Bitcoin falls $1,000 after South Korea promises crackdown on trading

Move comes less than two weeks after high-profile digital currency exchange in Seoul was hacked and went bankrupt.

In a further illustration of bitcoin’s volatility, it dropped to around $13,500 after trading at about $15,400 on Wednesday. The cryptocurrency has surged in value this year by more than 900%, becoming one of the biggest stories in finance amid a slew of warnings of a pending market crash, hitting a record high of almost $20,000 earlier this month.

South Korea, which is one of the biggest markets in the world for bitcoin, said it was preparing a ban on opening anonymous cryptocurrency accounts and new legislation to enable regulators to close coin exchanges if they felt there was a need to do so. read more »

Ex-lawyer for pharma executive Shkreli convicted of aiding fraud scheme

A New York lawyer who once advised Martin Shkreli was convicted on Wednesday of helping him defraud a pharmaceutical company, a charge a different jury cleared the drug executive of when it found him guilty of securities fraud earlier this year. read more »

4 men charged in scheme to defraud millions from American Senior Communities to plead guilty

Four men indicted in a massive scheme to defraud American Senior Communities will plead guilty in the case, according to court documents filed this week.

Former CEO James Burkhart, ex-ASC COO Daniel Benson, contractor Steven Ganote and Burkhart’s brother, Joshua Burkhart, were all charged last year in connection with the scheme, which included massive fraud and kickbacks totaling more than $16 million.

The federal probe uncovered a complex series of billings and agreements stretching back to early 2009 that involved charging inflated prices for services and pocketing the excess money. The accused conspirators used the money to pay for vacation property, Rolex watches, private planes and more. They funneled the money through 20 shell companies, according to the federal indictment. read more »

Millions in bribes, kickbacks paid to top Dallas County Schools official, prosecutors say

Federal prosecutors have filed charges as part of an investigation into huge financial losses at Dallas County Schools.

The probe is part of a string of issues that have dogged the agency that voters elected to shut down in November elections.

Prosecutors say a school bus camera company executive paid more than $3 million in bribes and kickbacks to the superintendent in charge of the government agency in exchange for actions on $70 million in government contracts. read more »