#investment-fraud

#investment-fraud

Last month, I sat across from one of the brightest people I know as he explained how he'd lost nearly everything to a sophisticated scam. This wasn't some naive teenager or technophobe. This was my friend from university days, a retired executive who'd navigated corporate politics for decades and made shrewd investment decisions his whole life. Watching him piece together how it happened was like watching someone solve a puzzle in reverse.

A Toronto man has been charged for allegedly defrauding 28 investors of $6.6 million they provided to trade in foreign exchange. Instead of putting investors' funds into individual trading accounts, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) alleges Seyed Mohammad Ali Nojoumi who goes by Ali Nojoumi and two other individuals controlling Smart Prime Group used the money to pay personal expenses and other investors.

Accepting the role, McDonnell said he was honoured to lead the group at a "critical juncture" for financial oversight in the UK, stressing that victims of investment fraud and regulatory failures "deserve justice, not excuses", adding 'We will not allow a race to the bottom in regulation'. He argued that consumer protection must be viewed not as a brake on growth but as "the foundation of a financial system that works in the public interest".

A pensioner who ploughed 40,000 into a fraudulent wine investment scheme has warned others not to fall for similar scams after three men were jailed. Terry Fleming, 81, from Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, said he invested the money over two years believing he would make a profit, but eventually had to sell the bottles at a considerable loss. Three men who stole at least 6m from 41 victims in the scheme were given prison terms to at St Albans Crown Court on Friday.

Marianne Smyth, an American, claimed to be Jennifer Aniston, a psychic, an heiress and a Satanic priestess - all part of a long career on both sides of the Atlantic as a swindler and a conwoman. Smyth has now been convicted at Downpatrick Crown Court of swindling more than £115,000 from four victims, including Derry GAA player Dermot McNicholl.

Fraudster who was extradited from America to face trial will be sentenced next month and then deported after serving her time

OpenAI isn't a publicly-traded company - yet, at least - and as such, the company's express written consent is necessary for the sale or transfer of its equity. But that massive caveat has not, apparently, stopped sleazy operators from trying to rip would-be investors off with shady promises of buying into the red-hot artificial intelligence giant. In a new blog post, OpenAI warned that there are bad actors out there attempting to make "unauthorized opportunities to gain access" to the company.

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.

Christopher Earl Lloyd, 39, was charged with 13 counts of wire fraud for allegedly using dating apps to scam over $2 million from victims by lying about his financial success.

Billy McFarland auctioned the branding rights of Fyre Festival on eBay for $245,300, receiving 175 bids, highlighting the event's lasting notoriety and his future endeavors.

Shaukat Shamim, the founder of YouPlus, was sentenced to 2.5 years for defrauding investors, raising $17 million by falsely claiming advanced AI capabilities.