#wire fraud

#wire fraud

Federal prosecutors stated that Erwin Bankowski and Karolina Bankowska commissioned an artist in Poland to create at least 200 forgeries, defrauding buyers of at least $2 million.

The victim, identified in court documents only as T.M., received an unsolicited letter at their home address in September 2025. The letter appeared to come from Ledger Security and Compliance and instructed the recipient to complete a mandatory security review of their Ledger hardware wallet.

Michael Smith has preempted his trial by pleading guilty to the fraud scheme, facing a maximum penalty of five years in jail for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The indictment alleges a group of 'fixers' agreed to recruit NCAA players who would help ensure their teams failed to cover the point spread of the first half of a game or an entire game.

Between February 2021 and December 2025, Bonheur exchanged SNAP benefits issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for cash and ineligible items, according to the charging documents. The transactions were processed through the store's point-of-sale terminal, resulting in deposits into bank accounts Bonheur designated to receive SNAP redemption payments.

Con artists posing as immigration lawyers created fake legal documents and even staged sham court proceedings to dupe migrants seeking legal pathways to U.S. residency out of their hard-earned money, according to a five-count indictment unsealed in Brooklyn Federal Court on Friday. The indictment charges five defendants with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and two counts of false impersonation of an officer or employee of the United States, according to U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr.

DOWNTOWN - In Brooklyn federal court, Pushpesh Kumar Baid, also known as "PK Jain," was sentenced to 20 years for his role in schemes to defraud investors in Tradepay Capital LLC, a purported factoring company, and in Luxestreet, Inc., a purported luxury goods pawn shop. Baid pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in April 2025, approximately one week before the trial was scheduled to commence.

Industry NewsA South Carolina woman has admitted to taking part in a years-long operation that used stolen credit card information to buy ski passes later resold at steep "discounts," according to reporting by The Salt Lake Tribune. Jamilla Greene, 34, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, acknowledging her role in a scheme that investigators say ran from late 2020 through May 2024. The operation involved Ikon and Epic passes and lift products for Utah resorts, the Tribune reported.

All 31 suspects in the explosive NBA gambling case were hauled into Brooklyn court Monday, squeezing into the largest courtroom in the building - as the feds hinted at least some may be trying to cut deals. Hoops Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, 49, landed $5 million bail at the federal proceeding, while fellow defendants Sophia "Pookie" Wei, reputed Bonanno crime-family mobster Thomas "Tommy Juice" Gelardo and the rest of the alleged crew tied to the headline-grabbing case were there for status conferences.

Audricus Phagnasay, Jason Salazar, and Alexander Paul Travis (the latter being the US Army soldier) each pled guilty to one wire fraud conspiracy for providing their identities to North Koreans between 2019 and 2022 so the Norks could fraudulently get work at US companies. All three provided space in their homes for laptops issued by the companies they supposedly worked for and installed remote access software that allowed their North Korean comrades to appear to be working from the US, the DoJ said.

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.

Federal prosecutors say Azevedo agreed to use his power as a member of the San Leandro City Council to help a local housing company secure a contract with the city in exchange for a percentage of the price from any units the city ultimately purchased from the business, according to charging documents made public Tuesday. The company was not identified.