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Rhode Island
California man arrested for stealing $300K from RI town
Crime
Prosecutors say Alec Tahir Baker allegedly stole nearly $9 million dollars from companies and individuals across the country, including the Town of Bristol.
A California man was indicted in federal court on Wednesday after he allegedly participated in multiple scams that defrauded people, establishments, and the town of Bristol, Rhode Island out of nearly $9 million dollars, prosecutors said.
The Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s office named Alec Tahir Baker, a resident of Corona, California, as a “key participant” in an email conspiracy and money laundering scam.
The indictment alleges Baker, 60, was involved in a scam where someone would send phishing emails to individuals, businesses, and Town of Bristol email addresses. If opened, prosecutors said, the email allowed the scammers to access the recipient’s computer information. Then Baker, along with unnamed co-conspirators, would allegedly direct victims’ banks to transfer money into an account owned by Baker or other conspirators, the indictment said.
According to the indictment, Baker, along with the co-conspirators, allegedly defrauded individuals and businesses of at least $8,854,243. In addition, the indictment alleges that around $7,649,876 in fraudulent proceeds were transmitted to bank accounts under Baker’s control.
Baker also allegedly targeted Bristol through the scam, allegedly stealing more than $300,000 dollars from the town.
First charged through a criminal complaint on Nov. 1, the Attorney’s office said Baker was arrested in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 5 and detained after his first appearance in U.S. District Court.
He faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft, the indictment said. Federal prosecutors said he will be transported to Rhode Island to be arraigned on those charges at a “later date.”
Representation for Baker did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
California resident, along with alleged scam enterprise, allegedly defrauded Town of Bristol
The indictment alleges Baker and his co-conspirators used phishing emails to gain access to the Town of Bristol’s computer network in January of 2023.
“The next day, a member of the conspiracy caused $310,500 to be wired from one of the Town’s bank accounts into a business account controlled by Baker, who then withdrew or transferred funds from that account and deposited the money into other accounts he controlled,” the Attorney’s office said.
Of that $310,500, Baker allegedly withdrew $75,000 from the town’s Citibank account with the note “Q1 salary” on Jan. 20, 2023, the indictment said. Three days later, he allegedly withdrew $144,700 from the same Citibank account and deposited it into a Chase account, the indictment said. Next, on Jan. 31, the indictment said he withdrew $89,169.87 from the Citibank account and put it in a cashiers’ check payable to Al Hujen Group, a US Bank account operated by Baker.
The indictment said one of the involved scammers would allegedly pose as vendors and email employees of the targeted companies. The scammer would give the employee fraudulent bank information and direct the employee to make payments to that new account, which was controlled by Baker or co-conspirators, the indictment alleged.
According to the indictment, the targeted companies and individuals were located across the country.
The Town of Bristol did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island shifts its primary to Wednesday, Sept. 9, easing a Labor Day poll setup crunch
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island’s primary elections will now be held on Wednesday, Sept. 9, moving it back from the typical Tuesday election day because it fell too close to Labor Day.
Gov. Dan McKee, a Democrat, signed off on the change earlier this week. The primary election had been scheduled for Sept. 8, which is the day after the holiday weekend.
State and local officials had requested the change after raising concerns about having enough time to set up polls for voters. However, under the legislation enacted, the filing deadlines will remain the same.
“We have to set up over 400 polling places around the state on the day before the election,” Nick Lima, the registrar and director of elections for the city of Cranston, told lawmakers at a hearing in January. “That’s very difficult to do on a holiday because many of our polls are schools, social halls and churches.”
It’s not unusual for states to change their election day. Lawmakers in neighboring Massachusetts changed the state’s 2026 primary election day from Sept. 15 to Sept. 1, arguing that doing so will help improve voter turnout.
Only four states hold their primary elections in September: Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Delaware, which has the latest primary date in the U.S., taking place this year on Sept. 15.
Legislation seeking to move up Delaware’s primary election by several months has been introduced in the statehouse, but previous attempts to do so have stalled.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
CUMBERLAND, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Island State Police are investigating a crash that happened on I-295 North in Cumberland Tuesday night.
The crash happened in the right lane near Exit 22 just before 9 p.m.
It’s unclear exactly what caused the crash or if anyone was injured.
12 News has reached out to Rhode Island State Police for more information but has not heard back.
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Congressional reporter Zachary Schermele dives into the latest scandals on Capitol Hill and how they’re shaking up politics ahead of midterms.
Rhode Island’s Democrat and Republican primary elections will officially be held on Wednesday, Sept. 9 this year, instead of the usual Tuesday election day.
Lawmakers passed the bill at the urging of state and local officials, who were concerned that an election day falling the day after Labor Day would not give them enough time to set up polls for the arrival of voters.
Gov. Dan McKee signed the bill on April 20, officially moving the primary day for 2026.
Which races will be on the ballot? The Republican and Democrat nominees for a swath of local offices – most notably governor but also lieutenant governor and attorney general.
Why was RI’s primary day moved?
At a hearing on the bill earlier this year, Randy Rossi, executive director of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns explained the “significant logistical and financial challenges” municipalities otherwise would have faced having an election the day after Labor Day.
“Beyond cost, municipalities face serious logistical challenges accessing and setting up more than 430 polling locations on a major federal holiday, a process that often requires many hours and access to facilities that are typically closed and unstaffed on Labor Day,” he said.
“Compounding these challenges, many municipalities conduct early voting in city or town halls that must also serve as primary day polling locations,” Rossi noted.
Without changes to current law, he said, “municipalities would be required to conduct early voting and primary day polling simultaneously, often in the same limited space and with the same poll workers, requiring additional staffing and facilities.”
By the time this legislative hearing took place in January, other states facing similar issues, including Massachusetts, had already adjusted their primary dates, “and Rhode Island itself has demonstrated that alternative scheduling can be successful, as occurred during the statewide Wednesday primary in 2018,” Rossi said.
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