fraud

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The Shrimp on Your Plate May Not Be What You Think

Genetic tests reveal widespread shrimp fraud that hurts Gulf Coast shrimpers

(Newser) - It would be reasonable to expect Gulf Coast shrimp on your plate when dining by the water in the South, but many restaurants are serving imports sourced from thousands of miles away—without lowering their prices. As Brett Anderson writes for the New York Times , a newly developed genetic...

Disney Worker Who Messed With Menus Gets 3 Years

After he was fired, Michael Scheuer made some potentially deadly changes

(Newser) - A former Disney employee who made some potentially deadly changes to menus has been sentenced to three years in federal prison. Prosecutors said that after he was fired for misconduct last year, former menu production manager Michael Scheuer hacked into menu-creating software and made changes including "manipulating allergen information...

Prosecutors: Long Island Beekeeper Hid Role in Genocide

Feds say Faustin Nsabumukunzi, 65, obscured his role in Rwanda while applying for US citizenship

(Newser) - In 2003, Faustin Nsabumukunzi applied for refugee status in the US, settling in the Hamptons on Long Island and resuming the beekeeping he'd done in his native Rwanda. He eventually received a green card and applied for US citizenship. But federal prosecutors now say Nsabumukunzi harbored a "dark...

Nonprofit CFO Accused of 'Simply Astonishing' Fraud
Ex-Nonprofit CFO Sentenced
for Stealing $44.3M
UPDATED
Apr 25, 2025 7:00 AM CDT

Ex-Nonprofit CFO Sentenced for Stealing $44.3M

William Smith gets 19 years in prison for embezzling from Detroit Riverfront Conservancy

(Newser) - The ex-CFO for a Detroit nonprofit has learned his fate for stealing $44.3 million from his group's coffers. On Thursday, William Smith, 52, formerly of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, was sentenced to 19 years behind bars, with Smith acknowledging his fraudulent misdeeds. "I allowed selfishness, pride, and...

JPMorgan Chase Files More 'Infinite Money Glitch' Suits

Bank is now chasing those who stole under $75,000 in check scam

(Newser) - JPMorgan Chase is going after more people who stole funds in what was referred to in TikTok videos as an "infinite money glitch" when "easily traced check fraud" would have been a more accurate term. The bank, which filed four lawsuits last fall against four people and businesses...

Fugitive Jeweler Sought in Massive Fraud Is Arrested

India's Mehul Choksi is detained in Belgium 7 years after huge scandal

(Newser) - A fugitive jeweler from India has been arrested in Belgium, bringing renewed attention to a scandal that rocked the nation's financial sector seven years ago and led to an international manhunt. Mehul Choksi, 65, is accused of taking part in a a $1.8 billion fraud involving the...

Startup Founder Guilty of Defrauding JPMorgan Chase

Charlie Javice could see lengthy jail time for bilking bank out of $175M in sale of financial aid firm

(Newser) - Charlie Javice, the charismatic founder of a startup company that claimed to be revolutionizing the way college students apply for financial aid, was convicted on Friday of defrauding one of the largest US banks, JPMorgan Chase, out of $175 million by exaggerating her customer base by 10 times. A jury...

Nonprofit Founder Convicted in $250M COVID Relief Fraud

Aimee Bock stole money intended to feed poor children

(Newser) - A jury found a woman prosecutors say was the ringleader of the nation's largest COVID-19 relief fraud case guilty on all counts Wednesday. Federal officials say Aimee Bock's scheme stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children in need. Salim Ahmed Said, a co-defendant, also was...

Director Faces 90 Years for Allegedly Defrauding Netflix

Carl Erik Rinsch pocketed $11M meant to fund his TV series, prosecutors say

(Newser) - A director expected to make a TV series for Netflix could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted of defrauding the streamer. Carl Erik Rinsch, director of 47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves, had pitched a science-fiction series about artificial humans called White House, later renamed Conquest. A...

Woman Charged With Murder in Death of Super Bowl Reporter

Danette Colbert already faced property crime charges

(Newser) - The woman arrested in connection with the death of a TV reporter who was found in his New Orleans hotel room while he was in the city to cover the Super Bowl has now been charged with second-degree murder. Danette Colbert, 48, had previously been charged with robbing victim Adan...

Most-Wanted Fugitive Posed as Dead Classmate: Feds

Stephen Craig Campbell collected $100K, bought property before 4-decade ruse unraveled

(Newser) - A man who disappeared in 1983 while awaiting trial on attempted murder charges in Wyoming allegedly spent the next four decades living under the identity of a dead classmate before his arrest last month. Stephen Craig Campbell, 76, who found himself on the US Marshals' most-wanted list, was arrested Feb....

DOJ Investigating Fraud at UnitedHealth

WSJ suggests company used questionable diagnoses to boost Medicare payments

(Newser) - The Justice Department is investigating Medicare billing practices at UnitedHealth Group, the $400 billion company that owns the largest US health insurer, whose CEO was gunned down in early December. According to the Wall Street Journal , a civil fraud investigation is examining whether the company recorded questionable diagnoses to trigger...

She Said Her Virgin Mary Wept Blood. Not So Fast

DNA tests suggest blood was actually from Italy's Gisella Cardia, not some sort of supernatural event

(Newser) - About a decade ago, Gisella Cardia purchased a statue of the Virgin Mary at Bosnia and Herzegovina's Medjugorje, where thousands of religious pilgrims flock annually. The Sicilian native created her own pilgrimage site in the town of Trevignano Romano, on the outskirts of Rome, using the statue as the...

Steve Bannon Pleads Guilty, Dodges Jail in Fraud Case

Trump ally says he's feeling 'like a million bucks' after deal

(Newser) - Steve Bannon pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a fraud charge related to duping donors who gave money to a private effort to build a wall along the US southern border—a case the conservative strategist has decried as a "political persecution." Bannon, a longtime ally of President Trump,...

Interpreter Gets Prison in Theft of $17M From MLB Star

Judge orders restitution to Shohei Ohtani and IRS

(Newser) - The former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani was sentenced Thursday to four years, nine months in prison and three years' supervised release for bank and tax fraud, after he stole nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers star's bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap...

Former Rep. TJ Cox to Take Plea Deal on Fraud Charges

24 of 26 charges against California Democrat will be dismissed, lawyer says

(Newser) - Former Rep. TJ Cox might be able to avoid jail time under a plea deal on fraud charges. Mark Coleman, an attorney for the California Democrat says 24 of 26 charges will be dismissed under the deal with federal prosecutors, the AP reports. Coleman says Cox, whose one term in...

Feds: Man on the Run for 8 Years Is Captured

Eric Pree, who vanished from California federal prison in 2017, is back in custody

(Newser) - The last time Eric Pree was seen behind bars was right after Donald Trump's first inauguration, in late January 2017. The California man vanished on the 29th of that month from US Penitentiary Atwater, and he remained on the run for almost eight years—until October, when he was...

To Escape Execution, She'll Need to Find $9B

Vietnamese tycoon Truong My Lan loses initial appeal of death sentence, but hope remains

(Newser) - One of Vietnam's richest women, sentenced to death over what the BBC calls "the world's biggest bank fraud," has lost her appeal. But real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, found to have embezzled $12.5 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank, could still avoid execution—if she...

We Still Write a Lot of Checks, and Fraudsters Love It
One Type of Bank Fraud
Is Surging
Nov 23, 2024 5:10 PM CST

One Type of Bank Fraud Is Surging

Check fraud is up 400%, and the Wall Street Journal explores why

(Newser) - Paper checks might eventually disappear altogether, but the Wall Street Journal reports that fraudsters are busy capitalizing on them in the meantime. Its exploration of the issue is illustrated in two stats:
  • Americans write an average of 30 checks per year, by far the most of any nation. No. 2
...

Another Forbes '30 Under 30' Pick Is Arrested

List has been called a 'pipeline to prison'

(Newser) - A tech entrepreneur featured on a Forbes "30 Under 30" list in 2021 could be facing more than 40 years in prison. Joanna Smith-Griffin, now 33, has been charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft, Quartz reports. Smith-Griffin founded the artificial intelligence start-up AllHere Education in 2016....

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