WICHITA -A man pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges he was part of an e-mail spoofing scheme that cost Sedgwick County more than $566,000, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
George S. James, 49, Brookhaven, Ga., pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
In his plea, James admitted that on Oct. 7, 2016, Sedgwick County sent approximately $566,088 to his bank account at a Wells Fargo bank in Georgia. James transferred part of the money he received from Sedgwick County to a bank account in Shanghai, China, and part of the money to an account at Deutsche Bank in Bremen, Germany. James also spent some of the money.
In his plea, James denied that the fraud scheme was his idea. He said that on Sept. 23, 2016, he was contacted by a person identified in court records as A.H., who asked to deposit some money into James’ account at Wells Fargo. James said he knew A.H. was engaged in fraud, but James denied knowing that Sedgwick County was the victim.
In his plea, James said it was A.H. – or someone working with A.H. – who sent an email to Sedgwick County on Sept. 23, 2016, purporting to be from Cornejo and Sons, LLC, and requesting the county send future payments to a new account number at Wells Fargo. On Oct. 7, 2016, the county sent $566,088 to James’ account at Wells Fargo. The county learned later that Cornejo did not request the change of account and did not receive the payment.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 21. He faces a penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hospital: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise undergoes surgery for management of infection, remains in serious condition.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington hospital where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise is recuperating from a gunshot wound says he has been readmitted to the intensive care unit.
MedStar Washington Hospital Center says the Louisiana congressman is back in intensive care because of new concerns for infection. Scalise was in serious condition Wednesday night.
Please join my family in praying for Steve, Jennifer and their kids. https://t.co/7IKhzo65Wu
— Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) July 6, 2017
Scalise and four other people were injured last month when a gunman opened fire on a Republican baseball practice in nearby Alexandria, Virginia. U.S. Capitol Police and other officers returned fire and killed the gunman.
The congressman was struck in the hip and the bullet tore into blood vessels, bones and internal organs. He has undergone several surgeries and had been upgraded to fair condition.
Clif Bar & Company is initiating a voluntary recall of CLIF® BUILDER’S® Bar Chocolate Mint flavor, and CLIF Kid Zbar® Protein Chocolate Mint and CLIF Kid Zbar® Protein Chocolate Chip flavors due to possible presence of undeclared peanuts and some tree nuts, including almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, walnuts and coconuts, according to a report from the FDA.
Cliff Bar & Company is taking this precautionary safety step for people who are allergic to peanuts and these listed tree nuts. People with an allergy to peanuts and these specific tree nuts run the risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction. The company is strongly advising consumers who have peanut and these specific tree nut allergies not to consume these bars.
Individuals who are not allergic to peanuts or these specific tree nuts may safely consume the products.
The affected products are sold in retail stores and online throughout the U.S.
Clif Bar discovered this issue when it received a small number of consumer complaints alleging peanut or tree nut allergic reactions. There are no confirmed illnesses associated with this recall.
The voluntary recall applies to products in all pack sizes and individual bars meeting the criteria found in the attached table. The affected “Best By” dates can be found on the back of individual packaging or caddies.
No other Clif Bar & Company products, pack sizes, flavors or ‘Best By’ date codes are affected.
The company is asking consumers to return product to the store where purchased to request an exchange or full refund if there is an allergy concern. Affected product should then be discarded in a secure place and not consumed.
For more information please visit here or contact 866-526-1970.
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbing a bank in Kansas City, Kan., U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.
Andre U. Randle, 37, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery. In his plea, he admitted that on Feb. 1, 2017, he robbed the U.S. Bank at 10959 Parallel Parkway, in Kansas City, Kan.
According to court documents, he gave a clerk a note saying, “I have 2 guns. Don’t make me use them,” before leaving the bank with stolen cash in a purple pillow case. Officers of the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department stopped his car in the 6900 block of Troop and arrested him.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 11. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
FINNEY COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities are again investigating another report of a ransom-scam. On Thursday, police in Garden City indicated in a social media report that members of the public were receiving phone calls from a person stating that they have kidnapped family members or loved ones and are requesting ransom for their return.
In May, police reported residents in Garden City were receiving phone calls from phone numbers in Mexico. When answered a woman was crying and claiming she did not know where she was. Then a man’s voice said they have kidnapped the family’s daughter. The caller had known the first and last name of the victims.
In December of 2015 Riley County police reported instances of a caller saying they had taken a family member hostage and asking for money for their release.
In March of 2014, the Johnson County sheriff’s office reported deputies were contacted by a resident who was on the phone with someone claiming to be holding the someone’s brother hostage
Johnson County deputies were able to listen to the call and get the phone number, which they learned had been used in similar scams in other parts of the country.
Police advised, if you get such a call confirm with your family that they are okay and contact the police if you feel it is necessary.
A federal magistrate judge on Wednesday refused to reconsider his order fining Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach $1,000 for misleading the court. FILE PHOTO / KPR
A federal magistrate judge on Wednesday refused to reconsider his order fining Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach $1,000 for misleading the court.
U.S Magistrate Judge James P. O’Hara said the reconsideration request raised arguments that Kobach should have made earlier.
O’Hara last month fined Kobach after finding that he had deceived the court about the nature of documents he was photographed taking into a November meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump.
O’Hara imposed the sanction in a case challenging a Kansas law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate or passport when they register to vote. Kobach is a defendant in the case.
The lawsuit alleges that the law violates the National Voter Registration Act, popularly known as the motor voter law. The plaintiffs, including the League of Women Voters of Kansas, had asked that Kobach turn over the documents shown in the photograph, arguing they bore on the question of whether – as Kobach maintains – voter fraud is rampant.
The documents appeared to be a proposal by Kobach to amend the motor voter law. Kobach, however, told the court that the documents were unrelated to that.
O’Hara found that Kobach “made patently misleading representations to the court about the documents, which at the time had not been produced to either the court or plaintiffs, such that the court was required to take defendant at his word.”
Kobach raised two new arguments in asking O’Hara to reconsider his $1,000 fine.
First, he argued that if he must sit for a deposition in the case, as he has been ordered to do, he may be precluded from acting as counsel in the case because of the potential conflict of interest that entails.
Second, he claimed that he had no intent to deceive the court. Rather, he argued, his misrepresentations were due to “last-minute editing to meet page limitations, which led to the deletion of language that more fully explained the point Defendant was making.”
O’Hara dismissed both arguments, saying Kobach should have raised them in prior briefings.
“In any event,” O’Hara wrote of the second argument, “this new excuse lacks credibility based on its late assertion (which appears to be an attempt at a second bite at the apple) and lack of supporting documentation.”
Mark Johnson, a lawyer representing plaintiffs in the case, said O’Hara’s denial of Kobach’s motion for reconsideration was “perfectly within the bounds of the law. I don’t see anything there that’s grounds for reconsideration.”
Kobach could not be reached for comment.
Wednesday night, Kobach filed a motion asking the presiding judge in the case, Julie Robinson, to overrule O’Hara. The motion, in part, stated that O’Hara “clearly erred in ordering sanctions against Defendant for lack of clarity caused by an editing mistake and refusing to consider Defendant’s explanation.”
O’Hara issued his ruling as Kobach, a Republican, defended his work as co-chair of a national voter fraud commission established by Trump. Kobach’s request of all 50 states for voter roll data, including the last four digits of registered voters’ Social Security numbers, has encountered resistance from some state officials, who have balked at providing all or some of the information, citing voter privacy considerations.
Kobach has been a vocal supporter of stricter voting laws and has echoed Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that millions of people voted illegally in the presidential election.
Kobach’s voter roll data request has triggered lawsuits by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Dan Margolies is KCUR’s health editor. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
PALCO, Kan. (AP) — Sen. Jerry Moran faced tough questions about Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Thursday at a town hall meeting in his home county that should be friendly territory.
Moran drew some applause when he said he opposed the version of the bill written by Senate Republican leaders because of its impact on rural health care.
“I will choose country over party. I will choose Kansans over party,” Moran told an overflow crowd of about 150 people spilling outside a room with a capacity of less than half that in Palco, population 300, and about 270 miles (435 kilometers) west of Kansas City.
Some audience members drew applause for advocating government-run health care like the Medicare program for the elderly.
But the event was in Rooks County, and President Donald Trump won the county with 84 percent of the vote last year. Moran grew up in nearby Plainville.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Former state Rep. Jan Pauls has died at the age of 64.
The Elliott Mortuary says Pauls, of Hutchinson, died Wednesday at St. Francis Select Specialty Hospital. A cause of death was not immediately available.
Pauls, a former judge and attorney, served in the Kansas Legislature beginning in 1991. She represented the 102nd district as a Democrat until switching to the Republican party in 2014 to advocate for conservative social issues.
Pauls lost her bid for re-election last November to Democrat Patsy Terrell, who died last month near the end of her first legislative session.
SALINE COUNTY- A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 8p.m. Wednesday in Saline County.
The Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan reported a 2017 Polaris Ranger UTV driven by Cherielynn Mahoney, 22 Salina, was traveling near Gypsum Valley Shooting Sports in the 7200 Block of South Niles Road.
The driver took a sharp turn, the UTV rolled and pinned passenger Katrina San Nicolas, 21, McPherson, according to Soldan.
First responders transported San Nicolas to Salina Regional Health Center for a broken leg.
Location of Thursday morning robbery adjacent to a popular shopping area in Topeka-Google image
SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and asking for help to identify a suspect.
Just before 6 a.m. Thursday, police responded to report of robbery in the 1500 Block of SW Wanamaker in Topeka, according to a media release. The suspect described as a black male in his 20s wearing grey clothing and a ski mask entered the store with a baseball bat and demanded money.
The clerk gave him an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect left on foot eastbound from the north side of the business.
Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to contact Topeka police.
WICHITA -A man pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges he was part of an e-mail spoofing scheme that cost Sedgwick County more than $566,000, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
