Category: Fraud

US Authorities Charge 8 Social Media Influencers in Securities Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON—Prosecutors said they have charged eight individuals in a securities fraud scheme, alleging they reaped about $114 million from by using Twitter and Discord to manipulate stocks. The eight men allegedly purported to be successful traders on the social media platforms and then engaged in a so-called “pump and dump” scheme by hyping particular stocks…


Danske Bank Pleads Guilty to US Fraud, Agrees to Forfeit $2 Billion: DOJ

The largest bank in Denmark, Danske Bank, has pleaded guilty to defrauding American banks and will forfeit $2 billion, the Department of Justice announced on Dec. 13. Danske Bank pleaded guilty in the United States to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and agreed to forfeit $2.059 billion. It also agreed to a separate settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange…


Spanish Court Acquits Soccer Star Neymar in Fraud Trial

BARCELONA, Spain—A Spanish court on Tuesday acquitted soccer star Neymar and his fellow defendants in a fraud and corruption trial related to the Brazilian’s 2013 transfer from Santos to Barcelona. Brazilian company DIS had accused Neymar, his father, and the former presidents of Santos and Barcelona of having intentionally hidden the cost of his transfer…


Clean Energy Grant Fraud Results in 7 Year Prison Sentence

BOSTON—A Massachusetts man who participated in a scheme to defraud the U.S. government out of about $50 million in tax-free grants intended to fund clean energy projects has been sentenced to seven years in prison, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Christopher N. Condron, 50, was also sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boston to three…


Co-founder of NFT Platform Blockparty Charged With Fraud

The former chief technology officer of Blockparty was arrested on Wednesday after U.S. prosecutors alleged he stole more than $1 million in cash and cryptocurrency from the company, which operates a marketplace for non-fungible tokens. Rikesh Thapa, 28, of San Diego, California, co-founded the company in 2017 and left it in 2019 after refusing to…


FTX Collapse a Combination of Bad Business Decisions, Fraud, and Possible Money Laundering: Congressman

The crash of the crypto trading company, FTX, sent shockwaves throughout the digital exchange world. Billions are missing, and companies with ties to FTX, like BlockFi, Genesis, Coinbase, and others, are filing for bankruptcy or struggling to survive. In response to the crypto debacle, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee announced its plan to investigate…


Argentina’s Vice President Found Guilty in $1 Billion Fraud Trial

Argentina’s Vice President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, was found guilty in federal court on Tuesday of having committed fraud in a scheme that embezzled about $1 billion through 51 public works projects when she served as president. A three-judge panel convicted Fernández de Kirchner, marking the first time a vice president of Argentina has been convicted of a…


Police Say More Than 200,000 UK Fraud Victims May Be Linked to iSpoof Website

Police in London say they have taken down a website called iSpoof and smashed an international fraud operation that may have claimed more than 200,000 fraud victims in Britain. The Metropolitan Police said victims are thought to have lost tens of millions of pounds and those running iSpoof made £3.2 million ($3.88 million) over 20…


Woman Gets 20 Years for Bilking Chinese in $26 Million Hotel Fraud

LOS ANGELES—A woman who bilked investors in a Southern California hotel and condominium project out of at least $26 million was sentenced Monday to 20 years in federal prison. Ruixue “Serena” Shi, 38, of Arcadia was sentenced after a judge refused to allow her to withdraw her plea last year to wire fraud. “There has…


Former UCLA Decathlete Sentenced to 17 Years for Cannabis Vaping Business Scam

A former University of California–Los Angeles decathlete and Philippines national team member was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison for scamming cannabis business investors out of $45 million. David Joseph Bunevacz, 53, of Calabasas, was sentenced Nov. 21 in U.S. District Court of Los Angeles and ordered to pay about $35.3 million…