Goldman Says Threats Aren't Believed to Be Credible (Update1

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4CtN1bptePM&refer=home

-- Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the world's biggest securities firm, said law-enforcement authorities don't consider letters making threats against the company to be credible.

Security at Goldman Sachs building in New Jersey

About 20 letters were sent to different newspapers on or around June 27, said Thomas Boyle, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspectors in New York. The letters say that ``hundreds will die'' and ``we have people inside Goldman Sachs,'' he said.

``We are working closely with the law-enforcement authorities, who tell us they don't believe the threat to be very credible,'' Michael DuVally, a Goldman spokesman in New York, said in an e-mailed statement. ``We take any threat to the safety of our people very seriously.''

A team of postal inspectors is working with Goldman Sachs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Joint Terrorism Task Force to try to identify who sent the letters, Boyle said. Authorities don't know whether they are terror-related or come from someone with a direct connection to the firm.

``We're working with Goldman Sachs to see if they have any disgruntled employees or disgruntled customers,'' Boyle said. ``We're taking the threat very seriously.''

The letters, all mailed from Queens, New York, were received by newspapers in states including Texas, Indiana, Tennessee and Idaho, the Star-Ledger reported today. The letters said: ``Goldman Sachs. Hundreds will die. We are inside. You cannot stop us,'' according to the New Jersey newspaper, which also received a letter.

Security Measures

Goldman has reported record profit for three consecutive years and its first-quarter earnings were the highest in the history of Wall Street. In November, the firm started building a 43-story headquarters next to Ground Zero in lower Manhattan that is expected to cost $2.3 billion to $2.5 billion.

``We have a broad range of security measures in place to counter all likely threats and we're monitoring the situation closely,'' Goldman's DuVally said.

Supervisory special agent Neil Donovan of the FBI's New York press office didn't return a call for comment.

Site Admin Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 1400

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/07/07/2007-07-07_threats_vs_goldman_sachs_probed-1.html

The feds are investigating anonymous threats against Goldman Sachs - but do not consider the warnings to be very credible, officials said yesterday.

The threatening letters, mailed to 20 newspaper offices throughout the nation, were all postmarked June 27 in Queens.

They each contained the hand-printed warning: "Goldman Sachs. Hundreds will die. We are inside. You cannot stop us." They were signed "A.Q. U.S.A."

Goldman Sachs is based in New York City, but the company did not receive any of the letters, according to Tom Boyle, a spokesman for U.S. postal inspectors, who are investigating the threats along with the FBI and NYPD.

"We're not labeling it of high credibility, but it is a federal violation to mail a threat," Boyle said.

Investigators at the FBI and U.S. Postal Service labs were combing the letters and envelopes for forensic clues that could lead to the author. It was not clear if the "A.Q." in the signature was a reference to Al Qaeda.

In the New York metro area, the letters were sent to weekly newspapers in Queens.