We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
A jury found five defendants guilty and two not guilty on Friday in the first trial in the nation's largest pandemic relief fraud case.
They faced a total of 41 charges — chiefly wire fraud, bribery and money laundering - alleging they claimed to give away 18.8 million meals to needy children from 50 sites across the state.
Prosecutors said they fabricated invoices and submitted thousands of phony names of children in order to get $49 million in federal funds.
Said Shafii Farah and Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin were acquitted of all charges against them, while the others had a mix of convictions and acquittals.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson held a brief press conference and said, "We're pleased with the verdict. We're proud of the trial."
He said the outcome confirms what the feds knew all along: That members of the group falsified documents, lied and claimed to be serving millions of meals, taking advantage of a global pandemic to defraud the public and steal millions of dollars.
"This conduct was not just criminal, it was depraved and brazen," Thompson said. "Evidence showed how brazen the scheme was, and how
The verdict came at the end of a chaotic week, when the first day of jury deliberations was marked by chaos Monday, as federal prosecutors revealed that someone left $120,000 at the home of a juror Sunday night in an effort to sway her vote. The juror - and another juror who became aware of the bribe attempt - were dismissed, while the remaining jurors were sequestered and the defendants detained for the remainder of deliberations.
The home of one of the defendants, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, whom prosecutors have described as a ringleader, was raided Wednesday in connection with the bribe investigation.
The defendants are the first to stand trial out of 70 people charged so far in what's been dubbed the Feeding Our Future case - named for a nonprofit at the center of the scheme — and which revolves around a web of people who federal prosecutors say stole some $250 million.
Eighteen people have pleaded guilty and one fled the country.
The verdict is sure to affect the 44 others awaiting trial. More could still be charged, especially if the guilty verdicts unleash a wave of cooperation with the investigation, as defendants and suspects seek lighter sentences. The two acquittals may give some the confidence to go to trial.
Ukrainian forces have begun training and testing exoskeletons for battlefield use. Soldiers from the 147th Separate Artillery Brigade are using them in the Pokrovsk sector for both logistics and frontline operations. The goal is to reduce physical strain, especially when loading heavy artillery shells into howitzers without automatic loaders. Artillery crews can handle up to 1200 kg of ammunition per day, and early tests show that exoskeletons help them work faster and with less fatigue Above all, by improving the conditions for those soldiers on the front lines who handle such heavy loads, plus the stress of work. Seeking to reduce overall fatigue in the troops
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🇮🇷🇮🇱 - 14 wounded in Iranian missile strike in central Israel, according to Israeli media.
🇬🇧🇮🇶 - A drone struck British Castrol oil warehouses in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, causing extensive damage.
🇮🇷🇮🇱 - Iran launched 9 missiles towards Israel this morning alone, with at least 3 of them being cluster missiles.
🇱🇧🇮🇱 - Over the past 12 hours, Hezbollah launched counterattacks in Khiam and Qantara, in the Nabatieh direction, southeast Lebanon. Hezbollah recaptured northern Khiam, with fighting ongoing for the south of the town. Hezbollah units also re-entered Qantara; frontline sources reported clashes in the center of the town last night.
🇱🇧🇮🇱 - 48 IDF soldiers have been wounded in clashes with Hezbollah over the last 24 hours in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli Army.
🇱🇧🇮🇱 - "The Israeli army is barely catching its breath in southern Lebanon, and its resources are less than in the previous round of fighting," - Haaretz....
🇺🇸 Blue Owl Capital just disclosed that investors tried to pull 40.7% of one fund and 21.9% of another in a single quarter, and both funds gave the same answer, you can only have 5% back, and everyone else waits in line.
This is a bank run, not a normal withdrawal.
Wall Street spent the last decade selling millions of investors on something called semi-liquid private credit, higher yields, steady income and the promise you could get your money back every quarter if you needed it. What they buried in the fine print was what happens when too many people try to leave at the same time.
Analysts who have covered private credit for decades say nothing on this scale has ever been reported before at any major private credit manager.
These funds do not hold stocks you can sell on a Tuesday afternoon, they hold private loans to mid sized companies that cannot be liquidated quickly without destroying the price for every investor still trapped inside.
This product was originally designed for ...
🇺🇸 President Trump wants to switch to war economy in 2027 with massive increase in military spending and massive cuts to healthcare and other domestic agencies
Once a deficit hawk — he said in 2016 that he thought he could balance the budget in five years — Trump ended his first term with $7.8 trillion in added debt. His 2027 proposal is expected to give an update on 10-year deficit projections currently estimated at around $16 trillion.
The GOP's message for the Midterms will be focused on the "need" for a massive defense build up while the Democrats' message will be focused on affordability.
The fiscal 2027 budget will be the first time Trump puts his second-term governing agenda into one comprehensive document — with the numbers to back it up. The budget he released last year lacked detailed line-by-line spending targets and the economic assumptions necessary to project the long-term cost of his proposals.
Investors in US Treasuries will be looking to see if the debt and ...
