Minnesota's New US Attorney Plans New Initiatives

Minnesota's new chief federal prosecutor says he's launching initiatives to combat human trafficking, heroin, fraud, violent crime and identity theft. It's an ambitious agenda for U.S. Attorney Andy Luger, who was sworn in Feb. 14. He filled a post last held by B. Todd Jones, who juggled dual roles for two years as both U.S. attorney in Minneapolis and acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington until the Senate finally confirmed him as director last July.

• Apr 2, 2014

Card Replacements After Target Breach Cost Est. $750K

The massive Target data breach is having a large impact on not just the company's customers, but is also costing Minnesota's credit unions hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Minnesota Credit Union Network says $750,000 has been lost.

• Feb 20, 2014

Talking Points: Klobuchar On Target Data Breach

The investigation into the Target data breach is focusing on a Pennsylvania refrigeration company that had a contract with Target and billed the retailer electronically.

• Feb 9, 2014

Hackers May Have Used Pa. Company To Hit Target

The hackers who stole millions of credit and debit card numbers from Target may have used a Pittsburgh-area heating and refrigeration business as the back door to get in. Fazio Mechanical Services Inc., a contractor that does business with Target, issued a statement Thursday saying it was the victim of a "sophisticated cyberattack operation," just like Target.

• Feb 7, 2014

MN AG Sues Company For Defrauding Seniors

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is going after a company she says tricked hundreds of people into believing they were protecting their families. The lawsuit filed Monday claims Heritage Partners, LLC convinced aging Minnesotans that a licensed attorney would prepare a living trust of will to protect their assets. Customers claim they were actually sold lies. The government estimates 10,000 Baby Boomers retire each day, many of whom have already begun planning for their future.

• Feb 3, 2014

Report: Fraudulent Purchases Made On 5M Cards After Breach

About 5 million credit and debit cards out of the approximately 40 million whose information was stolen in a massive Target data breach have been used to make fraudulent purchases. The Wall Street Journal says that translates to about 10 to 15 percent of the accounts that were compromised late last year.

• Jan 31, 2014

Poll: Data Breaches Not Changing People's Habits

American shoppers say they are very concerned about the safety of their personal information following a massive security breach at Target, but many aren't taking steps to ensure their data is more secure, says a new Associated Press-GfK Poll.

• Jan 27, 2014

Inside Minnesota BCA's Financial Crimes Task Force

A security breach at Target stores across the country left tens of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's Financial Crimes Task Force works across the state to crack financial crimes.

• Jan 25, 2014

Zygi Wilf Strikes Back At NJ Court Ruling

Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf has appealed a court ruling requiring him and his family to pay $100 million in damages and legal fees over a broken deal to develop an apartment complex in his home state of New Jersey. Wilf, his brother Mark Wilf and cousin Leonard Wilf filed their appeal Wednesday in New Jersey Superior Court's Appellate Division.

• Jan 9, 2014

Good Question: How Much Does Insurance Fraud Cost Us?

More than 100 former New York City workers - including police officers and firefighters - were charged Tuesday with defrauding the disability system. Some are accused of fishing or doing karate after saying they were too injured or too depressed to work. Prosecutors say the alleged scams cost the federal government about $400 million. Every year, Americans pay $1.1 trillion in private insurance premiums, but a big chunk of that money goes to pay out false insurance claims.

• Jan 8, 2014

Lawsuits Emerging From Data Breach At Target

The first federal lawsuits are now being filed over the massive data breach at Target. Three Minnesotans are among those who say the Minneapolis-based company put them at risk. The company confirmed last week that someone had stolen credit and debit card information from as many as 40 million Target shoppers. The thefts went undetected for more than two weeks.

• Dec 23, 2013

Weak U.S. Card Security Made Target A Juicy Target

The U.S. is the juiciest target for hackers hunting credit card information. And experts say incidents like the recent data theft at Target's stores will get worse before they get better.

• Dec 22, 2013

Fake Target Discount Emails Link To Fraudulent Sites

Target is apologizing to customers for its widespread data breach by offering a discount to everyone this weekend. But on Saturday, some of the emails customers received may have been part of a phishing scam. According to the Wall Street Journal, fake emails were sent out Saturday that looked close to the real ones. But instead of linking people to credit bureau websites, the sites were fraudulent.

• Dec 21, 2013

Target Reassuring Shoppers, Says There's Few Reports Of Fraud

Target is trying to reassure its customers in the wake of the retailer's massive data breach. Someone stole 40 million credit and debit card numbers between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15.

• Dec 20, 2013

Esme's Blog: The Final Humiliation Of Tom Petters

If there were ever a Minnesota case where cameras in the courtroom would have been a benefit to the public, it is the Tom Petters case, in my opinion. For four remarkable days in the winter of 2009, Petters testified, maintaining with a cocky flair, that he was an unwitting pawn in a $3.6 billion Ponzi scheme. It was all the work of his underlings he said, and that he had no idea what was going on.

• Oct 26, 2013

Petters Fundraiser Vennes Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison

Frank Elroy Vennes Jr. was sentenced to 180 months in prison on Friday, in connection with fraudulently raising money through hedge funds for investment in Petters Company. Vennes was a long-time associate of Thomas J. Petters, the Minnesota businessman convicted in 2009 of orchestrating a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme.

• Oct 18, 2013

Coin Dealer Sentenced To Prison For Bilking Investors Out Of $3.3M

A 53-year-old Excelsior coin dealer was sentenced Thursday in federal court for defrauding customers and investors out of more than $3.3 million. David Laurence Marion was sentenced to 60 months in prison for one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and one count of money laundering.

• Aug 29, 2013

Talking Points: Wilfs' Fraud Issues & The Vikings Stadium

The Metropolitan Sport Facilities Authority was supposed to vote later this week on some of the final agreements for the Vikings stadium deal. But those votes have been postponed after Gov. Mark Dayton called for a review of the nearly $1 billion stadium plan.

• Aug 18, 2013

Vikings Owner: Lawsuit Won't Impact Stadium Deal

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is urging an authority overseeing the new Vikings stadium to take extra precautions as it finalizes an agreement with the team's New Jersey-based owners given their legal woes back home.

• Aug 8, 2013

Fmr. Chisholm Man Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Customers Of $1M

A 26-year-old Michigan man, formerly of Chisholm, pleaded guilty to defrauding customers of his custom car shop out of more than $1 million. Edwin Scott Verdung pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, and one count of transaction money laundering while working at Memory Lane Classics.

• Aug 1, 2013

Nurse Pleads Guilty In Drug Fraud Case

A 38-year-old nurse from Madelia pleaded guilty in Minneapolis Federal Court Thursday to fraudulently getting the controlled substance oxycodone while working at an inpatient health care facility.

• Aug 1, 2013

Good Question: What Can You Buy With Food Stamps?

In an average month, 514,900 Minnesotans receive SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps. The average monthly payment is $117.26 per person. In a visit to Bergan's SuperValu, WCCO loaded seven items into a grocery cart – cookies, candy, ice cream, dishwashing detergent, hot macaroni and cheese, dog food and steak – to test shoppers on their knowledge of what's eligible.

• Jun 19, 2013

Mpls Man Pleads Guilty To Fleeing Duluth Prison

A federal inmate who escaped prison in Duluth earlier this year pleaded guilty to his illegal flight Thursday in federal court. Michael Joseph Krzyzaniak, 64, of Minneapolis, escaped the federal prison camp in March 2013 and specifically pleaded guilty to one count of escape from custody.

• Jun 13, 2013

Mound Man Found Guilty Of Fraud With Petters Company

A 59-year-old Mound, Minn., man was found guilty by a jury Wednesday in federal court for fraudulently raising money for investment in Petters Company, Inc. James Nathan Fry, a hedge fund manager, was convicted of five counts of securities fraud, four counts of wire fraud, and three counts of making false statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

• Jun 12, 2013

Shakopee Man Pleads Guilty To Stealing Food Stamps

A 47-year-old Shakopee man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to using other people's food stamps. Chin Son Kim pleaded guilty to one count of food stamp fraud.

• Jun 12, 2013

Show More