Tag: Region US
Massive U.S. fine against TD Bank highlights relatively modest penalties in Canada
TORONTO — The more than US$3-billion settlement TD Bank Group has reached with U.S. regulators for its failures to oversee money laundering risks has underlined what some say are relatively weak enforcement options in Canada. Denis Meunier, president of DMeunier Consulting Inc. and a former deputy director of Fintrac, said fines in Canada have to increase significantly to provide adequate deterrence and not become just a cost of doing business. He says the federal government should add substantial fines for…
TD Bank hit with US$3bn fine, pleads guilty to criminal charges
Canada-based financial institution TD Bank has announced its agreement to pay over USD 3 billion, pleading guilty to criminal charges related to money laundering in the US. As detailed by regulators, the fine follows TD Bank’s failure to appropriately monitor money laundering by drug cartels and other criminals, allowing them to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in unlawful funds. In addition, the bank did not enforce sufficient defences against money laundering for nearly 10 years. It did not efficiently…
Environmental Crimes Bulletin – September 2024
View All Environmental Crimes Bulletins In This Issue: Cases by District/Circuit District/Circuit Case Name Statute(s) 8th Circuit Court of Appeals United States v. Harvey Allen Hugs BGEPA 11th Circuit Court of Appeals United States v. John R. Moore, Jr., et al. Maritime Jurisdiction Theft Southern District of California United States v. Michael Hart Greenhouse Gas Imports/ Conspiracy, American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 United States v. Amy Lupercio District of Columbia United States v. Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc., et…
Unsealed: Eight Charged in $68M Social Adult Day Care and Home Health Care Scheme
An indictment was unsealed today in Brooklyn, New York, charging eight defendants for their alleged roles in a scheme to defraud Medicaid of approximately $68 million through the operation of two social adult day cares and a home health care financial intermediary that were paying kickbacks and bribes for services that were not provided. According to court documents, Zakia Khan, 53, of Brooklyn, and Ahsan Ijaz, 27, of Brooklyn, owned two social adult day cares, Happy Family Social Adult Day…
June 2024: Trump Says Israel Needs to ‘Finish The Job’ in Gaza, Pledges to Restore Israel Lobby’s Power Over Congress
Former President Donald Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday that Israel needs to “finish the job” in Gaza and pledged to restore the Israel Lobby’s power over Congress if elected. He also said that unnamed people are telling him the October 7th attack “never happened” and compared them to “Holocaust deniers.” Trump says Israel needs to finish bombarding Gaza more quickly. He says unnamed people are telling him the Oct. 7 attack never happened, just like Holocaust…
Toyota boosts its investment in air taxi company Joby Aviation by another $500 million
Toyota is investing another $500 million in Joby Aviation as part of a partnership aimed at helping get the American air taxi company’s commercial business off the ground. Toyota’s investment will be used to support certification and production of Joby’s electric air taxi, the companies said Wednesday, and brings Toyota Motor Corporation’s total investment in Joby to $894 million. After the investment, which will come in two equal tranches later this year and next, Toyota will own about 22% of…
6th execution in 11 days in the US
For the sixth time in eleven days, a death sentence was carried out in the United States today. In Texas, Garcia Glenn White, 61 years-old, was executed by lethal injection for stabbing two 16 year-old girls and their mother to death in 1989. The country last week reached 1,600 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, despite decades-long trend of declining support for capital punishment. Citing witnesses, American media reported that White had planned to smoke crack that…
Carlos Ramon Polit Faggioni, Odebrecht S.A.: Former Comptroller General (Ecuador) Sentenced in International Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme
The former comptroller general of Ecuador was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar international bribery and money laundering scheme in which he received over $10 million in bribes and laundered those bribes payments in South Florida. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between 2010 to 2015, Carlos Ramon Polit Faggioni, 73, solicited and received over $10 million in bribe payments from Odebrecht S.A., the Brazil-based construction conglomerate. Polit, in his position…
Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison to be sentenced over crypto fraud
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former cryptocurrency executive Caroline Ellison is set to be sentenced on Tuesday for her role in her imprisoned former boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried’s theft of about $8 billion in customer funds from the now-bankrupt FTX exchange he founded. Ellison has pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of fraud and conspiracy, and testified as a prosecution witness in the trial of Bankman-Fried, who was convicted of fraud and other charges last year and is serving a 25-year prison…
US sending more troops to Middle East as violence rises in the region
The U.S. is sending additional troops to the Middle East in response to a sharp spike in violence between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon that has raised the risk of a greater regional war, the Pentagon said Monday. Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder would provide no details on how many additional forces or what they would be tasked to do. The U.S. currently has about 40,000 troops in the region. On Monday, the aircraft carrier Truman, two…
FAA vows to hold Boeing accountable, revamp agency safety program
FAA vows to hold Boeing accountable, revamp agency safety program WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the Federal Aviation Administration will tell Congress on Tuesday the agency will hold Boeing accountable to ensure the planemaker is building safe airplanes and will revamp its own safety management program. “As a result of systemic production quality issues, Boeing must make significant changes to transform its quality system and ensure the right layers of safety are in place,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker will…
Whistleblowers allege FCA didn’t respect their anonymity: Senior independent director review
In August 2024, a former employee who left the FCA some years ago made an allegation publicly that, in the course of whistleblowing, their identity was not kept confidential by the chair of the FCA, Ashley Alder. Following the first public allegation, a second former employee of the FCA, who also left some years ago, came forward with a similar allegation as to the handling of their whistleblowing communication to the chair. In line with the corporate governance of the…
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to hear appeal on Karen Read murder case
MANSFIELD — The full state Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments in November on whether to dismiss two of the three charges against Karen Read, including second-degree murder, for the January 2022 death of her police officer boyfriend. Lawyers for Read, 44, of Mansfield, filed a petition to the state’s highest court on Sept. 11 asking it to overturn a superior court ruling denying their motion to dismiss the murder charge and one of leaving the scene of an accident…
US Secret Service probe finds lack of diligence ahead of Trump rally shooting
WASHINGTON – A US Secret Service probe found communication gaps and a lack of diligence ahead of the July attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally. “There was complacency on the part of” some agents “that led to a breach of security protocols,” acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe told reporters on Sept 20, adding that agency employees will be held accountable. The assassination attempt against Trump at the July 13 rally led to…
Federal authorities subpoena NYC mayor’s director of asylum seeker operations
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the director overseeing New York City’s office for asylum seekers, the latest [in an] investigation into the administration of Mayor Eric Adams. Molly Schaeffer, who leads the city’s Office of Asylum Seeker Operations, received the information sharing request from federal authorities Friday morning, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the subpoena. It…
Mystery Profile Linked to Hungarian Firm Implicated in Exploding Pagers
Dozens of people were killed and thousands more injured after two consecutive days of explosions across Lebanon this week that the Shia militant group Hezbollah has blamed on Israel. Pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously on Tuesday afternoon, leaving at least 12 people dead, including two children. On Wednesday, another wave of coordinated explosions affecting handheld radios killed at least 25 people. Almost 3,000 people were wounded in the attacks, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Israel has not commented on…