(Missouri Independent) – Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a revamped voting rights bill that would expand voter registration as well as create nonpartisan redistricting committees, but the measure is still likely to face an uphill battle in an evenly divided Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he will bring the legislation to the floor […]
A Missouri, man who was charged in two federal cases pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a $335 million scheme to defraud federal programs that award contracts to firms owned by minorities, veterans, and service-disabled veterans, and in a separate case to filing false tax returns that cheated the government out of […]
The Bethany Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance as it conducts investigations regarding motor vehicle break-ins from the weekend. The Bethany Police Department, via Facebook, says the department received a large number of calls regarding vehicles being broken into. Vehicle owners are reminded to lock their vehicles when unable to secure the vehicle inside […]
(Missouri Independent) – In the first test of a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, drug middlemen last week argued that federal law gives them a right to limit which pharmacies patients with health insurance can use — or at least make it more expensive if patients get their medicine at a shop that isn’t preferred […]
Churchgoers in Chillicothe have reported receiving text messages from their pastor asking for gift cards to benefit cancer patients. Chief John Maples confirmed the text messages were part of a widespread scam, and the Police Department has taken reports of this as well. If a pastor texts or emails asking for money or a gift card, […]
A Missouri State Representative’s federal court trial has been moved to June 2022. The trial for Nixa Republican Tricia Derges was scheduled to begin Monday at a federal courthouse in southwest Missouri’s Springfield. Don Ledford, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Missouri, says a witness suffered a stroke and […]
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division issued a final cease and desist order against Monarch Capital Investment Fund, LLC, and top executive Timothy Patrick Peabody after several investors in Missouri were defrauded. Missouri Commissioner of Securities David Minnick found that between April 2015 and October 2016, Peabody, “engaged in fraudulent or deceitful acts and […]
A Missouri legislator is scheduled to go on trial soon in two alleged fraud schemes. Nixa State Representative Tricia Derges is scheduled to go on trial beginning August 16 for 23 felony counts. Last March, a federal grand jury indictment alleges Derges fraudulently received about $300,000 in federal coronavirus aid for nonprofit medical […]
Seventeen more individuals have been charged in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain approximately $11.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and to use those funds to purchase luxury vehicles, jewelry, and other personal items. According to court documents and statements made in court, between May and August 2020, the defendants submitted or […]
A Texas man pleaded guilty in federal court to defrauding two Kansas City-area brothers who have also been convicted in the investment fraud scheme. Duc Nguyen, also known as “Doug,” 57, of Houston, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to one count of wire fraud. By pleading guilty, Nguyen admitted that he engaged […]
A California-licensed homeopathic doctor was arrested for her alleged scheme to sell homeoprophylaxis (the controversial use of homeopathy as a preventive against serious infectious diseases) immunization pellets and to falsify COVID-19 vaccination cards by making it appear that customers had received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized Moderna vaccine. Juli A. Mazi, 41, of […]
A Kansas man was sentenced in federal court for engaging in two separate fraud schemes related to millions of dollars in false payday loan debt and for tax evasion totaling more than $8 million. “After raking in millions of dollars from the victims of his fraud scheme, the defendant lied repeatedly and used every trick […]
This article is a commentary. The views expressed in this article are those of the author, Tim Gibbons, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of KTTN/KGOZ Radio, management, or staff. (Missouri Independent) – Missouri Rural Crisis Center recently sent in comments to the Biden Administration and USDA in response to their request […]
A Maryland man was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution for defrauding a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program dedicated to rehabilitating military veterans with disabilities. According to court documents, Francis Engles, 65, of Bowie, was the owner and operator of Engles Security Training School (Engles […]
Three Russian men and a naturalized U.S. citizen have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to use stolen identities to file thousands of fraudulent tax returns and send much of the illegal proceeds to their co-conspirators in Russia. Alexander Pavlov, 37, and Dmitrii Shenke, 35, citizens and residents […]
The Missouri Secretary of State, Securities Division ordered Cryotherm USA, Inc., John (Jianxin) Wang, and Dennis R. Di Ricco to cease and desist after allegedly issuing more than $2 million in unregistered, non-exempt promissory notes. Between December 1, 2015, and October 31, 2020, the Florida-based Cryotherm USA allegedly sold the promissory notes through a Las Vegas, […]
A couple was sentenced to prison for their participation in a scheme to file four fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $1.1 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Latoya Stanley, 38, […]
Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick announced he has joined a coalition of 15 State Treasurers to speak out against apparent attempts by the Biden Administration to pressure banks and other large financial institutions to divest from coal, oil, and natural gas companies. “While the pursuit of more renewable sources of energy is a noble cause, […]
A north Missouri businessman who was involved in the largest organic fraud scheme in American history has been sentenced to probation and fined. Federal prosecutors in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, say Steven Whiteside has been sentenced to three years probation and fined 45-thousand dollars. Whiteside lives near Chillicothe, which is east of St. Joseph. […]
A Braymer, Missouri, man was indicted by a federal grand jury for a $215,000 cattle fraud scheme that he attempted to cover up by murdering two Wisconsin brothers. Garland Joseph Nelson, 27, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. The indictment charges Nelson with one count of […]
