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A US bankruptcy court trustee is planning to shut down conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars media platform and liquidate its assets to help pay the $1.5 billion in lawsuit judgments Jones owes for repeatedly calling the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a hoax. In an “emergency” motion filed Sunday in Houston, trustee Christopher Murray indicated publicly for the first time that he intends to “conduct an orderly wind-down” of the operations of Infowars’ parent company and “liquidate its inventory.” Murray, who was appointed by a federal judge to oversee the assets in Jones’ personal bankruptcy case, did not give...

“The investments that Russia had have matured. So Russia’s funds are sitting in cash, but they’re generating income for the institution which Russia has no claim on,” she concluded. The G7 agreed on the American proposal Thursday during a summit in Italy. The move allows the world leaders to tap into the interest being accumulated at European banking institutions from the frozen assets to the tune of $50 billion. Yellen added that the G7 has made it clear to Moscow that the actual assets will remain frozen until Russia agrees to pay for the damages Ukraine has sustained over the...

The United States discussed plans to provide Ukraine with a loan paid out with Russian assets that have been frozen since the start of the war. The bulk of frozen Russian assets lie in Europe, and the European Union has announced its plans to “make Russia pay” by allocating those assets to Ukraine to fund its war against Russia directly. Ukraine will receive $1.6 billion in frozen Russian assets this July, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who spoke at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 on June 11. She stated that 90% of stolen Russian funds will...

Macron and Biden do not represent their respective nations as they act in ways that are an utter detriment to national interests. The French and American leaders have agreed to surrender frozen Russian aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan. The West confiscated around $280.9 billion from Russia, which Reuters believe generate up to 3.5 billion euros in annual profit. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been pleading to release these stolen funds to Ukraine. “It is necessary and urgent for our coalition to find a way to unlock the value of these immobilized assets to support Ukraine’s...

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday urged G7 ministers meeting in Italy to consider “more ambitious options” to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine. The ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven world powers are meeting in Stresa, on the shores of northern Italy’s Lake Maggiore, to prepare for a summit of G7 heads of state next month in Puglia. Yellen said the group would also discuss what Washington considers to be “overcapacity” of key green technologies from China such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels. Top of the agenda is a plan to finance...

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said there was a possibility Group of Seven nations would support Ukraine by as much as $50 billion using loans linked to seized Russian assets, Sky News reported on Tuesday. "I believe it's important for the G7 to work together to show a united front and to show that we can generate meaningful resources to support Ukraine over the next several years," she told Sky News.

(European Union) Lawmakers want to see more support for Ukraine as US and UK counterparts advance. EU lawmakers have called for Russian state assets to be seized to support Ukraine, saying existing plans worth billions of euros don’t go far enough. EU countries are already discussing plans to deliver an aid package worth around €3bn a year to Ukraine by using the interest from capital held within the bloc by the Russian central bank. But EU lawmakers want to go further, as US counterparts finalise a €57 billion aid package for the war-torn country. “Europe needs to seize all of...

KEY TAKEAWAYS The European Commission wants to hand Ukraine $300 billion seized from Russia. Doing so likely would sound the death knell for the dollar and eventually the euro. The message from the EU and the Biden administration is crystal clear: Western financial markets are now a dangerous place to park your money. The talk of seizing foreigners’ assets is exposing these dollar-denominated loans as less than safe. Indeed, they’re more of a liability. Confidence in Western financial markets has already been shaken enough by the 20% devaluation of the dollar over the last few years. But now the European...

Banks are often among the biggest companies in the world.In this graphic, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu lists the top 50 banks in the world by consolidated assets, based on a 2023 report from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The data represents each bank’s total assets for the most recent period available.Chinese Banks Keep on GrowingAccording to S&P, the four largest Chinese banks grew their assets by 4.1% in 2022, reaching a combined total of $19.8 trillion.In fact, Chinese banks already account for over a third of the assets held by the largest banks on the planet. Four of the 15 biggest...

The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday [ed: Jan 24] announced that the Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) will cease making new loans as scheduled on March 11. The program will continue to make loans until that time and is available as an additional source of liquidity for eligible institutions. During a period of stress last spring, the Bank Term Funding Program helped assure the stability of the banking system and provide support for the economy. After March 11, banks and other depository institutions will continue to have ready access to the discount window to meet liquidity needs. As the program...

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court Wednesday that he’s prepared to post a $100 million bond to halt collection of his staggering civil fraud penalty, arguing that provisions of the verdict make it impossible for the former president to secure a bond for the full amount. Trump’s lawyers floated the offer in court papers asking the state’s mid-level appeals court for an order preventing New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office from enforcing the $454 million judgment while his appeal plays out. Trump would have to post the full amount to pause collection...

Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary — a.k.a. “Mr. Wonderful” — ripped CNN for pathetically attempting to justify a radical New York judge’s bonkers ruling against former President Donald Trump. Leftist CNN anchor Laura Coates appeared giddy as she touted the $355 million fine New York Supreme court judge Arthur Engoron slapped on Trump for allegedly inflating his assets to lenders, despite nobody losing money. O’Leary argued during the Feb. 19 edition of Laura Coates Live that this was a “victimless crime” due to the fact that Trump did nothing that was outside of the typical haggling that goes on between real...

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is prepared to seize former President Trump’s assets if he does not pay the nearly $355 million verdict levied against him in a civil business fraud trial last week, she told ABC News on Tuesday. “If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” she told ABC News. The $355 million verdict and additional $100 million in prejudgment interest handed down Friday are the largest financial penalty levied against Trump and his...

This is insane, the US State Dept forced all Ukrainians to tie their financial assets to their smartphones by developing the DIIA “State-In-Smartphone” app for Ukraine, and now Ukrainians who try not to die will have all their assets seized...

If you have read my articles for a while, you would know I am a big fan of studies that give a perspective of where the average American stands financially. Now, let me be clear: I wouldn’t use these as a basis for a financial plan by any stretch of the imagination. These studies don’t mean people are in a good or bad financial situation. Plus, they include a large contingent that lives below or at the poverty line.However, why I like these studies is twofold. First, finances are still taboo to talk about. Thus, most people have no sense...

The horrific events in the Middle East have repercussions that go beyond Israel and the possibility of a lengthy war with unimaginable bloodshed. They also have an enormous impact on today’s other grisly international conflict, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the U.S. rushes vital military aid to the Israelis, there lurks a challenge in Congress for the continuing resupply of vital armaments to Ukraine. On Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) shamelessly used the crisis in Israel and Gaza to advance a pro-Russia agenda, calling for Ukraine funding to be diverted to Israel.

New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement marking the first day of her trial agaisnt former President Donald Trump on Monday. Trump will appear before Judge Arthur Engoron in Manhattan on Monday. He faces charges of fraud relating to his business dealings. “For years, Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth to enrich himself and cheat the system. We won the foundation of our case last week and proved that his purported net worth has long been rooted in incredible fraud. In this country, there are consequences for this type of persistent fraud, and we look forward to...

The decision provides important protection for property rights, and features a powerful concurring opinion by prominent conservative Judge Amal Thapar. In many states, asset forfeiture laws allow law enforcement agencies to seize valuable property based on mere suspicion that it was used in a crime, and then keep it even if the owner was never convicted of any crime. On top of that, some force owners to wait many months before they even have a chance to challenge the forfeiture in a hearing. Yesterday, in Ingram v. Wayne County, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a...

The Department of Justice is shelling out more than $6 billion to private companies to manage its asset forfeiture investigations, raising alarm from one nonprofit law firm that accuses police of "treating ordinary Americans like ATMs" and seizing their cash. "You've probably heard the adage, 'you've gotta spend money to make money.' Here, it's 'you've gotta spend money to take money,'" said Dan Alban, head of the Institute for Justice's National Initiative to End Forfeiture.

“They will be the Goldmans of China,” one of Hunter Biden’s business associated boasted about the relationship with CEFC. Text messages provided to the FBI show that a Chinese energy conglomerate that struck a controversial deal in 2017 with Hunter Biden began its pursuit of a relationship with the future first family back in late 2015 when Joe Biden was still vice president, hoping to seize on the name of one of America’s most famous political dynasties to provide cover for its ambitious plan to buy up energy assets inside the United States. “There will be a deal between one...