分类: U.S.
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密码保护:The department’s Madoff Victim Fund(MVF),Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) fraud scheme 2023.12.11 ☑Gov ☑U.S.,美国
The Justice Department announced today that the Madoff Victim Fund (MVF) began its ninth distribution of over $158.9 million in funds forfeited to the U.S. government in connection with the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) fraud scheme.
In this distribution, payments will be sent to 24,875 victims across the globe, bringing their total recoveries to 91% of their fraud losses. Through its nine distributions, MVF has paid over $4.22 billion to 40,843 victims as compensation for losses they suffered from the collapse of BLMIS.
➤P.S. 1.Bernie Madoff: Who He Was, How His Ponzi Scheme Worked 2.‘He’s a financial serial killer’: how Bernie Madoff became the monster of Wall Street 3.Bernie Madoff, mastermind of the nation’s biggest investment fraud, dies at 82
➤美国司法部今天宣布司法部麦道夫案受骗者基金开始第九次分配1.589 亿美元。
美国司法部周一(12.11)宣布,伯尼·麦道夫 (Bernie Madoff)因历史上最大的庞氏骗局被捕 15 年后,这位名誉扫地的金融家的近 25,000 名受害者将获得 1.589 亿美元,使他们的追偿总额达到损失资金的 91%。
至此,麦道夫受害者基金已向麦道夫的 40,843 名受害者发放了九笔总额超过 42.2 亿美元的款项,作为对他们因麦道夫投资证券业务倒闭而遭受的损失的补偿。
“在麦道夫的众多受害者中,不仅有富人和机构投资者,还有慈善机构和养老基金——其中一些机构代表那些靠养老金账户过退休生活的个人向麦道夫投资了资金,”纽约南区联邦检察官达米安·威廉姆斯补充道,“那些将钱托付给麦道夫的人所承受的经济损失是毁灭性的。”
美国司法部表示,该基金成功为受害者提供的恢复水平“超出了预期”。
➤附:☑媒体报道
2023.12.20 伯尼·麦道夫:他是谁,他的庞氏骗局是如何运作的
2023.1.4 “他是金融连环杀手”:伯尼·麦道夫如何成为华尔街的怪物
2021.4.14 美国最大投资诈骗案主谋伯尼·麦道夫去世,享年 82 岁
➤伯尼·麦道夫在媒体和流行文化中被描绘成恶棍。例如,在 HBO 2009 年的《遏制你的热情》一集中,贾森·亚历山大(在《宋飞传》中扮演乔治)被麦道夫欺骗,失去了从他发明的虚构应用程序中赚到的所有钱。麦道夫(或类似的山寨品)也曾出现过其他虚构人物,例如伍迪·艾伦的电影《蓝色茉莉花》中的一对夫妇,以及埃莉诺·利普曼的小说《顶层公寓B 的风景》中的主角。 -
密码保护:FTX,Sam Bankman-Fried 2023.12.30 ☑Press ☑U.S.,美国
Prosecutors have decided against pursuing a second trial against disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
In a note to Judge Lewis Kaplan on Friday, the U.S. government said that much of the evidence that would have been presented had already been submitted during the first trial.
In November, following a month’s worth of testimony from nearly 20 witnesses, a jury found the former FTX chief executive guilty of all seven criminal counts against him.
➤FTX加密货币交易所。萨姆·班克曼·弗里德 (Sam Bankman-Fried)。
12 月 30 日,据媒体报道,美国联邦政府检察官在本周五的一封信中告知主审 班克曼-弗里德 (Bankman-Fried) 一案的法官 Lewis Kaplan,放弃对SBF进一步指控,SBF 将不会因额外指控而面临第二次审判。检察官表示,将在第二次审判中提出的大部分证据已经在 SBF 的初审中提出,法官可以在 3 月 28 日的量刑中考虑到这些证据,本次撤销指控旨在避免因二审而延误量刑,联邦政府认为这将有利于及时公正地解决此案。
检方表示,这起针对前亿万富翁案件的「强烈公众利益」超过二审的好处。检察官表示,鉴于SBF定于 3 月 28 日的量刑可能包括没收和归还其罪行受害者的命令,因此“这里的利益尤为重要”,因为受害者正急切地等待 FTX 账户在 2022 年 11 月倒闭后获得赔偿的详细信息。
据悉,本次撤销的「额外 6 项指控」包含 SBF 在政治竞选中的财务违规行为、串谋贿赂外国官员、串谋实施银行欺诈、串谋经营无牌汇款业务,以及实质性证券欺诈和商品欺诈。(政治捐款及贿赂官员涉案金额约为 1 亿美元) -
密码保护:CNN Special Report “Billion-dollar scam” 2023.12.27 ☑Press ☑U.S.,美国
A sophisticated criminal network is using modern day slaves to con thousands of Americans out of their life savings
➤美国有线电视新闻网 (CNN) 的伊万·沃森 (Ivan Watson) 报道了缅甸的犯罪团伙如何运营诈骗中心,从美国人手中骗取数百万美元。正如他发现的那样,他们强迫人口贩卖受害者做肮脏的工作。
➤CNN 特别报告 “数十亿美元的骗局”
一个复杂的犯罪网络正在利用现代奴隶来骗取数千名美国人的毕生积蓄 -
密码保护:7 Months Inside an Online Scam Labor Camp 2023.12.17 ☑Press ☑U.S.,美国
A man was abducted by a Chinese gang and forced to work in a scam operation. He gathered financial information, photos and videos and shared the material.
HE HAD BEEN PROMISED a generous salary. A better work-life balance. A chance to live in the vibrant metropolis of Bangkok. His fluency in English would be put to good use as a translator for an e-commerce company, the recruiter had said.
More than anything else, Neo Lu, a 28-year-old Chinese office worker, believed the gig would be the new start he needed to save money for his dream of emigrating to the West. So in June of last year, he said his goodbyes, flew to Thailand and headed for his new job.
But when he arrived, his head was spinning from the scorching sun — and the feeling that something was very wrong. Instead of an office building in a city, Mr. Lu had been dumped at what looked like a labor camp haphazardly built on a patch of jungle and muddy fields.
Within the compound were spartan, low-rise concrete buildings with barred windows and doors. Two men in combat fatigues, carrying rifles, guarded the main entrance. High walls and fences topped with razor wire surrounded the compound, clearly meant to keep not only outsiders at bay, but also those inside from leaving.
As Mr. Lu quickly realized, there was, in fact, no translation job. No e-commerce company, either. It had all been part of a ruse, starting with a posting on a Chinese job forum, perfected by human traffickers to get people like him to travel to Thailand.
The traffickers had led Mr. Lu across the Moei River, a muddy waterway on Thailand’s porous border, and smuggled him, without his knowledge, into a remote corner of Myanmar. There, they handed him over to a Chinese gang that had paid for him.
Mr. Lu had essentially been abducted and sold into a criminal enterprise, far away from everything he knew.
That was how he became one of hundreds of thousands of people who have been trafficked into criminal gangs and trapped in what one research group has called a “criminal cancer” of exploitation, violence and fraud that has taken root in Southeast Asia’s poorest nations.
Mr. Lu, who goes by the nickname Neo for the character in the Matrix movies, spoke to The New York Times on the condition that his full name not be used, for fear of retribution from the criminals. The Times verified the details of his travel, captivity and eventual rescue by interviewing his parents and two friends, as well as by reviewing text messages, copies of travel documents and letters issued by Chinese authorities.
His account of being trafficked aligns with those of many others who have been rescued from such camps. Taken together, his experience and the material he was able to smuggle out are a rare window into the inner workings and tactics of an underworld that is operating on a staggering scale.
From bases in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, the gangs coerce their captives into carrying out complicated online scams that prey on the lonely and vulnerable around the world. Typically, such hoaxes involve using fake online identities to draw people into fictitious romantic relationships, then tricking them into handing over large sums of money in bogus cryptocurrency schemes.
➤在网络诈骗劳改营里的7个月
一名男子被中国团伙绑架并被迫在一个诈骗组织工作。他收集了财务信息、照片和视频,并分享了这些材料。
他曾被许诺丰厚的薪水、更好的工作与生活平衡、有机会住在充满活力的曼谷大都市。招聘人员表示,作为一家电子商务公司的翻译,他流利的英语将得到很好的利用。
最重要的是,28 岁的中国浙江台州上班族 Neo Lu(卢)相信这份工作将是他为移民梦想攒钱所需的新起点。于是,去年6月,他飞往泰国,前往新的工作岗位。
但当他到达时,他的头因烈日而晕眩,并感觉有些事情非常不对劲。卢先生被扔到的不是城市的办公楼,而是一片丛林和泥泞的田野上随意搭建的一个看起来像劳改营的地方。
院落内是简朴的低层混凝土建筑,门窗都装有铁栅栏。两名身着作战服、手持步枪的男子守卫着正门。高墙和顶部布满铁丝网的栅栏包围了大院,显然不仅是为了阻止外人进入,也是为了阻止里面的人离开。
卢先生的昵称来自《黑客帝国》电影主角Neo(尼奥),他接受采访时要求不透露自己的全名,因为担心遭到犯罪分子的报复。记者通过采访他的父母和两名朋友,并查看了中国当局签发的短信、旅行证件副本和信件,核实了他的旅行、被囚禁和最终获救的细节。
他对被贩运的描述与许多其他从此类营地获救的人的描述一致。总而言之,他的经验和他能够离开诈骗营的材料是了解规模惊人的黑社会内部运作和策略的难得窗口。
➤附:2023.3.25 ☑媒体报道(国内) 中国留学生被绑至缅甸从事电信诈骗:能活着回国就是万幸
张浩(化名)曾是英国利物浦大学的留学生,2022年6月,他成功应聘泰国一家跨境电商公司的翻译岗位,在抵达泰国后他才意识到,自己早已沦为缅甸电信诈骗集团的俎上肉——他被骗子带至泰缅边境后偷渡,以20万的价格转手卖给了缅甸妙瓦底的一家电信诈骗公司。张浩的记忆里,那是一个让人不寒而栗的地方,一个不见天日的“犯罪天堂”。