Federal prosecutors indicted Sioux Falls crypto investor Benjamin Paul Wiener on 29 counts, including wire fraud and money laundering, alleging he defrauded dozens of victims of $20 million through eight entities and concealed funds. He pleaded not guilty, with his trial set for September 15.
Chinese organized crime rings exploit tap-to-pay technology for $1 billion annually, using stolen credit cards to buy gift cards and high-value goods, evading detection through complex networks and low-risk transactions.
Indian national Chandrakant Patel orchestrated a decade-long U visa fraud in Louisiana, faking robberies to help immigrants obtain visas. Four US law enforcement officers, including police chiefs and a marshal, aided the scheme by filing false police reports for payments, with Patel and the officers now having pleaded guilty.
Christopher Alexander Delgado, president and CEO of Goliath Ventures, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, admitting to running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of at least $250 million, using funds for a lavish lifestyle. Sentencing is set for October 8.
A Las Vegas nurse practitioner, Marizel Yukee, faces charges in a $906 million scheme defrauding Medicare and TRICARE. Prosecutors allege she used illicit funds for a $594,000 Ferrari, an $865,000 necklace, a "million-dollar home" in Hawaii, and a Philippine beach resort, while targeting vulnerable patients with unnecessary treatments.
Billionaire Guo Wengui, also known as Ho Wan Kwok, was sentenced by Judge Analisa Torres for defrauding thousands of online followers of hundreds of millions of dollars between 2018-2023, using funds for a lavish lifestyle. He was ordered to forfeit $889 million.
Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, of Burnsville, Minnesota, was arrested in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Thursday. He is charged in a $250 million fraud scheme involving a federal meals program, accused of creating fake sites and shell companies.
Mario Flores, a Honduran national living illegally in the US, received an eight-year prison sentence for his role in a $89 million payroll tax fraud scheme in Orlando, Florida, involving shell companies and cash payments to undocumented workers.
The Justice Department announced criminal charges against 455 individuals in a two-week healthcare fraud crackdown, uncovering schemes seeking over $6.5 billion in false claims. Cases include a Texas nurse, a mental health company owner, and a Florida heart doctor, Jason Finkelstein, accused in an $89 million scheme involving unnecessary tests for student-athletes.
A prominent Pakistani-American businessman, Pervez Siddiqui, and seven associates are accused of defrauding New York's Medicaid system of $38 million through two Brooklyn adult day care centers by submitting false claims for services not rendered and enrolling recipients who rarely attended.
A UK delivery driver, Shahid Adnan, has been jailed for three years after orchestrating an academic fraud scheme generating over £300,000. He completed coursework and exams for students, accessing their university accounts. The operation involved 124 students globally.
Rodney Burton, a Florida resident, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business linked to the $1.8 billion HyperFund crypto fraud. The scheme promised false returns to thousands of investors globally.
Rodney Burton, known as "Bitcoin Rodney," pleaded guilty to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business linked to a $1.8 billion crypto fraud scheme. He personally received over $7.8 million and promoted the HyperFund platform, which prosecutors describe as a wire-fraud operation. Burton faces up to five years in prison.
A Canadian teen, Trenton Richard Johnston, pleaded guilty to a $13 million crypto scam involving social engineering. He impersonated tech firm employees to steal funds, which he used for a lavish lifestyle in Miami and Los Angeles, including luxury cars and private jets.
Australian authorities seize over $580,000 from a 61-year-old man involved in a visa fraud scheme, misusing the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme with false applications.
A federal jury in California convicted short seller Andrew Left of securities fraud. Left, who operated as Citron Research, was found guilty of participating in a securities fraud scheme and 12 counts of securities fraud. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
Five men have been jailed in Germany for their roles in an organized driving test fraud scheme, where doppelgangers took theory tests for others. The longest sentence was four years and three months for a defendant deemed central to the organization.
U.K. police charged British sprinter CJ Ujah in an alleged crypto fraud scheme involving wallet seed phrase theft and impersonation calls.
An unprecedented international law enforcement operation led by the FBI, Dubai Police, and Chinese Ministry of Public Security resulted in 276 arrests and the dismantlement of nine scam centers used for cryptocurrency investment fraud. The operation targeted 'pig-butchering' schemes that defrauded Americans of millions of dollars. Three defendants were charged in San Diego with federal wire fraud and money laundering charges.
