US Navy Officers on Trial over Accusations of Conspiring to Trade Secrets for Sex Parties
Five members of the Indo-Pacific-based Seventh Fleet are accused of conspiring to trade military secrets and influence for sex parties and lavish dinners in what became known as the ‘Fat Leonard’ case after the Malaysian entrepreneur at the center of the scandal.
Leonard Francis, an optimistic character whose nickname referred to his imposing physique, allegedly bribed Navy officials in exchange for classified military information to gain a competitive advantage for his ship-husband business.
Embezzling Millions, Extortion, Tax Fraud, Stealing Trade Secrets: SOMD Officials Named in Federal Complaint
A complaint recently filed in the United States District Court of Maryland has named the Chief Judge of the St. Mary’s County Orphans Court, a St. Mary’s County Deputy States Attorney, a Maryland State Trooper, among several other notable Defendants, and is alleging the loss of hundreds of millions in lost revenue from an eCommerce business that was built off years of stolen trade secrets and intellectual property.
Inside the Uber and Google settlement with Anthony Levandowski
Anthony Levandowski reached a settlement agreement last week that resolves several disputes with his two former employers Uber and Google and puts to rest one of the most dramatic and complicated storylines in the autonomous vehicle industry.
Levandowski, an early pioneer in the AV industry left Google and started his own company Otto, which was quickly acquired by Uber in 2016. That acquisition would lead to a trade secrets theft lawsuit that pitted Waymo (the former Google self-driving project) against Uber. Levandowski would ultimately lose his position at Uber and face criminal charges and a civil lawsuit. The final piece of this multi-year legal drama appears to be resolved.
In US, Wife of Navy Engineer too Pleads Guilty for ‘Selling Navy Submarine Secrets’
The wife of the former US Navy engineer, accused in the case of espionage, has pleaded guilty to allegedly selling United States Navy secrets abroad. Diana Toebbe, a 46-year-old Annapolis, Maryland school teacher, submitted her plea to the federal prosecutors just days after her husband Jonathan Toebbe, 43, also pleaded guilty to the espionage offense related to US nuclear-powered submarines to an undisclosed nation. Toebbe worked in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program that gave him undeterred access to the United States military-sensitive designs for reactors on nuclear-powered warships.
Russian Espionage Support Asset Pleads Guilty in Court
The evening of February 16, Hector Alejandro Cabrera-Fuentes, a Mexican citizen, was arrested by the FBI and DHS/CBP for acting within the United States on behalf of a foreign government without notifying the attorney general. That’s legalese for acting as a “support asset” for Russian intelligence and conducting an operational activity within the U.S. on behalf of Russia intelligence.
In early-February 2020, Fuentes traveled to Moscow, met with a Russian intelligence officer, and was tasked to travel to Miami, again, for the sole purpose of confirming the residence of an individual identified in court documents only as “U.S. Government Source.” Fuentes was to confirm the source’s vehicle, license plate number, and where in the condominium complex, the source parked their vehicle.
Finance Officer Jailed After Stealing £200,000 from Charity
Manjinder Virdi, 37, of Rathmore Road in Charlton, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court to three years behind bars after pleading guilty to “fraud by abuse of position,” according to the Metropolitan Police.
Virdi worked as a financial administrator and then finance officer for a charity based in Poplar, where his role allowed him to access the organization’s bank and PayPal accounts.
Over a period of 20 months, he’s said to have siphoned £200,000 out of these and into his own bank accounts, where thousands of pounds were subsequently used at online gambling sites.