Latest news with #Cleland
The Courier
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Courier
Andy Kirk and Alex Cleland leave St Johnstone with one of the coaches lined up by Raith Rovers
St Johnstone boss, Simo Valakari, has decided to overhaul his backroom team as well his playing squad. Assistant manager, Andy Kirk, and first team coach, Alex Cleland, have both left the Perth club. Courier Sport understands that Cleland was offered a post in the Saints academy but decided the time was right to move on. Valakari wants a clean slate after relegation from the Premiership. He released 16 players at the end of last season, and also believes identifying his own coaches is an important part of the rebuild. Saints return for pre-season training on June 23. Despite the fact that Valakari is a hands-on training ground head coach, both Kirk and Cleland will be replaced. It is expected that one of the new men will come from abroad, with Saints seeking to identify someone who has a coaching and analytics background. The other, Valakari's number two, will have a deeper knowledge of Scottish football. Cleland spent the best part of two decades at McDiarmid Park in various roles. He was brought to the club by Derek McInnes after leaving Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Tommy Wright promoted Cleland to the role of assistant manager in 2018, having previously been in charge of the under-20s. There have also been three short spells as caretaker boss of the first team, the most recent in the wake of Steven MacLean being sacked. Kirk was Craig Levein's right-hand man and was given far greater responsibility than most assistants. He too became an interim boss for Saints, before Valakari decided to keep him in post following Levein's dismissal. It is understood Kirk could be in line for a quick move to fellow Championship side, Raith Rovers.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Man pleads guilty to Pennsylvania COVID-19 fund scheme
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM)– A California man pleaded guilty to his involvement in a scheme to launder millions in state unemployment compensation funds from numerous state treasuries, including Pennsylvania. The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said Carlos A. Grijalva, 59, of Simi Valley, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments in the amount of $46.4 million. Grijalva is the second person to plead guilty in connection with the case. The attorney's office said Grijalva admitted that he and multiple others agreed to launder state unemployment compensation funds they knew had been fraudulently obtained from 2021 to 2022. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now He also admitted to entering into agreements that made it seem like they were operating businesses selling masks and other COVID-19 protection equipment, knowing that funds laundered through their companies came from fraudulently obtained state unemployment compensation benefits, per the attorney's office. Grijalva told the court he knew individuals from China were conducting the fraudulent activities, resulting in millions of fraudulent unemployment compensation payments issued by the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, among other states. The attorney's office said Grijalva also claimed that he and Brian R. Cleland provided bank account information of identity theft victims to payment processing companies to generate ACH payments to accounts he controlled. This resulted in the two obtaining more than $46 million. According to the attorney's office, Grijalva and Cleland later used different bank accounts to transfer over $30 million to companies controlled by Bruce Jin. Jin would then transfer a portion of the funds to parties in China. Grijalva said he made an estimated $2.2 million in personal profit. The attorney's office said Jin has been detained since August 2023, and Cleland has pleaded not guilty to his charges and is awaiting trial. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Edinburgh Reporter
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
Darren McGregor's youngsters claim CAS Elite Under-18 League title
Darren McGregor's youngsters secured the CAS Elite Under-18 League title with a dominant 4-0 away victory over Kilmarnock on Friday evening. Hibs took the lead in the fourth minute through a magnificent 25-yard strike from Jamie McMurdo that left Kilmarnock keeper Craig Campbell stranded in the centre of his goal. The youngsters doubled their lead in the 20th minute when Josh McDonald's corner evaded everyone curled in at the back post. Hibernian U18s Photo Maurice Dougan Thirteen minutes later with the hosts committed men forward, Logan Jimenez spearheaded a lightning-quick counter and effortlessly squared the ball to Dean Cleland, who stabbed the ball home into an empty net. That was the last of the scoring in the first half and the visitors took a 3-0 lead into the changing room. Six minutes after the restart, Jimenez and Cleland broke through Killie's high line to recreate a carbon copy of their earlier goal, stretching Hibs lead to an unassailable four goals. With 25 to play, centre-back Lewis Gillie came very close to finding a fifth as his glancing header from a near-post corner delivery whistled past the back post. Jimenez would tee up his strike partner for a third time with 15 minutes remaining, though a fine stop from outstretched leg of Killie keeper Campbell denied Cleland his hat-trick. Hibs comfortably saw out the remainder of match to seal the league title, as well as confirm their involvement in the 2025/26 UEFA Youth League next season, with one match remaining. Hibs XI: Mallon, Whittaker (Sporran), Calder, Gillie, McGrath, Bruce, Cleland, Buckley (McNeill), Jimenez (Macdonald), McDonald, McMurdo (Davidson). Unused Substitute: Vautherin. Like this: Like Related
Daily Mail
28-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
'Brighter' outlook for UK dividends despite sharp fall in in one-off payouts
UK company dividends fell at the beginning of 2025 due to fewer one-off payouts and significant cuts by just a handful of firms. However, analysts expect prospects for investor payouts by London-listed companies to improve over the coming months despite ongoing equity market volatility. Firms distributed £14billion in dividends to shareholders in the first quarter, a headline year-on-year decline of 4.6 per cent, according to Computershare's latest dividend monitor report. Special dividend payments more than halved to £417million, which Computershare said was 'less severe' than anticipated but nonetheless reduced the headline growth rate by 3.3 per cent. Meanwhile, cutbacks by just three businesses - Vodafone, Burberry and Bellway - struck a further five percentage points off the total. Vodafone slashed its payout in half to help fund investment in new mobile networks, resulting in dividends by the telecoms sector plunging by 43 per cent to £717million. In addition, Burberry has suspended dividends since last July following a slowdown in demand for luxury goods, while Bellway lowered its payments amidst challenging conditions in the housing market. Computershare's Mark Cleland said: 'Dividends are typically less likely than company profits to experience short-term fluctuations either during economic turbulence or in boom times, as most companies seek to deliver steady income growth over time for their investors. 'Nevertheless, any cooling driven by the current upheaval in financial markets and the real global economy is likely to affect profits, and this will subsequently knock on to dividend payouts.' AstraZeneca continued to be the highest dividend payer, having recently hiked its dividend by 6.6 per cent after enjoying soaring profits and revenues last year thanks to soaring demand for their cancer and respiratory drugs. Energy majors Shell and BP were the second and fourth-biggest payers, respectively, while British American Tobacco was third and Hellman's Mayonnaise owner Unilever was fifth. Pharmaceutical companies made the largest contribution of any sector, followed by industrials businesses, with Ashtead Group delivering a significant payment before its primary stock market listing moves to the United States. Computershare said the prospects for dividend payments in the second quarter 'look brighter', spearheaded by banks and food retailers. Consequently, it has raised its forecasts for annual underlying dividend growth from just 1 per cent on a constant currency basis to 1.8 per cent, equating to regular dividends of £85.2billion. Cleland said: 'We are unlikely to see much effect on regular dividends in the next couple of quarters, but discretionary special dividends particularly have proven more vulnerable to economic difficulty historically.' The financial administration specialist also calculated that firms made £63.2billion in share buybacks during the first quarter.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
California man pleaded guilty to laundering $59M in public benefits to China
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WTAJ) — A man from California has pleaded guilty in court for using unemployment compensation to run a fake business selling COVID-19 personal protective equipment. Two others have been charged in the same case. Bruce Jin, 60, Brain Cleland, 71, and Carlo Grijalva, 59, all of Los Angeles, California, were charged in August 2023. Jin pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Jan. 20, and is set to be sentenced after United States District Court Judge Jennifer Wilson reviews the indictment. The three are believed to have laundered $59 million. Jin, Cleland, Grijalva and other coconspirators conspired to obtain state unemployment compensation funds, as well as other public funds, through fraudulent means, according to the indictment. The group allegedly appeared to operate legitimate businesses that sold masks and other COVID-19 personal protective equipment, when in reality, the funds that were obtained and laundered were from fraudulently obtained state unemployment compensation. Furthermore, thousands of bank accounts established across the United States used the personal identifying information of identity theft victims. The fraudulent claims were then filed through the accounts, according to the indictment. After the funds were paid out, they were then transferred from identity theft victims' accounts to companies controlled by Jin, Cleland and Grijalva. For example, the three are alleged to have obtained over $45 million in fraudulent funds from the accounts of the victims, with most money being transferred to 'companies' controlled by Jin. Once Jin received the funds, he would then make international wire transfers totaling over $35 million to a bank account in China. The indictment noted that Jin also transferred $2 million directly to who is believed to be a coconspirator. 'The Department of Justice is committed to identifying and punishing those who defrauded pandemic-era benefits programs, regardless of where they are located,' Mandy Riedel, Director, COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement, said. 'I commend the hard work of the prosecutors and investigators in the Middle District of Pennsylvania who doggedly pursued these organized overseas criminals to seek justice and the return of stolen tax payer funds.' The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma is prosecuting the case. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
