The Daily Populous

Saturday August 27th, 2022 night edition

image for Secret Service recovers $286M in stolen pandemic loans

The U.S. Secret Service recovered $286 million in fraudulently obtained pandemic funds to the Small Business Administration, Friday, Aug. 26.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Secret Service said Friday that it has recovered $286 million in fraudulently obtained pandemic loans and is returning the money to the Small Business Administration.

The Secret Service said an investigation initiated by its Orlando office found that alleged conspirators submitted Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications by using fake or stolen employment and personal information and used an online bank, Green Dot, to conceal and move their criminal proceeds.

Billions have been fraudulently claimed through various pandemic relief programs — including Paycheck Protection Program loans, unemployment insurance and others that were rolled out in the midst of the worldwide pandemic that shutdown global economies for months.

Since 2020, the Secret Service initiated more than 3,850 pandemic related fraud investigations, seized over $1.4 billion in fraudulently obtained funds and helped to return $2.3 billion to state unemployment insurance programs.

The latest seizure included a collaboration of efforts between Secret Service, the SBA’s Inspector General, DOJ and other offices. »

Russia is pulling all its fighter jets out of Crimea after a series of strikes on its military outposts there, secret NATO report says

Authored by businessinsider.com
image for

A secret NATO report says Russia plans to remove all its fighter jets from Crimea.

Russia is pulling all of its fighter jets out of Crimea in an apparent response to recent explosions at Russian military outposts in the region, a secret NATO report seen by Insider said.

The report was referring to a series of apparent attacks in Crimea, the Ukrainian region that Russia illegally annexed in 2014. »

Justice Department makes redacted Mar-a-Lago affidavit public

Authored by abcnews.go.com
image for

The Justice Department on Friday made public the redacted affidavit that supported the search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

After reviewing the DOJ's proposed redactions Thursday, a magistrate judge had ordered the redacted affidavit filed in the public docket by noon Friday.

"There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at [Mar a Lago]," the affidavit continues. »

Nintendo responds to PlayStation price hike

Authored by eurogamer.net
image for

Nintendo has joined Microsoft in responding to this week's shock PlayStation 5 price hike, and said it had "no plans" to similarly bump up the Nintendo Switch's cost.

In a statement issued to Eurogamer this morning, Nintendo confirmed it had "no plans to increase the trade price of its hardware".

"While the final price to consumers is always determined by retailers, as Mr Furukawa stated, Nintendo has no plans to increase the trade price of its hardware.". »

Solar power is booming in Germany as Russia turns down the gas

Authored by edition.cnn.com

Since it invaded Ukraine six months ago, Russia has sharply reduced its supply of gas to Germany and other EU countries.

"Our business is booming because there's a perfect storm of elements converging that are really lifting solar energy," Gordon told CNN Business.

"Winter is coming," said Wedepohl, noting that most homes in Germany were heated with gas. »