Latest news with #ManhattanU.S.Attorney'sOffice
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Pardons One of the Car Industry's Biggest Scammers—Just in Time
President Trump on Thursday pardoned Trevor Milton, the founder of the bankrupt electric truck company Nikola who was sentenced to four years in prison for securities and wire fraud charges in 2023—right before he had to pay millions in restitution. Milton famously exaggerated the green tech of his hydrogen trucking start-up, defrauding investors. 'Oh my gosh, oh, you won't believe just what happened,' Milton said in a video he posted on Instagram. 'I just got a call from the president of the United States, on my phone, and he signed my full and unconditional pardon of innocence. I am free,' he said. 'The prosecutors can no longer hurt me,' he said. 'They can't destroy my family, they can't rip everything away from me, they can't ruin my life.' When Milton was first indicted in 2021, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office noted that his investors 'suffered tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, including, in certain cases, the loss of their retirement savings or funds that they had borrowed to invest in Nikola.' This pardon conveniently nullifies the $680 million Milton owed to Nikola shareholders and the $15.2 million to Peter Hicks, one of his wire fraud victims. Milton emphasized what he saw as 'striking similarities' between his case and the four criminal cases against President Donald Trump, who also maintains his victimhood. Milton has been an ardent supporter of Trump and donated $920,000 to the Trump 47 Committee and $750,000 in September to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA Alliance political action committee after his sentencing.
MTV Lebanon
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- MTV Lebanon
Sean 'Diddy' Combs to Be Arraigned on New Indictment as Trial Nears
Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected on Friday to be arraigned in court on a new indictment, which added accusations that the hip-hop mogul forced employees to work long hours and threatened to punish those who did not assist in his two-decade sex trafficking scheme. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian is expected to ask Combs, 55, for his plea to the new indictment at a 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) hearing in Manhattan federal court. A trial remains scheduled for May 5. Combs previously pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. While the new indictment added no new charges, it described what prosecutors called the "forced labor" that Combs demanded in connection with the racketeering conspiracy. It said Combs and his associates "maintained control" over some employees by forcing them to work long hours with little sleep, through the use of or threats to use physical force, financial harm, psychological harm and reputational harm. Combs' defense lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has said his client never forced anyone to engage in sexual acts against their will. Prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office said Combs used his business empire, including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to sexually abuse women between 2004 and 2024. Combs' alleged abuse included having women take part in recorded sexual performances called "freak offs" with male sex workers, who were sometimes transported across state lines. Agnifilo has said the freak offs were consensual sexual activity. Combs also faces dozens of civil lawsuits by women and men who accused him of sexual assault and other misconduct. He has denied all wrongdoing. Friday's hearing is also expected to discuss jury selection, including the potential difficulty in finding an impartial jury given Combs' fame and the substantial media coverage of his criminal case. Prosecutors want jury selection to begin on April 21, to help ensure the trial does not run past the July 4 holiday. Defense lawyers want jury selection to begin on May 5, saying an earlier date would be unfair to them. Combs has been held in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial since his September 2024 arrest. Also known during his career as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, Combs founded Bad Boy Records and is credited with helping turn rappers and R&B singers such as Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars in the 1990s and 2000s. His career has been derailed since federal agents raided his Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida, homes in early 2024 as part of the sex trafficking investigation that led to his indictment.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sean 'Diddy' Combs to be arraigned on new indictment as trial nears
By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sean "Diddy" Combs is expected on Friday to be arraigned in court on a new indictment, which added accusations that the hip-hop mogul forced employees to work long hours and threatened to punish those who did not assist in his two-decade sex trafficking scheme. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian is expected to ask Combs, 55, for his plea to the new indictment at a 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) hearing in Manhattan federal court. A trial remains scheduled for May 5. Combs previously pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. While the new indictment added no new charges, it described what prosecutors called the "forced labor" that Combs demanded in connection with the racketeering conspiracy. It said Combs and his associates "maintained control" over some employees by forcing them to work long hours with little sleep, through the use of or threats to use physical force, financial harm, psychological harm and reputational harm. Combs' defense lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has said his client never forced anyone to engage in sexual acts against their will. Prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office said Combs used his business empire, including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to sexually abuse women between 2004 and 2024. Combs' alleged abuse included having women take part in recorded sexual performances called "freak offs" with male sex workers, who were sometimes transported across state lines. Agnifilo has said the freak offs were consensual sexual activity. Combs also faces dozens of civil lawsuits by women and men who accused him of sexual assault and other misconduct. He has denied all wrongdoing. Friday's hearing is also expected to discuss jury selection, including the potential difficulty in finding an impartial jury given Combs' fame and the substantial media coverage of his criminal case. Prosecutors want jury selection to begin on April 21, to help ensure the trial does not run past the July 4 holiday. Defense lawyers want jury selection to begin on May 5, saying an earlier date would be unfair to them. Combs has been held in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial since his September 2024 arrest. Also known during his career as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, Combs founded Bad Boy Records and is credited with helping turn rappers and R&B singers such as Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars in the 1990s and 2000s. His career has been derailed since federal agents raided his Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida, homes in early 2024 as part of the sex trafficking investigation that led to his indictment.
Reuters
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Sean 'Diddy' Combs to be arraigned on new indictment as trial nears
NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) - Sean "Diddy" Combs is expected on Friday to be arraigned in court on a new indictment, which added accusations that the hip-hop mogul forced employees to work long hours and threatened to punish those who did not assist in his two-decade sex trafficking scheme. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian is expected to ask Combs, 55, for his plea to the new indictment at a 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) hearing in Manhattan federal court. A trial remains scheduled for May 5. Combs previously pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. While the new indictment added no new charges, it described what prosecutors called the "forced labor" that Combs demanded in connection with the racketeering conspiracy. It said Combs and his associates "maintained control" over some employees by forcing them to work long hours with little sleep, through the use of or threats to use physical force, financial harm, psychological harm and reputational harm. Combs' defense lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has said his client never forced anyone to engage in sexual acts against their will. Prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office said Combs used his business empire, including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to sexually abuse women between 2004 and 2024. Combs' alleged abuse included having women take part in recorded sexual performances called "freak offs" with male sex workers, who were sometimes transported across state lines. Agnifilo has said the freak offs were consensual sexual activity. Combs also faces dozens of civil lawsuits by women and men who accused him of sexual assault and other misconduct. He has denied all wrongdoing. Friday's hearing is also expected to discuss jury selection, including the potential difficulty in finding an impartial jury given Combs' fame and the substantial media coverage of his criminal case. Prosecutors want jury selection to begin on April 21, to help ensure the trial does not run past the July 4 holiday. Defense lawyers want jury selection to begin on May 5, saying an earlier date would be unfair to them. Combs has been held in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial since his September 2024 arrest. Also known during his career as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, Combs founded Bad Boy Records and is credited with helping turn rappers and R&B singers such as Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars in the 1990s and 2000s. His career has been derailed since federal agents raided his Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida, homes in early 2024 as part of the sex trafficking investigation that led to his indictment.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-City Hall aide Mohamed Bahi to plead guilty to funneling illegal donations to NYC Mayor Eric Adams campaign
NEW YORK — Former City Hall aide Mohamed Bahi plans to plead guilty to funneling illegal donations to Mayor Eric Adams' 2021 campaign, according to a new court filing. The Friday filing says Bahi, who resigned as Adams' Muslim community liaison the day before he was criminally indicted in October, intends to plead guilty to a single charge of conspiracy related to his alleged role in soliciting illicit straw donations to Adams' campaign bankrolled by a Brooklyn construction company owner with city government business interests. Prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office just Thursday submitted a notice of intent in court saying they planned to hit Bahi with the conspiracy charge. The conspiracy count is separate from Bahi's October indictment, which charged him with witness tampering and destruction of records in connection with his alleged attempts to obstruct the investigation into Adams' Turkish government connection ties. It was not immediately clear what will happen with Bahi's obstruction charges in light of his planned conspiracy plea. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately comment, and Bahi's lawyer did not immediately return calls. It is not unusual for defendants in federal criminal cases to plead to a lesser charge and receive leniency at sentencing in exchange for a commitment to cooperate with investigators. Adams is under indictment on charges alleging he took bribes and illegal campaign contributions, mostly from Turkish government operatives, in exchange for political favors. He has pleaded not guilty and is expected to stand trial in April. Federal prosecutors say their investigation into Adams is continuing and recently wrote in court papers they have uncovered 'additional criminal conduct' he allegedly engaged in. ---------
