💰 Florida man pleads guilty to $2.6M COVID-19 relief fraud

Daniel Joseph Tisone, 35, of Naples, pleaded guilty in Fort Myers federal court to wire and bank fraud, as well as illegal monetary transaction. He faces up to 60 years in federal prison.

Tisone submitted false and fraudulent applications to the Small Business Administration and banks seeking several different kinds of loans between March 2020 and April 2021.

He received one Main Street Lending Program loan, four Economic Injury Disaster Loans and five Paycheck Protection Program loans, totaling more than $2.6 million, authorities said. He allegedly used the money to purchase two homes in Naples, stocks and investment securities, a 2019 Tiara 34LS boat, a 4.02-carat engagement ring and ammunition.

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💸 Secret Service recovers $286M in stolen pandemic loans

The Secret Service said an investigation initiated by its Orlando office found that alleged conspirators submitted Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications by using fake or stolen employment and personal information and used an online bank, Green Dot, to conceal and move their criminal proceeds.

The agency worked with Green Dot to identify roughly 15,000 accounts and seize $286 million connected to the accounts. Billions have been fraudulently claimed through various pandemic relief programs — including Paycheck Protection Program loans, unemployment insurance and others that were rolled out in the midst of the worldwide pandemic.

Since 2020, the Secret Service initiated more than 3,850 pandemic related fraud investigations, seized over $1.4 billion in fraudulently obtained funds and helped to return $2.3 billion to state unemployment insurance programs.

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📹 A refugee from Ukraine says that the Ukrainian armed forces are even ready to kill children who attend Russian schools and kindergartens.

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📹 During the Reno Air Races in the US state of Nevada on Sunday, a pilot was killed when the aircraft crashed and caught fire.

▪️ The horrifying incident was caught on camera during the races' live webcast on YouTube, where it was visible that the jet crashed and burst into flames.

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📸 🇬🇧 The public ceremony to bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth II has ended in London. A memorial service will be held today at Westminster Abbey, after which the Queen will be buried at Windsor Castle.

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🇺🇳 The UN Secretary General said he doesn't consider visa restrictions on Russians in Europe a good idea

📹 A video is gaining popularity on social networks, showing President Biden rewriting the text from the prepared card for the book of condolences of Queen Elizabeth II.

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📹 Russia's MoD has published footage showing a Western Military District special unit in combat as part of the special military operation.

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🇯🇵 👨‍🦳 For the first time in Japan's history, people over age 75 account for over 15 percent of the population after their cohort rose by 720,000 to 19.37 million people, according to government data released on Sunday.

🔝 Japan tops world rankings for having the oldest society, in terms of the proportion of the population which is over age 65 (??%). Italy ranks second (24.1%), followed by Finland (23.3%).

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⚡️🇨🇳 China's foreign ministry on Biden's remark about Taiwan: Beijing expresses protest & urges the United States to understand the importance & sensitivity of the Taiwan issue.

The US president on Sunday claimed US forces would defend Taiwan in the event of "an unprecedented attack."

🇷🇺 🇹🇷 The central banks of Turkey and Russia will start the works for arranging partial payments for Russian gas imports in rubles, as agreed by the presidents of the two countries, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said.

▪️ Last Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand and agreed that Turkey will pay for 25% of gas it imports from Russia in the Russian national currency.

🗯 "There is an agreement to pay for Russian gas in rubles. If one of the parties, be it the buyer or the seller, has their money in a currency other than dollars or euros, it will inevitably incur costs associated with the exchange rate difference. We will get rid of this difference. In fact, this is not a new issue, it has been discussed many times. For the past three or four years our president had an idea and a strategy with many countries as to 'we should trade in local currencies, we will earn more," Donmez was quoted as saying by the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak.

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‼️ Ukraine preparing same scenario in Izyum like in Bucha, this is provocation - Kremlin

📹 Russia's MoD has revealed footage showing combat work of the crews of Ka-52 and Mi-28 attack helicopters during the special military operation.

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⚡️Moscow is ready for contact with the US concerning Syria, the Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs has said.

📹 “They shot me in the legs and tortured me”: A Ukrainian POW from the Aidar battalion recalls how his own comrades crippled him for refusing to go into battle.

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😱 Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron have been mocked online after being spotted wearing sunglasses and trainers in Westminster.

▪️ The French president and the first lady are in the UK for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral ceremony and were taking a stroll in London in understated outfits on Sunday to witness the thousands of mourners making their way to the Queen’s coffin to pay their last respects.

🗣 “As always, we are proud to see Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron defend French elegance and good taste in front of the whole world!,” one Twitter user quipped sardonically.

💭 “If President Macron had wanted to permanently discredit himself, he would have had the inadmissible idea of appearing in sneakers in front of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II of England,” another tweeted.

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