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☆ Federal Prosecutors Probe New Jersey’s Sen. Bob Menendez
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Justice Department is investigating Sen. Bob Menendez , according to a representative for the New Jersey Democrat, five years after federal public-corruption charges against him fell apart. “Senator Menendez is aware of an investigation,” said Michael Soliman , a political consultant and adviser to Mr. Menendez, adding that he didn’t know the scope of the probe. “As always, should any official inquiries be made, the senator is available to provide any assistance that is requested of him or his office.”

☆ NFT Prosecution Sparks Debate Over Insider-Trading Label for Digital-Token Cases
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Insider trading typically evokes the idea of a well-connected investor using secret information to profit from stock trades. Now, a federal judge has allowed the Justice Department to use the same kind of narrative in a first-ever case about the trading of digital tokens—even though prosecutors didn’t bring traditional insider-trading charges. The use of insider-trading language emerged as a flashpoint in the New York case, which the Justice Department says is its maiden prosecution for insider trading of NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, which are digital proofs of purchase for goods such as art. Prosecutors allege a former employee of NFT marketplace OpenSea profited from nonpublic information by purchasing tokens that he knew would soon be featured on OpenSea’s home page. The defendant, Nathaniel Chastain, knew the tokens would rise in value after being showcased, prosecutors say.

☆ Inside a Jury’s Five-Hour Journey to Convict Nikola’s Trevor Milton
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Nikola founder Trevor Milton, shown at a New York courthouse last month, was convicted of securities fraud for what prosecutors said were his lies about the company’s technology. A jury’s journey to convictNikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton of defrauding investors involved negotiations with initial holdout jurors and tense debates about whether the former electric-truck executive acted with criminal intent, producing an unusual mixed verdict. Three women, known during the trial as Jurors 1, 5 and 6, described to The Wall Street Journal how a federal jury in New York over five hours came to find Mr. Milton guilty of two wire-fraud charges and one count of securities fraud—but not guilty of another securities-fraud charge that carried the stiffest maximum sentence. The verdict, delivered Oct. 14, puzzled some court watchers because the two securities-fraud charges involved the same alleged conduct by Mr. Milton and required jurors to make nearly identical findings to convict.

☆ Trump Organization Tax-Fraud Trial Set to Begin in New York
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

While the Trump Organization has been the subject of legal scrutiny, this marks the first time the company has faced a criminal trial. The criminal tax-fraud trial of the Trump Organization is set to begin with jury selection Monday, offering a rare look into an opaque company that prosecutors say illegally paid some executives in cars, apartments and cash. The Manhattan district attorney’s office alleges former President Donald Trump’s family business effectively kept two sets of books. In internal records, the company recorded perks—including Mercedes-Benz cars for Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg and his wife and private-school tuition for his grandchildren—as employee compensation. But Mr. Weisselberg and the company didn’t report the benefits to tax authorities, prosecutors said.

☆ French Cement Firm Lafarge Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Support Islamic State
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Lafarge admitted that in 2013 and 2014 it paid terrorist organizations to protect a cement facility in northern Syria. French cement firm Lafarge SA pleaded guilty Tuesday in a New York federal court to paying Islamic State and an al Qaeda affiliate to protect its Syrian cement plant, marking what the Justice Department said was the first time it has charged a company with supporting terrorist organizations. Lafarge agreed to pay about $778 million in financial penalties and serve a term of three years probation. The company and its defunct subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.

☆ Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Convicted of Securities Fraud
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Corinne Ramey | Ben Foldy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton, pictured outside a New York courthouse last month, resigned in 2020 after a short seller alleged he made misrepresentations about the company. A federal jury in New York convicted Nikola founder Trevor Milton of securities fraud for what prosecutors said were his repeated lies about the development of the company’s zero-emissions trucks and technology. Friday’s guilty verdict caps the downfall of Mr. Milton, who founded Nikola in his basement in 2015 and took it public in 2020 at a valuation of $3.3 billion, when the company hadn’t sold a single truck. The company’s market valuation briefly exceeded that of industry giants such as Ford Motor Co.

☆ Fraud Trial of Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Wraps Up
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A jury is set to weigh whether to convict Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton of securities and wire charges. The trial of Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton concluded Thursday after closing arguments in which prosecutors called the former executive a con man and the entrepreneur’s lawyer said he didn’t intend to deceive anyone about the electric-truck company’s technology. The jury, which is expected to begin deliberations Friday after receiving legal instructions from the judge, is set to weigh whether to convict Mr. Milton of two securities-fraud charges and two wire-fraud charges. If convicted, Mr. Milton faces up to 25 years in prison on the top count.

☆ Fraud Trial of Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Hears Closing Arguments
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ New York Terror Attack Defendant Faces Rare Federal Death-Penalty Trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An alleged terrorist charged with killing eight people in Manhattan will be on trial for his life beginning this week, in a rare case in which federal prosecutors are seeking a death sentence. Sayfullo Saipov , an Uzbek man who lived in New Jersey, is accused of intentionally driving a truck into a bicycle path in 2017 to run over cyclists and pedestrians. He was inspired by Islamic State to carry out the attack, prosecutors say. The presiding judge will begin questioning prospective jurors Tuesday.

☆ California job-seekers will soon see salary ranges on job postings
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

California job postings will soon include pay ranges, thanks to a new salary transparency bill signed into law by Gov. The move makes California the largest state where job listings will require salary information by law. In California, women are paid roughly 88 cents for every dollar paid to a man, with the gap increasing for women of color. Reporting pay data based on job and demographic background can help uncover occupational segregation that employers may not be aware of. Previous California law already requires companies with 100 or more direct-hire workers submit job and demographic data for those workers.

☆ New York Suit Against Trump Mixes Routine Business Law, Uncommon Allegations
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The New York attorney general’s lawsuit against former President Donald Trump uses a common state business law to make allegations about property valuations, which lawyers say are rarely the focus of civil-fraud cases. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by Letitia James, accuses Mr. Trump, three of his adult children, his company and two of its longtime officials of participating in a decadelong scheme to falsify financial statements for economic gain. Ms. James, a Democrat, alleges the defendants made illegitimate and misleading valuations of 23 properties and assets, from a golf club in Scotland to several properties in New York.

☆ Donald Trump and His Company Are Sued by New York Attorney General on Fraud Allegations
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Corinne Ramey | James Fanelli | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

New York’s attorney general filed a civil fraud lawsuit Wednesday against former President Donald Trump, three of his adult children and his company, alleging they engaged in a decadelong scheme to falsely value their assets and generated $250 million in ill-gotten gains. Letitia James, a Democrat and vocal critic of Mr. Trump, alleged Mr. Trump’s financial statements from 2011 to 2021 included 200 false and misleading valuations across 23 properties and assets, including residential buildings, golf clubs and the family’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The Trump Organization provided these statements to insurers and lenders, reaping favorable terms and other benefits, the lawsuit alleged.

☆ Donald Trump, His Company Sued by New York Attorney General on Fraud Allegations
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Corinne Ramey | James Fanelli | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

New York’s attorney general filed a civil fraud lawsuit Wednesday against former President Donald Trump, his company and its leadership, alleging they falsely valued assets for economic gain. The suit, from Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James, alleged fraud and misrepresentations inflated Mr. Trump’s personal net worth by billions of dollars and gave false impressions to banks and insurers about how his financial statements were prepared.

☆ Nikola CEO Tells Jurors He Worried About Exaggerations by Company Founder Trevor Milton
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Trevor Milton, founder of Nikola, center, leaving court in New York last week. He is charged with securities fraud and wire fraud. Nikola CEO Mark Russell told a New York federal jury Monday that he had concerns about joining the electric-truck company because he believed its founder, Trevor Milton , “was prone to exaggeration in public statements.”Testifying in Mr. Milton’s securities-fraud trial, Mr. Russell said that before coming on board in 2019 as president of Nikola, he and Mr. Milton reached an agreement that Mr. Russell would become the chief executive officer if Nikola became a publicly traded company. Mr. Russell said he sought the arrangement because as head of a public company, statements from the CEO needed to be accurate.

Joe Lewis surrendered in Manhattan last week and was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy. Photo: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg NewsThe globe-trotting billionaire Joe Lewis , longtime owner of the London soccer club Tottenham Hotspur, spent the evening of July 25, 2019, with a woman who was then his girlfriend, dining on room service at the Four Seasons hotel in Seoul. U.S. prosecutors say he also fed her confidential information about coming disclosures by a life-sciences company that she used to make stock trades that ultimately netted her hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Persons: Joe Lewis, Victor J Organizations: Bloomberg, London soccer, Tottenham Hotspur Locations: Manhattan, Seoul . U.S

☆ Footage: U.S. Soldiers Fire on Iraqi Civilians
▼ + stars: | 2010-04-06 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Trump Indictment: How a Potential Arrest Could Play OutA New York grand jury voted to criminally indict Donald Trump for his role in a payment to a porn star, kicking off a process in which the former president will likely be required to come to Manhattan to face charges. WSJ’s Corinne Ramey explains where the proceedings could play out. Illustration: Preston Jessee

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