fraud

NEW YORK — An appeals court has thrown out the massive civil fraud penalty against President Trump, ruling Thursday in New York state’s lawsuit accusing him of exaggerating his wealth.

The decision came seven months after the Republican returned to the White House. A panel of five judges in New York’s mid-level Appellate Division said the verdict, which stood to cost Trump more than $515 million and rock his real estate empire, was “excessive.”

After finding that Trump engaged in fraud by flagrantly padding financial statements that went to lenders and insurers, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered him last year to pay $355 million in penalties. With interest, the sum has topped $515 million.

The total — combined with penalties levied on some other Trump Organization executives, including Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. — now exceeds $527 million, with interest.

“While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants’ business culture, the court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” Judges Dianne T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton wrote in one of several opinions shaping the appeals court’s ruling.

Engoron also imposed other punishments, such as banning Trump and his two eldest sons from serving in corporate leadership for a few years. Those provisions have been on pause during Trump’s appeal, and he was able to hold off collection of the money by posting a $175 million bond.

The court, which was split on the merits of the lawsuit and the lower court’s fraud finding, dismissed the penalty Engoron imposed in its entirety while also leaving a pathway for further appeals to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

The appeals court, the Appellate Division of the state’s trial court, took an unusually long time to rule, weighing Trump’s appeal for nearly 11 months after oral arguments last fall. Normally, appeals are decided in a matter of weeks or a few months.

New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James, who brought the suit on the state’s behalf, has said the businessman-turned-politician engaged in “lying, cheating, and staggering fraud.” Her office had no immediate comment after Thursday’s decision.

Trump and his co-defendants denied wrongdoing. In a six-minute summation of sorts after a monthslong trial, Trump proclaimed in January 2024 that he was “an innocent man” and the case was a “fraud on me.” He has repeatedly maintained that the case and verdict were political moves by James and Engoron, who are both Democrats.

Trump’s Justice Department has subpoenaed James for records related to the lawsuit, among other documents, as part of an investigation into whether she violated the president’s civil rights. James’ personal attorney, Abbe D. Lowell, has said that investigating the fraud case is “the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign.”

Trump and his lawyers said his financial statements weren’t deceptive, since they came with disclaimers noting they weren’t audited. The defense also noted that bankers and insurers independently evaluated the numbers, and the loans were repaid.

Despite such discrepancies as tripling the size of his Trump Tower penthouse, he said the financial statements were, if anything, lowball estimates of his fortune.

During an appellate court hearing in September, Trump’s lawyers argued that many of the case’s allegations were too old, an assertion they made unsuccessfully before trial. The defense also contends that James misused a consumer-protection law to sue Trump and improperly policed private business transactions that were satisfactory to those involved.

State attorneys said the law in question applies to fraudulent or illegal business conduct, whether it targets everyday consumers or big corporations. Though Trump insists no one was harmed by the financial statements, the state contends that the numbers led lenders to make riskier loans than they knew, and that honest borrowers lose out when others game their net-worth numbers.

The state has argued that the verdict rests on ample evidence and that the scale of the penalty comports with Trump’s gains, including his profits on properties financed with the loans and the interest he saved by getting favorable terms offered to wealthy borrowers.

The civil fraud case was just one of several legal obstacles for Trump as he campaigned, won and segued to a second term as president.

On Jan. 10, he was sentenced in his criminal hush money case to what’s known as an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction on the books but sparing him jail, probation, a fine or other punishment. He is appealing the conviction.

And in December, a federal appeals court upheld a jury’s finding that Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and later defamed her, affirming a $5 million judgment against him. The appeals court declined in June to reconsider; he still can try to get the Supreme Court to hear his appeal.

He’s also appealing a subsequent verdict that requires him to pay Carroll $83.3 million for additional defamation claims.

Peltz and Sisak write for the Associated Press.

The court’s ruling delivers a major victory to the US president, who has rejected accusations he inflated his assets.

An appeals court in New York has thrown out a civil fraud penalty that would have cost United States President Donald Trump and his business associates nearly half a billion dollars, calling the fine “excessive”.

On Thursday, a five-judge panel in New York’s Appellate Division rendered its decision after weighing Trump’s appeal for nearly 11 months.

In its ruling, the panel cited the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution, which prohibits the government from levying unduly harsh penalties on its citizens.

The case stems from a civil suit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who argued that Trump had inflated his financial records in order to secure advantages with insurance companies, banks and other financial institutions.

In February 2024, a lower court had ordered Trump to pay $355m in penalties, an amount the appeals court called into question. That amount has since grown to about $515m due to accumulating interest.

“While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants’ business culture, the court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” two of the panel’s judges, Dianne T Renwick and Peter H Moulton, wrote in one opinion.

While the court did dismiss the penalty in its entirety, its judges were divided over the merits of the lower court’s ruling, finding that Trump and his co-defendants had misrepresented their wealth in “fraudulent ways”.

The judge who issued that initial decision, Arthur Engoron, a Democrat, explained in his initial decision that “the frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience”.

In his 92-page decision, Engoron expressed particular frustration over Trump’s refusal to answer questions before the court and his refusal to acknowledge the misrepresentations in his financial documents.

“Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological. They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again. This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin,” Engoron wrote.

“Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”

Trump and his co-defendants — who include his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, as well as other Trump Organization leaders — were dealt a combined financial penalty that currently totals to about $527m, with interest.

While Engoron’s ruling left the Trump Organization intact, it did bar Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr from serving in executive roles for two years.

SHOPPERS who use Apple Pay or Google Pay may be at higher risk of fraud, consumer group Which? has warned.

It said the use of one-time passcodes by banks could be making people with digital wallets an easy target for scammers.

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A survey by the consumer champions found that the majority of banks are still using these security features, putting consumers at risk.

Unlike contactless cards, there is no £100 spending cap on cards added to Apple and Google Pay, so fraudsters can quickly drain victims’ accounts once they gain access to it.

Scammers normally trick people into divulging their card details by setting up a fake transaction, Which? said.

People will think they’re paying for a bargain product advertised online, or they might fall victim to a phishing message.

A common example is parcel delivery scams, where you’re asked to pay a nominal amount for re-delivery.

Scammers monitor the transaction in real time, inputting the victim’s card details into a digital wallet on their own phone.

Many banks will then ask for a one time passcode (OTP) to verify the cardholder, which the scammer then asks the victim for to complete the “transaction”.

The fraudsters are then able to drain the victim’s bank account.

Which? surveyed 15 banks and card providers about their digital wallet setup process between April and May this year, and found the majority still use OTPs sent through text message as one of the options for adding cards to a digital wallet.

Of the 14 providers that allow cards to be added to wallets (Capital One is the exception), just two banks confirmed they do not use OTPs, while a third appeared not to when Which? researchers tested the process.

Barclays, Co-op, HSBC (with its sister banks First Direct and M&S Bank), Santander and Virgin Money said they currently use SMS OTPs, though they are not the only verification option.

Starling said it still uses OTPs for setting up Apple Pay alongside other options, but it removed them from Google Pay in 2022.

TSB said it is working to set up in-app verification, but is using OTPs in the meantime.

American Express, Lloyds Banking Group and NewDay (which operates the John Lewis Partnership Credit Card) – did not outline which verification methods they use.

When Which? tested the set up processes for cards, Amex did use SMS and email OTPs, while Halifax did not and instead offered several “more robust methods” including in-app approval.

Chase and Monzo said they have never used OTPs for setting up digital wallets.

It comes after Cifas, UK Finance and the Cyber Defence Alliance previously warned about the link between OTP use and digital wallet fraud.

Providers can also limit how many wallets a card can be added to overall, or within a certain time period, but most banks do not implement these restrictions.

Virgin Money allows an individual card to be added to a maximum of five devices.

Starling with a total limit of 15 devices, while Monzo customers can only add their Monzo cards to a digital wallet twice in a 24-hour period and three times every 30 days.

However, Which? said that even with these limits in place, consumers can still fall victim to scammers as they only need to add one card to a digital wallet to start spending.

Which? Money deputy editor Sam Richardson said: “For millions of us, digital wallets are a quick, easy and secure way to make payments, but weaknesses in card providers’ security means they can also be a gift to scammers.

“Banks have known for years that using one time passcodes (OTPs) to verify account holders is leaving consumers vulnerable.

“It’s clear further investment is needed to make the digital wallet set-up process fit for the threats consumers face in 2025.

“In the meantime, we’d caution shoppers to always think twice before sharing their payment details – or OTPs – online.

“If you think you’ve been a victim of a scam, contact Action Fraud and your bank immediately.”

Apple told Which? it is not responsible for approving or rejecting the addition of a card to Apple Pay, or for approving or rejecting transactions.

It said that it takes users’ security seriously and Apple Pay has been designed in a way to protect users’ personal information. 

A Google spokesperson said: “Security is core to the Google Wallet experience and we work closely with card issuers to prevent fraud.

“For example, banks notify customers when their card has been added to a new digital wallet, and we provide signals to help issuers detect fraudulent behaviour so they can decide whether to approve added cards.” 

An American Express spokesperson said: “Privacy and security are a priority for American Express.

“We have controls designed to protect customer accounts and guard against unauthorised fraudulent activity, and if we identify activity that may be fraud, we will take protective actions.” 

Barclays said that the verification method used for adding a card to a digital wallet will depend on the user journey. It said it does not currently have plans to phase out use of OTPs.

Co-Op Bank said it monitors for fraudulent registrations through its fraud detection systems and has multiple strategies in place to detect digital wallet fraud. It does not currently have plans to phase out use of OTPs.

HSBC said it has no immediate plans to phase out OTP delivery for adding cards to digital wallets, however, it keeps its digital wallet provisioning process under review.

Lloyds said it has invested millions of pounds in multi-layered fraud defences, and continues to regularly review its authentication methods.

Nationwide said that it has multiple layers of protection in place to keep its customers safe from fraud including warning messaging, AI models and sophisticated internal analytics. It is currently exploring alternatives to OTPs.

Natwest said it regularly reviews its customer experience and authentication to ensure security, and said it is reviewing how it uses OTPs.

NewDay declined to comment.

Santander said it is looking at other forms of authentication, and other security measures, which may be less visible to a user than the mechanism used for two-factor authentication.

Starling said it currently only uses OTPs for Apple Pay, and removed this option from Android phones in 2022.

TSB told Which? that it is working closely with card and wallet providers to implement approval via the TSB Mobile App. In the interim, OTP verification is accompanied by the necessary risk verification, alongside fraud controls to keep customer details safe.

Virgin Money said its fraud team has heightened monitoring and controls around digital wallet fraud. It also said that it is looking at in-app verification as an option but has no current plans to phase out use of OTPs.

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Newsmax will pay $67 million to settle a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election that aired on the right wing news channel.

The network announced the settlement with the voting equipment maker Monday, but did not apologize for its reporting.

“Newsmax believed it was critically important for the American people to hear both sides of the election disputes that arose in 2020,” the company said in a statement. “We stand by our coverage as fair, balanced, and conducted within professional standards of journalism.”

Earlier this year, Delaware Court Judge Eric Davis ruled that Newsmax made defamatory statements about Dominion in its reporting on President Trump’s allegations that the company was involved in rigging the 2020 presidential election to favor Joe Biden.

He was ready to send the case to a jury that would have determined if Newsmax acted with malice and whether any damages should be awarded to Dominion.

Newsmax was among the channels presenting false claims by President Trump’s allies and supporters that Dominion, a provider of vote-counting machines and software, was created in Venezuela to rig elections for leader Hugo Chavez and that it has the ability to switch votes.

“We are pleased to have settled this matter,” a Dominion representative said in a statement.

Fox News settled a similar case with Dominiion in April 2023 for $787.5 million after it aired incorrect election claims.

Newsmax previously settled a defamation suit filed by Smartmatic, another voting equipment company that has sued right wing outlets over their reporting on Trump’s false claims. The terms of the settlement were confidential.

In that case, Davis also ruled that false statements were made, but ruled that Smartmatic had to prove the actual financial damage of Newsmax’s actions.

Smartmatic is in litigation with Fox News, looking for $2.7 billion in damages. If the case isn’t settled, it will go trial in New York next year.

Fox News has argued that there is no evidence Smartmatic has lost any business due to its reporting. The network argued that reporting on Trump’s false claims was newsworthy and protected under the 1st amendment.

Aug. 16 (UPI) — New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell is facing federal wire fraud and conspiracy charges after being indicted this week along with a former member of her security detail.

Cantrell and retired New Orleans Police Department officer Jeffrey Vappie were both indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and other charges after Vappie was allegedly paid for official duty while the two were engaged in “personal activities,” according to a statement issued by the Justice Department.

Authorities contend the two began a relationship in 2021, during which time Vappie was paid as an on-duty member of Cantrell’s personal security team. Vappie retired in 2004.

“They embarked on a scheme to defraud the City of New Orleans and NOPD by exploiting Vappie’s job and Cantrell’s authority as Mayor to have the City and NOPD pay Vappie’s salary and expenses during times Vappie claimed to be on duty but when the was actually engaged in personal activities, often with Cantrell,” the Justice Department indictment reads.

The allegations contend Vappie and Cantrell’s activities extended to out-of-state trips. Cantrell allegedly shifted policy and started bringing members of her Executive Protection Unit on the out-of-state trips around five months after Vappie joined the EPU.

“Cantrell said she would ‘make it happen’ to have Vappie accompany her on a three-day trip to Washington, D.C., a trip that they both agreed that they ‘needed,'” the Justice Department statement reads.

The City of New Orleans was billed over $70,000 on Vappie’s behalf for the three-day trip.

The couple also allegedly used a city-owned apartment during their relationship.

Cantrell was elected in 2018 after serving as a Member of the New Orleans City Council, making her the first female mayor in the city’s history.

Cantrell has not commented publicly on the allegations.

Police say the pair tried to hide the affair and have recovered thousands of texts and pictures from the What’sApp messaging platform.

Both are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Vappie also faces twelve counts of wire fraud. Cantrell is also named in six of the latter charges.

Additionally, Vappie is charged with making a false statement to the FBI, while Cantrell faces two counts of making a false declaration before a grand jury.

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted Friday in what prosecutors called a years-long scheme to hide a romantic relationship with her bodyguard, who is accused of being paid as if he was working even when they met alone in apartments and traveled to vineyards for wine tasting.

Cantrell faces charges of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction, less than five months before she leaves office because of term limits. The first female mayor in New Orleans’ 300-year history was elected twice but now becomes the city’s first mayor to be charged while in office.

“Public corruption has crippled us for years and years,” acting U.S. Atty. Michael Simpson said, referring to Louisiana’s notorious history. “And this is extremely significant.”

Cantrell’s bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, was facing charges of wire fraud and making false statements. He has pleaded not guilty. A grand jury returned an 18-count indictment Friday that added Cantrell to the case.

They are accused of exchanging encrypted messages through WhatsApp to avoid detection and then deleting the conversations. The mayor and Vappie have said their relationship was strictly professional, but the indictment portrayed it as “personal and intimate.”

The city of New Orleans said in a statement that it was aware of the indictment and that the mayor’s attorney is reviewing it.

“Until his review is complete, the City will not comment further on this matter,” the statement said.

Cantrell hasn’t sent out a message on her official social media feed on X since July 15, when she said the city was experiencing historic declines in crime.

In a WhatsApp exchange, the indictment says, Vappie reminisced about accompanying Cantrell to Scotland in October 2021, saying that was “where it all started.”

Cantrell and Vappie used WhatsApp for more than 15,000 messages, including efforts to harass a citizen, delete evidence, make false statements to FBI agents, “and ultimately to commit perjury before a federal grand jury,” Simpson said.

They met in an apartment while Vappie claimed to be on duty, and she arranged for him to attend 14 trips, Simpson said. The trips, he added, were described by her as times “when they were truly alone.”

New Orleans taxpayers paid more than $70,000 for Vappie’s travel, the prosecutor said.

Authorities cited a September 2022 rendezvous on Martha’s Vineyard, a trip Cantrell took instead of attending a conference in Miami. Vappie’s travel to the island was covered by the city to attend a separate conference, authorities said. “The times when we are truly [traveling] is what spoils me the most,” the mayor wrote to him that month.

Simpson said Cantrell lied in an affidavit that she activated a function on her phone that automatically deleted messages in 2021 though she didn’t activate that feature until December 2022, a month after the media began speculating on the pair’s conduct.

When a private citizen took photos of them dining together and drinking wine, Cantrell filed a police report and sought a restraining order, Simpson said.

Vappie retired from the Police Department in 2024.

Cantrell and her remaining allies have said that she has been unfairly targeted as a Black woman and held to a different standard than male officials, her executive powers at City Hall sabotaged. Simpson denied claims that any of it played a role in the investigation.

“It’s irrelevant that it’s romance or that it’s female,” he told reporters, adding that the allegations were “an incredible betrayal of people’s confidence in their own government.”

Cantrell, a Democrat, has clashed with City Council members during a turbulent second term and survived a recall effort in 2022.

“This is a sad day for the people of New Orleans,” Monet Brignac, a spokesperson for City Council President JP Morrell, said as news of the indictment spread.

In 2014, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for bribery, money laundering, fraud and tax crimes. The charges stemmed from his two terms as mayor from 2002 to 2010. He was granted supervised release from prison in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As she heads into her final months in office, Cantrell has alienated former confidants and supporters, and her civic profile has receded. Her early achievements were eclipsed by self-inflicted wounds and bitter feuds with a hostile City Council, political observers say. The mayor’s role has weakened since voters approved changes to the city’s charter that were meant to curb mayoral authority.

Earlier this year, Cantrell said she has faced “very disrespectful, insulting, in some cases kind of unimaginable” treatment. Her husband, attorney Jason Cantrell, died in 2023.

Mustian, Brook and Hollingsworth write for the Associated Press. Mustian and Brook reported from New Orleans, Hollingsworth from Mission, Kan. AP writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.

“Beautiful Girls” hitmaker Sean Kingston will spend three and a half years behind bars for his involvement in a months-long scheme that defrauded luxury goods businesses of more than $1 million.

U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz handed down the 35-year-old performer’s sentence Friday, months after a Florida jury convicted the singer (born Kisean Paul Anderson) and his mother, Janice Turner, in March on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud each.

“We respect the Court’s decision and the judicial process,” Kingston attorney Zeljka Bozanic told The Times in a statement. Bozanic said Kingston’s defense team is “content” the court opted for a shorter prison sentence — the government had requested five years in prison — and said “most of the restitution in this case was paid back, even before these charges were brought.”

“Sean is taking this as a learning experience and will continue moving forward in a positive direction,” Bozanic added. “We are actively reviewing all available options, including potential appeals, to ensure his rights are fully protected.”

During his court appearance in a South Florida courtroom Friday, Kingston apologized to the judge and said he had learned from his actions. Under house arrest since his conviction, Kingston was taken into custody immediately despite a defense attorney’s request that Kingston self-surrender at a later date due to health issues. Prior to the sentencing, Bozanic filed a sentencing memorandum requesting that the court consider a shorter sentence.

“Mr. Anderson accepted responsibility in this case and has made all the positive steps toward learning and growing from this situation,” Bozanic said in the memorandum, which also describes the singer’s previous charitable acts. The document notes that Kingston has “never served prison time before” and that a “high sentence is not necessary to deter future conduct.”

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida accused Kingston and his mother of swindling more than $480,000 worth of jewelry from one person and, from others, a Cadillac Escalade worth nearly $160,000 and furniture costing upward of $86,500. Prosecutors said Kingston and his mother also stole more than $200,000 from Bank of America and more than $100,000 from First Republic Bank — allegations they initially denied.

SWAT officers descended on the “Take You There” singer’s Florida home last May. His mother was arrested during the raid and Kingston was arrested soon after near the Fort Irwin Army base in San Bernardino County. Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month.

Kingston rose to popularity in the early 2000s for “Beautiful Girls,” which samples Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.” He is also known for the songs “Eenie Meenie,” “Fire Burning” and “Me Love.”

Times editorial library director Cary Schneider and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

LaToya Cantrell is accused of ‘defrauding’ the city, paying Jeffrey Vappie as if he were on duty while on trips and trysts.

The mayor of New Orleans has been indicted on conspiracy, fraud and obstruction charges by a federal grand jury after a long-running investigation.

The charges released on Friday against LaToya Cantrell were based on accusations that she tried to hide a romantic relationship with bodyguard Jeffrey Vappie, who was paid as if on duty while the pair conducted their affair.

The indictment states that Cantrell and Vappie “developed a personal and intimate relationship” in 2021, defrauding the city as they attempted to “hide their relationship and maximise their time together”.

Acting United States Attorney Michael Simpson said the pair met in an apartment while Vappie claimed to be on duty, and that Cantrell had arranged for Vappie to attend 14 trips.

The trips, which included wine tasting at vineyards, were described by her as times “when they were truly alone”, said Simpson.

He dubbed the affair a “three-year fraud scheme that we allege exploited their public authority and positions”.

Cantrell allegedly lied in an affidavit that she had activated a function on her phone that automatically deleted messages in 2021, when she had not activated the feature until December 2022, one month after the media began speculating on the pair’s conduct.

When a private citizen took photos of the pair dining together and drinking wine, Cantrell filed a police report and sought a restraining order, said Simpson.

The mayor’s office didn’t immediately comment.

“This is a sad day for the people of New Orleans,” said Monet Brignac, a spokesperson for City Council President JP Morrell.

Vappie is accused of hiding a romantic relationship with Cantrell and filing false payroll records claiming he was on duty.

He has pleaded not guilty following his indictment on charges of wire fraud and making false statements.

Cantrell, the city’s first female mayor, is term-limited and will leave office in January.

Aug. 13 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned four Mexican nationals and 12 companies in Mexico linked to a “brutally violent” cartel involved in a timeshare fraud of resorts in Puerto Vallarta.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization “that is increasingly supplementing its drug trafficking proceeds with alternative revenue streams such as timeshare fraud and fuel theft.”

Sanctions include blocking all U.S. property owned by the people and the companies named, and the assets must be reported to OFAC. Violations may include civil and criminal penalties.

The agency is reminding current timeshare owners in Mexico: “If an unsolicited purchase or rental offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Those considering the purchase of a timeshare in Mexico should conduct appropriate due diligence.”

The FBI has a timeshare fraud resource page.

Victims of timeshare fraud can file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Complaint Center. Elderly customers can contact the Department of Justice’s National Elder Fraud Hotline.

Timeshares are fractional ownership for a vacation property, often one week a year, that are not considered an investment and often are tough to resell.

There are 56 timeshare developments in Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s Pacific coast, a popular tourist destination that includes beaches, nightlife and cultural attractions. There are 578,000 residents.

“We are coming for terrorist drug cartels like Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion that are flooding our country with fentanyl,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said. “These cartels continue to create new ways to generate revenue to fuel their terrorist operations. At President Trump’s direction, we will continue our effort to completely eradicate the cartels’ ability to generate revenue, including their efforts to prey on elderly Americans through timeshare fraud.”

Approximately 6,000 U.S. victims reported losing nearly $300 million between 2019 and 2023 in timeshare fraud in Mexico, according to the FBI. In 2024, there were 900 complaints with reported losses of more than $50 million.

Beginning in 2012, the Treasury Department said the cartel took control of timeshare fraud schemes in Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco and the surrounding area.

“These complex scams often target older Americans who can lose their life savings,” the release said. “The lifecycle of these scams can last years, resulting in financial and emotional devastation of the victims while enriching cartels like CJNG.”

After information on timeshare owners is received, call center personnel claim to be U.S.-based third-party brokers, attorneys or sales representatives.

Fraud may include timeshare resale, re-rent and investment scams. People are asked to pay advance “fees” and “taxes” via international wire transfers to accounts at Mexican banks and brokerage houses before receiving money supposedly owed to them, the Treasury Department said.

The money never comes to the consumers and they are told to pay more “fees” and “taxes.”

Then they may be further victimized when impersonated law firms claim they can initiate proceedings to recover lost funds. Sometimes, government officials are impersonated, claiming the victims have been involved in suspicious transactions with more “fees” required to release the funds or risk prison time.

The Treasury Department said it had blocked all property and interests in property of the persons named, or in possession or control of U.S. people. This also applies to entities owned at least 50% by one of more blocked people.

In addition, Americans are not allowed to be involved in the property of people blocked.

And secondary penalties may be imposed on participating foreign financial institutions.

The Treasury Department listed three senior cartel members most involved in the fraud, who “orchestrate assassinations of rivals and politicians using high-powered weaponry.” They are Julio Cesar Montero Pinzon (Montero), Carlos Andres Rivera Varela (Rivera), and Francisco Javier Gudino Haro (Gudino).

Five companies “explicitly acknowledge their involvement in the timeshare industry” are Akali Realtors, Centro Mediador De La Costa, S.A. de C.V., Corporativo Integral De La Costa, S.A. de C.V., Corporativo Costa Norte, S.A. de C.V. and Sunmex Travel, S. de R.L. De C.V. They “explicitly acknowledge their involvement in the timeshare industry.” Other companies were involved involved in timeshare-related transactions or involvement in real estate activities.

Cryptocurrency entrepreneur faces up to 25 years in prison over the $40bn collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna tokens.

South Korean cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon has pleaded guilty to fraud in the United States in a case tied to the $40bn collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna tokens.

Kwon, the cofounder of Singapore-based Terraform Labs, entered the plea at the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, according to court filings.

Kwon admitted to one count of conspiring to commit commodities fraud, securities fraud and wire fraud, and one count of committing wire fraud.

As part of his plea, the crypto entrepreneur agreed to forfeit more than $19m in proceeds from his crimes, according to prosecutors.

Kwon had in January entered a plea of not guilty to nine counts in the case, including securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

“Do Kwon used the technological promise and investment euphoria around cryptocurrency to commit one of the largest frauds in history,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said.

“Kwon attracted tens of billions in funds to Terraform’s ecosystem by promising a self-stabilising stablecoin. By the time the markets discovered the ecosystem was unstable, it was too late: the system collapsed, and investors around the world suffered billions in losses.”

Kwon, who is due to be sentenced on December 11, faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

Kwon was extradited to the US in December 2024, following his arrest in Montenegro after spending months on the run from authorities.

July 28 (UPI) — Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez was convicted Monday of bribing a witness and procedural fraud, following several hours of sentencing in a case that spanned more than a decade.

He is the first former head of state in Colombia to face a criminal conviction.

“It can be concluded, based on the prosecution’s findings, that the criminal offense of bribery was sufficiently proven,” Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia said as she read the verdict.

During his presidency, Uribe implemented a policy known as “Democratic Security,” which reduced kidnapping and homicide rates and supported the demobilization of paramilitary and guerrilla forces.

However, Uribe also faced sharp criticism over alleged human rights violations and the demobilization of paramilitary groups with impunity. His presidency was further overshadowed by the “false positives” scandal, in which thousands of civilians were killed by the military and falsely labeled as guerrilla fighters killed in combat.

According to the investigation, between 2012 and 2018, imprisoned paramilitaries were paid and pressured to change their testimony linking Uribe to illegal armed groups.

Sergio Escobar, executive director of the Medellín Global Center for Strategic International Studies, said the ruling is “the result of a series of legal missteps by the former president himself and comes amid an increasingly politicized climate. Now that he’s been convicted, an appeal will follow, which takes us into October — when the statute of limitations on this case expires. Regardless, he will no longer be able to claim he is innocent.”

The case began in 2012, when then-Sen. Álvaro Uribe filed a complaint against Sen. Iván Cepeda Castro, accusing him of witness tampering in an effort to link Uribe to illegal armed groups. But the investigation soon took an unexpected turn.

The Supreme Court of Justice, which initially investigated Cepeda, found evidence that individuals close to Uribe had offered financial, legal and administrative benefits to former paramilitaries and guerrilla fighters in exchange for testimony against Cepeda.

In that context, Uribe was charged with manipulating evidence and misleading the justice system to influence judges and secure rulings favorable to his interests — in the very investigation he had initiated against Cepeda.

“This conviction is a blow to his political career. At the same time, it sends a strong message about equality before the law — even for the most powerful figures in the country,” said José Francisco Salvo, an attorney and member of the NGO Derechos Ciudadanos.

He added that political polarization continues to shape the national response. “Some see the conviction as a victory for justice, while Uribe’s supporters view it as political persecution and an attack by the left,” Salvo said.

On Monday afternoon in a post on Twitter, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio decried the conviction.

“Former Colombian President Uribe’s only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland,” Rubio tweeted. “The weaponization of Colombia’s judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent.”

July 28 (UPI) — A Florida woman is headed to prison after helping her family hide nearly $100 million from the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that Gilda Rosenberg of Golden Beach in Miami-Dade County has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States by stashing tens of millions of dollars in undeclared foreign financial accounts, for filing false tax returns and evading taxes, among other offenses.

According to court documents, Rosenberg, who is a dual U.S. and Colombian citizen, worked in conjunction with two other members of her family in a plan to hide more than $90 million in income and assets by keeping the money in undeclared bank accounts in Andorra, Israel, Panama and Switzerland.

Rosenberg’s family had been keeping offshore accounts since the 1970s, and by the 1990s she had become an owner and authorized signer on some of those accounts. She also knew that neither she or her relatives had disclosed these accounts to the United States nor had paid any taxes on income earned from the accounts.

By the 2000s, the family had shifted their assets to various foreign banks in order to continue hiding it all from the IRS, and Rosenberg was documented as the as the beneficial owner of accounts at banks in Switzerland and Andorra. She also signed false account opening documents that claimed she was only a Colombian citizen and not American.

Rosenberg and her involved relatives also didn’t disclose their foreign financial accounts as legally required, while also omitting their offshore assets on their U.S. tax returns.

By 2017, all those involved schemed to continue evading paying the IRS by dividing their assets and signing documents that made it appear Rosenberg and a relative gifted their assets to another relative who had renounced his American citizenship.

The group then attempted to secretly transfer assets to Rosenberg in the United States and to conceal their continued tax evasion by, among other methods, creating fake loans and investment documents to make it appear that transfers to and from Rosenberg were loans and business investments.

It has since been determined that Rosenberg and two of her co-conspirators caused a tax loss to the United States of more than $1.9 million between 2009 and 2017, which she has since agreed to pay in restitution, not including interest. Additionally, as per her plea agreement, she was required to pay a penalty of over $5.8 million to the IRS to resolve a civil liability related to failing to disclose her foreign financial accounts.

California and a coalition of other liberal-led states filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent demand that they turn over the personal information of millions of people receiving federal food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

USDA Secretary Brooke L. Rollins informed states earlier this month that they would have to transmit the data to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service to comply with an executive order by President Trump. That order demanded that Trump’s agency appointees receive “full and prompt access” to all data associated with federal programs, so that they might identify and eliminate “waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Last week, USDA officials informed state SNAP directors that the deadline for submitting the data is Wednesday and that failure to comply “may trigger noncompliance procedures” — including the withholding of funds.

In announcing the states’ lawsuit Monday, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said the “unprecedented” demand “violates all kinds of state and federal privacy laws” and “further breaks the trust between the federal government and the people it serves.”

Bonta’s office noted that states have administered the equivalent of SNAP benefits — formerly known as food stamps — for 60 years. It said that California alone receives “roughly $1 billion a year” to administer the program in the state and that “any delay in that funding could be catastrophic for the state and its residents who rely on SNAP to put food on the table.”

The USDA has demanded data for all current and former SNAP recipients since the start of 2020, including “all household group members names, dates of birth, social security numbers, residential and mailing addresses,” as well as “transactional records from each household” that show the dollar amounts they spent and where. It said it may also collect information about people’s income.

Meanwhile, a Privacy Impact Assessment published by the agency showed that it also is collecting data on people’s education, employment, immigration status and citizenship.

The USDA and other Trump administration officials have said the initiative will save taxpayers money by eliminating “information silos” that allow inefficiencies and fraud to fester in federal programs.

“It is imperative that USDA eliminates bureaucratic duplication and inefficiency and enhances the government’s ability not only to have point-in-time information but also to detect overpayments and fraud,” Rollins wrote in a July 9 letter to the states.

The Trump administration, which is pursuing what Trump has called the biggest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in the nation’s history, has requested sensitive data from other federal programs and services — including Medicaid and the IRS — to share with immigration officials.

That has raised alarm among Democrats, who have said that tying such services to immigration enforcement will put people’s health at risk and decrease tax revenue. California sued the Trump administration earlier this month for sharing Medicaid data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On Monday, Bonta raised similar alarms about the administration’s demand for SNAP data, questioning what it will do with the information and how families that rely on such assistance will react. His office said it appeared to be “the next step” in the administration’s anti-immigrant campaign.

“President Trump continues to weaponize private and sensitive personal information — not to root out fraud, but to create a culture of fear where people are unwilling to apply for essential services,” Bonta said. “We’re talking about kids not getting school lunch; fire victims not accessing emergency services; and other devastating, and deadly, consequences.”

Bonta said the USDA demand for SNAP benefits data is illegal under established law, and that California “will not comply” while it takes the administration to court.

“The president doesn’t get to change the rules in the middle of the game, no matter how much he may want to,” Bonta said. “While he may be comfortable breaking promises to the American people, California is not.”

The new data collection does not follow established processes for the federal government to audit state data without collecting it wholesale. During a recently concluded public comment period, Bonta and other liberal attorneys general submitted a comment arguing that the data demand violates the Privacy Act.

“USDA should rethink this flawed and unlawful proposal and instead work with the States to improve program efficiency and integrity through the robust processes already in place,” they wrote.

Last week, California and other states sued the Trump administration over new rules barring undocumented immigrants from accessing more than a dozen other federally funded benefit programs, including Head Start, short-term and emergency shelters, soup kitchens and food banks, healthcare services and adult education programs.

The states did not include USDA in that lawsuit despite its issuing a similar notice, writing that “many USDA programs are subject to an independent statutory requirement to provide certain benefits programs to everyone regardless of citizenship,” which the department’s notice said would continue to apply.

Bonta announced Monday’s lawsuit along with New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James. Joining them in the lawsuit were Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the state of Kentucky.

A DRAGON’S Den winner and former Team GB gold medallist fraudulently used Covid loans to buy himself a £1.8million mansion.

Rick Beardsell illegally pocketed £100,000 worth of taxpayers cash to purchase his home – despite receiving a £75,000 investment during his stint on the BBC show.

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The 46-year-old fiddled two Covid Bounce Back loans to buy himself five-bed Holly House in the exclusive village of Prestbury, Cheshire.

Dad-of-two Beardsell was only entitled to apply for one loan worth £50,000, but fraudulently applied for two and greatly exaggerated his annual turnover by up to 23 times.

It came after the world champion sprinter had successfully secured investments from TV Dragons Tej Lalvani and Deborah Meaden for his successful protein shake bottle business, ShakeSphere.

Chester Crown Court heard he applied for the loan to prop up his other company, Sports Creative Ltd, but none of the money went towards the sportswear business.

Prosecutor Geoff Whealan told the court Beardsell made the fraudulent applications to HSBC in December 2020 and then to NatWest in January 2021.

He said: ”The defendant stated on the HSBC form that the turnover of Sports Creative was £485,000 and on the NatWest form said it was £320,000.

“But unaudited financial statements showed turnover for the year end February 2020 was £20,622.

”The turnover was clearly exaggerated to secure the maximum bounce back loan.

“Subsequent transactions showed the bounce back loan funds were not being used for the economic benefit or business purposes of Sports Creative at this time.”

The money arrived in Sports Creative’s account in January 2021, but then almost £400,000 was transferred to Beardsell’s personal Santander account in the space of six months.

Then £431,160.80, including the remaining bounce back loan funds, was transferred to a firm of solicitors for the purchase of Holly House he bought with his wife Ezster.

Mr Whelan added: ”In effect the bounce back loan funds had been used for this purchase.

“It can be inferred from the defendant’s conduct that it was his intention to use the bounce back loans for this purpose at the time he made the application for it.”

Beardsell, who won two World Records for sprinting, faced three years in jail after he admitted two charges of fraud.

In October 2024, he attended an interview under caution at the Insolvency Services offices.

In a statement he said: ”The guidance pertaining to Bounce Back Loans indicated that the proceeds of such loans may be utilised for any purpose that yields a direct benefit to the company.

”At that juncture, I sought professional advice and was advised that such purposes include, but are not limited to, the coverage of overhead expenses or outstanding liabilities, as well as the investment in company assets or property.

“The funds that were transferred to my personal account constituted a director’s loan and other economical overheads for the business.”

Mitigating, his counsel Nichola Cafferkey explained that the loans had been repaid in full to the banks.

She said: ”The loss of his good character is of some significance in respect of a man who has dedicated his life to his family, his professional entities and also his sporting endeavours.

“These offences were out of character and were committed four years ago.

“He has taken responsibility and repaid the money back. He knows that it’s his own fault.

“He has brought shame on his family and brought shame on himself.

”His wife is also his business partner and concerns that they have had about the ability to provide financially for their young children have been significant.”

The court also heard that Beardsell had suffered a series of medical issues both before and after securing the loans.

Ms Cafferkey continued: “A year prior to the submission of the first loan application, the defendant was diagnosed with an aggressive form of testicular cancer and required surgery and extensive chemotherapy.

“The chemotherapy was successful but led to some significant side effects.

”One of those being vertigo, of which he had a severe episode which required hospitalisation and thereafter there are ongoing long-term issues as a result of that.

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“The investigations brought on by the defendant’s own actions has had an impact on his family which has led to a situation where he has been experiencing significant stress over the past few years.

“On top of that there are ongoing knee pains associated with his athletic success at national and international level.

“He has been running a business for many years without issue and it is plain he is extremely remorseful and regretful for his actions.

“The impact on his wife’s physical health in terms of stress and strain has been significant. There has been significant weight loss and insomnia.

“This will be the only time that Richard Beardsell appears before the court.”

Beardsell was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £11,142.70.

Judge Simon Berkson told Beardsell: “You fraudulently lied and lied again in your applications for these loans.

“They were supposed to be for use in keeping your business running but the money was used for your own personal needs and the needs of your family.

“This is not a victimless crime. The government was trying to help struggling businesses at the time of national crisis.

“People were in lock down, people were dying and people were very ill at the time when people required their public services.

“You used fraudulently obtained public funds for your own use, depriving honest people of the scheme’s funds when the country was in crisis.

“You are a generally successful man both in business and in sports, particularly your involvement with athletics.

“You continue to run your business and it was on the TV programme Dragons’ Den.

“You are a married person with two children and they are young children. You have survived an aggressive form of cancer.

“I have concluded that an immediate custodial sentence would have a significant harmful impact on your wife and children.”

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SEOUL, July 17 (UPI) — South Korea’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the acquittal of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong on fraud charges related to a 2015 merger, lifting a legal cloud that had hung over the country’s richest man for years.

The top court said it found no errors in the ruling by the Seoul High Court in February, which acquitted Lee of charges of stock manipulation and accounting fraud in a controversial $8 billion deal involving two of the company’s affiliates.

That merger, between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T Corp., helped solidify Lee’s control of the company after his father, then-Chairman Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack in 2014. Prosecutors alleged that Lee and other Samsung officials engineered a favorable merger ratio by artificially inflating Cheil’s value and depreciating Samsung C&T, harming minority shareholders in the process.

A lower court last year also cleared Lee of the charges. Thursday’s ruling by the Supreme Court cannot be appealed, ending a legal battle that has gone on since Lee was first indicted on the fraud charges nearly five years ago.

Lee’s legal team said the ruling “clearly confirmed” that the merger was legitimate.

“We sincerely thank the court for its wise judgment after five years of faithful deliberations,” the lawyers said in a statement.

Lee served roughly 18 months in prison after being convicted in a separate 2017 bribery case involving former South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

The legal drama has added to Samsung’s challenges as it navigates intense competition in key industries such as smartphones and semiconductors.

Last week, the tech giant announced a 56% decline in operating profits for the second quarter of the year, citing factors such as the impact of U.S. semiconductor export restrictions to China. South Korea is also facing U.S. President Donald Trump‘s pending 25% tariffs, currently scheduled to go into effect on Aug. 1.

The country’s business community welcomed news of the acquittal Thursday, predicting it would give a boost to the country’s largest conglomerate.

“In an era of fierce global competition in cutting-edge industries, the removal of legal uncertainties surrounding a key company like Samsung is expected to have a positive ripple effect not only on the firm but on the Korean economy as a whole,” Kang Seok-koo, head of the research division at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said in a statement.

Civic groups, however, criticized the Supreme Court ruling as biased in favor of the massive chaebol, or conglomerates, that have long dominated South Korea.

“The result of this trial is that the court has once again made a pro-chaebol ruling with a passive and narrow interpretation of the law,” People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said in a statement. “We strongly condemn the judiciary for making a shameful decision that undermines social justice by acting as a shield for corporate power.”

BATON ROUGE, La. — Federal authorities have charged three current or former Louisiana police chiefs with taking bribes in exchange for filing false police reports that would allow noncitizens to seek a visa that allows certain crime victims to stay in the U.S.

The false police reports would indicate that the immigrant was a victim of a crime that would qualify them to apply for a so-called U visa, U.S. Atty. Alexander C. Van Hook said Wednesday at a news conference in Lafayette. He said the police officials were paid $5,000 for each name they provided falsified reports for, and that there were hundreds of names.

There had been “an unusual concentration of armed robberies of people who were not from Louisiana,” Van Hook said, noting that two other people were also charged in the alleged scheme.

“In fact, the armed robberies never took place,” he said.

Earlier this month, a federal grand jury in Shreveport returned a 62-count indictment charging the five defendants with crimes including conspiracy to commit visa fraud, visa fraud, bribery, mail fraud and money laundering, Van Hook said.

Those charged are Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle, Forest Hill Police Chief Glynn Dixon, former Glenmora Police Chief Tebo Onishea, Michael “Freck” Slaney, a marshal in Oakdale, and Chandrakant “Lala” Patel, an Oakdale businessman.

If convicted, the defendants could face years or even decades of jail time.

According to investigators, people seeking special visas would reach out to Patel, who would contact the lawmen and offer them a payment in exchange for falsified police reports that named the migrants as victims of armed robberies that never occurred.

The scheme went on for nearly a decade, Van Hook said.

Getting a U visa can give some crime victims and their families a pathway to U.S. citizenship. About 10,000 people got them in the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, 2022, which was the most recent period for which the Homeland Security Department has published data.

These special visas, which were created by Congress in 2000, are specifically for victims of certain crimes “who have suffered mental or physical abuse” and are “helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity,” based on a description of the program published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“These visas are designed to help law enforcement and prosecutors prosecute crimes where you need the victim or the witness there, ” Van Hook said. “U visas serve a valuable purpose, and this is a case where they were abused.”

When asked about the extent of the fraud, Van Hook said there were “hundreds of names” — specifically for visas that were approved.

At least two of the police chiefs had been arrested as of the Wednesday morning news conference, authorities said.

Lester Duhé, a spokesperson for the Louisiana attorney general’s office, said that the office was assisting federal agents with “court-authorized activities” when asked about its role in the case.

The current or former police chiefs are from small central Louisiana municipalities that are near each other. They’re in a part of the state that is home to multiple immigration detention facilities. Although Louisiana doesn’t share a border with a foreign country, there are nine ICE detention facilities in the state — holding nearly 7,000 people.

Local news outlets reported seeing ICE and FBI agents entering the homes of two of the chiefs. Van Hook said authorities searched multiple police departments and a Subway sandwich shop that Patel operated.

Van Hook and others said at the news conference that the arrests do not mean the indicted chiefs’ departments are corrupt.

In 2021, the USCIS warned that the U-visa program was susceptible to fraud after an audit from the Office of Inspector General found that administrators hadn’t addressed deficiencies in their process.

The audit found that USCIS approved a handful of suspicious law enforcement signatures that were not cross-referenced with a database of authorized signatures, according to the OIG report. They were also not closely tracking fraud case outcomes, the total number of U visas granted per year, and were not effectively managing the backlog, which led to crime victims waiting for nearly 10 years before receiving a U visa.

Cline and Mustian write for the Associated Press. Mustian reported from New York. AP writer Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report.

President Trump on Tuesday accused Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) of committing mortgage fraud by intentionally misleading lenders about his primary residence being in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., rather than California, in order to “get a cheaper mortgage and rip off America.”

Schiff, who led a House impeachment of Trump during the president’s first term and has remained one of his most vocal and forceful political adversaries since joining the Senate, dismissed the president’s claims as a “baseless attempt at political retribution.”

A spokesperson for Schiff said he has always been transparent about owning two homes, in part to be able to raise his children near him in Washington, and has always followed the law — and advice from House counsel — in arranging his mortgages.

In making his claims, Trump cited an investigation by the Fannie Mae “Financial Crimes Division” as his source.

A memorandum reviewed by The Times from Fannie Mae investigators to William J. Pulte, the Trump-appointed director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, does not accuse Schiff of mortgage fraud. It noted that investigators had been asked by the FHFA inspector general’s office for loan files and “any related investigative or quality control documentation” for Schiff’s homes.

Investigators said they found that Schiff at various points identified both his home in Potomac, Md., and a Burbank unit he also owns as his primary residence. As a result, they concluded that Schiff and his wife, Eve, “engaged in a sustained pattern of possible occupancy misrepresentation” on their home loans between 2009 and 2020.

The investigators did not say they had concluded that a crime had been committed, nor did they mention the word “fraud” in the memo.

The memo was partially redacted to remove Schiff’s addresses and information about his wife. Fannie Mae did not respond to a request for comment.

In addition to denying any wrongdoing, Schiff also suggested that Trump’s accusation was an effort to distract from a growing controversy — important to many in the president’s MAGA base — over the administration’s failure to disclose more investigative records into child sex abuse by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a former acquaintance of Trump’s.

There has long been rumors of a “client list” of Epstein’s that could expose other powerful men as predators. Trump promised to release such a list as a candidate, and at one point Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi appeared to say such a list was on her desk. However, the administration has since said no such list exists, and Trump has begged his followers to move on.

Schiff drew a direct line between that controversy and Trump’s accusations against him Tuesday.

“This is just Donald Trump’s latest attempt at political retaliation against his perceived enemies. So it is not a surprise, only how weak this false allegation turns out to be,” Schiff wrote on X. “And much as Trump may hope, this smear will not distract from his Epstein files problem.”

A spokesperson for Schiff echoed the senator’s denial of any wrongdoing.

According to the spokesperson, Schiff made a decision routine for Congress members from states far from Washington to buy a home in Maryland so he could raise his children nearby. He also maintained a home in California, living there when not in Washington.

The spokesperson said all of Schiff’s lenders were aware that he intended to live in both as he traveled back and forth from Washington to his district — making neither a vacation home.

Trump’s own post about Schiff, on his social media platform, was thin on details and heavy on insults, calling Schiff “a scam artist” and “crook.”

Trump alleged that Schiff reported his primary residence being in Maryland, when “he must LIVE in CALIFORNIA” as a congressman from the state.

Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, has for years laid out detailed arguments against the president — and for why his actions violated the law and warranted his permanent removal from office. Those have included Trump’s first presidential campaign’s interactions with Russian assets, his pressuring Ukraine to investigate his rival Joe Biden while U.S. military aid was being withheld from the country, and his incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and storming of the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Biden’s 2020 electoral win over him.

Schiff also has criticized the president — and his businesses, family members and political appointees — for their own financial actions.

He recently sponsored legislation that would restrict the ability of politicians and their family members from getting rich off of digital currencies of their own creation, as Trump and his family have done. He also has repeatedly demanded greater financial transparency from various Trump appointees, accusing them of breaking the law by not filing disclosures of their assets within required time frames.

Others have accused Trump for years of financial fraud. Last year, a judge in New York ordered Trump to pay $355 million in penalties in a civil fraud case after finding that the president and others in his business empire inflated his wealth to trick banks and insurers. Trump denied any wrongdoing and has appealed the decision.

All along the way, Trump has attacked Schiff personally, accusing him of peddling hoaxes for political gain and repeatedly suggesting that he should be charged with treason. During a presidential campaign stop in California last year — when Schiff was running for Senate — Trump called Schiff “one of the sleaziest politicians in history.”

Schiff made mention of Trump’s treason claims in his response to the new allegation of mortgage fraud Tuesday, writing, “Since I led his first impeachment, Trump has repeatedly called for me to be arrested for treason. So in a way, I guess this is a bit of a letdown.”

Before leaving office, President Biden preemptively pardoned Schiff and the other members of the committee that investigated Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, anticipating that Trump would seek to retaliate against them for their work.

Schiff said at the time that he did not want a pardon. He later dismissed an assertion from Trump that the pardons were “void” as another attempt at intimidation.

Schiff was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. He now splits his time between a two-story home in Potomac, Md., which he bought in 2003, according to property records, and a one-bedroom condo in a shopping area in downtown Burbank, which he bought in 2009.

In 2023, amid a bruising primary race for his Senate seat, CNN reported on Schiff’s two mortgages, citing experts who said the arrangement did not put Schiff in legal jeopardy — even if it could raise tough political questions.

CNN reported that deed records showed Schiff had designated his Maryland home as his primary residence, including while refinancing his mortgage over the years. In 2020, the outlet reported, Schiff again refinanced his mortgage and indicated that the Maryland home was his second.

CNN also reported that Schiff for years has taken a California homeowner’s tax exemption for his Burbank home, also designating it as his primary address. CNN said that exemption amounted to “roughly $70 in annual savings.” Schiff’s spokesperson confirmed that estimate in annual savings in California, and noted that Schiff did not claim such an exemption in Maryland.

Ancelotti, one of the most successful managers in football history, received a one-year suspended sentence and large fine.

A Spanish court sentenced Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti to a one-year suspended prison term for tax fraud when he was Real Madrid manager in 2014.

The Madrid court also fined Ancelotti 386,000 euros ($452,187) during Wednesday’s proceedings.

Spanish prosecutors accused Ancelotti of defrauding the state of 1 million euros ($1m) in 2014 and 2015.

State prosecutors sought a prison sentence of up to four years and nine months on two counts of tax fraud.

But the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain boss, who no longer lives in Spain, will not serve jail time because the sentence is less than two years and he has no criminal record. In Spain, a judge has the discretion to suspend a sentence of less than two years for first-time offenders.

In March 2024, prosecutors accused Ancelotti of having used shell companies to hide his true earnings. They claimed Ancelotti, for example, used one company that lacked “any real [economic] activity” in the Virgin Islands as part of an alleged scheme.

Carlos Sanchez, Ancelotti’s press officer, told The Associated Press that the coach “will not make comments for now.”

Brazil’s football confederation (CBF) said in a statement that it was following the case.

The Italian coach is the latest in a string of major football profiles to face a crackdown by Spanish authorities over unpaid taxes, although none have actually been sent to prison so far. That list includes star players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Jose Mourinho, another former Madrid coach.

The CBF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ancelotti, who turned 66 last month, is one of football’s most successful coaches. He is the only coach to have won the Champions League five times, three with Madrid and twice with AC Milan, and the only coach to have won domestic league titles in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

The former Italy midfielder left Real Madrid to become Brazil boss at the end of last season after a rare trophy-less campaign in the 2024-25 season.

June 27 (UPI) — Federal officials have charged four people from California with what they call the largest COVID-19 tax credit fraud scheme ever identified in the United States, amounting to more than $90 million in payouts.

Two of the defendants are also facing attempted murder charges for shooting one of their co-conspirators, the FBI’s Los Angeles field office confirmed in a release.

Kristerpher Turner, Toriano Knox, Kenya Jones and Joyce Johnson are all facing federal conspiracy to commit mail fraud; mail fraud; and conspiracy to submit false claims charges.

Jones and Knox are also facing gun and attempted murder charges for shooting Turner in 2023, in an attempt to prevent him from speaking to authorities.

A federal indictment was unsealed earlier this month against all four.

Officials allege Turner operated the fraud ring that invoiced close to $250 million in COVID-19 relief payments to the federal government.

“In total, from approximately June 2020 and December 2024, the defendants and their co-conspirators submitted and caused the submission of fraudulent forms for at least 148 companies, seeking a total of approximately $247,956,938 in tax refunds to which they were not entitled,” the FBI statement reads.

The group ultimately received at least $93 million in Treasury checks from the IRS.

According to authorities, while Turner ran the scheme, Knox, Jones and Johnson served as recruiters, even luring friends and family members aboard and obtaining their personal or business information to submit false benefits claims.

“At some point during the scheme, the now-defendants learned that the IRS and others were making inquiries about their fraudulent activity,” the FBI statement reads, alleging Knox and Jones of carrying out a shooting to prevent him from acting as a witness.

Turner was shot in August of 2023 and is now paralyzed.

The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation section and office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration were involved in the joint investigation.

All four defendants are facing maximum sentences of 20 years in federal prison for each fraud charge if convicted. Knox and Jones are also facing 30-year sentences if convicted of attempted murder charges, while the gun charges carry maximum penalties of life in prison.

The case is not the first multi-million-dollar fraud committed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month, a June Chicago laboratory owner received a seven-year prison sentence after being convicted of falsifying COVID-19 test results. Authorities contend the fraud scheme generated $14 million.

LONDON — Music streaming service Deezer said Friday that it will start flagging albums with AI-generated songs, part of its fight against streaming fraudsters.

Deezer, based in Paris, is grappling with a surge in music on its platform created using artificial intelligence tools it says are being wielded to earn royalties fraudulently.

The app will display an on-screen label warning about “AI-generated content” and notify listeners that some tracks on an album were created with song generators.

Deezer is a small player in music streaming, which is dominated by Spotify, Amazon and Apple, but the company said AI-generated music is an “industry-wide issue.”

It’s committed to “safeguarding the rights of artists and songwriters at a time where copyright law is being put into question in favor of training AI models,” CEO Alexis Lanternier said in a press release.

Deezer’s move underscores the disruption caused by generative AI systems, which are trained on the contents of the internet including text, images and audio available online. AI companies are facing a slew of lawsuits challenging their practice of scraping the web for such training data without paying for it.

According to an AI song detection tool that Deezer rolled out this year, 18% of songs uploaded to its platform each day, or about 20,000 tracks, are now completely AI generated. Just three months earlier, that number was 10%, Lanternier said in a recent interview.

AI has many benefits but it also “creates a lot of questions” for the music industry, Lanternier told The Associated Press. Using AI to make music is fine as long as there’s an artist behind it but the problem arises when anyone, or even a bot, can use it to make music, he said.

Music fraudsters “create tons of songs. They upload, they try to get on playlists or recommendations, and as a result they gather royalties,” he said.

Musicians can’t upload music directly to Deezer or rival platforms like Spotify or Apple Music. Music labels or digital distribution platforms can do it for artists they have contracts with, while anyone else can use a “self service” distribution company.

Fully AI-generated music still accounts for only about 0.5% of total streams on Deezer. But the company said it’s “evident” that fraud is “the primary purpose” for these songs because it suspects that as many as seven in 10 listens of an AI song are done by streaming “farms” or bots, instead of humans.

Any AI songs used for “stream manipulation” will be cut off from royalty payments, Deezer said.

AI has been a hot topic in the music industry, with debates swirling around its creative possibilities as well as concerns about its legality.

Two of the most popular AI song generators, Suno and Udio, are being sued by record companies for copyright infringement, and face allegations they exploited recorded works of artists from Chuck Berry to Mariah Carey.

Gema, a German royalty-collection group, is suing Suno in a similar case filed in Munich, accusing the service of generating songs that are “confusingly similar” to original versions by artists it represents, including “Forever Young” by Alphaville, “Daddy Cool” by Boney M and Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5.”

Major record labels are reportedly negotiating with Suno and Udio for compensation, according to news reports earlier this month.

To detect songs for tagging, Lanternier says Deezer uses the same generators used to create songs to analyze their output.

“We identify patterns because the song creates such a complex signal. There is lots of information in the song,” Lanternier said.

The AI music generators seem to be unable to produce songs without subtle but recognizable patterns, which change constantly.

“So you have to update your tool every day,” Lanternier said. “So we keep generating songs to learn, to teach our algorithm. So we’re fighting AI with AI.”

Fraudsters can earn big money through streaming. Lanternier pointed to a criminal case last year in the U.S., which authorities said was the first ever involving artificially inflated music streaming. Prosecutors charged a man with wire fraud conspiracy, accusing him of generating hundreds of thousands of AI songs and using bots to automatically stream them billions of times, earning at least $10 million.

Chan writes for the Associated Press.