search of a better life, but the reality turned out to be far removed from what they dreamed of. The BBC has spoken to illegal immigrants who find themselves living amongst rats and rubbish in makeshift garden sheds and garages. They want to be deported back to India, but many are trapped in a bureaucratic no man's land without any documents. Jagdeesh pulls away a piece of cardboard revealing a tiny hole in a concrete wall. He invites me to climb through, declaring: "This is my home, come in." As I crawl into the derelict garage in west London, the torchlight reveals half the roof is missing, a floor littered with rubbish, and rats scurrying away. The 22-year-old illegal immigrant jumps on to a mattress in the corner. His makeshift bed is protected from the elements by plastic sheeting. Jagdeesh's family paid £10,000 to traffickers who promised a better life and smuggled him from India to Britain with dozens of others in the back of a lorry. Voluntary returns "I was told that life was good here. It's not just me, other boys came for work," he says. "You can see what state we're in, there's no work, no government help." Jagdeesh has cut himself off from his family, saying he is ashamed of his failure to find work and would rather they thought he was dead than knew he was living in filth. "They sold land and took out loans to get me out of India. What can I say to my family back home? The money we've invested is lost," he says. Out of work, penniless and 4,000 miles from home, Jagdeesh has handed himself in for deportation. Voluntary departures from the UK to all countries have risen steadily over the past six years, from 335 in 2005 to 15,537 in 2010, before falling to 12,879 in 2011, Home Office figures show. Continue reading the main story Voluntary returns from the UK 2005 - 335 2006 - 3,034 2007 - 4,805 2008 - 7,644 2009 - 11,783 2010 - 15,537 2011 - 12,879 Source: Home Office It is barely dawn as Jagdeesh and hundreds of other illegal immigrants from India descend on a car park outside Southall train station in west London. They stand in silence, shivering in the bitter cold. This car park was once a busy pick-up point for cheap illegal workers before the work slowed down in the economic downturn. It is mid-morning by the time a van swings into the car park. Suddenly dozens of men rush towards the driver's window offering their skills, shouting above each other. "I make a good plumber," shouts one. "I work hard boss, 12 hours for £20," shouts another. Several men scramble for a place in the back of the van, pushing others out of the way, then the van speeds off. For those left behind, there will be no more offers of work that day. Surinder, 33, also from Southall, arrived in the UK more than 10 years ago. There was a time when he made £300 a week working six days as a heating engineer, but he is now living in the poverty he came here to escape. He heads back to the home he shares with several other illegal immigrants - a tiny, poorly constructed building in his landlord's garden. Inside, there are three beds and a cooking area. "We can barely make ends meet. It's been two months and we've only worked four days, what can we do?" he says. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Nobody listens to me... I have nothing left to live for” Buta Southall He throws his work overalls on to a scruffy sofa as if to show his frustration. "We have to pay the landlords, there are four or five us, and so we club together to pay it." The rent is £800 a month. Landlords appear to be prepared to risk housing illegal immigrants for an inflated price. They have been told not to open the door to anyone in case they are planning or immigration officials, but we obtained access by posing as volunteers offering food and blankets. The immigrants complain of damp, cramped conditions, but being exploited by their own people angers them most. "Our people who are here legally, permanent residents, who've made homes here, they've paid for their houses because of us," Jandeep says angrily. "Their mortgages are paid because they charge a high rent. Everyone who lives here is Punjabi." Row after row of terraced houses in this predominantly Asian area of west London are housing illegal immigrants in back gardens, creating slum-like areas. Local councils estimate there are 10,000 sheds concealed from view across London and the Home Counties, lining networks of alleyways. 'Satellite images' Council planning officers and immigration agencies are using satellite images to document them. But Ealing Council, which is responsible for the area we visited, is calling on the government for greater powers to inspect these buildings. Local councils often have to give 24 hours' notice to landlords and tenants for inspection, which gives them plenty of time to clear evidence. Sheds with beds are the last resort for migrant workers. Surinder plans to head back to India before he ends up on the street, even if he has to pay traffickers to help him. "If I don't go back while I still have some money, it's over for me, then it's drink, drugs and no way home," he says.

British graves desecrated in Libya

 

Libyan government has been "extremely apologetic" about the desecration of British war graves in the eastern city of Benghazi, a Foreign Office Minister said. Speaking on the Sky News Murnaghan programme, Jeremy Browne said people would be understandably upset by images of damaged graves in Sunday's papers, including the Mail on Sunday. But he said the attacks were not aimed particularly at Britain or Christians, and did not represent a Libyan response to last year's military action when British aircraft took part in a campaign which toppled Colonel Gadaffi from his role as dictator in the North African country. Mr Browne told the programme: "There is an appalling story and people will be shocked by the photos. My grandfather's generation were truly heroic in that part of Africa in the Second World War and I think people will be shocked by what they see. "It is worth saying the Libyan authorities themselves are shocked too. We have had direct dealings with them. They have been extremely apologetic and made a very strong commitment they will get to the bottom of this happening. They will try and do everything they can to resolve it. "My understanding it is not just British graves or just Christian graves that have been desecrated, there is wider desecration taking place. The Libyan authorities are keen to work with us on this. I would not want people to think this is somehow an ingratitude by the government of Libya. That's not the case." More than 1,200 Commonwealth soldiers and airmen are buried in the eastern city of Benghazi. Of the 1,051 identified graves, 851 are British. Many were members of the 7th Armoured Division, known as the Desert Rats, which played a key role in fighting for control of Libya and Egypt between 1941 and 1943. Reports in the Mail on Sunday said the attacks on graves took place over two days last week. A video was recorded by one of the men involved and posted online, the paper said. Mustafa Abdul Jalil, head of state in Libya's caretaker government, told the paper the attacks were "unethical, irresponsible and criminal", adding: "(The Libyan government) severely denounces such shameful acts and vows to find and prosecute the perpetrators." A Commonwealth War Graves Commission spokesman told the Mail on Sunday that the graves would be restored "to a standard befitting the sacrifice of those commemorated at Benghazi". He added: "This could take some time because we will need to source replacement stones."

Paul Conroy claimed to be 'safe' in Lebanon after being smuggled out of Homs

 

Conroy, a British photographer working for the Sunday Times, and Bouvier, a French correspondent for Le Figaro, were reported to have travelled safely out of Syria overnight and were in Lebanon on Tuesday morning. "We've just had word from Beirut," said Mr Conroy's father, Les, on Tuesday morning. They are understood to have been smuggled out of a besieged enclave of Homs by the Syrian opposition. However, there were conflicting reports over whether they had been successfully evacuated. Miles Amoore, Sunday Times correspondent in Afghanistan, tweeted that they were still in the Baba Amr area of Homs. Both journalists suffered leg injuries last Wednesday during a barrage that killed Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times and Remi Ochlik, a French photographer.

Fertile territory for Al-Shabaab in chaos of Somalia

 

Representatives from more than 40 governments and humanitarian groups were holding talks Thursday in London on Somalia, which is in the grip of an insurgency. The gathering will try to agree a common approach to tackling the political turmoil, terrorism, poor security, while providing humanitarian aid. Much of the focus at the meeting will be on Al-Shabaab, a militant Islamist group that controls much of southern Somalia and is active around the capital, Mogadishu. It has waged an insurgency against the weak Transitional Federal Government since 2007. How it started Somalia has been without any functioning government since 1991 -- perfect territory for different militia and factions to fight over the bones of the old state. Al-Shabaab (which means "the youth" in Somali) emerged in about 2004. Its gunmen were involved in a series of assassinations of Somalis who had connections to the West. See high-res gallery of chaos in Somalia Al Shabaab began prospering when the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) seized the capital Mogadishu and much of central Somalia in 2006. London conference over Somalia war Years of chaos take toll in Somalia Kenya's military fighting in Somalia After defeating a coalition of warlords backed by the United States, the ICU brought Shariah-style justice to the capital, temporarily halting the anarchy in the city. Many people in the capital welcomed the greater security that the ICU brought, thanks in part to the effective fighting skills of several hundred Al-Shabaab fighters. How Somali militants target addicts in UK's "khat cafes" Ethiopian invasion Six months after the ICU established itself in Mogadishu, Ethiopia invaded Somalia, with backing from Washington. Both governments were concerned that the ICU were establishing fundamentalist Islamist rule and giving al Qaeda a foothold in Africa. Many of the ICU leadership fled, but Al-Shabaab launched a guerrilla war against the 17,000 Ethiopian soldiers deployed, drawing support from many Somalis, for whom Ethiopia is the regional arch-enemy. The Ethiopians quickly occupied Mogadishu but failed to pacify much of central and southern Somalia. Al-Shabaab was able to regroup in southern Somalia, aided by the squabbling within the Western-backed transitional federal government. In 2008, the militants began to retake a series of coastal towns south of the capital, and the port of Kismayo became a major source of revenue. According to the U.N. Al-Shabaab collects an estimated $35-50 million annually in custom tolls and taxes on businesses in Kismayo -- and two secondary ports higher up the coast. At the same time, Al-Shabaab commanders split from the political leadership of the ICU over talks with the government, which Al-Shabaab rejected. For their part, elders in the ICU were uneasy with the growing role of foreign fighters within Al-Shabaab and its shift from being a Somali resistance force to part of the global jihadist movement. Links with al Qaeda Most Al-Shabaab watchers believe that the organizational ties between the group and al Qaeda "central" are weak or non-existent. Both Osama bin Laden and his successor Ayman al Zawahiri lauded Al-Shabaab for its resistance to Ethiopian occupation and its waging of jihad. Soon after the Ethjiopian invasion, Zawahiri encouraged Somalis to defeat the "crusader Ethiopian invaders." Some Al-Shabaab leaders are said to have trained in Afghanistan, but the majority of young fighters have little knowledge of al Qaeda. Mysterious al Qaeda 'envoy' dispenses aid in Somalia Al-Shabaab formally declared its allegiance to al Qaeda in February 2010, claiming it would "connect jihad in the Horn of Africa to the jihad led by al Qaeda." It reiterated the affiliation when Zawahiri became al Qaeda's leader, and last year declared it would "sacrifice everything in the attainment of a global Islamic Caliphate." Somali PM: 'We need billions of dollars' Kenyan kids lured to join Somalia fight Somalis flee drought, terror This month, the two organizations announced their formal merger, with Zawahiri announcing in a video statement that the alliance would "support the jihadi unity against the Zio[nist]-Crusader campaign and their assistants amongst the treacherous agent rulers." Disenchantment grows Al-Shabaab's best recruiting sergeant was the incapable transitional government and the long power struggle between President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a former warlord, and his Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein. Yusuf, an ally of Ethiopia, was eventually forced to step down at the end of 2008, easing some of the tensions within the fragile government. At the same time, some Al-Shabaab factions began what appeared to many Somalis as senseless attacks -- a suicide bombing against a graduation ceremony for doctors in 2009 which killed 19 people; an attack on a medical clinic used by African Union forces and civilians in January 2010; and last October another suicide attack against scholarship students gathered for an event near the Education Ministry. That attack killed more than 100 people. Al-Shabaab's implementation of strict Sharia law has begun to alienate many in the way that al Qaeda did in Iraq. Women have been stoned to death for adultery; amputations and beheadings are common. In some areas Al-Shabaab has banned listening to the radio and non-Arabic signs; and it has assassinated several journalists. In a country that has little tradition of strict Sharia, such moves alienate ordinary Somalis. Who's in charge? Al-Shabaab has no conventional hierarchy and is divided into factions, with foreign fighters prominent in some areas and local commanders in control in others. It has also had fluctuating relationships with other Islamist groups in Somalia, such as Kamboni, with which it joined forces last year. The most prominent and established leader is Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who has been on a U.S. list of people "linked to terrorism" for a decade. "I am not a terrorist. But if strictly following my religion and love for Islam makes me a terrorist, then I will accept the designation," he said five years ago. There is considerable tension within the movement over the extent to which Shariah law should be implemented; and more recently over allowing foreign aid groups into southern Somalia to help alleviate a famine that threatens the lives of millions. American carried out Somalia suicide bombing, Islamists claim In essence the foreign fighters (among them an estimated 40 Somalis from the U.S. as well as more from Canada and Europe) see Al-Shabaab's role as part of global jihad; most local leaders, especially in the south, have a more nationalistic approach. They oppose the government in Mogadishu and the role of African Union troops in protecting it; but are unhappy about Al-Shabaab's ban on foreign aid for famine victims. Taking the fight overseas It's unclear whether Al-Shabaab -- like al Qaeda -- has ambitions to go global. It was involved in a double-bombing in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in 2010 -- in retaliation for Uganda's role in the AMISOM force that props up the transitional government. An Al-Shabaab member tried to kill the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard last year in revenge for his depictions of the Prophet Mohammed. And there is concern among western intelligence agencies that Al-Shabaab may forge links with other Islamist terror groups in Africa, such as Boko Haram in Nigeria. The size of the Somali diaspora (1.5 million strong and concentrated in Scandinavia, Canada and the U.S.) gives Al-Shabaab an opportunity to recruit for missions overseas, but to date the majority of ethnic Somalis recruited by Al-Shabaab have remained in Somalia.

Somali militants target addicts in UK's 'khat cafes'

 

Turn down any rundown street in any one of the "mini-Mogadishus" that now pepper Britain's cities, and you'll see young men congregating outside what look like shuttered shop fronts. But look closer. There are no signs and no distinguishing features to help those who don't know what lies on the other side of these battered doorways. The chances are you will have stumbled over a marfish -- the cafes British Somalis come to chew the vegetable stimulant, khat. Although khat is legal in the UK, marfishes are closed off to outsiders. One marfish we attempted to enter had a surveillance camera overlooking the locked doorway -- we were repeatedly refused entry.