Frauds and Swindling

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    Their Parents Are Giving Money to Scammers. They Can’t Stop Them.

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    One son couldn’t prevent his father from giving about $1 million in savings to con artists, including one posing as a female wrestling star. The two became estranged.When Chris Mancinelli walked into his father’s home for the first time after the 79-year-old man died last summer, he stopped to look at family photos displayed on the refrigerator door. Near a crayon drawing spelling out “grandpa” in rainbow colors were photos of his father’s three granddaughters at a swimming pool.But one image jumped out: a photo of Alexa Bliss, a professional wrestling personality.Mr. Mancinelli’s father, Alfred, was completely smitten with the star — or at least with the con artist impersonating her. He was convinced he was in a romantic relationship with Ms. Bliss, leading him to give up about $1 million in retirement savings (and his granddaughter’s college fund) to the impostor and a varied cast of online fraudsters he interacted with over several years.When Mr. Mancinelli tried to intervene, moving his father’s last $100,000 to a safe account, Alfred sued him — his loyalty was to “Lexi.”“There was nothing we could do to convince him,” said Mr. Mancinelli, 47, a chemical engineer in Collegeville, Pa. An elder care specialist deemed Alfred “really sharp,” he said, but lacking purpose.Mr. Mancinelli and others who have tried to awaken their loved ones from this trance often feel powerless, even after they’ve done everything to shatter the fiction and protect their assets. They say it’s as if their parent had been brainwashed into a cult.In some ways, they were: These victims were slowly groomed by con artists posing as love interests, investment advisers or government officials, among others. Once ensconced inside this bubble, they are unable or unwilling to acknowledge that they have become victims. Even when their own children are warning them of the con.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Art Adviser Lisa Schiff Pleads Guilty to Stealing from Her Elite Clientele

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      Lisa Schiff acknowledges stealing millions from major collectors who trusted her to buy them fashionable art.A leading art adviser whose clients have included Leonardo DiCaprio, and who was accused by the government of bilking her clients of millions, pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan to one count of wire fraud, for stealing $6.5 million from people who trusted her to buy art for them.The adviser, Lisa Schiff, 54, whose eye for contemporary art launched a lucrative career acquiring blue-chip pieces for a host of major collectors, was accused by federal prosecutors of stealing money that clients had entrusted to her for the purchase of approximately 55 artworks. As part of the plea agreement, Ms. Schiff will forfeit about $6.4 million. The felony fraud charge also carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. “For years, Lisa Schiff breached the trust of her art advisory clients by lying to them and diverting millions of dollars her clients had entrusted to her,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “Instead of using client funds as promised, Schiff used the stolen money to fund a lavish lifestyle.”Her lawyer, Randy Zelin, said the plea agreement had been in the works for several months. “Lisa has been anxious to have the opportunity to accept responsibility, she has been anxious to set out on a path of righting the wrongs and making amends,” he said in an interview on Thursday.Ms. Schiff, who is based in Manhattan, will be sentenced on Jan. 17 by J. Paul Oetken, a judge for the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.“The specter of standing in front of a judge and acknowledging criminal wrongdoing, and acknowledging the prospect of a prison sentence, is an extraordinarily daunting thing,” Mr. Zelin added. “But that is a fire that Lisa ran to, not away from.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      U.N. Official Took $3 Million in Secret Gifts From Businessman

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      The official secretly took $3 million in gifts from a businessman to whom he steered the organization’s funds, a court ruled. The U.N. got a song about the ocean.A high-ranking United Nations official secretly took $3 million in gifts from a British businessman while he steered more than $58 million of the organization’s money to the man’s companies, according to a ruling from an internal U.N. court.The decision provided a potential answer to a question that has baffled the organization since news broke in 2022 of Vitaly Vanshelboim’s disastrous investments: Why did a 20-year veteran of the United Nations defy auditors and common sense by entrusting his agency’s entire investment portfolio to a man he purportedly met at a party?The court found last week that Mr. Vanshelboim, a Ukrainian, had committed fraud and “blatant misconduct” by failing to disclose the gifts from the businessman, David Kendrick. It said Mr. Vanshelboim had received interest-free loans, home repairs, a new Mercedes and a $1.2 million sponsorship for his teenage son, who was a tennis player.“This is insane, how is this possible,” the son wrote back to his father at the time, according to an email cited in the court ruling. “I’m not even a good tennis player yet.”“Part of my job is to make insane things happen,” Mr. Vanshelboim replied, the court said.The United Nations now says that all $58 million that Mr. Vanshelboim’s agency entrusted to Mr. Kendrick has been lost. Mr. Vanshelboim was fired last year, fined a year’s pay and ordered to repay all the money lost through the United Nations’ dealing with Mr. Kendrick.He appealed those penalties, but the court largely rejected his arguments, saying he had to pay $58 million or lose his U.N. pension. Mr. Vanshelboim declined to comment. Mr. Kendrick did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Instructor at Troubled Skydiving Spot Gets 2 Years After Faking Credentials

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      The facility near Lodi, Calif., where he trained people in tandem jumping, has come under scrutiny amid more than two dozen deaths since 1985.A skydiving instructor who used someone else’s credentials to train people in tandem jumping at a troubled facility near Lodi, Calif., was sentenced this week to two years in prison.The instructor, Robert Pooley, 49, was convicted in May of wire fraud after using another instructor’s digital signature on paperwork that allowed him to train and certify students in tandem skydiving, which involves an experienced sky diver jumping with a novice, the authorities said. In 2016, one of Mr. Pooley’s students died along with a first-time sky diver, after their parachutes failed to open.That episode placed renewed scrutiny on the center where he worked, which is now known as the Skydive Lodi Parachute Center. The facility, about 30 miles south of Sacramento, in San Joaquin County, has been the site of more than two dozen deaths since 1985, including the 2016 deaths of Yong Kwon, 25, Mr. Pooley’s student, and Tyler Turner, 18, a first-time jumper who died in a tandem leap with Mr. Kwon.Mr. Pooley has not been charged in connection with either man’s death. He has also not been alleged to have had any involvement in the other deaths at the facility. In an emailed statement, lawyers for Mr. Pooley told The New York Times that the court had made it clear during the sentencing hearing on Monday that it did not find Mr. Pooley legally responsible for the deaths.Mr. Pooley’s arrest in 2021 came several years after the deaths of Mr. Kwon and Mr. Turner.Mr. Turner’s mother, Francine Turner, said in a telephone interview that it was “significant” to see Mr. Pooley, who she believed played a role in her son’s death, go to prison. Ms. Turner, who filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Parachute Center, said in the interview that she wished that the authorities could have also gone after the facility’s founder, William Dause, who she said had largely escaped responsibility despite the many deaths at his skydiving outfit.Francine Turner with her son, Tyler, who was killed in 2016 while skydiving. Francine TurnerWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Treasurer for Little-Known Brooklyn Candidate Is Charged in Fraud Scheme

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      Erlene King sent thousands of dollars to associates and told them to distribute the funds to others who would then donate to the campaign she worked for, federal prosecutors said.The treasurer of an ill-fated 2021 campaign for Brooklyn borough president was charged Wednesday with organizing a fraudulent donation scheme in an attempt to access at least $400,000 in public matching funds.Federal prosecutors said the treasurer, Erlene King, 71, had sent thousands of dollars to associates over roughly two and a half years in an effort to skirt campaign finance rules and boost the campaign of Anthony Jones, who would go on to lose the election after receiving roughly 3 percent of the vote. Mr. Jones has not been accused of wrongdoing.Ms. King pleaded not guilty to wire fraud in federal court on Wednesday after she opted to waive her right to have the charges presented to a grand jury.A lawyer representing Ms. King, John S. Wallenstein, said that he and his client were “discussing potential resolutions” with prosecutors. If found guilty, Ms. King could face up to 20 years in prison.New York City’s public campaign financing program provides funds for campaigns that meet certain fund-raising thresholds. During the 2021 campaign for Brooklyn borough president, the Campaign Finance Board offered to pay campaigns up to $8 for every $1 raised, but only if a campaign first received donations from a minimum number of contributors and raised a total of $50,000 in eligible contributions on its own.In an effort to meet that threshold, Ms. King organized at least $25,000 in fraudulent contributions to Mr. Jones’s campaign, according to prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York. Donations that do not originate with the person whose name appears on fund-raising records are often called “straw” donations.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trump’s Huge Civil Fraud Penalty Draws Skepticism From Appeals Court

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      A five-judge New York appellate panel questioned both the size and validity of a judgment of more than $450 million against Donald J. Trump at a hearing.A New York appeals court expressed skepticism on Thursday about a civil judgment of more than $450 million that a trial judge had ordered former President Donald J. Trump to pay after finding that he had fraudulently inflated his wealth.At a hearing in Manhattan, members of a five-judge panel questioned both the size of the judgment and the validity of the case, which New York’s attorney general brought against the former president and his family business two years ago.While some of the judges appeared to acknowledge the substance of the attorney general’s case, several of the panel’s questions suggested concern about whether the office had exceeded its jurisdiction. And the tenor of many of their questions indicated the possibility that the court could whittle down the huge judgment and potentially deal a blow to the attorney general, Letitia James.Justice Peter H. Moulton, who seemed unswayed by many of the arguments by Mr. Trump’s lawyers, nonetheless said that “the immense penalty in this case is troubling.”The trial judge in the case, Arthur F. Engoron, found Mr. Trump liable for civil fraud last year, concluding that he had lied about his wealth to secure favorable loan terms and other financial benefits. The judge imposed the judgment against the former president in February after a lengthy bench trial.Judith N. Vale, New York’s deputy solicitor general, had barely begun addressing the court before one of the judges, David Friedman, interrupted her to cast doubt on the lawsuit. Other members of the panel inquired about possible “mission creep” by the attorney general’s office. They also questioned what “guardrails” might have ensured that Ms. James did not overstep her authority by second-guessing the net worth estimates that Mr. Trump had provided to lenders.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Online Scammers Posed as Brad Pitt to Get Cash, Spanish Police Say

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      The authorities in Spain said they had arrested five people who posed as the famous American actor online and swindled two women out of more than $350,000.The Spanish authorities have announced the arrests of five people accused of swindling two women out of over $350,000 by posing as Brad Pitt online.The arrests — three made last November and two in July — were announced in a statement released on Monday by Spain’s Interior Ministry, detailing a complex scheme that it attributed to a “criminal organization.”The statement said the accused had contacted the women through an online fan page dedicated to Mr. Pitt and posed as the Oscar-winning American actor. The authorities said the accused had gone on to exchange instant messages and emails with their victims, who thought they were corresponding directly with Mr. Pitt.Those behind the plot “managed to make these women believe they had become so close to the well-known American actor that they believed they had a romantic relationship with him,” the statement said. Then, according to the authorities, the Pitt posers asked for money.One woman, who lives near Bilbao in the north of Spain, sent 150,000 euros (about $168,000) in a series of money transfers. The other, in Granada, sent €175,000.About €85,000 has been recovered as part of the investigation, the statement said. The suspects, whose names have not been released, face charges including fraud and money laundering, according to the Spanish police.Matthew Hiltzik, a publicist for Mr. Pitt, said on Wednesday that he had not been aware of the case, and noted that his client does not have any authorized social media accounts.“It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities,” Mr. Hiltzik wrote in a WhatsApp message. “But this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”Online frauds and cybercrimes represent a growing threat. In the European Union, millions of people were attacked and exploited online in 2023, according to the Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment, a report from the bloc’s law enforcement agency.Jürgen Stock, the secretary general of Interpol, said in March, “We are facing an epidemic in the growth of financial fraud.” More

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      2 Brothers Sentenced to More Than 17 Years in Prison in Sextortion Scheme

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      Two brothers from Nigeria helped run an online sextortion operation that prosecutors said resulted in the death of a high school student.A federal judge in Michigan on Thursday sentenced two brothers from Nigeria to 17 and a half years in prison for their roles in a social media sextortion scheme that claimed more than 100 victims across the United States and resulted in the death of a high school student.The brothers, Samuel Ogoshi, 24, and Samson Ogoshi, 21, who each pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to exploit minors, will be on supervised release for five years after completing their prison terms, prosecutors said in a news release.The brothers, who are from Lagos, Nigeria, were extradited to the United States from Nigeria in August 2023 after they were indicted in November 2022.The extradition marked a new chapter in cooperation with Nigerian authorities in extraditing perpetrators of this kind of scam. Last month, the Justice Department announced the extradition of two other Nigerian nationals on similar charges in Pennsylvania.A third defendant in the case, Ezekiel Robert, is pending extradition from Nigeria, prosecutors said.The brothers were sentenced in a case involving a popular relatively new scam the authorities call financial sextortion, in which scammers pose as young women on social media and send flirty messages to young men and teenage boys before soliciting nude photographs that they then hold as ransom.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Former Volkswagen Chief Executive Faces Trial in Emissions Case

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      Nine years after the carmaker admitted to concealing emissions on a massive scale, Martin Winterkorn will be tried in a German court.Almost nine years after Volkswagen admitted that it had rigged millions of cars to cheat on emissions tests, the company’s former chief executive went on trial Tuesday on charges stemming from the fraud, a vast corporate conspiracy that changed the auto industry.Martin Winterkorn, 77, who led Volkswagen from 2007 until he resigned under pressure in September 2015, appeared at a court in Braunschweig, Germany, after a judge rejected his pleas to postpone the trial because he said he was in poor health. The trial will be a test of whether German authorities can hold top executives accountable for wrongdoing that cost Volkswagen tens of billions of dollars and contributed to poor air quality in Europe and the United States.Mr. Winterkorn, who was once Germany’s highest-paid executive, faces criminal charges including fraud, market manipulation and making false statements. Prosecutors accused him of failing to notify authorities and owners of Volkswagen cars when, in 2014, he became aware of software designed to illegally cloak emissions that exceeded limits imposed by European and U.S. regulators.With Mr. Winterkorn’s knowledge, prosecutors said, Volkswagen continued to sell such vehicles until the cheating was exposed by California regulators and the Environmental Protection Agency in 2015. Over a decade, Volkswagen and its Audi, Skoda and Seat units sold nine million cars with the illicit software.Prosecutors have also accused Mr. Winterkorn of authorizing a recall of the affected vehicles in 2014 with the purpose of preventing regulators from learning about the forbidden software. And he is accused of lying under oath to a German parliamentary committee investigating the cheating.The market manipulation charge arises from allegations that Mr. Winterkorn failed to notify Volkswagen shareholders of the financial risk posed by the software as required by securities law.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More