Category: Fraud

Man Pleads Guilty to Fraudulently Selling Tom Brady Super Bowl Rings to Orange County Broker

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 24-year-old man pleaded guilty to posing as a former New England Patriots player in order to purchase “family” versions of Tom Brady’s 2016 Super Bowl ring and to selling them to an Orange County sports ring broker, according to court papers obtained on Feb. 2. Scott V. Spina Jr., of Roseland, New…


Center for COVID Control Faked COVID-19 Test Results: Lawsuit

A COVID-19 testing company faked test results and didn’t have licenses to operate testing sites, according to a new lawsuit. The Center for COVID Control claimed to provide COVID-19 tests throughout Washington state for free and promised to provide results within 48 hours. But in reality, the company gathered patient insurance information and provided “invalid…


French Court Finds Former Top Sarkozy Aides Guilty in Polling Fraud Trial

PARIS—A French court on Friday sentenced two one-time aides to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to jail for their role in the misuse of public funds to finance opinion poll contracts. Five of Sarkozy’s former aides and allies from his time as president between 2007 and 2012 were on trial on charges of favoritism, conspiracy,…


Wife of Missing Girl’s Father Charged With Welfare Fraud

CONCORD, N.H.—The wife of a man whose daughter went missing in 2019 has been charged with welfare fraud for collecting food stamps in her name, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said Thursday. Kayla Montgomery, 31, of Manchester, has been charged one with one count of welfare fraud for obtaining $1,500 in food stamps from…


Ex-Chabad of Poway Rabbi Sentenced to 14 Months in Prison for Tax Fraud

SAN DIEGO—Former Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Jan. 4 for engaging in a series of fraudulent schemes, most notably a tax fraud in which supposed charitable donations made to the synagogue were funneled back to donors. Goldstein, 60, was also ordered to pay nearly $3 million in restitution to victims,…


Australian Man Accused of $2 Million Fraud

SYDNEY, Australia—A man is due to face a NSW court accused of misappropriating about A$2 million after allegedly entering loan and lease agreements using illegitimately created “shelf” companies. NSW police say the 15 charges he faces follow an investigation into reports illegitimate companies had been created using the identities of employees of a printing management…


SEC Charges Medallion Taxicab Lender With Fraud

NEW YORK—The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Medallion Financial Corp. and its president with fraud for trying to inflate the stock price of the lender to taxicab medallion buyers, amid competition from Uber and Lyft. In a complaint filed on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, the SEC said Medallion and President Andrew Murstein paid a…


US Military Landlord Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Resolving Probe: Justice Department

The U.S. Justice Department said it resolved probes into Balfour Beatty Communities, one of the U.S. military’s largest private landlords, after it pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of major fraud and agreed to pay over $65 million in fines and restitution. Balfour Beatty was being investigated for defrauding the U.S. Air Force, Army,…


NatWest Pleads Guilty to US Fraud Charges, to Pay $35 Million

WASHINGTON—A unit of NatWest Group on Tuesday agreed to pay about $35 million and pleaded guilty to wire and securities fraud in relation to a long-running scheme by some of its traders to manipulate U.S. Treasury debt markets. The lender’s investment bank NatWest Markets admitted its traders engaged in schemes to manipulate U.S. Treasury markets…


Man Pleads Not Guilty in $1.4 Million Fleecing of Laguna Beach Victim

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 39-year-old man pleaded not guilty Dec. 20 in an alleged investment scheme that defrauded an elderly Laguna Beach man out of $1.4 million. Investigators alleged in court papers that Antonio Michele Velasco conspired with Thomas Martin Green in an “elaborate fraud scheme to entice [the victim] into an illusory investment of purchasing defaulted bail bonds.” The…