WIRE FRAUD

The money trail from two political campaigns has led to federal wire fraud charges against the former mayor of Romulus.

A West Bloomfield house was raided Tuesday after Wayne County Roads Division workers used $1.7 million in taxpayer money to fraudulently purchase 596 generators and sell them for personal profit, officials said.

A Dearborn man tricked dozens of people into giving him hundreds of thousands of dollars for a phony investment scheme and used that money to fund his own lavish lifestyle, officials said.

A West Bloomfield house was raided Tuesday after Wayne County Roads Division workers used $1.7 million in taxpayer money to fraudulently purchase 596 generators and sell them for personal profit, officials said.

A Troy woman, who worked with Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency, and a Detroit man have been charged for running a scheme to steal unemployment benefits, authorities said.

A former member of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after a scheme designed to award pandemic-era benefits to people submitting false claims.

A Southfield woman has been charged for using other people’s identities to make more than 35 fraudulent unemployment claims, police said.

A Detroit man pleaded guilty to stealing unemployment benefits from nine different states, and he tried and failed to do so in eight others, federal officials said.

A Troy investor who thought he had figured out a guaranteed way to win huge jackpots in the Michigan Lottery has been sentenced after he spent $1 million of other people’s money each week to carry out the failed scheme.

A Harper Woods man who is accused of using disguises and stealing nearly $100,000 from 10 casino patrons will be going to federal prison for four years.

A Harper Woods man accused of using disguises to steal money from casinos pleads guilty to wire fraud and identify fraud.

TROY, Mich. – A Troy investor is accused of losing $19 million of other people’s money in a scheme that involved tricking them into fake investment opportunities and spending more than $1 million per week on Michigan Lottery games. In June 2016, Gjonaj believed he had discovered a guaranteed way to win large jackpots playing the Michigan Lottery Daily 3 and Daily 4 games, according to authorities. Instead of ending the gambling scheme, Gjonaj tricked others into giving him money through the fake real estate investment deal plan, according to officials. AdBy early 2019, Gjonaj was betting more than $1 million per week on Michigan Lottery games using money fraudulently obtained from victims, according to officials. In August 2019, his scheme had unraveled and resulted in more than $19 million in losses to those victims, authorities said.

TROY, Mich. – A Troy grandmother was scammed out of $15,000 after receiving a phone call from someone claiming to be her grandson. The victim spoke with the supposed attorney and sent him $10,258 from her bank to a bank in Mexico. Call a phone number for your family member or friend that you know to be genuine. In one version of this scam, con artists impersonate grandchildren in distress to trick concerned grandparents into sending money. If someone calls or sends a message claiming to be a family member or a friend desperate for money:

Former Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith is no stranger to a courtroom, but Friday he was just another defendant. United States Attorney Matthew Schneider said the FBI had been investigating Smith for more than a year. “Our state has seen a number of public officials who have sworn to uphold their oaths and then they violated that,” Schneider said. Smith was given a $10,000 unsecured bond, he can’t leave the state without approval and has to surrender his CPL. He faces up to 21 months in custody and a $250,000 dollar fine.

Former Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith faced a federal judge Friday in connection to an alleged embezzlement scheme. Smith said he had told three people -- two assistant prosecutors and a friend -- to lie about he use of campaign funds. Smith faces up to 20 years in prison, but will likely serve less than two years on the federal charge. He is also facing charges of embezzlement and racketeering for his spending of $600,000 from an obscure Macomb County forfeiture fund. Of that $20,000, Smith gave the consultant $5,000 and kept the remaining $15,000, which he used for his own personal use.

A Novi man was arrested and charged in a wire fraud scheme involving $3.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office Eastern District of Michigan, 44-year-old Antonio George is charged in a criminal complaint with one count of wire fraud. The PPP loan is guaranteed by Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES Act). Small businesses across Michigan have received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, and these loans have kept these businesses alive, said U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider in the release. Every dollar stolen from the program is a dollar stolen from struggling businesses in need.

DETROIT Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will not be released early because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced. The bureau reviewed Kilpatricks request for home confinement, and it was denied, officials said. Kilpatrick will remain incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution-I in Oakdale, Louisiana, according to authorities.

DETROIT Last week, family members and supporters of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick were certain he would be released from federal prison next month. Kilpatrick will not be released from prison early because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced. Multiple sources close to the Kilpatrick family said the Department of Justice was on board with considering a compassionate release. Those in Kilpatricks inner circle believed he would get out to begin home confinement, likely at his sisters home in Atlanta. PREVIOUS: Mayor Mike Duggan, other Detroiters react to news of possible Kwame Kilpatrick releaseThe Kilpatrick family asked for his release because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

DETROIT Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been put in a 21-day quarantine at the Oakdale Federal Detention Center, and family members believe he will be released in June. In February, Kilpatricks family and a consortium of politicians, religious leaders and business leaders lobbied President Donald Trump for a commutation of his sentence. More recently, the Kilpatrick family has been asking for his release because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Kilpatrick has been sending regular emails to his family about the conditions in prison and the possibility of a release. Last night, reports began to surface that Kilpatricks release was imminent because of the coronavirus.

Reports started surfacing Thursday night that a Kilpatrick release from federal prison was imminent, not the original commutation of the sentence from Trump. Multiple sources close to the Kilpatrick family have confirmed that the Department of Justice was on board with considering a compassionate release. On Friday morning, an email was sent out from the Ebony Foundation, congratulating Kilpatrick on his release from federal prison. If Kilpatrick is given a compassionate release, he would go through a period of home confinement, and then supervised release. He was eventually moved to a low-security federal prison in New Jersey, and then again to Oakdale FCI.

The complaint and complaint affidavit were unsealed this evening after Angs initial appearance in court before The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks at the United States District Court in Fayetteville. In the one-count complaint, Ang was charged with one count of Wire Fraud. The complaint charges that Ang had close ties with the Chinese government and Chinese companies, and failed to disclose those ties when required to do so in order to receive grant money from NASA. These materially false representations to NASA and the University of Arkansas resulted in numerous wires to be sent and received that facilitated Angs scheme to defraud. The charges set forth in a complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.