Tag: fraud

DiNapoli: Westchester Sisters Sentenced for Stealing Deceased Mother’s Pension

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/2021/02/dinapoli-westchester-sisters-sentenced-stealing-deceased-mothers-pension

Excerpt:

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced the sentencings of Annette Bigelow, 61, and Mary Nash, 59, who hid their mother’s death to pocket nearly $22,000 from the New York State and Local Employees Retirement System, which DiNapoli administers, from 2013 to 2015.

The two daughters pleaded guilty to felony grand larceny last September. They were sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay full restitution of $22,000.

Author(s): Thomas P. DiNapoli

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Office of the New York State Comptroller

As New York Unemployment Fraud Surges, Victims Want Help

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/work/As-New-York-Unemployment-Fraud-Surges-Victims-Want-Help.html

Excerpt:

Many law enforcement agencies are continuing to see a high rate of identification-theft cases involving individuals whose personal information was illegally used to apply for unemployment benefits during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Some of the recent cases are coming to light when individuals are receiving bank debit cards or paperwork in the mail indicating they were approved for federal pandemic unemployment assistance that they never applied for.

In other instances described by law enforcement officials, victims are learning they have been defrauded when they receive tax forms instructing them that the unemployment benefits they received last year are reportable income — although those individuals were not aware that someone had applied for or received the benefits using their identity. In some cases, multiple individuals from the same organizations — school districts, professional firms or government agencies — were victimized. That, according to law enforcement experts, could be tied to data breaches involving those entities.

Author(s): BRENDAN J. LYONS, TIMES UNION

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Governing

Government investigating massive counterfeit N95 mask scam

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://apnews.com/article/government-investigation-n95-scam-1694ed85d6ef99cdb6662f67d823c271/

Excerpt:

Federal authorities are investigating a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation in which fake 3M masks were sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies. The foreign-made knockoffs are becoming increasingly difficult to spot and could put health care workers at grave risk for the coronavirus.

These masks are giving first responders “a false sense of security,” said Steve Francis, assistant director for global trade investigations with the Homeland Security Department’s principal investigative arm. He added, “We’ve seen a lot of fraud and other illegal activity.”

Author(s): Colleen Long

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Associated Press

NY Hedge Fund Founder Admits To Fraud In Connection With Neiman Marcus Bankruptcy

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/northsalem/news/ny-hedge-fund-founder-admits-to-fraud-in-connection-with-neiman-marcus-bankruptcy/802716/

Excerpt:

A hedge fund founder admitted to bankruptcy fraud for abusing his position on a Neiman Marcus Group Inc. bankruptcy committee to purchase securities at a deflated price.

Nassau County resident Daniel Kamensky, of Roslyn, the founder of the New York-based hedge fund Marble Ridge Capital pleaded guilty to pressuring a rival bidder to abandon its higher bid for assets in connection with Neiman Marcus’s bankruptcy proceedings.

U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said that Kamensky was the principal of Marble Ridgewhich had assets under management of more than $1 billion that invested in securities in distressed situations, including bankruptcies. Prior to opening Marble Ridge, Kamensky worked for many years as a bankruptcy attorney at a well-known international law firm, and as a distressed debt investor at prominent financial institutions.

Author(s): Zak Failla

Publication Date: 7 February 2021

Publication Site: Daily Voice

Despite retired St. Louis teacher’s death, daughter collected $150k in pension

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/despite-retired-st-louis-teachers-death-daughter-collected-150k-in-pension/article_70f559eb-3a4e-5e2c-b080-bd3bbe06b6bd.html

Excerpt:

For more than seven years after the death of a retired St. Louis teacher in 2012, her daughter kept collecting nearly $150,000 in pension benefits, federal charging documents unsealed this month say.

The teacher’s daughter, Cheryl Ladner Kimbrough, has been arrested on five felony counts of wire fraud. She pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

The indictment says Kimbrough’s mother, who is identified only by the initials A.L., retired in 1999 and moved in with Kimbrough in southern Texas. After the death of Kimbrough’s mother on Sept. 16, 2012, pension payments continued to be deposited into the joint account she held with Kimbrough.

Author(s): Robert Patrick

Publication Date: 8 February 2021

Publication Site: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Credit Suisse Was Alerted to Private Banker’s Misconduct Years Before Criminal Charges

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/credit-suisse-was-alerted-to-private-bankers-misconduct-years-before-criminal-charges-11612462705

Excerpt:

Credit Suisse Group AG overlooked red flags for years while a rogue private banker stole from billionaire clients, according to a report by a law firm for Switzerland’s financial regulator.

The private banker, Patrice Lescaudron, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 for fraud and forgery. He admitted cutting and pasting client signatures to divert money and make stock bets without their knowledge, causing more than $150 million in losses, according to the Geneva criminal court.

The regulator, Finma, publicly censured Credit Suisse in 2018 for inadequately supervising and disciplining Mr. Lescaudron as a top earner, and said he had repeatedly broken internal rules, but it revealed little else about the bank’s actions in the matter. Credit Suisse said it discovered Mr. Lescaudron’s fraud in September 2015 when a stock he had bought for clients crashed.

Author: Margot Patrick

Publication Date: 5 February 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal