fraud

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Hsu Guilty of Squeezing Donors for Campaign Cash

Big Hillary fundraiser faces up to 20 years

(Newser) - Ponzi schemer and Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu has been convicted of campaign finance fraud after two days of jury deliberations, the Wall Street Journal reports. Prosecutors said Hsu had pushed his investors to donate tens of thousands to his chosen political candidates, including Hillary Clinton, between 2004 and 2007. Hsu...

Supreme Court Shoots Down Jefferson's Appeal

But will review Conrad Black's conviction

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today refused to hear William Jefferson’s appeal, meaning the former New Orleans congressman’s corruption case is headed for trial, the Times-Picayune reports. The court will, however, consider overturning the fraud conviction against former media mogul Conrad Black and two of his compatriots.

Redstone Sued Over Midway Games Sale
Redstone Sued Over Midway Games Sale
May 14, 2009 11:26 AM CDT

Redstone Sued Over Midway Games Sale

Stake in Mortal Kombat company sold for peanuts for tax writeoff

(Newser) - Creditors of the video-game company behind the Mortal Kombat series are suing Sumner Redstone and board members after Redstone, Midway’s former majority owner, sold the company in a “fraudulent transfer,” the Chicago Tribune reports. Creditors say the media mogul sold his 87% stake for just $100,000...

E-Vigilantes Punk Scammers, Just for the Fun of It

Baiters delight in wasting crooks' time

(Newser) - Bait scammers are turning predators into prey, Ars Technica reports. “419 scammers” are crooks who demand upfront payment in return for money or services they never provide, but vigilantes are turning the tables by sending them on wild safaris or furtively coaching them into foolish practices—some spending as...

SEC May Charge Mozilo of Countrywide With Fraud

(Newser) - The long slide from the top continues for former Countrywide chief Angelo Mozilo. Staffers at the SEC have recommended filing a civil suit against him on charges of fraud and insider trading, reports the Los Angeles Times. Countrywide had been the nation’s largest mortgage lender before it nearly went...

$12B Withdrawn From Madoff Accounts Before Arrest

(Newser) - Operators of so-called feeder funds withdrew $12 billion from Bernie Madoff's accounts in the year before his arrest, nearly half of it in the final three months, reports the New York Times. The analysis of financial records offers hope that defrauded investors will be able to recoup at least some...

NY Lawyer Pleads Guilty to $400M Fraud

Dreier bilked clients, spent cash on yacht and beach houses

(Newser) - New York lawyer Marc Dreier pleaded guilty yesterday to selling hundreds of millions in bogus promissory notes to hedge funds and other clients, reports the Times. Dreier, 59, used the $400 million to fund a Manhattan apartment, beachfront houses, and an $18 million yacht. “He has disgraced the honorable...

Stanford Was a Drug Informant: Report

Fraudster was likely shielded from SEC in 2006 for his trouble

(Newser) - Allen Stanford may have received earlier protection from the SEC by working as a drug trade informant, a BBC investigation has found. The accused fraudster’s bank paid $3.1 million to the DEA a decade ago as a middleman for a Mexican drug lord, and in 2006 an SEC...

Madoff Victims' Advocate Sues Ezra Merkin

Trustee wants $558M back from feeder-fund withdrawals

(Newser) - The trustee representing investors who lost their savings with Bernie Madoff is suing Ezra Merkin, the feeder-fund manager who withdrew $558 million from Madoff's shop before the collapse of his Ponzi scheme. Irving Picard, who is responsible for winding down Madoff's defunct company, alleges that Merkin should have known from...

Nevada Deals 20 Years to Thieving Chinese Bankers

Embezzlers tried to launder stolen $500M through Vegas casinos

(Newser) - Two managers who scammed the Bank of China for nearly $500 million and fled to the US have been sentenced to more than 20 years each by a Nevada court, the BBC reports. The men's wives—who helped them launder the cash through Las Vegas casinos—were given 8-year sentences....

Trustee Sues Madoff Insider, Says He Must Have Known

LA money manager got rich on fake returns

(Newser) - A trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernie Madoff's assets filed a lawsuit against one of the Ponzi schemer’s investors yesterday, accusing investment manager Stanley Chais of getting such “implausibly high” returns that he should have known they were a sham. Chais and his family withdrew “untold” funds...

Longtime Friend Testifies to Astor's Senility

Author Auchincloss told her son's lawyer she didn't recognize him

(Newser) - A longtime friend of philanthropist Brooke Astor testified yesterday that her faculties were so deteriorated the last time he saw her that she did not recognize him, the New York Daily News reports. Author Louis Auchincloss said the encounter took place 2 years before Astor allegedly changed her will, awarding...

Dazed Astor Didn't Recognize Jesse Jackson: Witness

Her son also convinced her she was going broke

(Newser) - A decade before her death, Brooke Astor was so out of it that she couldn’t recognize Jesse Jackson, a prosecution witness testified today in the fraud trial against Astor’s son, the New York Daily News reports. Anthony Marshall’s defense rides on his mother’s mental state, with...

Son 'Manhandled Astor to Change Will': Prosecutor

Anthony Marshall exploited mom's dementia to funnel fortune to him, says prosecutor.

(Newser) - Brooke Astor's son "dragged" his frail mom from her nurse's arms to a closed-door meeting about her will, which was immediately changed in his favor, according to the prosecutor at the heir's  fraud and grand larceny trial yesterday in New York. Anthony Marshall exploited his vulnerable mother's dementia to...

Dirty-Dealing Madoff Was a Clean Freak
Dirty-Dealing Madoff Was a Clean Freak
investigation
Apr 24, 2009 2:01 PM CDT

Dirty-Dealing Madoff Was a Clean Freak

Ponzi schemer a Luddite who crawled on all fours to align rugs

(Newser) - "Neat freak" may be one of the more polite epithets used to describe Bernie Madoff, who comes off as an obsessive-compulsive nut in a Fortune profile by James Bandler and Nicholas Varchaver. In immaculately tailored suits, he dusted furniture and got down on hands and knees to straighten rugs....

Madoff's 'Ninja' Deputy Willing to Talk to Feds

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff's chief deputy is ready to talk, Fortune reports. Frank DiPascali is working out a deal with federal prosecutors in which he’ll name names and give details of how the massive Ponzi scheme operated. Among the surprises: No Madoff family members will be implicated, at least by DiPascali....

20 Crime Probes Launched Into Bailout Fraud

Inspector calls TARP 'inherently vulnerable' to insider trading, abuse

(Newser) - Federal authorities have begun 20 separate investigations into possible fraud, tax violations, insider trading, and other criminal activities surrounding Henry Paulson's $750 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, reports the Los Angeles Times. It's only the first round of probes, according to the bailout program's inspector general, who called TARP "...

Oprah's Not Giving You $1M, FBI Warns Marks

Bogus email asks for cash payment to attend Oprah 'giveaway'

(Newser) - The FBI has warned that Oprah Winfrey isn't really giving anybody $1 million, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Scamsters have been sending people emails about a supposed "Oprah Winfrey Millionaire Contest Show." Recipients are told they have been nominated to attend a special show where the host will hand...

Cuomo Charges Madoff Feeder With Fraud

Says 'investment guru' Merkin was really just 'master marketer'

(Newser) - New York AG Andrew Cuomo has charged J. Ezra Merkin, a prominent New York philanthropist who funneled $2.4 billion into Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, with fraud, the Wall Street Journal reports. The complaint doesn’t accuse Merkin of knowing about the scheme. But it alleges that he lied...

Astor Trial Crawls as Lawyers Squabble

Would-be jurors plan for 3-month commitment

(Newser) - As the second week of jury selection in the Brooke Astor trial began today, with potential jurors being asked if they can sit still for a 3-month trial, the judge upbraided the lawyers for bickering and grandstanding as if they never wanted it to end, the New York Times reports....

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