May 15, 2013
Con Man Billie Sol Estes Dies
Texas con man Billie Sol Estes, the colorful 1960s swindler whose case became a national sensation, has died. He was 88. Hood County Sheriff Roger Deed says Estes was found dead in his home by a caregiver early Tuesday. Estes' name was synonymous with Texas-sized schemes, greed and corruption. He became notorious in 1962, when he was accused of looting a federal crop subsidy program in a scam involving phony financial statements and non-existent fertilizer tanks. Several lower level agriculture officials resigned. Read more...
May 04, 2013
Pleas Entered in Atlanta Cheating Case
A not guilty plea was entered Friday on behalf of Beverly Hall, the former superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools who is charged in a broad conspiracy alleging educators cheated on standardized tests to mask poor student performance for personal gain. Hall was among several former Atlanta educators who appeared in Fulton County Superior Court. Hall sat quietly in the gallery, standing up as her attorney J. Tom Morgan said she would waive a formal reading of the charges. The court then entered a not guilty plea on her behalf, and she left the courthouse without speaking to reporters. Read more...
April 17, 2013
Former UGA Football Coach Charged
Federal prosecutors have charged former University of Georgia football coach Jim Donnan and a business partner with operating a Ponzi scheme. U.S. District Attorney Michael J. Moore in Macon announced the 85-count indictment. The indictment says Donnan and Gregory L. Crabtree of Proctorville, Ohio, ran the scheme between 2008 and 2010. Read more...
April 12, 2013
Jeremiah Wright's Daughter Indicted
The daughter of President Barack Obama's former pastor was indicted on charges of money laundering and lying to the feds. Jeri L. Wright, daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is accused of participating in a fraud scheme allegedly orchestrated by former Country Club Hills Police Chief Regina Evans and her husband involving a $1.25 million state grant, the station says. Jeri Wright, 47, of Hazel Crest, Ill., is charged with two counts of money laundering, two counts of making false statements to federal law enforcement officers and seven counts of giving false testimony before a grand jury. Read more...
March 30, 2013
Atlanta Educators Indicted for Cheating
A grand jury has indicted about three dozen educators in a standardized test cheating scandal that rocked Atlanta's public school system. The cheating scandal was one of the largest in the nation. A state investigation in 2011 found cheating on standardized tests by nearly 180 educators in 44 Atlanta schools. Investigators say educators gave answers to students or changed answers on tests after they were turned in. Investigators say teachers who tried to report the cheating faced retaliation, creating a culture of "fear and intimidation." in the district. Read more...
March 28, 2013
Super Bowl Ticket Scam Suspect Arrested
They may have lost the Super Bowl, but at least San Francisco 49ers fans can now relish the fact that police in Florida have arrested a Baltimore Ravens "fan" who scammed and taunted Niners faithful out of $5,900 for tickets to the big game. Alameda County authorities said they have solved a case that gained national attention after this newspaper reported the scam before last month's Super Bowl. Read more...
March 26, 2013
'Total Identity' Thief Gets 18 Months
An illegal immigrant accused of assuming a Texas teacher's persona has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Benita Cardona-Gonzalez pleaded guilty in January to possessing fraudulent identification documents in a deal with prosecutors. The Mexican national has been living in Topeka. Monday's sentencing was the first time Candida Gutierrez, the Houston elementary school teacher who was the victim in the case, saw Cardona-Gonzalez. The case put a face on the growing crime of "total identity theft" in the U.S. Read more...
February 22, 2013
Finger Chili Lady Faces New Allegations
A Northern California woman convicted of planting a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili has been arrested again after police say she made up another tale, this one about a shooting involving her son. Anna Ayala, the so-called Chili Finger Lady, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to a felony and filing a false police report. Authorities say she told officers that her son, Guadalupe Reyes, had been shot in the ankle by two unknown people and gave them a detailed description of the assailants. They say she later acknowledged that Reyes had shot himself. Read more...
January 22, 2013
Family Caught in Phone 'Cramming' Case
A Montana family and their accountant are accused of tacking $70 million in bogus charges onto customer phone bills nationwide, then funneling some of that money through a religious organization to buy land and pay for the husband's legal bills. Steven Sann, his wife Terry, son Nathan and accountant Robert Braach run a maze of nine companies engaged in "cramming, " or adding unauthorized charges to a customer's phone bill, according to a civil complaint filed this month by the Federal Trade Commission. Read more...
January 19, 2013
Ex-Mayor Nagin Charged With Bribery
More than a decade ago, Ray Nagin was elected mayor of New Orleans on a vow to root out corruption in a city plagued by decades of it. On Friday, the former mayor was indicted on charges he lined his pockets with bribe money, payoffs and gratuities while the chronically poor city struggled to recover from Hurricane Katrina's punishing blow. The federal indictment alleges that city contractors paid Nagin more than $200,000 in bribes and subsidized his trips to Hawaii, Jamaica and other places in exchange for his help securing millions of dollars in work for the city. Read more...
December 21, 2012
Madoff's Brother Gets 10 Years
The younger brother of Bernard Madoff will serve 10 years in prison for his role in his brother's Ponzi scheme that stole billions of dollars from investors, a U.S. judge said. Peter Madoff, 67, pleaded guilty in June to criminal charges including conspiracy to commit securities fraud for falsifying the books and records of the investment advisory company founded by his brother. U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain adopted prosecutors' recommendations and sentenced Madoff to 10 years in prison. She also ordered him to forfeit what she called a "draconian" $143.1 billion, which she said would seal his "financial ruination." Read more...
December 18, 2012
Pastor Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud
A Carson pastor pleaded guilty to submitting more than $11 million in Medicare reimbursement through fraudulent clinics and by promising patients expensive equipment, according to the Department of Justice. Charles Agbu, 58, of Carson, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of money laundering in U.S. District Court. Agbu, a pastor at Pilgrim Congregational Church, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine when he is sentenced in May. Read more...
November 15, 2012
Brothers Charged in Lottery Scam
Two brothers who waited six years to claim a $5 million New York scratch-off lottery prize have been charged with scamming the ticket off the real winner. Andy N. Ashkar, 34, of Camillus, and Nayel N. Ashkar, 36, of Cicero, were arrested, accused of conspiring to falsely claim the big prize as their own, authorities announced. The real winner bought the ticket at the Green Ale Market, a convenience store in Syracuse owned by the Ashkars' parents, in October 2006 -- only to be swindled out of it shortly thereafter. Read more...
November 09, 2012
Two Charged in Stevie Wonder Concert Scam
A North Carolina man has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly scamming the University of Hawaii out of $200,000 to organize a Stevie Wonder concert that never happened, prosecutors announced. A grand jury returned an indictment against 44-year-old Marc Hubbard on Wednesday on a charge of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni said during a news conference in Honolulu. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Read more...
September 27, 2012
Woman Sentenced After Faking Cancer
A Phoenix woman who pretended to have cancer in order to raise money for breast implants has been sentenced to a year in jail and three years of probation. Court spokesman Kelly Vail says 27-year-old Jami Lynn Toler was sentenced this week after she pleaded guilty in August to a theft charge in a plea agreement. Authorities say Toler helped organize fundraisers and collected more than $8,000 beginning last September. Medical records obtained by Mesa police show she didn't have cancer and paid a plastic surgeon with the cash. Read more...
September 20, 2012
Fourteen Arrested in Identity Theft Ring
Fourteen people were arrested and charged with operating a long-running U.S. identity theft ring that filed thousands of fraudulent federal income tax returns to claim $65 million in illegal refunds, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in New Jersey. The ring allegedly obtained Social Security numbers and other identifying information from Puerto Rican citizens. They used that to file more than 8,000 returns, then obtained the refund checks and either sold them or cashed them, the office said. Read more...
September 01, 2012
Woman's 'Loans' Cost Friends $730,000
Investigators say an Iowa woman swindled friends, family and co-workers out of $730,000 by sending sweet, handwritten notes asking for loans to buy her husband a surprise for his birthday or their anniversary. A federal indictment says 60-year-old Beverly De Ronde of Pella would claim she wanted to buy tools or equipment while there was a sale. She promised to repay the loans soon and thanked her lenders profusely for making her husband's dreams come true. Read more...
August 22, 2012
Woman Sentenced in Global Computer Hacking Ploy
A 45-year-old woman has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for participating in what the U.S. Attorney's office said was a sophisticated computer hacking and ATM cash out scheme. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones sentenced Sonya Martin for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Authorities said she was from Nigeria and Chicago. U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said the charges stemmed from a scheme where hackers obtained access into the computer network of a payment processor located in Atlanta. After compromising the system, the hackers managed to withdraw more than $9 million from more than 2,100 ATMs in at least 280 cities around the world, Yates said. Read more...
August 17, 2012
Coach Jim Donnan Charged With Ponzi Scheme
College football Hall of Fame coach Jim Donnan has been hit with fraud charges by federal regulators who allege that he and business partner Gregory Crabtree ran an $80 million Ponzi scheme. According to a complaint filed by the the Securities and Exchange Commission in Atlanta, the two convinced 100 investors that their GLC limited was a wholesale liquidation business that would earn 50 percent to 380 percent returns by buying "leftover" merchandise from retailers and selling them to discount retailers. Read more...
August 14, 2012
Mom and Son Arrested for $2 Million Toy Scam
A mother and son stole more than $2 million in expensive toys by stashing them inside the boxes of cheaper products that they bought at Toys R Us stores across the U.S., authorities say. Broward County Sheriff's deputies say Michael and Margaret Pollara then sold the big-ticket items online, according to an arrest affidavit. Read more...
August 08, 2012
Son Charged in Father's Disappearance Scam
A man who reported his father missing at a New York beach faces charges that include conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Jonathan Roth was arraigned Tuesday on Long Island. His girlfriend said outside court that he's innocent and cannot afford his bail. It's $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond. His father, Raymond Roth, vanished on July 28. The massive air and water search cost tens of thousands of dollars. Read more...
July 20, 2012
Mom Arrested For Hacking School Computers
A Pennsylvania mom faces six felony charges for allegedly hacking into her children's school computer to change their grades and read school officials' emails. Catherine Venusto, 45, of New Tripoli, worked for the Northwestern Lehigh School District from 2008 through April 2011 and has at least two children in the district, according to the District Attorney's office. She has been accused of changing her daughter's failing grade from an F to an M for "medical" in June 2010, and then changing her son's 98 to a 99 in February 2012, nearly a year after she quit her job as an administrative office secretary to work at another school district. Read more...
July 14, 2012
3 Arrested in Massive Counterfeit Coupon Ring
Phoenix police have arrested three women believed to be involved in the largest counterfeit coupon scam in U.S. history. The Phoenix Police Department, aided by the Coupon Information Corporation and some of the at least 40 wronged manufacturers, conducted an investigation to end the scam that police say has been operating for at least four years. The investigation led them to Phoenix, where the properties of Robin Ramirez, Amiko Fountain, and Marilyn Johnson were raided. Read more...
June 29, 2012
Author Gets 12 1/2 Years for Defrauding Women
A judge has sentenced a Georgia author of a fantasy trilogy to 12 1/2 years in prison for bilking women out of millions of dollars. U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates says the 61-year-old Mitchell Gross was sentenced for wire fraud and money laundering charges related to the scheme. Gross was charged last year with scamming a Florida real estate agent he met through an online Jewish dating site into investing about $3 million in a sham company that he secretly controlled. They say he used some of the money to repay another woman who he had bilked out of at least $1.5 million. Read more...
June 26, 2012
Dating Service Sued Over Background Checks
A New Jersey dating service's allegedly botched background checks led to a woman's date with a man who had multiple drunken-driving convictions and a warrant out for his arrest, a lawsuit claims. Jeanne McCarthy, 64, is suing the Lawrenceville, N.J., branch of a dating service called Two of Us, The Trentonian reports. McCarthy says she paid $7,000 to be matched with a man aged 58 to 67 with an active lifestyle. But the date McCarthy ended up with didn't meet her criteria -- just one of several examples of deceit that she's alleging in her lawsuit. Read more...
June 15, 2012
Shasta's Dad Sues Over Donations
The father of two children who were kidnapped by registered sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan III in Idaho is suing his sister-in-law who set up a bank account for donations to benefit the two siblings. Steven Groene filed suit against Brandy M. Hoagland, the aunt of Shasta and Dylan Groene, who were kidnapped in May 2005. Shasta was rescued after she and Duncan were recognized in a Coeur d"Alene restaurant two months later, but Dylan was killed by Duncan at a remote Montana campsite. Read more...
Klansman Gave Black Inmate 40 Acres?
A black man says Edgar Ray Killen, a reputed Ku Klux Klan leader imprisoned for the 1960s deaths of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, gave him power of attorney and land rights when they shared a penitentiary cell. But Killen's lawyer said the former inmate, James Stern, had no right to the property and Killen denies signing anything over to the man. Stern said at a news conference that Killen had given him power of attorney while they were in prison and he has taken control of 40 acres of Killen's land. Read more...
June 13, 2012
Zimmerman's Wife Charged With Perjury
The wife of George Zimmerman, the accused killer in the Trayvon Martin case, has been arrested and is being charged with perjury for lying to a judge about the couple's finances during his bond hearing, authorities say. An order issued by assistant state attorney John Guy charged Shellie Zimmerman for knowingly making false statements during the April hearing. According to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, deputies were alerted by prosecutors that a warrant had been issued for Shellie Zimmerman, 25. Read more...
May 24, 2012
Bride Who Faked Cancer Sentenced to Time Served
An upstate New York woman who faked having cancer so donors would pay for her wedding and Caribbean honeymoon was sentenced to the nearly two months she has already served in jail for duping individuals and businesses out of more than $13,000. Jessica Vega, who apologized in court for the scam, was expected to be released later in the day from the county jail where she has been held since April 25. A prosecutor said she has paid back more than $13,368, with nine victims getting checks ranging from $500 to $3,700. Read more...
May 01, 2012
Woman Gets 7 Years for Adoption Scam
A Missouri woman will spend 7 years behind bars after admitting to swindling 23 couples in an adoption scam, Fox 4 reports. 35-year-old Roxanne Janel Jones admitted to running a scam where she would pretend to be pregnant, contact adoption agencies and ask to be set up with couples looking to adopt. Jones then would ask the couples to provide her with living expenses such as rent, according to Fox 4. She admitted in a guilty plea that she scammed 23 couples, from Missouri, Minnesota, Georgia, California, Tennessee and Massachusetts. She also admitted to scamming five adoption agencies. Read more...
March 30, 2012
Police Investigate Backyard Burial
For months, her friends and daughter kept asking where Barbara Scott's husband was. At first, she said he was back home in Oklahoma, but police reportedly dug up the truth in the backyard of their Tampa Bay home. The man, Benny Scott, was buried in the garden of the couple's Lake Alfred home beneath the oregano, basil and banana peppers. "It's very suspicious to say the least," Jim Elensky, a captian at the Polk County Sheriff's Office, said. Read more...
March 27, 2012
Trayvon Martin's Mom Files Trademark Papers
The mother of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has filed papers seeking to trademark two slogans based on his name. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filings by Sybrina Fulton are for the sayings "I Am Trayvon" and "Justice For Trayvon." The applications were filed last week. The applications say the trademarks could be used for such things as DVDs and CDs. Attorneys who filed the papers did not immediately respond Monday to emails seeking comment. Read more...
March 08, 2012
Woman Kept Dad's Body in Ice Chest
A Louisiana woman apparently kept her father's severed body in an ice chest at her apartment for at least two years as she collected his Social Security check, police said. At some point, she cut off his hands so that identifying him would be difficult, authorities said, but she never dumped his body as she had planned. The woman and her roommate recently went to police to tell their story after deputies came to the apartment when they wouldn't let maintenance workers inside the home. Read more...
February 29, 2012
Woman Fined for Faking Cancer, Raising Money
A suburban Richmond woman was fined $100 after admitting she faked cancer to raise money. Martha Ann Nicholas pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of obtaining money by false pretenses. Besides the fine, she was ordered by a judge to not take part in any charitable causes and placed on five years' probation. Read more...
