WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 -- The Securities and Exchange Commission issued the following news release on Sept. 17, 2024: The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Prager Metis CPAs, LLC (Prager) and its California professional services firm, Prager Metis CPAs LLP, (collectively, the Prager Entities) agreed to pay $1.95 million to resolve two actions alleging misconduct in its audits of the now-defunct crypto asset trading platform, FTX, and auditor independence violations. In one   more

SAN FRANCISCO, California, Sept. 19 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California issued the following news release on Sept. 18, 2024: A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Ben Thomas III today with eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of money laundering for defrauding his former employer, San Francisco-based Williams Sonoma, Inc. (WSI), announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Acting Special Agent in   more

RIVERSIDE, California, Sept. 18 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for Central District of California issued the following news release on Sept. 16, 2024: A Honduran national illegally living in New Mexico has been indicted for allegedly conspiring to kidnap a Guatemalan man who had illegally entered the United States and then demanded ransom from the victim's family living in Southern California, the Justice Department announced today. Darwin Jeovany Palma Pastrana, 30, of Albuquerque, New Me  more

SANTA ANA, California, Sept. 18 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for Central District of California issued the following news release on Sept. 16, 2024: An Orange County man pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for orchestrating a scheme to steal high-value violins and robbing a bank in Irvine. Mark Meng, 58, of Irvine, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of bank robbery. According to his plea agreement, from August 2020 to April 2023, Meng schemed to steal v  more

SAN FRANCISCO, California, Sept. 19 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California posted the following news release: The Justice Department announced that it reached a settlement with a former Bay Area landlord to resolve allegations that she discriminated against a couple and their two minor children based on their familial status, in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Under a consent order that was approved today by the Honorable Maxine M. Chesney, U.S. Dist  more

SACRAMENTO, California, Sept. 18 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California issued the following news release: Anthony Coates, 28, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of distribution of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, Coates distributed 1 pound of methamphetamine in March 2024 and 3 pounds of methamphetamine in April 2024. This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforceme  more

SACRAMENTO, California, Sept. 18 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California issued the following news release: Kaymeisha Keyes, 33, of Tracy, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to nine years in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to defraud the unemployment insurance benefit program during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Keyes was also ordered to pay $1,116,683 in restitution.   more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 -- The Federal Trade Commission issued the following news release: Phoenix, Arizona-based WillScot Holdings Corporation (WillScot) today announced that it is abandoning its proposed acquisition of McGrath RentCorp (McGrath). Under the merger agreement, which the companies publicly disclosed on January 29, 2024, WillScot agreed to acquire McGrath, a leading business-to-business rental company based in Livermore, California, for $3.8 billion. WillScot and McGrath are two of t  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia issued the following news release: Raymond Nava Jr., 20, of Bell Gardens, California., was sentenced today to 168 months in prison for his role in a fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that spanned the country and that was responsible for the distribution of kilograms of fentanyl from Southern California to the DMV. Nava - who sold 12,000 fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills and one dozen firearms, including   more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 -- The U.S. Department of Commerce issued the following news release: Commerce and State to co-host convening to advance global cooperation toward the safe, secure, and trustworthy development of artificial intelligence Following Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo's announcement of the launch of the International Network of AI Safety Institutes during the AI Seoul Summit in May, the U.S. Commerce Department and U.S. State Department shared today that they will co-host th  more