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 motion to strike Oshri’s CHRO petition. In a hearing held on September 13, 2021, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Doreen Boxer granted Vargas’s anti-SLAPP motion and denied Oshri’s civil harassment petition for failure to sustain the applicable burden of proof. Oshri will now have to pay Vargas’s attorney’s fees for filing a frivolous case. The Israeli entrepreneur also declined to go on a recorded interview or provide statements via email. This outlet has striven to reach out to sources to ensure they have the opportunity to provide their own account of events.

Los Angeles (CA) – Aitana Vargas’s exposé “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime” last night received one of the LA Press Club’s top journalism awards at a celebrity-packed gala hosted at the Sheraton Universal Hotel that also honored Bill Whitaker’s life achievements.

The judges stated that Vargas’s work is a “compelling story of intrigue and vitriol that goes down a trail through international and domestic law, individual broken dreams, and the hard-fought desire to bring a criminal to justice.”

Speaking after the gala, Vargas said that “this award is a reminder that the victims’ years-long plights and repeated calls for justice have yet to be properly addressed by the justice system.” “This is not over yet.”

Vargas’s tenacity defeated Oshri’s desire to silence the truth

Throughout 2021, Oshri led a months-long campaign aimed at removing any and all media coverage online. The entrepreneur first tried to silence one of the reporter’s sources. Then, in a desperate attempt to stop Vargas’s investigative efforts, the release of documents linking Oshri and Lubaszka to an alleged multi-million dollar PPE scheme, as well as the publication of any and all content, Oshri filed a SLAPP suit against the journalist.

Oshri’s legal efforts against the correspondent came to an abrupt end in September 2021 as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted the reporter’s anti-SLAPP motion. During the hearing, the judge called out the entrepreneur for repeatedly interrupting the court proceedings and criticized her attorneys’ failure to provide admissible evidence.

Oshri’s fruitless legal campaign will be costly, for she will have to pay the journalist’s hefty anti-SLAPP legal fees: $23,000.

*Read the notice of ruling on the anti-SLAPP motion here.

Against this backdrop, the in-depth investigative series would have never been released without the tenacity of the author, who was also legally threatened and received a cease-and-desist letter from Oshri’s former attorney, John Tamborelli.

In response to Tamborelli’s 2021 legal threats, the National Writers Union (NWU) sent him a letter demanding that he stop his intimidation campaign towards the reporter.

*Read here the NWU Letter.

Hadari Oshri and Marc Lubaszka forged a partnership based on business and personal misrepresentations

The award-winning story exposes Oshri’s alleged participation in a joint PPE scheme with American broker Marc Lubaszka, who owes nearly $2M to tens of gold IRA investors across the US and has publicly admitted to doing business with Venezuela’s illegal gold mining syndicates.

The pair used Lubaszka’s private jet company, Fly Private X, to sell both nonexistent private jets and PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they ran their operations from a luxurious beachfront property located in East Malibu where they threw parties featuring high-end DJs.

Exclusive documents obtained by Vargas show that Oshri and Lubaszka’s PPE scheme was also linked to convicted COVID-19 fraudster Arael Doolittle.

In the meantime, Oshri founded Trade Safe Pro, LLC, and Lubaszka recruited rapper Dylan Raw to act as his patsy and the VP of Fly Private X. Together, broker and singer founded Buy Gold Brightly to sell gold and IRA plans.

Oshri’s empire: A legacy of business failures

For years, Oshri has misrepresented her “successful” career as a businesswoman by running a strategic online PR campaign that includes the publication of articles written by her ghost writer, Ryan Foland. To this date, she continues to misrepresent her business operations by publishing content on her website and her Medium account.

As if her legacy of demonstrated past business failures were not enough, Oshri has also lost every step of the way in 2021: She lost the anti-SLAPP court battle to Vargas; She’ll have to pay the reporter’s hefty legal fees; The investigative series Oshri tried to stop has been released; Her alleged participation in a multi-million dollar PPE scheme with Marc Lubaszka has been exposed; Two more installments on Oshri’s Xehar wreck (aka fashion fairy project) and Trade Safe Pro, LLC are in the works; And last night, Vargas’s compelling exposé received one of the night’s top LA Press Club journalism awards.

*Read here the full list of winners.

*Since Hadari Oshri filed a meritless case against Investor News contributor Aitana Vargas and had previously declined to provide written comments or go on a recorded interview, it is our policy not to seek further comments from the entrepreneur. Oshri is always welcome to reach out and agree to the proposed interview terms. The same policy applies to her former Counsel, John Tamborelli.

**To contact the newsroom, send an email to info@investornews.io. To contact and send tips to investigative reporter Aitana Vargas, use aitana_investigations@protonmail.com. All malicious emails, phone calls and text messages are reported to law enforcement.

RELATED COVERAGE

Read “Aitana Vargas walks red carpet at tonight’s LA Press Club awards.”

Read “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part I): Marc Lubaszka, the ultimate white-collar conman on the run: From a Hollywood Hills mansion to Venezuela’s illegal gold mines and back.” 

Read “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part II): Marc Lubaszka’s nonexistent private jets failed to deliver PPE amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Read “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part III): Pursuing flash money, rapper Dylan Raw partners with conman Marc Lubaszka and becomes his patsy.”

Read “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part IV): Hadari Oshri allegedly linked to attempted $370M nonexistent PPE COVID-19 scheme.”

Read 2019 court case against Hadari Oshri exposes her dodgy, aggressive legal maneuvers.

Read Hadari Oshri’s losses mount up as she fails again to silence her victims.

Read Hadari Oshri loses anti-SLAPP court battle against journalist Aitana Vargas.

Read The Legal Bullies Club – The SLAPPers: Featuring Hadari Oshri.

Read Hadari Oshri sued for copyright infringement in 2017.

Read La reportera Aitana Vargas pide 23.000 dólares en honorarios tras pulverizar la querella mordaza de Hadari Oshri.

Read Hadari Oshri deactivates LinkedIn account following PPE exposé.

The post The exposé Hadari Oshri and her attorney tried to stop wins LA Press Club award appeared first on Investor News.

“A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime” competes for top journalism award

Los Angeles (CA) – Investor News correspondent Aitana Vargas just walked the red carpet at the LA Press Club 64th Annual Awards Gala, which is being held at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City tonight and honors journalism and editorial excellence across Southern California in 2021.

The reporter is competing for one of the night’s top awards for her months-long multi-part investigative series: “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime.”

“Today I’m celebrating First Amendment rights and Hadari’s failed efforts to silence the truth, including her alleged involvement in COVID-19 schemes with Marc Lubaszka,” the award-wining journalist said from the red carpet. “I hope tonight is also a memorable moment for their many victims, some of whom have been demanding justice for several years.”

Vargas’s work exposes Hadari Oshri’s participation in alleged PPE scheme

The journalist’s special report exposes Israeli entrepreneur Hadari Oshri’s participation in an alleged joint PPE scheme with gold broker Marc Lubaszka, whose gold IRA investment company, Aurum Advisors, was investigated by the FBI about ten years ago.

In 2012, Lubaszka fled to South America as his IRA venture was going under, but he has never been charged with a crime despite his victims’ calls for justice.

Vargas’s long-form series delivers a powerful and detailed account of the Oshri-Lubaszka partnership at the onset of the pandemic and their efforts to sell some $500M worth of nonexistent PPE using the broker’s now defunct private jet company, Fly Private X. The couple’s COVID-19-related operations were also linked to convicted Texas businessman Arael Doolittle, who was ordered earlier this year to serve a 54-month sentence for PPE fraud.

During the pandemic, Oshri also used Trade Safe Pro, LLC to sell PPE on social media platforms –including Facebook– as Lubaszka partnered with Texas-based DJ and rapper Dylan Raw to open a new gold company: Buy Gold Brightly. In the meantime, Oshri and Lubaszka shared and ran their operations from a luxurious beachfront property in East Malibu.

Hadari Oshri desperately tried to stop the release of Vargas’s exposé

In June 2021, a few weeks after the release of part one of Vargas’s series, the reporter was served with court papers aimed at stopping the publication of her investigation.

But Oshri’s meritless legal effort to silence the correspondent’s work was thrown out by a Los Angeles judge in September 2021, and Oshri will have to pay Vargas’s legal fees as ordered by California’s powerful anti-SLAPP statute, which protects First Amendment Rights.

In Oshri’s non-sense petition against the award-winning correspondent, the Israeli accused the journalist of being a “desperate,” “very dangerous woman” and “a corrupted reporter” without any proof. Oshri also referred to the Spaniard as “Miss Dicks” (Miss Vergas) and “My Dicks” (Mis Vergas) and fabricated a baseless theory that didn’t fly with the court.

“Hadari’s legal case against me is a clear example of the Streisand Effect: By trying to silence her involvement in an alleged PPE scheme, she only brought more attention to it,” the reporter said.

Hadari Oshri’s attorney, John Tamborelli, intimidated Vargas into quitting her investigative series

According to court documents, during 2021, the Spaniard was pressured multiple times into quitting her investigative work. Investor News had access to a cease-and-desist email that Oshri’s former attorney, John Tamborelli, sent her in February 2021 demanding that she stop reaching out and talking to sources. The email also threatened legal action against the reporter and one of her sources did they fail to comply.

Tamborelli was following orders from Oshri, whose email featured some memorable statements to the reporter and her source:

“You (Aitana) are putting your hands in places that is not belong to you !!!!!

You (Aitana) GOT to stop !!!!!

Also you you cucumber !!”

In a second email that Oshri sent to Vargas and her source the same day, the entrepreneur stated:

“This is officially !!! Attaching my new business as an opportunity what the fuck you contacting this guy Robert 80 years old Man that is doing my taxes !!!

You are crossing all the lines

Where should I serve your lawsuit Ariana

And Qucomber !!”

The journalist didn’t reply to any emails that Oshri and Tamborelli sent that day.

Exclusive documents obtained by this outlet also show that in June 2021, Tamborelli wanted one of Vargas’s sources (Fergal Furlong) to instruct her to remove all the information related to Oshri or Tamborelli and any articles mentioning Tamborelli, Oshri and Lubaszka, including the first part of Vargas’s exposé, which gave a voice to the victims of one of Lubaszka’s prior gold schemes for which he was never prosecuted by law enforcement nearly a decade ago.

The reporter took to social media to announce that she was not a party to the settlement agreement and would not be taking down any content. About two weeks later, Oshri filed against Vargas.

In response to Tamborelli’s cease-and-desist email and continued demands, the National Writers Union (NWU) sent him a letter demanding that he stop all intimidation attempts towards the female reporter.

“Hadari Oshri cornered me in every single possible way she knew how. Yet she failed,” Vargas said. “Fear tactics only work for so long, don’t they?”

Read the NWU letter here.

Read the notice of ruling on the anti-SLAPP motion here.

**This story is being updated as more information becomes available.

Read here Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV of “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime.”

Send your news tips to: aitana_investigations@protonmail.com. All emails are checked for legitimacy, malware and malicious scripts and reported to law enforcement if necessary.

Have you been SLAPPED? Contact the newsroom at info@investornews.io and share your story with us.

RELATED COVERAGE

Read “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part I): Marc Lubaszka, the ultimate white-collar conman on the run: From a Hollywood Hills mansion to Venezuela’s illegal gold mines and back.” 

Read “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part II): Marc Lubaszka’s nonexistent private jets failed to deliver PPE amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Read “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part III): Pursuing flash money, rapper Dylan Raw partners with conman Marc Lubaszka and becomes his patsy.”

Read “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part IV): Hadari Oshri allegedly linked to attempted $370M nonexistent PPE COVID-19 scheme.”

Read 2019 court case against Hadari Oshri exposes her dodgy, aggressive legal maneuvers.

Read Hadari Oshri’s losses mount up as she fails again to silence her victims.

Read Hadari Oshri loses anti-SLAPP court battle against journalist Aitana Vargas.

Read The Legal Bullies Club – The SLAPPers: Featuring Hadari Oshri.

Read Hadari Oshri sued for copyright infringement in 2017.

Read La reportera Aitana Vargas pide 23.000 dólares en honorarios tras pulverizar la querella mordaza de Hadari Oshri.

Read Hadari Oshri deactivates LinkedIn account following PPE exposé.

The post Aitana Vargas walks red carpet at tonight’s LA Press Club awards gala appeared first on Investor News.

Spanish law enforcement this week executed a Spanish court order freezing the Motor Yacht (M/Y) Tango (the Tango), a 255-foot luxury yacht owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Spanish authorities acted pursuant to a request from the U.S. Department of Justice for assistance following the issuance of a seizure warrant, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which alleged that the Tango was subject to forfeiture based on violation of U.S. bank fraud, money laundering, and sanction statutes. Separately, seizure warrants obtained in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia target approximately $625,000 associated with sanctioned parties held at nine U.S. financial institutions. Those seizures are based on sanctions violations by several Russian specially designated nationals.

According to documents filed in this case, the U.S. investigation alleges that Vekselberg bought the Tango in 2011 and has owned it continuously since that time. It further alleges that Vekselberg used shell companies to obfuscate his interest in the Tango to avoid bank oversight into U.S. dollar transactions related thereto. Additionally, after Vekselberg was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department on April 6, 2018, the warrant alleges that Vekselberg and those working on his behalf continued to make U.S. dollar payments through U.S. banks for the support and maintenance of the Tango and its owners, including a payment for a December 2020 stay at a luxury water villa resort in the Maldives and mooring fees for the yacht. Vekselberg had an interest in these payments and therefore a license was required from the Treasury Department, which was not obtained.

“Today marks our taskforce’s first seizure of an asset belonging to a sanctioned individual with close ties to the Russian regime. It will not be the last,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Together, with our international partners, we will do everything possible to hold accountable any individual whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war.”

“Today’s action makes clear that corrupt Russian oligarchs cannot evade sanctions to live a life of luxury as innocent Ukrainians are suffering,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “Today the Department of Justice delivers on our commitment to hold accountable those whose criminal activity strengthens the Russian government as it continues to wage its unjust war in Ukraine. That commitment is one we are not finished honoring.”

“Today we announce another example of the FBI using our worldwide presence and partnerships, as well as our expertise and experience, to track and seize illicit money and assets, to counter threats to our safety and national security,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “We will continue to use every lawful tool to go after designated Russian oligarchs’ assets – however and wherever they hide them.”

The seizure was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with its allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2 and run out of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will leverage all the Department’s tools and authorities against efforts to evade or undermine the economic actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.

“The seizure of this luxury yacht demonstrates our determination to hold accountable those who support Vladimir Putin’s unwarranted invasion of another sovereign nation,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “We will continue to use every tool to enforce the sanctions aimed at Putin’s regime and the oligarchs who support it.  Working with our federal and international partners, we will be unflagging in our efforts to bring to justice those who violate these sanctions, and to seize assets where appropriate and lawful.”

“Today’s seizure of Viktor Vekselberg’s yacht, the Tango, in Spain is the result of an unprecedented multinational effort to enforce U.S. sanctions targeting those elites who have enabled Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine,” said Director Andrew Adams of Task Force KleptoCapture. “For those who have tied their fortunes to a brutal and lawless regime, today’s action is a message that those nations dedicated to the rule of law are equally dedicated to separating the oligarchs from their tainted luxuries. This seizure is only the beginning of the Task Force’s work in this global effort to punish those who have and continue to support tyranny for financial gain.”

“The FBI will continue to work with its partners to protect the integrity of the banking system and support the enforcement of sanctions programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael F. Paul of the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office. “FBI agents and analysts, regardless of where they are assigned around the world, will work tirelessly to ensure those who attempt to evade sanctions are held accountable.”

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine was an unprovoked act of aggression that has targeted the lives and well-being of millions of people and threatened international security,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York.  “For decades, the Putin regime has been supported by a group of Russian oligarchs that abused their power for private gain to amass untold riches. As DHS’s investigative arm, HSI stands at the forefront of combatting global networks that seek to violate U.S. law and exploit our nation’s financial systems.  Working with our partners at the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, we will hold Putin’s oligarchs accountable and deny them the lavish lifestyles they cherish.”

Upon receipt of a request from the United States pursuant to a bi-lateral treaty for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, the Spanish central authority for mutual legal assistance forwarded the request to a Spanish prosecutor, who obtained a freezing order from a Spanish court. The order was executed by Spain’s Guardia Civil on April 4.

The Tango, International Maritime Organization number 1010703, is believed to be worth approximately $90 million or more. The yacht is now in Mallorca.

The burden to prove forfeitability in a forfeiture proceeding is upon the government.

The matter of the Tango is being investigated by the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office with assistance from the HSI New York Field Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen P. Seifert for the District of Columbia and Paralegal Brian Rickers and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick for the District of Columbia are handling the seizure. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in working with the Spanish authorities, as well as the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS).

Press release distributed by the FBI.

Featured image: by RobW_ is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The post $90 Million Yacht of Sanctioned Russian Oligarch Viktor Vekselberg Seized by Spain at Request of US appeared first on Investor News.

The post Women’s History Month Event: SEC to Host Free Virtual Financial Fraud Webinar appeared first on Investor News.

The post Register for the SEC’s 41st Annual Small Business Forum to Impact Capital Raising Policy appeared first on Investor News.

DoorDash Inc mentioned on Monday it’s aiming to boost as much as $2.8 billion in an preliminary public providing (IPO), which might double the worth of the U.S. meals supply startup and be one among 2020’s largest public market debuts.

DoorDash, the most important U.S. third-party supply firm for eating places, plans to promote 33 million shares priced between $75 and $85 apiece, it mentioned in a regulatory submitting.

On the high of its goal vary, the IPO would give DoorDash a totally diluted valuation – which incorporates securities reminiscent of choices and restricted inventory models – of $31.96 billion, almost double the $16 billion DoorDash was value in a June personal fundraising spherical. DoorDash’s market capitalization at $85 per share would complete $27 billion.

The hefty leap in DoorDash’s valuation in a matter of months underscores the elevated demand for meal supply providers in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to anticipation of continued investor demand for brand new shares which promise progress.

Firms have raised over $140 billion in the USA up to now in 2020, making it the most important 12 months ever for IPOs, in accordance with knowledge from Dealogic.

Based in 2013, DoorDash is backed by the Imaginative and prescient Fund managed by Japan tech big SoftBank Group Corp, enterprise capital agency Sequoia Capital, and the Authorities of Singapore Funding Company (GIC), Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.

DoorDash and rivals Uber Eats, Grubhub Inc and Postmates Inc have benefited from a surge in demand for meals supply providers on account of widespread COVID-19 restrictions.

The corporate posted a surge in income progress in 2020 and its first quarterly revenue, it disclosed in its IPO submitting earlier this month.

A variety of large Silicon Valley names together with Palantir Applied sciences Inc , Snowflake Inc and Unity Software program Inc have gone public this 12 months, using on a inventory market rally within the second half of the 12 months fueled by stimulus cash and hopes of an efficient vaccine to finish the pandemic.

DoorDash’s IPO and a deliberate itemizing by house rental startup Airbnb Inc are set to make December a busy interval for IPOs not like in earlier years and mark a powerful end to a blockbuster 12 months for brand new listings.

San Francisco-based DoorDash plans to drift its shares on the New York Inventory Alternate beneath the ticker ‘DASH’ on Dec. 9. It had confidentially filed for an IPO in February.

Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are the lead underwriters for the providing.

The post DoorDash Seeking Up to $2.8 Billion in IPO at Potential $32 Billion Valuation appeared first on Investor News.