Tag: investigation

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Politics

Georgia Prosecutors Open Prison Investigation of Trump Name

Georgia Prosecutors Open Criminal Investigation of Trump Call

ATLANTA – Fulton County prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to dismiss Georgia’s election results, including a phone call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger pressuring him to get enough votes to help him undo his loss.

On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic attorney in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous state government officials, including Mr. Raffensperger, asking for documents related to Mr. Trump’s call to be retained, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter . The letter specifically stated that the application was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.

The investigation makes Georgia the second state after New York to investigate Mr Trump. And it comes into a jurisdiction where potential jurors are unlikely to be hospitable to the former president. Fulton County covers most of Atlanta and overwhelmingly supported President Biden in the November election.

The Fulton County investigation follows Mr. Raffensperger’s office decision on Monday to open an administrative investigation.

Ms. Willis has pondered for several weeks whether to open an investigation after Mr. Trump’s call to Mr. Raffensperger on Jan. 2 alerted electoral experts who describe it as an extraordinary intervention in a state’s electoral process.

This call was one of several attempts Mr. Trump made to convince top Republican officials of the state to uncover cases of electoral fraud that could alter the outcome. In early December, he also called Governor Brian Kemp and pressured him to convene a special legislative session to reverse his loss of the election. Later that month, Mr. Trump called a state investigator and urged the officer to “find the scam,” according to those who were aware of the call.

Former prosecutors said Mr Trump’s claims could violate at least three state laws. One of them is the criminal inducement to commit electoral fraud, which can be either a crime or an offense. As a criminal offense, it is punished with at least one year in prison. There is also an associated conspiracy charge that can be prosecuted as either a misdemeanor or a criminal offense. A third law, an offense, prohibits “deliberate interference” with the “performance of elective duties” of another person.

Mr Biden’s victory in Georgia was reconfirmed after election officials re-certified the results of the state’s presidential election in three separate voting results: the first electoral list; a hand census ordered by the state; and another recount requested by Mr. Trump’s campaign and completed by machines. The machine count results show that Mr Biden won by around 12,000 votes.

Mr Biden was the first Democrat to win Georgia’s presidential election since 1992. Mr Trump accused Governor Brian Kemp and Mr Raffensperger, both Republicans, of not doing enough to help him reverse the result in the weeks following the election. Mr. Kemp and Mr. Raffensberger had each resisted numerous attacks by Mr. Trump, who described the governor as “unhappy” and called on the State Secretary to resign.

The Georgia investigation is ongoing as Mr. Trump is also facing an ongoing investigation by Manhattan Treasury Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. and an investigation into civil fraud by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The very beginning of an investigation into the polarizing former president could be a career defining moment for Ms. Willis, who took office in January. The first African American woman to hold the job in Georgia’s most populous county, she has already faced some daunting challenges: Atlanta has had a year of high murder rates, and Ms. Willis has promised ambitious changes in the office as well as a review the controversial treatment of her predecessor with the police shooting of a black man, Rayshard Brooks, in June.

If Mr. Trump were convicted of a state crime in New York or Georgia, a federal pardon would not be applicable. In Georgia, Mr. Trump can’t turn to Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, for a state pardon, and not just because the two have a broken relationship. In Georgia, pardons are only granted by the state pardon and probation authority.

Categories
Health

Chamath Palihapitiya-backed Clover Well being will get discover of SEC investigation

Chamath Palihapitiya-backed Clover Health gets notice of SEC investigation

Chamath Palihapitiya

Olivia Michael | CNBC

Chamath Palihapitiya-sponsored Clover Health Investments announced Friday that they have received an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission and that they intend to cooperate.

However, Clover backed out of a critical report by the short seller Hindenburg Research, saying some of the claims in the report were “totally false”.

On Thursday, Hindenburg released a damning report calling Clover Health a “broken business”. The insurance company’s stocks fell more than 12%, the largest daily percentage decline in four months. Clover’s shares rose more than 3.5% on the Friday leading up to trading after the company released its response. Hindenburg, which has posted short selling in the past, said Thursday it had no position in Clover.

Hindenburg also said that Clover has been investigated by the Justice Department and that the investigation has not been disclosed to investors. In his response to the Hindenburg report, Clover said he had received inquiries from the DOJ, but didn’t believe the inquiries were material to his investors. The company characterized the DOJ inquiries as standard practice because Clover works with the Medicare system.

Clover said it decided not to disclose the DOJ’s inquiries after consulting with its attorneys. The company didn’t say what the DOJ’s inquiries were about. On the SEC side, Clover said he received the agency’s letter Thursday after the Hindenburg report was released. The company said it was unaware of any investigation outside of the SEC’s letter it received Thursday.

The DOJ on Thursday declined to comment on any possible investigation or investigation related to Clover. The SEC declined to comment on Friday.

Clover responded to Hindenburg’s criticism of a separate company, Seek Insurance, that shares investors and governance with Clover. Hindenburg claims that Seek Insurance, a website designed to help people find Medicare plans, does not disclose their relationship with Clover, despite the fact that their website stands out as an unbiased platform for choosing a health plan. Clover said in his response that Seek Insurance is a subsidiary of Clover but is still an independent start-up.

Clover also said that Seek’s website would be updated with more information soon, and released a breakdown of the plans Seek customers are choosing. According to Clover, 13.5% of Seek customers chose a Clover plan, behind CVS / Aetna (17%), Humana (20%) and Cigna (20%).

Finally, Clover responded to Hindenburg’s claims that the company’s software was causing doctors to charge the Medicare system more than necessary, a practice called “upcoding.” According to Hindenburg, Clover’s software encourages up-coding with “irrelevant diagnoses” to “deceive” and charge the Medicare system more. Clover denied these allegations in his response, saying that doctors receive a flat fee for an office visit and that it is up to the doctor to choose the diagnosis.

Hindenburg is known for his short selling research. In particular, a report on electric car company Nikola was released last year, just days after General Motors announced an investment in the company.

Among the allegations made against the company, Hindenburg said Nikola staged a demo video of his electric vehicle, which was not powered by its own but instead rolled down a hill. Nikola denied many of Hindenburg’s claims, but not those about the truck’s demo video. GM eventually gave up its stake in Nikola.

Also of note is Palihapitiya’s commitment to Clover. The VC has built a reputation for supporting several high profile SPAC deals, including Clover and Virgin Galactic. However, Hindenburg’s report raised questions about whether or not Palihapitiya knew about the DOJ’s investigation into Clover, and whether this should have been disclosed when the company went public through the SPAC deal.

You can read all of Clover’s in-depth point-by-point answers on Hindenburg here.

–Reuters contributed to this report.

Categories
Health

NY healthcare supplier underneath investigation after acquiring doses

NY healthcare provider under investigation after obtaining doses

Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is pictured at Rady Children’s Hospital before being returned to the refrigerator on December 15, 2020 in San Diego, California.

Adriana Drehsler | AFP | Getty Images

The doses of the coronavirus vaccine may have been mistakenly received and distributed in parts of New York, the state’s top doctor said on Saturday.

Dr. Howard Zucker, commissioner for the state Department of Health, said his office had received reports that the ParCare Community Health Network had “fraudulently” received the vaccine and transferred it to “facilities in other parts of the state.”

The vaccine doses, allegedly diverted for “members of the public”, circumvent the state’s plan to give priority to vaccination for frontline health professionals and residents of long-term care facilities, Zucker said. New York’s first introduction of the vaccine was still limited to hospitals and nursing homes.

The ParCare Community Health Network – identified by the state as a provider in Orange County – serves offices in a number of neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Upper East Side.

On December 16, the company offered “first come, first served” doses of the vaccine via a social media post on Facebook. The job included a registration form for the elderly, those at high risk, and those with underlying medical conditions.

A week later, ParCare posted photos of the Moderna vaccine on Twitter, saying the company had received thousands of doses.

The DOH said it would not comment beyond Zucker’s Saturday statement.

“We take this very seriously and DOH will assist the state police in a criminal investigation into the matter. Anyone who knowingly participated in this program will be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” Zucker said in a press release on Saturday.

A statement from ParCare confirmed the Ministry of Health’s investigation and ensured cooperation during the state investigation.

“In these unprecedented times, we have strived to provide critical health services and deliver COVID-19 vaccinations to those qualified under guidelines from the New York State Department of Health, which includes frontline health workers and first responders “says the statement. partially.

In late October, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a partnership with ParCare to increase the availability of rapid tests at multiple locations in Borough Park and Williamsburg.

Categories
Business

China Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Alibaba

China Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Alibaba

“This is an important step in strengthening anti-monopoly oversight on the Internet,” said the article posted on the newspaper’s website Thursday morning. “This will have a positive impact on regulating an orderly sector and promoting long-term healthy development of platforms.”

Political insiders and investors in China have speculated for years that national leader Xi Jinping would be tempted to crack down on Alibaba and Mr. Ma. They feared that their influence could increasingly offend the Communist Party and undermine control over capital markets and the Internet. However, until recently, Chinese regulators had been cautious.

Two recent party leadership meetings indicated that Mr. Xi was considering action.

The Politburo, a council of the party’s top 25 officials that meets every month or so, called for stronger anti-monopoly efforts at its meeting this month, although the official statement from the meeting did not identify any company or sector. This call was followed a few days later by an even clearer demand from the party leadership’s annual meeting on economic policy, which suggested that companies with Internet platforms would be subject to closer scrutiny.

The Chinese government “supports the innovative development of platform companies and the improvement of their international competitiveness,” read the official summary of the meeting. “At the same time, the development must be regulated by law and the digital rules improved.”

The supervisory authorities should “take decisive action against monopolies and inappropriate competitive behavior”, it says in the summary of the meeting.

Mr Ma’s remarks on financial regulation, held at a conference in Shanghai in October, appear to have helped catalyze the official backlash against Ant and Alibaba.

“If you are a rich man in Chinese culture and have very strong economic power and social influence, you are politically dangerous and you need to be very restrained for security reasons,” said Gary Liu, an independent economist in Shanghai.

People in China see Mr. Ma and Ant as the main beneficiaries of the authorities’ cautious approach to regulating internet financing. “Still, he complained,” said Mr. Liu. “This type of person is not respected in Chinese culture.”

Chris Buckley and Keith Bradsher contributed to the coverage.

Categories
World News

Joe Biden son Hunter Biden beneath federal tax investigation

Joe Biden son Hunter Biden under federal tax investigation

“I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will show that I have handled my affairs legally and appropriately, with the benefit of professional accountants,” said Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden, an attorney whose late brother Beau Biden was the Delaware attorney general prior to his death, did not reveal any further details of the investigation.

Kim Reeves, a spokeswoman for David Weiss, the US attorney for Delaware, said in an email, “Per DOJ [Department of Justice] We cannot comment on politics on an ongoing investigation. “

CNN reported later Wednesday that it had reached out to Hunter Biden’s attorney and his father’s presidential campaign last week for comment on the investigation. CNN reported that “several financial issues are being investigated, including whether Hunter Biden and employees have broken tax and money laundering laws in doing business in foreign countries, primarily China.”

CNN reported that the investigation had been “largely dormant for the past few months” as the Justice Department issued regulations prohibiting legal action in cases that could affect an election.

Publicly available documents show Hunter and his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle had a lien on unpaid taxes, possibly including interest and penalties totaling $ 112,805.09, as of March this year, NBC News reported. Documents submitted by the IRS show that the lien was issued in November 2019. It is not immediately clear whether the lien has anything to do with the investigation.

The New York Post reported in October that in December 2019 the FBI seized both a computer and hard drive believed to have been made by Hunter Biden after the owner of a computer repair facility in Wilmington, Delaware, told federal authorities that he was in possession of these items.

The shopkeeper gave a copy of the hard drive to an attorney for Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, the Post reported. Giuliani then gave the newspaper a copy of the hard drive.

In a statement on Wednesday, the transition team of Democrat Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said: “President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son who has faced difficult challenges including the vicious personal attacks of the past few months. “

The White House and the US Department of Justice, which oversees US law firms, declined to comment.

Hunter Biden has long struggled with drug addiction and other personal problems.

He was despised in court earlier this year for failing to provide financial information to an Arkansas woman who said she had given birth to his child.

This woman’s attorneys, Lunden Alexis Roberts, said in January that Hunter Biden failed to meet a court-ordered deadline for submitting documents five years ago as part of her application for child support for her then 16-month-old wife Child.

These documents included “a list of all sources of income”, copies of tax returns and a list of companies in which he is involved, court records showed.

Hunter Biden, who initially claimed he never had sex with Roberts, later stopped denying that he was the child’s father.

He closed the case with Roberts in March by agreeing to pay her an undisclosed amount each month for child support and agreeing to maintain health insurance for the child. He also agreed to pay Roberts an undisclosed amount of money, which apparently included her attorney’s fees and expenses.

During the presidential election, Republican Trump and his allies made Hunter Biden a focus of political attack, particularly related to his business dealings in Ukraine and China.

Hunter Biden and his father have denied any wrongdoing related to their overseas business in which Joe Biden was not a part.

Trump, who refuses to admit he lost the election, was charged by the House of Representatives last year for withholding Congress-appropriated military aid to Ukraine when he pressured the nation’s new president to investigate the Biden. Trump was acquitted after a trial by the Senate.

In an interview last week, Joe Biden told CNN that once he took office, he would not try to influence Justice Department decisions.

“It’s not my Justice Department. It’s the People’s Justice Department,” Biden said.

He also said the department “can independently decide who will and who will not be prosecuted”.

The investigation into Hunter Biden comes after Trump’s firm, the Trump Organization, is under criminal investigation by the Manhattan Attorney’s Office for explaining hush payments to women who claim they have sex with Trump. The president has denied having sex with a woman, porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.

The DA office could also investigate possible tax crimes as well as banking and insurance fraud, as suggested by court records.

Trump is currently battling DA Cyrus Vance Jr.’s efforts to get eight years worth of tax returns and other financial records from the President from his longtime accountants.

At the same time, the New York attorney general’s office is conducting a civil investigation for possible misstatements about the value of Trump Organization real estate. The President’s son, Eric Trump, was recently questioned by investigators from the AG’s office as part of this investigation.

Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, a senior White House adviser, was dismissed last week on a lawsuit by the Attorney General in Washington, DC. This AG accuses the Trump Organization, the Trump Inaugural Committee and the Trump International Hotel in this city of “openly and unlawfully misused charitable funds to enrich the Trump family” in connection with the expenditures for the inauguration of Trump 2017 .

According to research by The New Yorker, ProPublica and WNYC, Ivanka Trump and her other adult brother Donald Trump Jr. narrowly avoided criminal charges by Vance’s office in connection with the marketing of the Trump SoHo Hotel in New York in 2012. Vance’s office had investigated whether potential buyers had been misled about the success of the project.

The outlets reported that Marc Kasowitz, an attorney for Ivanka and Donald Jr., donated $ 25,000 to Vance’s re-election campaign and appealed directly to him to drop the case.

– Additional coverage from Mike Calia, Tucker Higgins, and NBC News