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Men Get Prison In $300M Magazine Fraud Scheme

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Men Get Prison In 0M Magazine Fraud Scheme


MINNEAPOLIS – Two men were sentenced to prison for their separate roles in a $300 million nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme that targeted elderly and vulnerable victims, U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger announced Tuesday.

Anthony Eugene Moulder and Abdou-Rahmane Diallo were sentenced Monday to 120 months and 90 months in prison, respectively.

Moulder pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud on Jan. 13, 2023.

Diallo pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud on March 4, 2024.

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Anthony Eugene Moulder

According to federal prosecutors, Moulder, 63, of Fort Myers ran Florida-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, including Gulf Coast Readers Inc., ARCO Media Inc., KMK Magazines Inc., and Leisure Time Resources Inc.

From 2008 through 2020, Moulder purchased lists of current magazine subscribers, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, authorities said.

Moulder’s sales teams used the list and employed deceptive sales scripts to “induce victims into making large or repeat payments” to Moulder’s companies for unwanted magazine subscriptions, prosecutors said.

Moulder and his companies defrauded thousands of victims across the U.S. out of approximately $86,589,272, according to investigators.

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Abdou-Rahmane Diallo

Meanwhile, Diallo, 36, of Montreal, Quebec, was a co-owner and operator of Readers Services, a Canadian-based company that carried out a telemarking fraud scheme, authorities said.

From 2011 through 2020, Diallo targeted people previously been victimized by fraudulent magazine companies and were being billed by one or more fraudulent magazine companies on an ongoing basis, according to investigators.

Diallo pretended to be from the “magazine cancellation department” and offered to pay off the victims’ “outstanding balance” and cancel their existing magazine subscriptions in exchange for a large, lump-sum payment, according to prosecutors.

In reality, the victims did not owe Diallo or his company any money, and Diallo had no power or ability to cancel the victims’ existing magazine subscriptions or any outstanding balances, according to authorities.

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Diallo and other participants in his scheme defrauded more than 20,000 victims out of approximately $30 million, investigators said.



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Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis man arrested in Manchester after allegedly trying to meet minor for sex

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Minneapolis man arrested in Manchester after allegedly trying to meet minor for sex


A Minnesota man has been arrested in Manchester after police say he attempted to meet someone he believed was a minor for sexual activity.

The Manchester Police Department said Robert Fenn Eselby III, 23, of Minneapolis was arrested Feb. 27 following an undercover investigation.

According to police, Eselby contacted an undercover officer posing as a juvenile through several social media platforms. Authorities said he was informed multiple times that the person he was communicating with was underage.

Investigators say Eselby sent explicit photos and videos and later arranged to travel to Manchester to meet the supposed minor for sexual activity.

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Police said Eselby was taken into custody immediately after arriving in Manchester and was transported to the Delaware County Jail.

Authorities also said Eselby allegedly attempted to ask an arresting officer out on a date during the booking process.

Eselby faces one count of grooming, a Class D felony, and one count of disseminating obscene material to a minor, a serious misdemeanor.

Court records show he remains presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.



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Minneapolis, MN

What is a data center?

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What is a data center?


What exactly is a data center and why are so many being proposed across Minnesota? Professor Manjeet Rege, chair of Software Engineering and Data Science and director of the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence at the University of St. Thomas, joins us to explain how these massive facilities store and process the world’s data and what the economic, environmental, and infrastructure questions are as Minnesota considers hosting more of them.



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Minneapolis Ranked Among U.S. Cities With The Most People In Financial Distress

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Minneapolis Ranked Among U.S. Cities With The Most People In Financial Distress


MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis is ranked among the American cities with the most people in financial distress nationwide, according to a recent analysis by WalletHub.

The personal finance website, which defines financial distress as having a credit account in forbearance or with deferred payments, looked at the country’s 100 largest cities without data limitations across nine metrics, including average credit score, change in bankruptcy filings year-over-year, and share of people with accounts in distress.

Minneapolis came in 44th on the list, between Stockton, California, at 43rd and Fresno, California, at 45th, according to the ranking.

Nationwide, the cities with the most people in financial distress were Chicago at No. 1, Houston at No. 2 and Las Vegas at No. 3, the ranking said.

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“Getting out of the downward spiral of financial distress is no easy feat,” according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

“You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off. People who find themselves in financial distress should budget carefully, cut non-essential expenses, and pursue strategies like debt consolidation or debt management to get their situation under control.”

Read more from WalletHub.





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