March 2024 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

'Joker' Producer Accused Of Funding Films Via Ponzi Scheme
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

'Joker' Producer Accused Of Funding Films Via Ponzi Scheme <https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1810433?nl_pk=abe82add-2a33-…> By Lauraann Wood Movie producer Jason Cloth and a Chicago-area investment brokerage are facing an $80 million proposed class action that was recently leveled in Illinois state court by an investor who says the filmmaker has mishandled money he's pulled in for several projects and raised new funds to pay older investors. Complaint attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1810433?nl_pk=abe82add-2a33-…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1810433?nl_pk=abe82add-2a33-…>

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Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s Treasury Secretary/Foreclosure Kingpin, Joins with Hedge Fund Guys to Grab a Teetering, Federally-Insured Bank for $2 a Share
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2024/03/steve-mnuchin-trumps-treasury-secret… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: March 7, 2024 ~ Former Trump Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, has teamed up with his pals from his days as a foreclosure kingpin at OneWest and assorted hedge funds/private equity guys, to pull a coup d’etat at the teetering New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), parent of Flagstar Bank. A press release from NYCB yesterday confirmed that Mnuchin and his pals would be injecting $1 billion in equity at a purchase price of $2 a share for NYCB, massively diluting existing shareholders whose share price on the last trading day of last year was $10.23. (For why shares of NYCB have been in free fall this year, see our report on Tuesday: New York Community Bancorp Was JPMorgan’s Top Regional Bank Pick for 2024; It’s Lost 73 Percent Y-T-D and Had Its Deposit Rating Downgraded to Junk.) Buttressing Mnuchin’s audacity, he will put himself and three of the other investing pals on the Board of NYCB, giving his team four votes on a Board he plans to shrink from 12 members to 9, according to the press release. In addition, Mnuchin’s foreclosure pal from his days at OneWest, Joseph Otting (whom Trump had made the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator of national banks) will become the CEO of NYCB, replacing the existing CEO who just took his seat at the helm of NYCB last Friday. (The bank is now changings its CEO as often as some people change their socks.) Otting is to also have a seat on the NYCB Board of Directors. Trading in the shares of NYCB was so chaotic yesterday that the New York Stock Exchange halted trading 13 times for reasons of limit-up or limit-down, and once for news pending. The share price gyrated yesterday from an all-time low of $1.70 to close at $3.46. To grasp what is really going on here, we need to look back at what happened at Mnuchin’s Senate confirmation hearing when President Donald Trump picked him to become U.S. Treasury Secretary – a post which would simultaneously make Mnuchin the head of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (F-SOC), allowing him to approve or disapprove vast Wall Street bailouts by the Federal Reserve. (See our previous report: The Language Toomey Inserted into the Stimulus Bill Enshrines a $681 Billion Trading Slush Fund for Mnuchin with the NY Fed.) At Mnuchin’s confirmation hearing, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon had this to say about the practices of OneWest under Mnuchin: “In early 2009, Mr. Mnuchin led a group of investors that purchased a bank called IndyMac [which had also collapsed in share price], renaming it OneWest. OneWest was truly unique. While Mr. Mnuchin was CEO, the bank proved it could put more vulnerable people on the street faster than just about anybody else around. “While he was CEO, a OneWest vice president admitted in a court proceeding to ‘robo-signing’ upward of 750 foreclosure documents a week. She spent less than 30 seconds on each, and in fact, she had shortened her signature to speed the process along. Investigations found that the bank frequently mishandled documents and skipped over reviewing them. All it took to plunge families into the nightmare of potentially losing their homes was 30 seconds of sloppy paperwork and a few haphazard signatures. “These kinds of tactics were in use between 2009 and 2014, a period during which the bank foreclosed on more than 35,000 homes. ‘Widow foreclosures’ on reverse mortgages – OneWest did more of those than anybody else. The bank defends its record on loan modifications, but it was found guilty of an illegal practice known as ‘dual tracking.’ One bank department tells homeowners to stop making payments so they can pursue modification, while another department presses on and hurtles them into foreclosure anyway.” At the close of the confirmation hearing, Senator Wyden strongly suggested that Mnuchin had lied on his personal financial disclosure form, stating the following: “Mr. Mnuchin, a month ago you signed documents and an affidavit that omitted the Cayman Island fund, almost $100 million of real estate, six shell companies and a hedge fund in Anguilla. This was not self-corrected. The only reason it came to light was my staff found it and told you it had to be corrected.” The man the Mnuchin team has named as the new CEO at NYCB, Joseph Otting, set hair on fire in banking circles while serving as the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the Trump administration. In July of 2018, the OCC announced that financial technology companies, known as fintech, which provide various types of banking activities other than accepting insured deposits, will now be allowed to apply for a special purpose national bank charter and operate across state lines. The OCC announcement promptly followed a report from the U.S. Treasury which recommended that the OCC make the charter available. The immediate impact of gaining such a charter was that online lenders, who then had to abide by state-by-state limits on the amount of interest they could charge on a loan to consumers, would be unleashed to fully channel their predatory lending instincts. The Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), Maria Vullo, issued a statement that was highly critical of both the OCC and Treasury actions. Vullo stated: “The New York State Department of Financial Services fiercely opposes the Department of Treasury’s endorsement of regulatory ‘sandboxes’ for financial technology companies. The idea that innovation will flourish only by allowing companies to evade laws that protect consumers, and which also safeguard markets and mitigate risk for the financial services industry, is preposterous. Toddlers play in sandboxes. Adults play by the rules… “DFS also strongly opposes today’s decision by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to begin accepting applications for national bank charters from nondepository financial technology (fintech) companies. DFS believes that this endeavor, which is also wrongly supported by the Treasury Department, is clearly not authorized under the National Bank Act.” Laws and rules were just pesky details during the Trump administration – with the evidentiary support of the 91 felony counts the former President is facing today. Another OneWest Mnuchin pal moving to the Board of NYCB is Allen Puwalski, the Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner at Cybiont Capital. Puwalski served as a Director on the Board of OneWest from 2009 to 2015. Puwalski was also a former partner at John Paulson’s hedge fund, Paulson & Company, from 2007 to 2018. It was during that period that the notorious Goldman Sachs’ Abacus deal went down, where the hedge fund hand-selected subprime mortgage debt it thought would fail for the Abacus offering, then shorted it, making $1 billion for itself while costing unknowing Abacus investors $1 billion. (See our report: Putting John Paulson on AIG’s Board Is an Insult to Every Law-Abiding Citizen.) Another Mnuchin investment team member who will join the NYCB Board is slated to be Milton Berlinski, co-founder of Reverence Capital, which is chipping in $200 million of the $1 billion equity infusion. Mnuchin’s private equity firm, Liberty Strategic Capital, is providing $450 million to the deal. Like Mnuchin, Berlinski was a long-tenured veteran of Goldman Sachs, working there for 26 years. Mnuchin’s tenure at Goldman Sachs was 17 years. In addition to buying up common stock in NYCB at close to a record low share price, Mnuchin’s team is getting lots of other goodies. Yesterday’s press release includes the following terms: “In connection with the equity capital raise transactions, NYCB will sell and issue, in the aggregate, to the Investors approximately (i) 59,750,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company at a price per share of $2.00, (ii) 192,062 shares of a new series of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company designated as Series B Noncumulative Convertible Preferred Stock at a price per share of $2,000 and with a conversion price of $2.00, and (iii) 273,188 shares of a new series of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company designated as Series C Noncumulative Convertible Preferred Stock at a price per share of $2,000 and with a conversion price of $2.00, for an aggregate investment amount of $1.05 billion. In addition, investors will receive 7-year warrants to purchase non-voting, common-equivalent stock of the Company representing $315 million of underlying shares of common stock of the Company with an exercise price of $2.50 per share, a 25% premium to the price paid on common stock. Upon completion of the transactions, the aggregate shares issued to the Investors are expected to represent approximately 41.4% of the outstanding shares of Company on an as converted fully diluted basis. “Holders of the preferred stock will not have voting rights and will be entitled to quarterly non-cumulative cash dividends, as and if declared by the Board. Each share of preferred stock is convertible into common stock on a 1 preferred share – 1,000 common shares basis. Series B preferred stock will automatically convert upon certain transfers permitted by federal banking regulations, while Series C preferred stock will automatically convert upon the achievement of certain trigger events related to receipt of antitrust clearance under the Hart Scott Rodino Act and shareholder approval. The Company will provide customary shelf and piggyback registration rights to each of the Investors. Additionally, Liberty and Reverence will also have the ability to request an underwritten shelf take-down and block trade rights.” The key passage in the above verbiage is this: “Upon completion of the transactions, the aggregate shares issued to the Investors are expected to represent approximately 41.4% of the outstanding shares of Company on an as converted fully diluted basis.” To put that another way, for $1 billion, Mnuchin’s team is getting 41 percent of a federally-insured, regional bank that had a market value of $9.8 billion less than one year ago.

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Seton Hall Accused Of 'Sham' Probe Into Alleged Misconduct
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

Seton Hall Accused Of 'Sham' Probe Into Alleged Misconduct <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1810437?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…> By Carla Baranauckas Seton Hall University's ex-president has filed an amended whistleblower complaint against the school that centers on alleged misconduct by its former board chair, prominent criminal defense attorney Kevin Marino of Marino Tortorella & Boyle PC, contending that the university launched a fake investigation into accusations of sexual harassment. 1 document attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1810437?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1810437?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…>

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Trump Mocks Hush Money Case As 'Deluded Fantasy'
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

Trump Mocks Hush Money Case As 'Deluded Fantasy' <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1810723?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…> By Frank G. Runyeon Counsel for former President Donald Trump has branded the hush money charges against him as a "deluded fantasy," arguing that the Manhattan district attorney is framing the New York state court case as a conspiracy to undermine the 2016 election despite it being a "narrow business records case." Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1810723?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1810723?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…>

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Juul MDL Judge Asks Feds To Probe AI Fraud In $45.5M Deal
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

Juul MDL Judge Asks Feds To Probe AI Fraud In $45.5M Deal <https://www.law360.com/cybersecurity-privacy/articles/1810725?nl_pk=3dfd2fd…> By Dorothy Atkins A California federal judge Wednesday approved e-cigarette Juul investor Altria's $45.5 million settlement and counsel's $13.65 million fee request to resolve consumer claims in Altria's broader $235 million multidistrict settlement agreement, but said fraudulent claims submitted by AI and "click farms" are a "real problem" prosecutors should investigate. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/cybersecurity-privacy/articles/1810725?nl_pk=3dfd2fd…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/cybersecurity-privacy/articles/1810725?nl_pk=3dfd2fd…>

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Fwd: SpaceX Corporation Board of Directors One Rocket Road Hawthorne, California 90250 Sales@SpaceX.com Re: Potential SpaceX Interlocking Directors’ Intent to Manipulate Markets
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Gunnar Larson <g(a)xny.io> Date: Sat, Feb 3, 2024, 2:41 PM Subject: SpaceX Corporation Board of Directors One Rocket Road Hawthorne, California 90250 Sales(a)SpaceX.com Re: Potential SpaceX Interlocking Directors’ Intent to Manipulate Markets To: <cypherpunks(a)cpunks.org> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lv9Wt6y1ld4bNap0z3epIxttEGiP_oVpfxH0GTS… May 21, 2022 BY ELECTRONIC MAIL SpaceX Corporation Board of Directors One Rocket Road Hawthorne, California 90250 Sales(a)SpaceX.com Re: Potential SpaceX Interlocking Directors’ Intent to Manipulate Markets Dear SpaceX Board of Directors: >From our New York headquarters, xNY.io - Bank.org, PBC embodies the notion that rather than a merry-go-round, the process of change and innovation is like a slide. Today’s memo aims to notify the SpaceX Corporation of concern of potential market manipulation that could impact cross-border digital asset innovation, free speech in the United States of America, the global ESG economy and Moon exploration. We do not see this as a stereotypical democrat versus republican battle (as Mr. Musk alludes). We see this as a risk arbitrage matter for xNY.io - Bank.org’s profit (subject to regulatory approval). Some may argue a scheme to leverage the protection of “free speech” has led to Twitter deal advisors attempting a $44B LBO market manipulation exercise. Further cause for reasonable concern is warranted if similar intent is at play in the form of Tesla’s ESG scam claim. xNY.io - Bank.org indicators signal risk of possible intent to manipulate public and private markets prompting clarification of the SpaceX Corporation’s intent concerning Moon exploration and exploitation as a ESG digital asset vault. To be very clear, SpaceX directors should understand xNY.io - Bank.org’s work to protect cross-border digital asset innovation was born before Twitter's prospective LBO. Our concern specific to the intent of Twitter’s LBO deal makers is party to our work in New York to usurp Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase board directors who may be potentially engaged in similar market manipulation referenced here: 1. xNY.io - Bank.org | DOJ Memo #4 - Goldman Sachs Deferred Prosecution Agreement. 2. xNY.io - Bank.org | Memo #2 - JPMorgan Chase Board of Directors ESG Marketplace Manipulation. 3. xNY.io - Bank.org’s work also includes research into oil and nickel marketplace manipulation as an ESG concern. The Twitter LBO includes Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase operating as deal advisors. As referenced above, claims of Twitter robot scams and claims of Tesla ESG scams display a pattern of questionable intent. xNY.io - Bank.org asks SpaceX to clarify your board's intent concerning the Moon and any connection to USDD (now in Moon phase). SpaceX directors may agree that the Moon can also be defined as one of the most valuable ESG digital asset vaults known to modern humanity. Protecting the Moon from explo8itation is fundamental to Space exploration. SpaceX is party to any potential Twitter deal maker advisors that may exercise questionable intent risking the Moon’s ESG vault potential. xNY.io - Bank.org is concerned with interlocking directorate syndicates that include SpaceX, Tesla, PayPal, Goldman Sachs and BitGo. This setup breeds a galaxy of third and fourth party risk(s) at the demise of pure cross-border digital asset innovation. Twitter robots are not the focus of the Orlando Police Department Pension Fund, who suggests that Twitter’s LBO is suspected of questionable intent as potentially illegal. - Mr. Musk’s ingenuity as an entrepreneur is historic and greatly respected as a model inside our organization. As a Gates Scholar and Blockchain Scholar holding international law distinction(s) The concept of the Moon being an ESG digital asset vault is logic USDD seemingly embodies. - For obvious reasons, we seek SpaceX’s board to confirm if the intent behind your CEO’s Twitter LBO and Tesla ESG claims and if SpaceX is party to a USDD type matter given your syndicate’s close association with USDP. xNY.io - Bank.org kindly asks the SpaceX Corporation board of directors to respond within 15 days of receipt of this correspondence. Default in the form of no response within 15 days is not an extortion technique on our part. Rather, it is a design benefit in disclosing our intent post 15 days to ask for approval to engage New York’s False Claims Act in response to SpaceX, Tesla, PayPal and Meta interlocking directors potentially engaging in digital asset marketplace manipulation (exemplified by USDP and USDD) that may exploit Space and Moon exploration at xNY.io - Bank.org, PBC’s overall expense. Respectfully yours, Gunnar Larson | xNY.io <http://www.xny.io> - Bank.org <http://bank.org>, PBC MSc <https://www.unic.ac.cy/blockchain/msc-digital-currency/?utm_source=Google&u…> - Digital Currency MBA <https://www.unic.ac.cy/business-administration-entrepreneurship-and-innovat…> - Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ip) G(a)xNY.io +1-646-454-9107 CC: Tesla Board of Directors Twitter Board of Directors Goldman Sachs Board of Directors JP Morgan Chase Board of Directors

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Garland On AI Crime, And A Taylor Swift Tune For DOJ
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

Garland On AI Crime, And A Taylor Swift Tune For DOJ <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1810415?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…> By Bonnie Eslinger U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday told a group of lawyers gathered in San Francisco that the U.S. Department of Justice is ramping up its hiring of computer scientists to fight artificial intelligence-driven crime and also revealed which Taylor Swift song he thought should be the department's anthem. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1810415?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1810415?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…>

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DOJ Says Docs Exempt From Release In Ex-JPM Trader Case
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

DOJ Says Docs Exempt From Release In Ex-JPM Trader Case <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1810232?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…> By Jon Hill The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a D.C. federal court to shut down a former JPMorgan forex trader's latest bid for allegedly exculpatory material from the government's failed market manipulation case against him, arguing the records are properly considered protected from public disclosure. Motion attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1810232?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1810232?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…>

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DOJ Says Another Korean Co., Officer Behind Bid-Rig Scheme
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

DOJ Says Another Korean Co., Officer Behind Bid-Rig Scheme <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1810884?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…> By Rae Ann Varona A second South Korean company and its CEO allegedly defrauded the Pentagon in a scheme to rig bids and fix prices for subcontract work on U.S. military installations in South Korea, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday. Indictment attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1810884?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1810884?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…>

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Blackstone, Thomson Reuters Sell £1.4B Shares In LSE Owner
by Gunnar Larson 07 Mar '24

07 Mar '24

Blackstone, Thomson Reuters Sell £1.4B Shares In LSE Owner <https://www.law360.co.uk/financial-services-uk/articles/1810474?nl_pk=a94fc…> By Najiyya Budaly A consortium including Blackstone Inc. and Thomson Reuters Corp. has sold off £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) worth of shares in the London Stock Exchange Group, Citigroup, which is acting as a bookrunner, said Wednesday. Read full article » <https://www.law360.co.uk/financial-services-uk/articles/1810474?nl_pk=a94fc…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.co.uk/financial-services-uk/articles/1810474?nl_pk=a94fc…>

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