Investment strategist Charles Kolb, who was celebrated for decades as "Wall Street's King Midas," was arrested and charged with over 600 counts of fraud and grand larceny when it was discovered that he had been doctoring records to indicate wealthy clients' monies had been placed in long-term, high-yield investments. In reality, Kolb had diverted all of his clients' money into untraceable foreign accounts he had set up for himself. Due to a technicality regarding the wording of the search warrant which had been issued, the presiding judge had no choice but to deem all the evidence collected inadmissible, reject the case due to a lack of admissible evidence, and grant Kolb his freedom. Kolb went directly to JFK airport and boarded a chartered plane bound for Algeria, where he was free to access the stolen monies, settle into a sprawling estate, and set the wheels in motion for acquiring citizenship. The lack of a U.S./Algerian extradition treaty meant that, for all intents and purposes, Kolb was home free.
With charges against Kolb no longer viable, Congressman Richard Pembroke, of Idaho, who'd invested (and lost) an undisclosed amount with Kolb, introduced a bill that, if passed, would cut off humanitarian aid to Algeria, a country where 24% of the population live at or below the poverty level, and unemployment among people under 30 has reached as high as 70%. The bill was fast-tracked and passed, despite an official declaration from the United Nations stating that the Algerian people had no part in Kolb's illegal activity, and stood to gain nothing by his presence in their country. In response to the U.N.'s declaration, Pembroke, who had a history of opposing legislation aimed at protecting the rights of women, minorities, and other protected classes, quoted Mary Wollstonecraft in a Tweet, "It is justice, not charity that is wanting in the world. The people of Algeria have a lot to answer for."
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