Tag Archives: fraud

CBS News reports: Los Gatos man who starred in a real estate reality show was sentenced to jail and ordered to pay back nearly $10 million to his victims after being convicted of real estate fraud, prosecutors said Tuesday. According to Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s office, 58-year-old Charles “Todd” Hill received a four-year sentence. Hill starred in …

USA Today reports: During the last three years, the Justice Department’s COVID-19 Enforcement Task Force has charged more than 3,500 people with federal crimes, recovered more than $1.4 billion in stolen pandemic funds and reached more than 400 civil settlements and judgments, officials said Tuesday. White House officials and lawmakers used the announcement as a springboard to propose legislation to …

Memphis’s Fox affiliate reports: Four Mid-South pastors, including three from Memphis, and several business owners were indicted Tuesday in alleged schemes to steal thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief money, officials said. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Tennessee, they collectively defrauded more than $950,000 from federal programs, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), …

From the Justice Department: A federal jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted a Canadian man today for perpetrating a decades-long mass-mailing fraud scheme that stole more than $175 million from victims in the United States. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Patrice Runner, 57, a Canadian and French citizen, operated a mass-mailing fraud scheme …

From the Justice Department: United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the arrest and unsealing of a criminal complaint charging Timothy Craig Jolloff (46, Fort Myers) and Lisa Ann Jolloff (56, Fort Myers) with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of illegal monetary transactions. Timothy Jolloff is also charged with one count of wire fraud. …

From the Justice Department: US Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Henry Troy Wade (45, Ocala) with six counts of wire fraud related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count. In addition, the United States is seeking an …

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports: Denver prosecutors want to know if there are any more victims of a Morrison contractor and youth pastor who is accused of bilking an elderly couple out of $250,000, according to a news release. Investigators allege Tilo Lopez, 35, funneled money paid for the couple’s retirement home on everything from fancy hotel stays and Las …

From the Justice Department: A federal jury in Charlotte has convicted Michael Mandel Baldwin, 53, of Alexandria, Virginia, for orchestrating an investment scheme that defrauded victims of more than $800,000, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. “Baldwin’s Miracle Mansion was a house of lies,” said U.S. Attorney King in announcing the guilty verdict. …

Reuters reports: The collapse of FTX is the subject of scrutiny from investigators in the Bahamas, who are looking at whether any “criminal misconduct occurred,” the Royal Bahamas Police said on Sunday. FTX filed for bankruptcy on Friday, one of the highest profile crypto blowups, after traders rushed to withdraw $6 billion from the platform in just 72 hours and …

Just out via press release: Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a new complaint bulletin that highlights complaints the CFPB received related to crypto-assets. Consumers most commonly reported being victimized by frauds, theft, account hacks, and scams. Consumers also had issues with executing transactions and transferring assets between exchanges. Many consumers had issues with accessing funds in their …

Springfield’s ABC News affiliate reports: A Missouri state lawmaker resigned on Friday after a jury found her guilty on 22 counts for fraudulently accepting hundreds of thousands of pandemic-era federal stimulus dollars and other offenses. Missouri state Rep. Tricia Derges (R) was convicted on Tuesday after she applied for nearly $900,000 in CARES Act funds for what she said were …

From the Justice Department: A federal district judge in Miami has sentenced each of three South Florida residents to 220 months in prison after a jury found them guilty of orchestrating an elaborate fraud scheme that cheated U.S. manufacturers of infant formula, eye-care products, and other FDA-regulated items out of more than $100 million. Between 2013 and 2018, Johnny Grobman, …

Via press release from the Justice Department: A Florida man pleaded guilty today in the Southern District of Florida to a $6.9 million conspiracy to defraud Medicare by paying kickbacks and bribes to obtain doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary lab tests that were then billed to Medicare. The defendant exploited the COVID-19 pandemic by bundling COVID-19 testing with other forms …

The Oregonian reports: An Oregon man who created several hundred employees out of thin air and then fraudulently obtained $3.4 million in COVID-19 relief funds has been sentenced to four years in prison. Andrew Aaron Lloyd invested his ill-gotten gains and won big — eventually purchasing more than 15,000 shares of Tesla stock and 25 rental properties in Oregon and …

“I am not going to back down. This is a political hit job. Everybody knows I love a fight. I was called ‘honey badger’ for many years. You know, ‘Honey badger doesn’t give.’ “So, I’m in this for the long haul. I’m in this for the fight. I’m going to continue to fight.  This was to stop and intimidate people …

Buzzfeed News reports: Stephen Bannon, a former top aide to President Donald Trump, and Brian Kolfage, the leader of the crowdfunded “We Build The Wall” effort, have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Kolfage, the criminal complaint said, “covertly took more than $350,000 in funds that has been donated to “We …

The Washington Post reports: The state of Maryland on Saturday terminated a $12.5 million contract for personal protective equipment with a firm started this spring by two well-connected Republican operatives. State officials said the company, Blue Flame Medical, failed to deliver masks and ventilators as promised and that the matter has been referred to Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh …

Politico reports: In one of the first Justice Department cases of its kind, Maryland political consultant Kelley Rogers pled guilty to wire fraud today for operating multiple fraudulent political action committees that raised money from donors for conservative causes but kept much of the funds for Rogers and his associates. Rogers’ arrest and indictment took place shortly after Politico and …

From the Department of Justice: The owner and chief executive officer (CEO) of a telemedicine company pleaded guilty today for his role in one of the largest health care fraud schemes ever investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and prosecuted by the Department of Justice, which resulted …

The Miami Herald reports: Golfers who quit their memberships at Trump National Doral after the property’s namesake became president were aiming to lose their link to a man they do not support. Turns out they could be waiting for Trump to pay them back for the rest of their lives. Two long-time golf members who resigned weeks after Trump won …