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Feb 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. consumer financial watchdog agency on Monday said it had permanently barred California mortgage broker RMK Financial Corp. from the mortgage lending industry, accusing it of repeat violations against military personnel and their families. "Our action reflects our commitment to weed out repeat offenders, and we are shutting down this outfit for good," he said. According to the CFPB, Majestic Home Loan "tricked" military families by falsely claiming government affiliation while also deceiving borrowers about interest rates. The agency on Thursday announced a $10 million fine against the Georgia title lender TitleMax for allegedly making unlawful loans to military personnel and charging illegally high interest rates. The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal against an October ruling from the 5th U.S.

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Three banks agreed to pay $1.35 billion to resolve litigation by former Allen Stanford investors who accused them of contributing to the imprisoned financier's massive Ponzi scheme. Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank <TD.TO> will pay $1.205 billion, HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) will pay $40 million and Independent Bank Group Inc (IBTX.O) , formerly Bank of Houston, will pay $100 million. They avert a trial that had been scheduled for Monday in Houston federal court, where TD, HSBC and Independent Bank were the last remaining defendants. Two other defendants, France's Societe Generale SA (SOGN.PA) and Mississippi-based Trustmark Corp (TRMK.O), settled for a respective $157 million and $100 million earlier this year. Independent Bank expects to recognize a $100 million first-quarter expense for its settlement, a regulatory filing shows.

Companies Tesla Inc FollowFeb 27 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and its Chief Executive Elon Musk were sued on Monday by shareholders who accused them of overstating the effectiveness and safety of their electric vehicles' Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies. They said Tesla's share price fell several times as the truth became known, including after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating the technologies, and reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Musk's Autopilot claims. The share price also fell 5.7% on Feb. 16 after NHTSA forced a recall of more than 362,000 Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving beta software because they could be unsafe around intersections. Monday's lawsuit led by shareholder Thomas Lamontagne seeks unspecified damages for Tesla shareholders from Feb. 19, 2019 to Feb. 17, 2023. Tesla's share price closed Monday up $10.75, or 5.5%, at $207.63, but the stock has lost about half its value since peaking in Nov. 2021.

REUTERS/Rebecca CookFeb 27 (Reuters) - Ohio residents suing Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N) over a train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals urged a U.S. judge on Monday to block the company from destroying the wreckage without first giving them ample opportunity to inspect the crash site. The derailment of the Norfolk Southern operated train in East Palestine on Feb. 3 forced thousands of residents to evacuate while railroad crews drained and burned off toxic chemicals. They asked the judge to give their experts more time before Norfolk Southern removes and destroys the wreckage, which was slated to start on Wednesday. She asked whether Norfolk Southern could remove low-priority cars to an offsite storage location for later inspection, or if other options were available. The EPA on Saturday announced it was temporarily pausing Norfolk Southern's shipment of material from the crash site, but promised those efforts would resume soon.

The justices will hear the case during the court's next term, which begins in October. The case is the latest to come before the Supreme Court seeking to rein in the authority of federal agencies. The CFPB, which enforces consumer financial laws, was created after the 2008 financial crisis as part of a federal law known as the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. A Democratic-led Congress in 2010 set up the agency to draw funding annually from the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, which last fiscal year transferred around $642 million to the consumer protection agency. The court heard arguments in November in two other cases involving agency power.

[1/2] Alex Murdaugh gives testimony in his murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, U.S., February 23, 2023. Grace Beahm Alford/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERSFeb 27 (Reuters) - Four final defense witnesses are set to take the stand on Monday in the double murder trial of disbarred South Carolina lawyer Richard "Alex" Murdaugh before his attorneys rest their case, with jury deliberations on track to begin later in the week. Murdaugh's lawyers said they planned to question four additional witnesses before resting their case in the early afternoon on Monday. That would be followed by closing arguments and the judge instructing the jury, which could happen on Tuesday or Wednesday, Murdaugh defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said in court on Friday. The case has drawn intense media coverage given the political influence of the Murdaugh family in South Carolina.

WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A Republican congressman's court battle to protect his cellphone records has prevented federal investigators from reviewing over 2,200 documents in their investigation of then-President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 election, according to newly unsealed court documents. An investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives' Jan. 6 committee last year revealed Perry was in frequent contact with Trump White House officials in the weeks before the attack. On Thursday, an attorney for Perry asked an appellate court to reverse Judge Howell's lower court ruling that his communications were not within a "legitimate legislative sphere." A Justice Department attorney urged the judicial panel not to block the congressman's cellphone from investigators. Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Goldman Sachs Group Inc FollowFeb 25 (Reuters) - Roger Ng, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) banker convicted for helping to embezzle Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, appealed to a New York court on Saturday not to force him to spend more time in prison. A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Ng in April last year of conspiring to violate an anti-bribery law and commit money laundering. Reuters was not immediately able reach Malaysian prison officials to comment on the conditions. Prosecutors said that he helped his former boss Tim Leissner embezzle money from the fund, launder the proceeds and bribe officials to win business for Goldman. Reporting by Shivani Tanna and Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Prosecutors will cross examine Richard "Alex" Murdaugh for a second day on Friday, one day after the disbarred South Carolina attorney took the stand and denied any involvement in the murder of his wife and son but admitted to lying to investigators. Waters told the judge that he stil had some financial matters to go over before tackling the "other evidence". He said would likely need three to four hours to finish cross examination when court resumes on Friday at 9:30 a.m. Murdaugh, 54, testified that he lied because he was suffering from paranoia tied to a years-long addiction to opiods, and did not trust the police. Murdaugh, the scion of an influential South Carolina legal family, was indicted by a grand jury in July on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon in connection with the shootings.

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to offer a defense of the abortion drug mifepristone in a meeting on Friday, according to a White House official, as some activist groups work to end U.S. sales of the pill. Medication abortion has drawn increasing attention since the U.S. Supreme Court last year reversed its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which had guaranteed abortion rights nationwide. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, directed federal agencies to expand access to medication abortion in response to the decision, which has allowed more than a dozen Republican-led states to adopt new abortion bans. Mifepristone is approved for medication abortion in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy in combination with another drug, misoprostol. Medication abortion accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions.

Prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to proceed with their case against Anderson Lee Aldrich on all charges filed in the Nov. 19 shooting rampage at Club Q club in Colorado Springs, the El Paso County district judge ruled. Besides multiple counts of first-degree murder, Aldrich faces dozens of counts of attempted murder and assault, as well as hate-crimes charges alleging the attack was motivated by prejudice against victims' sexual or gender identities. Thursday's ruling capped a two-day preliminary hearing in which prosecutors outlined their case for trying Aldrich on all charges. A hand-sketched map of Club Q was also found in a search of the defendant's home, Gasper said. Two patrons with military training subdued Aldrich and held the suspect until police arrived, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

In a Thursday filing in Manhattan federal court, the U.S. Virgin Islands said JPMorgan's wrongful conduct continued at least until August 2019, when Epstein killed himself. The U.S. Virgin Islands called Dimon "a likely source of relevant and unique information" about decisions to retain Epstein as a client, and discussions on Epstein's referrals of prominent and wealthy potential clients. According to the filing, the business referral relationship continued after Epstein stopped being a client. The U.S. Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan for unspecified damages, saying the bank should have known about its "high-risk" former client's misconduct on a private island he owned there. The case is Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands v JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

The families, comprising more than 10,000 people, had asked U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan to put his Feb. 21 decision on hold while they appeal. "An important public interest lies in the enforcement of terrorism judgments," Daniels wrote. In ruling against the families, Daniels said awarding them the frozen assets would effectively recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate government, which the Biden administration has not done. The president ordered $3.5 billion set aside to benefit the Afghan people, leaving the rest for the families to pursue. The case is In re Terrorist Attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Producers of the Western movie 'Rust' on Friday said they had agreed to pay a $100,000 civil fine for "serious" workplace safety breaches prior to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico film set in 2021. Hutchins was killed when actor Alec Baldwin fired a live round from a gun he was using during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe. The New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rust Line Producer Gabrielle Pickle told the agency on Dec. 20 Gutierrez-Reed's requests for extra armorer days were granted. Production of the movie is set to resume in the spring in Montana, RMP has said.

[1/2] A person uses virtual reality headset at Meta stand during the ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 8, 2022. The FTC sued Meta in July to stop the Within deal, arguing that Meta's purchase would reduce competition in a new market. Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California rejected the FTC's concerns, and declined to order a preliminary injunction. The FTC's effort had been seen as a test of the agency's ability to prevent Meta from acquiring small would-be rivals. Reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Twelve Democratic-led states have sued the federal government to challenge special restrictions on the distribution of the abortion pill mifepristone, saying those restrictions are not supported by evidence. The lawsuit, led by Washington and Oregon and filed Thursday in Washington federal court against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, comes as a separate lawsuit by anti-abortion activists seeks to end access to the drug altogether. Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (BofA) (BAC.N) amassed $1.2 billion in expenses for litigation and regulatory investigations last year including fines and settlements, according to a company filing on Wednesday. BofA also paid $225 million in penalties to U.S. financial regulators last year over employees' use of unauthorized messaging platforms including WhatsApp. A pair of banking regulators also fined the bank $225 million over what they called a "botched" handling of jobless benefits during the pandemic. While those three cases led to just over $800 million in combined expenses last year, BofA did not specify what accounted for the remaining $400 million. Some other U.S. banks also received hefty penalties in 2022.

Feb 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is preparing an antitrust lawsuit to block software maker Adobe Inc's (ADBE.O) $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Responding to the report, Adobe said it and Figma were in different product areas, with Figma focusing on interactive designs. The Justice Department declined comment. Adobe shares edged lower in trading post-market trading after the story came out. Adobe, which makes Photoshop, said in September it would buy Figma, with investors concerned about the hefty price tag.

Strzok and Page factored prominently in Trump's contention that the FBI was politically biased against him. Page, who resigned her position as a senior FBI lawyer, sued over alleged privacy violations stemming from the leak of the messages. The Justice Department has argued that Strzok was fired for violating FBI policies and undermining trust in the bureau. Both Trump and Wray had resisted subpoenas to appear for depositions, arguing that Strzok had not cleared the high bar to depose senior government officials by showing that Trump and Wray had information relevant to the case. Representatives for Trump and the U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

[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.

Feb 23 (Reuters) - A group of four conservative-leaning U.S. states is challenging a new rule from Wall Street's top regulator that requires certain investment funds to reveal more about how they vote on shareholder ballots, including on pay packages for top executives. The new rule, which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted in November, will put shareholders at increased risk of loss, encouraging political activism and raising administrative costs, according to the office of Utah's attorney general. West Virginia, Texas and Louisiana also joined the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday before the 5th U.S. Republican legislators and elected officials have voiced increasing opposition in recent years to what they view as progressive activism among large Wall Street investors and attempts to enable this through regulation. Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Google Inc FollowAlphabet Inc FollowFeb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Justice Department lawyers say that Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O) destroyed internal corporate communications and have asked a federal judge to sanction the company as part of the government's antitrust case over its search business. The DOJ's sanctions bid marks at least the second time in the case that the government has sought to punish Google. Last year, the DOJ alleged Google unfairly kept internal documents away from antitrust investigators, claiming they were protected by attorney-client privilege. The judge declined in April 2022 to sanction Google for conduct that occurred prior to the start of the litigation in 2020. The case is United States v. Google LLC, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No.

"I didn’t shoot my wife or my son anytime, ever," Murdaugh said from the stand. Murdaugh, the scion of an influential South Carolina legal family, was indicted by a grand jury in July on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon in connection with the shootings. Murdaugh said he was suffering from paranoia tied to a drug addiction and did not trust the police. Murdaugh testified that he left the kennels after removing a chicken from the mouth of Bubba, one of their dogs. Rocking back and forth and with tears running down his face, Murdaugh said he returned to the kennels and found his wife and son motionless and disfigured.

[1/3] Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Florence Regional Airport in Florence, South Carolina, U.S., March 12, 2022. Trump said his post was "clearly about" and merely repeated his formal response to the first lawsuit, and was therefore covered by "absolute litigation privilege" under New York law, dooming the defamation claim. Carroll's lawsuit also includes a battery claim under New York's Adult Survivors Act, which lets sexual abuse victims sue their attackers even if statutes of limitations have run out. A Washington appeals court is deciding whether Trump should be immune from Carroll's first lawsuit, but not her second, because he was acting as president when he spoke. The case is Carroll v. Trump, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

Kelly, 56, the Grammy-winning R&B artist, has been convicted in two separate trials of luring multiple underage girls into sex by leveraging his wealth and fame, in some case recording the abuse on video. Prosecutors have argued in a sentencing memo that Kelly is so incorrigible that "the only way to ensure Kelly does not reoffend is to impose a sentence that will keep him in prison for the rest of his life." Defense attorneys say a 56-year-old African American man with diabetes is already facing an effective life sentence with the existing 30-year term. "There was a whole culture around it and so yes I do think there's a disproportionate attention on Mr. Kelly," Bonjean said in a telephone interview. Kelly will not address the judge, Bonjean said, because he still faces prosecution in other jurisdictions and any statement could be used against him.

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