The investment firm's representative met the synthetic intelligence startup's CEO at a bank in San Francisco's Chinatown last June and expected to receive a press release directly from the bank showing how much the startup, chatbot company GameOn, owed on his had accounts.

The investment company had invested $5.7 million in GameOn in 2021. The representative – a board member of Game On – received the statement, which showed a healthy balance of $13.4 million.

But based on allegations in a federal fraud lawsuit against GameOn CEO and co-founder Alexander Beckman and his wife Valerie Lau Beckman, not all the things was because it seemed. At the start the bank balance was $25.93. Ms. Beckman went to the bank, emailed the fake statement to a bank teller and asked the clerk to place it within the envelope so her husband could pick it up, the indictment says.

While a lot of the couple's fraudulent behavior alleged by federal prosecutors took the shape of allegedly fraudulent financial reports and stolen identities, the incident on the bank was an area move that appeared to work – at first – they are saying within the indictment filed Tuesday.

The investor's representative “believed the statement was genuine and shared images of it with other members of GameOn's board,” the indictment says.

That afternoon last June was the culmination of a years-long fraud by the pair that cost investors and the corporate greater than $60 million. The Beckmans used a few of it to purchase homes, luxury cars and jewellery and to pay for personal schools. Mr. Beckman's children were present, the indictment in U.S. District Court in San Francisco said.

The pair were arrested on Thursday, the US Department of Justice said. A lawyer for Mr. Beckman didn’t reply to requests for comment. Ms. Beckman couldn’t be reached.

GameOn, an organization founded in San Francisco in 2014, served customers including American skilled sports teams, leagues and associations, in addition to well-known fashion and retail brands, the indictment says. Its product was an AI chatbot designed to interact with its customers' fans, customers, and consumers. The indictment doesn’t reveal which teams and leagues were customers.

However, the Los Angeles Chargers National Football League team in 2020 announced that it might use GameOn's chatbot. Posts by GameOn on the social media platform X And Partnerships are referenced in company press releases with the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team, the NFL teams Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars, the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association, the Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association, British soccer titan Arsenal and the mixed -Martial Arts Professional Fighters League. GameOn press releases also claimed partnerships with luxury brands Valentino and Armani.

GameOn customers should not accused of any wrongdoing.

The indictment describes an organization always on the point of failure because the Beckmans allegedly solicited and received investments through false financial documents that dramatically overstated the corporate's sales, profits and bank balances.

“GameOn relied on new investor money to operate, depleted its funds, received overdraft notices from banks, defaulted on payments from certain customers, and often found itself on the verge of not having enough money in the bank to operate and make payroll “Create,” the statement says.

The investment firm whose representative went to the bank that day was one in every of 4 such firms – two in San Francisco, two in New York – that were allegedly defrauded by the Beckmans. The other two alleged fraud victims were people from Northern California.

The company – identified within the indictment as “Investor 1” – received an email from Ms. Beckman in April 2021 with a spreadsheet showing $4 million in sales and $1.9 million in profits for it Month showed, but sales for the whole yr never exceeded $1 million, the indictment says. Three days later, the investment firm GameOn transferred $2.5 million, the indictment says.

The following month, Ms. Beckman sent the corporate a spreadsheet from Mr. Beckman showing that GameOn had nearly $9 million at two banks, when in point of fact the corporate had a negative balance at one in every of the banks and $2,350 at the opposite. had dollars. After Ms. Beckman followed up in September with allegedly inflated sales and profit figures, the investment company transferred one other $3.2 million, the indictment says.

Similar transactions followed the identical pattern: GameOn claimed to an investor that it had revenue of $72.4 million and profit of $56.8 million from January to September 2023, while the corporate made less for the whole yr than $1 million in profits, the indictment says.

To spread false information to investors, Beckman created fake email addresses for real GameOn employees: a contractor, a consultant and a part-time chief financial officer, the indictment says. He can be said to have “prepared two GameOn audit reports using the names, signatures and trademarks of reputable accounting firms,” the indictment says.

The couple used $4.2 million in ill-gotten gains to purchase a property in San Francisco – in upscale Presidio Heights, based on court documents – and invested one other $360,000 in investor money in one other home in the town, they are saying within the indictment. Hundreds of 1000’s each went to the private school, a social club where the Beckmans married in November 2023, and greater than $100,000 went to paying personal property taxes, the indictment says.

Tech website VentureBeat reported in July 2024 that Beckman resigned from GameOn earlier this month, days after an investigation by the startup's board revealed that there was only 37 cents in a checking account that ought to have held $11 million.

The Beckmans, who were each granted $1 million bail on Thursday, based on court records, face years in prison if convicted.

Originally published: January 24, 2025 at 4:08 pm PST

There's a reason Clint Eastwood's daughter Francesca was in a position to proudly represent her screen legend father on the world premiere of his film Juror #2 on October 27, despite her recent arrest on domestic violence charges.

Prosecutors had already decided to not press charges against Francesca Eastwood over the alleged attack on her boyfriend. TMZ reported on Sunday. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office decided back in October to not pursue the case because there was insufficient evidence and the alleged victim, Francesca Eastwood's boyfriend, refused to cooperate.

Undoubtedly, the prosecution's decision got here as a relief to the 94-year-old Eastwood, his beloved daughter and her family. Following Francesca Eastwood's arrest, sources near the family told the Daily Mail that the film star and director had been “struggling” with “all the recent low points in his life,” including his daughter's recent legal troubles and his death in July Girlfriend, Christina Sandera.

“Francesca's arrest couldn't have come at a worse time in his life as he is quite saddened by the loss of his girlfriend three months ago,” a source told the Daily Mail. “To say he is unwell is a gross understatement.”

The prosecutor's decision also meant that a criminal prosecution wouldn’t overshadow the discharge of “Juror #2,” which could potentially be the ultimate film in Eastwood's seven-decade Hollywood profession. Francesca Eastwood plays a small but crucial role within the well-reviewed legal thriller.

She was arrested by Beverly Hills police on Saturday, October 12, after a verbal argument together with her boyfriend turned physical, TMZ reported. According to People magazine, her boyfriend is personal trainer and actor Alexander Wraith, with whom she had a baby son in 2018. After her arrest, Francesca Eastwood was charged with domestic violence and released on $50,000 bail.

Francesca Eastwood was there, as were the film's other stars, Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult, who also praised the director. Collette said she was honored to work with Eastwood as a director, “which still blows my mind… but he's a really good, solid person. “Getting to know him was incredible.”

The film's release was embroiled in other controversies – all in Eastwood's name. Critics slammed Warner Bros.' The decision to deny Juror #2 a wide theatrical release despite the film receiving almost universal praise “Legal thriller with a heavy conscience” as well as Eastwood's longstanding relationship with the studio.

Diversity reported that Eastwood has starred in and directed commercially successful films for the studio for 50 years, most recently “The Mule” in 2018. Eastwood also has a track record of producing films such as “Unforgiven,” “American Sniper” and “Sully.” “look back. win awards or attract Oscar attention. Warner Bros. insisted that Juror #2 was originally planned for direct-to-streaming. The film is scheduled to be released on Max on December 20th. the Los Angeles Times reported.

Originally published: December 2, 2024 at 8:28am PST

Dear travel problem solver: I recently rented a automobile from Sixt through Auto Europe near Lisbon, Portugal. A number of days after I returned the automobile, my bank card was charged an extra $513. I used to be shocked at the quantity. I used to be only expecting transponder fees ($17) and tolls ($20).

The extras were optional insurance. Sixt and Auto Europe said I had signed the contract and was due to this fact accountable for that quantity. I called Sixt customer support because I felt like I used to be being unfairly charged this amount. Sixt agreed to look at my criticism and reply to me via email. Today I received the identical response stating “The extras were presented at the counter” and that I signed the document indicating my agreement to this statement.

Nobody identified the optional insurance to me. If I had wanted this extra insurance when ordering the automobile online, I might have paid for it. I expressly deregistered from the insurance when making the net reservation. Can you help me get my a reimbursement?

ANSWER: Sixt must have explained what you signed whenever you arrived in Lisbon. And although it seems that each Sixt and Auto Europe have signed contracts agreeing to pay an extra $513 for insurance, I consider that they never had any intention of accepting the extra coverage . In fact, you said an agent offered you insurance for $50, which you declined.

What happened? Upon reviewing the correspondence between you, Auto Europe and Sixt, it appears that you simply initially declined insurance coverage online. However, there was a misunderstanding on the counter (where staff are trained to sell you extras).

According to Sixt, the agent has offered you optional insurance. Sixt says you will have accepted it and signed a corresponding contract. You say you never said “yes” to the expensive coverage and have never said “yes.”

At first I believed there is likely to be a language barrier, but you say the representative had a very good command of the English language. This feels more like a variant of the “sign here” scam, where a automobile rental agent flips through numerous pages you may't possibly read and assures you that that is what you discussed. Then you sign it without realizing that you will have agreed to pay more. It's hard to say since I wasn't there.

Apparently you tried to appeal this decision to each corporations. Please keep in mind that I publish the names, phone numbers and email addresses of Auto Europe and Sixt executives on my consumer protection website. Elliott.org. A fast email to one in every of them might need reversed these charges.

To be clear: If you signed something, you’re answerable for it. And you must at all times read your entire contract before signing it, even when someone stands in front of you and tells you what it says. That's where problems occur. However, I consider there was a misunderstanding, if not deception, in your rental and I wanted to offer Sixt the chance to confirm this. So I did it.

“First of all, we would like to apologize – also on behalf of our franchise partner in Portugal – for the inconvenience caused,” a representative told me. “We regret that David Degagne had a negative experience with Sixt and have examined the case in detail with our colleagues on site.”

As a “gesture of goodwill,” Sixt has reversed your insurance fees. You told me that you simply are completely happy with this solution. “I hope this serves as a reminder to your other readers to ensure they fully review their contract before driving their rental car out of the garage,” you added.

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FREMONT – A Sunnyvale man has been charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter while drunk in town May third: Death of a Tesla A employee was struck and killed by a vehicle during a break outside the corporate's Fremont plant, in accordance with government and court records.

The suspect, Hung Vuu, 59, of Sunnyvale, was charged Wednesday within the death of Taniela Finau Hafoka, 26, of Oakland.

Vuu was initially held on the Santa Rita Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail, but a search of jail records Thursday revealed he was not in custody.

The collision occurred around 11:30 p.m. on May 3 within the 45000 block of Fremont Boulevard, in front of the Tesla factory where Hafoka worked.

Hafoka, a father of three whose wife was expecting their fourth child on the time of his death, was on break with a colleague.

According to court documents, Hafoka was on the sidewalk when he was struck by a red Honda Accord traveling south within the northbound lane. His colleague managed to flee the attack.

Hafoka died on the scene.

The Honda continued within the improper direction for one more 1,000 feet and nearly crashed into several other vehicles before hitting a pole on Fremont Boulevard near Interstate 880, court documents say. Vuu was present in the motive force's seat of the vehicle.

Police said Vuu's breath smelled distinctly of alcohol and he also showed other signs of intoxication.

Vuu was taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries before being taken to prison. His blood alcohol level on the time of the collision was not released by authorities.

NEW YORK — Eric Adams, a retired police captain who was elected New York City's a hundred and tenth mayor nearly three years ago on a promise to scale back crime, has been charged with corruption following a federal investigation, people accustomed to the matter said Wednesday.

The indictment remained sealed Wednesday evening and it was unclear what charges could be brought against Adams. But the federal investigation has focused not less than partially on whether Adams and his campaign team colluded with the Turkish government to acquire illegal donations from abroad.

If the costs are made public, Adams will probably be the primary New York City mayor to face an indictment in federal court while in office.

The charges are prone to reverberate across the nation's largest city and beyond, plunging Adams's ailing administration into deeper chaos just months before he faces challengers in a hotly contested primary for mayor.

In a press release, Adams said he had done nothing flawed.

“I always knew that if I stood up for New Yorkers, I would be a target – and I was,” he said. “If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight it with all my strength and determination.”

Brendan R. McGuire and Boyd M. Johnson III, partners at WilmerHale who represent the mayor, didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.

Representatives of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI and the town's Bureau of Investigation declined to comment.

The indictment marked a rare turnaround for Adams, 64, a former state senator and Brooklyn borough president who took office as the town was recovering from the pandemic and facing an enormous influx of migrants from the southern border.

It was the results of an investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Manhattan that began greater than two years ago and focused not less than partially on the possible foreign donations, in addition to whether Adams pressured fire officials to approve the opening of a brand new high-rise consulate for the Turkish government despite security concerns. Investigators also looked into whether Adams accepted expensive flights and upgrades on Turkish Airlines, which is partly owned by the Turkish government.

The investigation remained secret until late last 12 months, when the FBI raided the house of its top fundraiser after which made it public. After raiding fundraiser Brianna Suggs' home last November, federal investigators seized two laptops, three iPhones and a file folder labeled “Eric Adams.” Suggs has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Just a few days later, in a dramatic scene on a Greenwich Village street, FBI agents ordered the mayor's security guards to step aside, climbed into his SUV with him and confiscated his electronic devices.

Until federal investigations caught up with him, Adams' life appeared to be the classic New York success story.

Raised by a working-class mother in Brooklyn and Queens, he overcame dyslexia and run-ins with police to hitch the force himself. He began as a transit officer, attempting to create change from inside. During his two-decade profession there, he rose to the rank of captain and have become a vocal and sometimes controversial advocate for black cops.

After retiring from office to pursue a profession in politics, Adams dreamed for years of becoming mayor of New York City. He achieved that dream by winning over diverse constituencies across the town, and described it as an accomplishment he said was ordained by God.

As mayor, Adams vowed to return “swag” to a city still recovering from the pandemic, and he surrounded himself at City Hall with friends and colleagues whose loyalty to him sometimes exceeded their political competence, a few of whom had troubled pasts.

But his 33-month tenure as mayor was marred by scandals. In July 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted six people, including a retired police inspector who had worked and related to Adams, on charges of conspiracy to funnel illegal donations to the mayoral campaign.

Two months later, Bragg filed charges against Eric Ulrich, the mayor's former senior adviser and construction commissioner, for conspiracy and bribery. Bragg accused Ulrich of using his city-funded position to “line his pockets.”

Recently, federal agents seized the phones of a number of the city's highest-ranking officials, including the police chief, the colleges chancellor, the primary deputy mayor, the deputy mayor for public safety and a senior aide who has been sued 4 times this 12 months for sexual harassment. None of those officials have been charged with a criminal offense.

Although he will probably be the primary sitting mayor to face criminal charges, Adams will not be the primary to be criminally investigated. Jimmy Walker, a flamboyant, nightlife-loving mayor often known as Beau James, held court in jazz-era New York but resigned amid a corruption scandal and fled to Europe.

Mayor William O'Dwyer, the one modern mayor aside from Adams to have served as a police officer, resigned just months into his second term amid what he described in his obituary as “the biggest police scandal in the city's history.”

Federal prosecutors recently investigated but didn’t file charges against Bill de Blasio, Adams' predecessor, over his dealings with donors. And Rudy Giuliani was indicted this 12 months, greater than 20 years after his tenure as mayor, in a Georgia case involving efforts to overturn the end result of the 2020 presidential election.

Originally published: September 25, 2024 at 19:14

WASHINGTON – A person who authorities said spent 12 hours watching Donald Trump at his Florida golf course and texting him that he desired to kill him was charged with attempted murder on Tuesday.

Ryan Wesley Routh was initially charged with two gun violations. The amended charges in a five-count indictment reflect the Justice Department's assessment that he systematically planned the Republican nominee's assassination by aiming a rifle through the bushes surrounding Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach one afternoon when Trump was playing there. Routh left a note describing his intent, prosecutors said.

According to court records, the case was assigned to Aileen Cannon, a Trump-appointed federal judge who has come under intense criticism for her handling of a criminal case accusing Trump of illegally stockpiling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. She dismissed the case in July, a call that special counsel Jack Smith's team is now appealing.

The attempted murder charge had already been hinted at during a court hearing on Monday, where prosecutors successfully argued that 58-year-old Routh needs to be kept behind bars because he’s a flight risk and a threat to public safety.

They claimed he had written down his plans to kill Trump in a handwritten note months before his September 15 arrest. In it, he described his actions as a failed “assassination attempt on Donald Trump” and offered $150,000 to anyone who could “finish the job.” The note was present in a box that Routh apparently left at the house of an unidentified witness months before his arrest.

The person opened the letter, photographed the front page of the letter, addressed it to “Dear World” and contacted law enforcement authorities after the attack.

Prosecutors also said Routh kept a handwritten list in his automobile of the venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to attend in August, September and October.

The charge of attempted murder of a significant presidential candidate carries a possible life sentence if convicted. Other charges within the indictment include assault on a federal officer, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a criminal offense of violence and the 2 original weapons offenses he faced last week.

The potential shootout was thwarted when a member of Trump's Secret Service security staff spotted a partially obscured man's face and a gun barrel protruding through the golf course fence in front of Trump's field. The agent fired within the direction of Routh, who sped away and was stopped by police in a neighboring county.

Although Routh didn’t fire any shots and didn’t have Trump in his sights, officials said, he left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS rifle with a scope and a plastic bag of food.

The arrest got here two months after Trump was shot and injured within the ear during an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service acknowledged failings within the lead-up to the shooting but said security forces had worked as intended to forestall a possible attack in Florida.

A criminal grievance initially charged Routh with illegal possession of a firearm despite multiple convictions and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. It is common for prosecutors to file preliminary and simply provable charges upon an arrest after which add more serious offenses because the investigation progresses.

The FBI initially said it was investigating the incident as an apparent attempted murder, however the immediate filing of charges opened the door for Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, to announce his own state-level investigation, which he said could lead on to more serious charges.

Trump sought to sow doubts in regards to the legitimacy of the investigation and the Justice Department usually. On Monday – before the attempted murder charge was filed – he complained that federal prosecutors were “mishandling and downplaying” the case by bringing charges that amounted to a “slap on the wrist.”

Asked about Trump's criticism at an independent press conference on Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department would “spare no resources to hold those responsible in this case accountable.”

The Justice Department also said Monday that authorities found six cell phones during a search of Routh's automobile, considered one of which displayed a Google seek for directions from Palm Beach County to Mexico.

A notebook present in his automobile was stuffed with criticism of the Russian and Chinese governments, in addition to notes on how one can get entangled within the war on behalf of Ukraine.

In addition, prosecutors cited a book Routh wrote last yr by which he sharply criticized Trump's approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran had “the freedom to assassinate Trump” because he withdrew from the nuclear deal.

For Artem Chigvintsev it might be a small consolation that he is not going to be prosecuted in connection together with his arrest last month in Napa County on suspicion of domestic violence.

Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced Tuesday that her office had declined to file charges against the “Dancing with the Stars” pro. TMZ reported. While Chigvintsev is seemingly still facing a divorce from his estranged wife, former WWE dancer Nikki Garcia, Haley said her office was unable to prove beyond an affordable doubt that the Russian-born ballroom dancer committed against the law.

Chigvintsev was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence on August 29, regarding an “assault” of a domestic partner that occurred within the Yountville wine region. The dancer had made an emergency call, asking for medical help and saying that shoes had been thrown at him, TMZ reported last month.

Chigvintsev then withdrew the request for assistance, but deputies arrived anyway and took him into custody. Henry Wofford, spokesman for the Napa County Sheriff's Office, told E! News that an arrest for aggravated domestic violence is often made when the alleged victim has visible injuries. “Our deputies felt comfortable arresting him for aggravated domestic violence,” Wofford said.

A couple of hours after Chigvintsev was booked into the Napa County Jail, he was released on $25,000 bail and left the Napa County home he shared with Garcia and their four-year-old son, TMZ reported.

The gossip site reported earlier this month that Garcia had “called” lawyers to file for divorce from the dancer. TMZ also reported on Tuesday that the estranged spouses are fighting over custody.

Before his arrest, Chigvintsev was not scheduled to return for season 33 of “Dancing With the Stars,” E! News reported, but his arrest raises the likelihood that he may never return to the ABC dance competition show.

News of Chigvintsev's divorce from Garcia also brought an end to what gave the look of a fairytale reality TV-style love story involving the 2 celebrities, who met while appearing together on the show. They dated for season 25 of “DWTS” in 2017, began dating and got engaged in 2020. That 12 months, Garcia also gave birth to her son.

They married in a lavish wedding in Paris in August 2022 and purchased a house in Napa Valley surrounded by large grounds, the New York Post and Life and Style reported. They showed off their home for an episode of “MTV Cribs” in November 2023.

But behind the scenes, the wedding was troubled and “unstable” for years, friends of the couple and former solid and crew members of “DWTS” told TMZ. The alleged tension between the couple was “obvious” to everyone around them, TMZ reported.