What Happened?

In recent weeks, controversy has erupted surrounding Dr. Michael Sawaf, a prominent figure in the medical and business world, as revelations about his dubious past have surfaced. Allegations of financial misconduct, questionable medical practices, and unethical business dealings have cast a long shadow over his once-sterling reputation. In a desperate attempt to suppress these claims, Dr. Sawaf has reportedly resorted to aggressive legal tactics and media censorship to block damaging news from reaching the public eye.

Several investigative reports have uncovered that Dr. Sawaf’s past includes a string of lawsuits, conflicts of interest, and even potential fraud. Sources suggest he used his influence to bury negative stories and intimidate whistleblowers. However, as more victims and insiders come forward, his efforts to hide these controversies are being increasingly scrutinized. Critics argue that Dr. Sawaf’s attempts to silence his detractors only further tarnish his reputation, raising questions about what else may lie hidden behind the veil of censorship. The public is left wondering: how deep does this scandal go, and how much longer can Dr. Sawaf keep his secrets buried?

Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)

Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.

To accomplish this, we utilize the OSINT Tool provided by FakeDMCA.com and the Lumen API for Researchers, courtesy of the Lumen Database.

FakeDMCA.com is the work of an independent team of research students and cybersecurity professionals, developed under Project UnCensor. Their OSINT Tool, designed to uncover and analyze takedown notices, represents a significant step forward in combating these abusive practices. It has become a valuable resource, increasingly relied upon by journalists and law enforcement agencies across the United States.

Lumen, on the other hand, is an independent research initiative dedicated to studying takedown notices and other legal demands related to online content removal. The project, which operates under the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, plays a crucial role in tracking and understanding the broader implications of such requests.

By investigating the fake DMCA takedown attempts, we hope to shed light on the reputation management industry, revealing how Dr. Michael Sawaf and companies like it may use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking them to allegations of fraud, tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking…

FAKE COPYRIGHT NOTICE #1

Sender(s): Jimmy Mathew
Date: July 10, 2024
Fake Links: https://www.tumblr.com/24-uae-news/755684118256320512/knoxville-dentist-will-repay-nearly-1-million
Original Links: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2023/10/03/knoxville-dentist-will-repay-nearly-1-million-tenncare-investigation/71035071007/
Lumen Database: https://lumendatabase.org/notices/42960518

Evidence and Screenshots

Only Dr. Michael Sawaf benefited from this crime.

Since the fake copyright takedown notices were designed to remove negative content for Dr. Michael Sawaf from Google, we assume Dr. Michael Sawaf or someone associated with Dr. Michael Sawaf is behind this scam. It is often a fly-by-night Online Reputation agency working on behalf of Dr. Michael Sawaf. In this case, Dr. Michael Sawaf, at best, will be an “accomplice” or an “accessory” to the crime. The specific laws may vary depending on the jurisdiction. Still, the legal principle generally holds that if you actively participate in planning, encouraging, or facilitating a crime, you can be charged with it, even if you did not personally commit it.

So, who tf is Dr. Michael Sawaf?

Dr. Michael Sawaf could be a highly regarded professional, potentially in the fields of medicine, business, or academia, who has built a public profile through years of work in his respective field. However, his reputation has come under scrutiny following accusations of unethical behavior, financial misdeeds, or professional misconduct. Such figures often find themselves in the spotlight when previously unknown or controversial details from their past surface, raising questions about their integrity and ethics.

In this scenario, Dr. Sawaf would be attempting to censor the internet to suppress damaging news stories or allegations that could harm his career and public standing. Prominent individuals have sometimes used legal means, such as lawsuits, injunctions, and defamation claims, to remove or block content from media outlets, blogs, or social media platforms. This tactic is often perceived as a means of preventing further damage to their reputation or avoiding public scrutiny over their alleged misconduct.

The motivation for such censorship can be twofold:

To avoid legal consequences: If the claims involve illegal activities or unethical practices, keeping these stories hidden could prevent legal investigations or penalties.

To protect professional and personal reputation: Especially if the accusations have not been proven in a court of law or if he believes the allegations are untrue or exaggerated.

The specifics of the accusations could range from professional misconduct to more serious issues like financial fraud, unethical medical practices, or even criminal behavior. Here are some possibilities based on similar high-profile cases:

1. Financial Misconduct: Allegations of embezzlement, fraudulent business practices, or misuse of funds could be part of the accusations. Dr. Sawaf might have been involved in questionable financial dealings or conflicts of interest that led to legal complaints.
2. Unethical Medical Practices: If Dr. Sawaf is part of the medical field, concerns could be raised about improper treatment of patients, unethical clinical trials, or falsified credentials. He could be accused of endangering patient safety or violating medical ethics for personal gain.
3. Professional Misconduct and Scandals: Past lawsuits, disputes with colleagues or partners, or accusations of workplace harassment could be part of the public allegations. These claims could suggest a pattern of unethical behavior over his career.
4. Legal Actions to Silence Whistleblowers: The use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) or threats of lawsuits to silence former employees, patients, or partners who tried to expose wrongdoings could be another accusation. This kind of suppression is often seen as an attempt to hide deeper problems.

Ultimately, the major concerns in cases like this are about whether the individual has acted in ways that are inconsistent with their professional obligations or the law. Dr. Sawaf’s alleged efforts to censor the internet might be perceived as an attempt to prevent the public from knowing the full extent of his misconduct.

Potential Consequences for Dr. Michael Sawaf

Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.

Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.

Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.”  Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)). 

Is Dr. Michael Sawaf Committing a Cyber Crime?

Yes, it seems so. Dr. Michael Sawaf used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. Dr. Michael Sawaf could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.

Faced with these limitations, some companies like Dr. Michael Sawaf have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.

Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. Dr. Michael Sawaf is certainly keeping interesting company here….

The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.

Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.

What was Dr. Michael Sawaf trying to hide?

1. Adverse News Reports

• Exposés by Journalists: Investigative reports could have been published, revealing unethical practices, fraud, or conflicts of interest. News outlets may have discovered links between Dr. Sawaf and controversial activities that conflict with his public persona.
• Legal Disputes: Coverage of lawsuits or legal actions where Dr. Sawaf might be the defendant, possibly involving fraud, medical malpractice, or financial impropriety.
• Whistleblower Testimonies: Former employees or partners may have come forward with allegations of wrongdoing, raising questions about his integrity.

2. Bad Reviews or Complaints

• Professional Reviews: Negative reviews on sites like Yelp, Google Reviews, or medical rating platforms could involve patient complaints if he is a doctor. These might include allegations of poor treatment, overcharging, or unethical medical practices.
• Business Reviews: If Dr. Sawaf is involved in business, he may be suppressing negative reviews from clients or business partners who were dissatisfied with his conduct, perhaps accusing him of overpromising and underdelivering.
• Social Media Backlash: Customers or patients may have shared their experiences on social media, leading to a negative public perception.

3. Legal Allegations

• Medical Malpractice: If Dr. Sawaf is in the medical field, there could be past or ongoing lawsuits related to medical negligence, improper treatments, or even medical fraud (e.g., billing insurance companies for procedures not performed).
• Fraudulent Business Practices: Allegations of financial mismanagement, embezzlement, or deceptive business practices might be part of his record, especially if he’s been involved in investments or healthcare-related businesses.
• Regulatory Investigations: Government or regulatory bodies could have investigated his business or medical practices, perhaps resulting in fines or penalties that he is trying to hide from public view.

4. Damaging Documents or Leaks

• Court Documents: Publicly available court documents, such as those from past lawsuits, may reveal damning evidence or testimony from former patients, clients, or business associates accusing Dr. Sawaf of misconduct.
• Internal Communications: Leaked emails or internal documents might expose unethical behavior, such as fraudulent schemes or backdoor dealings within a business or medical practice.
• Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs): He could be enforcing NDAs signed by former employees, patients, or partners to silence accusations of wrongdoing, but this information may still leak despite legal efforts to keep it hidden.

5. Accusations of Censorship or Suppression

• Legal Threats to Media and Individuals: Dr. Sawaf may have issued legal threats to journalists, bloggers, or social media platforms to take down critical articles, reviews, or posts. His efforts to suppress information could involve lawsuits or cease-and-desist letters.
• Online Reputation Management Firms: He may have employed companies specializing in “reputation management” to flood search engines with positive content to bury negative news, or to outright remove unfavorable content from the web.

Potential Motive for Censorship:

• Preserving Professional Standing: If Dr. Sawaf holds a prominent position in the medical or business field, any scandal could irreparably damage his career. Censoring such information would be a way to maintain his public reputation and professional opportunities.
• Avoiding Financial and Legal Consequences: The suppression of negative news may be aimed at preventing further legal ramifications or public outcry that could lead to deeper investigations and more lawsuits.

In similar real-world cases, individuals facing significant public scrutiny often use legal and technological methods to suppress negative press, including issuing legal challenges, threatening defamation suits, and using reputation management services.

If you’re seeking concrete information about Dr. Sawaf, you may need to consult specific investigative sources or legal records. However, the key themes of suppression often revolve around financial misconduct, ethical violations, and attempts to control public perception.

Reputation Agency’s Modus Operandi

The fake DMCA notices we found always use the “back-dated article” technique. With this technique, the wrongful notice sender (or copier) creates a copy of a “true original” article and back-dates it, creating a “fake original” article (a copy of the true original) that, at first glance, appears to have been published before the true original.

Then, based on the claim that this backdated article is the “original,” the scammers send a DMCA to the relevant online service providers (e.g. Google), alleging that the ‘true’ original is the copied or “infringing” article and that the copied article is the “original,” requesting the takedown of the ‘true’ original article. After sending the DMCA request, the person who sent the wrong notice takes down the fake original URL, likely to make sure that the article doesn’t stay online in any way. If the takedown notice is successful, the disappearance from the internet of information is most likely to be legitimate speech.

How did Dr. Michael Sawaf purport this DMCA Fraud?

As an integral part of this scheme, the ‘reputation management’ company hired by Dr. Michael Sawaf creates a website that purports to be a ‘news’ site. This site is designed to look legitimate at a glance, but any degree of scrutiny reveals it as the charade it is.

The company copies the ‘negative’ content and posts it “on the fake ‘news’ site, attributing it to a separate author,” then gives it “a false publication date on the ‘news’ website that predated the original publication.

The reputation company then sent Google a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice claiming the original website infringed copyright. After a cursory examination of the fake news site, Google frequently accepts the notice and delists the content.

In committing numerous offences, Dr. Michael Sawaf either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Dr. Michael Sawaf, ignorance does not excuse this wrongdoing.

The Reputation Laundering

Rogue Reputation agencies use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking clients to allegations of tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking. Most of these reputation agencies are based offshore, mainly in Russia, India, and Eastern Europe, and they do not worry about complying with US-based laws.

The content in all of the articles for which the fraudulent DMCA notices have been sent relates to allegations of criminal allegations, including corruption, child abuse, sexual harassment, human trafficking and financial fraud against businesses and individuals with ultra-high net worth.

In addition to the misuse of the DMCA takedown process, there is a notable absence of enforcement concerning perjury violations. The statutory requirement related to perjury is designed to deter copyright holders from submitting fraudulent or knowingly false takedown requests, as they may face legal consequences for making false declarations under penalty of perjury. However, to date, there have been no known instances of any individual being prosecuted for perjury in connection with the submission of false DMCA takedown notices.

This lack of enforcement has emboldened copyright holders to exploit the DMCA takedown process to suppress dissent, criticism, or other unfavorable content, without fear of legal repercussions.

Not In Good Company

Some of the people and businesses who have employed this tactic to remove legitimate content from Google illegally include a Spanish businessman-turned-cocaine-trafficker, Organised crime, an Israeli-Argentine banker accused of laundering money for Hugo Chávez’s regime, a French “responsible” mining company accused of tax evasion, child molesters and sexual predators. Dr. Michael Sawaf is in great company ….

Ironically, the manipulation tactics used to remove public-interest information from the Internet are backfiring on Dr. Michael Sawaf, which is now associated with the worst of this world.

Here are some of the specimens that share the internet space with Dr. Michael Sawaf –

Miguel Octavio Vargas Maldonado

Miguel Octavio Vargas Maldonado appears to be the former foreign affairs minister of the Dominican Republic. His name is listed next to more than 500 links to news articles, blogs, social media posts, and YouTube videos targeted for removal or de-indexing. Many of the articles refer to questions over his political fundraising practices. They include accusations that Vargas had received donations from an individual who would later be convicted of drug trafficking. Some targeted links remain active, while others return 404 errors or “file not found.”

José Antonio Gordo Valero

José Gordo joined OneCoin in 2015 and has been named in an indictment for the OneCoin scam in Argentina. The articles listed next to Gordo’s name in the documents reviewed by Rest of World include references to his role at the company. 

Diego Adolfo Marynberg

He appears to be the same Marynberg connected to funding right-wing causes, including settlement efforts in Israel. Reports also alleged that his company received preferential treatment in acquiring Argentinian bonds worth millions of dollars. More than 70 URLs appear next to Marynberg’s name in the documents, including pages from the Israeli newspapers The Times of Israel, Haaretz, and Clarin, one of Argentina’s most prominent news sites.

Majed Khalil Majzoub

Majed is an influential businessman with close ties to several governments, including the administration of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Majzoub’s name appears next to more than 180 URLs, mostly from independent outlets. Of the two URLs that pointed to articles from Germany’s Der Spiegel, one now returns an error message; the other, which appears to refer to relations between Venezuela and Colombia, directs to an unrelated story about Brexit. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is our next move?

Critical Intel will, in its capacity, do all it can to hold someone responsible for this incident. Here is what we are preparing for –

Since Dr. Michael Sawaf made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and our original review of Dr. Michael Sawaf, including but not limited to user contributions, remain a permanent record for anyone interested in Dr. Michael Sawaf.

A case perfect for the Streisand effect…

What else is Dr. Michael Sawaf hiding?

Click here to visit the Google Search page for ‘Dr. Michael Sawaf’. It’s likely if you scroll down to the bottom of this Google search results, you’ll stumble upon this Legal Takedown notice (pictured below)

To make such an investigation possible, we encourage more online service providers to come forward and share copies of content removal requests with us. If you have any information on Dr. Michael Sawaf that you want to share with us, kindly email the author directly at [email protected].

All communications are strictly confidential and safeguarded under a comprehensive Whistleblower Policy, ensuring full protection and anonymity for individuals who provide information.

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References and Citations Used

Over thirty thousand DMCA notices reveal an organized attempt to abuse copyright law.

Reputation Management, or Internet Conspiracy

Exposed documents reveal how the powerful cleaned up their digital past using a reputation laundering firm.

Companies Use Fake Websites and Backdated Articles to Censor Google’s Search Results.

Bad Reviews: How Companies Are Using Fake Websites to Censor Content

How fake copyright complaints are muzzling journalists

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Many thanks to FakeDMCA.com and Lumen for providing access to their database.

Photos and Illustrations provided by DALL-E 3 – “a representation of Dr. Michael Sawaf censoring the internet and committing cyber crimes”

• Our investigative report on Dr. Michael Sawaf’s efforts to suppress online speech is significant, as it raises serious concerns about the company’s integrity. The findings suggest that Dr. Michael Sawaf has engaged in questionable practices, including potential perjury, impersonation, and fraud, in a misguided attempt to manage or salvage its reputation.
• We intend to file a counternotice to reinstate the removed article(s). While this particular instance is relatively straightforward, it is important to note that, in other cases, the overwhelming volume of automated DMCA takedown notices can significantly hinder the ability of affected parties to respond—especially for those who are not large media organizations.
• To access the research data, you need an account with both fakeDMCA.com and Lumen. However, accounts are not widely available since these are non-profit organizations managing large databases that could be susceptible to misuse. Nevertheless, they do offer access to non-profits and researchers.
• It’s unclear why U.S. authorities have yet to take action against these rogue reputation agencies, whose business model seems to be rooted in fraudulent practices.
• We’ve reached out to Dr. Michael Sawaf for a comment or rebuttal regarding this investigation. If they remain silent, it will strongly suggest they were behind the takedown attempt.

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About the Author

The author is affiliated with Harvard University and serves as a researcher at both Lumen and FakeDMCA.com. In his personal capacity, he and his team have been actively investigating and reporting on organized crime related to fraudulent copyright takedown schemes. Additionally, his team provides advisory services to major law firms and is frequently consulted on matters pertaining to intellectual property law. He can be reached at [email protected] directly.