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☆ Relief could be on the way for student-loan borrowers who paid one of the 52 companies suspected of 'falsely promising' them loan forgiveness, Minnesota's attorney general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Minnesota AG Keith Ellison opened investigations into 52 student-debt relief companies. He said those companies are suspected of "falsely promising" loan forgiveness to borrowers for fees. Should the investigations find wrongdoing, impacted borrowers could receive relief. Last week, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that his office has opened investigations into 52 student-debt relief companies "suspected of violating Minnesota law," according to the press release. The FTC had previously halted operations of two different debt relief companies that scammed borrowers out of $8.8 million under the guise of debt relief.

Persons: Keith Ellison, California —, Ellison, Joe Biden's, servicers Organizations: Service, Minnesota, Joe Biden's Education, Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department, FTC, Consumer Financial Protection Locations: Minnesota, Wall, Silicon, California

☆ How Mexican narcos use remittances to wire U.S. drug profits home
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +28 min

Now the news agency is the first to detail how Mexican drug gangs have harnessed legitimate remittance networks to repatriate their U.S. drug profits, and the factors that make this activity so difficult for authorities to detect and thwart. But authorities say Mexican drug cartels are piggybacking on this legal network to repatriate earnings from U.S. narcotics sales. A Reuters search of Mexican court records dating back to 2012 turned up no cases involving money laundering through remittances. Still, prosecutors in those cases mentioned several of those firms in court documents because they said the defendants had used their platforms to wire drug money. His office did not respond to requests for comment about law enforcement allegations that Mexican cartels are using remittances to launder drug money.

Persons: Money, ”, “, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, ” Jorge Godínez, ” Godínez, John Cornyn of, Chuck Grassley, ” Grassley, pocketing, John Horn, remitters ”, Horn, – Oscar Gustavo Perez, Bernal, Itzayana Guadalupe Perez, Susan Fiorella Ayala, Chavez –, Los, –, Jose Luis Rosales, Ocampo, Josue Gama, Perez, Thania Rosales, Dulce Rosales, – Ana Lilia Leal, Martinez, Ana Paola Banda, Maria de Lourdes Carbajal, Henri Watson, Carbajal, Sigue, Sangita Bricker, Transfast –, ” Sigue, Transfast, fanny, Juan de Dios Gámez, Rubén Rocha, BanCoppel, Banorte, hadn’t, El, López Obrador, ” López Obrador, Signos, Signos Vitales, Oquitoa, Enrique Cardenas, Tim Walz, Keith Ellison Organizations: Sinaloa Cartel, Reuters, Jalisco New, Mexican, WorldRemit, ., National Intelligence, narcos, U.S, Republican U.S, Treasury, U.S . Department of, U.S ., Financial Intelligence Unit, “, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Los Rosales, Kansas City, ”, Leal, IDT Corporation, IDT, Mastercard, Express Cellular, Prosecutors, IRS, Western Union, U.S . Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, ‘, Banco Azteca, Elektra, World Bank, Minnesota, Caborca Locations: CULIACÁN, Mexico, Mexican, Culiacán, Sinaloa, United States, Jalisco, U.S, Colorado, Union, Americas, London, John Cornyn of Texas, Iowa, Ohio, Colorado , Georgia , Ohio , Oklahoma , Texas, Virginia, Washington, Georgia, Atlanta, Columbus, Rosales, Nayarit, Michoacan, Missouri, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Miami, , New Jersey, Ria, Kansas, California, New York, Western, Sinaloan, Costa Rica, BanCoppel, India, China, Mexico City, Minnesota, Arizona , Colorado , Florida , Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, Oquitoa, Sonora

The sentence will run concurrently with the 3-1/2 years Thao previously received on a federal conviction of violating Floyd's civil rights, Fox 9 in Minneapolis reported. Cahill in May found Thao guilty of one count of aiding and abetting manslaughter in the second degree for his role in Floyd's death. Thao, a nine-year veteran of the police force, was the fourth and final officer sentenced in the killing. Lane was sentenced to 2-1/2 years and Kueng to three years in federal prison, to run concurrently with the state sentence. Last year, he received a concurrent sentence of 21 years in prison on federal charges of violating Floyd's civil rights.

Persons: Tou Thao, George Floyd, Peter Cahill, Keith Ellison, Thao, Cahill, Derek Chauvin, Floyd, Thomas Lane, J, Alexander Kueng, Chauvin, Lane, Kueng, Brendan O'Brien, Will Dunham Organizations: Former Minnesota, Hennepin County Sheriff's, REUTERS, Former Minneapolis, Minnesota, Fox, Thomson Locations: Hennepin County Jail, Minneapolis , Minnesota, U.S, Hennepin County, Minneapolis, United States, Kueng, Chicago

CNN —Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis reaffirmed in a local news interview that she will announce charging decisions by September 1 in her investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election result, while applauding the ramped-up security measures around the local courthouse. “The work is accomplished,” Willis told CNN affiliate WXIA at a back-to-school event over the weekend. We’re ready to go.”Willis has previously signaled in letters to local officials and those providing security that she would make any charging announcements between July 31 and the end of August. “I am sending to you in case you are unclear on what I and my staff have come accustomed to over the last 2 ½ years,” Willis wrote in the email to Fulton County officials. In a response to Willis’ email also obtained by CNN, Fulton County Solicitor-General Keith E. Gammage said: “The awful communication that you received is meant to threaten, harass and intimidate, not just you, but all of us.”This story has been updated with additional developments.

Persons: Fani Willis, Donald Trump, Georgia’s, ” Willis, “ We’ve, We’re, Willis ’, Willis, ”, “ I’m, “, Keith E, Gammage Organizations: CNN, WXIA, Trump, Fulton, Atlanta Journal Locations: Fulton County

☆ Superstar Billy Graham, Model of the Buff, Blond Wrestler, Dies at 79
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Superstar Billy Graham, a professional wrestler whose extravagant presence — 22-inch biceps, dyed blond hair, feather boas, tie-dyed tights and an outrageous gift of gab — influenced the style of future stars like Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura, died on Wednesday in Phoenix. The cause was sepsis and multiple organ failure, said Keith Elliot Greenberg, who collaborated with Graham on his autobiography. Graham’s longtime use of steroids had weakened his bones, requiring at least six hip replacements, and made him sterile. He also received a liver transplant in 2002 after contracting hepatitis C.“If you look at those that came after him, more people have patterned themselves after Superstar Billy Graham and become a success in this business than probably anybody,” Triple H, the superstar wrestler whose birth name is Paul Levesque, said at Graham’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. “And when it comes to bodies, there was nobody, and I mean nobody, that could touch the Superstar.”Graham, who was born Eldridge Wayne Coleman, had been an evangelist, a bodybuilder who bench pressed as much as 605 pounds, a defensive end in the Canadian Football League, a debt collector and a bouncer before turning to wrestling in 1970.

☆ An Insider’s View of the George Floyd Murder Trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The country was riveted for three weeks in 2021 during the trial of the former police officer Derek Chauvin, as a jury in Minneapolis considered whether the death of George Floyd was murder. Through it all, Keith Ellison, the attorney general of Minnesota who was directing the prosecution, was a constant yet silent presence in the courtroom. “I wasn’t trying to be a stenographer,” Mr. Ellison, 59, said in an interview this month. “I was thinking, ‘What do I need to remember?’”Those notes informed the prosecution's nightly meetings during the trial. It is a trial diary of sorts, a clear, methodical account of his experience directing the prosecution of Mr. Chauvin, in the rare murder conviction of a police officer for an on-duty death.

CNN —A Minnesota judge found former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter for his role in the May 2020 killing of George Floyd, according to court documents filed Monday. “Like the bystanders, Thao could see Floyd’s life slowly ebbing away as the restraint continued,” Cahill wrote in the verdict. Tou Thao Hennepin County Sheriff's Office“The conviction of Tou Thao is historic and the right outcome,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, the lead prosecutor of Floyd’s murder, said in a statement. Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in state court and was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison in June 2021. Lane, Kueng and Thao were found guilty in federal court of violating Floyd’s civil rights and of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin during the restraint.

Companies Altria Group Inc FollowApril 17 (Reuters) - E-cigarette company Juul Labs Inc and its former largest investor, Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc (MO.N), on Monday settled claims by the state of Minnesota that they fueled teen vaping addiction. The settlement, whose terms are not yet public, was announced by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and by Juul as a trial in the case was nearing its end. Juul has now settled vaping-related claims with 48 U.S. states and territories. Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York Editing by Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Juul settlement: E-cigarette maker to pay $462 million in several states for marketing nicotine for youth vaping
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Juul Labs Inc. will pay $462 million for its role in the youth vaping surge. The settlement includes restrictions on Juul's marketing and distribution of vaping products. Like some other settlements reached by Juul, this latest includes restrictions on the marketing and distribution of the company's vaping products. For example, it is barred from any direct or indirect marketing that targets youth, which includes anyone under age 35. The spokesperson added that underage use of Juul products has declined by 95% since 2019 based on the National Youth Tobacco Survey.

[1/3] The Gateway Arch is seen across from snow covered banks of the Mississippi River during cold weather in St Louis, Missouri, U.S. February 11, 2021. "Big corporations like Kia and Hyundai must be held accountable for endangering our residents and putting profit over people,” said St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones. Many Hyundai and Kia vehicles have no electronic immobilizers, which prevent break-ins and bypassing the ignition. Since May 2022, St. Louis police received more than 4,500 reports of thefts of Kia or Hyundai vehicles. Sixty-one percent of vehicles stolen in St. Louis have been Kias and Hyundais, St. Louis said.

March 27 (Reuters) - E-cigarette company Juul Labs Inc and its former largest investor, Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc (MO.N), will face their first U.S. trial this week over claims that they created a public nuisance by marketing addictive e-cigarettes to minors. It says Juul sold its e-cigarettes in sweet flavors and promoted them on social media to appeal to underage consumers. Juul and Altria have faced thousands of similar lawsuits around the country. The state also says Altria helped Juul market its products, including by providing it access to its sales force and including Juul advertisements in Marlboro products. Altria this month announced that it had given up its investment in Juul in exchange for some of Juul's intellectual property.

☆ U.S. states urge Hyundai, Kia to do more to tackle theft risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In Chicago there were over 7,000 thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles in 2022 accounting for 10% of Kia and 7% of Hyundai vehicles registered in the city, the letter said. Ellison said in Minneapolis in 2022 Kia and Hyundai vehicle thefts were tied to five homicides and 265 motor vehicle accidents. The free upgrade will be offered for 3.8 million Hyundai and 4.5 million Kia vehicles, the automakers and NHTSA said. Many Hyundai and Kia vehicles have no electronic immobilizers, which prevent break-ins and bypassing the ignition. All Hyundai vehicles produced since November 2021 are equipped with an engine immobilizer as standard equipment.

☆ House Republicans target the CFPB as the agency takes aim at 'junk fees'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers discussed ways to reform, or altogether defund, the nation's foremost consumer protection agency on Thursday, as the regulator takes aim at illegal "junk fees" levied on consumers. GOP lawmakers in the hearing criticized the Biden administration's push to eradicate "junk fees," largely regulated by the CFPB. On Wednesday, the agency released a list of illegal junk fees encompassing deposit accounts; auto and mortgage loan servicing; and payday and title lending. Subcommittee member Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., said Chopra has used junk fees as an excuse to expand his authority. The CFPB's working definition of junk fees is "any fee they don't like," argued Devin Watkins, an attorney at the conservative-leaning Competitive Enterprise Institute.

☆ Minnesota just shut down a student-loan forgiveness company accused of illegally taking money from borrowers for services they could've gotten for free
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Minnesota shut down student-debt relief company Direct Account Management over fraudulent behavior. It accused the company of illegally taking money from borrowers for services that are otherwise free. The company is required to pay the state $20,000, which will be distributed to impacted borrowers. This marks the 13th time Ellison has shut down a student-debt relief company in the state over fraudulent behavior. In light of the uncertainty, and the potential of broad relief, the Education Department launched a communications campaign to protect borrowers from scams.

☆ Court asked to void verdict against Derek Chauvin in George Floyd's murder
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

An attorney for Derek Chauvin asked an appeals court Wednesday to throw out the former Minneapolis police officer’s convictions in the murder of George Floyd, arguing that legal and procedural errors deprived him of a fair trial. But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, said Chauvin got “one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nation’s history. ... Chauvin’s many arguments before this court do not come close to justifying reversal.”Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. “Judge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless,” Katyal said. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Chauvin's sentencing on June 25, 2021, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis.

☆ AG charges former officer in Floyd protest beating
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Attorney General Keith Ellison charged a former Minneapolis police officer Wednesday with beating a man during protests over George Floyd’s death. Justin Stetson, 34, faces one felony count of third-degree assault in connection with the May 30, 2020, beating of Jaleel Stallings. According to the criminal complaint, Stetson was among a group of officers enforcing a city-wide curfew that night when his group spotted four people in a parking lot. The city of Minneapolis paid Stallings $1.5 million this past May to settle his federal lawsuit. He alleged Stetson and other officers violated his constitutional rights.

☆ Former Minneapolis Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Killing of George Floyd
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Joe Barrett | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A former Minneapolis police officer pleaded guilty Monday to state charges in the murder of George Floyd, which sparked a summer of racial unrest across the U.S. in 2020. J. Alexander Kueng, a rookie officer on the day of Mr. Floyd’s arrest and murder in May 2020, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, according to a spokesman for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is prosecuting the case. In exchange, the state agreed to drop the higher charge of aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

REUTERS/Lindsey WassonWASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - When a Washington state beauty salon charged Simran Bal $1,900 for training after she quit, she was shocked. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterNearly 10% of American workers surveyed in 2020 were covered by a training repayment agreement, said the Cornell Survey Research Institute. The practice, which critics call Training Repayment Agreement Provisions, or TRAPs, is drawing scrutiny from U.S. regulators and lawmakers. While waiting to complete the training, Bal worked at the front desk, which paid less. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in comments that training repayment demands were "particularly egregious" in commercial trucking.

Thomas Lane, a former Minneapolis police officer who pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison. Lane held down Floyd's legs as he cried out that he couldn't breathe, while another former officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 ½ minutes on May 25, 2020. As part of Lane's plea deal, a charge of aiding and abetting second-degree murder was dismissed, a spokesman for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted the case, previously said. Cahill said Lane’s state sentence will be concurrent with his federal sentence and that he will serve his time in a federal institution. Two other former officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, are scheduled to stand trial next month on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Derek Chauvin, agentul de poliţie care l-a imobilizat pe afro-americanul George Floyd, decedat în incidentul produs pe 25 mai 2020 în oraşul american Minneapolis, a fost găsit vinovat pentru toate acuzaţiile. George Floyd, un afro-american în vârstă de 46 de ani, a murit după ce poliţistul Derek Chauvin i-a ţinut genunchiul pe gât mai multe minute, pe 25 mai 2020, în timp ce îl imobiliza. Nu am uitat că ceilalţi trei agenţi de poliţie care au avut roluri în decesul lui George Floyd trebuie traşi la răspundere pentru faptele lor”, a comunicat avocatul Ben Crump, care a reprezentat în instanţă familia lui George Floyd. Supremaţia albilor nu îşi are loc în democraţie, mai ales într-o democraţie care ar trebui să ne garanteze libertatea de a trăi”, a transmis asociaţia. „Nu aş numi verdictul de astăzi dreptate, întrucât dreptatea presupune restabilirea deplină, dar este vorba de tragere la răspundere, ceea ce este primul pas spre dreptate”, a declarat procurorul Keith Ellison.

Persons: Derek Chauvin, George Floyd, Keith Ellison, George, Ben Crump, George Floyd ., îşi, asociaţia, Keith Ellison . Organizations: CNN, Mediafax, Black, Foundation, Keith Ellison . Filiala, Amnesty International Locations: american Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, american, Statele Unite, Minneapolis, America, Americii, SUA

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