US sanctions Mexican drug cartel associates accused of scamming elderly Americans
The network of 13 businesses in areas near the seaside tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta were accused of working with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a group designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization.
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2 hours ago
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Singer Sean Kingston sentenced to 3.5 years for $1 million fraud scheme
Months after being convicted of a high-end fraud scheme in South Florida, Grammy-winning singer Sean Kingston was sentenced on Friday to three-and-a-half years in prison and three years of supervised release. Kingston had asked if he could self-surrender at a later date due to health issues, but Florida Judge David Leibowitz ordered the 35-year-old 'Beautiful Girls' crooner to be taken into custody and begin serving his sentence immediately. In March, Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, and his mother, Janice Turner, were each convicted by a federal jury on four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Authorities charged them with spearheading an organized scheme to defraud multiple luxury companies out of high-end goods. 'The defendants unjustly enriched themselves by falsely representing that they had executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers … [then] retained or attempted to retain the vehicles, jewelry and other goods despite non-payment,' federal prosecutors said at the time. 'Through the execution of this scheme, the defendants obtained in excess of $1 million in property.' Turner was arrested during a SWAT raid on her son's Florida home in May 2024. Hours later, Kingston was taken into custody in California. Late last month, Turner received a five-year prison sentence with three years of probation. After her time is served, she'll face deportation back to her native Jamaica. At Friday's hearing, before handing down his sentence, Leibowitz told Kingston he considered his mother's crimes to be more egregious. Turner had admitted to sending fake bank wires and other falsified documents, but claimed she did so to protect her son from being taken advantage of by scammers and give herself time to look into the people they did business with. She said she had always intended to pay back their debts. Kingston on Friday expressed remorse to the court for his part in the crimes. 'I apologize, I apologize, I've learned from my actions,' he said. 'All I'm asking for is to accept my apology to the court.' Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton called the former chart-topper 'a thief through and through.' A restitution hearing was scheduled for October, according to NBC Miami. _______
Yahoo
3 hours ago
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Trump could trigger a financial crisis in Russia — if he wants to — but has backed off from his threat of ‘very severe consequences'
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin ended their meeting in Alaska on Friday without a ceasefire deal. Despite Trump's earlier threat that Moscow would face 'very severe consequences' if the summit didn't produce an agreement, he said he would hold off on imposing new sanctions. But a tougher U.S. crackdown on tankers delivering Russian oil would cripple Putin's war machine, an expert said. The U.S. holds immense leverage over Russia's economy and ability to continue waging war on Ukraine, but President Donald Trump has backed off from earlier warnings that lack of progress on a ceasefire would result in harsh penalties for Moscow. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin ended their highly anticipated meeting in Alaska on Friday without a deal. On Saturday, Trump shifted his stance toward reaching a more comprehensive peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, mirroring Putin's position, rather than a ceasefire. He also reportedly backed Putin's idea for Ukraine to give up territory it holds in exchange for a Russian promise that it won't attack again. That marked a big swing from his rhetoric leading up to the Alaska meeting, as he threatened 'very severe consequences' for Russia if Putin didn't agree to a ceasefire. When asked why he didn't follow through, Trump said he would hold off on any new penalties and suggested the threat remains on the table as diplomacy plays out. 'Because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that now,' he told Fox News. 'I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that right now.' Trump had previously warned Russia's oil sector could face secondary sanctions. Oil and gas generate the bulk of the Kremlin's revenue, and the U.S. could exploit this critical vulnerability. In particular, cutting off the 'shadow fleet' of tankers that deliver Russia's oil under the radar would send the war economy into a 'deep financial crisis,' according to Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former chief economist at the Institute of International Finance. After the Biden administration sanctioned nearly 200 ships in January, just before Trump returned to office, their activity collapsed, he pointed out in a Substack post on Saturday. But there are 359 more ships that have already been sanctioned by the European Union or United Kingdom, but haven't been targeted yet by the U.S. 'Sanctioning these ships would be a hammer blow to the Russian war machine,' Brooks wrote. 'There would undoubtedly be a sharp fall in the Urals oil price, reducing the flow of hard currency to the Russian state, and the Ruble would most likely depreciate significantly.' Meanwhile, foreign policy expects have called the Alaska meeting a success for Putin as he was able to avoid severe consequences from Trump while also buying time for his military to make more battlefield gains in Ukraine. But Melinda Haring, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, also noted that Trump has significant leverage over Russia. 'Let's hope that Trump sees through Putin's endless appetite to talk and tires of the Russian dictator's pseudo-historical lectures,' she wrote in a blog post. 'Trump can squeeze the Russians; he seems to forget that the United States holds the cards, not Moscow.' Oil and gas revenue tumbled 27% in July from a year ago, and Russia is running out of financial resources as war-related spending deepens its budget deficit. The National Wealth Fund, a key source of reserves, has dwindled from $135 billion in January 2022 to just $35 billion this past May and is expected to run out later this year. 'Russia's economy is fast approaching a fiscal crunch that will encumber its war effort,' economist and Russia expert Anders Åslund wrote in a Project Syndicate op-ed last week. 'Though that may not be enough to compel Putin to seek peace, it does suggest that the walls are closing in on him.' This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 hours ago
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Singer Sean Kingston sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for $1 million fraud scheme
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Singer Sean Kingston was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Friday after being convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme in which he leveraged his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxury items that he then never paid for. Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were convicted in March by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month. Before U.S. Judge David Leibowitz handed down Kingston's sentence, the singer apologized to the judge in the South Florida courtroom and said he had learned from his actions. His attorney asked if he could self-surrender at a later date due to health issues, but the judge ordered him taken into custody immediately. Kingston, who was wearing a black suit and white shirt, removed his suit jacket and was handcuffed and led from the courtroom. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton described Kingston as someone addicted to his celebrity lifestyle even though he could no longer afford to maintain it. 'He clearly doesn't like to pay and relies on his celebrity status to defraud his victims,' Anton said Friday. The federal prosecutor described a yearslong pattern by Kingston of bullying victims for luxury merchandise and then refusing to pay. 'He is a thief and a conman, plain and simple,' Anton said. Defense attorney Zeljka Bozanic countered that the 35-year-old Kingston had the mentality of a teenager — the age he was when he vaulted to stardom. The attorney said Kingston had almost no knowledge of his finances, relying on business managers and his mother. 'No one showed him how to invest his money,' Bozanic said. 'Money went in and money went out on superficial things.' Bozanic said Kingston has already started paying back his victims and intends to pay back every cent once he is free and can start working again. Leibowitz rejected the idea that Kingston was unintelligent or naive, but the judge said he gave Kingston credit for accepting responsibility and declining to testify rather than possibly lying in court. That was in contrast to Kingston's mother, whose trial testimony Leibowitz described as obstruction. Kingston and his mother were arrested in May 2024 after a SWAT team raided Kingston's rented mansion in suburban Fort Lauderdale. Turner was taken into custody during the raid, while Kingston was arrested at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California's Mojave Desert, where he was performing. According to court records, Kingston used social media from April 2023 to March 2024 to arrange purchases of luxury merchandise. After negotiating deals, Kingston would invite the sellers to one of his high-end Florida homes and promise to feature them and their products on social media. Investigators said that when it came time to pay, Kingston or his mother would text the victims fake wire receipts for the items, which included a bulletproof Escalade, watches and a 19-foot (5.9-meter) LED TV, investigators said. When the funds never cleared, victims often contacted Kingston and Turner repeatedly, but were either never paid or received money only after filing lawsuits or contacting law enforcement, authorities said. Kingston, who was born in Florida and raised in Jamaica, shot to fame at age 17 with the 2007 hit 'Beautiful Girls,' which laid his lyrics over Ben E. King's 1961 song 'Stand By Me.' His other hits include 2007's 'Take You There' and 2009's 'Fire Burning.' David Fischer, The Associated Press
