Whistleblower suit paints a dark picture of Juul's culture and management

Leading e-cigarette-maker Juul knowingly sold a large amount of contaminated mint-flavored e-liquid, endangering public health in the name of profits, according to a lawsuit brought by Siddharth Breja, the company’s former senior vice president of global finance.

Breja’s complaint paints a dark picture of the company, which owns a lion’s share of the e-cigarette market in the US. The former executive claims that Juul’s senior management was motivated purely by profits and made many efforts to deceive regulators and customers, copying the despised tactics of Big Tobacco companies and trying to get customers addicted to their products. read more »

NY Court Orders Veritaseum to Pay Back $8 Million From Illegal ICO

The CEO of Delaware-registered blockchain firm Veritaseum LLC and New York-registered Veritaseum Inc., Reggie Middleton, was ordered to pay $8.4 million in disgorgement, according to a new court order. Additionally, Middleton is liable for a civil penalty of $1 million.

New York Eastern District Court has approved a motion for a consent judgment in a securities fraud case against several defendants involved in Veritaseum. Specifically, the defendants are jointly liable for disgorgement of $7,891,600, which represents a part of illegally earned profits as well as prejudgment interest amount of $582,535.

The defendants will not be allowed to engage in any offering of digital security, in accordance with the court order. read more »

Boeing 737 cracks: how common are they, and should you be worried?

Australia’s national airline, Qantas, this week grounded three of its Boeing 737s after cracks were found in a part of the plane known as the “pickle fork”.

The plane – the 737-NG to be precise – is one of the most commonly used models in the world, with over 7,000 in service globally.

So far, 50 aircraft around the world have been found with cracks, including nine in South Korea and three belonging to Southwest Airlines in the US. The Australian aircraft engineers union has called on Qantas to ground all of its 737s. read more »