Article: Dark Web User Known As “The Bull” Charged In Insider Trading Scheme

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Dark Web User Known As “The Bull” Charged In Insider Trading Scheme

Department of Justice, 09 July 2021

Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of a criminal indictment and a criminal complaint charging APOSTOLOS TROVIAS, a/k/a “The Bull,” with securities fraud and money laundering in connection with his scheme to solicit and sell stock trading tips and pre-release earnings and deal information regarding public companies.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Today’s charges demonstrate our Office’s continuing commitment to stopping those who pursue and use inside information to gain an illegal edge in the stock market. As alleged, Apostolos Trovias attempted to hide his insider trading scheme behind anonymizing software, screennames, and bitcoin payments. The Indictment and Complaint unsealed today show that committing insider trading using new technologies still produces a decidedly traditional outcome: a criminal indictment.” Continue reading “Article: Dark Web User Known As “The Bull” Charged In Insider Trading Scheme”

Article: Romance Scammers Charged with Laundering $3.5 Million Stolen from Victims

Article - Media

Romance Scammers Charged with Laundering $3.5 Million Stolen from Victims

JULETT PINEDA SLEINAN, 05 June 2021

U.S. prosecutors have charged six people for conspiring to launder US$3.5 million in proceeds derived from romance scams, a profitable fraud scheme on the rise that defrauded hundreds of millions of dollars from American victims last year.

Authorities said the scammers preyed on vulnerable people by using online aliases on multiple dating sites and convinced victims to transfer funds to bank accounts controlled by the gang, a complaint unsealed by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York last week revealed.

Under the aliases ‘Diego Francisco’, ‘Richard Francisco’ and ‘Tom Francisco’, the scammers used photos of male models to engage in conversations with the victims and ask them for money. Continue reading “Article: Romance Scammers Charged with Laundering $3.5 Million Stolen from Victims”

Article: Florida Sues CDC Over Cruise Ban, Citing Losses for Operators and State Economy

Article - Media, Publications

Florida Sues CDC Over Cruise Ban, Citing Losses for Operators and State Economy

Lawrence C. Strauss, 08 April 2021

Florida is suing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to resume U.S. cruise sailings, calling the lockdown “arbitrary and capricious” and citing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential losses for the state economy.

The suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tampa by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, asserts that “the cruise industry has been singled out, and unlike the rest of America, prevented from reopening.” Continue reading “Article: Florida Sues CDC Over Cruise Ban, Citing Losses for Operators and State Economy”

Article: Software Pioneer John McAfee Indicted In Crypto Case

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Software Pioneer John McAfee Indicted In Crypto Case

Reenat Sinay, 05 March 2021

Antivirus software innovator John McAfee and his bodyguard have been indicted on fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges for fraudulently touting various cryptocurrencies on Twitter to further two separate schemes, Manhattan federal prosecutors said Friday.

Between December 2017 and October 2018, McAfee and private security guard Jimmy Gale Watson Jr. tricked investors into buying over a dozen different digital currencies in a pair of scams that allegedly netted the two men a combined $13 million in profits, according to a seven-count indictment unsealed Friday. Watson was also “executive advisor” of McAfee’s so-called cryptocurrency team, prosecutors said. Continue reading “Article: Software Pioneer John McAfee Indicted In Crypto Case”

Article: John McAfee Indicted On Fraud, Money Laundering Charges In Pump-And-Dump Crypto Scheme

Article - Media, Publications

John McAfee Indicted On Fraud, Money Laundering Charges In Pump-And-Dump Crypto Scheme

Rachel Sandler, 05 March 2021

John McAfee was indicted on securities fraud and money laundering charges, the Justice Department announced Friday, adding to the antivirus software pioneer’s litany of legal problems stemming from more than a decade of sometimes bizarre behavior.

McAfee and an advisor of his cryptocurrency team, Jimmy Watson Jr., were indicted on several counts of conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy offenses.

Prosecutors say McAfee and his cryptocurrency team used his Twitter account, which has a million followers, to promote Initial Coin Offerings without disclosing he was being paid by the ICO issuers to do so. Continue reading “Article: John McAfee Indicted On Fraud, Money Laundering Charges In Pump-And-Dump Crypto Scheme”

Article: Founder of Russian bank charged with tax fraud

Article - Media, Publications

Founder of Russian bank charged with tax fraud

IRS, 05 March 2020

The founder of a Russian bank was arrested last week in London in connection with an indictment charging him with filing false tax returns, announced Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter. The Sept. 26, 2019, indictment was unsealed today Continue reading “Article: Founder of Russian bank charged with tax fraud”

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