There is no treatment for the coronavirus, states the World Health Organization. That hasn't stopped televangelist and felon Jim Bakker from selling a purported cure to the pitiful people who watch his infomercials. Now the New York attorney general has warned Bakker than he can't claim that a concoction called Silver Solution he's peddling will cure coronavirus.

From ABC News:

During a Feb. 12 episode of the “The Jim Bakker Show,” guest Sherrill Sellman claimed that Silver Solution was able to eliminate some strains of the coronavirus.

Asked if the Silver Solution would be effective against the COVID-19 coronavirus, Sellman replied, "Let's say it hasn't been tested on this strain of the coronavirus, but it's been tested on other strains of the coronavirus and it has been able to eliminate it within 12 hours."

The attorney general sent Bakker a cease-and-desist order that stated:

"Your show’s segment may mislead consumers as to the effectiveness of the Silver Solution product in protecting against the current outbreak. Any representation on the Jim Bakker Show that its Silver Solution products are effective at combating and/or treating the 2019 novel coronavirus violates New York law.”

In 2017 Bakker warned that anyone who made fun of him will be punished by God, who will tell them "you sat there and you made fun of Jim Bakker all those years. I warned you." Read the rest

In his latest BIG newsletter, Matt Stoller (previously) relates the key moments in the history of private equity, from its roots in the notorious "leveraged buyouts" of the 1980s, and explains exactly how the PE con works: successful, productive business are acquired through debt financing, drained of their cash and assets, and then killed, leaving workers unemployed and with their pension funds looted, and with the business's creditors out in the cold. Read the rest

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, the corrupt law enforcement chief who was fond of giving himself awards, campaigning against marijuana legalization, encouraging prison rape, wrongfully imprisoning people, locking up nonviolent people who possessed drugs, and horribly mistreating inmates, lost his court appeal for obstructing justice and lying to federal authorities. He could spend several years in prison.

From the LA Times

Attorneys for Baca, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, appealed the verdict, arguing it had been tainted by rulings U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson had made during the trial and so should be reversed. Among several alleged errors, they focused on Anderson’s decision to bar the jury from hearing testimony about Baca’s illness and about a conversation he had with an aide about the FBI’s investigation. Either piece of information, the defense team said, could have helped sway the jury in Baca’s favor.

But the three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected those claims, finding the trial was fair and the conviction legally sound.

Calling the case prosecutors had mounted “fair and thorough,” U.S. Atty. Nick Hanna said in a statement the ruling “confirms the principle that no one is above the law.”

“Instead of cooperating with a federal investigation that ultimately was concerned about improving conditions in the county jails, Mr. Baca chose to obstruct and then lie to federal authorities,” Hanna said.

Image by ScottMLiebenson - Own work, CC0, Link Read the rest

A federal judge ordered Martin Shkreli, who was convicted of fraud last year, to forfeit $7.4 million. This forfeiture includes a Picasso painting, his $5 million bail posting, and the one-of-a-kind Wu Tang Clan album, "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin." Don't worry, though -- after he pays the fine he'll still have $27.1 million.

From Click on Detroit:

Shkreli was convicted of fraud for deceiving investors and misusing their money while he was a portfolio manager at a hedge fund. He faces sentencing at Brooklyn Federal Court on Friday, and could potentially get up to 20 years in prison.

Image: Shutterstock Read the rest

Two gentlemen sneaked into the backroom of the Monarch bar in San Francisco, CA and helped themselves to a bartender's wallet containing $500 and a bottle of liquor. A security camera captured the action.

This occurred Sunday night April 4th at WERD/Sunset After-Party. Somehow these guys gained entry into our employee area. You can watch them steal a wallet from a bag, which belonged to one of our bartender's and contained $500 cash (all her tip money from the week) + a bottle of liquor. These guys are truly disgusting and we're looking for any information to identify them. Please post and share. Thank you for your help!

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THIEVES CAUGHT ON FILM AT MONARCH! This occurred Sunday night April 4th at WERD/Sunset After-Party. Somehow these guys...

Posted by Monarch on Monday, April 4, 2016

Sergei "Fly" Vovnenko, a Russo-Ukrainian cybercrook who stalked and harassed security journalist Brian Krebs -- at one point conspiring to get him arrested by sending him heroin via the Silk Road -- has been arrested. According to Krebs, Vovnenko was a prolific credit-card crook, specializing in dumps of stolen Italian credit-card numbers, and faces charges in Italy and the USA. Krebs documents how Vovnenko's identity came to light because he installed a keylogger on his own wife's computer, which subsequently leaked her real name, which led to him. Read the rest

Brian Krebs is a security expert and investigative journalist who has published numerous ground-breaking stories about the online criminal underground, much to the consternation of the criminal underground. Krebs has been the victim of much harassment, including a dangerous SWATting (where someone called a SWAT team to Krebs's door, having told them that an armed gunman was inside).

Most recently, a Russian crook called Flycracker crowdfunded the purchase of a gram of heroin on the Silk Road, which he mailed to Krebs, having first called the cops to alert them that Krebs was a narcotics trafficker. Luckily for Krebs, he lurks in the same forums in which this was planned, and knew of it in advance and tipped off the local cops and the FBI. Read the rest

A new study finds that out-of-network medical bills aren't just high, they're often illegally high — with hospitals ignoring regulations meant to keep you out of debt when you get sick out of state. Read the rest