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Trump backs Musk as he roils the federal workforce with demands and threats
National News

Trump backs Musk as he roils the federal workforce with demands and threats

  • By CHRIS MEGERIAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST - Associated Press
  • Updated

President Donald Trump is backing Elon Musk’s demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments or risk getting fired. The edict has spawned new litigation and added to turmoil within the government workforce. Trump says his Republican administration is “trying to find out if people are working." Opponents filed an updated lawsuit in federal court in California on Monday, arguing Musk's actions are illegal and describing the threat of mass firings as “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.” The White House has criticized the litigation, calling it frivolous. Some federal agencies have directed employees not to comply by Musk's end-of-day Monday deadline.

Elizabeth Holmes fails to overturn her Theranos fraud conviction
Health

Elizabeth Holmes fails to overturn her Theranos fraud conviction

  • By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ - Associated Press
  • Updated

A federal appeals court in San Francisco has upheld a fraud conviction against Elizabeth Holmes. The disgraced founder of the blood-testing startup Theranos is serving an 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors with false claims of what her company could achieve. A three-judge panel said Monday that she hadn’t proved there were legal missteps during her trial. The judges also upheld the fraud conviction of her former business partner and lover Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani. The judges kept a lower’s court order for the two to pay $452 million in restitution.

Woman accused of drugging and robbing older men in a deadly romance scheme
National News

Woman accused of drugging and robbing older men in a deadly romance scheme

  • By TY ONEIL, JESSE BEDAYN and SEJAL GOVINDARAO - Associated Press
  • Updated

The FBI in Las Vegas says a woman lured at least four older men on online dating apps to meet in person, drugged them with sedatives and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in a “sinister” romance scheme. Authorities say three of the men died, and she has been charged in one of their deaths. Aurora Phelps is in custody in Mexico. She faces 21 counts including wire fraud, identity theft and one count of kidnapping resulting in death. The FBI says it is aware of other alleged victims in the U.S. and Mexico. Authorities are seeking her extradition.

Wellness blogger Belle Gibson lied about having cancer. Years later, Australia is still chasing her
Health

Wellness blogger Belle Gibson lied about having cancer. Years later, Australia is still chasing her

  • By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY - Associated Press

The consumer watchdog in the Australian state of Victoria said this week it's still pursuing the disgraced wellness influencer Belle Gibson, who lied about having terminal brain cancer and curing it through healthy living, for the hefty fines she was ordered to pay in 2017. Gibson's story is the subject of a new Netflix series, Apple Cider Vinegar, drawing fresh attention to a case that provoked outrage in Australia. Gibson failed to donate proceeds from her healthy recipe app and book. Victorian authorities are still seeking the funds. An Australian code guiding online health claims was bolstered following the case.

Founder of student aid startup Frank faces criminal trial over whether she defrauded JPMorgan Chase
Nation & World Business

Founder of student aid startup Frank faces criminal trial over whether she defrauded JPMorgan Chase

  • By LARRY NEUMEISTER - Associated Press

A woman backed by wealthy advisers who built a company to make it easier for college students to apply for financial aid has gone on trial on criminal charges that she defrauded JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a $175 million buyout. In opening statements in Manhattan federal court Thursday, a prosecutor said Frank founder Charlie Javice told lies to make it seem her business had millions of customers when it only had about 400,000. A defense lawyer said his client acted honestly and honorably in negotiations with JPMorgan. He says the bank developed buyer's remorse after the government changed regulatory rules that made them regret the purchase.

China begins repatriation from Thailand of more than 1,000 online scam workers rescued from Myanmar
World News

China begins repatriation from Thailand of more than 1,000 online scam workers rescued from Myanmar

  • By JUTARAT SKULPICHETRAT and GRANT PECK - Associated Press
  • Updated

An airlift carrying more than 1,000 Chinese nationals who had worked at online scam centers in eastern Myanmar began Thursday, after the rescued workers were taken across the border to Thailand and put on chartered flights to China. Thailand, China and Myanmar have coordinated efforts over the past month to shut down the scam centers in Myanmar that bilked victims around the world out of billions of dollars through false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes. Hundreds of thousands of people from Southeast Asia and elsewhere are estimated to have worked at such centers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, and many were recruited under false pretenses for other jobs and found themselves trapped in virtual slavery.

The Latest: Justice Department official urges quick dismissal of criminal case against NYC mayor
National News

The Latest: Justice Department official urges quick dismissal of criminal case against NYC mayor

  • By The Associated Press
  • Updated

The Justice Department’s second-in-command demanded that a judge dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The mayor faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment. He declared, “I have not committed a crime.” Manhattan federal Judge Dale E. Ho declined to rule immediately. He said he wanted to carefully review the “unusual situation” but did acknowledge the vast political and legal implications.

White House says Elon Musk is not in charge at DOGE, but is advising the president
Nation & World Business

White House says Elon Musk is not in charge at DOGE, but is advising the president

  • By LINDSAY WHITEHURST - Associated Press
  • Updated

The White House says billionaire Elon Musk is not the administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency team sweeping through federal agencies, but rather a senior adviser to President Donald Trump. That's according to court documents. The declaration was filed Monday as the Trump administration fends off a lawsuit from several Democratic states that want to block Musk and the DOGE team from government systems. They say he’s wielding sweeping power to access data and make mass layoffs without being confirmed by the Senate, in violation of the Constitution. The Trump administration, on the other hand, says Musk has no actual authority to make government decisions himself. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined Tuesday to say who is leading DOGE.

Argentina's Milei faces fraud probe after boosting a crypto coin that crashed hours after its launch
Nation & World Business

Argentina's Milei faces fraud probe after boosting a crypto coin that crashed hours after its launch

  • AP
  • Updated

A judge in Argentina has been selected to investigate allegations of fraud against President Javier Milei for his brief promotion of a cryptocurrency that collapsed in value hours after it was launched last week. Milei and his office deny involvement with creators of the $LIBRA cryptocurrency, saying he initially drew attention to it Friday as an entrepreneurial project that might benefit Argentina but that he learned more about it later and then withdrew his support. Lawyers in Argentina filed fraud complaints against the libertarian President on Sunday. The case was assigned Monday to Chief Justice María Servini of the federal criminal court in Buenos Aires. She doesn’t have a deadline to finish investigating the allegations