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Rep. Santos is in federal custody after turning himself in on Wednesday as he faces numerous charges. Santos is being charged on 13 total counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds. He is being charged with 13 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds. Federal prosecutors accused Santos — the embattled GOP lawmaker who's admitted to lying about his resume — of stealing supporters' money, illegally taking unemployment payouts, and lying to Congress. The congressman was taken into custody in Melville on Long Island, before being transported to a federal courthouse in Central Islip, per CNN.

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., was charged by federal prosecutors with an array of crimes, including fraud, theft, money laundering and making false statements. Santos faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the top charges against him, according to the Justice Department. In forms he filled out for his 2020 campaign, Santos failed to report more than $25,000 in income from the investment firm where he worked, the indictment alleged. In his 2022 campaign, Santos allegedly falsely reported earning $750,000 in salary and between $1 million and $5 million in dividends from his company, the Devolder Organization. A growing number of Santos' fellow Republicans urged him to step down, even before the federal charges against him first came to light.

☆ An American Airlines mechanic was convicted of trying to smuggle $320,000 worth of cocaine by hiding it under the cockpit of a plane
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An American Airlines mechanic was convicted of smuggling cocaine, prosecutors said Tuesday. Paul Belloisi kept 10 bricks of cocaine in a compartment underneath the plane's cockpit, they said. Paul Belloisi, 55, who worked at John F. Kennedy Airport for around 3o years, was convicted of conspiring to possess cocaine, conspiring to import cocaine, and importing cocaine, the release said. Prosecutors said that Belloisi tried to smuggle the drugs — worth as much as $320,000 — on a flight that landed in New York from Jamaica on February 4. Customs and Border Patrol officers first discovered 10 bricks of cocaine that weighed more than 25 pounds hidden inside an electronics compartment on the underside of the American Airlines plane, the press release said.

☆ China 'police station' case shows U.S. ramping up use of foreign agent laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Justice Department last year charged at least 25 people with violating or conspiring to violate the law. That was the highest number since at least 2003, according to a Reuters review of Justice Department statements and court records. He added that his office uses the foreign agent statute and other tools to combat the trend. A RARELY TESTED STATUTEWhile once mainly used against traditional espionage, Section 951 cases brought in recent years have targeted "influence operations" and harassment of U.S.-based dissidents. After the acquittal, Justice Department official Jay Bratt told a conference the department would "continue to bring hard cases."

☆ U.S. charges two with setting up Chinese 'secret police station' in New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement officials have arrested two New York residents for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station" in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn said in a statement on Monday. "This prosecution reveals the Chinese government's flagrant violation of our nation's sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City," Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said in a statement. Prosecutors said Lu in 2018 sought to persuade an individual considered a fugitive by China to return home, prosecutors said. China's government in 2022 asked Lu to help locate an individual living in California who was considered a pro-democracy activist, prosecutors said. He said the Chinese government setting up a police presence in the United States "violates sovereignty" and circumvents law enforcement cooperation.

Companies Deutsche Bank AG FollowNEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) - A former Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) investment banker has been charged in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday with misappropriating funds from investors whom he wooed with promises of big returns from cryptocurrency trading. Rashawn Russell, 27, of Brooklyn, solicited investments from friends and colleagues but used the funds for gambling and other personal expenses, federal prosecutors said. According to the indictment, Russell was an investment banker from July 2018 through November 2021 at a financial institution that was not identified in the document. His LinkedIn profile states that he became a Deutsche Bank investment banking analyst in July 2018 and was promoted to associate in July 2020. Deutsche Bank said in a statement that while it would not comment on an ongoing legal proceeding, it "regularly supports law enforcement and regulatory oversight efforts, including appropriately responding to and cooperating with authorized investigations and proceedings."

☆ Ex-Deutsche Bank investment banker charged in U.S. with crypto fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) - A former Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) investment banker has been charged in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday with misappropriating funds from investors who he wooed with promises of big returns from cryptocurrency trading. Rashawn Russell, 27, of Brooklyn, solicited investments from friends and colleagues but used the funds for gambling and other personal expenses, federal prosecutors said. According to the indictment, Russell was an investment banker from July 2018 through November 2021 at a financial institution that was not identified in the document. His LinkedIn profile states that he became a Deutsche Bank investment banking analyst in July 2018 and was promoted to associate in July 2020. U.S. prosecutors and regulators have been working to crack down on fraud involving digital assets.

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - A social media influencer who once had 58,000 Twitter followers was convicted by a federal jury of election interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race over a voter suppression scheme, the Justice Department said late on Friday. Douglass Mackey, also known as “Ricky Vaughn,” was convicted of the charge of conspiracy against rights stemming from his scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote, the Justice Department said in a statement. In 2016, Mackey, 33, established an audience on Twitter with 58,000 followers. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization, Vaughn has in the past openly supported hate groups. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington, Editing by Franklin PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson arrested and charged with fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Carlos Watson, the founder and chief executive of the embattled Ozy Media, was arrested and charged with fraud this week, according to federal court records. Watson was accused in a federal indictment of having “engaged in a scheme to defraud OZY’s investors, potential investors, potential acquirers, lenders and potential lenders.”The charges said that Watson committed the fraud “through material misrepresentations and omissions” about Ozy Media, including the company’s finances, investors, business partners, contracts, and potential acquisitions. A spokesperson for Ozy Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday morning. The charges come after The New York Times published an exposé in 2021 pulling back the curtain on some of the alleged deceptive practices Ozy Media engaged in. Semafor reported earlier this month that Ozy Media was attempting a comeback.

[1/8] Carlos Watson, CEO of Ozy Media, departs U.S. Federal Court in Brooklyn after being arrested and charged with fraud in New York City, New York, U.S., February 23, 2023. REUTERS/David Dee DelgadoFeb 23 (Reuters) - Ozy Media and its CEO Carlos Watson have been criminally charged for scheming to defraud investors of tens of millions dollars by misrepresenting the company’s debts, financial performance and audience size, Brooklyn federal prosecutors said Thursday. Watson and Ozy Media are charged with securities fraud and wire fraud. Rao, who was initially charged under a pseudonym, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and identity theft. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission separately filed a civil case against Ozy, Watson and Rao on Thursday.

☆ Former New York stockbroker convicted of leaving the US to join ISIS as a weapons instructor and sniper
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A New Yorker was convicted on Tuesday of providing material support to the Islamic State in Syria. He abandoned his family and job as a stockbroker in Brooklyn to go to Syria, per AP. Ruslan Maratovich Asainov trained an estimated 100 fighters on how to use weapons, the DOJ said. According to the DOJ, Asainov converted to Islam in 2009. Prosecutors say this man is Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, pictured between June 2014 and April 2015, in Tabqa, Syria.

☆ Judge blocks sale of machine gun converters after U.S. sues
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. District Judge Nina Morrison in Brooklyn on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order against Rare Breed Triggers LLC and Rare Breed Firearms LLC, and their owners Lawrence DeMonico and Kevin Maxwell. The department said this meant the devices qualified as machine guns under federal law, and said the devices did not qualify for limited exceptions permitting their sale. Rare Breed operates in Fargo, North Dakota, and, according to court papers, Maxwell is also its general counsel. AR-15 style rifles have been used in many recent mass shootings. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department will do "everything in its power to protect the American people from gun violence and to hold accountable those that flood our communities with illegal guns."

☆ DOJ charges 7 with smuggling equipment to Russian military
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Holmes Lybrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —The US Justice Department has charged five Russian nationals, one American and an Israeli who is a US permanent resident with allegedly conspiring to violate US sanctions by smuggling US-made equipment to the Russian military, according to a recently unsealed court documents. According to the 16-count indictment, the defendants were associated with two Moscow companies that worked with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to purchase and smuggle sanctioned items – including semiconductors and other electronic equipment – from the US to the Russian military. Konoshchenok, who the Justice Department believes is an officer for the FSB, was allegedly one of their smugglers. The two US nationals, Brayman and Yermolenko, are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Tuesday. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly reflect the nationalities of those charged by the DOJ.

Fawaz Ould Ahmed was taken into custody by the United States and brought to New York on Friday, the Justice Department said in a statement. Ahmed received a death penalty in Mali after pleading guilty to planning and executing the deadly attacks targeting Westerners. The Justice Department said a total of 38 people had died in the three incidents. "The defendant's alleged actions — inhumanely plotting and carrying out ruthless terrorist attacks — were not forgotten and will not be forgiven," said FBI assistant director-in-charge Michael Driscoll. Ahmed told the Malian court that he did not regret the attacks and that he had been seeking revenge for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad printed in Charlie Hebdo.

☆ Former boxer charged with trafficking $1 billion worth of cocaine through U.S. ports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Logan Reardon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Former heavyweight boxer Goran Gogic was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday with trafficking 22 tons of cocaine worth over $1 billion. Gogic was charged with three counts of violating the federal Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, plus one count of conspiracy. According to prosecutors, the cocaine was transported to Europe from Colombia using American ports. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in Brooklyn called Gogic's arrest and indictment "a resounding victory for law enforcement." Gogic was a heavyweight boxer from 2001 to 2012, compiling a 21-4-2 record in 27 career matches.

☆ Goran Gogic: Former heavyweight boxer charged with trafficking over $1 billion worth of cocaine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Matt Foster | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Former heavyweight boxer Goran Gogic was charged with the maritime trafficking of over $1 billion worth of cocaine through US ports, the US Department of Justice said on Monday. The 43-year-old Montenegrin was arrested on Sunday night as he tried to board an international flight from Miami, the DOJ said in a news release. Gogic has been charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and three counts of violating the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, according to court documents. The DOJ says US law enforcement officers seized three shipments of cocaine. It was “one of the largest seizures of cocaine in United States history” and worth over $1 billion, the DOJ said.

☆ Former heavyweight boxer charged with trafficking 22 tons of cocaine worth $1B through U.S. ports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A former heavyweight boxer from Montenegro was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday with trafficking in 22 tons of cocaine worth over $1 billion, most of which was part of one of the largest cocaine seizures in American history. The complex operation required knowledge of each ship’s crew, route and location data, and that there was room to store drugs in shipping containers that were already aboard, prosecutors said. According to court papers, Gogic oversaw the logistics, coordinating with crew members, Colombian traffickers and European dockworkers to benefit himself and his Balkan-based cartels. He maintains his innocence, and had come to the U.S. for a boxing convention in Puerto Rico.”At least eight Gayane crew members have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. According to online records, Gogic was a boxer from 2001 to 2012, winning 21 bouts and losing four with two draws.

☆ U.S. charges former Montenegro boxer over 22-ton, $1 billion cocaine seizure
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - A former heavyweight boxer from Montenegro was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday with trafficking in 22 tons of cocaine worth over $1 billion, most of which was part of one of the largest cocaine seizures in American history. The complex operation required knowledge of each ship's crew, route and location data, and that there was room to store drugs in shipping containers that were already aboard, prosecutors said. According to court papers, Gogic oversaw the logistics, coordinating with crew members, Colombian traffickers and European dockworkers to benefit himself and his Balkan-based cartels. At least eight Gayane crew members have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. According to online records, Gogic was a boxer from 2001 to 2012, winning 21 bouts and losing four with two draws.

☆ 7 Chinese nationals charged in alleged plot to repatriate U.S. resident
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Federal authorities have charged seven Chinese nationals over an alleged long-running harassment campaign to try and intimidate a U.S. resident into returning to China. “The United States will firmly counter such outrageous violations of national sovereignty and prosecute individuals who act as illegal agents of foreign states,” he added. Surveillance footage showed Guanyang An, left, and Weidong Yuan visited the victim's residence and took photographs of it, according to the indictment. “That same government sent agents to the United States to harass, threaten, and forcibly return them to the People’s Republic of China,” he added. In 2020, federal prosecutors arrested five people accused of trying to coerce Chinese citizens to go home.

☆ Son found guilty in murder-for-hire plot to kill alleged mobster father
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Anthony Zottola also tried unsuccessfully to have his brother, Salvatore Zottola, killed, according to prosecutors. Sylvester Zottola was threatened by a masked gunman in late 2017 and later survived being stabbed and having his throat slashed. Salvatore Zottola was shot in the head, chest and hand in front of his residence but survived, according to prosecutors. Five other defendants have pleaded guilty, including Bushawn Shelton, who prosecutors alleged was hired by Anthony Zottola and then engaged Ross to carry out the hit. “It was his own son, who was so determined to control the family’s lucrative real estate business that he hired a gang of hit men to murder his father.”

☆ Russian Nationals Arrested Over Alleged Scheme to Evade U.S. Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Two Russian nationals were arrested for allegedly using their Germany-based company as a front to move black market oil and sensitive equipment with military uses in defiance of U.S. sanctions. Three other Russian nationals and two Venezuelans were also charged in what prosecutors described as a global scheme to evade U.S. sanctions and export controls. The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday unveiled sanctions against Mr. Orekhov, NDA and Opus Energy Trading LLC, another Orekhov-linked company. The alleged oil buyers included a Russian aluminum company controlled by a sanctioned oligarch and a Chinese energy conglomerate, neither of which were named by prosecutors. Some of the same electronic components obtained through the scheme were found in Russian weapons platforms seized in Ukraine, prosecutors said.

Some of the electronics obtained through the scheme have been found in Russian weapons platforms seized in Ukraine, prosecutors said. They used a German company to ship the military technologies, as well as Venezuelan oil, to Russian purchasers, prosecutors said. The U.S.-origin technologies can be used in fighter aircraft, ballistic and hypersonic missile systems, smart munitions, and other military applications, Treasury said. After the initial round of U.S. sanctions on PDVSA, Russia's Rosneft emerged as a key intermediary for Venezuelan crude. After Washington sanctioned Rosneft subsidiaries over their dealings with PDVSA, dozens of firms with no track record of oil trading have been intermediating in sales of Venezuelan oil to Chinese buyers.

Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim (HOLN.S) in 2015, agreed to pay $778 million in forfeiture and fines as part of the plea agreement. "Lafarge made a deal with the devil," Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters following the guilty plea. At that point, Islamic State took possession of the remaining cement and sold it for the equivalent of $3.21 million, prosecutors said. REUTERS/Charles PlatiauHolcim said that former Lafarge executives involved in the conduct concealed it from Holcim, as well as from external auditors. No Lafarge executives were charged in the United States.

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