Fraudsters busted

[pbrower2a]

I'm putting this in economics instead of politics even if the offender with which I start this thread seems to have swindled political donors. Not all scammers are political in origin, and should the political environment become less prone to scams, then there will be others. I have a suspicion that even if the upcoming 1T is a free-wheeling environment, it won't have much use for corrupt business practices. 

This may eventually include charity scams and religious hustles whose operators do not have political connections. It may include computer-based frauds such as hostage-ware. Pyramid and Ponzi schemes will qualify if significant.

[pbrower2a]

Then-President Trump speaks to a crowd of supporters during a rally at the International Air Response facility on Oct. 19, 2018, in Mesa, Arizona. Photo: Ralph Freso/Getty Images

A man behind a pro-Trump scam PAC has been hit with federal wire fraud charges alleging he bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors with false promises that the money would help support the former president's re-election efforts.

Why it matters: The charge handed down this week against James Kyle Bell shows how brazen some efforts to monetize grassroots political enthusiasm can be.

The charges came despite former President Trump being more proactive than many politicians in disavowing groups that falsely implied campaign affiliations to lure unwitting donors.
The charges were first reported by HuffPost.
What's new: The Justice Department accuses Bell, the man behind the Keep America Great Committee, of enlisting a digital fundraising firm to fraudulently appeal to Trump supporters to chip in on behalf of the Trump re-election effort.

The Keep America Great Committee's ads, website, and online donation page were largely copied from those belonging to Trump and other legitimate political groups, The Daily Beast reported last year.
None of the nearly $250,000 the KAGC raised actually went to supporting political candidates, prosecutors say. Instead, they say, Bell pocketed the money.
While duping unwitting donors, prosecutors say, Bell was also filing fraudulent applications for coronavirus relief loans. Four of his companies received more than $1 million from the scheme, according to prosecutors.
The big picture: The Justice Department has cracked down in recent years on so-called scam PACs, or groups that do little but raise money and pay their own principals.

Trump's presidency was a boon for such groups, but they're not confined to a particular candidate or political party.
Prosecutors say Bell also set up an allegedly fraudulent pro-Biden group called the Best Days Lie Ahead Committee, which raised another $100,000.

https://www.axios.com/pro-trump-scam-pac...9ce8b.html

[pbrower2a]

Welfare fraud. Disgusting. This is not someone on welfare squirreling away some cash to make a down-payment on a new Cadillac while the kids starve. This is not someone buying cubes of Pepsi (I mention the brand because it comes in convenient cubes of 24 cans of soda) to trade for cigarettes or booze. No, it is much bigger than that.

 Feds charge 47 in $250M COVID-19 fraud scheme; aid siphoned from child meal program
Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY

[/url][url=http://twitter.com/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2F2022%2F09%2F20%2Fcovid-19-child-meal-program-fraud-charges%2F10435117002%2F&text=Feds%20charge%2047%20in%20%24250M%20COVID-19%20fraud%20scheme%3B%20aid%20siphoned%20from%20child%20meal%20program&via=usatoday]


WASHINGTON – Federal authorities unveiled charges against 47 people accused of siphoning $250 million from a coronavirus pandemic relief program designed to provide meals for children in the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme brought so far by the Justice Department.

Prosecutors described "a brazen scheme of staggering proportions" that exploited a federally funded program to serve needy children in Minnesota during the pandemic.
U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger, the chief federal prosecutor in Minnesota, said the suspects used a local non-profit known as "Feeding Our Future" as cover to claim reimbursements for meals never provided, and allegedly used the federal money to buy luxury cars, houses, jewelry and resort property abroad.

"I commend the work of the skilled investigators and prosecutors who unraveled the lies, deception, and mountains of false documentation to bring this complex case to light," Luger said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland described the federal action as the most extensive fraud case to emerge from the government's massive pandemic relief effort.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the allegations represented "an egregious plot" led by suspects who "went to great lengths" to divert a quarter of a billion dollars.
The Minnesota non-profit, according to court documents, redirected money provided by the Federal Child Nutrition Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture , to provide free meals to children in need.

Federal prosecutors said the operation was allegedly overseen by Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of the local non-profit, whose federal aid disbursements dramatically increased from $3.4 million in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021.
The organization, according to court records, "fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children a day within just days or weeks of being formed."
"The defendants created dozens of shell companies to enroll in the program as Federal Child Nutrition Program sites. The defendants also created shell companies to receive and launder the proceeds of their fraudulent scheme," prosecutors said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/09/20/covid-19-child-meal-program-fraud-charges/10435117002/?csp=chromepush

Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect (or keep) $200 million.