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Alameda man admits to running $2 million Ponzi scheme

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

ALAMEDA — A 35-year-old Alameda man has admitted to defrauding at least 20 people out of around $2 million as part of a years-long Ponzi scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.As part of a plea agreement, Long Nguyen admitted that between September 2015 and July 2021, he operated a scheme in which he made false statements about himself to victims, as well as the investment opportunities he could provide, how he would invest their money and what he did with their money, federal authorities said in a statement.The DOJ said Nguyen pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud. According to federal prosecutors, Nguyen admitted to falsely presenting himself as a billionaire, lying about his investment opportunities and the benefits of investing with him. The DOJ said he told victims they would get a monthly income if they invested in his real estate investment trust.However, the DOJ said he admitted he was using his victims’ money to pay back other victims, and most of t...

Largest Christian university hit with record $37.7M fine

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

By Collin Binkley | Associated PressWASHINGTON — The country’s largest Christian university is being fined $37.7 million by the federal government amid accusations that it misled students about the cost of its graduate programs.Grand Canyon University, which has more than 100,000 students, mostly in online programs, faces the largest fine of its kind ever issued by the U.S. Education Department. The university dismissed the allegations as “lies and deceptive statements.”“Grand Canyon University categorically denies every accusation in the Department of Education’s statement and will take all measures necessary to defend itself from these false accusations,” the school said in a five-page statement.An Education Department investigation found that Grand Canyon lied to more than 7,500 current and former students about the cost of its doctoral programs.As far back as 2017, the university told students its doctoral programs would cost between $40,000 a...

Maine shooter’s behavior raised concern for months

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

By Holly Ramer | Associated PressAuthorities publicly identified Robert Card as a person of interest about four hours after he shot and killed 18 people and wounded 13 others during attacks last week at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine. But Card, who was found dead two days after his rampage, had been well known to law enforcement for months. Here’s a look at some of the interactions he had with sheriff’s deputies, his family and members of his Army Reserve unit, as gleaned from statements made by authorities and documents they released:MAY:On May 3, Card’s 18-year-old son and ex-wife told a school resource officer in Topsham, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) southeast of Lewiston, that they were growing concerned about his deteriorating mental health.A Sagadahoc County sheriff’s deputy met with the son and ex-wife that day and the son said that around last January, his father started claiming that people around him were saying derogatory things about...

DA Pamela Price seeks removal of ‘overly zealous’ lawyer from San Leandro officer’s manslaughter case

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price wants to keep a well-known Bay Area defense attorney from representing the San Leandro police officer charged in a 2020 manslaughter case — claiming the lawyer “acted overzealously” and sought to “undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system,” according to court documents filed this week.Price’s request this week targeting attorney Michael Rains — as well as his firm, Rains, Lucia, Stern, St. Phalle & Silver — comes just months after Rains himself tried unsuccessfully to have Price booted from the case over concerns that she was deeply biased against police officers.In a press release announcing the move, Price pilloried Rains for an “unethical and improper breach of the professional rules of professional conduct as well as a violation of the standards of ethics that apply to lawyers.”“Today my office took at stand for justice,” Price’s statem...

Danville bank robbed, police searching for suspect

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

(KRON) -- The Danville Police Department is asking for the public's help with finding a suspect who robbed a bank on Tuesday afternoon. The robbery happened at Wells Fargo, located at 3402 Camino Tassajara, just before 12:30 p.m. The robber passed a note to the staff demanding money and did not display a weapon, the Town of Danville said. Thieves who appear to rob elderly San Jose couple caught on camera The suspect was described as a Black man with a light complexion. He is believed to be in his early 20s, standing about 5-foot-7 and weighing about 150 pounds. He was wearing black clothing, including a black beanie, a black surgical mask and a black fanny pack or sling. He fled the area on foot and has not been captured, town officials said. The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office and Danville Police Department are investigating the case. Anyone with information can call (925) 314-3703 or email [email protected].

Muere Tyler Christopher, estrella de “General Hospital”, a los 50 años

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

(CNN) –– El actor Tyler Christopher, recordado por sus papeles en “General Hospital” y “Days of Our Lives”, murió a los 50 años.El representante de Christopher, Chi Muoi Lo, dijo a CNN en un comunicado que el actor falleció la mañana de este martes.“Esta noticia fue increíblemente impactante, y estoy devastado por su pérdida. Era un actor muy talentoso y, lo que es más importante, un amigo increíble. Mi corazón está con sus amigos y familiares que lo amaron tanto”, se lee en el comunicado.El coprotagonista de Christopher en “General Hospital”, Maurice Bernard, también rindió homenaje al actor este martes y escribió: “Tyler era un individuo verdaderamente talentoso que iluminaba la pantalla en cada escena que interpretaba y disfrutaba llevando alegría a sus fieles seguidores a través de su actuación”.“Tyler era un alma dulce y un amigo maravilloso para todos los que lo conocieron”, añadió.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Disco...

Thousands of Bangladesh’s garment factory workers take to the streets demanding better wages

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of garment factory workers took to the streets of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, and the industrial district of Gazipur on Tuesday to demand better wages. Bangladesh is the second largest garment-producing country in the world after China with its nearly 3,500 factories where some 4 million workers are employed — most are women — according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, or BGMEA. The workers get 8,300 takas, or $75, as monthly minimum wage and they often need to work overtime to make ends meet, labor unions and workers say. Protests erupted over the weekend after BGMEA offered to increase the monthly minimum wage by 25% to reach $90, instead of the $208 demanded by the workers.While Bangladesh has been maintaining stable annual economic growth for years, rising inflation has become a major challenge. Gazipur district, which houses thousands of factories, saw thousands of protesters on the streets with some throwing...

Joran van der Slot regresa a Perú a terminar de cumplir su condena por asesinato

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

(CNN Español) –– El neerlandés Joran van der Sloot ––quien confesó a mediados de octubre ante una corte estadounidense haber matado a Natalee Holloway, una joven desaparecida en Aruba en 2005–– aterrizó este martes en Lima procedente de EE.UU., de acuerdo con una publicación de la Policía Nacional de Perú en X, antes Twitter.¿Quién es Joran van der Sloot, el asesino confeso de Natalee Holloway y Stephany Flores?Van der Sloot seguirá cumpliendo en Perú la condena de 28 años de prisión que le impusieron en 2012 por el asesinato de Stephany Flores, de 21 años, en la habitación de un hotel en Lima.Van der Sloot había viajado a Estados Unidos el 8 de junio, tras la aprobación por parte de la justicia peruana de un traslado temporal para ser juzgado en una corte de Birmingham, Alabama.Joran van der Sloot confesó que asesinó a Natalee Holloway en una playa de Aruba, según un expediente judicialVan der Sloot confesó el asesinato de Holloway en una declaración relacionada con su acuerdo de c...

Children return to school and trick-or-treat as Maine community starts to heal from mass shooting

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Children were back in school in Lewiston and on the streets dressed as dinosaurs and princesses for Halloween, after a chaotic week that saw the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history and a massive search for the suspect as people sheltered indoors.Hundreds of students returned to Lewiston High School, petting therapy dogs and signing a large banner that read “Lewiston Strong.” Days earlier the campus had been transformed into a law enforcement command post, with helicopters utilizing athletic fields and 300 vehicles filling the parking lot.“Today’s going to be hard,” Superintendent Jake Langlais said. “But I think there’s strength in gathering, in unity, in getting back together.”Jayden Sands, a 15-year-old sophomore, said one of his football coaches lost four friends. One of his best friends also lost a friend, and his mom’s friend was shot four times but survived. Sands is glad to be back at school though safety was in the back of his ...

What is ‘community conferencing?’ And how does it work in Charles and Prince George’s Co.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:06 GMT

People who work in the field of restorative justice say two things have to happen to make the practice work: all parties have to agree to the process, and once a resolution is decided upon, all parties have to agree to that as well.As the Montgomery County Council examines “community conferencing” as a way to deal with some juvenile offenses, WTOP reached out to two facilitators in two different Maryland counties to ask about the process.Dana Coles, who runs the Prince George’s County Community Conferencing Program said, “The most important part is to talk to people and make sure that they really want to participate” and that “they’re prepared for what the process is going to look like.”She said the process doesn’t look to be punitive, but she insists, it’s not done without accountability. “If you are the party that caused the harm, you have to acknowledge that you participated in the harm in some way.”Coles sai...