Elderly Erie couple scammed out of over $9,000: PSP
According to PSP Erie, one of the victims had gotten an email from who they believed was Netflix.
Ashtabula Co. Sheriff warning of numerous scams in area, impersonation scam stopped
That email stated that there was an issue with their billing, and to click a link allowing for remote access to their computer to fix it.
The scammer then proceeded to get the victim to open their bank account and got them to withdraw $30,000 from banks across Erie County to be sent to Netflix via Bitcoin.
Three-year drug investigation in Chautauqua Co. ends in 2 lb. meth bust
Almost $9,000 was transferred before a Bitcoin machine in the City of Erie jammed up.
The victim deposited the remaining cash and contacted police, who are continuing to investigate this instance.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
Erdogan calls it an anticorruption drive. His rivals call it a political crackdown.
The arrests come at a time of uncertainty about the political future of Turkey and Erdogan, who has dominated the country's politics for more than two decades. He cannot legally run again when his current, third presidential term ends in 2028 but could seek another mandate if parliament were to call early elections, an outcome many analysts expect him to pursue. The arrests began last year but have accelerated since March, when the police arrested Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, citing allegations of corruption, which he denies. Advertisement In the months since, the government has arrested at least 390 people in connection with investigations of alleged corruption in the Istanbul municipal government and other opposition-run cities, according to a New York Times tally based on Turkish media reports. The opposition says those arrested include current and former mayors and other municipal officials as well as representatives of companies that have worked with opposition-run city governments. Although these arrests have not led to any convictions, Erdogan said in a speech last month that government investigators were exposing 'the biggest gang of robbers in the history of the Republic.' Advertisement Opposition leaders have denied the charges and accuse Erdogan's government of weaponizing the judiciary to weaken its opponents and silence critics, some of whom have faced legal action for opposing the arrests. 'My confidence in justice, in the law, in how it is executed and investigated is gone,' said Cem Yigit Uzumoglu, an actor who played Mehmed the Conqueror in the Netflix docudrama 'Rise of Empires: Ottoman.' In an interview, he described how the police had arrested him at his home in the middle of the night in April after he posted support on social media for a boycott of government-linked companies. Prosecutors are now seeking prison sentences up to about seven years on charges that include instigating hatred in society, an accusation he called 'ridiculous.' Erdogan's governing Justice and Development Party fared poorly in nationwide municipal elections last year, largely because of anger over high inflation. Yet his geopolitical position appears strong. The civil war in neighboring Syria ended with a Turkish-friendly administration in Damascus. European countries count on his help to curb migration. And he has a warm relationship with President Donald Trump, whose secretary of state, Marco Rubio, recently ordered American diplomats to limit their comments about how other countries practice democracy. Few Western governments have spoken publicly about the arrests. Imamoglu, a star in the opposition Republican People's Party, had beat candidates backed by Erdogan for mayor of Istanbul three times, and some polls suggested he could beat Erdogan in a presidential race. The mayor's arrest came days before he officially began his presidential campaign and one day after his university suddenly annulled his undergraduate diploma, citing a decades-old irregularity. That alone could keep him from becoming the president, who is required by law to have completed higher education. Advertisement The timing of those events, which followed other cases that could temporarily bar Imamoglu from politics, led his supporters to accuse the government of seeking to knock him out of the running. The Turkish government insists that its prosecutors and courts are independent and has called on citizens to trust the authorities and not prejudge investigations. Interrogation notes and other information shared with Turkish news outlets indicate that investigators are pursuing allegations that include bribery, fraud, improper distribution of municipal contracts and solicitation of favors in exchange for construction permits. The New York Times has not been able to independently verify these details. In his address in July, Erdogan said that the investigations were free of politics and were uncovering great criminality. As this year's arrests have progressed, the government has also taken legal action against critics, using laws that rights groups say restrict freedom of speech. Last month, a student, Doruk Dorucu, tore up his diploma during a university graduation ceremony to protest the annulment of Imamoglu's diploma and what he called undue government interference in Turkish universities. In an interview, Dorucu said that the police arrested him at his home later that night. He said that he has been barred from traveling abroad while being investigated for inciting hatred among the public. 'In terms of oppression, we are in such a bad period,' he said. 'Everyone is afraid that they can be taken from their homes at dawn over one tweet or one joke they made in daily chitchat with friends.' Advertisement This article originally appeared in
Time Magazine
2 days ago
- Time Magazine
The True Stories Behind 'Echoes of Survivors: Inside Korea's Tragedies'
At first glance, Netflix's The Echoes of Survivors: Inside Korea's Tragedies doesn't have a clear, specific framework. The eight-episode docu-series is a follow-up to 2023's In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal, expanding its focus beyond Korean cults to examine other horrific events that continue to cause trauma and pain in Korean society today. However, as the series goes on, a loosely overarching theme becomes clear: an examination of the lengths people will go for money in a society that allows for, encourages, or rewards the accumulation of wealth above all else. The eight-episode series covers four different events in Korean history—including Busan's Brothers' Home, a follow-up on the legal cases connected to JMS church, the 'Chijon family' gang murders, and the Sampoong Department Store collapse—through interviews with survivors and witnesses, as well as dramatic reenactments of the crimes and footage from news coverage of the events. At times, the series tips into what feels like unnecessarily exploitative behavior, such as dressing the survivors of the Brothers' Home facility in the same tracksuits they were forced to wear as abused children or in the episodes that recount the Chijon gang murders, also known as the Jijonpa serial murder case. In the latter case, justice has been served and it is unclear what purpose watching the sole survivor of the gang's crimes relive the most traumatic event of her life serves, other than as trauma porn. For a series that is ostensibly working to examine the dangers that come within systems that prioritize the accumulation of wealth over human life, these moments feel like a misstep. The cases examined in The Echoes of Survivors will all be familiar to Korean audiences, but perhaps not to global audiences. Most of the cases presented took place during the 80s and 90s in Korea, before the internet, streaming video, and mobile devices kept us so apprised of manmade horrors being perpetrated on the other side of the world. For those who aren't familiar with the subjects covered in Echoes of Survivors, here is a brief explanation of each event. (Content warning: This contains descriptions of child abuse and sexual violence) The history behind Brothers Home Brothers Home, or Hyungje Bokjiwon, was an internment camp operating as a 'welfare facility' in Busan, Korea's second-largest city. It operated from 1975 to 1987, and was propped up by anti-vagrancy ordinances, put in place in the 1960s and ramped up in the lead up to the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Summer Olympics. At the time, Korea was under a military dictatorship, which was overthrown in 1987. Brothers Home was owned and run by Park In-geun, a retired military man and a Christian social worker. During this 'social cleansing' period in Korea's history, these 'welfare' facilities were given subsidies from the government based on the number of people they took in. More residents meant more money, so facility management would kidnap people off of the streets, whether or not they fit the description of a 'vagrant,' or someone without a stable job or home. According to Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, those illegally detained off the streets included 'office workers who had fallen asleep outside after drinking too much, children waiting to take trains to visit relatives, teenagers on their way home, people with disabilities, and hospital patients.' Echoes of Survivors focuses on some of the children who were forced into the facility, in many cases kidnapped off of the streets by police officers, many of whom were incentivized by Brothers Home bribes and/or performance score points. Inside the facility, violence was perpetrated daily. This included physical and sexual abuse against women and children. Infants were sold through adoption agencies. Detainees were forced to perform unpaid labor, often with very little food. An estimated 657 people were killed. In total, an estimated 40,000 people were confined at the group residence over the course of its operation, with more than 3,000 people held at once at the facility's 'peak.' The second episode that covers Brothers Home shifts to a search for greater accountability. Ultimately, Park In-geun was found guilty for only embezzlement and corruption, and served just 30 months in prison. He was never found guilty of any human rights abuses, seemingly at least in part due to his political allies in President Chun Doo-hwan's administration and the Busan mayor's office, and died in a nursing home in 2016. In running the facility, Park In-geun appointed loyal family members as directors, including his wife, Lim Sung-soon; her brother Lim Young-soon; and Lim Young-soon's brother-in-law, Joo Chong-chan. Echoes of Survivors sees producer Jo Seong-hyeon and Brothers Home survivor Choi Seung-woo travel to Australia, where some members of the Park family moved after the atrocities of the Brothers Home were made public. They confront some of the living members of the Park family about the wealth they have inherited. Jo also confronts a member of the Park family still living in Korea about his alleged role in the human rights abuses. These scenes make for some of the most powerful, productive moments in the series. Did Brothers Home inspire Squid Game? The Brothers Homes facility has been posited as inspiration for Squid Game in the past. The production perhaps intentionally plays up the aesthetic connection between the real-life atrocities of the Brothers Home and the fictional horrors of Squid Game by having survivors wear tracksuits like the ones they were forced to wear as children while giving interviews. However, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has never directly cited Brothers Home as an inspiration for the series. The JMS cult case When In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal hit Netflix in March 2023, it shook Korean society. The docu-series, which examines abuses perpetrated by four different religious cults, leads with a focus on Christian Gospel Mission—also known as Providence and as Jesus Morning Star, or JMS. Jung Myeong-seok is the founder of JMS and a self-proclaimed messiah to his tens of thousands of followers across Korea and the world, including in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia. After being convicted of rape in 2008 and serving a decade in prison, he was indicted again in 2022 for the sexual assault of two female followers. The story of these two survivors, Maple and Amy, were told in the first season of the Netflix documentary. At the time, producer Jo noted that he wanted to tell this story because members of his family have been victims of a pseudo-religious cult. Echoes of Survivors uses two of its episodes to expand on how Jung Myeong-seok's pattern of sexual abuse was kept secret for so long, and the measures to which the organization went to try to keep In the Name of God from being released. Part of this is delving into the role Jung's second-in-command, Jung Jo-eun, played in allowing his abuse of female followers to continue. Last year, she was sentenced to seven years in prison for her role in the abuses. Jung was sentenced to another 17 years in prison in 2024. The docu-series also alleges that members of JMS who are also police officers abused their positions to try to keep Jung out of jail. It wonders just how many Korean institutions include loyal members of JMS. The episodes end with Maple, who is now married to former idol and Olympic swimmer Alex Fong. The couple is expecting their first child. The final JMS episode leaves viewers with this message from Maple: 'To every woman out there going through the same pain as me, let's stay strong.' The Chijon family murders The 'Chijon family' murders, also known as the Jijonpa serial murder case, refer to a series of crimes that took place between 1993 and 1994. The 'Chiwon family' was a gang organized by convicted rapist Kim Gi-hwan, motivated by class anger. Kim convinced six other working class men, aged 18 to 23 at the time, to join him in targeting rich people for extortion and murder. He came up with the idea for the gang after watching a news report about university entrance exam corruption. The gang planned to collect one billion won (roughly $1.25 million at the time). They killed five people, including one of their own members who tried to leave the group. The episodes are built around an interview with the sole survivor of the gang's kidnappings, Lee Jeong-su. In her 20s at the time, she was kidnapped alongside a man she was casually dating. The two were not wealthy, but were driving a Hyundai Grandeur, a car that was considered a sign of wealth at the time. Lee was held by the gang for seven days and was forced to kill several of their targets, including her boyfriend. Upon Lee's escape, facilitated by one of the members of the gang, she reported the crimes to the police. They apprehended the members, who were later sentenced to death. In the episode pair's final act, Echoes of Survivors makes a rushed, incomplete effort to place the murders in a more systemic context. Most murder is informed by broader systemic injustices and true crime media often fails to contextualize its horrors, leading to narratives that contort perpetrators into monsters rather than products of our flawed social systems. Echoes of Survivors makes an attempt to contextualize the Chijon gang's crimes, but it feels hollow after so much of the runtime presents sensationalized media coverage and dramatic reenactments of the crimes without deeper analysis, especially in a docu-series ostensibly focused on survivors' stories. The Sampoong Department Store collapse The final two episodes of The Echoes of Survivors examine Korea's worst 'peacetime' disaster in history: the Sampoong Department Store collapse. In 1995, five years after its opening, one of Seoul's most luxurious department stores collapsed, killing 502 people and injuring another 937. More than half of the victims were employees. Many of the customers in the building at the time of collapse, in the early evening, were women shopping for dinner groceries. The episodes include interviews with some of the survivors of the incident, including then 18-year-old store clerk Yoo Ji-hwan, who was pulled from the wreckage almost 12 days after the initial collapse. The docu-series also includes interviews with some of the people who lost family members in the disaster, and people who assisted in the rescue efforts. The collapse came about as a result of shoddy construction that knowingly broke safety requirements in place at the time. The company originally contracted to build the massive, flat-slab structure left the project after Lee Joon, chairman of the Sampoong Group's construction division, demanded changes to the design that would allow for a more spacious floor plan. Subsequent investigations determined the building was not structurally sound, and was bound to collapse. As much as two months prior to the collapse, employees had noticed a large crack on the roof of the top floor, where the building had begun to crumble. On the day of the collapse, the structural damage became more obvious. As the docu-series recounts, department store management held an emergency meeting at 3pm, roughly three hours before the collapse, to determine if they should close down and evacuate the building. Led by Lee, they voted only to close the fifth floor, wanting to wait until after work hours to inspect the building. Lee didn't want to lose business. Emergency alarms were sounded at 5:50pm, and employees started evacuating shoppers. Two minutes later, the roof and fifth floor of the south wing collapsed, triggering a catastrophic collapse all the way to the basement floors. Lee was later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and served seven years, six months in prison. His son, Lee Han-sang, who was also president of the store, was convicted of corruption and accidental homicide. Two city planners were convicted of taking bribes. Two months after the collapse, Lee Joon and Lee Han-sang offered the entirety of the Sampoong Group's wealth to help compensate the victims and their families. The former site of the department store houses a luxury high-rise apartment building, despite requests from the victims' families that a memorial be built. Impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol lived in the building before and after his truncated term as president. Echoes of Survivors' builds some connective tissue between incidents like the Sampoong Department Store collapse and more recent Korean disasters, including the Sewol ferry disaster, as preventable manmade tragedies driven by greed. Like other moments in the eight installments, it is left to the viewer to decide how effectively the docu-series walks the line between civic-minded investigative journalism designed to hold power to account and the sensationalization of tragedy for entertainment value.
New York Times
3 days ago
- New York Times
NCAA is set to rule on Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal: Here's what to expect
Resolution is coming in the sign-stealing investigation that enveloped Michigan's national championship season, spawned a Netflix documentary and made Connor Stalions a household name. The NCAA's Committee on Infractions is expected to issue its ruling Friday, concluding a process that began nearly two years ago. The Michigan sign-stealing scandal, like the New England Patriots 'Spygate' scandal or the Houston Astros cheating scandal, became a flashpoint for the entire sport when news broke in 2023 that Stalions, then a low-level staffer at Michigan, had allegedly coordinated a scheme to collect video footage of opposing teams' signals. Advertisement The scandal has faded from the headlines since then, but the NCAA's lengthy infractions process means Michigan is only now learning its fate. The NCAA's ruling is expected to include penalties for Stalions, former coach Jim Harbaugh and current coach Sherrone Moore, as well as additional penalties for the program, which was already under NCAA probation from a previous infractions case. There is little precedent for how the Committee on Infractions will rule, given the unusual nature of the allegations. Penalties could range from fines, show-cause orders and suspensions to, in the most extreme scenario, vacated wins or a postseason ban. Moore, who was Michigan's offensive coordinator in 2023, faces a Level II charge for deleting text messages he exchanged with Stalions before the scandal became public. Michigan has proposed suspending Moore for Michigan's Sept. 13 game against Central Michigan and its Sept. 20 game at Nebraska, which would allow him to coach Sept. 6 against Oklahoma, his alma mater. The NCAA could accept that suspension or suspend Moore for additional games. Harbaugh and Stalions face Level I charges, the most severe under the NCAA's penalty structure. Stalions resigned from Michigan's staff in 2023 and Harbaugh is now the coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, which limits the NCAA's jurisdiction to levy punishments against either. The NCAA could issue a show-cause order that discourages college programs from hiring Stalions and add to the punishments it issued to Harbaugh last year, which included a four-year show-cause order that effectively prohibits him from returning to college football. The NCAA could, in theory, order Michigan to vacate regular-season wins from the 2023 season and before, though that punishment is typically reserved for teams that use ineligible players. However, the NCAA doesn't have oversight of the College Football Playoff, and president Charlie Baker is on record as saying Michigan won its 2023 national championship 'fair and square.' Advertisement A postseason ban would be the worst-case scenario for a Michigan team that is ranked No. 14 in the preseason polls. Such punishments have become increasingly rare as the NCAA has moved away from sanctions that disproportionately affect players who had no role in committing the violations. Stalions is accused of collecting video footage of opposing teams' signals shot from the stands by people he recruited to participate in the scheme. The allegations span dozens of games involving other Big Ten teams and potential postseason opponents in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Other teams saw the scheme as a clear-cut violation of a rule that bans in-person scouting of future opponents. However, Stalions' lawyer has argued he didn't violate the letter of the law because he wasn't personally scouting the games. The allegations came to light in October 2023, with Michigan undefeated and aiming for a national championship. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, acting on information from the NCAA, suspended Harbaugh for three games, citing violations of the league's sportsmanship policy. Harbaugh returned to coach Michigan to victories in the Big Ten Championship Game and the College Football Playoff before leaving to coach the Chargers. Petitti provided a letter to the Committee on Infractions in support of Michigan and reportedly argued that no further sanctions were needed. The sign-stealing scandal left many loose threads and unanswered questions. The Washington Post reported in 2023 that the NCAA investigation began when an 'outside investigative firm' approached the NCAA with evidence of the scheme, including schedules and budgets obtained from computer drives used by Michigan coaches. The identity of that firm has not been revealed. Michigan has also raised concerns with the NCAA about the use of an anonymous source to substantiate the NCAA's allegations. In addition to the Michigan case, the NCAA is investigating how Stalions gained access to the Central Michigan sideline for a game against Michigan State in 2023. Central Michigan said in a statement it is 'working with the NCAA toward a negotiated resolution' and hopes to 'bring our matter to a fair conclusion soon.' Advertisement Stalions, a native of Lake Orion, Mich., was a Michigan superfan who followed the Wolverines around the country and dreamed of landing a job on the coaching staff. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where he volunteered with the football program, and was hired at Michigan in 2022 after a stint in the Marines. Stalions specialized in decoding signals, a practice that is not against the rules. He recently posted on social media that he knew 'almost every signal' in seven games during his time at Michigan, including College Football Playoff losses to Georgia in 2021 and TCU in 2022. Stalions became a minor celebrity as a result of the scandal, appearing in a Netflix documentary called 'Sign Stealer' that premiered in 2024. His attempts to land a high school coaching job culminated with a brief stint calling plays for Belleville High School and star quarterback Bryce Underwood, who signed with Michigan as the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2025. According to a source briefed on the hearing, Stalions was 'very contrite' when he appeared in front of the NCAA Committee on Infractions in June. His lawyer, Brad Beckworth, struck a more defiant tone in 2024, describing the investigation as a 'witch hunt' and calling Stalions a 'scapegoat in the NCAA's ongoing quest to show that it has a purpose in today's sports world.' Friday's ruling from the NCAA will close an unprecedented two-year saga that blossomed while a defiant Harbaugh led his Wolverines on a national championship run, capturing the attention of the college football world along the way. (Photo of Connor Stalions standing on the sideline next to Jim Harbaugh: Columbus Dispatch / USA Today Network via Imagn Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
