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☆ College admission scandal mastermind says he now lives in a trailer park and can't get a job because of the scheme
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

In documents submitted to the court on Wednesday, prosecutors asked the judge to give Singer six years, which would be by far the longest sentence in the case. Defense attorneys asked for a year of home confinement, or a maximum of six months behind bars. “For most of my life, if not all of it, I have thrived on winning at all costs,” Singer wrote in a letter included in his defense’s sentencing memorandum. “Staggering in scope, Singer’s scheme was also breathtaking in its audacity and the levels of deception it involved,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. Prosecutors also asked for three years of probation, nearly $11 million in restitution to the IRS, and forfeiture of about $8.7 million.

BOSTON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors on Wednesday asked a judge to sentence the mastermind of the largest U.S. college admissions fraud scheme ever uncovered to six years in prison after he helped them secure the convictions of dozens of wealthy parents including Hollywood celebrities. Prosecutors made the recommendation a week before William "Rick" Singer, the college admissions consultant at the center of the "Operation Varsity Blues" investigation, goes before a judge for sentencing after pleading guilty in 2019. Prosecutors said Singer, operating through his California-based college admissions counseling service The Key and a related charity, took in more than $25 million from his clients. They said he paid out more than $7 million to bribe coaches and administrators at schools including Georgetown University, the University of Southern California, Yale University and Stanford University. Singer, who now lives in a Florida trailer park, in his own filing wrote that he lost everything by "ignoring what was morally, ethically, and legally right in favor of winning what I perceived was the college admissions 'game.'"

Ten of the 13 people Dominican authorities accused of attempting to murder former Major League Baseball player David "Big Papi" Ortiz have been convicted. On June 2019, Ortiz was shot in the back while at a bar in his native Dominican Republic. According to the attorney general, Rodríguez Mota is "the person who paid those who carried out the act" against Ortiz. The remaining seven men received sentences of less than 10 years. Ortiz underwent multiple surgeries in the Dominican Republic and the U.S. after the attack.

☆ Convicted ringleader in Michigan governor kidnapping plot faces sentencing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Steve Gorman | Industry Insight | Saw Law Firms Move Past The Pandemic Into A More Client-Focused Service Environment | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 27 (Reuters) - The convicted leader of a foiled plot by members of right-wing militia groups to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer faces a possible life term in prison when he is sentenced on Tuesday in U.S. District Court. Co-defendant Barry Croft Jr., another member of the Three Percenters militia group, was convicted of the same charges at the same trial and was scheduled for sentencing on Wednesday. Fox and Croft were among 13 men arrested in October 2020 on state or federal crimes in the kidnapping conspiracy. The same jury failed to reach a verdict for Fox and Croft, resulting in a mistrial for them. Two other men who pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy charges testified for the prosecution at the first federal trial and during the retrial of Fox and Croft about four months later.

☆ Inside the lives of some of the most powerful people on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

We're highlighting profiles we've done of some of the most powerful people on Wall Street. They are, as you will see, largely white males — a telling reminder of who still wields the power throughout most of Wall Street. Gregg Lemkau was considered a future CEO candidate at Goldman Sachs before he shocked Wall Street by leaving for Michael Dell's investment firm in 2020. Soft-spoken types can sometimes get bulldozed on Wall Street, where so-called alphas often reign supreme. Inside his strategy for turning Goldman into the Amazon of Wall Street.

☆ The charges against Caroline Ellison, SBF, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang — in 60 seconds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Alameda's former CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX cofounder Gary Wang are in the SEC's crosshairs. US Attorney Damian Williams said on Wednesday that Ellison and FTX cofounder Gary Wang had pleaded guilty to various charges, including fraud, and are cooperating with the government. Still, Ellison and Wang perpetuated the alleged fraud of FTX's investors and customers, according to the SEC. That gave the firm broad access to FTX customer funds — and Ellison knowingly traded at Alameda using that money. The complaint largely painted Bankman-Fried as the one making allegedly fraudulent assurances to investors, but cast Ellison and Wang as loyal enablers.

☆ A real-estate investor who owns 9 commercial properties explains how he retired at 32 after just 5 years of investing by branching into commercial properties over residential — and shares where he see
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Justin Sloan retired at 32 years old, just five years after he started investing in real estate. Sloan did this by branching out to commercial real estate, which he prefers over residential. Buying his first residential propertySloan began researching other investable assets such as franchises and municipal bonds, but found the idea of real estate investing especially appealing. "I was that naive to the idea that you could hire someone else to take care of your real estate." That same year, he stopped opening more cell phone stores, and instead directed all his revenue towards real estate investing.

☆ Don't blame the Bahamas for FTX's implosion, foreign minister says as the disgraced company's lawyers hurl accusations of complicity
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX lawyers want to deny liquidators access to company records, claiming the Bahamian government could use it to swipe money away from FTX. But it isn't the fault of the Bahamas that FTX is embroiled in its financial troubles, according to foreign minister Fred Mitchell. Court-appointed liquidators for FTX's Bahamas-based business asked for key records within the crypto exchange, including access to company accounts and data. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas has disputed those claims, and Bahamas foreign minister Fred Mitchell denounced the accusations in a voice recording distributed via WhatsApp on Friday. Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested on multiple charges this week, including fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy after the collapse of his crypto exchange shed light on glaring accounting scandals.

Dec 16 (Reuters) - The Bahamas should not be blamed for the collapse of bankrupt cryptocurrency platform FTX, the country's foreign minister said on Friday, following repeated accusations by FTX management of alleged misconduct by the Caribbean nation's authorities. In a withering voice recording distributed over WhatsApp on Friday morning, Bahamas Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell, said "this blame game directed at The Bahamas" is undermining efforts to recover assets that were lost as a result of fraud. "We in The Bahamas can ask the question: How did the mastermind of FTX get on the front page of Forbes magazine, a U.S. magazine? On Thursday, his lawyers filed a new bail application, this time before the Supreme Court, according to a source. Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington and Brian Ellsworth in Miami Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pakistan to approach UN after blaming India for bombing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Mohsin RazaISLAMABAD, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Pakistan will take a dossier to the United Nations alleging its neighbour India has backed incidents of terrorism, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, a day after Islamabad said India was behind a high-profile bombing. "We will call it information based evidence," Rabbani Khar said about the dossier. Khar said the facilitators and mastermind of the bombing that killed four people in eastern city of Lahore were based in India. "We would want India to hand them over, and as responsible nations do... and if India is a responsible nation, they will cooperate," she said. Arch-rivals Pakistan and India have fought three wars since 1947, when British colonial ended and the two independent nations were created in a blood-drenched process known as partition.

CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reported that the charges against Bankman-Fried include wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering. Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder said the United States was "likely to request his extradition." "While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against SBF individually, The Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere," the statement said. The Bahamas and the United States have had an extradition treaty in place since the early 20th century, when the Bahamas was still under British control. Legal experts told CNBC that if the federal government pursues wire or bank fraud charges, Bankman-Fried could face life in prison without the possibility of supervised release.

☆ Croatia vs Brazil: Vatreni have 'nothing to fear' ahead of quarterfinal clash against 'terrifying' Seleçao, says head coach
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“I try to adapt to the characteristics of the players,” Tite told reporters after the match, according to Reuters. “Sure, some love to complain when they see other people’s happiness and we Brazilians are a joyful people, so it will always bother,” Vinícius told reporters, per Reuters. Croatia has a remarkable recent record in World Cup knockout matches. Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images“Brazil is the favorite, let’s face it,” Dalić told reporters, per Reuters. “Brazil is the most powerful and the best national team at the World Cup.

☆ I started my T-shirt-printing side hustle with a press I bought on Facebook for $45. Now the business is making $50,000 a month in sales on average.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Kimanzi Constable | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ari Simpson, 39, bought a T-shirt press on Facebook Marketplace for $45 to start her side hustle. It gave me the confidence to start researching materials or machines I needed to start my own T-shirt business. I started my business with a $45 heat press from Facebook MarketplaceI got on Facebook Marketplace and found someone selling a used T-shirt heat press for $45. Using the heat transfers I'd been given and some old shirts, my husband and I started pressing T-shirts. The business now has three part-time employees who press T-shirts and fulfill orders, and our children still have their roles in the business.

☆ This woman taught herself to code when she was eight. Now she's helping students around the world gain skills in tech.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Ibm | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Now 18, she's using her passion for tech to make the world better. She is the mastermind behind the global hub encouraging students and employees to unite for the future of work. The result: The IBM Global Student Hub, a guide that helps students prepare for the future of work. Using technology as a force for goodIn today's always-online world, technology often gets a bad rap. Her key focus is helping students apply technology like IBM Z, hybrid cloud, and AI to design a career path that aligns with their goals and values.

“Spoiler Alert” opened in U.S. theaters Dec. 2. “Women Talking” opened in select U.S. theaters Dec. 2. “The Whale” opens in U.S. theaters Dec. 9. “Babylon” opens in U.S. theaters Dec. 23. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” opens in U.S. theaters Dec. 23.

☆ Archegos' Bill Hwang says prosecutor misconduct justifies indictment's dismissal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Bill Hwang is seeking the dismissal of his U.S. fraud indictment over the collapse of his once-$36 billion Archegos Capital Management LP, saying prosecutors committed misconduct by sandbagging him when building their case. In a separate filing, Hwang and co-defendant Patrick Halligan, Archegos' former chief financial officer, said their indictment should be dismissed because Archegos' trading activity was "entirely lawful," using methods that are "clearly permitted by the existing regulatory structure." These discussions, the last occurring two days before Hwang's April 27 arrest, "revealed what has now become (as prosecutors doubtless knew it would) his defense strategy," Hwang's lawyers said. Hwang also wants U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who oversees the case, to hold a hearing to determine the extent of any taint. The case is U.S. v. Hwang et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ In the wake of Kanye West's praise for Hitler, Biden calls on political leaders to condemn anti-Semitism: 'Silence is complicity'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden targeted antisemitism on Friday after Kanye West, known as Ye, praised Hitler. Hitler was a demonic figure," Biden tweeted from his presidential account and retweeted from his political account. "And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Ye's Twitter account was restricted for two weeks in October after he posted antisemitic remarks, but his account was restored after Musk took control of the platform. "I like Hitler," Ye said at one point, adding, "I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis."

☆ 'Violent Night' review: David Harbour delivers the goods by putting Santa Claus in 'Die Hard' mode
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The idea of a nasty Christmas movie is nothing new, but “Violent Night” still manages to deliver the goods, mixing “Die Hard” and “Rambo”-style action with a fair amount of hokey ho-ho-hokum. David Harbour makes a particularly good cranky, butt-kicking Santa, in a movie that offers the sort of shared experience that should bring theaters some much-needed cheer. Still, pulling off that combination of over-the-top violence, goofy comedy and (in this case) Hallmark-style meaning-of-Christmas stuff is a pretty formidable challenge, and while the setting proves slightly claustrophobic, “Violent Night” mostly overcomes it. That might not be the formula for a fun-for-the-whole-family holiday perennial, but to its credit, those sitting through “Violent Night” should rarely stay silent for long. “Violent Night” premieres December 2 in US theaters.

☆ Trump Org defense closings feature a clueless Donald Trump and a big little loophole
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"Donald Trump was running a multi-billion-dollar corporate entity," one lawyer, Susan Necheles, told jurors of the Trump Organization's far-too-busy-for-fraud owner. But Weisselberg, she told jurors, hid his self-serving crimes from the Trumps, a family he'd worked for for more than 30 years. "You saw him on the witness stand almost crying" over betraying the Trump family, Necheles told jurors of the former finance chief, repeating for emphasis, "He was ashamed." "I ask you to remember that language," Necheles told the jury, reading it aloud. "The prosecution has been trying to convince you that Mr. Weisselberg's actions were done 'in behalf of' the company," Necheles said.

☆ Trump claims Kanye West tricked him by bringing white supremacist Nick Fuentes to Mar-a-Lago dinner: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump's team has claimed that the rapper Ye tricked him by bringing a well-known white supremacist to Mar-a-Lago. "Kanye punked Trump," one Trump adviser told NBC News of the dinner with Nick Fuentes. The Trump campaign is now reviewing their processes to prevent someone like Fuentes from getting near Trump again, sources with knowledge of the discussions told NBC News. "The master troll got trolled," one Trump adviser, who spoke anonymously, told NBC News. One Trump adviser told NBC News that the former president said Ye's attendance at Mar-a-Lago "would be fun for the members."

Against Belgium, man of the match Ziyech showed what the team was missing in a brilliant performance that helped Morocco to their first World Cup victory since beating Scotland 3-0 in 1998. "He is incredible, the spirit he has, coming back to the national team," a jubilant Regragui said. "A lot of people talk about him, say he is crazy and difficult to manage, that he can't help the team. Ziyech had Morocco's first shot on goal in the second half, and was allowed to move freely between the lines in the front third, tormenting the Belgian defence. Another substitute, Abdelhamid Sabiri, struck the shot that touched captain Romain Saiss on its way in for the first goal.

☆ Analysis: Timid Moriyasu in the spotlight as Costa Rica tear up the script
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Nick Mulvenney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DOHA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu, hailed as a tactical mastermind after the victory over Germany, was left with egg on his face on Sunday after Costa Rica produced a similarly stunning upset to blow World Cup Group E wide open. Although Moriyasu made five changes for the Costa Rica match in a squad rotation ahead of their final group match against Spain, only Ritsu Doan of the substitutes who came on to transform the Germany match was given a start. The Samurai Blue looked clueless as they tried to break down a Costa Rica side determined to avoid further embarrassment and who kept 10 men behind the ball for much of the time. It was Costa Rica's first shot on goal in the entire match but that, ultimately, was more than Japan managed over the 90 minutes. Moriyasu was unapologetic about his team's insipid display only a few days after one of their greatest victories.

☆ FTX flop evokes history’s great financial swindles
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Edward Chancellor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

As Walter Bagehot wrote in “Lombard Street” in 1873, “The good times too of high price almost always engender much fraud. As cryptocurrencies declined in value, FTX provided a line of credit to BlockFi, a stricken crypto-lender. He talked about Three Arrows Capital, the failed crypto hedge fund, as engaged in “punting”. His firm launched a product based on a basket of crypto assets that it called Shitcoin Index Perpetual Futures, with the unsubtle ticker SHIT-PERP. He commissioned an advertisement, aired during the Super Bowl, in which the comedian Larry David casts doubt on the viability of FTX.

A Chinese intelligence officer convicted of conspiring and attempting to steal sensitive trade secrets from a U.S. company was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison. The Justice Department had asked that Yanjun Xu, 42, get 25 years behind bars for his "very extensive" yearslong scheme to steal secrets from U.S. aviation companies. Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileXu is the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the U.S. to face criminal charges, Justice Department officials said. "Xu targeted multiple employees at multiple international aviation companies over multiple years. They noted that his scheme to steal secrets from GE wasn’t successful and said he was just following his country's orders.

☆ FTX crash shares eerie similarities with Bernie Madoff, ex-regulator Sheila Bair says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Sheila Bair, a top regulator during the 2008 financial crisis, told CNN there are eerie similarities between the dramatic rise and fall of Bankman-Fried and FTX and that of infamous Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff. Bair notes that 30-year-old Bankman-Fried, like Madoff, proved adept at using his pedigree and connections to seduce sophisticated investors and regulators into missing “red flags” hiding in plain sight. Up until the bankruptcy filing, FTX even had an application pending with federal regulators to clear derivatives, The Wall Street Journal reported. FTX’s bankruptcy filing indicates it had liabilities of $10 billion to $50 billion at the time of the filing. — If you are an FTX customer and want to discuss how you have been impacted by the bankruptcy, please reach out to Matt.Egan@CNN.com

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