MARYLAND NEWS

Source: Baltimore Sun via msn.com

Defendant Stole Approximately $1 Million from the Victim and Used the Funds for His Personal Benefit; As a Result of the Fraud, Victim’s House Went Into Foreclosure. Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

A former Maryland pastor was sentenced on Thursday for his involvement in a scheme to marry off church members he recruited to foreign nationals in exchange for money. The Bowie man is alleged to have facilitated 60 sham marriages and submitted over 100 fake documents to carry out his scheme.

According to the Justice Department, the former pastor recruited and groomed economically disadvantaged United States citizens to marry foreign nationals and then sponsored them for permanent residence in the United States.  Source: WUSA-TV via MSN.com and US Attorney, District of Maryland

A federal court in Maryland partially dismissed consumers’ fraud class action against Bimbo Bakeries, whose Entenmann’s-branded “All Butter” cake allegedly misleads buyers because it is made with artificial and not real butter. The court says reasonable consumers would need more info than the label to determine whether the phrase referred to the ingredients or the flavor of the cake. Their remaining state law claims are preempted by federal law. Source: Courthousenews.com

When a scammer directed the woman to take out more money,it led to a bank security officer telling her to contact the sheriff's office  Source: The Herald-Mail

Nearly $40,000 was stolen from Indiana Rep. Jim Banks’s U.S. Senate campaign committee last year after a check was swiped in the mail and fraudulently cashed, according to a note his campaign attached to a Federal Elections Commission report… Staff at the campaign's Maryland-based compliance firm said it contacted a local police department after realizing the check was stolen, and that a criminal investigation is ongoing. Source: Indianapolis Star via msn.com

As part of the conspiracy, the owner and his co-conspirators paid bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries to induce the beneficiaries to visit Holy Health for mental health services. Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

USA Today analyzed data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the United States Census Bureau and surveyed 1,000 consumers to get an overview of fraud in the country.

Georgia, Nevada, Florida, Delaware and Maryland have the highest rates of fraud. Source: USA Today

The Maryland Online Data Privacy Act, would impose wide-ranging restrictions on how companies may collect and use Maryland consumers’ personal data. Another bill,  the Maryland Kids Code, would prohibit certain social media, video game and other online platforms from tracking people under age 18 and from using manipulative techniques. Those techniques, like auto-playing videos or bombarding children with notifications keep people glued online. Source: New York Times.

The proposed legislation would ban practices like speculative ticketing and make platforms responsible for recouping customers who fall victim to scams. Source: billboard.com. Also see SB0539.