An ESPN article looking at the "red flags" raised by ESPN employee Kendrick Perkins's NIL company

ESPN:

A new company co-founded by former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins is offering college athletes upfront cash in exchange for a portion of their name, image and likeness deals, an arrangement some consumer protection experts and financial advisers say could prey on young athletes.

...

the percentage of NIL money that Nilly takes from an athlete can be as high as 50%

...

In the case of the contract obtained by ESPN, the player could end up giving Nilly the equivalent of a $75,000 fee in exchange for the guarantee of and immediate access to $50,000 up front.

A Yale administrator stole $40 million over several years and used it to buy a fleet of luxury cars and multiple properties

Market Watch:

she was able to authorize equipment purchases without additional approvals as long as the orders were below $10,000

...

[she] began making numerous small orders of tablet computers and other equipment that were billed to the school. She would then sell them to a business in New York state

Yale Daily News:

Yale received an anonymous tip that [she] was “ordering suspiciously high volumes of computer equipment, some of which was placed into her personal vehicle.”  

"Mexican TV Host Who Once Proposed to Tom Brady Is on the Run After Allegedly Embezzling $146 Million"

People:

[She] and her lawyer husband ... are accused of embezzling close to 3 billion pesos, which is about $146 million USD, from the Ministry of the Interior in 2016 and 2017, according to Uno TV.

On Sept. 10, a federal judge issued a warrant for their arrest.

Oil tanker ran aground because its crew was looking for a stronger mobile phone signal

SCMP:

One of Japan’s largest shipping companies has admitted that the industry’s worst environmental accident this year was the result of the crew of the bulk carrier MV Wakashio sailing too close to shore as they attempted to pick up mobile phone signals.

The 300-metre ship ran aground on pristine coral reefs just off southern Mauritius on July 25, spilling more than 1,000 tonnes of fuel...

The report, released by the Wakashio’s operator Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) on Friday, confirmed that it was meant to be 22 nautical miles off Mauritius during its passage, but that had been narrowed to just two nautical miles “to enter an area within the communication range of mobile phones”.

Forbes:

The EU EQUASIS database also identified nearly 100 safety deficiencies with the Wakashio, several of which were very serious. 

...

The conduct of the shipowners and operators involved with the Wakashio disaster highlight just why the shipping laws that use offshore ‘Flags of Convenience’ registrations need to be reformed, to bring more transparency and safety into the sector.

Excellent podcast about a company exploiting the Airbnb platform and trying to dodge city guidelines on short-term rentals

Second part in a series by The Information.

"Herbalife to pay $123 million to settle China bribery charges"

CNN:

"By engaging in a decade-long scheme to falsify its books and records to conceal corrupt and other improper expenditures, Herbalife misrepresented the information available to investors," Brian Rabbitt, acting assistant attorney general for the US Department of Justice's criminal division, said in a press release Friday.

This isn't the first controversy Herbalife has been involved in.

In 2016, the company paid the US Federal Trade Commission $200 million to settle claims that consumers looking to sell Herbalife's products had lost money.

In late 2012, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman accused Herbalife of being a pyramid scheme because of its multilevel marketing strategy, and famously made a failed $1 billion short bet against the company. The FTC later determined as part of the settlement that Herbalife is not a pyramid scheme.

The Ohio House Speaker and four others were charged in federal court with participating in a racketeering conspiracy

Dayton Daily News:

[The current House speaker] has led the GOP-controlled Ohio House since January 2019. He previously held the speaker’s gavel 2001 to 2004 but left due to term limits. He returned to the House in January 2017 and mounted a campaign to become the first lawmaker to recapture the speakership in nearly six decades.

The speaker, who one of the three most powerful politicians in Ohio, wields enormous influence over how the state spends more than $140 billion and can halt any piece of legislation.

NBC:

[The defendants are] accused of funneling money from an unnamed power company into a corporation that then used those funds – more than $60 million – to help ensure the passage of House Bill 6, a billion-dollar law that included money to bail out two nuclear power plants in the state.

The Enquirer:

Householder oversaw the controversial, Republican-led bailout of the two nuclear plants, owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, of Akron. House Bill 6, signed by DeWine in July, authorized using ratepayer fees for the $1 billion bailout.

The fight to approve the money was long and costly, extending even after the bill was signed into law. An effort to overturn the bailout ultimately failed after it met fierce resistance from well-funded competition. One group was Generation Now, a 501(c)(4) "dark money" operation. The group hired blockers to stall signature collectors working for those opposed to the bailout.

The second group, Ohioans for Energy Security, paid for millions of dollars in advertisements, including ones that warned Ohioans that the Chinese would take over Ohio’s power grid if voters repealed the bailout.

California rabbi engaged in years of fraud, and was coincidentally invited to visit Trump while under federal investigation

LATimes:

The 58-year-old rabbi — who gained international notoriety after a April 27, 2019, shooting attack on Chabad of Poway synagogue that killed [a] congregant ... and injured three others, including Goldstein — admitted to years of illegal schemes involving taxes, government programs, real estate and public and private grant programs.

The court records illustrate in detail a spectrum of frauds that are staggering in their amount, scope and duration.

...

The charges cover a period from 2010-18 but prosecutors said he had been engaged in fraud as far back as the 1980s.

...

U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer said Tuesday that his office has already decided not to seek a prison term for Goldstein, citing his cooperation with an ongoing investigation that has led to five others pleading guilty and as many as 20 more under investigation, and his conduct in the wake of the attack.

...

After the shooting, he called for tolerance, love and forgiveness in numerous appearances and speeches. He was invited to the White House, met President Trump, and hosted the vice president at the Poway synagogue.

At the time, however, he was under investigation by the federal government and had agreed to cooperate with a probe into years, perhaps decades, of serial frauds he allegedly had orchestrated. That information became public for the first time Tuesday.

"World's Most Wanted Man ... Located in Belarus; Data Points to Russian Intel Links"

Bellingcat:

The company he oversaw operationally, Germany’s Wirecard, collapsed overnight last month after auditors brought attention to a nearly 2 billion Euro gaping hole in its balance sheet.

...

Since 2015, he has pursued projects in Libya – including investing in the Libya Cement Company, and has engaged with Russian advisors and European officials to discuss plans for ‘humanitarian reconstruction in Libya’ – seen by observers as a plan to establish a mercenary force

...

Whatever kept bringing Marsalek to Russia in 2015 and 2016 must have caught up with him in 2017. After 4 trips in early in the year – as usual, each no longer than a day or two – Wirecard’s COO flew back from Munich to Moscow on 9 September 2017, but did not leave until a week later. In fact, he was not allowed to leave even when he attempted to

...

[His] Russian immigration dossier is the most unusual one we have reviewed, and not simply due to it sprawling over hundreds of pages. It also contains an unusual array of different passports – all tied to the same person, and to his visits to Russia.

When short sellers asserted years ago that Wirecard was engaging in fraud and money-laundering, German investigators went after the short sellers:

With encouragement from Wirecard’s lawyers and despite red flags about the company, financial markets watchdog Bafin and Bavarian state prosecutors in Munich moved swiftly against short sellers after a February 2016 research report alleged fraud and money-laundering at Wirecard, according to confidential documents related to the probe.

The documents, which include hundreds of pages of investigative reports, correspondence and other memos, have not been previously reported. While it is known that German authorities investigated skeptical investors who raised questions about the company behind one of the biggest corporate frauds in German history, the documents provide new details about the speed and tenacity with which they pursued detractors and the extent of their faith in management.

Eventually, the short sellers were proven right:

Short sellers, who borrow shares and sell them hoping to buy them back for less in the future, notched paper profits of $2.6 billion off Wirecard's plunge, according to data-analytics firm S3 Partners.

"Goodyear Could Face $105 Million Fine if It Failed to Properly Report Crashes Involving RV Tire"

"the tire failed on as many as one-in-10 motorhomes"

Related:

A company which let potentially toxic dust blanket Port Augusta early last year has been fined $2,200 by South Australia's Environment Protection Authority

"After Hurricane Maria damaged tens of thousands of homes in Puerto Rico, a newly created Florida company with an unproven record won more than $30 million in contracts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency "

APN:

Bronze Star LLC never delivered those urgently needed supplies

...

The contract solicitation gave preference to veteran-owned companies. According to Navy records, Jones was never awarded a Bronze Star, a medal earned by service members who serve heroically in combat.

In an interview, Jones told The Associated Press he picked the name because he has another company with the word star in it.

"Uber Concealed Cyberattack That Exposed 57 Million People’s Data"

Bloomberg:

Uber now says it had a legal obligation to report the hack to regulators and to drivers whose license numbers were taken. Instead, the company paid hackers $100,000 to delete the data and keep the breach quiet. Uber said it believes the information was never used but declined to disclose the identities of the attackers.

“None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it,” Dara Khosrowshahi, who took over as chief executive officer in September, said in an emailed statement. “We are changing the way we do business.”

"Weinstein Co. President David Glasser Linked to Felon’s Money Laundering Case"

Variety:

after Weinstein’s spectacular downfall in a sex harassment scandal this week, Glasser has been put in charge of the mogul’s imploding entertainment company alongside Weinstein’s brother, Bob.

But Glasser, who serves as president and chief operating officer of the Weinstein Co., has long been dogged by legal issues that date back more than two decades. In the most serious case, Glasser’s former company was used to launder the proceeds of a massive stock manipulation scheme which, according to federal prosecutors, was connected to the Genovese crime family. The mastermind of the scheme, Roy Ageloff, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Ageloff also helped launch Glasser’s career as a producer, and even tried to produce a film with Glasser about his own life, to be titled “Sold Short.” Glasser was never charged with a crime.

"IRS awards multimillion-dollar fraud-prevention contract to Equifax"

"The IRS defended its decision in a statement, saying that Equifax told the agency that none of its data was involved in the breach and that Equifax already provides similar services to the IRS under a previous contract."

"Some of fast-food’s biggest names, including Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Pizza Hut and, until recently, McDonald’s, prohibited franchisees from hiring workers away from one another"

NYT:

The restrictions do not appear in a contract that employees sign, or even see. They are typically included in a paragraph buried in lengthy contracts that owners of fast-food outlets sign with corporate headquarters.

Yet the provisions can keep employees tied to one spot, unable to switch jobs or negotiate higher pay. A lack of worker mobility has long been viewed as contributing to wage stagnation because switching jobs is one of the most reliable ways to get a raise.

Defenders of the practice argue that the restaurants spend time and money training workers and want to protect their investment.

"Norwegian shipping company Höegh Autoliners AS has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $21 million criminal fine for its involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices, allocate customers, and rig bids"

GC:

Höegh is the fifth company to plead guilty in this investigation—bringing the total criminal fines to over $255 million. Four executives have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison terms. An additional seven executives are known to have been indicted, but remain fugitives.

"Equifax CEO Richard Smith Who Oversaw Breach to Collect $90 Million"

Fortune:

"The cybersecurity incident has affected millions of consumers, and I have been completely dedicated to making this right," he said in a statement announcing his retirement. "At this critical juncture, I believe it is in the best interests of the company to have new leadership to move the company forward."

"Adidas hired [Athletics Director] Tom Jurich's daughter months before $160 million deal with University of Louisville"

"as an 'NCAA brand communications manager'"

"Wells Fargo Upgrades Equifax (EFX) to Outperform, 'Megabreach Creates Opportunity'"

"The magnitude of the breach combined with a multitude of high-profile issues (notification timing, Congressional investigations/hearings insider stock sales, management turnover) have created, in our opinion, an attractive entry point for this high-quality consumer credit franchise"

"Tumult After AIDS Fund-Raiser Supports Harvey Weinstein Production"

NYT:

In May 2015, the entertainment producer Harvey Weinstein arranged for two items to be auctioned off at a fund-raiser for amfAR, a New York-based charity that works to cure AIDS.

The offers — a sitting with a famous fashion photographer and a package of tickets to a Hollywood film awards event and parties — came with a condition: $600,000 of the money raised at the auction, in Cannes, France, would go to the American Repertory Theater, a nonprofit playhouse that had done a trial run of “Finding Neverland,” a Broadway musical that Mr. Weinstein produced.

...

Mr. Weinstein, who is a longtime supporter of the AIDS organization and was a chairman of the 2015 event, said that he had done nothing wrong and that everyone benefited from the arrangement, which raised $309,669 for amfAR. “I honestly thought we were doing something fantastic for both sides,” he said in an interview. “We get money, they get money, and it’s all our money.”