As the COVID-19 pandemic tanked the economy, South Florida developer Eric Sheppard turned to the U.S. government for help and received about $900,000 in fraudulently obtained loans that his business really did not need or qualify for, a prosecutor said during opening statements in his Miami federal trial Monday. Sheppard used the emergency loans for…
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For years, South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh looked his anguished clients in the eyes and promised to help them with their medical bills, their suffering or simply to survive. The courtroom drama will mark yet another step in the fall of a powerful and respected attorney whose family name dominated the legal scene in a small Hampton County for generations,…
Judge rejects Crum & Forster’s bid to toss cybersecurity coverage lawsuit
A Washington state judge denied a bid by insurer Crum & Forster to terminate a lawsuit over cybersecurity event at a Seattle logistics company.
A Slidell man is headed to prison in a national scam to pilfer mail from blue collection boxes, steal the victims' identities and cash fraudulent checks in their names. Federal prosecutors say Ronald S. Riley Jr., 28, gained $250,000 from his crimes. His crimes came in a national outbreak of mail thefts made possible by someone stealing, duplicating and selling the…
NAIC life insurance committee sets 2024 regulatory goals
The Life Insurance and Annuities Committee approved its 2024 work charges Tuesday with no comment.
PUNTA GORDA— A Port Charlotte man turned himself in to Charlotte County deputies on a warrant for contracting fraud. Randall Scott Ruppert, 51, arrived at the Charlotte County Jail on Nov. 18 to surrender on a warrant for his arrest. Ruppert was initially investigated by the State Attorney's Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit; the complainant lived in Lee…
NEW YORK— Tears were shed at the Trump Organization's fraud trial Tuesday when longtime company controller Jeffrey McConney fell to pieces on the witness stand testifying about the dramatic conclusion to his storied career working for Donald Trump. McConney, who for decades worked in the accounting department at the Trump Organization under convicted…
Eduard Ghiocel and his wife, Floarea Ghiocel, were sentenced in federal court today to 36 months and 30 months, respectively, for laundering $1.4 million in proceeds from dozens of grand thefts, robberies and swindles targeting mostly elderly victims in San Diego County. Eduard and Floarea Ghiocel admitted wiring proceeds from the jewelry thefts and the…
MIAMI— In a politically fraught Medicare fraud case, a deal appears to be in the works between the Justice Department and a South Florida health care executive whose 20- year prison sentence was commuted by former President Donald Trump, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the negotiations. A plea deal, a more likely scenario that would require…
As regulation lags, panel urges actuarial AI frameworks
Actuarial businesses should implement their own AI governance frameworks, as official regulation is lagging, a panel of experts recommended.
NEW YORK— Donald Trump's lower Manhattan court cases continued to pick up speed Thursday— as the former president was temporarily freed from a gag order in his civil case and criminal prosecutors argued his political power shouldn't shield him from accountability in his criminal one. First Department Judge David Friedman cited constitutional concerns in…
NEW YORK— Donald Trump filed for a mistrial in his Manhattan Supreme Court fraud case Wednesday, alleging "anti Trump/big real estate bias" on the bench preventing him from getting a fair shake. Lawyers for the former president filed the anticipated motion during the third day of his defense case, repeating much of the same bias allegations they and Trump have…
George Santos, which some lawmakers expect will be damning— and potentially the final straw for the New York Republican's radioactive run in Congress. "I think the report is going to confirm what he's admitted to, which is he's a fraud and should not be a member of Congress," Rep. While the report will mark the closing salvo from the Ethics Committee, it is expected to…
Public hearing date set for DOL fiduciary rule; House GOP rallies in opposition
The Department of Labor denied a request for an extension of a public comment period for its controversial fiduciary rule package. A public hearing will be held next month.
George Santos, R- N.Y., charged with impersonating an aide to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to solicit donors has pleaded guilty to fraud, in the latest legal blow to the embattled freshman congressman. Sam Miele, 27, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal wire fraud charge, also admitting to making about $100,000 worth of fraudulent credit card charges,…
National Flood Insurance Program nears Nov. 17 expiration
The National Flood Insurance Program is set to expire later this month and requires Congressional reauthorization.
How captive and independent agents are affected by the DOL rule
The new DOL fiduciary rule is 500 pages. The biggest fight will come down to how agents – independent and captive agents – are regulated.
Jon Walker was sentenced in federal court by U.S. District Court Judge James Peterson after Walker pleaded guilty to wire fraud July 11. According to federal prosecutors, Walker fraudulently obtained two Department of Defense contracts at Fort McCoy by falsely claiming his business, Walker Investment Properties, was a service-disabled, veteran-owned…
KANSAS CITY– A former bank branch manager in Kansas City has pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting Kansas City Chiefs playoffs tickets and a new Chevrolet Tahoe in exchange for facilitating a $12.4 million Covid fraud scheme by a Jefferson City, Mo., business owner, as well as a separate fraud scheme to receive unemployment benefits, according to the…
Fiduciary rule goals look suspiciously similar to SEC agenda, analyst says
Oversight of fixed indexed annuities remains just beyond the reach of federal regulators, but analysts are starting to see a coordinated effort to change that.
