Sam Bankman-Fried loses appeal of fraud conviction in FTX case
ormer FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried arrives for a bail hearing at Manhattan Federal Court on August 11, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the cryptocurrency fraud conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
The opinion came the same week Bankman-Fried submitted his application for a presidential pardon.
Bankman-Fried was convicted of masterminding one of the largest financial frauds in history stemming from the collapse of the crypto-exchange FTX. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Stock image of car air conditioning ventilation grille. (aire images/Getty Images)
(RIVERVIEW, Fla.) — A 3-year-old boy died after being left in a hot car in Florida, according to authorities.
Deputies responded to a home in Riverview, just outside of Tampa, at about 10:40 p.m. Saturday after the boy’s father found him unresponsive in a parked car, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.
The boy was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.
The temperature hit a scorching 95 degrees in Riverview on Saturday, and with humidity, it felt hotter than 100 degrees.
It’s not clear how long the boy was in the car.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister called the death a “tragedy” and warned, “A vehicle can reach lethal temperatures within minutes.”
“We urge every parent and caregiver in our community to make hot vehicle safety a priority,” the sheriff said in a statement. “Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle, even for a moment.”
No charges have been filed at this time and the investigation is ongoing, according to the sheriff’s office.
At least eight children have died in hot cars so far this year in the U.S., according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org. Last year, at least 37 children died in hot cars across the country, KidsAndCars.org said.
Click here for what to know to keep your children safe.
ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke contributed to this report.
Charles Berry, 66, was arrested in connection with a 1986 homicide in Virginia Beach, Virginia, according to the Newington Police Department in Connecticut. (Newington Police Department via Meta)
(VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.) — Four decades after a young woman was raped and murdered, a man has been linked to the crime through DNA and is under arrest, according to Virginia Beach, Virginia, police.
“It’s incredibly scary for the community to think that someone who would rape and brutally murder someone 40 years ago was out in society,” Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate said at a news conference on Wednesday.
On May 15, 1986, the body of 22-year-old Roberta Walls was discovered in a field behind an elementary school, police said.
Walls “was a loving daughter, a big sister, a friend to those who knew her and someone that could be counted on in her circle of friends,” Virginia Beach Police Deputy Chief Jeffery Wilkerson said.
Her murder was investigated for decades, police said.
In 2001, a male DNA profile was developed and it was entered into the national DNA databank, but there was no match, police Capt. Michele Wyatt said.
“During the course of the investigation, the DNA of more than 30 males was compared with the offender’s DNA, and all were eliminated,” Wyatt said.
In 2023, the Virginia Beach Police Department received grant funding that allowed investigators to pursue forensic genealogy leads, Wyatt said.
Police went on to identify a “possible suspect who had strong ties to the area during the relevant time period,” Wyatt said, and a “direct DNA comparison ultimately identified Charles Berry as the source of the DNA profile.”
Investigators discovered that Berry was in the U.S. Navy during the time of the murder and was stationed in the Virginia Beach area, Wyatt said.
It appears Berry did not know Walls before the murder, police said, adding that Berry had never been on the police’s radar.
Berry, 66, of Newington, Connecticut, was arrested on Monday, the Newington Police Department said. He’s charged with rape and capital murder in the commission of a rape, the chief said.
“This breakthrough stands as a powerful testament to the relentless persistence of our detectives, who refused to let Roberta be forgotten,” the Virginia Beach Police Department said in a statement. “We hope this closure brings a measure of peace to the Walls family and sends a clear message: no matter how much time passes, we will never stop searching for the truth.”
Berry is in custody in Connecticut and it is not clear if he has an attorney, according to court records.
(NEW YORK) — Frank Carone, a former chief of staff to ex-New York Mayor Eric Adams, was arrested on Wednesday morning along with his brother Anthony and two others as part of a federal bribery case, according to federal investigators.
While serving as chief of staff, Carone allegedly, “agreed to accept a series of bribe payments” as part of a scheme to “exploit the city’s migrant crisis for profit,” according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court.
In 2022, during the influx of migrants into New York, the city needed to rent entire hotels to accommodate asylum-seekers using emergency contracts.
Carone allegedly accepted $120,000 in bribes from two co-defendants, Crystal Chen and Yan Po Zhu, in exchange for steering a multimillion-dollar emergency contract to a Microtel in Long Island City, Queens, that they controlled, federal prosecutors alleged.
To conceal the bribes, the payments were allegedly funneled through an account that Carone’s brother, Anthony, controlled, the indictment said.
“In total, Zhu and Chen paid approximately $120,000 to F. Carone in exchange for an Emergency Shelter Contract for the Microtel, which was laundered through the Law Firm #2 account by A. Carone and his co-defendants,” the indictment said.
The indictment included photographs of Zhu and Carone socializing at Zhu’s Long Island home in June 2022, a time when the indictment said Zhu and Chen’s efforts to secure an Emergency Shelter Contract through other means were stalling.
“Zhu leveraged his burgeoning personal relationship with the defendant, Frank V. Carone,” the indictment said.
The city ultimately awarded Microtel a nearly $7 million contract, even though it was smaller than another Long Island City hotel under consideration.
The indictment quoted an unnamed city employee who allegedly “lamented that replacing the professional’s staff’s recommendations with the Microtel ‘meant a loss of 75 units,’ which would necessitate opening more locations to make up the difference.”
The defendants are charged with 13 counts, including conspiracy, federal program bribery and obstruction.
Carone helped with Adams’ transition into office in January 2022 and served as the mayor’s chief of staff until December that year, when he departed the administration.
As he departed, he said that in his position it had been an “honor keeping the trains running for this administration,” according to a press release at the time.
Arthur Aidala, an attorney representing Carone, said in a statement to ABC News that Carone was notified that he was under federal investigation three years ago and denied the allegations.
“Frank Carone was part of an administration that publicly challenged what it viewed as the previous White House’s dangerous immigration policies and their harmful impact on New York City,” Aidala said in a statement to ABC News. “Following an extensive three-year investigation that examined numerous aspects of Mr. Carone’s personal and professional life, prosecutors ultimately brought these charges.”
“Mr. Carone maintains his innocence and looks forward to addressing these allegations through the legal process. He is confident that the facts will demonstrate that he acted lawfully and appropriately at all times,” Aidala added.
Attorney information for the other defendants was not immediately available.
Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for former Mayor Adams, said in a statement that his “prayers are with [Carone’s] family”
“Frank Carone has dedicated decades of his life to public service, the legal profession, and helping countless individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations throughout New York,” he said.
