scheme

Programme, which started after Korean War as a way of removing mixed-race children from society, violated human rights.

South Korea’s president has apologised for a notorious foreign adoption scheme set up after the 1950-53 Korean War that caused “anxiety, pain, and confusion” to more than 14,000 children sent abroad.

President Lee Jae-myung said in a Facebook post on Thursday that he was offering “heartfelt apology and words of comfort” to South Koreans adopted abroad and their adoptive and birth families, seven months after a Truth and Reconciliation Commission said the programme violated the human rights of adoptees.

The commission, which investigated complaints from 367 adoptees in Europe, the United States and Australia, held the government accountable for facilitating adoptions through fraudulent practices, including falsifying records to portray children as abandoned orphans and switching identities.

Lee said he felt “heavy-hearted” when he thought about the “anxiety, pain and confusion” that South Korean adoptees would have suffered when they were sent abroad as children, and asked officials to formulate systems to safeguard the human rights of adoptees and support their efforts to find their birth parents.

Mass international adoptions began after the Korean War as a way to remove mixed-race children born to local mothers and American GI fathers from a society that emphasised ethnic homogeneity, with more than 140,000 children sent overseas between 1955 and 1999.

Foreign adoptions have continued in more recent times, with more than 100 children on average, often babies born to unmarried women who face ostracism in a conservative society, still being sent abroad for adoption each year in the 2020s.

After years of delay, South Korea in July ratified The Hague Adoption Convention, an international treaty meant to safeguard international adoptions. The treaty took effect in South Korea on Wednesday.

Former president Kim Dae-jung apologised during a meeting with overseas adoptees in 1998, saying: “From the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry. I deeply feel that we have committed a grave wrong against you.”

But he stopped short of acknowledging the state’s responsibility for the decades of malpractice.

A RECORD number of prisoners were freed in error last year.

There were 262 wrongly released in the 12 months to March, figures show.

1

It is a 128 per cent rise on the 115 between 2023 and 2024 — the biggest year-on-year increase.

Some were released as their crimes for breaching restraining orders were wrongly logged.

HM Prison and Probation Service said the total included some incorrectly let out under Labour’s early release scheme.

Thousands were freed after serving just 40 per cent of their time.

It led to farcical scenes of lags popping champagne corks.

Former Tory minister Sir Alec Shelbrooke said then-Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood should “take accountability” for the figures.

He fumed: “These figures are very alarming.

“There should be accountability when a prisoner is released early in error – and it has to go right to the top of the chain, including the Justice Secretary.

“Nobody wants to live in a lawless society. The idea that multiple people a week can be set free by mistake is scandalous.”

The Ministry of Justice said: “We’ve set up a specialist team to clamp down on those releases.”

Sept. 16 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of Treasury announced Tuesday that it’s sanctioning two Iranian financial facilitators and more than a dozen Hong Kong- and United Arab Emirates-based people and entities for “shadow banking” in support of Iran.

The Treasury Department alleged that these people helped coordinate funds transfers, including from the sale of Iranian oil, that benefited the IRGC-Qods Force and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, a press release said.

“Iranian entities rely on shadow banking networks to evade sanctions and move millions through the international financial system,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said in a statement. “Under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, we will continue to disrupt these key financial streams that fund Iran’s weapons programs and malign activities in the Middle East and beyond.”

The department said that between 2023 and 2025, Iranian nationals Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand worked to facilitate the purchase of over $100 million worth of cryptocurrency for oil sales for the Iranian government. Derakhshan and Alivand used a network of front companies in foreign jurisdictions to transfer the cryptocurrency funds, the release said.

The two are now considered “blocked,” meaning all their assets in the United States will be seized, and Americans and their companies can’t do business with them or their businesses.

Besides Derakhshan and Alivand, the department named several other people and businesses that are now blocked from American trade.

Shadow banking is credit intermediation by entities outside the regular banking system, performing bank-like functions, like maturity transformation and liquidity transformation, without the same strict regulatory oversight as traditional banks.

Britain, Germany and France sent a letter in late August to the United Nations Security Council saying they are starting the 30-day process of “snapback” of sanctions against Iran.

The snapback is used to re-impose sanctions on Iran in the event of “significant non-performance” of treaty commitments. The sanctions were suspended under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal.

A federal grand jury has charged two brothers in Southern California with tax evasion on more than $1.1 million in income they allegedly received in part from a years-long scheme selling tee times on local golf courses.

Se Youn “Steve” Kim, 41, and his identical twin brother, Hee Youn “Ted” Kim, 41, were arrested Thursday morning by federal authorities and pleaded not guilty.

From 2021 to 2023, the Kim brothers’ tee time brokering business scooped up thousands of reservation slots at golf courses across the U.S., including at least 17 public golf courses in Southern California, according to the indictment filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

The brothers used online platforms including KakaoTalk, a Korean instant messaging app, to reach their customers. Federal prosecutors say that by quickly nabbing popular early morning tee times almost immediately after they were available to the public, the brothers “created a monopoly” of Southern California golf courses.

The prevalence of tee-time brokering was reported by The Times last year, in which scores of local golfers shared frustrations over their inability to secure a tee time on public courses in L.A.

“Finally, it’s justice,” said Joseph Lee, a vocal critic of tee time brokers who helped collect evidence and met with federal prosecutors during their investigation of the Kim brothers. “For a long time, L.A. golfers have been frustrated by these illegal tee time brokers and their resale market. Authorities have finally recognized the seriousness of the issue.”

Anthony Solis, the attorney representing Ted Kim, said he did not immediately have a response on behalf of his client. The attorney representing Steve Kim did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Federal prosecutors said the brothers had customers pay reservation fees to their personal accounts via Venmo, Zelle, and other applications. The tee time brokering business netted the brothers nearly $700,000 between 2021 and 2023, according to the indictment. The brothers, who also worked as MRI technicians, are accused of willfully failing to report a combined $1.1 million in income to the Internal Revenue Service for 2022 and 2023.

The Kim brothers are also accused of failing to pay taxes that the IRS had assessed. Rather than paying off mounting tax debts, the indictment alleges that the brothers made lavish purchases at Chanel, Cartier, Prada and Louis Vuitton.

In a brief interview with The Times last year, Ted Kim said that he used up to five devices and relied on unspecified friends to secure tee times. He said he is on the same playing field as every other golfer in L.A. and does not use bots to game the system.

“It’s not like I’m taking advantage of technology. I’m booking myself,” Kim told The Times in an interview. “I’m not doing anything illegal.”

Kim told the newspaper that he profited a couple thousand dollars a month, and framed his business as a way of helping elderly Korean golfers without tech savvy to navigate the online golf reservation system.

“I’m just helping Korean seniors, because they have a right to play golf, because all the Koreans play golf, right? Without my help, they actually struggle,” he said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

NEW YORK — Former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s wife told a judge that her husband was “not the man I thought he was” before she was sentenced Thursday to 4½ years in prison for selling the powerful New Jersey politician’s influence in exchange for bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car.

U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein sentenced Nadine Menendez, 58, after she was convicted in April of colluding from 2018-23 with her husband, the former Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a variety of corrupt schemes, some involving assisting the Egyptian government.

Sobbing as she addressed the judge shortly before she was sentenced, Nadine Menendez described her husband as a manipulative liar.

“I put my life in his hands and he strung my like a puppet,” she said. “The blindfold is off. I now know he’s not my savior. He’s not the man I thought he was.”

Stein told the defendant that she wasn’t the person she was portrayed as during last year’s trial of her husband and two New Jersey businessmen, when the judge said she was painted “as manipulative, hungry for money and the true force behind the conspiracies.”

But he said she also wasn’t the “innocent observer of what was happening around you,” as she was portrayed by her lawyer at her trial.

“You knew what you were doing. Your role was purposeful,” he said.

When she spoke, Nadine Menendez partly blamed her husband, saying she was duped by his power and stature and that she felt compelled to do whatever he wanted, such as calling or meeting with certain people.

“I would never have imagined someone of his ranking putting me in this position,” she said, though she acknowledged that in retrospect, she was a grown woman and should have known better.

Before the hearing, Bob Menendez submitted a letter to the judge saying he regretted that he didn’t fully preview what his lawyer said about his wife during his trial and in closing arguments.

“To suggest that Nadine was money hungry or in financial need, and therefore would solicit others for help, is simply wrong,” he wrote.

In addition to prison time, Stein sentenced Nadine Menendez to three years of supervised release. He said he granted her leniency in part because of the trial she endured, her difficult childhood in Lebanon, her abusive romantic partners, her health conditions and her age.

Stein said a prison term was important for general deterrence purposes: “People have to understand there are consequences.”

Nadine Menendez won’t have to surrender to prison until next summer. Stein set a reporting date of July 10, accommodating a defense request that she be allowed to remain free to complete necessary medical procedures before she heads behind bars. Federal prosecutors did not object to the request.

Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of at least seven years.

Her lawyer, Sarah Krissoff, asked that she serve only a year behind bars, citing her difficult recovery from breast cancer, which was diagnosed just before last year’s trial, when she was to be tried along with her husband. She ended up being tried separately.

Bob Menendez, 71, is serving an 11-year sentence after his conviction on charges of taking bribes, extortion, and acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.

Prosecutors say Nadine Menendez played a large and crucial role in her husband’s crimes, serving as an intermediary between the senator and three New Jersey businessmen who literally lined his coat pockets with tens of thousands of dollars in cash in return for favors he could deliver with his political clout.

During a 2022 FBI raid on the couple’s New Jersey home, investigators found $480,000 in cash, gold bars worth an estimated $150,000 and a luxury convertible in the garage.

Prosecutors said that, among his other corrupt acts, the senator met with Egyptian intelligence officials and speeded that country’s access to U.S. military aid as part of a complex effort to help his bribe-paying associates, one of whom had business dealings with the Egyptian government.

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press.

A MAJOR pub chain has launched a new loyalty rewards scheme where customers can get freebies including pints and food.

Greene King has relaunched its app and now has a feature where customers can get complimentary drinks and win prizes.

1

These include free pints and vouchers to spend in its 2,700 pubs across the UK.

It’s the first time Greene King has offered loyalty rewards to customers.

The pub chain says customers can now “earn perks, unlock surprises, and access exclusive offers – whether they order at the bar or through the app”.

Among the new features for loyalty customers is a chance to “spin the wheel” to win a prize.

If you spin the virtual wheel on the new Greene King app, you’ll win either a free main meal, drink or dessert.

The free drinks include Peroni, Birra Moretti, Rekorderlig, Aspell, Hazy Day, Coca Cola, Schweppes Lemonade and Madri.

And if you place an order through the app worth at least £1, there’s a chance to win a £50 voucher.

There’s also a “Pub Match” game where every time you spend through the app or scan your membership ID at the till, you are in with the chance of winning more freebies.

The aim of the game is to make it onto the interactive leaderboard of loyal customers, and you have a chance to win up to £50 each month. 

The more you use the app, the higher the chance of winning a prize.

The rewards are redeemable at Greene King Pubs, Belhaven Pubs, Flaming Grill, Chef & Brewer, Farmhouse Inns and Hungry Horse.

Kevin Hydes, group marketing director at Greene King, said: “Pubs are about creating feel-good moments, but we know many people are keeping a close eye on costs.

“That’s why we’re always looking for ways to make visiting our pubs even more rewarding and to give back to our customers.

“With Spin to Win, we’re giving new customers a little something extra – a chance to enjoy a free treat on us, just for joining our loyalty programme.”

How can I get my rewards?

You can download the new Greene King app for free on your app store.

The Spin to Win game will appear on the homepage of your app.

You can also click into the Rewards section to see the rewards you’ve earned.

You can claim the reward either when you pay through the app or at the bar.

On the app just add all your items to the basket and then apply the reward at checkout.

If you order at the bar, you need to show your Membership ID to the bartender.

You can find this at the top right of your Rewards section on the app.

What other features are on the app?

The app will also let you make and manage your bookings, customise orders and pay.

Greene King says it will reduce wait times and let you order quickly.

There will also be the option to repeat orders with one click.

Which other pubs have loyalty schemes?

Greene King is not the only chain which has a loyalty scheme.

Butcombe, which runs more than 120 pubs across the UK, lets customers access exclusive discounts for downloading the app.

These include earning points, where you get five points for spending £1. Once you reach 500 points, £5 will be added to your account to spend.

You can also get 25 per cent off food every Wednesday.

O’Neills also gives members signed to its loyalty programme the chance to collect stamps that can be exchanged for rewards.

A Hollywood producer bilked film and business partners out of $12 million, claiming he was using their money to work on movies or other legitimate enterprises, but instead using it to buy expensive cars, houses and even a surrogate, prosecutors alleged Wednesday.

David Brown worked for years as a producer of indie Hollywood productions, burnishing his credentials as a producer of the film festival darling “The Fallout,” starring Jenna Ortega, which won the narrative feature competition at South by Southwest, as well as of “The Apprentice,” the movie about the rise of Donald Trump.

But even as Brown seemed to be putting together a successful producing career, federal prosecutors said, he was also defrauding numerous victims by siphoning funds that belonged to production companies and transferring the money to himself or businesses he controlled.

In an email to The Times for a 2023 article that documented the trail of fraud allegations that dogged him, Brown said he had made mistakes in the past, but denied defrauding anyone.

“I had to work really hard to get where I am today,” he said. “I had to overcome a lot. I had to fight for my place. … I’m not some bad guy.”

Brown was indicted Wednesday on 21 counts of wire fraud, transactional money laundering and aggravated identity theft. He had his first court appearance in South Carolina.

Prosecutors alleged that Brown, who lived in Sherman Oaks, used a series of tactics to defraud his business partners out of their money.

He convinced one victim to put money into a company called Film Holdings Capital, which was supposed to finance film projects. But Brown instead took the person’s money and used it for “maintaining his lifestyle and repaying prior victims … in a Ponzi-like scheme,” prosecutors said.

In other instances, Brown used production company funds to pay Hollywood Covid Testing, a company he controlled, “for services never rendered or already paid for,” prosecutors said.

He also told one victim that they could pool money and make a business flipping houses. He contributed little to the business and used some of the victim’s money for other purposes, prosecutors said.

Brown made sure to conceal his checkered past from potential business partners. He tried not to let them know about the 2023 article in The Times, or about the extensive litigation filed against him, according to federal prosecutors.

The 2023 article — for which The Times interviewed more than 30 people — detailed a series of allegations against Brown from his film partners, including that he forged Kevin Spacey’s signature and told film investors that Spacey had agreed to act as a main character in a film for just $100,000. But Spacey had not signed on to the film and did not even know what it was, his former manager told The Times. Brown denied forging Spacey’s signature.

Brown used the money he stole from his victims to make extravagant purchases, prosecutors said.

He bought a 2025 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon and three Teslas, including a 2024 Cybertruck, prosecutors alleged. He used the funds to make mortgage payments on his home and to remodel the home and used about $100,000 to install a pool, prosecutors said.

He even bought a house for his mother using the ill-gotten cash, prosecutors alleged.

On top of that, Brown also allegedly used stolen money to pay $70,000 for surrogacy, private school tuition for his child and other services.

In all, he stole more than $12 million from his victims, prosecutors alleged.

Brown is in federal custody in South Carolina and will enter a plea to the charges at his arraignment in the coming weeks, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California.

INDEPENDENT travel agency, InteleTravel, is answering questions about their business practices after The Sun’s investigation shined a light on the true cost of joining their organisation to sell travel.

With glamorous celebrities like Strictly’s Vicky Pattison and TOWIE’s Jess Wright promoting the scheme on their huge social platforms, it was revealed they could be earning over £200,000 as fans sign up to the scheme.

5

5

However, our report showed that almost 90 per cent of people don’t make a single penny working as an Independent Travel Agent (ITA) – with many ending up out of pocket.

Those selling travel through the Vicky’s Vacay team will almost certainly have signed up with recruitment firm, PlaNet Marketing, who are a separate company to InteleTravel.

Even though they are different companies, The Sun could find no way of joining InteleTravel without signing up to PlaNet Marketing and paying an initial fee of £140 and then £30 per month thereafter.

Industry experts TTG, have reported that since The Sun called for clarity on how many Brits are affected negatively by joining the scheme, InteleTravel is now reviewing its partnership with the US-headquartered company that recruits agents on its behalf.

In our report, we looked at how likely it is for everyday women and fans of these glamourous celebrities to earn money selling holidays to their friends and family for a small commission.

Social media messaging flaunting a jet-set lifestyle and ability to ‘be your own boss’ is rife on platforms like Instagram.

And it’s not just the celebrities who are at it.

Many ITAs who say they make ‘big money’ from selling travel are, in fact, doing so with an elaborate recreruitment downline.

This means anyone they sign up to their ‘team’ must pay them a commission, as well as the commission to InteleTravel – an ABTA-approved travel agency – on anything they go on to sell.

InteleTravel came under criticism as recruiters for the network, appear to approach people, most-often women and mums, on social media.

Subtle messaging, which some women who spoke to The Sun allege they are trained for, is used to lure new agents in by telling them a glamorous lifestyle can be achieved while on their family holiday.

It’s heavily implied that a huge salary can be achieved while being a full-time mum or working in another job.

A recruiter told our reporter that she earned £27,000 alongside her full time job in a different sector.

Tricia Handley-Hughes, InteleTravel’s UK and Ireland managing director, insisted the agency’s partnership with PlanNet Marketing had “not run its course” but added: “discussions need to take place”.

5

5

Senior industry agents also reacted to the story, calling it “deeply concerning”.

In a article published by trade publication, Travel Weekly, they raised concerns about InteleTravel’s recruitment methods and about the impact of the story on the professional reputation of other agents in the sector.

Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said said: “It’s important to remember the vast majority of travel agents across the UK are highly professional and trustworthy”.

“Being a travel agent is not a hobby. It should never be treated as a casual side hustle to make some extra money”.

While marketing consultant Steve Dunne, chief executive of Digital Drums, said such stories “could push back the reputation of the travel agents a generation”.

A number of InteleTravel agents have reacted to our report in defence of InteleTravel.

They were keen to tell their followers that agents can ‘just sell holidays’ and do not have to sign up to be part of the business responsible for the recruitment of other agents.

James Pirie-Warsop said: “I’ve been with Intele for about two or three years and I’m glad I did [join them]. Yes, there’s a multi-level marketing side, but you don’t have to do it”.

Whilst no-one is forced to recruit a ‘dream team of travel agents’ like Vicky and Jess, official data from the Direct Selling Association reveals that 63 per cent of agents in the sector do go on to build a ‘team’.

InteleTravel’s own figures may differ from the UK wide average, but when asked directlt by The Sun, they declined to comment on the amount their agents earn.

Read our full InteleTravel report here.

Have you been approached to join InteleTravel or asked if you’d like to make money selling travel with a team of like-minded agents? Get in touch with us at

5

Aug. 19 (UPI) — A Russian national living in New Jersey has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years for his role in helping the Kremlin illegally acquire ammunition and sensitive dual-use electronics, the Justice Department said.

U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez sentenced Vadim Yermolenko, who is in his mid-40s, in a Brooklyn courtroom Monday to 30 months in prison for his role in the international procurement and money laundering scheme.

“The defendant lied to banks, facilitated the illegal export of ammunition and sensitive technology and evaded income taxes, all as part of a global procurement and money laundering network operated on behalf of the Russian Government,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella of the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.

“Today’s sentence should send a message to all who would consider abusing the financial system to commit crimes on behalf of foreign nations: This office will find you, prosecute you and, if you are convicted, seek a significant prison sentence.”

Yermolenko pleaded guilty to several conspiracy charges, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and to defraud the United States.

Prosecutors said Yermolenko was connected to Serniya Engineering and Sertal LLC, Moscow-based procurement companies under the direction of Russian intelligence services that also operated shell companies and bank accounts in the United States and worldwide.

Serniya, as well as other companies and individuals involved in the scheme, were sanctioned by a handful of countries amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, including the United States.

Yermolenko was accused of working with co-conspirators to unlawfully purchase and then export U.S.-controlled electronic components, some of which are used in the development of nuclear and hypersonic weapons.

He admitted to establishing several shell companies and bank accounts for the scheme in the United States. Prosecutors said more than $12 million passed through accounts under his control that he failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service.

Co-conspirator Nikolaos Bogonikolos was previously sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges in the scheme. A second co-defendant, Alexey Brayman, is awaiting sentencing. He has also pleaded guilty.

“Through a sophisticated network of shell companies and bank accounts, Yermolenko laundered more than $12 million and purchased highly sensitive military equipment for Russia — aiding Russia’s military and intelligence agencies in violation of U.S. laws,” IRS-CI New York Special Agent in Charge Harry Chavis said.

“Yermolenko’s greed and misplaced foreign allegiance created a potential threat to our national security and law enforcement’s collaboration on this case ensures that our communities are safe from this potential vulnerability.”

“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.

Aug. 14 (UPI) — The State and Treasury departments are offering rewards of up to $6 million for information leading to arrests in a Russian-operated cryptocurrency scheme, officials announced Thursday.

Garantex, a Russian-operated cryptocurrency exchange, allegedly used a series of criminals and cybercrime organizations to launder billions of dollars using hacking software, ransomware, terrorism and drug trafficking schemes, the FBI and Secret Service said.

“Between April 2019 and March 2025, Gartantex processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions,” a release from the State Department said.

The State Department is offering individual rewards of $5 million and $1 million for Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda, and other Garantex leaders.

The department is also targeting Grinex, a cryptocurrency exchange that was established as Garantex’s successor.

Aug. 13 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department on Wednesday imposed visa restrictions on foreign government officials accused of assisting the Cuban regime in a scheme exploiting medical professionals.

Officials from several African nations, Cuba Grenada were sanctioned in a State Department news release. Then later Wednesday, several Brazilian government officials and former Pan American Health Organization officials were targeted for their work with Brazil’s More Doctors program. In all situations, their family members are also affected.

“We are committed to ending this practice,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X after the African and Grenadian officials were sanctioned. “Countries who are complicit in this exploitative practice should think twice.”

After Brazilians were named, Marco wrote on X: “Mais Médicos [Spanish for More Doctors] was an unconscionable diplomatic scam of foreign ‘medical missions.'”

Cuba is accused of sending the workers to some 50 countries for little or no pay for long hours, keeping their passports, confiscating medical credentials, and subjecting them to surveillance and curfews. Many of them reported being sexually abused by their supervisors. If they left the program, they faced repercussions.

Rubio said “several” African nations were sanctioned. Marco and the news release didn’t name that continent’s countries or the officials involved there, as well as Cuba and Grenada.

But the release about Brazil named: Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and Alberto Kleiman, who worked in the nation’s Ministry of Health, played a role in planning and implementing the New Doctors program.

These officials used PAHO as an intermediary with the Cuban regime to implement the program “without following Brazilian constitutional requirements, dodging U.S. sanctions on Cuba, and knowingly paying the Cuban regime what was owed to Cuban medical workers,” according to the release.

In the described scheme, they were complicit with the Cuban government, in which medical professionals were “rented” by other countries at higher prices, with most of the revenue kept by the Cuban authorities, the State Department alleged.

They were involved in “depriving the Cubans of essential care,” the State Department said.

“The United States continues to engage governments, and will take action as needed, to bring an end to such forced labor,” the first release said. “We urge governments to pay the doctors directly for their services, not the regime slave masters.”

The federal agency urged governments to end this method of forced labor.

In June, the U.S. agency imposed visa restrictions on unspecified Central American government officials for being involved in the medical mission program.

Rubio at the time described a similar scheme in which “officials responsible for Cuban medical missions programs that include elements of forced labor and the exploitation of Cuban workers.”

In June, Havana’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said the visa restrictions were “based on falsehoods and coercion.”

In late May, the State Department suspended the applications for J-1 visas, which allow people to come to the United States for exchange visitor programs. One week later, the department resumed visa interviews, but people seeking the visas were required to make their social media accounts public.

This year, more than 6,600 non-U.S. citizen doctors were accepted into residency programs, according to the National Resident Matching Program. Many residents go into underserved communities because they are less popular among U.S. applicants.

Medical professionals comprised 75% of Cuba’s exported workforce, generating $4.9 billion of its total $7 billion in 2022, according to the State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report.

“Traffickers exploit Cuban citizens in sex trafficking and forced labor in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Latin America and the United States,” the report said.”

Simultaneously, the U.S. government has fully restricted and limited people from 12 foreign countries in June. Cuba was among seven nations with restricted and limited entry.

“These restrictions distinguish between, but apply to both, the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants,” the order states about the two designations,” a proclamation by President Donald Trump reads.

Trump issued the ban on nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Also partial restricted were those form Burundi, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

More foreign criminals will be deported before their appeals against their removal are heard as the Home Office adds 15 new countries to its “deport now, appeal later” scheme.

The policy allows the government to send foreigners who commit crimes in the UK back to their home countries before they can appeal against the decision.

The scheme’s new countries, including Canada, India and Australia, bring the total to 23 – nearly three times more than the original eight, with the Home Office saying more could follow in the future.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper says expansion of the scheme is to prevent foreign criminals from “exploiting our immigration system” and “fast-track” their removals.

Foreign nationals who have had their claim refused will be expelled from the UK and can take part in their appeal hearings from their home countries via video link.

The other countries added to the scheme are:

• Angola
• Botswana
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Guyana
• Indonesia
• Kenya
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Malaysia
• Uganda
• Zambia

Cooper said previously that offenders were able to remain in the UK “for months or even years” while their cases worked through the appeals system.

“That has to end. Those who commit crimes in our country cannot be allowed to manipulate the system, which is why we are restoring control and sending a clear message that our laws must be respected and will be enforced,” she added.

Ministers argue that increasing deportations will ease the overcrowding crisis in prisons.

Prisons in England and Wales are facing significant capacity challenges, with occupancy levels nearing 100%.

There were 774 prisoners from the 15 new countries covered by “deport now, appeal later”, according to Ministry of Justice figures from the end of June.

Of the new countries, only Indians are in the most numerous nationalities among current prisoners.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy welcomed the decision and said the UK was working to increase the number of other countries where foreign criminals can be returned.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, welcomed the move, adding: “But even with this U-turn, only the Conservative Party is committed to deporting all foreign criminals.

“Until Keir Starmer either commits to deporting all foreign criminals or stops rolling out the red carpet for migrants the world over, this problem is not going away.”

The move comes after the justice secretary announced on Sunday new plans to deport foreign criminals immediately after they have received a custodial sentence.

Under the proposals for England and Wales, those who are given fixed-term sentences could be deported straight away and would be barred from re-entering the UK.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that foreign criminals would be sent “packing” if they “abuse our hospitality and break our laws”.

The new powers – which require Parliament’s approval – would save taxpayers money and increase publish safety, the government said.

However, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick warned that some countries may refuse to take in those who are deported.

He suggested Sir Keir Starmer should “suspend visas and foreign aid” in the event that countries don’t take back their nationals.

According to the government, foreign offenders make up around 12% percent of the prison population, with prison places costing £54,000 a year on average.

A compensation scheme for drivers over the mis-selling of car loans could cost as much as £18bn, the financial regulator has said.

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that hidden commissions from lenders to dealers on car loans were not unlawful, meaning millions of motorists will not be able to claim.

However, the judgement left open the possibility of compensation claims for particularly large commissions which the Supreme Court said were unfair.

Following the ruling, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said it will consult on running a payout scheme – estimated to cost between £9bn and £18bn.

It said that “most individuals will probably receive less than £950 in compensation”, with the first payouts expected next year if the scheme goes ahead.

Those who have already complained do not need to do anything, the FCA said, advising those who have yet to complain to contact their car loan provider rather than using a claims management company.

Aug. 2 (UPI) — Four Ukrainians have been detained in an investigation of “large-scale” governmental corruption, the nation’s two anti-corruption agencies said Saturday.

A member of parliament, two current and former officials, and a member of the National Guard military were involved, according to the nation’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

They allegedly were involved in a plot to take funds appropriated for drones and electronic warfare in 2024 and 2025, NABU posted on Telegram. They also acquired and distributed “unlawful benefits on an especially large scale,” the agency said.

On Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law passed unanimously by the parliament that restores the independence of the two agencies. One week earlier, the parliament had passed the law and Zelensky signed it that essentially ends their independence.

The former law sparked large protests and international rebuke, the Kyiv Independent reported.

In his daily video address, he said the schemes were “absolutely immoral.”

“I am grateful to the anti-corruption agencies for their work,” Zelensky posted on X. “There can only be zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork in uncovering it, and ultimately, a fair sentence. It is important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently, and the law passed on Thursday guarantees them all the tools necessary for a real fight against corruption.”

Detained were Oleksii Kuznetsov, a member of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party; Serhii Haidai, a former Luhansk governor; Andrii Yurchenko, head of Luhansk Oblast’s Rubizhne district and the guard member.

Kuznetsov will be dismissed from the Servant of the People in the parliament during the investigation, party leader David Arakhimia said.

In one scheme, they are accused of inflating a state contract for the purchase of electronic warfare with officials receiving a kickback of 30% of the conteact in exchange for inflating the price.

They were also involved in a similar way in state contracts for drones. A military unit signed a $239,000 contract with a producer with an overpaymernt of $80,000, the agencies said.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko announced the National Guard was implementing “systemic safeguards” to prevent power abuse.

“We are building a system in which honest service is protected, and there will be inevitable responsibility for violations,” Klymenko posted on Telegram.

Ukraine has been purchasing drones and weapons from other nations since Russia invaded the nation in February 2022.

Anticorruption agencies arrest four suspects after government forced to backtrack on push to strip them of autonomy.

Ukrainian authorities have detained several officials over a “large-scale corruption scheme” in the defence sector, just days after lawmakers restored the independence of the country’s two main investigative bodies.

The National Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) said in a joint statement on Saturday that they made four arrests in connection with the scheme, which involved the procurement of military drones and signal jamming systems.

“The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices,” they said, adding that the suspects had received kickbacks of up to 30 percent of the contract amounts.

NABU and SAPO said they had caught a sitting lawmaker, two local officials and an unspecified number of National Guard personnel taking bribes. The suspects were not identified in Saturday’s statement.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs also said it had suspended the suspected National Guard members.

The announcement comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came under criticism last month for trying to take away the anticorruption agencies’ independence and place them under the control of his prosecutor-general.

The agencies regained their autonomy after Zelenskyy’s move sparked the first antigovernment demonstrations in Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022.

Zelenskyy, who enjoys far-reaching wartime powers, initially said he needed to bring the agencies under his control because they were inefficient and under “Russian influence”.

But he then said he had heard people’s anger and submitted a bill restoring the agencies’ independence, which was passed by lawmakers on Thursday.

“It is important that anticorruption institutions operate independently, and the law passed on Thursday guarantees them all the tools necessary for a real fight against corruption,” Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine’s European allies praised the about-face, having voiced concerns about the original defanging of the agencies.

Top officials had told Zelenskyy that Ukraine was jeopardising its bid for European Union membership by curbing the powers of its antigraft authorities.

In a statement about Saturday’s arrests, Zelenskyy said he was “grateful to the anti-corruption agencies for their work”.

Italy has signed a deal with Albania, where it planned to process up to 36,000 asylum seekers per year.

The European Union’s top court has backed Italian judges who questioned a list of “safe countries” drawn up by Rome, as it prepares to deport migrants to detention centres in Albania.

The hard-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denounced the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) ruling and said it “weakens policies to combat mass illegal immigration”.

Meloni’s plan to outsource migrant processing to a non-EU country and speed up repatriations of failed asylum seekers has been followed closely by others in the bloc.

The costly scheme has been frozen for months by legal challenges.

Italian magistrates have cited the European court’s decision that EU states cannot designate an entire country as “safe” when certain regions are not.

On Friday, in a long-awaited judgement, the Luxembourg-based ECJ said Italy is free to decide which countries are “safe”, but warned that such a designation should meet strict legal standards and allow applicants and courts to access and challenge the supporting evidence.

In its statement, the ECJ said a Rome court had turned to EU judges, citing the impossibility of accessing such information and thus preventing it from “challenging and reviewing the lawfulness of such a presumption of safety”.

The ECJ also said a country might not be classified “safe” if it does not offer adequate protection to its entire population, agreeing with Italian judges that had raised this issue last year.

Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, had signed a migration deal in November 2023, and last year, Rome opened two centres in Albania, where it planned to process up to 36,000 asylum seekers per year.

The detention facilities have, however, been empty for months, due to the judicial obstacles. Last week, a report found that their construction cost was seven times more than that of an equivalent centre in Italy.

Government’s approach ‘dismantled’?

The European court made its judgement considering a case of two Bangladeshi nationals who were rescued at sea by Italian authorities and taken to Albania, where their asylum claims were rejected based on Italy’s classification of Bangladesh as a “safe” country.

Dario Belluccio, a lawyer who represented one of the Bangladeshi asylum seekers at the ECJ on Friday, said the Albanian migrant camps scheme had been killed off.

“It will not be possible to continue with what the Italian government had envisioned before this decision … Technically, it seems to me that the government’s approach has been completely dismantled,” he told the Reuters news agency.

Meloni’s office complained that the EU judgement allows national judges to dictate policy on migration, “further reduc(ing) the already limited” capacity of parliament and government to take decisions on the matter.

“This is a development that should concern everybody,” it said.

Meanwhile, though the Albanian scheme is stuck in legal limbo, Italy’s overall effort to curb undocumented migration by sea has been successful.

There have been 36,557 such migrant arrivals in the year to date, slightly up from the same period of 2024, but far below the 89,165 recorded over the same time span in 2023.

July 24 (UPI) — Arizona resident Christina Chapman must serve 102 months in prison for her role in a $17 million scheme to help North Koreans obtain remote positions with U.S. tech firms.

U.S District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Randolph Moss on Thursday sentenced Chapman, 50, after she entered a guilty plea in February to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments on behalf of the government of North Korea.

Chapman participated in a “fraudulent scheme that assisted North Korean workers — posing as U.S. citizens and residents — in obtaining and working in remote [Internet technology] positions at more than 300 U.S.companies,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti announced in a news release.

“North Korea is not just a threat to the homeland from afar,” Pirro said. “It is perpetrating fraud on American citizens, American companies and American banks.”

She said it’s important for U.S. corporations and businesses to verify the identities of remote workers to thwart such fraud.

“If this happened to these big banks, to these Fortune 500, brand-name, quintessential American companies, it can or is happening to your company,” Pirro added.

In addition to the prison term, Moss also ordered Chapman to forfeit $284,555.92 that was intended for North Koreans and to pay a $176,850 fine.

She also must serve three years of supervised release after completing her prison term.

Chapman was part of what the Justice Department says is one of the largest North Korean IT worker fraud schemes.

It involved the theft of identities from 68 U.S. citizens and residents and affected 309 U.S. businesses and two international businesses.

Chapman is a U.S. citizen and participated in the scheme from October 2020 to October 2023 by using stolen and purchased identities of U.S. nationals to help North Korean operatives to obtain remote work as U.S. firms, including many Fortune 500 companies.

The DOJ says Chapman operated a “laptop farm” at her home, where she received and operated at least 90 laptops to fool U.S. employers into thinking the North Korean operatives were located in the United States.

She also shipped 49 laptops and other devices that U.S. employers provided and that she shipped overseas.

Chapman sent several to a city in China that is located along the border with North Korea.

The companies affected include a top-five television network, a Silicon Valley tech company, an aerospace manufacturer, a U.S. carmaker, a luxury retail store and a U.S. media and entertainment company.

The North Korean operatives also tried to gain remote employment with two U.S. government agencies.

Court documents indicate North Korea has deployed thousands of highly skilled IT workers around the world to use false, stolen or borrowed identities of people in the United States and elsewhere to obtain remote positions.

The scheme relies on the assistance of U.S. citizens and legal residents when tried in the United States and enables North Korea to defraud respective employers of millions of dollars, the DOJ says.

The illicit funds often are used to help fund North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The Department of State in July sanctioned North Korean hacker Song Kum Hyok for similar alleged criminal activities

The DOJ in August also accused Matthew Isaac Knoot, 39, of Nashville, of allegedly operating a laptop farm to benefit North Korea’s nuclear arms program.

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.

Getty Images

‘Unprecedented’