fraud

A New York City man pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of wire fraud in a case in which the authorities said he persuaded an investor to buy a painting by the 19th-century French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, inflated the price and then pocketed some of the money.

A city payroll technology project that has cost taxpayers more than $600 million was “corrupted to its core,” with nearly the entire sum tainted by an epic fraud that involved hundreds of contractors, systemic overbilling and an international money-laundering conspiracy, federal prosecutors said Monday.

The former treasurer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., once the 12th largest mortgage lender in the U.S., admitted helping run a $1.9 billion fraud scheme that targeted the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program and contributed to the failure of Colonial Bank.

Four consultants for the city's payroll website are facing fraud and money laundering charges for allegedly bilking taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars.

A multimillionaire designer was allegedly conned out of $800,000 (£500,000) for a 13-mile journey after a taxi driver copied his credit card - but did not even notice the money was gone. Tony Chan was scammed when he flew into New Jersey on a private jet and took a limousine to Manhattan in New York.