SEC Nearly Doubles Size of Enforcement’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit
Washington D.C., May 3, 2022 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the allocation of 20 additional positions to the unit responsible for protecting investors in crypto markets and from cyber-related threats. The newly renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (formerly known as the Cyber Unit) in the Division of Enforcement will grow to 50 dedicated positions.
"The U.S....
SEC Charges Mattel with Financial Misstatements and Former PwC Audit Partner with Improper Professional Conduct
Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that California-based Mattel Inc. has agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle charges relating to misstatements in its third and fourth quarter 2017 financial statements. Separately, the SEC is initiating litigation against Joshua Abrahams, a former audit partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, or PwC, to determine whether he engaged in...
Hadari Oshri’s Gaya Ventures site claims she’s joined forces with convicted businessman Orlando Birbragher in new biz venture
AN IMPORTANT NOTE: On June 22, 2021, Hadari Oshri –Marc Lubaszka’s business partner– filed a civil harassment restraining order (CHRO) against Investor News reporter Aitana Vargas to stop the publication of her investigative series “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar crime,” and any subsequent installments or future media coverage. On August 3, 2021, Vargas filed an anti-SLAPP...
LA-Based Media and Entertainment Company Charged with Unregistered Offering of NFTs
Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission this week charged Impact Theory, LLC, a media and entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, with conducting an unregistered offering of crypto asset securities in the form of purported non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Impact Theory raised approximately $30 million from hundreds of investors, including investors across the United States, through the offering.
According...
Laboratory Owners Charged in $36M COVID-19 Testing Fraud Scheme
An indictment was unsealed this week in the Southern District of Florida charging three men for their alleged roles in an approximately $36 million health care fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering scheme that involved submitting false and fraudulent claims for COVID-19 testing to health care benefit programs, including Medicare and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) COVID-19...
Nearly 40,000 Victims Receive Over $115M in Compensation for Fraud Schemes Processed by MoneyGram
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) announced today the disbursement of over $115 million to 38,889 victims in connection with fraud schemes processed by MoneyGram International Inc. (MoneyGram). The victims, many of whom are elderly, will recover the full amount of their losses.
“This distribution of $115.8 million to nearly 40,000 victims – each of whom is being fully compensated...
New York man defrauds thousands of consumers in direct-mail cash prize scheme
Three Defendants Have Pleaded Guilty to Fraud Conspiracy
A New York resident has pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to participating in a fraudulent multimillion-dollar mass-mailing scheme that tricked consumers into paying fees for falsely promised cash prizes.
According to court documents, from August 2014 through August 2019, Scott Gammon, 47, of Broad Channel, New York, engaged in...
CEO of dozens of companies charged in estimated $1B fraud & counterfeit scheme
CEO of Dozens of Companies and Entities Charged in Scheme to Traffic an Estimated $1 Billion in Fraudulent and Counterfeit Cisco Networking Equipment
A federal grand jury in the District of New Jersey returned an indictment last week charging a resident of Florida with running a massive operation over many years to traffic in fraudulent and counterfeit Cisco networking equipment...