Lawyers for two ex-officers accused in Tyre Nichols’ death rest their cases in federal trial

(WASHINGTON) — Americans lost $5.6 billion in cryptocurrency scams in 2023, according to a new report released by the FBI on Monday.

Scammers use elaborate tactics to assure potential victims that their investment in cryptocurrency will pay off, according to James Barnacle, the deputy assistant director of the criminal investigative division at the FBI.

“Over time, the victim is being cultivated, and the fraudsters are building confidence in the victim,” Barnacle told ABC News. “They’re friends. They met on the internet, or they met on social media. They’ve met on text message. They develop a friendship, then the fraudster will offer an investment opportunity, and the pitch is something along the lines of like, ‘Hey, I’m in a group that does investments or I know someone that does investments in cryptocurrency.'”

From there, Barnacle said, the victim is given a web app to place their money in.

“Everyone reads about all these crypto millionaires, so people are looking for the next big investment opportunities and fraudsters take advantage of that,” he said.

The impacts of these schemes, however, are devastating, according to Barnacle .

“Some people take mortgages, or third mortgages or equity lines of credit. People withdraw or liquidate from their 401(k) or their IRA, and they’ll put money into these investment schemes, keep putting in more and more and more,” he said. “We’re seeing people lose $4 million, $5 million, $6 million. We’re seeing people that are complaining and reaching out to us for $2,000 … it’s a huge impact to the victim.”

The report found that people over 60 years old were the most scammed: they lost nearly $1.6 billion in 2023.

“Elderly have generally a lot more free time,” Barnacle explained. “They’re at home, they’re in an assisted living facility, and so they’re pretty easy to target, in that sense, just their availability is higher than someone who’s not at home all day. And the fraudsters are really good at building that rapport.”

Fraudsters also give “detailed” directions on how to go to a cryptocurrency kiosk and deposit cash and transfer it to a scammer’s crypto wallet, he noted.

“You wouldn’t think your 89-year-old grandmother would go to a kiosk, but we’re seeing it all day long,” Barnacle said.

The chances that someone recovers the money are “slim,” Barnacle said.

FBI officials, in an effort to prevent fraudsters from taking money from victims, are training state and local law enforcement to better see the warning signs of crypto scams, and they are asking banks to also look out for the warnings from customers.

“They’re coming into your bank and saying they need cash for that home renovation project [but] does it make sense that they keep coming in and taking out significant amounts of money, even when some of them, the elderly folks, may live in a nursing home,” Barnicle said.

Since January, the FBI has notified 3,000 people that they were victims of fraud; however, the number of scams is being undercounted because many people don’t realize they are being scammed.

“The 3,000 people we’ve notified this year, 75% had no idea they were victims of fraud,” Barnacle said.

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(NEW YORK) — The judge in former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case has delayed his sentencing from Sept. 18 until Nov. 26 — after the presidential election.

The decision, issued in a court filing Friday, means Trump will not face consequences for falsifying business records related to a hush payment to Stormy Daniels before voters choose the next president.

Judge Juan Merchan also said he would now rule on Trump’s motion to set aside the verdict on Nov. 12.

Trump is seeking to have the case dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity, after the Supreme Court ruled in blockbuster decision that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.

“The public’s confidence in the integrity of our judicial system demands a sentencing hearing that is entirely focused on the verdict of the jury and the weighing of aggravating and mitigating factors free from distraction or distortion,” Merchan wrote in his ruling Friday. “The members of this jury served diligently on this case, and their verdict must be respected and addressed in a manner that is not diluted by the enormity of the upcoming presidential election.”

Merchan appeared to arrive at the decision reluctantly, ruling that sentencing would be “adjourned to avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate.”

Merchan’s opinion noted that any conflict was of Trump’s own making as the former president repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings.

“Notably, had Defendant been sentenced on July 11, 2024, as originally scheduled, there would of course have been no cause for delay,” the judge wrote.

Merchan also chided Trump for attempting to bolster his argument with “a litany of perceived and unsubstantiated grievances from previous filings that do not merit this Court’s attention.”

Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

He has denied all wrongdoing and has said he will appeal the decision.

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(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for former President Donald Trump will return to court Thursday, seeking to reverse the ruling from a New York judge that held him liable for business fraud and ordered him to pay $454 million.

Lawyers will present oral arguments before an intermediate appeals court in New York, following a February ruling from Judge Arthur Engoron that found Trump liable for frauds that Engoron said “shock the conscience.”

Trump, his eldest sons, and two top Trump Organization executives exaggerated Trump’s wealth to secure better terms from lenders, Engoron found during an 11-week trial in Lower Manhattan.

In a written submission to the New York Appellate Division’s First Department prior to Thursday’s hearing, Trump’s attorneys pressed many of the same arguments they made during the trial, insisting that New York Attorney General Letitia James misused the law to bring a political case, and arguing that Trump undervalued, not overvalued, his assets.

“President Trump stands among the most visionary and iconic real estate developers in American history,” the defense filing said. “As trial evidence highlighted, banks and lenders vied eagerly for his business. They acknowledged his unique ‘vision’ and unparalleled ‘expertise,’ and they recognized that dealing with him would deliver ‘tremendous’ value.”

The attorney general’s office said it was not required to prove any lender was harmed.

“Indeed, one of [the law’s] core remedial purposes is to protect the honesty and integrity of commercial marketplaces in New York by stopping fraudulent and illegal practices before they cause financial losses to market participants or broader harms to the public,” the office wrote in a submission to the appellate court.

The attorney general’s office argued that Engoron correctly decided Trump and his codefendants “used a variety of deceptive strategies to vastly misrepresent the values of nearly all the assets and asset categories,” inflating his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion.

Engoron, in his ruling, determined that Trump valued his apartment as if its square footage was triple its actual size; that he valued rent regulated apartments as if they were unregulated; and that he valued his Mar-a-Lago estate as if deed restrictions did not exist.

Trump, following the ruling, secured a $175 million bond while he appeals the judgment.

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