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Encino man convicted of $27M COVID relief fraud scheme

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Encino man convicted of M COVID relief fraud scheme

An Encino man was convicted by a federal jury Monday in a $27 million COVID-19 reduction funds fraud scheme.

Robert Benlevi, 53, was convicted for submitting fraudulent purposes searching for cash from the Paycheck Safety Program (PPP), submitting false statements to a monetary establishment, and cash laundering, the Division of Justice mentioned in a information launch Tuesday.

Benlevi submitted 27 PPP mortgage purposes to 4 banks between April and June 2020 on behalf of eight corporations solely owned by him, in keeping with courtroom paperwork and proof offered at trial.

Within the purposes, Benlevi sought a complete of $27 million in forgivable PPP loans assured by the Small Enterprise Administration below the Coronavirus Assist, Reduction, and Financial Safety (CARES) Act, the DOJ mentioned.

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In his fraudulent purposes, Benlevi represented that every of his corporations had 100 staff and common month-to-month payroll of $400,000, though he knew that the businesses didn’t have any staff or payroll bills, in keeping with the division.

He additionally submitted fabricated IRS paperwork falsely stating that every of the businesses had an annual payroll of $4,800,000, the DOJ added.

Based mostly on Benlevi’s fraudulent mortgage purposes, three of his corporations — 1Stellar Well being LLC, Bestways2 Well being LLC and Joyous-Health4U LLC — obtained $3 million in PPP funds.

Though Benlevi falsely represented that the funds can be used for payroll and different enterprise bills, he as an alternative used them for private bills, together with money withdrawals, funds on his private bank cards, transfers to different private and enterprise accounts he managed, and renting an oceanfront house in Santa Monica, the DOJ mentioned.

In a single day, Benlevi withdrew $248,000 of PPP funds in cashier’s checks from the Bestways2 Well being account, and deposited the cash into different accounts he managed.

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Benlevi was convicted of financial institution fraud, false statements to a monetary establishment, and cash laundering.

He’s scheduled to be sentenced on June 27 and faces a most penalty of 30 years in jail.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Southern California teen girl stabbed to death, suspect in custody

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Southern California teen girl stabbed to death, suspect in custody

A Southern California teen was stabbed to death on Friday night, and police say an acquaintance of hers is in custody.

Authorities responded to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon at about 10 p.m. Friday on the 300 Block of North Soldano Avenue in Azusa, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

When Azusa police officers arrived at the scene, they found a girl suffering from stab wounds. She was transported to a local hospital, where she later died.

The victim was identified only as a 17-year-old girl. Her name is yet to be publicly released.

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A suspect, identified only as an 18-year-old acquaintance of the girl, was taken into custody. As of Saturday morning, it wasn’t yet clear whether the suspect would be facing charges.

No additional details were immediately made available.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Saturday "Gayle on the Go!" : OneLegacy Donate Life at the 2025 Rose Parade

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Saturday "Gayle on the Go!" : OneLegacy Donate Life at the 2025 Rose Parade

KTLA is Your Rose Parade Station. Gayle Anderson reports Ed Morales, the current Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association President, has chosen the 2025 Rose Parade theme, ‘Best Day Ever ‘. This theme is a celebration of life’s best moments – those unexpected times that bring a smile, warm our hearts, and fill us with joy.

While for donor families, losing a loved one represents one of the most difficult moments of their lives, organ, eye, and tissue donation brings a ray of hope. It allows them to see their loved ones live on in others, creating a legacy that continues in transplant recipients. The 2025 OneLegacy Donate Life float, Let Your Life Soar, features a vibrant scene inspired by the beloved Japanese celebration of Children’s Day. Colorful Koi No Bori (Flying Fish Flags), or windsocks shaped like fish, fly overhead. Streamers bear the family crest, followed by Koi No Bori in a sequence representing father, mother, and children in order of birth.

On the OneLegacy float, the koi fish scales will highlight memorial floragraph portraits. Floragraph portraits from organic materials represent donors who gave the gift of life. The windsocks will soar over a garden of flowering trees featuring stone lanterns and a beautiful bridge. Organ, eye, and tissue recipients will ride on the float, sharing their gratitude for their donors’ gift of life. Living donors will walk alongside the float, showing the power of living donation. The OneLegacy Let Your Life Soar float showcases the Japanese culture and the tradition of Children’s Day, or Kodomo no Hi in Japan. Children’s Day occurs during Golden Week, a collection of four national holidays celebrated within seven days and one of Japan’s three busiest holiday seasons. Families raise their carp-shaped windsocks in Japan, which have been flying for generations. In Japan, the koi fish represent strength, courage, and health.

These same attributes define not only those who chose to give the gift of life but also their families afterward and their recipients. Koi fish are also believed to represent perseverance, stemming from an ancient legend of a golden carp that swam upstream and became a dragon. The entire donation and transplantation community exemplifies perseverance from the families that carry on the legend of their loved ones to the medical community For Immediate Release NEWS tirelessly dedicated to donation and transplantation. The 2025 OneLegacy Donate Life Float honors tradition, family, legends, and love within the donation community.

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Award-winning float deAward-winning float designer Charles Meier created the beautiful design that honors this quintessential Japanese celebration. The float will be brought to life under the direction of the OneLegacy Donate Life float’s new crew chief, Travis Woodward. Every year, more than a thousand volunteers spend countless hours decorating the float with organic materials from October through December, with the goal of finishing it for its journey down the streets of Pasadena on New Year’s Day.

The OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade float is produced by OneLegacy and made possible thanks to dozens of donation, transplantation, healthcare, and family care organizations from across the country, who join OneLegacy to sponsor our float every year, and individuals who help make donation and transplantation possible. As the world’s most visible campaign to inspire organ, eye, and tissue donation, the OneLegacy Donate Life float in the Rose Parade, presented by Honda, is a powerful reminder of the impact everyone can make. By registering today to become an organ, eye, or tissue donor, you can potentially save or enhance the life of one of the over one million people in need of transplants each year. Your decision to donate is a testament to the power of community and the value we place on life.

Visit www.onelegacy.org/register or Registerme.org for those outside of California to register.

About OneLegacy: OneLegacy is the nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in seven counties in Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Kern. It serves more than 200 hospitals, 9 transplant centers, a diverse population of 20 million donors and families across the region and waiting recipients across the country. Becoming an eye, organ or tissue donor is easy and can be done by registering online at donateLIFEcalifornia.org/OneLegacy or by “checking YES” at your local DMV. For more information, visit OneLegacy.org

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Los Angeles, Ca

‘Shut up, I’m trying to steal!’: Burglars ransack Southern California homes while posing as deliverymen

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‘Shut up, I’m trying to steal!’: Burglars ransack Southern California homes while posing as deliverymen

Residents are frightened and angry as a group of suspects continue ransacking San Fernando Valley homes, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

A Valley Village resident said she was stunned and shaken up after thieves targeted her home on Dec. 17 between 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The break-in was captured on home surveillance cameras as a male suspect approached the house and appeared to be disguised as a delivery man.

“Ten minutes after we left [our home], someone was knocking at the door and our dog was barking away,” she said. “Then within a minute, someone had broken into the back of the house, smashed the glass door, came in and locked the dog in a room and just trashed the house. They took all of my jewelry.”

Photos of the aftermath showed drawers in every room were removed and emptied and all of the woman’s belongings were thrown across the floor in heaping piles.

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“It was very frightening and very scary,” the homeowner, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA’s Angeli Kakade.

  • A suspect is seen on security footage rummaging through a victim's closet in the San Fernando Valley.
  • Three hooded burglary suspects run into the backyard of a San Fernando Valley home, knocking over any security cameras they spot.
  • Home surveillance cameras captured a fake delivery man knocking on the front door of a Valley Village home while several suspects shattered the back door to burglarize the home on Dec. 17, 2024.
  • The male suspect posing as a delivery person is seen walking away.
  • The destructive aftermath of a burglary at a Valley Village home on Dec. 17, 2024.
  • The destructive aftermath of a burglary at a Valley Village home on Dec. 17, 2024.
  • Three hooded burglary suspects run into the backyard of a San Fernando Valley home, knocking over any security cameras they spot.
  • Three hooded burglary suspects run into the backyard of a San Fernando Valley home, knocking over any security cameras they spot.
  • The back door of a Valley Village home was shattered as a group of thieves ransacked the property on Dec. 17, 2024.
  • The destructive aftermath of a burglary at a Valley Village home on Dec. 17, 2024.

She posted the surveillance video on the NextDoor app and was shocked to discover how many other nearby residents came forward with similar burglary stories.

“I didn’t know this was going on until I let our neighbors know and then you start finding out that it’s happening all the time,” another neighbor told KTLA.

A Sherman Oaks resident posted a video of a thief rummaging inside a closet and at one point, he was heard yelling to the homeowner, “Shut up bi*ch! I’m trying to steal!” 

Victims reported the same details — a fake delivery man knocks on the front door to check if anyone’s home while several accomplices enter the house by shattering a back door or window.

At times, when the suspects would spot a security camera, they would quickly run over and knock it to the ground.

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The Valley Village victim said she’s angry over the constant break-ins her community is forced to endure. The worst part, she said, was that she had no idea it was taking place. She believes local law enforcement needs to prioritize alerting citizens of burglary threats.

“I’m very frustrated because I feel like if people had let us know, maybe we could’ve taken more precautions,” she said.

The burglaries remain under investigation and no suspects have been arrested. Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles Police Department at 818-374-9500.

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