All posts tagged: fraud

Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

Published by skeptic

Under the applicable sentencing guidelines, Mashinsky could have faced up to 30 years in prison. But federal judges are required to take into account various additional factors when coming to a sentence, including the characteristics and personal history of a defendant, the likelihood they might reoffend, and so on. “It’s a complicated patchwork of facts to put together to come to a just sentence,” says Timothy Howard, partner at law firm Freshfields and former Southern District of New York prosecutor. In advance of the sentencing hearing, Mashinsky’s legal representatives had petitioned the judge for a custodial sentence of only 366 days, citing his admissions of guilt, military service in Israel, the deprivations he experienced in childhood, and external market factors that contributed to the downfall of Celsius. “This case is not about an arrogant, greedy swindler who thought he could get away with stealing people’s hard-earned money to satisfy his own hedonistic pleasures,” argued Mashinsky’s lawyers in a court filing. “Those are post-hoc, shallow and dehumanizing tropes that do not apply here.” The DOJ, meanwhile, …

Trump Tells Justice Department to Just Let Crypto Fraud Slide

Trump Tells Justice Department to Just Let Crypto Fraud Slide

Published by José

The Trump administration’s Justice Department has been directed to disband a team of prosecutors who’d been investigating cryptocurrency crimes. In a memo, deputy attorney general Todd Blanche argued that the “Department of Justice is not a digital assets regulator,” accusing Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden of using the department to “pursue a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution, which was ill conceived and poorly executed.” Specifically, the memo calls for the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Unit (NCET) to be disbanded “effective immediately” to comply with Trump’s January executive order related to digital assets. The task force was established in 2021, and was made up of prosecutors and attorneys specializing in money laundering and cybercrime. It has previously investigated shady cryptocurrency “tumblers” or “mixers” that blend crypto funds to obscure their original source, as well as North Korean hackers who assisted in money laundering using crypto. Trump was once a staunch foe of the crypto industry, but changed his tune after its power players started supporting him financially. Earlier this month, he issued a pardon to a cryptocurrency exchange that had …

‘Fraud On A Mass Scale’ – Why Trump Should Repeal Real Estate Tax

‘Fraud On A Mass Scale’ – Why Trump Should Repeal Real Estate Tax

Published by skeptic

Submitted by Mitchell Vexler, IN THE Texas House Of Representatives Ways and Means Committee  BRIEF OF MITCHELL VEXLER AS AMICUS CURIAE SUPPORTING PROPERTY OWNERS ACROSS TEXAS AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  Bill to Repeal Real Estate Tax in favor of a UNIFORM STATES SALES TAX  A Presentation to President Trump and Elon Musk  02/17/2025  This is the short version of the Amicus created for ZeroHedge. For the full print version of the Amicus Brief Supporting Property Owners and School Districts and Accounting Fraud, both of which are being delivered by hand to President Trump click here and here. Introduction of Argument  The Home Affordability and Probability of Bankruptcy graphic below shows Taxation of Unrealized Gains, which is a violation of the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Market Value is the mechanism in Texas and most States in the Union, from which the Assessed Value is created.  Under current Texas Law you can protest your Market Value but not the Assessed Value. If the Market Value is fraudulent, then so is the Assessed Value.  …

Polish ex-PM charged with abuse of power for trying to organize elections during Covid – POLITICO

Polish ex-PM charged with abuse of power for trying to organize elections during Covid – POLITICO

Published by Sam

Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has been charged with abuse of power for attempting to organize a presidential election at the height of the pandemic in 2020 using mail-in ballots, a prosecution spokesperson announced Thursday. Morawiecki, who is now deputy leader of the opposition nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, allegedly bypassed state election bodies and ordered that ballots be printed without legal authority, costing the government 70 million złoty (€17 million). The mail-in election ultimately did not take place; Poland held an in-person vote several months later, resulting in a narrow victory by pro-PiS incumbent Andrzej Duda. Morawiecki waived his immunity from prosecution in January. He has denied any wrongdoing and has refused to answer questions from the prosecution. In a post on X, Morawiecki wrote that he is being “persecuted for the will to organize the presidential elections.” “If I had to make the decision again regarding the preparation of the elections at that time, I would do exactly the same. It was my duty. When the whole world froze because of …

More USAID Fraud? Billions Of US Tax Dollars Are Missing From Haiti Relief Projects

More USAID Fraud? Billions Of US Tax Dollars Are Missing From Haiti Relief Projects

Published by skeptic

There are those that say all government aid is a scam in one way or another, and so far the revelations surrounding USAID are proving those people right daily.  Democrats and the establishment media, in a bid to muddy the waters and save face, continue to claim that there was never any fraud at USAID and that the Trump Administration is simply labeling projects they “disagree with” as suspect.  Of course, spending American tax dollars on projects the public never asked for and were never told about is the epitome of fraud, and waste is never a good thing.  Beyond that, the question of billions in missing funds certainly falls into the category of criminality.  Trump has taken a lot of heat from the media with the shut down of USAID and much of the criticism suggests that without US funds people in third world countries will fall back into desperation.  The Washington Post recently claimed that Trump’s cuts to USAID are a “gift to Haitian gangs” terrorizing the locals; a typical leftist appeal to …

His dad went to federal prison for fraud. Should I have run away?

His dad went to federal prison for fraud. Should I have run away?

Published by Sam

When Mark told me on our first date that he co-owned a mortgage bank with his father, Wes, who had been to federal prison for fraud, I should have run away. After all, I’m a career prosecutor. I read rap sheets to dissect a person’s past and predict future behavior. Mark, 30, was eight years my junior. He was handsome and polite, with an endearing Oklahoma twang. But my time to procreate was running out. Sitting in Il Farro over focaccia, with his vest over a T-shirt, he looked even more boyish. Remarkably, he trusted his father. When investigators had closed in, Wes fled to his yacht in France. After extradition, he squandered his children’s trust funds and was convicted. After widespread publicity, Mark’s siblings chose to drop their father’s surname, but I noticed that Mark kept it. I admired his loyalty, but after the first date, possibly in a bid to repel him with honesty, I said I needed to have babies soon. When he called again, I said, “Did you hear me about …

Expert explains the devastating psychology of romance scams after “Brad Pitt” fraud case

Expert explains the devastating psychology of romance scams after “Brad Pitt” fraud case

Published by José

The story of an extraordinary romance fraud is making global headlines as its victim is mocked around the world for her naïveté. The story of Anne, a French woman in her 50s, was recently broadcast on the French TV channel TFI. Anne explained how she ended up paying 830,000 Euros ($1.2 million) to swindlers posing as a sickly Brad Pitt, who was supposedly in love with her. The scammers sent fake selfies generated by artificial intelligence. Anne was ruined financially by the fraud and has attempted to take her own life three times. TF1 withdrew the report from all its platforms because of the wave of harassment that ensued. Yet research shows that victims of romance fraud do not lack judgment as much as people assume. On the contrary, a large proportion of victims are highly educated. As an expert in the field of technology fraud, I want to shed some light on the typical pattern of romance fraud and expose the psychological factors that make victims vulnerable to this type of scam. A scam …

Identity fusion with Trump reinforced his election fraud claims and narratives of victimhood

Identity fusion with Trump reinforced his election fraud claims and narratives of victimhood

Published by José

Why did so many Trump supporters continue to back him after his claims of election fraud in 2020 were disproven? A study published in PS: Political Science & Politics suggests that a deep psychological bond with the former president—referred to as “identity fusion”—played a key role in shaping their beliefs and bolstering their loyalty, even as new controversies and criminal charges emerged. The researchers, Philip Moniz of Northeastern University and William B. Swann of the University of Texas at Austin, aimed to understand why many Trump supporters remained loyal despite his repeated promotion of falsehoods about the election and subsequent criminal charges. Trump’s allegations of voter fraud, which were widely debunked, had far-reaching consequences, including the January 6 Capitol riot and ongoing polarization within the United States. The study sought to investigate how identity fusion could sustain belief in misinformation and shape political attitudes. “As Trump’s legal cases began to pile up in the run-up to the Republican presidential primary in 2024, we, like many others, were interested in what effect, if any, his legal …

Malaysia’s 1MDB files legal claim against Amicorp Group alleging over billion in fraud

Malaysia’s 1MDB files legal claim against Amicorp Group alleging over $7 billion in fraud

Published by Sam

KUALA LUMPUR: Scandal-hit Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad has filed a legal claim against corporate services provider Amicorp Group and its CEO alleging it facilitated over US$7 billion in fraudulent transactions, 1MDB said on Monday.  The claim was filed in the British Virgin Islands against eight Amicorp entities and its Chief Executive Officer Toine Knipping, alleging that they played a vital role in enabling the sovereign wealth fund to be defrauded between 2009 and 2014, 1MDB said in a statement. It estimates the value of the claim at over US$1 billion.      Amicorp Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  Source link

Trump’s election fraud allegations linked to temporary decline in voter turnout

Trump’s election fraud allegations linked to temporary decline in voter turnout

Published by José

New research published in the journal Political Behavior provides evidence that high-profile claims of electoral fraud, like those made by Donald Trump after the 2020 presidential election, can discourage voter participation—but only temporarily. The study examined Georgia’s 2021 Senate runoff elections and found a modest drop in turnout among Trump supporters. These effects, however, were short-lived, with turnout returning to normal in subsequent elections. The researchers aimed to explore whether claims of electoral fraud and misconduct, especially those made by political elites, can influence voter turnout. This question has gained importance following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, where Trump and his allies mounted an extensive and well-publicized campaign alleging fraud, despite a lack of evidence. These claims raised concerns about the potential for such misinformation to undermine public confidence in elections and, ultimately, democratic participation. The viability of democracy relies on shared trust in election integrity, and this study sought to understand whether elite claims of fraud might discourage voters from participating in elections. The researchers were specifically interested in how these allegations impacted the …