MARYLAND NEWS

The Silver Spring man and his co-conspirators engaged in financial transactions designed to conceal the nature, source and ownership of the proceeds of a fraud scheme to obtain cash from victim account holders at a Maryland credit union. The evidence showed that the conspirators transferred, withdrew cash, and caused cashiers’ checks to be issued from the proceeds of a fraud scheme.  Arthur and his co-conspirators then used the funds to purchase motor vehicles to conceal that the funds were derived from a fraud scheme. Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

All 51 Attorneys General Settle with TurboTax Owner Intuit for Deceiving Low-Income Americans Into Paying for Free Tax Services. Source Maryland Attorney General

The Washington Post reports that a March 7 U.S. Postal Inspection Service advisory to the Justice Department states:  “Criminals are stealing mail … to obtain checks, financial instruments, and personal identifying information to commit bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and identity theft.” See the April 30, 2022 story: The stolen mailbox scheme now targeting a wealthy DC suburbs. Also see the USPS advisory at https://www.uspis.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/WASH-2-28-22_ROBBERIES-Final_JAAEdits.pdf. Also see Georgia State University’s Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Research Group which has collected evidence about checks from stolen mail.

Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

Two summers ago, the powerful speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives and four of his political associates were arrested in a high-profile bribery scandal. The aftershocks are still being felt in Maryland …The House speaker, and the four operatives were charged in a federal criminal complaint of accepting $61 million in bribes from a major energy company, FirstEnergy Corp., in order to pass legislation that provided a $1.5 billion taxpayer-funded bailout for the company’s nuclear power plants…FirstEnergy is the parent company of Potomac Edison, the electric utility that serves more than a quarter million customers in Western Maryland.

David S. Lapp, who heads the Maryland Office of Office of People’s Counsel said, “We are concerned that the current arrangement has led to Maryland customers paying for costs that have nothing to do with the service provided to them, and it may continue to do so absent changes necessary to protect Maryland consumer.” Source: See the full story by Josh Kurtz at Maryland Matters.

Maryland’s Inspector General for Education has found that $24 million in tax dollars was misallocated and sent to educate about 3,000 students statewide who not in school. Source: MarylandReporter.com

Criminal Charges Brought Against 18 Defendants, Including Owners and Executives of Medical Businesses, Physicians, Marketers, and Manufacturers of Fake COVID-19 Vaccination Record Cards with Losses Exceeding $149 Million. Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating whether Maryland illegally underpaid state employees at multiple state institutions run by two separate state agencies. Source: Baltimore Sun

  A New York couple has been sentenced to prison for their roles in a long-running scheme that involved extortion and money laundering Tuesday. The scheme also involved the couple's son who pretended to be a New York mobster to get a Maryland man to embezzle more than $2 million from his D.C. employer. Source: WUSA-TV via MSN

 

"And yet countless cases of sleaze, greed and desperation continue to come through the courts — in Maryland, just about every day — suggesting that certain people have not adjusted to the higher risk of getting caught and going to prison." Source Baltimore Sun