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☆ Companies like Airbnb can ban customers based on a criminal background check: Here's how to dispute it if you think yours is in error
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Sarah Belle Lin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Companies like Airbnb say they use background checks to help protect the community. Background checks have proliferated but there are common flaws in the system, experts say. Here's what criminal justice experts say about inaccurate background checks and how to file appeals. "They're not really looking at potential risk in terms of public safety, per se," Stewart told Insider. "I think part of it is companies being able to determine their own criteria," Stewart told Insider.

☆ King Charles invokes late Queen and faith in humanity in Christmas message
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Sachin Ravikumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Britain's King Charles invoked his late mother, Queen Elizabeth, in his first Christmas message to the nation as monarch and spoke of his faith in humanity at a time of "great anxiety and hardship". Charles said he shares with his "whole heart" his mother's faith in God and people. He was speaking from St George's Chapel, the final resting place of the late Queen and from where Elizabeth delivered a Christmas message in 1999. Charles, William and other royals on Sunday visited a church in Sandringam in eastern England, where the family traditionally spends the festive period. Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar Additional reporting by Toby Melville in Sandringham Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A pair of bills granting the U.S. Justice Department additional tools to go after Russian oligarchs and alleged war criminals appeared poised to become law, after a last-minute push by a bipartisan group of lawmakers this week. One bill, which broadens the Justice Department's jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday after winning Senate approval on Wednesday. Known as the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act, the bill allows the Justice Department to bring war crimes charges against people in the United States, regardless of where the alleged crime occurred. Current statute only allows for prosecution when an alleged war crime occurs in the United States or when the victim or offender is a U.S. national. Another bill, which will allow the Justice Department to transfer oligarchs' forfeited assets in some situations to Ukraine, passed in the Senate as an amendment to Congress' annual funding bill.

Those are some of the infractions allegedly committed by Wells Fargo that has led the bank to agree to a $3.7 billion settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “The CFPB is ordering Wells Fargo to refund billions of dollars to consumers across the country. “As we have said before, we and our regulators have identified a series of unacceptable practices that we have been working systematically to change and provide customer remediation where warranted," Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said. "This far-reaching agreement is an important milestone in our work to transform the operating practices at Wells Fargo and to put these issues behind us. Wells Fargo has been the target of regulators since at least 2011, when reports of its strategy to cross-sell multiple products to customers first emerged.

☆ Wells Fargo ordered to pay $3.7 billion for ‘illegal activity’ including unjust foreclosures and vehicle repossessions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Federal regulators fined Wells Fargo $1.7 billion on Tuesday for “widespread mismanagement” over multiple years that harmed over 16 million consumer accounts. Chopra described Wells Fargo as a “repeat offender” and said Tuesday’s fine is just an “initial step” towards holding the bank accountable. That suggests Wells Fargo may not be out of the penalty box with regulators anytime soon. Those failures caused Wells Fargo to wrongfully repossess some borrowers’ vehicles, to improperly charge fees and interest and to fail to refund certain fees, regulators say. Regulators said Wells Fargo has also been ordered to pay almost $200 million in refunds to those harmed by the bank’s mortgage servicing accounts.

☆ Who's afraid of Wells Fargo?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Wells Fargo reached a $3.7 billion deal with regulators over the bank’s “widespread mismanagement” that allegedly hit more than 16 million consumer accounts. KEY CONTEXTSadly, all of this echoes earlier reports about Wells Fargo’s practices that have emerged since 2016, when its fake-accounts scandal made national headlines, my colleague Matt Egan writes. Wells Fargo workers ended up creating millions of bank accounts for customers without their knowledge. Chopra described Wells Fargo as a “repeat offender” and a “corporate recidivist,” adding that Tuesday’s fine is just an initial step toward holding the bank accountable. The web of scandals at Wells Fargo is massive, and after six years of fallout, a lot of folks aren’t convinced the bank can save itself.

☆ Over 3,000 minor victims were targeted in ‘sextortion’ crimes in the past year, U.S. law enforcement says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Federal law enforcement officers are cracking down on a scheme that aims to extort sexual imagery from children and teens after a dramatic increase in incidents over the past year. Sometimes, a predator shares imagery regardless of whether a victim meets payment demands, according to federal officials. Law enforcement officials say prevention is the best weapon against sextortion. The sextortion cycle generally ends when a victim tells an adult or the offender is discovered by law enforcement. "We will continue to partner with federal, state and local law enforcement to protect children from sexual exploitation in all its despicable forms."

watch nowThe Jan. 6 select House committee on Monday referred former President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation and potential prosecution for his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. While the Justice Department, which is already conducting an investigation of Trump, takes criminal referrals seriously, it is not obligated to charge anyone with a crime. Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, has not been charged with any crimes related to the 2020 election and the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump last month announced that he will seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024. He did not name them, but House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is among the members who defied a subpoena from the committee.

The sky was darkening above Hazelton federal penitentiary in West Virginia when a prison van rolled up carrying an elderly gangster. ‘I’m deteriorating’His final hours were described in detail for the first time in a Justice Department Inspector General report released Wednesday. The news somehow got out among the Hazelton inmates, the report says, a detail that had been previously disclosed by federal prosecutors. The facility, known as Misery Mountain, was among the most violent in the federal prison system. Two hours passed before a prison staffer went into the cell and found Bulger’s lifeless body.

“You have to sample them all and analyze them all to see if they belong to victims or a suspect. The Moscow killings occurred in a three-story, six-bedroom rented house, about a half-block from the University of Idaho campus. The apartment house in Moscow, Idaho, where four students were stabbed to death held an enormous amount of biological evidence, experts say. “So, who could have left that DNA evidence? Before getting answers about DNA, investigators seek clues in the location of blood.

☆ Speed far above the limit and we'll take your car, Austria says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VIENNA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Drivers in Austria guilty of extreme speeding will have their cars seized and auctioned off, the government said on Monday, seeking to deter "boy racers" by threatening to take away their prize possession. Local authorities say they are trying to bring illegal street races and other cases of extreme speeding under control. Specifically, anyone caught driving 60 km per hour (37 miles per hour) above the speed limit in towns, where the speed limit is usually up to 50 kph, or 70 kph above the limit elsewhere, where the limit is up to 130 kph, will have their car seized for up to two weeks, according to the government's plan. The latest plan is in addition to measures introduced last year that increased how long drivers lose their licenses for in cases of speeding and extreme speeding. "He who has no car anymore cannot speed anymore.

☆ Jeffrey Epstein's 'sumptuous' 18-room apartment in Paris has been sold for more than $10 million, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jeffrey Epstein's Paris apartment sold for $10.5 million to Bulgarian businessman Georgi Tuchev. The listing didn't mention the apartment's connection to the late convicted sex offender. Epstein's Franco-Brazilian butler told news site Franceinfo it also had a purpose-built massage room that "a great many women" visited. Following the financier's death — and numerous fresh allegations from French women — French authorities opened their own investigation into Epstein on August 23, 2019. In 2021, his New York townhouse sold for about $51 million, while his Palm Beach mansion went for $18 million.

Companies U.S. Virgin Islands FollowNEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Jeffrey Epstein's estate has reached a nine-figure settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands to settle claims the disgraced late financier used the territory as a base for his decades-long sex-trafficking operation. George also said Epstein bought the nearby Great St. James in 2016 to keep people from monitoring him and victims from escaping there. Epstein had also been accused of sexual abuse at his homes in Manhattan, New Mexico and Palm Beach, Florida. His former associate Ghislaine Maxwell is appealing her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for enabling Epstein's abuse of girls. The government's share of Little St. James sale proceeds will go toward counseling and other services for sexual abuse victims.

☆ Jeffrey Epstein estate settles Virgin Islands sex trafficking case for over $105 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The estate of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and related entities agreed to pay the U.S. Virgin Islands more than $105 million as part of a settlement in a sex trafficking and child exploitation case, the territory's attorney general said Wednesday. "This settlement restores the faith of the People of the Virgin Islands that its laws will be enforced, without fear or favor, against those who break them," Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George said in the press release. "We are sending a clear message that the Virgin Islands will not serve as a haven for human trafficking." The Virgin Islands brought civil claims against Epstein's estate in 2020 under a law similar to the federal RICO Act, which aims to combat organized crime. The announcement Wednesday evening noted that proceeds from the sale of Epstein's island will go toward a trust dedicated to funding efforts to help victims of sex trafficking and sexual abuse.

☆ South Korea extradites suspect in New Zealand suitcase murders
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea extradited a 42-year-old woman to New Zealand, two months after she was arrested following the discovery of the bodies of two long-dead children in abandoned suitcases. New Zealand police said the woman arrived at Auckland Airport on Tuesday after they sent three officers to South Korea to bring her back. New Zealand police said the South Korean warrant for the suspect’s arrest was in connection with two murder charges. South Korean police say the woman was born in South Korea and later moved to New Zealand, where she gained citizenship. Immigration records show she returned to South Korea in 2018.

☆ Lawsuit alleges investor Leon Black raped a woman inside Jeffrey Epstein's home
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —Billionaire investor Leon Black has been sued by a woman alleging he “brutal[ly]” raped her at Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in spring 2002. Wigdor filed Pierson’s complaint Monday under New York’s Adult Survivors Act. The firm’s Doug Wigdor helped advocate for the new law, which was passed in May and went into effect last week. After that he called again and asked to see her, according to the complaint, but Pierson refused to see him again. In 2008, Epstein pled guilty in Florida to two felony offenses: procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution.

☆ These riderless electric lawn mowers can run on their own for 10 hours
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Now a Colorado-based startup is experimenting with commercial-grade electric mowers that not only produce no carbon emissions, but can run on their own. Scythe Robotics' autonomous electric mower can run for 8 to 11 hours at a time, depending on the grass length. Now it is experimenting with Scythe mowers. Beyond electrification's effect on carbon reduction, Morrison claims that the self-driving aspect of the mowers also benefits the planet. If a person doesn't have to spend hours mowing lawns, they have more time to do other landscaping work.

[1/2] Leon Black is pictured here in Beverly Hills, California, U.S. May 1, 2018. Pierson's lawsuit in a New York state court in Manhattan seeks unspecified damages from Black for sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and from Epstein's estate for negligence. Her law firm Wigdor LLP also represents Guzel Ganieva, a former Russian model who in June 2021 sued Black for defamation, saying he falsely claimed she tried to extort him after accusing him of rape. In a Nov. 19 letter to the Wigdor firm, Estrich said: "Mr. Black never sexually assaulted anyone anywhere at any time." His former associate Ghislaine Maxwell is appealing her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for enabling Epstein's abuse of underage girls.

☆ Analysis: The art of the cross lights up Ghana-South Korea thriller
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Nick Mulvenney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The touch evaded the South Koreans after Mohammed Kudus had put Ghana ahead for the final time, however, and they repeatedly found space down the wings only for the final ball to clatter off the head of a Ghanaian defender. That reprised the opening 25 minutes of the game when the Koreans dominated possession, swinging the ball left and right across the pitch and working their neat triangulations to get into threatening positions down the flanks. The 31-year-old's delivery was even better 10 minutes later, a high arching cross that Kudus needed only the faintest touch on to guide past Kim Seung-gyu in the Korean goal. That means the coach will not be on the bench against his native Portugal in South Korea's final group game on Friday but his squad might expect a little bit of extra crossing practice over the next four days. Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Jeffrey Epstein's unsold former New Mexico ranch is no longer the most expensive home in the state after nearly $10 million price reduction
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Zorro Ranch, previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein, has dropped from $27.5 million to $18 million after over a year on the market. It was once the most expensive home in New Mexico before the price cut, Realtor reported. His 7,500-acre New Mexico mansion was listed for $27.5 million in June 2021, but the price has since dropped to $18 million, according to a Realtor report. Realtor.com listing for Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. Dolly Lenz, founder and CEO of Dolly Lenz Real Estate, explained to Realtor why Zorro Ranch has been more difficult to sell than Epstein's other luxurious properties.

☆ Jeffrey Epstein's accusers are suing Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan, accusing them of ignoring 'blatant red flags' that enabled 'commercial sex trafficking'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Accusers of Jeffrey Epstein are suing Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan, filings show. Epstein would send money to young women and withdraw large sums to pay victims, per the lawsuits. A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank told Insider in a statement: "We believe this claim lacks merit and will present our arguments in court." Another unnamed accuser suing Deutsche says she was sexually abused by Epstein and trafficked to his friends from about 2003 until about 2018, during which time she was paid in cash. The suit says Deutsche ignored several "red flags" included multiple payments to young women and substantial cash withdrawals.

The U.S. Justice Department, in a report this September, said many crypto exchanges still "make little or no effort to comply" with know-your-customer requirements. These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. Asked at his trial for his opinion of crypto, Mohammad noted, "Privacy is something that a lot of users value." The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.

☆ Crypto exchanges enabled online child sex-abuse profiteer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +22 min

These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. “For those people looking to make money from child sexual abuse, crypto has lowered the barrier,” said Dan Sexton, the IWF’s chief technology officer. The Dark Scandals website, owned by Michael Mohammad, instructs users to send tokens to a Dark Scandals digital wallet to purchase content. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.

☆ Sentencing Elizabeth Holmes to 11-plus years for Theranos fraud was way too much
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Andrey Spektor | Andrey Spektor Is A Litigation Partner At Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | A Former Federal Prosecutor In New York. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

A federal judge sentenced former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes to 11 years and 3 months in prison Friday — too harsh a punishment considering the crime and the defendant. Anyone who claims Holmes received more or less than what she was “supposed to get” does not understand federal sentencing. Federal sentencing can seem arbitrary, but at bottom, it requires a humane and common sense result: Defendants must not be punished more than is absolutely necessary. Most people who are first exposed to federal sentencing — including lawyers — are bewildered by its unpredictability. Anyone who claims Holmes received more or less than what she was “supposed to get” does not understand federal sentencing.

☆ Rising star Hakeem Jeffries announces bid to lead U.S. House Democrats
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

He would build on Pelosi's historic accomplishments as the first female House speaker and the first woman to lead a party in either chamber of Congress. Jeffries satisfies the demand of many House Democrats that younger blood replace the 82-year-old Pelosi, who has had a grip on leadership for the past two decades. 2 position of Democratic whip and moderate Representative Pete Aguilar was expected to seek the job heading the Democratic caucus, which Jeffries now holds. If Jeffries wins the Nov. 30 leadership election, Democrats will be placing party power squarely with New Yorkers. While he is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Jeffries at times has had strained relations with some progressives, who have questioned his ties to corporate America.

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