L.A. Commodities Trading Firm Shut Down For Improper Commodity Pool Operations

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it obtained an emergency federal court order freezing the assets of a Los Angeles based commodities trading firm. The defendants are charged with solicitation fraud and misappropriation of customer funds in connection with the operation of a commodity pool. The allegations claim they fraudulently solicited over a million dollars from roughly 100 commodity pool participants to invest in commodity futures, foreign currency Read more

Death As A Result of DUI Can Result in Murder Conviction

A jury convicted a drunken driver of murder in the deaths of Angels’ pitcher Nick Adenhart and two of his friends. The driver faces 50 years to life in state prison. The D.A. charged the case as second-degree murder instead of manslaughter (a lesser charge) because the driver had a previous DUI conviction, had specific knowledge of the dangers of drinking and driving from his own experience and had signed a court form from the earlier case saying he understood he could be charged with murder if he drove drunk again and killed someone. This knowledge imputed on the driver is known in California courts as the “Watson” waiver. Read more

Police Misconduct Costs Orange County $250,000 plus Loss of Goodwill Among Community

An Orange County jury reached a verdict awarding $259,400 for a woman and her husband for unlawful acts, namely excessive force, committed against them by Orange County Sheriff Deputies. The jury found against Orange County Sheriff Deputies Jennifer Macias and Allan Waters on unreasonable search and seizure, excessive force, and false arrest. In addition, the jury found against another Deputy, Sgt. Timothy Jansen, on false arrest. Read more

Insider Trading Results in Federal Conviction for Disney Employee

A woman accused of conspiring to sell secrets about finances at The Walt Disney Co. has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud charges. Prosecutors said a female employee of Disney fed information such as Disney’s quarterly earnings to her boyfriend, who tried to sell the inside tips to 33 investment companies She faces between four and 10 months. Her boyfriend already pleaded guilty in a deal that recommends he Read more