fraud
Will Cornelius resident face the music in AI-assisted fraud case?
Sept. 5. By Dave Yochum. A Cornelius-based music producer was arrested Wednesday and charged with multiple felonies for allegedly scamming more than $10 million in royalties using hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs. The FBI says Michael Smith, 52, used artificial intelligence and automated programs called “bots” to stream the AI-generated songs literally billions of […]
Two Cornelius fraudsters plead guilty, face up to 20 years
June 1. [Updated] By Dave Yochum. Two Cornelius residents, Marlin Hershey, 53, and Dana Bradley, 53, face up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for orchestrating a large-scale investment scheme. The Feds said they ran a classic Ponzi scheme. According to filed court documents and the plea hearings, from […]
Husband, wife indicted for stealing from booster club
May 19. The president of a Charlotte high school booster club and his wife have been indicted for stealing more than $200,000 from the organization they purportedly supported. The husband, Anthony Sharper, 39, is also charged with fraudulently obtaining over $236,000 in COVID-19 relief funds to cover up the theft from the South Meck High […]
Ponzi schemer pleads guilty
March 6. Anyone can say anything. What he or she does is another thing. Here’s what Andrew “Diamond Drew” Lovett said in 2012: “I am proud that Safari Minerals has been able to achieve all it has thus far while following a strict code of ethical business practices and sound financial discipline.” Here’s what he […]
