Tag: Department of Justice

PACIFIC PALISADES—Former Pacific Palisades resident Michelle Bisnoff, 59, has been found guilty on six counts of securities fraud, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, one count of COVID-relief loan wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. The verdict came late Thursday, Sept. 24, after a seven-day trial, and the DOJ announced it the following day.

Bisnoff was hired by U.K.-based McLear Ltd. to build a U.S. market for its wearable rings, which let users make purchases by tapping a card reader. By early 2017, she claimed the key patent as her own, using a falsified patent assignment, and formed her company, Esos Rings Inc., to sell rings based on it.

She falsely told investors that she had backing from Apple and Roc Nation, along with a licensing deal with Middle Earth Enterprises. In reality, Esos had only sold six rings on Walmart.com, three of which were returned. Bisnoff gave investors falsified documents to spark investor interest, including financial statements and a corporate tax return.

When the promised returns didn’t come, she tried to embezzle about $550,000 from an employer to pay investors, then sent bounced checks. In total, she raised close to $2 million from investors, with victims losing about $1.4 million.

She is facing up to 20 years for each securities and wire fraud count, up to 10 years for each money laundering count, and a mandatory consecutive two-year term for aggravated identity theft. Her sentencing is set for Jan. 21, 2027.

By Milan Manesh

BEVERLY HILLS—On January 29, former CNN News Anchor, and host of the YouTube series, The Don Lemon Show was covering the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles when he was arrested and taken into custody by federal agents. He spent the night in jail pending his first court appearance on January 30. Reports indicate that on January 18, Lemon followed three Anti-ICE protesters into Cities Church in St. Paul, MN interrupting a two-hour church service. The protesters were targeting pastor, David Easterwood, over his work outside of the Church for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Three protesters: Nekima Levy Armstrong of Minneapolis, MN, Chauntyll Allen, of Minneapolis, MN, and former Army and Iraqi war veteran, William Kelly, aka, “DaWokeFarmer” on Tik Tok were arrested that day and booked into Sherburne County Jail. “I surrendered myself peacefully, deliberately, and with intention. I demanded dignity, humanity, and respect, not just for myself, but for every person who has ever been brutalized, silenced, or disappeared by unchecked government power. We stood in protest because families are being torn apart, communities terrorized, and constitutional rights trampled. And we will not be intimidated into silence,” said Levy Armstrong Lemon indicated that he was there “As an independent journalist, not as a protester.” Multiple reports indicate that there were members of the congregation that were not permitted to go get their children, and there were children who were scared and wanted their parents and were unable to get to them. Don did not intervene on behalf of those who were there to worship, as his crew filmed the protesters. On January 20, Monique Mullers, co-founder of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and other Twin Cities community activists gathered that the Hennepin County Government Center to demand that Pastor Easterwood step down as Pastor of Cities Church due to his full-time employment with ICE. Cities Church Pastor Jonathan Parnell gave thanks for the help of federal agents on his X social media page. “We are grateful that the Department of Justice acted swiftly to protect Cities Church so we can continue to faithfully live out the church’s mission to worship Jesus and make him known.” An additional statement was made by North Legal attorneys Renee Carlson and Doug Wardlaw. “The freedom to worship God without fear of violence and intimidation is a fundamental right that defines who we are as Americans. True North Legal and Cities Church are grateful that the Department of Justice is committed to upholding that freedom and is holding the agitators who invaded the church, accountable.” On January 23, a Minneapolis Federal Judge freed the three protestors due to indicating that the arresting officers didn’t meet Minnesota’s burden of proof needed to warrant detention.   By Sharon