Technology Nigerians face US charges over online fraud worth 'hundreds of millions'

02:05 05 july 2020

02:05 05 july 2020 Source: engadget.com

Lori Loughlin Is Confident College Admissions Scandal Case Could Be Dropped

Lori Loughlin Is Confident College Admissions Scandal Case Could Be Dropped“Lori’s lawyers feel they have a very strong chance of having the charges dismissed because prosecutors withheld key evidence that [ringleader]Rick Singer was pressured by the FBI to lie in the course of his conversations with Lori,” the source tells Us. “It was entrapment, misleading a defendant so that Rick could get a favorable sentence for his role. Rick was the mastermind in all of this.

US law enforcement is cracking down on a pair of alleged online fraudsters that appear to have been wildly successful. The United Arab Emirates has sent the US two Nigerian nationals, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas and Olakean Jacob Ponle, to face charges relating to large “business email compromise” scams. Abbas is accused of money laundering in schemes meant to pull in “hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to the Justice Department. He reportedly helped with a plan to launder $14.7 million stolen from a “foreign financial institution,” helped take nearly $923,000 from a New York law firm and was even involved in a plot to steal roughly $124 million from an English Premier League club.

'Draconian'? 'House arrest'? Coronavirus lockdowns prompt raft of lawsuits against states

Courts weigh coronavirus restrictions, which are sometimes criticized as "draconian," against individual liberties as governors seek to save lives.Each of these activities became the subject of a federal lawsuit, as residents, businesses and even lawmakers challenged state shutdown orders designed to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

Ponle, meanwhile, allegedly participated in several 2019 fraud campaigns that were worth “tens of millions of dollars,” including one Chicago-based company that sen a total of $15.2 million. According to the claim, Ponle had victims wire funds to money mules who converted the gains to Bitcoin and sent them to a digital wallet the mastermind controlled.

Both Abbas and Ponle could serve up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

US attorney Nick Hanna saw the move as evidence the US could hold online fraud perpetrators responsible “no matter where they live.” However, this is is also an illustration of how difficult it is to halt internet scams. American officials have been identifying foreign fraud campaigns for years, and they only sometimes lead to arrests. Although these moves could send a message to scammers who think they can escape without penalty, they might not serve as practical deterrents.

Ganges River flows with history and prophecy for India .
ALONG THE GANGES, India (AP) — More than 2,000 years ago, a powerful king built a fort on the banks of India’s holiest river, on the fringes of what is now a vast industrial city. Today, little of the ancient construction remains, except for mounds of rubble that tannery workers pick through for bricks to build shanties atop what was once the fortress of the great King Yayati. And Kanpur, where Yayati built his fort, is a city known for its leather tanneries and the relentless pollution they pump into the Ganges River.