SEC: Scheme targeted LA black community
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The Los Angeles area&#39;s black community was the chief victim of a Ponzi scheme that took at least $8 million from investors, the Securities
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Plans are under way for a scheme aimed at encouraging people to inform on others who have a gun illegally.
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An evangelical Christian minister is appointed to lead a million-dollar program to tackle gang violence in LA.
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A commission is launched to try to stamp out "shocking" exploitation of vulnerable UK workers.
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The Âsecond lineÂ clubs, which lead the cityÂs distinctive black tradition of parading, say they feel threatened by new police fees.
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An undercover agent in a sting that sent dozens of black people to prison on bogus drug charges was convicted of one of two perjury counts, and a jury recommended he serve probation.
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A black congressman who claims he was racially profiled by Chicago police last month pushed for legislation Thursday that would ban the practice.
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When Michelle Brown, a corporate banker outside of Los Angeles, filled out paperwork for an apartment rental, little did she realize that financial details offered to a landlord would lead to identity theft that plagued five years of her life.
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According to a news report, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed suit against online music promotion company BurnLounge, calling it a "pyramid scheme."
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F.B.I. and I.R.S. agents issued subpoenas to the Rev. Al Sharpton's civil rights organization, the National Action Network, and to four associates of Mr. Sharpton.
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When Michelle Brown, a corporate  banker outside of Los Angeles, filled out paperwork for an  apartment rental, little did she realize that financial details  offered to a landlord would lead to identity theft that plagued  five years of her life.
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DETROIT The Detroit City Council has passed a modified version of its controversial plan for a black business district. In doing so, they&#39;ve repealed a provision that loans go only to blacks.
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THE US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a fraud lawsuit against Lord Black, the ousted chief executive of Hollinger International and his top deputy, accusing the men of improperly diverting funds from the newspaper publisher over a period of
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(InfoWorld) - Three U.S. men and one man living in France have pleaded guilty to charges related to a stock manipulation scheme that included sending out tens of millions of spam messages to pump up the stock value of 15 companies, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday. The four men cost investors more than $20 million in their so-called pump-and-dump scheme, the DOJ said. Michael Saquella, also known as Michael Paloma, 47, of Mesa, Arizona., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria on Aug. 20. Lawrence J. Kaplan, 63, of Scottsdale, Arizona, pleaded guilty on July 25, in Alexandria to similar charges. Henry "Hank" J. Zemla, 38, of Harris Township, Michigan, also pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria on July 20. The three defendants are scheduled to be sentenced between late November and early February. Saquella pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of electronic mail fraud involving 15 publicly traded companies. Kaplan pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud involving 14 of these companies, and Zemla pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud involving one of the companies. The plea agreements for all three defendants were unsealed Thursday. The scheme involved stocks from companies including eDollars, Xtreme Technologies, and PokerBook Gaming. Justin Medlin, 26, of Paris, also pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria on Aug. 20 to a criminal information charging him with one count of electronic mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and electronic mail fraud involving seven of the companies. Medlin's plea agreement was unsealed Thursday. He will be sentenced on Nov. 30. The maximum penalties for each of the fraud charges is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The stock manipulation schemes generally followed a similar pattern, the DOJ said. The defendants generally solicited small, privately held companies that needed to raise money. One of the defendants would offer to help the company raise significant money through the sale of the company's stock, and then the defendants would list the company's shares on the Pink Sheets, a price quotation system primarily used for trading small companies' stocks. The group of defendants would then gain control of a majority of the stock of the company, the DOJ said. The co-conspirators then engaged in deceptive and manipulative trading practices to boost the price and volume of the company's stock, the DOJ said. In some cases, members of the conspiracy encouraged investors to purchase companies' stock by giving the investors free-trading shares in return for buying blocks of shares at agreed-upon prices, thereby creating the illusion of trading volume and active investor interest. In other instances, members of the conspiracy bought and sold shares of the companies' stock between and among themselves to give the appearance of investor interest, the DOJ said. The co-conspirators also falsely manipulated the price and volume of each company's stock by making materially false and misleading statements in news releases and in spam e-mails distributed by Medlin and other spammers to tens of millions of U.S. e-mail addresses, in an effort to create artificial demand for the companies' stock, the DOJ said. In related actions, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against Saquella and Kaplan for their part in the schemes to manipulate the price and volume of the companies' securities. Three other defendants, Steven P. Luscko, Gregory A. Neu, and Brian G. Brunette, have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced in federal court in Alexandria for their roles in related stock manipulation schemes. Luscko and Neu were each sentenced to five years in prison and Brunette was sentenced to one year in prison.
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A bogus letter circulating in South Carolina, purporting to be from the NAACP, threatens the arrest of voters who have outstanding parking tickets or failed to pay child support. The NAACP said Friday the letter is a scare tactic and called for an investigation.
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The bill is part of a measure aimed at curbing what some consumer advocates say are deceptive lending practices aimed at people with low incomes or poor credit histories.
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Letters sent to black high school athletes at Cleveland&#39;s St. Ignatius and St. Edwards that threaten to hurt the students if they are involved in interracial relationships likely were sent by the same person