Fiat crime (financing terror, money laundering, fraud, ponzi, etc.)

How Fakes, Frauds And Scams Came With Walmart’s Digital Boom​

Sep 19, 2025 #CNBC
In its race to rival Amazon and become the next great “everything store,” Walmart leveraged its brick-and-mortar empire to grow into a major player online. And it didn’t take long for the world’s biggest retailer to build a massive digital marketplace with hundreds of millions of products and thousands of third-party sellers. But Walmart’s digital boom has a little known and much darker underside – where some sellers steal the identities of legitimate businesses so they can peddle counterfeit and sometimes dangerous products to unsuspecting customers. After CNBC shared its reporting with Walmart, the company began tightening its vetting process for both products and sellers and says it has a “zero-tolerance policy for prohibited or noncompliant products.” CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge has the story.
15:31

Scam kingpins who ran billion-dollar criminal empire sentenced to death in China​

A court in China has sentenced 11 people to death for their roles in a billion-dollar family-run criminal empire built on online scam and gambling operations in a remote border region of Myanmar, and for the deaths of workers who tried to escape.

Eleven members and associates of the Ming crime family were sentenced to death on Monday by the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, according to a court statement.

The Ming family is one of the so-called “four families” of northern Myanmar — mafia-like crime syndicates accused of running hundreds of compounds dealing in internet fraud, prostitution and drug production, and whose members hold prominent positions in the local government and militia aligned with Myanmar’s ruling junta.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...o-death-in-china/ar-AA1Nzpn4?ocid=socialshare

Startup founder Charlie Javice sentenced to 7 years in prison for defrauding JPMorgan Chase​

• Charlie Javice, founder of a startup acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2021 for $175 million, was sentenced to seven years in prison Monday for defrauding the bank by overstating how many customers the fintech firm had.
• A jury found Javice and her chief growth officer Olivier Amar guilty on three counts of fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud.
• Javice said she felt profound remorse for her actions and asked for forgiveness from JPMorgan, employees of the startup, shareholders and investors.

Charlie Javice, founder of a startup acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2021 for $175 million, was sentenced to just over seven years in prison Monday for defrauding the bank by overstating how many customers the fintech firm had.

In March, a 12-person jury found Javice and her chief growth officer Olivier Amar guilty on three counts of fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 12 years.

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The 'stupidity' of 300 investment bankers tricked by a 20-something founder is a lesson in due diligence​

• Fintech wunderkind Charlie Javice must serve seven years in prison for conning JPMorgan Chase out of $175 million.
• Some 300 bankers vetted the 2021 purchase of her startup, but it took a year to learn its 4 million users were fraudulent.
• The judge said he took that into consideration, but ultimately decided "fraud remains a fraud."

"Stupidity."

"Very poor due diligence."

"Someone who is a fool."

On Monday, a Manhattan judge used all of these terms to describe the JPMorgan Chase bankers who fell victim to a fraud perpetrated by fintech entrepreneur Charlie Javice.

Read it all:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...in-due-diligence/ar-AA1NzTha?ocid=socialshare

How the British Crown Funded Pirates to Build an Empire​

Oct 3, 2025 The Financial History Files
The British Empire wasn’t built on fair trade. It was built on piracy.
In this video, The Financial Historian uncovers how Queen Elizabeth I and the English Crown turned pirates like Francis Drake and Henry Morgan into state-backed privateers, unleashing them on Spanish treasure fleets and colonial cities. Their raids captured fortunes so vast they paid off England’s debts, enriched investors, and laid the foundation of empire.
This isn’t just swashbuckling adventure. It’s economic history — theft turned into financial policy. And the lessons still matter today. Because when governments need money, they always find their pirates.

9:11

Wells Fargo customer of ‘years and years’ loses $4,000 hours after depositing check — but bank denies fraud claims, won’t return money. Here’s why​

A Houston woman paid a steep price, literally, for a simple bank deposit that she made at her local Wells Fargo branch.

Willie Delane told her local Fox 26 network that on September 15 she deposited a life insurance check totalling $10,000 into her Wells Fargo bank account.

“I've been with Wells Fargo for so long, years and years” she said in the story. This is why, when she received a text roughly nine hours later saying that there was something fishy with a transaction involving her account, she called customer service. (1)

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/per...money-here-s-why/ar-AA1OQelD?ocid=socialshare

The Biggest Financial Crime You’ve Never Heard Of​

Oct 22, 2025 The Financial History Files
For decades, the world’s biggest banks quietly manipulated the price of money itself — the interest rates that determined your mortgage, your student loan, and your country’s debt. This is the story of the LIBOR scandal — how a handful of traders at Barclays, UBS, and JPMorgan turned a global benchmark into a private casino.
The Financial Historian breaks down how the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) really worked — how it shaped $350 trillion in contracts, how it was rigged in secret chat rooms, and why the system depended on “trust” that never existed. We explain derivatives, interest rate swaps, and the hidden incentives that made small manipulations worth billions.
This isn’t just a story about greed — it’s about how the financial system rewards deception, punishes transparency, and turns trust into a tradable asset. LIBOR may have been replaced by SOFR, but the same forces still control the price of money today.
If you want to understand how global finance really works — and who profits when the system bends — this is the video you can’t afford to miss.

12:47

The case of a felon who paid lobbyists nearly $1 million to seek a Trump pardon​

In April, Alina Habba, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, extolled her office’s role in the sentencing of a former nursing home magnate to three years in prison for defrauding the government of $38 million. The man, Joseph Schwartz, was alleged to have overseen a “collapsed nursing home empire” and “willfully” failed to pay employment taxes, Habba’s announcement said.

Around that time, Schwartz paid $960,000 to two lobbyists “seeking a federal pardon,” according to their lobbying filing.

While many people have sought pardons from President Donald Trump, few could afford to spend such a sum to seek their freedom. The disclosure provides a rare look at how federal convicts are maneuvering to gain clemency during Trump’s second term and at some of the people offering to help them.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...k-a-trump-pardon/ar-AA1QYYYa?ocid=socialshare

A Ponzi Schemer Freed by Trump Strikes Again​

Dec 15, 2025
Eli Weinstein is a convicted fraudster who stole millions of dollars from investors at the height of the pandemic. He was able to do so because President Donald Trump during his first term commuted his 24-year sentence for a previous conviction. Now Weinstein is said to be planning to ask Trump for clemency again.
Within months of his release in 2021, Weinstein returned to scamming, stealing from unsuspecting victims until he was caught and convicted again, this time sentenced to 37 years in prison. While the administration contends it carefully weighs all petitions, the case points up what critics argue is a radical new system of how presidential clemency is granted, one where financial resources, connections and politics govern who goes free and who does not.

19:20

0:00 The cost of clemency
1:37 The deal
3:04 Eli Weinstein’s second chance
4:45 Doing something good for the world
5:42 The puppet master
7:26 The brink of destruction
10:52 The story isn’t over
13:34 The purpose of clemency
15:31 The system
17:08 Out of chances?

Scammers, spies and triads: inside cyber-crime’s $15tn global empire | FT Film​

Dec 18, 2025 #scammer #spies #triads
From industrial-scale fraud factories to influence operations and underground banking, Chinese organised crime groups are revolutionising law enforcement's understanding of transnational crime. The FT reports on the globalisation of scamming syndicates and the proliferation of crime-as-a-service tools.

29:15

searcher said:

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The 'stupidity' of 300 investment bankers tricked by a 20-something founder is a lesson in due diligence​

• Fintech wunderkind Charlie Javice must serve seven years in prison for conning JPMorgan Chase out of $175 million.
• Some 300 bankers vetted the 2021 purchase of her startup, but it took a year to learn its 4 million users were fraudulent.
• The judge said he took that into consideration, but ultimately decided "fraud remains a fraud."

"Stupidity."

"Very poor due diligence."

"Someone who is a fool."

On Monday, a Manhattan judge used all of these terms to describe the JPMorgan Chase bankers who fell victim to a fraud perpetrated by fintech entrepreneur Charlie Javice.

Read it all:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...in-due-diligence/ar-AA1NzTha?ocid=socialshare

Click to expand...

Update

JPMorgan left holding $74M legal bill as fraud settlement backfires​

JPMorgan Chase faces a $74 million invoice for defending the executive it accuses of defrauding it in a $175 million startup acquisition. The sprawling bill, detailed across dozens of pages, covers first-class flights, luxury hotels, catered meals, and even a $13.57 Spotify subscription, as court orders compel payment amid ongoing appeals.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...lement-backfires/ar-AA1TB42J?ocid=socialshare

searcher said:

North Korean operatives and American accomplices accused in massive fraud that infiltrated the Fortune 500 and stole millions​

• Authorities announced a new crackdown on a sprawling international fraud ring involving North Korean IT workers, naming more than a dozen defendants in two new indictments, including New Jersey man Zhenxing “Danny” Wang. The indictment claims the scheme allegedly generated more than $5 million in illicit earnings and hundreds of thousands in fees for the U.S. conspirators. In a second indictment, four North Korean nationals have been charged with executing a sophisticated operation that generated nearly $1 million in stolen crypto. All told, law enforcement searched 29 suspected laptop farms across 16 states and seized 29 financial accounts allegedly used to launder money and digital assets.

The Justice Department on Monday announced a significant crackdown on the North Korean IT workers fraud scheme, with two new indictments naming more than a dozen alleged conspirators accused of stealing millions from at least 100 companies in the past four years.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/sma...d-stole-millions/ar-AA1HIpsT?ocid=socialshare

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The Banking Story They Didn't Want Told with Everett Stern | DEEP FOCUS with John Kiriakou​

Mar 20, 2026
In this episode of Deep Focus, former CIA officer John Kiriakou speaks with whistleblower Everett Stern about exposing one of the largest banking scandals in modern history. Stern reveals how, while working as an anti-money laundering compliance officer at HSBC, he discovered evidence that billions of dollars were being moved through the financial system for drug cartels and terrorist organizations. Just weeks into the job, Stern made the life-altering decision to report what he found to authorities and the media, triggering a massive international investigation.
Stern describes the personal cost of blowing the whistle—from losing his career and financial stability to facing threats and public attacks on his credibility. The conversation explores corruption in the global banking system, the challenges whistleblowers face when institutions fail to act, and why protecting truth-tellers is essential for national security and democracy. It’s a powerful look inside the realities of whistleblowing, accountability, and the fight to expose wrongdoing at the highest levels.

35:53

Former Kentucky bank manager charged with fraud, theft​

A former bank manager in Ludlow, Kentucky, appeared in court Wednesday to face nearly two dozen counts, including bank fraud and theft by a bank employee.

Reagan France, who was employed by Home Savings Bank from 2015 to 2024, allegedly made over 100 unauthorized transactions on customer accounts, according to court documents. She became bank manager in 2023.

The indictment doesn’t tally alleged losses, but the FBI and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office counted losses above $300,000, local CBS affiliate WKRC reported.

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