united states

Sam Bankman-Fried’s sudden turn from white knight to detainee

By Hannah Lang

(Reuters) – The sudden fall from grace and arrest of FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has stunned investors and crypto enthusiasts who once hailed the 30-year-old American as the savior of the industry.

Bankman-Fried was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday with defrauding investors in what regulators called “a house of cards,” hours before he was set to appear before a magistrate in the Bahamas.

The fallen crypto entrepreneur was arrested by Bahamian authorities late on Monday at the request of the U.S. government, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. The Bahamian attorney general said in a separate statement the United States was likely to request his extradition.

Bankman-Fried amassed billions of dollars in personal wealth running FTX, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges that was valued earlier this year at $32 billion.

Since stepping down, Bankman-Fried has said he no longer has a role at the company. Yet he also told a Vox reporter he believed FTX’s bankruptcy filing was a mistake and has suggested on Twitter and in media interviews that he can still raise liquidity to repay customers. He did not specify how he planned to

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Kahrig enters guilty plea to bankruptcy fraud charge

EAST ST. LOUIS — A former Edwardsville resident has pleaded guilty to making false statements during his 2018 bankruptcy case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

Kevin Kahrig, 49, a former area building contractor, concealed assets from his creditors by transferring those assets to his girlfriend-turned-spouse, Catharine Kahrig, prior to filing bankruptcy, according to court documents.

All told, Kahrig concealed hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets from his creditors, according to United States Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. He could receive up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at his Feb. 2, 2023 sentencing hearing in East St. Louis.

“Individuals who hide assets and make false statements on bankruptcy pleadings not only defraud their creditors, but they use the federal courts as a part of their fraud,” said Crowe.

“That is an intolerable abuse of the bankruptcy system which demands transparency and forthrightness by those seeking to have their debts discharged or restructured,” she said. “Those who engage in such behavior will be held accountable by this office.”

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter T. Reed.

As part of his Oct. 28 plea, Kevin Kahrig admitted

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Regal Cinemas: Cineworld says may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy


London
CNN Business
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The owner of cineworld-reopening/index.html”Regal Cinemas is having a tough time its stock crashed as much as 80% Friday after reports that its parent company is preparing to file for bankruptcy.

British company Cineworld Group said in a statement that a “voluntary Chapter 11 filing in the United States” was one of the options it was reviewing in an attempt to reduce its debt burden.

Meanwhile, Cineworld and Regal theaters were open for “business as usual,” it added, and would remain so.

“Cineworld would expect to maintain its operations in the ordinary course until and following any filing and ultimately to continue its business over the longer term with no significant impact upon its employees,” the company said in the statement issued in response to reports last week.

Shares in Cineworld crashed as much as 80% in London on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the world’s second largest movie theater chain had spoken to lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis LLP to advise on the bankruptcy process in the United States and United Kingdom.

The company’s stock fell another 20% Monday. The news also contributed to a plunge of more than 30%

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Analysis-U.S. Mass Shooting Insurance Rates Jump as Incidents Rise | Top News

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Carolyn Cohn

(Reuters) – The cost of buying insurance protection against mass shootings has spiked more than 10% in the United States this year following a string of deadly events, insurers said.

The United States witnessed 293 mass shootings so far this year, according to a report by the Gun Violence Archive them as any event involving the shooting of four or more people other than the assailant. That compares with 309 the same period last year, but is sharply up from 240 in 2020.

Demand for such insurance has risen following recent shootings, including the murder of 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school last month, the United States’ worst school shooting in nearly a decade.

Active shooter insurance typically covers victim lawsuits, building repairs, legal fees, medical expenses and trauma counseling.

“The number of inquiries we’ve been receiving over the last few weeks have definitely spiked … we haven’t been as busy as this ever before,” said Chris Parker, Head of Political Violence and Deadly Weapons Protection at Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley.

Parker said the insurer had seen a 25% jump in revenue so far this year for its

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Family faces charges for alleged postal scheme

HAMPTON, Va. – A man, his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s two brothers are facing charges accused of being involved in a mail fraud scheme.

Federal prosecutors claim they would file false insurance claims with the United States Postal Service for items they claimed were lost or damaged in the mail.

Records state from February 2019 until November 2019, the group filed 451 claims with the US Postal Service. The average claim amount was about $297.

Oswald Hendricks of Hampton is in a relationship with Jessica Holiday. Jayvan Holiday and Javon Wiggins are Jessica’s brothers, according to the indictment.

According to a federal indictment, the USPS offered up to $5,000 of insurance coverage as protection against the loss or damage to a customer’s package.

Records say when an insured item was lost or damaged, the customer could request compensation by filling out a claim online by mail or at the postal rental unit.

Prosecutors say the group made false claims saying that packages that contained an iPhone 8 went missing or were lost in the mail.

According to the documents, in many cases, no actual items were placed into the mail stream.

They said Hendricks filed about 310 claims and

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