Felony Conviction And $13 Million Settlement In Tax Fraud Investigation Of JFK Airport Food Companies

Whistleblower Exposed Express Hospitality Group’s Long-Running Tax Scheme

Resolution Marks First Settlement In Ongoing Investigation “Operation Greased Runway,” Examining Contracting Practices At JFK Airport

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the conviction of Yankee Clipper Food Services I Corporation on felony charges stemming from an extensive scheme to avoid paying New York taxes between 2011 and 2015. read more »

The Equifax Breach Could End the Credit Industry as We Know It

Even in an era when cyberattacks are commonplace, it’s hard to think of one that made bigger fools of consumers and lawmakers alike than the Equifax breach. The credit-reporting agency, which keeps dossiers full of background check–worthy personal information on nearly all American adults, exposed the data of more than 145 million people. That’s nearly half the U.S. population—at least one person in every family, it’s estimated—who are now at greater risk of having their identities stolen, their financial accounts broken into, their credit ruined. read more »

Regulator Blasts Wells Fargo for Deceptive Auto Insurance Program

Wells Fargo engaged in unfair and deceptive practices, failed to properly manage risks and hasn’t set aside enough money to pay back the customers it harmed, according to a confidential report by federal regulators.

The report, prepared by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and reviewed by The New York Times, criticizes Wells Fargo for forcing hundreds of thousands of borrowers to buy unneeded auto insurance when they took out a car loan, as well as its handling of the problems once they were detected. read more »

Rio Tinto, Former Top Executives Charged With Fraud

Worldwide Mining Company Alleged to Have Inflated Asset Values

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged mining company Rio Tinto and two former top executives with fraud for inflating the value of coal assets acquired for $3.7 billion and sold a few years later for $50 million.

The SEC’s complaint, which was filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that Rio Tinto, its former CEO Thomas Albanese, and its former CFO Guy Elliott failed to follow accounting standards and company policies to accurately value and record its assets.  Instead, as the project began to suffer one setback after another resulting in the rapid decline of the value of the coal assets, they sought to hide or delay disclosure of the nature and extent of the adverse developments from Rio Tinto’s Board of Directors, Audit Committee, independent auditors, and investors. read more »