Latest news with #P180
GMA Network
a day ago
- Health
- GMA Network
DOH: Over 1K health workers deployed to aid flood victims
The Department of Health (DOH) said it has deployed over 1,000 medical personnel in health centers nationwide to assist flood victims. At the same time, it said several government hospitals have been readied to increase their capacity to accommodate patients needing medical attention. In a public briefing on Thursday, DOH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said a total of 1,184 doctors and nurses are ready, especially in areas hit by floods from the inclement weather. 'Naka-standby naman po at ready ang ating mga doktor at nurse sa ating mga health centers… Ito po yung mga doktor at mga nurse na naka-deploy sa Ilocos, sa Central Luzon, sa MIMAROPA, sa Bicol at sa Metro Manila. Maaring mas mataas po ang numero dahil ito pa lamang po yung dumadating sa amin ng preliminary numbers,' he shared. (Our doctors and nurses are ready and on standby in our health centers… These are the doctors and nurses deployed in Ilocos, Central Luzon, MIMAROPA, Bicol, and Metro Manila. The numbers may possibly increase because these are just the preliminary numbers that we got.) Domingo said health workers on duty are also receiving adequate care. 'Sinisigurado po ng ating kagawaran ng DOH ang proper rotation ng personnel. Mayroon kaming proper working hours and rotation, pinapahinga rin po natin para dun sa mga hospital na malalaki meron po mga dormitory, may mga tulugan na malinis kapag naka-off-duty ang mga health workers… Sila po ay pwedeng magpahinga, pinapakain po ng husto, pinapatulog, para nakakapahinga po, para ready again pagdating ng kanilang duty shift,' he shared. (The DOH is ensuring proper rotation of personnel. We have proper working hours and rotation, and are ensuring that there are dormitories in big hospitals for them to rest… They are also allowed to rest, eat properly, sleep, so that they are well-rested for their duty shift.) 'Hindi lamang po yung pasyente yung kailangang alagaan, yung mismong mga gumagamot po ay kailangang alagaan rin. Kasama rin po naman yan sa training naming mga doktor,' he added. (We take care of our personnel who attend to patients. That is also part of our training as doctors.) Meanwhile, Domingo said several hospitals have increased their bed capacity to attend to more patients. 'Kunwari po kung dati ay hanggang 100 beds lang ang hospital, meron po yung allowance na pwede nga tumaas by 10% or 20% additional beds, depende po sa layout ng hospital,' he shared. (Fo example, a hospital's 100-bed capacity can increase by 10 to 20 percent, depending on its layout.) Earlier, the DOH said it has deployed P31 million worth of emergency medicine nationwide, with an additional P180 million worth of medicine on standby for deployment. DOH also announced a price freeze for 148 types of medicine in 40 areas under a state of calamity amid the combined effects of cyclones Crising, Dante, Emong, and the Southwest Monsoon. —LDF, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
3 days ago
- Health
- GMA Network
DOH: P31M worth of medicine deployed for emergencies
The Department of Health said Tuesday around P31 million worth of medicine have been deployed nationwide in case of emergencies. In a palace briefing, DOH Spokesperson Undersecretary Albert Domingo said that the supplies of medicine have been pre-positioned in the following areas: Ilocos Cagayan Valley CALABARZON MIMAROPA Western Visayas Central Visayas Northern Mindanao Domingo added that around P180 million emergency medicine remains on standby and awaiting deployment. 'Hindi pa natin dini-deploy pero kapag kailangan po ay ating papakawalan,' he said. (We haven't deployed these stocks but we will release them if we have to.) DOH shared the emergency medicine include CAMPOLAS, which are antibiotics cotrimoxazole and amoxicillin, mefenamic acid for pain relief, paracetamol as fever suppressant, oresel for diarrhea, lagundi for cough relief, and skin ointments. 'Mayroon din pong mga hygiene kits, mga drinking water containers at mga chlorine tablets para huwag tayong uminom ng kontaminadong tubig at mayroon ding breastfeeding kits para sa ating mga nanay,' he added. (We also have hygiene kits, drinking water containers, and chlorine tablets so that we don't have to drink contaminated water, and there are also breastfeeding kits for our mothers.) Meanwhile, DOH is currently conducting rounds at several evacuation centers in Metro Manila. Earlier, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa visited schools being used as evacuation centers in Marikina City. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News
Fast Company
4 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
The surprising details of fashion entrepreneur Christine Hunsicker's fraud indictment
Clothing tech entrepreneur and CaaStle founder Christine Hunsicker is out on $1 million bail after she was charged on six counts of cheating customers out of more than $300 million over the past six years in a complex fraud scheme, including wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a financial institution, and aggravated identity theft. Hunsicker pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan federal court on Friday, after she turned herself in to authorities, and could face decades in prison if convicted, according to CNBC, who reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a related civil lawsuit. Here's what to know about the indictment. Why was Hunsicker indicted? Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who was working with the FBI, announced on Friday that Hunsicker is charged with forging documents, fabricating audits, and making material misrepresentations about her company's financial condition in an alleged scheme to defraud investors in her clothing technology companies CaaStle Inc. and P180. The documents allege she continued to solicit millions of dollars in investments for both companies and 'persisted in her scheme' even after law enforcement agents approached her about the fraud. 'The promise of pre-IPO technology companies can be fertile ground for fraudsters who play on investor euphoria,' Clayton said in a statement. According to the statement, the fashion tech entrepreneur and founder of CaaStle, a 'clothing-as-a-service' business that enabled clothing brands to rent inventory to consumers, promoted the company 'as a rapidly growing business valued at more than $1.4 billion, [although she] knew that CaaStle was in financial distress with limited cash and significant expenses.' To raise the capital for CaaStle's operations, she 'provided investors with falsified income statements, fake audited financial statements, fictitious bank records, and sham corporate documents that grossly overstated CaaStle's operating profit, revenue, and available cash.' Surprising details in Hunsicker's indictment The indictment alleges, among other things, that Hunsicker provided two fabricated audits to investors and conducted internet searches for the terms 'fraud,' 'created an audit firm fake,' and 'JP morgan 4m records faked,' an apparent reference to fraud charges related to JPMorgan Chase's acquisition of her college financial aid startup called Frank, which resulted in the federal prosecution of its founder Charlie Javice. (Javice was convicted in March of defrauding JPMorgan Chase of $175 million by exaggerating her customer base tenfold, according to National Public Radio.) It also accuses Hunsicker of fabricating the existence of CaaStle shareholders, falsely claiming that the shareholders needed money for a 'family health emergency' or due to the FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapse. She allegedly then used investors' money to raise new capital for CaaStle, while concealing that the company needed cash. And to 'maintain the fiction,' she issued fake capitalization tables to the investors in order to demonstrate that they had purchased existing CaaStle shares. According to the documents, Hunsicker's scheme also allegedly involved providing an investor with a fake screenshot of CaaStle's bank accounts showing nearly $200 million in available cash, although the company had less than $200,000 in available cash at the time, in or around September 2024.
CBS News
4 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Fashion startup founder Christine Hunsicker accused of cheating investors out of over $300 million
A former chief executive of two clothing technology companies was released on $1 million bail Friday after pleading not guilty to charges alleging she cheated investors out of over $300 million over the past six years. Christine Hunsicker, 48, of Lafayette, New Jersey, was charged with six counts, including fraud, aggravated identity theft and false statement charges in the indictment in Manhattan federal court. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a release that Hunsicker forged documents, fabricated audits and made material misrepresentations about her company's financial condition to defraud investors in CaaStle Inc. and P180. "As alleged, Christine Hunsicker defrauded investors of hundreds of millions of dollars through document forgery, fabricated audits, and material misrepresentations about her company's financial condition," Clayton said in a statement on Friday. "The promise of pre-IPO technology companies can be fertile ground for fraudsters who play on investor euphoria." The indictment said Hunsicker, once portrayed as an on-the-rise fashion entrepreneur, portrayed CaaStle as a high-growth, private company with substantial cash on hand when she knew it faced significant financial distress. In a statement, defense lawyers Michael Levy and Anna Skotko said prosecutors "have chosen to present to the public an incomplete and very distorted picture in today's indictment," despite Hunsicker's efforts to be "fully cooperative and transparent" with prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission. "There is much more to this story, and we look forward to telling it," they said. Hunsicker did not comment as she left the courthouse with Skotko after entering the not-guilty plea and agreeing to the rules of her $1 million bail, which included not having any contact with former or current investors or employees. According to the indictment, Hunsicker continued her fraudulent scheme even after the CaaStle board of directors removed her and prohibited her from soliciting investments or taking other actions on the company's behalf. She "persisted in her scheme" even after law enforcement agents confronted her over the fraud, the indictment said. Before the fraud allegations emerged, Hunsicker seemed to be a rising star in the fashion world after she was named to Crain's New York Business "40 under 40" lists, was selected as one of Inc.'s "Most Impressive Women Entrepreneurs" and was recognized by the National Retail Federation as someone shaping the future of retail, the indictment noted. At a time when the business was in financial distress with limited cash available and significant expenses, CaaStle was valued by Hunsicker at $1.4 billion, the indictment said. Hunsicker was lying to investors in February 2019 and continued to do so through this March, prosecutors alleged. They said she fed investors falsely inflated income statements, fake audited financial statements, fictitious bank account records and sham corporate records. She allegedly told one investor in August 2023 that CaaStle reported an operating profit of nearly $24 million in the second quarter of 2023 when its operating profit that quarter was actually less than $30,000. The indictment alleged that she carried out the majority of the fraud by bilking CaaStle investors of $275 million before forming P180 last year to infuse CaaStle with cash before its investors could discover her fraud. Through misrepresentations and omissions, she cheated P180 investors out of about $30 million, the indictment said. It said CaaStle filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last month, leaving hundreds of investors holding now-worthless CaaStle shares. Hunsicker was forced to resign from CaaStle's board in December and formally resigned as chief executive in March. In a related civil filing, the SEC said Hunsicker's "fake financials" supported her narrative that CaaStle was nearing an initial public offering or sale in late 2022 as it enjoyed rapid and steady revenue growth after launching a new monetization model called "Clothing-as-a-Service." "In reality, CaaStle's revenues were shrinking, its losses were increasing, and the company was never profitable," the lawsuit said. "Not a single existing or prospective CaaStle investor received accurate monthly, quarterly, or annual CaaStle financial statements from Hunsicker." Before CaaStle, Hunsicker launched Gwynnie Bee, a subscription service renting everyday clothes to women sizes 10 to 32. "We want it to be a place where managing a rotating wardrobe is actually the way the majority of people interact with clothing," Hunsicker told CBS News in 2016 when discussing the company. Previously, Hunsicker was also the COO and president of Right Media, an online advertising startup that sold to Yahoo! for $850 million, and then became the COO of an online file sharing service that was purchased by Facebook.
Fashion United
4 days ago
- Business
- Fashion United
CaaStle founder charged over alleged 300 million dollar fraud scheme
Christine Hunsicker, the founder of bankrupt rental platform CaaStle, has been criminally charged over a 300 million dollar fraud case. Hunsicker has been accused of 'defrauding investors of hundreds of millions of dollars through document forgery, fabricated audits, and material misrepresentations about her company's financial condition', US attorney Jay Clayton said. Hunsicker's alleged fraud scheme is said to have started back in 2019, when she began promoting the company as a rapidly growing rental business. Despite knowing CaaStle was in financial trouble, Hunsicker is believed to have told investors that the business was valued at 1.4 billion dollars in an attempt to raise capital for its operations. In doing so, the entrepreneur was accused of falsifying income statements, financial statements, bank records and corporate documents that overstated CaaStle's profit, revenue and available cash. It is believed that Hunsicker had fraudulently induced over 275 million dollars in investments. Following two instances of submitting fake audits to separate investors in 2023 and 2024, Hunsicker is said to have expanded her fraud scheme to a new business venture, P180, 'using false information about CaaStle's success to raise approximately 30 million dollars' for the firm. Upon the launch of an investigation last year, Hunsicker stepped down as CaaStle's chair, however, she continued alleged fraudulent activities, selling eight million dollars of her shares in the company and more than five million dollars in P180 convertible notes without disclosing material information to investors. In February 2025, she then attempted to sell a further 19 million dollars in shares before law enforcement seized her electronic devices the following month. According to the US Department of Justice, Hunsicker self-surrendered on July 18 and has been charged with a six-count indictment, meaning she could be facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed a separate civil lawsuit. CaaStle filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in June, with a petition submitted to the District of Delaware revealing plans to liquidate the business. The company, which has worked with brands like LK Bennett and Derek Lam on branded rental offerings, had assets in the range of 10 to 50 million dollars, and a number of creditors spanning 200 to 999, according to documents.
