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☆ Movie theater giant AMC's boss Adam Aron revealed as the mystery CEO who fell victim to a catfish blackmail scheme he called an 'elaborate criminal extortion'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A woman was last year indicted after catfishing an anonymous CEO and threatening to release sexually explicit photos. Semafor reported Thursday that the CEO was Adam Aron, boss of movie theater giant AMC. Aron confirmed the report in a post on X, saying he was "the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion." Soon after Semafor reported that Aron was the victim in the case, he confirmed the news in a post on X. The following day, Blackwood then asked him to send sexually explicit photos, and he complied — including sending one of him with another woman — prosecutors said.

Persons: Semafor, Adam Aron, Aron, —, Blackwood, Mia Organizations: AMC, Service, Prosecutors, of New York Locations: Southern

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors went to the heart of their case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on Thursday as the company's co-founder began his testimony, telling a New York jury that he and Bankman-Fried committed financial crimes and lied to the public before the cryptocurrency trading platform collapsed last year. Bankman-Fried, 31, who has been jailed since August, was brought to the United States from the Bahamas last December after he was charged in Manhattan federal court. Defense lawyers say Bankman-Fried had no criminal intent as he took actions to try to save his businesses after the cryptocurrency market collapsed. The others are Carolyn Ellison, Alameda Research's former chief executive and a former girlfriend of Bankman-Fried, and Nishad Singh, the former engineering director at FTX. He said he lived with Bankman-Fried and other top executives in June or July of 2022 when he told Bankman-Fried one day that he was concerned that Alameda owed FTX a large debt.

Persons: — Prosecutors, Sam Bankman, Fried, Gary Wang, Fried's, Wang, FTX “, ” Wang, Lewis A, Kaplan, Carolyn Ellison, Nishad Singh, Adam Yedidia, Bankman, “ Sam, ” Organizations: —, New, Alameda Research, FTX, Bankman Locations: New York, Alameda, United States, Bahamas, Manhattan, Bankman, Fried, China, Minnesota, FTX

WASHINGTON (AP) — Prosecutors who filed firearms charges against Hunter Biden moved Wednesday to formally dismiss a gun count that had been part of a collapsed plea deal. No new tax counts have yet been filed by special counsel David Weiss, who is overseeing the case. Hunter Biden had been expected to avoid prosecution on the gun charge and plead guilty to misdemeanor tax counts in an agreement with prosecutors. But the deal collapsed after a judge raised questions about it in a July hearing and the new indictment was filed weeks later. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges Tuesday as the case moves toward a potential trial with the 2024 election looming.

Persons: Hunter Biden, David Weiss Organizations: WASHINGTON, — Prosecutors

A third officer and two paramedics facing charges in McClain's death are scheduled for trial later this year. Charges were not brought for two years after McClain's death, by which time the case along with others had sparked outrage and a national reckoning over racial injustice in American policing. The indictments followed an outcry over McClain’s death during protests ignited by the police killing of George Floyd. He called McClain’s death “tragic,” but said that finding made it hard to prove that the officers’ actions caused his death. Cina said he couldn’t rule out whether the stress of being held down by the officers may have contributed to McClain’s death.

Persons: Black, Elijah McClain, Randy Roedema, Jason Rosenblatt, McClain, Rosenblatt, ” McClain, Nathan Woodyard, Rosenblatt . McClain, Woodyard, George Floyd, McClain’s, “, ”, Dave Young, Stephen Cina, ” Cina, Cina Organizations: BRIGHTON, — Prosecutors, Roedema, Paramedics Locations: Colo, Denver, Aurora, Minneapolis

Two of the people charged have filed speedy trial demands, and Judge Scott McAfee set their trial for Oct. 23. That could lead to multiple trials in the high-profile case happening simultaneously, creating security issues and “unavoidable burdens” on witnesses and victims, prosecutors argued. Five of the defendants are seeking to move their cases to federal court, and lawyers for Trump have said he may do the same. But prosecutors noted that the law explicitly allows a case to continue to move forward in a state court while the question of moving a case to federal court is pending. Federal Judge Steve Jones last week rejected the attempt by Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his case to federal court and sent it back to state court, but Meadows is appealing that ruling.

Persons: Donald Trump, Fani Willis, Scott McAfee, Willis, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Chesebro, Trump, “, Powell, quagmire, McAfee, Steve Jones, Mark Meadows, Meadows, Jones Organizations: ATLANTA, — Prosecutors, McAfee, Georgia Republicans, Trump, Federal, Trump White House Locations: Georgia, Fulton County, Coffee County

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors have asked a federal judge to revoke the bond for the mother of a Virginia boy who shot and wounded his first-grade teacher after she allegedly failed multiple drug tests while awaiting sentencing on two felony charges. The boy was 6 when he pulled out his mother's gun in January and fired one shot at Zwerner in a classroom full of students. Taylor was released on bond pending sentencing on the condition that she refrain from unlawful drug use and possession. James Ellenson, one of Taylor's lawyers, told The Virginian-Pilot that he will ask U.S. District Judge Mark Davis not to revoke her bond. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to ask for a sentence of 18 months to 24 months in prison.

Persons: Deja Taylor, Abigail Zwerner, Zwerner, Taylor, Lisa McKeel, Peter Osyf, James Ellenson, Mark Davis, ” Ellenson, Ellenson Organizations: — Prosecutors, Elementary School, Virginian, U.S, District, Associated Press, Prosecutors, Newport News Locations: RICHMOND, Va, Virginia, Newport News, U.S, States, Newport, Coast

☆ What is a superseding indictment?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Special Counsel Jack Smith filed two new documents charges against Trump in a superseding indictment. Superseding indictments allow for additions and changes to a case in light of new evidence. A superseding indictment is a criminal complaint brought by a grand jury that changes, adds to, or replaces an original indictment in the wake of new evidence. The superseding indictment brought in the documents case this week also added a third defendant, maintenance worker Carlos De Oliveira, to the case, as well as additional charges against Trump aide Walt Nauta, who pleaded not guilty to the counts against him earlier this month. He faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York in addition to the classified documents case.

Persons: Jack Smith, Smith, Donald Trump, Trump, Carlos De Oliveira, Walt Nauta, Carl Tobias, Tobias, De Oliveira Organizations: Trump, Service, University of Richmond, Associated Press Locations: Wall, Silicon, Mar, New York

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried wins a small victory as prosecutors agree to withdraw 5 charges — but ask for a separate trial for these next year
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried was facing 13 criminal charges after the downfall of FTX. Sam Bankman-Fried hasn't been having a great year, but he did win a small victory on Wednesday. That's because those accusations were only submitted after Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where his crypto exchange was headquartered. It sounds like a good, if small, victory for the man currently out on $250 million bail. Prosecutors requested that the judge schedule a trial over them for the first quarter of next year.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, SBF, hasn't, FTX, aren't Organizations: Bloomberg, Prosecutors, Fried's Locations: Bahamas, Nassau that's, Palo Alto , California, California, Caribbean

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried deleted a Slack message and tweets after FTX's top lawyer told the company to preserve records for regulators, prosecutors say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sam Bankman-Fried deleted tweets and Signal messages after being told to preserve all records, prosecutors said. He even deleted a Slack post by FTX's general counsel which said FTX would close, prosecutors said. Bankman-Fried disregarded the general counsel's directive at the time, prosecutors alleged, saying he also deleted some of his tweets in November. In January, prosecutors said in a filing that Bankman-Fried had messaged FTX's general counsel, as well as "current and former FTX employees." The financial wrongdoing at FTX was exposed, prosecutors say, by a run on accounts in November of last year.

☆ Tyre Nichols video shows a complete 'breakdown' in police protocols, legal experts say: 'No reason 5 officers need to reduce themselves to closed-fist punching'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The video of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols being beaten by Memphis police was released Friday. Legal experts told Insider the footage showed police met Nichols with force even though he wasn't initially resisting. The video released Friday of five Memphis police officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop showed clear police misconduct and a breakdown in protocol for detaining someone, legal experts told Insider. "What I saw was certainly police misconduct," Joshua Ritter, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor, and partner with El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers, told Insider of the footage. However Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers and a former federal prosecutor, said there was "no question in my mind that murder charges are appropriate."

☆ Florida woman accused of swindling $2.8M from Holocaust survivor in romance scam
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Phil-Helsel-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Phil Helsel | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A 36-year-old Florida woman used a romance scam to defraud a Holocaust survivor of his $2.8 million life savings, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. She also faked emails pretending to be from TD Bank and faked invoices to give to the victim’s bank to explain the large transfers, the indictment says. It stopped in October 2021 when the man told his son he'd given his life savings to the woman but was promised he'd be repaid and the son said he'd been scammed, according to the indictment. Stergo spent the money on a home, a condo, a boat, trips, cars and Rolex watches, prosecutors said. People lost more than $1 billion in romance scams across the U.S. in 2021, the FBI said in February.

SANTA FE, N.M. — Prosecutors said Thursday they knew “pretty close to the beginning” of their probe into the fatal shooting of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins that criminal charges would be filed. Prosecutors announced Thursday that Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will each face two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin was criminally responsible as both the alleged shooter and the “Rust” producer who should have had oversight on safety, officials said. Alec Baldwin practicing a scene with a revolver on the set of the Western "Rust" before cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot. Prosecutors declined to say if they offered Baldwin a chance to plead guilty in exchange for his testimony.

Formal organizations like the Oath Keepers no longer define the American right-wing landscape. If Biden’s election was illegitimate, the Oath Keepers were ready to defend Trump’s legitimate one. And indeed, the trial has revealed the brazenness of the Oath Keepers, as well as some profound shifts happening in the American right. The evidence of a seditious conspiracy introduced in the Oath Keepers’ trial was damning, yet obvious. While certainly more polished, some of Masters’ talking points would not be out of place at an Oath Keepers meeting.

☆ Prosecutors won't seek the death penalty against ex-politician in Las Vegas reporter's killing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

LAS VEGAS — Prosecutors said they won’t seek the death penalty against a former Las Vegas-area politician who pleaded not guilty Wednesday to killing a veteran investigative journalist who wrote articles critical of him and his managerial conduct. Local property records show the couple also owns a Las Vegas home with a taxable value of more than $320,000. Robert Telles, right, with Jeff German in his Las Vegas office in 2022. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he and a panel of prosecutors concluded that there were no qualifying aggravating factors to make Telles’ trial a capital case. The state Supreme Court has also suspended Telles’ law license pending results of a State Bar of Nevada investigation of allegations that he misappropriated funds of clients in his private law office.

☆ DOJ says it needs more money for the Jan. 6 probe. The next spending bill may be its last chance.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | Sahil Kapur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says it is in critical need of more money to bring the Jan. 6 rioters to justice. The Justice Department has told Congress that more than $34 million in funding is "critically needed" to fund the investigation. “The cases are unprecedented in scale and is expected to be among the most complex investigations prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” the Justice Department wrote to the legislative branch. Before they broke for recess, lawmakers involved in the talks told NBC News that the fate of the Justice request was still unsettled. I don’t have any problem giving the Justice Department the resources it needs to do that,” he said.

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