New York
AG sues cash-advance operation over fraudulent loans with rates as high as 820%
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York-based cash-advance operation exploited struggling small businesses across the country by issuing fraudulent, “predatory” loans at interest rates as high as 820%, New York Attorney General Letitia James alleged in a new lawsuit.
James filed the suit Tuesday against Yellowstone Capital, along with a network of related companies and people she says carried on its operations after Yellowstone purportedly shut up shop in 2021 while facing multiple investigations.
The operation, which allegedly rebranded as Delta Bridge, continued issuing illegal loans disguised as merchant cash advances, a form of short-term, high-interest funding for small businesses, the suit charges. One long-time Manhattan eatery, City Bakery, was forking over more than $2,000 a day and eventually shut down as a result, James’ office alleges.
“Yellowstone Capital, Delta Bridge, and the other companies pretended to offer a helping hand, but instead provided only illegal, ultra-high-interest loans,” said James in a statement. “Small businesses are the foundation of our economy, and they face severe challenges without also having predatory lenders taking advantage of them.”
Phone and email messages left with contacts listed for Yellowstone and Delta Bridge requesting comment were not immediately returned. The former owner of City Bakery, Maury Rubin, did not immediately respond to email messages requesting comment.
The lawsuit also names officials from the companies who negotiated and serviced the alleged illegal loans, including David Glass, who co-founded the company in 2019 after pleading guilty to insider trading charges. Messages left at phone numbers listed for Glass were not immediately returned.
James is asking for a court order barring Yellowstone, Delta Bridge, and their affiliates and officials from continuing the operation. She is also asking for a lifetime industry ban for Glass.
James says her office is seeking at least $1.4 billion for the impacted small businesses.
In 2020, federal regulators sued Yellowstone and its owners, alleging the company withdrew money from its customers’ bank accounts without permission. In 2021, the company agreed to surrender more than $9.7 million in funds to the Federal Trade Commission, which was later redistributed to the harmed businesses.
In 2023, the company and its affiliates reached an approximately $27 million settlement with the state of New Jersey to resolve allegations similar to New York’s.
Before filing the New York lawsuit, James reached settlements with five individuals involved in the Yellowstone scheme, which included $3.37 million for impacted businesses, according to her office.
New York
County exec sues state over order to rescind his ban on transgender female athletes
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A county executive in the New York City suburbs has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a state order demanding he rescind a controversial ban on transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the “cease and desist” letter issued by state Attorney General Letitia James violates the U.S. Constitution’s “equal protection” clause, which is enshrined in the 14th Amendment.
The Republican argues that forcing him to rescind his Feb. 22 executive order denies “biological females’ right to equal opportunities in athletics” as well as their “right to a safe playing field” by exposing them to increased risk of injury if they’re forced to compete against transgender women.
Blakeman is slated to hold a news conference at his office in Mineola on Wednesday along with a 16-year-old female volleyball player who lives in Nassau County and her parents who are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
James’ office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the litigation.
The Democrat on Friday had threatened legal action if Blakeman didn’t rescind the order in a week, arguing in her letter that the local order violates New York’s anti-discrimination laws and subjects women’s and girls’ sports teams to “intrusive and invasive questioning” and other unnecessary requirements.
“The law is perfectly clear: You cannot discriminate against a person because of their gender identity or expression. We have no room for hate or bigotry in New York,” James said at the time.
Blakeman argues in his lawsuit that the order does not outright ban transgender individuals from participating in any sports in the county. Transgender female athletes will still be able to play on male or co-ed teams, he said.
Blakeman’s order requires any sports teams, leagues, programs or organizations seeking a permit from the county’s parks and recreation department to “expressly designate” whether they are male, female or coed based on their members’ “biological sex at birth.”
It covers more than 100 sites in the densely populated county next to New York City, from ballfields to basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools and ice rinks.
The executive order followed scores of bills enacted in Republican-governed states over the past few years targeting transgender people.
Illinois
Man found guilty of killing Chicago police officer and wounding another
CHICAGO (AP) — A man was found guilty Tuesday of shooting and killing a Chicago police officer, wounding her partner and firing at a third officer in August 2021.
Emonte Morgan, 23, of Chicago was found guilty in the slaying of Officer Ella French and wounding of Officer Carlos Yanez Jr. during a traffic stop on the city’s South Side.
The jury deliberated less than two hours before convicting him of first-degree murder, attempted murder of a peace officer and possession/use of a firearm as a felon.
French, 29, was slain and Yanez was wounded after they stopped an SUV with expired tags.
An email seeking comment was sent to Morgan’s public defender. The defense rested without calling any witnesses.
Morgan’s brother, Eric Morgan, pleaded guilty in October to charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, battery and obstruction of justice.
A third man, Jamel Danzy of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last December after pleading guilty to a federal firearms charge for making an illegal straw purchase of the handgun used to kill French.
AG sues cash-advance operation over fraudulent loans with rates as high as 820%
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York-based cash-advance operation exploited struggling small businesses across the country by issuing fraudulent, “predatory” loans at interest rates as high as 820%, New York Attorney General Letitia James alleged in a new lawsuit.
James filed the suit Tuesday against Yellowstone Capital, along with a network of related companies and people she says carried on its operations after Yellowstone purportedly shut up shop in 2021 while facing multiple investigations.
The operation, which allegedly rebranded as Delta Bridge, continued issuing illegal loans disguised as merchant cash advances, a form of short-term, high-interest funding for small businesses, the suit charges. One long-time Manhattan eatery, City Bakery, was forking over more than $2,000 a day and eventually shut down as a result, James’ office alleges.
“Yellowstone Capital, Delta Bridge, and the other companies pretended to offer a helping hand, but instead provided only illegal, ultra-high-interest loans,” said James in a statement. “Small businesses are the foundation of our economy, and they face severe challenges without also having predatory lenders taking advantage of them.”
Phone and email messages left with contacts listed for Yellowstone and Delta Bridge requesting comment were not immediately returned. The former owner of City Bakery, Maury Rubin, did not immediately respond to email messages requesting comment.
The lawsuit also names officials from the companies who negotiated and serviced the alleged illegal loans, including David Glass, who co-founded the company in 2019 after pleading guilty to insider trading charges. Messages left at phone numbers listed for Glass were not immediately returned.
James is asking for a court order barring Yellowstone, Delta Bridge, and their affiliates and officials from continuing the operation. She is also asking for a lifetime industry ban for Glass.
James says her office is seeking at least $1.4 billion for the impacted small businesses.
In 2020, federal regulators sued Yellowstone and its owners, alleging the company withdrew money from its customers’ bank accounts without permission. In 2021, the company agreed to surrender more than $9.7 million in funds to the Federal Trade Commission, which was later redistributed to the harmed businesses.
In 2023, the company and its affiliates reached an approximately $27 million settlement with the state of New Jersey to resolve allegations similar to New York’s.
Before filing the New York lawsuit, James reached settlements with five individuals involved in the Yellowstone scheme, which included $3.37 million for impacted businesses, according to her office.
New York
County exec sues state over order to rescind his ban on transgender female athletes
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A county executive in the New York City suburbs has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a state order demanding he rescind a controversial ban on transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the “cease and desist” letter issued by state Attorney General Letitia James violates the U.S. Constitution’s “equal protection” clause, which is enshrined in the 14th Amendment.
The Republican argues that forcing him to rescind his Feb. 22 executive order denies “biological females’ right to equal opportunities in athletics” as well as their “right to a safe playing field” by exposing them to increased risk of injury if they’re forced to compete against transgender women.
Blakeman is slated to hold a news conference at his office in Mineola on Wednesday along with a 16-year-old female volleyball player who lives in Nassau County and her parents who are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
James’ office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the litigation.
The Democrat on Friday had threatened legal action if Blakeman didn’t rescind the order in a week, arguing in her letter that the local order violates New York’s anti-discrimination laws and subjects women’s and girls’ sports teams to “intrusive and invasive questioning” and other unnecessary requirements.
“The law is perfectly clear: You cannot discriminate against a person because of their gender identity or expression. We have no room for hate or bigotry in New York,” James said at the time.
Blakeman argues in his lawsuit that the order does not outright ban transgender individuals from participating in any sports in the county. Transgender female athletes will still be able to play on male or co-ed teams, he said.
Blakeman’s order requires any sports teams, leagues, programs or organizations seeking a permit from the county’s parks and recreation department to “expressly designate” whether they are male, female or coed based on their members’ “biological sex at birth.”
It covers more than 100 sites in the densely populated county next to New York City, from ballfields to basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools and ice rinks.
The executive order followed scores of bills enacted in Republican-governed states over the past few years targeting transgender people.
Illinois
Man found guilty of killing Chicago police officer and wounding another
CHICAGO (AP) — A man was found guilty Tuesday of shooting and killing a Chicago police officer, wounding her partner and firing at a third officer in August 2021.
Emonte Morgan, 23, of Chicago was found guilty in the slaying of Officer Ella French and wounding of Officer Carlos Yanez Jr. during a traffic stop on the city’s South Side.
The jury deliberated less than two hours before convicting him of first-degree murder, attempted murder of a peace officer and possession/use of a firearm as a felon.
French, 29, was slain and Yanez was wounded after they stopped an SUV with expired tags.
An email seeking comment was sent to Morgan’s public defender. The defense rested without calling any witnesses.
Morgan’s brother, Eric Morgan, pleaded guilty in October to charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, battery and obstruction of justice.
A third man, Jamel Danzy of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last December after pleading guilty to a federal firearms charge for making an illegal straw purchase of the handgun used to kill French.
