#wire fraud

#wire fraud

Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been charged with taking bribes from sports bettors to intentionally throw certain types of pitches, including tossing balls instead of strikes to ensure successful bets. According to an indictment unsealed Sunday in federal court in Brooklyn, Clase and Ortiz helped bettors from their native Dominican Republic win in-game prop bets on pitch speed and outcome by throwing certain pitches slower and down in the dirt, well out of the strike zone.

In some instances, the defendants received bribes and kickback payments-funneled through third parties-in exchange for rigging pitches. Through this scheme, the defendants defrauded betting platforms, deprived Major League Baseball and the Cleveland Guardians of their honest services, illegally enriched themselves and their co-conspirators, misled the public, and betrayed America's pastime. Clase and Ortiz are facing charges of wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, money laundering conspiracy, and honest services wire fraud conspiracy.

Prosecutors said Wellesley and Burton, posing as executives at London- and Hong Kong-registered Bordeaux Cellars, raised $99.4 million by promising loan investors they would receive regular interest payments from "high net worth" wine collectors. The defendants allegedly claimed the loans were backed by an inventory of more than 25,000 bottles of wine, including from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti in Burgundy and Chateau Lafleur in Bordeaux.

Monica Cannon-Grant, a once-celebrated local activist, pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to defrauding donors to her nonprofit, which received significant attention in the wake of George Floyd's murder and other instances of police violence. Cannon-Grant, 44, and her late husband, Clark Grant, were accused of spending the donated funds on personal expenditures including hotels, gas, restaurants, food deliveries, nail salons, and travel. The accusations also included fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits and pandemic relief funds.

According to the Central District of California U.S. Attorney's Office, a California man was indicted on 13 counts of wire fraud for scamming dating app users out of $2 million.

Judges noted, "Following the government's lead, we reverse these convictions," acknowledging the government's concession that acquittal should have been entered for specific counts.

Girardi, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison after being convicted of four counts of wire fraud.

Tramaine Liptrot, a former Miami police officer, faces nearly two decades in prison for fraudulently securing over $200,000 in pandemic relief loans.

"Her guilty plea today says what she refuses to admit in her media interviews: she broke the law, lied to the public, and used her office for her own personal gain."

Fernandes Anderson, seen in surveillance footage moving furniture from City Hall before pleading guilty to charges, faces a year in jail and restitution.