Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Silver’s spectacular boom and bust has taken another dark turn, with a China-linked trading scandal rattling already fragile confidence and dragging prices lower again. After a record run that pushed the metal into a classic blow‑off top, the market is now confronting allegations of outsized short bets and distorted pricing just as speculative froth is…
The Trump administration has put a staggering price tag on suspected pandemic-era fraud in California’s small business relief programs, freezing access to aid for more than one hundred thousand borrowers and igniting a fierce political fight. Federal officials say the scheme drained $8.6 billion from programs that were supposed to keep mom-and-pop shops alive during…
By the time Irving Rosenberg realized his life savings were gone, the money had already been siphoned away through forged paperwork and suspicious withdrawals that no one at his bank stopped. The 90-year-old Southern California resident, who moves slowly and struggles with hearing loss, suddenly found more than $800,000 missing from the account he had…
Federal officials say a vast web of pandemic aid abuse has erupted into one of the largest fraud scandals in California’s history, with suspicious loans now pegged at $8.6 billion. The scale of the alleged scheme, centered on emergency programs created during COVID, is forcing a reckoning over how the state handled crisis-era money and…
American households are being squeezed by a rapid run-up in electricity costs at the same time the federal government is pulling support from hundreds of energy projects. Since January 2025, typical power bills have climbed sharply even as officials cancel or pause investments that were meant to expand supply and modernize the grid. The result…
Criminals are moving fast to exploit every new rule and benefit change in the federal safety net, and 2026 is shaping up as a breakout year for Medicare and Social Security fraud. Instead of crude robocalls, retirees are now facing personalized letters, AI-polished emails, and live callers who sound indistinguishable from government staff. I see…
Homeowners are being warned that a forged signature and a fraudulent filing at the courthouse can be enough to strip them of their most valuable asset. Deed and title fraud, once a niche concern, has become a favored tactic for scammers who can quietly transfer ownership on paper, then sell or mortgage the property before…
The political fight over Rep. Ilhan Omar’s money is no longer just about social media claims. A reported leap in her household wealth, framed by critics as a jump from $0 to as much as $30 million, has triggered parallel scrutiny from House Republicans and federal investigators. At stake is not only whether the Minnesota…
President Trump’s move to halt $10 billion in social service and child care funding to five Democratic-led states has instantly become a litmus test for how far the White House is willing to go in weaponizing federal dollars. The administration insists it is cracking down on fraud and misuse, while the targeted states argue the…
Apple Pay’s reputation as a safer way to pay is being weaponised against its own users, with a coordinated wave of phishing attacks that can drain bank accounts in minutes. Criminals are sending convincing “fraud alerts” that appear to come from Apple, then walking victims step by step through the process of handing over their…