Thursday, December 26

Tag: Fraud

Meta tests new auto-blur tool and other features on Instagram designed to fight sextortion
11Apr By adminNo Comments
Money

Meta tests new auto-blur tool and other features on Instagram designed to fight sextortion

Meta is trying out new tools on its Instagram platform to combat the sexual extortion of teens, including a feature that will automatically blur photos containing nudity in direct messages.The social media company announced in a blog post Thursday that new features, including the auto-blur technology, are part of a campaign to fight sexual scams and make it tougher for criminals to contact teens. "This feature is designed not only to protect people from seeing unwanted nudity in their DMs, but also to protect them from scammers who may send nude images to trick people into sending their own images in return," the company said. Meta also owns Facebook and WhatsApp but the nudity-blur feature won't be added to those platforms.Sexual extortion, or sextorti...
Read More
Two brothers plead guilty to insider trading charges related to taking Trump Media public
4Apr By adminNo Comments
Money

Two brothers plead guilty to insider trading charges related to taking Trump Media public

Two Florida brothers pleaded guilty Wednesday to insider trading charges, admitting making over $22 million illegally before the public announcement in 2021 that an acquisition firm was taking former President Donald Trump's media company public.Michael and Gerald Shvartsman entered their pleas to a single count of securities fraud in Manhattan federal court, where Judge Lewis J. Liman set sentencing for July 17.The men said that they knew they were committing a crime when they made trades in October 2021 through a New York broker, buying shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a so-called blank check company designed to take another company public without an IPO. The pair had been tipped off that Digital World had planned to merge with Trump Media & Technology, whose main asset is...
Read More
Sam Bankman-Fried Won’t Face a Second Criminal Trial
30Dec By adminNo Comments
World

Sam Bankman-Fried Won’t Face a Second Criminal Trial

Federal prosecutors said Friday that they wouldn’t try Sam Bankman-Fried on additional criminal charges that weren’t part of the fall trial that resulted in the FTX founder’s conviction for fraud related to the collapse of his crypto exchange.The move, announced in a letter to the presiding judge, clears the way for the FTX founder to be sentenced on March 28. A second trial would have delayed that sentencing, and Bankman-Fried already faces the possibility of decades in prison.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Read More
The Employee Retention Tax Credit Is the Biggest Covid Scam
28Dec By adminNo Comments
Business

The Employee Retention Tax Credit Is the Biggest Covid Scam

It’s hard to feel sorry for the Internal Revenue Service, but cleaning up for Congress is never fun. The Covid employee retention tax credit is turning into a classic case of government waste and fraud. Congress created the mess, leaving it to the IRS to mop up. Pandemic transfer payments and student-loan forbearance ended this year, but the employee retention tax credit (ERC) is a Covid giveaway that keeps on giving. The government has paid $230 billion in claims, including about $120 billion this year. The taxpayer bill will keep growing since employers have until April 2025 to claim the credit on wages paid through 2021.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Read More
EPFO: New rules: EPFO sets new timeframe limits for freezing and de-freezing accounts; know the details
27Dec By adminNo Comments
Business

EPFO: New rules: EPFO sets new timeframe limits for freezing and de-freezing accounts; know the details

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has notified a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to streamline the process of freezing and de-freezing individual or establishment accounts. The EPFO has introduced a time-bound process to freeze member IDs, universal account numbers, or establishments for verification purposes. This aims to boost the efficiency and security of funds while mitigating potential risks associated with fraud, impersonation, and forgery.According to the SOP document released by EPFO, the new guidelines restrict the timeframe for freezing accounts to 30 days, extendable up to 14 days for due diligence. EPFO underscores the importance of a precautionary verification process to guard against fraud, protect capital, and prevent unauthorised withdrawals.Ac...
Read More
Nikola Corp founder gets 4 years prison for exaggerating claims on zero-emission trucks
19Dec By adminNo Comments
Money

Nikola Corp founder gets 4 years prison for exaggerating claims on zero-emission trucks

The founder of Nikola Corp. was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for his conviction for exaggerating claims about his company's production of zero-emission 18-wheel trucks, causing investors to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.Trevor Milton learned his fate in Manhattan federal court when Judge Edgardo Ramos announced the sentence, saying he believed that a jury in October 2022 "got it right" when it convicted him. The judge also ordered Milton to pay a $1 million fine."Over the course of many months, you used your considerable social media skills to tout your company in ways that were materially false," the judge said, noting investors suffered heavy losses. "What you said over and over on different media outlets was wrong." A report from ...
Read More
Vatican Court Convicts Cardinal on Embezzlement and Fraud
16Dec By adminNo Comments
World

Vatican Court Convicts Cardinal on Embezzlement and Fraud

Dec. 16, 2023 12:46 pm ETROME—A Vatican court on Saturday found Italian Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu guilty of embezzlement and fraud and sentenced him to 5½ years in prison, marking a stunning fall from grace for a man who was once one of the most powerful advisers to the pope.Becciu, who has denied any wrongdoing, was the first cardinal to be tried in Vatican City’s criminal court. “We reiterate the innocence of Cardinal Angelo Becciu and we will appeal,” his lawyer, Fabio Viglione, told reporters after the verdict and sentence were announced.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Read More
Illinois Concedes on Pregnancy Centers
16Dec By adminNo Comments
World

Illinois Concedes on Pregnancy Centers

Illinois has been trying to use its fraud laws to target pro-life pregnancy help centers, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared this summer that he was “confident” the law was constitutional. If he still believes that, then Mr. Pritzker ought to explain why the state is backing down in federal court, unless he’s too embarrassed now by his role in this cautionary tale of Democratic overreach.In high political dudgeon after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Illinois Legislature amended the state’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to go after the speech of “limited services pregnancy centers,” taking clear aim at pro-life groups while exempting abortion providers. This week state Attorney General Kwame Raoul agreed to a permanent injunction to prevent the law from be...
Read More
Credit Suisse to Pay $10 Million After SEC Alleges Prohibited Underwriting, Advising
14Dec By adminNo Comments
Money

Credit Suisse to Pay $10 Million After SEC Alleges Prohibited Underwriting, Advising

Credit Suisse Securities and two affiliated entities will pay more than $10 million to settle charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it allegedly provided certain prohibited services.The SEC said Wednesday that the bank acted as an underwriter and investment adviser to mutual funds after being prohibited from doing so by a New Jersey court in October 2022.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Read More