Latest news with #fraudcase
Bloomberg
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Prosecutor Who Tried Jan. 6 Cases Speaks Out About His Dismissal
Michael Gordon's name never made headlines, but the cases he handled did. As a federal prosecutor in Tampa, Florida, he went after fentanyl dealers, armed robbers, and drug crews. When the Justice Department asked for volunteers to help prosecute people who attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, he raised his hand. For two years, Gordon tried cases against some of the most prominent defendants, and earned a promotion to senior trial counsel. He returned to Tampa with a reputation as a closer. When a politically sensitive $100 million fraud case stalled, the US attorney asked him to take it on. The indictment was returned in four weeks.
CBS News
23-07-2025
- CBS News
Sean Kingston's mom Janice Turner sentenced to 5 years in South Florida $1 million fraud case
The mother of singer Sean Kingston was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison and three years of probation after being convicted alongside her son in a federal wire fraud case involving more than $1 million. Janice Turner, 61, and Kingston, 35, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud, prosecutors said. The charges stemmed from a 2024 scheme to defraud vendors of luxury items, including high-end vehicles and jewelry. According to federal prosecutors, Turner and Kingston enriched themselves by falsely claiming they had made wire transfers for the expensive merchandise. Authorities later determined no such payments were ever completed. Each of the five counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Prosecutors said Turner and Kingston kept more than $1 million worth of goods and assets without fully paying for them.
The Sun
09-07-2025
- The Sun
Benefits cheat couple who lied about being single to swindle £50k exposed by OWN loved-up holiday snaps
A BENEFITS cheat couple who lied about being single were exposed by their own loved-up holiday snaps. Alan Forsythe, 37, and his wife Jemma, 36, spun a 36-month web of lies to dupe the Department of Work and Pensions. The couple were living together in a family home in Blackpool with their two children and Jemma's two kids from a previous relationship but claimed they were single parents. Between 2019 and 2023, the pair scrounged a total of £52,190.18 from the DWP, Preston Crown Court heard. But they were caught out after posting a series of photos of themselves on a family holiday on social media. The DWP made further inquiries after noticing the loved-up snaps and began to delve into the couple's bank statements. Both Alan and Jemma were invited to attend interviews at the Jobcentre but they continued to lie about not being together. The pair eventually owned up to their deceit and pleaded guilty to fraud. Alan, who is currently serving a four-year sentence over a brutal attack that left a man with life-changing injuries, was handed a further 15 weeks in jail. But Jemma avoided prison and was instead handed a suspended sentence to protect her four children. The court was told Alan was awarded Universal Credit he was not entitled to while claiming he was living alone in February 2019. He continued to scrounge until October 2019 but closed the claim before signing on again in January 2022. This time he claimed to be a single dad to a child who was living with him - swindling £3,182.27 in total. Jemma used her maiden name to make a claim in June 2020 - telling the DWP she was a single parent. She claimed she was living alone with her four children but failed to report Alan was living at the home and working full time. The mum continued the lie until June 2023 - fraudulently claiming £49,007.91. Both parents signed a declaration stating the information they had provided was true and confirming they would inform the DWP of any changes in circumstances. The DWP launched an investigation and discovered social media posts where the pair presented themselves as a married couple. Sentencing, Recorder Ayesha Siddiqi said: "You were both involved in providing false information to the DWP which affected the benefits you were entitled to. You were a married couple and resided together in your family home. "At the time you made these claims you signed declarations but you were not providing accurate information. You were taking from the public purse. "Just because money is public money does not make this any less serious." 4 4
The Independent
02-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Trump's biz empire was nearly bankrupt. Then he won the nomination and investors banked on his victory
In the months leading up to the 2024 election, Donald Trump and his business empire faced a financial reckoning that threatened to hit the twice-impeached former president hard as he stared down several criminal indictments. A devastating judgment in a sprawling civil fraud case pierced the heart of a decades-old narrative Trump has used to both boost his national profile and attract investments into his up-and-down real estate and branding enterprise. Trump still owes more than half a billion dollars, with growing interest, in the wake of that ruling. Dual verdicts from defamation lawsuits brought by E Jean Carroll had put the president on the hook for another $91 million. Meanwhile, his reality television and licensing profits were declining as the Trump Organization had largely turned off a spigot of foreign branding deals during his first administration. But the president and his two eldest sons refocused the family business to attract lucrative partnerships once again — this time by betting big on cryptocurrency and the Trump branding itself while hoovering up investors who saw in his election their own financial victory, all the while personally enriching Trump himself. The New York Times reviewed more than 2,000 documents revealing the state of the president's finances throughout his fraud case and into the 2024 election. After his victory, the new family business — no longer a real-estate titan — 'kicked into overdrive,' according to the outlet, with international deals opening up multiple channels to funnel cash to the president, largely invisible from current financial disclosure requirements, the Times reported. Trump was able to put up enough cash — to the tune of nearly $300 million — to appeal those cases. He has not paid down any of the judgments against him. Rather than sell off properties to pay off his judgments, the family business doubled down into new ventures to generate millions. Internal documents suggest the moves were necessary to keep his business empire intact, according to The Times. A flurry of money-making ventures — from Trump Sneakers, Trump Mobile and Trump Fragrances to guitars and a $59.99 Trump-approved Bible — have joined Trump's expansive licensing footprint, all capitalizing on the family brand and his presidency. The family's embrace of crypto similarly requires little or no investment, risk or operational responsibility, The Times notes. Moves into cryptocurrency and media properties — under the umbrella of the publicly traded company behind Trump's social media platform Truth Social — instead largely rely on the family brand to turn the president's supporters into customers. Trump owns more than half of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. stock, which is worth roughly $2 billion. The family's crypto partners also raised all or more of the capital and run the day-to-day business behind their memecoins, otherwise worthless assets that have collected tens of millions of dollars in fees. Those business interests are now enmeshed in an administration awash in conflicts of interest. Trump, with partnerships in several crypto ventures, is effectively the industry's chief regulator. And real estate and licensing deals allow Trump to sell access to investors buying into one of the world's most famous names who also happens to be president. It remains unclear how viable the family's new businesses are, and whether the president can cash out. He cannot yet sell off his crypto, and his Truth Social would likely collapse if he unloaded his shares. But the new influx of cash on tenuous investments appears to be enough to cover legal costs and mortgages and other financial obligations. The president's business assets are held by The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which is controlled by his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr. Eric Trump effectively runs the day-to-day operations, and both serve as executive vice presidents of their father's company. In 2023, Trump had testified that he had between $300 million and $400 million in cash — but those balances fluctuated wildly over the years, including hitting a low of $52 million in 2018, according to documents reviewed by The Times. Reliable long-term deals were drying up. Big brands at his Trump Tower in Manhattan, where he launched his political career in 2015, have shrunk to just one major retailer, Gucci, and a gift shop hawking Trump-branded trinkets. Vacancies at his 40 Wall Street and Trump Tower in Chicago aren't pulling in sufficient cash to cover their costs, The Times found. After the sale of the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., which Trump renovated and opened as a hotel in 2016, Trump sold off his interests to a private equity firm in 2022 for $375 million. But the buyer couldn't cover closing costs and borrowed $28 million from the Trumps before defaulting on the loan, The Times found. Without that repayment, Trump was left with $79 million from the sale, after taxes, after having invested roughly $100 million in the project. Meanwhile, the Trump Organization has inked deals for developments in India, Dubai, Qatar, Vietnam and Serbia, while financial support from Saudi Arabia has helped his Trump-branded golf courses. Last year, Trump lost a years-long blockbuster civil trial in a case in which a Manhattan judge found that the president and his associates defrauded banks and investors by inflating the values of his assets in return for more favorable loans to benefit his real-estate empire. Trump's mogul-like persona was a 'fantasy' made up of cheating, lying and outright fraud, according to the judge presiding over the lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose investigation reported that the Trump and his chief associates 'grossly and materially inflated' assets over a decade. Justice Arthur Engoron wrote that Trump and his co-defendants were 'likely to continue their fraudulent ways unless the Court grants significant injunctive relief. 'Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological,' he wrote.
ABC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Woman who lost money to real estate agent Sarah Dougan welcomes fraud sentencing order
A woman who lost money in a Byron Bay real estate fraud case has vowed to be in court when the real estate agent responsible is sentenced. Now living in the United States, former Belle Property Byron Bay director Sarah Dougan lost her appeal to be sentenced remotely after pleading guilty to charges of fraud. The Supreme Court has ordered Dougan to return to Australia. "I am a firm believer that if you commit a crime, then you should pay for it," Robyn Quickenden, a former nurse, said. "I want to look her in the eye." The NSW Department of Fair Trading began investigating Dougan in 2011 after complaints about conveyancing transactions and missing funds. At the time, Dougan was one of the directors and company secretary of Belle Properties Byron Bay (BPBR Pty Ltd) with control of the trust account. An estimated $540,000 was misappropriated from the trust account. Some of that money belonged to Ms Quickenden, who sold her home through the Belle Properties Byron Bay franchise when it was held by Dougan. As a single woman preparing for her retirement, Ms Quickenden said the home was an important asset and the missing funds meant she could not buy another property. "It affected my mental health and was such a struggle because I was on my own and I had to worry about getting the money back," she said. "It changed the trajectory of my life." In 2013, a warrant was issued for Dougan's arrest on fraud charges but she was living in the United States. The NSW Department of Fair Trading has pursued Dougan since, trying to have the former real estate agent return to Australia for sentencing. After pleading guilty in 2020 and 2021, Dougan faces the possibility of a custodial sentence. Dougan was not present at a 2023 hearing, but made an application to attend by audiovisual link from the United States. The application listed personal reasons why the mother of five could not attend the hearing in Australia, including that she is now the CEO of a company in charge of 70 employees. Magistrate Peter Feather dismissed the application, stating: "I am satisfied in the circumstances that I have set out the serious nature of these offences, the fact that there is a real prospect of the accused serving a sentence of imprisonment, that the sentencing will be more conveniently undertaken in a courtroom." A sentence of imprisonment generally starts the day it is imposed. Dougan's absence would mean she could not immediately be taken into custody if she were ultimately given a custodial sentence. In May this year, Dougan appealed the 2023 finding in the Supreme Court, applying a second time to appear by audiovisual link from the United States. Now that appeal has also failed. In a statement, NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Natasha Mann was adamant Ms Dougan should return to Australia to be sentenced. "The defendant pleaded guilty to serious charges involving a significant amount of money being held in trust for consumers, so it is entirely appropriate the sentencing for those offences occurs in NSW in person," she said. According to court documents, in late 2020, Sarah Dougan repaid the Property Services Compensation Fund around $374,000. Ms Quickenden said she was still traumatised by her experiences. "I actually feel sorry for her [Dougan] because she now has children, but I don't think that allows you to walk away and not pay for what you did," Ms Quickenden said. She said her money was eventually returned through the NSW Department of Fair Trading's insurance scheme. When Dougan signed the franchise for Belle Properties Byron Bay, she was well established in the Sydney real estate scene. Group CEO of Belle Properties Peter Hanscomb welcomed the latest court decision. "I am quite happy to see her held to account," Mr Hanscomb said. He said there was no indication of any issues with Dougan when she was first awarded the franchise. "She had been highly recommended by executives of LJ Hooker where she was a representative of their financial services arm for six years," he said. Mr Hanscomb said she only held the franchise for four months before concerns were raised, and he went to Byron Bay to investigate. "Within a week she had been removed from the franchise," he said. Dougan's case is not the only real estate scandal to rock Byron Bay's property market. In 2009, Nicolette van Wijngaarden set out to market high-end luxury properties in the tourist region through the company she founded, Unique Estates. Between 2016 and 2018, Ms van Wijngaarden took client deposits and rent money from trust accounts, estimated to add up to around $3.6 million. In 2019, she faced 15 charges, 10 of which related to dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. The 44-year-old was sentenced to three years and six months in jail after pleading guilty to fraud.
