Extortion

“Sextortion” schemes targeting young boys are on the rise in Massachusetts, federal authorities say.

The FBI is warning parents of an increase in “sextortion” schemes happening on social media that target teen boys. The warning comes from FBI Boston Division’s Child Exploitation – Human Trafficking Task Force, which investigates such crimes. In a statement released Wednesday, the agency reported that in 2021, there were over 18,000 sextortion-related complaints. The complaints resulted in a $13.6…

Stalled negotiations for the U.S. government to pay families separated at the border during Donald Trump’s presidency have brought new threats of extortion against some families.

A criminal case was dismissed this week against a man who was initially charged with trying to extort money from Kevin Hart.

Avenatti, who gained fame representing Stormy Daniels in her legal battles against then-President Trump, was sentenced to 30 months for the Nike scheme.

Jasiel Correia was found guilty by a jury after about 23 hours of deliberations over four days in a trial that highlighted his swift rise and fall in Fall River, where he had dazzled voters with his intelligence and promises to turn the city around.

A former Massachusetts mayor first elected at the age of 23 by touting himself as a successful entrepreneur was convicted Friday of stealing money from investors in his start-up to bankroll his lavish lifestyle and soliciting bribes from marijuana vendors who wanted to operate in the struggling mill city. Jasiel Correia was found guilty by a jury after about 23…

Lawyers made their final pitch to jurors Monday in the fraud and corruption case against a once-celebrated young Massachusetts mayor, painting contrasting pictures of a shrewd con man driven by greed to line his own pockets or a victim of lies who never committed a crime.

The Washington, D.C., police department said Monday that its computer network was breached, and a Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate claimed to have stolen sensitive data, including on informants, that it threatened to share with local criminal gangs unless police paid an unspecified ransom.

Jasiel Correia, the former mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts, was in federal court in Boston Monday as his corruption trial began. Correia has been charged with two dozen crimes, including wire fraud, extortion conspiracy and bribery. The trial is expected the last three or four weeks. “Public corruption is a very dangerous thing for our democracy,” said Michael Coyne, dean…

The corruption trial of Jasiel Correia, the former mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts, kicked off with opening statements in court Monday.

A self-proclaimed white nationalist was sentenced Wednesday to nearly three-and-a-half years in federal prison for threatening to rape the wife of a man who was part of a separate racist group that he believed was harassing him. Christopher Cantwell, a 40-year-old New Hampshire resident and radio host, was found guilty in September of extortion and threatening to injure property or…

The ex-chief of staff to a former Massachusetts mayor has pleaded guilty to extortion, bribery and other charges in a federal public corruption case.