Fareed Zakaria, a journalist for Time Magazine and the CNN host of Fareed Zakaria GPS, is accused of plagiarizing several paragraphs from a New Yorker article for an article he recently wrote for Time.

The conservative watchdog media Newsbusters first reported the similarities between Zakaria’s article about gun laws and the article written by Jill Lepore for the New Yorker in April 2012, and according to reports, Zakaria has admitted to the plagiarism.

“I made a terrible mistake,” Zakaria is reported to have said.  “It’ is a serious lapse and one that is entirely my fault.  I apologize unreservedly to her [Lepore] to my editors at Time and to my readers.”

In the article written for Time’s August 20 issue Zakaria wrote:

Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at UCLA, documents the actual history in Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America. Guns were regulated in the U.S. from the earliest years of the Republic. Laws that banned the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813. Other states soon followed: Indiana in 1820, Tennessee and Virginia in 1838, Alabama in 1839 and Ohio in 1859. Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas (Texas!) explained in 1893, the “mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man.”

Lepore wrote in the April 22^nd issue of The New Yorker:

As Adam Winkler, a constitutional-law scholar at U.C.L.A., demonstrates in a remarkably nuanced new book, “Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America,” firearms have been regulated in the United States from the start. Laws banning the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813, and other states soon followed: Indiana (1820), Tennessee and Virginia (1838), Alabama (1839), and Ohio (1859). Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas explained in 1893, the “mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man.”

A spokesperson for Time released a statement today saying in part: “Time takes any accusation of plagiarism by any of our journalist very seriously, and we will carefully examine the facts before saying anything else on the matter.”

Forty-eight year old Zakaria is the author of From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America’s World Role, The Future of Freedom and The Post-American World.  He also co-edited The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World

Actor Tommy “Tiny” Lister, who is best known for his role in “Friday”, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mortgage fraud, which caused lenders to lose almost $4millions.

Authorities said between November 2006 and June 2007, fifty-four year old Lister, of Chatsworth, California, conspired with banks employees and a tax preparer to purchase four homes he knew he could not afford.

With assistance from the bank employees and tax preparer, Lister inflated his income and assets on his mortgage applications and falsified his bank statements and escrow records in order to avoid putting down payments on the homes.

The actor admitted to receiving close to $6million in mortgages and defaulting on four homes, causing lenders to lose $2.6million.

He also admitted to withdrawing over $1.1 million in loans using the properties as collateral, which he never paid back.

Tax prepare Arcelia Chavez also pleaded guilty in court on Friday.

Both men face up to 5 years in federal prison when they are sentenced.

Before entering the world of acting, Lister, who is blind in one eye, was a professional wrestler.

In 1989 Lister appeared in the wrestling movie No Hold Barred, which was financed by the WWF and starred Hulk Hogan.

A 44-year-old New Canaan woman, who prefers to wear designers’ clothing but lack the money to purchase them, was arrested over the weekend for writing bogus checks.

Julie M. Aliapoulios, of 585 Silvermine Road, surrendered to Greenwich police on Saturday over a 2010 incident.

It is alleged that Aliapoulios wrote a check to a retailer on Greenwich Avenue in December 2010 for $5,550.13 knowing she didn’t have the funds to cover it.

In addition to the Greenwich incident, Aliapoulios was arrested last month in Westport for writing more bad checks.  She is accused of writing two bad checks to Mitchells of Westport, one for $4,130 and the other $3,550.

In addition to writing bad checks Aliapoulios, who is a real estate broker in New Canaan, likes to get physical.  On March 18 2011, she called police to her Silvermine Road residence at 9:06 p.m. claiming that her husband, Matthew, who lives on Belden Road in Norwalk had hit her during an argument. Matthew Aliapoulios told police that his wife was the aggressor in their argument and they both were arrested.

The 38-year-old wife of Florida’s imprisoned Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein was charged with attempting to hide more than $1million worth of jewelry from the authorities.

Kim Rothstein, along with her attorney Scott Saidel and her friend Stacie Weisman, were each charged on Thursday with a single count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, a charge that could send them to prison for five years.

Authorities have accused Rothstein, Saidel and Weisman of trying to sell jewelry, including 12.08-carat yellow diamond ring to jeweler Patrick Daoud, the owner of Daoud’s Fine Jewelry and Eddy Marian, a local businessman.

When Rothstein’s husband, a former labor law attorney in Fort Lauderdale, was arrested in October 2009 for masterminding a $1billion Ponzi scheme, the largest investment fraud in South Florida history, she told authorities that she was not aware of her husband’s criminal activities.

Knowing that authorities was about to seize all of the couple’s valuable, Kim Rothstein tried to unload the jewelry before the feds seized their mansions, fleet of luxury vehicles, cash and jewelry.

When authorities eventually ordered Kim Rothstein to turn over all other valuable assets to bankruptcy attorneys in an attempt to recoup money for her husband’s victims, nothing was left to turn over.

Authorities said Rothstein, Saidel and Weisman stashed the jewelry, and had planned to sell the 12-carot ring to Daoud and have Marin sell off the other pieces.

When she was charged on Thursday, Kim Rothstein’s new lawyer issued a statement saying in part: “Kim would like to take the opportunity to express her disappointment, shame and sadness in regard to all of the victims of her husband, Scott Rothstein’s, actions related to the Ponzi scheme for which he has previously been sentenced. She had no involvement or knowledge of his fraudulent activity.”

Scott Rothstein pleaded guilty to five felony charges and was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison.

Busted……

Vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan recently released a photo of himself cleaning a pot in a soup kitchen in Ohio, but according to the president of the charitable organization, the pot was already cleaned and there were no patrons in the facility.

The organization’s president, Brian J. Antal, said Ryan and his wife showed up to the Youngstown kitchen after all of the “people in need” had already left the facility.

He also added that all of the pots, pans and dishes were cleaned, and the photo that the politician released of himself cleaning a pot is bogus!

Antal said Ryan was only in the facility for about 15 minutes and his entire time was spent doing photo ops.

“He did nothing,” Antal said.  “He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.”

Antal, who was not at the facility during Ryan’s visit, said he would not have allowed the politician into soup kitchen because they have a strict apolitical stance.  He said someone in Ryan’s camp convinced a kitchen volunteer into opening up the door after everyone had already left.

Ryan has not commented on the gaffe.

A Greenwich real estate investment firm is suing two banks that allowed a former employee to cash checks she was not entitled to.

Nutmeg Investment Partners,located at 44 Greenwich Avenue, is suing Bank of America and Greenwich Bank & Trust for cashing fraudulent checks that their former office manager Claire Balducci made out to herself and cashed at several of their locations during a three-year-old.

Forty-six year old Balducci, of Stratford, pleaded guilty to wire fraud charge in U.S. District Court in Hartford.

Nutmeg claims from September 2008 to November 2011 Balducci, who had access to the company’s six bank accounts, wrote several checks to herself and third-party vendors, which she deposited to her personal People’s United Bank account, totaling around $1.1 million.  In addition, the real estate firm said Balducci opened a J.P. Morgan Chase credit card in the company’s managing partner’s name and authorized herself as a co-user of the account.  She then used the credit card to purchase personal items.

Authorities said she Balducci used interstate wires in the scheme by calling the J.P. Morgan Chase call center outside of Connecticut from telephone numbers in Connecticut to arrange setting up the credit card account.

Balducci, who was released from police custody on $250,000 bond and placed on home confinement under electronic monitoring, faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on March 6.

Nutmeg’s attorney Mark Sherman, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of his client over the summer, said his client “wants justice…. [because] the checks were cashed at various banks in the area to my client’s detriment.”

As of press time a trial date had not been set.

A Connecticut politician, who served five years in federal prison for bribery, was arrested on Friday and charged with falsely obtaining more than $60,000 in public funds to finance his failed bid for a state Senate seat.

Authorities said former state Senator Ernest E. Newton, of Bridgeport, surrendered himself at the Connecticut state police barracks in Bethany after a warrant was issued for his arrest.  He was released after signing a promise to appear in state Superior Court in Hartford on January 17.

According to the arrest affidavit, fifty-six year old Newtown “submitted false documentations to obtain $80,550 from the state’s Citizen Election Program,” that funded his campaign in a three way race, which he eventually lost.

In order to qualify for the funds, candidates were required to raise $15,000 in private funds.  Authorities said Newtown was only able to raise $14,500 so he had five of “his campaign workers sign cards stating they had contributed to his campaign, when in fact they had not.”

When someone from the State Elections Enforcement Commission, who issued the funds to Newton’s campaign in July 2012, contacted one the individuals who signed the cards, it is said that the politician told her not to talk to anyone.

Newtown, who was charged with a felony count of first-degree larceny, tampering with a witness and five counts of illegal campaign practices, faces 30 years in prison if he is convicted.

Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has been officially charged with a crime.

The feds have not been able to charge him with trying to buy Barack Obama’s Senate seat, but today they charged him with campaign fraud.

Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is accused of spending more than $700,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses.  In addition, his wife, Shandra, was charged with filing false income tax forms.

Sources close to the case said Jackson conspired with his wife to illegally spend $750,000 on personal items including a $43,000 Rolex watch, fur coats, cosmetic procedures and home renovations.

Shortly after he was charged on Friday Jackson released a statement saying in part: “Over the course of my life I have come to realize that none of us are immune from our share of shortcomings and human frailties.  Still I offer no excuses for my conduct and I fully accept my responsibility for the improper decisions and mistakes I have made.  TO that end I want to offer my sincerest apologies to my family, my friends and all of my supporters for my errors in judgment and while my journey is not yet compete, it is my hope that I am remembered for the things that I did right.”

Jackson faces anything from probation to up to 58 months in prison when he is sentenced.

It is likely that Jackson’s father, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., will work out a deal to prevent his son from doing jail time.

The social media statistics company, SocialBakers, just completed an investigation into Canadian singer Justin Bieber’s Twitter account and concluded that more than half of his followers are FAKE.

Nineteen year old Justin was recently named the “King of Twitter” with his bogus 37.3 million followers, knocking Lady Gaga out of first place with her 19 million followers.  But after Socialbakers was finished sifting through the phony accounts, it is estimated that the teenage singer has about 17.8 million followers, which is still very good, but it’s a far cry from the 37.3 million he had claimed.

It’s unclear whether Justin was aware of the phony accounts or if someone on his management team just bought the followers without his knowledge, but buying Twitter “followers,” and Facebook  “Likes” and “Friends” is nothing new in the entertainment industry.

Cast-members from the Bravo “Housewives” franchise and reality queen Kim Kardashian are rumored to have bought many of their “likes” and “followers.”

Fashion company, Ralph Lauren Corporation, was fined almost $2 million in penalties after it was discovered that an executive working for one of the company’s subsidiary in Argentina made illegal payoffs to customs officials in order to avoid inspections and clear customs without delay.

In order to avoid prosecution, the company agreed to pay a little more than $1.6 million in penalties.

Authorities said between 2004 and 2009 the manager, who has not been publicly identified, payoff officials in the Latin America country to help Ralph Lauren Corporation move goods without submitting required paperwork, induced inspectors there to overlook prohibited items and at times, allowed for goods to be cleared without any inspection.

In addition to not finding the company, authorities agreed not to prosecutor the executive, who is said to have dual citizenship in the US and Argentina.

Ralph Lauren released a statement saying in part: “When these issues surfaced at our subsidiary in Argentina, we took immediate action to hire outside counsel and forensic specialists to conduct an internal investigation and reported the matter directly to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.  There was no evidence that the improper activity in Argentina was known or authorized by anyone outside of Argentina or that similar practices were occurring at other foreign operations.”

“The conduct of the Argentina subsidiary was wholly inconsistent with the culture of compliance and integrity that we have worked diligently to establish and, as our reaction demonstrates, such conduct is not and will not be tolerated at Ralph Lauren Corporation.”

The company stopped short of saying whether that executive was still with the company.

Not sure how these people expected to get away with this, but a Connecticut couple tried to purchase a home with a altered check.

According to the police affidavit, in February of this year Kimberly and Scott Gross, of Colchester, gave their attorney a check for almost half-a-million dollars for a home they wanted to buy, and the check was manipulated.

The report says the couple’s Glastonbury attorney suspected something was wrong with the cashier’s check for $472,204.00 when it began peeling apart.

When the real estate agent asked for proof of the funds, the Gross’, both 41, gave a forged bank statement.

They were charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree forgery, conspiracy to commit second-degree forgery, third-degree forgery and conspiracy to commit third-degree forgery.

Did they really think they were going to get away with this? Let’s say the lawyer didn’t notice that the check was altered before bringing it to the bank, didn’t they realize that the bank would have picked up on it?

The granddaughter of Learjet inventor William Lear is accused of faking a marriage to her dead boyfriend in order to collect hundreds-of-thousands of dollars.

It is alleged that Allison Lear forged a marriage certificate to collect the $200,000 estate left by her boyfriend Alexander Djordjevic, who was killed on June 26, 2010 when his Porsche left the road while competing in a race near Virginia City, Nevada.

It is alleged that after 37-year-old Djordjevic passed away, 39-year-old Lear, who worked as a Las Vegas constable’s deputy, forged a marriage certificate claiming that she and the race-car driver tied the knot days before he was killed

Authorities and Djordjevic’s family became suspicious of the marriage certificate, which said the two were married in Las Vegas on June 21 at Lear’s father home, the same date Djordjevic was in California working for his family’s business.

The marriage certificate also stated that the ceremony was performed by Minister Cory Matteucci of Boise, Idaho, however, there was no record of Rev. Matteucci applying for a temporary permit to conduct a wedding in Nevada.

When questioned by police, Matteucci said Lear had contacted him and asked him to sign a back-dated marriage certificate.

Lear’s own father, John, questioned the validity of marriage telling authorities he “would have known if his daughter had been married at 4:00 a.m. on June 21, 2010, at his home.”

Lear kept Djordjevic’s family from seeing his body for more than two months following his death.  They were finally able to bury him in August.

The family said Lear and the racecar driver were only dating for a few months before he passed away.

Lear was arrested on Saturday at the Hakkasan nightclub at the MGM Grand.  She faces charges of forgery and perjury.

New York State officials are investigating real estate agent turned reality star Luis Ortiz after he Photoshopped a Greenwich Village town house on the hit Bravo reality show “Million Dollar Listing New York.”

On a May episode of the hit real estate reality show, 26-year-old Luis was seen Photoshopping a $7 million apartment that was in desperate need of repairs.

Luis and his twin-brother, David, edited an outdated kitchen by Photoshopping a new oven, hardwood floors and marble countertops, which they then placed on fliers and handed out to other agents.

In the episode Luis said, “If I put the real photos out there, nobody would come inside….a little white lie isn’t going to kill anybody!”

According to the New York Post, days after the episode air New York State officials launched an investigation into Luis’ business practices.

Luis has since apologized for the incident.

Bravo has not commented on the incident.

A Texas Bishop of a mega-church sent letters to his members, who mostly live in low-income areas, asking each one to donate $52 to fix his helicopter.

In the letter sent to New Light Church members, Bishop Ira V. Hilliard said “a small voice of the Holy Spirit” told him that God would “release favor” for anyone who helped upgrade the blades on the church’s helicopter.

“We have an urgent transportation need that the Lord said can be an opportunity for you to see His favor and His wisdom released to help you,” the Bishop wrote to his congregation.  “Scripture teaches when you give to a Kingdom need God will raise up someone to use their power, their ability and their influence to help you.”

He then promised his flock that God would give “a new car in 52 days or 52 weeks” to anyone making a contribution.

“I believe with all my heart this message is for you and your doing something today is the key to releasing this favor on your transportation situation!”

“Send me the transportation need or your dream you have by completing the online petition when you sow a $52.00 transportation favor seed believing in 52 days or 52 weeks you will experience a breakthrough favor!

Bishop Hilliard did not say where he was going to get the money to purchase the cars for each member of his six churches, all in Texas.  According to his website, New Light has “over 28,000 members and is increasing at a rate of 400-500 monthly.”

In addition to owning a helicopter, which is said to be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million, the Bishop, through his church, also owns a Hawker jet valued around $2 million and an aviation hangar valued at $3 million.

A 43-year-old NYC financial adviser is accused of stealing more than one million dollars from an 84-year-old client.

Glenn Andrew Schwarzkopf, originally from Larchmont, is accused of stealing the money between June 2010 and March 2013.

Authorities did not say how Schwarzkopf swindled the money, but they said more than $700,000.00 was used to pay off his personal American Express bills.

This is not the first time that Schwarzkopf is accused of taking his client’s money. Last year, Schwarzkopf was accused of stealing almost one-quarter of a million dollars, nearly 60% of which he pocketed or otherwise converted for personal use. During the alleged fraudulent activity, Schwarzkopf was associated with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (March – June 2010) and First Allied Securities, Inc. (June 2010 – May 2011).

It is alleged that Schwarzkopf persuaded a client to withdraw the funds from a variable annuity (VA) account promising to invest the money on the client’s behalf, but instead, he deposited the money into his personal account.

Schwarzkopf, who was living in Florida with his mother at the time of his arrest, was also accused of stealing from clients in 2005 and 2010.  In 2005, while with Citicorp, a client accused him of forging his signature.  In 2010, another client alleged he had “effected mutual fund transactions without disclosing associated sales charges” to the customer first.

Citicorp settled with the clients.

For his current crime, Schwarzkopf is charged with grand larceny, criminal tax fraud and offering a false instrument for filing.

Prior to working for Citigroup, Schwarzkopf worked as a financial adviser in private client services at Ryan, Beck & Company, where his father was a senior vice president.

He married Cheryl Calegari, who was a vice president for public relations and marketing at Tommy Hilfiger, in 2002.  They have since divorce,

A NY investment fund manager and his real estate developer brother-in-law are accused of operating a $96 million Ponzi scheme.

Brian R. Callahan and his brother-in-law Adam J. Manson, were charged on Thursday in a 24-count indictment with conspiracy to commit securities, wire fraud and several other criminal offenses.

Authorities said between December 2006 and February 2012, 43-year-old Callahan raised $118 million from 40 investors, including the Montauk Fire Department, whom he told he was investing their money into four different funds he operated that supposedly invested only in mutual and hedge funds and securities such as stocks and bonds paying high dividends.

Authorities said in 2007 Callahan and his 41-year-old brother-in-law purchased the Panoramic View in Montauk hoping to sell off units for as much as $6.5 million to individual buyers as co-ops.  After the Long Island, NY, men were unsuccessful in selling the units, authorities said they began dipping into their investors money to pay the carrying costs of the resort.

In addition, authorities said they men used some of the money to maintain their lavish lifestyle purchasing homes in Old Westbury and Westhampton.  They are also accused of purchasing luxury vehicles such as Range Rovers and BMWs and membership to country clubs.

Callahan’s wife, Sheri Manson Callahan, was named in a 2012 Securities and Exchange Commission complaint related to the same scheme.

Callahan was released on a $2 million bond secured by $500,000 equity in three homes owned by his sister and father in Southington, Connecticut.  Mason was released on $1 million bond secured by $500,000 in equity in his father’s home.

If convicted, the men face up 21 years in prison.

Authorities in New Jersey, who accused a 59-year-old Greenwich resident of operating a Ponzi scheme, filed a lawsuit against him and his this week.

Acting Attorney General John Hoffman filed a lawsuit  against Robert Paris and his brother, Thomas Paris, of New York, claiming that the men violated New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act by defrauding customers out of more than $1 million through their Bloomfield, New Jersey-based  members-only travel company Crown Travel Services, also known as Club ABC Tours and ABC Destinations.

The brothers are accused of using members’ payments for futures to pay for earlier trips booked by other members.

“The two brothers who owned and operated these travel companies allegedly kept their business afloat by using money from new customers, to pay for trips booked by previous customers. When this scheme inevitably fell apart, hundreds of customers lost more than $1 million,” Hoffman said after filing the lawsuit against the men on Tuesday.

It is also alleged that after their company went belly-up, the brothers continued to accept money from members; money which authorities said was used by the brothers to maintain their lavish lifestyles.

Member Jane Riesel, of Fort Lee, who paid Club ABC more than $6,000 for a 10-day all inclusive tour of Italy not knowing that the company had already folded, said the first two days of her trip was fine but she soon learned that the rest of her trip was never booked or paid for.

“They knew that we were going to be stranded and they let us leave,” Riesel said.

Hoffman said the state of New Jersey “will use its full authority in an effort to recover the money [members] lost.”

He is asking that the brothers be compelled to give up all funds and property acquired through the alleged violations and to refund money.

Under the Consumer Fraud Act, a first violation is subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 and subsequent violations are subject to civil penalties of up to $20,000.  Each deceptive practice or advertisement is considered a separate violation of the Consumer Fraud Act.

The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs received 230 complaints about the company totaling more than $1 million in losses.

A New Canaan real estate broker, her adult son, and a third person are accused of renting a home without permission from its owner.

In August 2012, real estate broker Ruth Jones of Ruth Jones Homes on Locust Avenue in New Canaan, rented a home she knew was vacant on Braeburn Drive to an unsuspecting 54-year-old woman for $6,000 a month.

According to the police report, the tenant became suspicious of the real estate fraud four months after she gave 56-year-old Jones a check for $24,000 to cover the security deposit and two months rent.

The tenant said one day she was in the home, which she thought she had legally rented, and a locksmith showed up to changes the locks.

After almost three years of investing the incident, police arrested Jones, her 29-year-old son Adam and 55-year-old Lynda Silvestro on August 19.

Ruth Jones was charged with first-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit first degree larceny, third-degree burglary and second-degree forgery.

Her son was charged with first-degree larceny and first degree conspiracy to commit larceny.

Silvestro was charged with first-degree larceny, making a false statement in the second-degree and first degree conspiracy to commit larceny.

All three were released on $50,000 bonds.  They are due in court this Thursday.

Authorities said on May 27, 2011, the rightful owner of the property, who lives out-of-state, signed a six-month real estate contract with Jones to sell the home;  however, when the contract expired on November 27, 2011, the owner opted not to renew it.

Although Jones had no legal right to continue showing the home on the owner’s behalf, authorities said she continued showing it and she also listed it on her website for sale at $1,369,000.00 or rent at $6,500.00 a month, claiming she was the seller’s broker.

According to the police report, in August 2012, 9 months Jones’ contract ended with the homeowner, the real estate broker found a tenant to occupy the home.

The report says while the tenant was in the home, Jones asked her to sign a lease agreement change naming Silvestro and her son as the landlords of the property.

Jones then contacted the owner’s lawyer claiming to have a buyer for the property.  Police said she identified the buyer as Lynda Silvestro.

In September 2012, Silvestro placed a $30,000 down payment on the home but for unknown reasons the deal fell through.

Authorities said Silvestro then put an additional $50,000 down on the home, this time including her husband, Santo Silvestro, on the contract.

The couple agreed to a closing date of November 1, 2012.

According to the police report, after Hurricane Sandy the attorney for the owner drove by the property to see if there were any damages and noticed that someone had moved furniture into the home.

The lawyer contacted Jones and Jones allegedly told the lawyer that she had the home staged for a quick sale.

Meanwhile, Jones told the tenant that if anyone should ask her what she was doing in the home, she was to say that she was an interior decorator.

The following day, the lawyer hired a locksmith to change the locks.

Police said during their investigation, Silvestro told them that the signature on the lease was not hers and that it was forged. Police said her $30,000 was being managed from Property Management LLC account then deposited into another account. Police also said that based on an agreement between Property Management and Jones, that Jones had permission to sign Silvestro’s name.

Police said there are a lot of conflicting statements made from Jones and Silvestro. Police said the $24,000 deposit that the complainant made was put into a Property Management account, but it should have gone into an escrow account for the estate. That money, according to police, was then transferred to another Realtor’s company that Ruth Jones claimed she worked under.

According to her website, Jones says she is a lifelong native of New Canaan with more than 20 years in real estate and strong ties to the community.

In addition to having a Connecticut real estate license, Jones says she also has licenses in New York and Rhode Island.

The state of Connecticut released a statement from of Office of The Attorney General Department of Consumer Protection stating that they have filed a lawsuit against the former executive director of the now-defunct South Arsenal Neighborhood Development, Inc. (SAND) over allegations that she “misappropriated charitable funds”.

The lawsuit claims that Karen Lewis, who served as the executive director of SAND from January, 2000 to December 31, 2009, stole more than $200,000 of charitable funds.  The state alleges that beginning in November 2006, Lewis used the organization’s debit card to withdraw funds, which she used to purchase personal items at two casinos and local retail stores, and make payments on her personal credit card.

Attorney General George Jepsen said the funds that Lewis stole “were intended to support the Arsenal Neighborhood, but were instead used by Lewis for her personal gain.  This conduct simply will not be tolerated.”

Jepsen said the case is part of a renewed focus by his office to crack down on thefts from charities and non-profits. “We take this stuff very seriously,” he said. The office has recently increased the number of lawyers dedicated to such cases from two to three.

SAND was nonprofit dedicated to improving the economic, physical and social condition in Hartford’s North End. The charity was a primary provider of social services to the residents of the neighborhood, relying on both public and private donations, including operating money from the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut.

SAND disbanded in 2009 after the United Way funds dried up, but in 2010, a new board came in and tried to resurrect the agency and that’s when they realized something was profoundly wrong.

About 16 months ago, the board consulted with Jepsen’s office, which opened the investigation that culminated in Tuesday’s lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction against Lewis, of Windsor, barring her from holding “any office, directorship or position of employment or any other association with a charitable organization in Connecticut where she will have control of funds of the organization or authorization over the disbursement of funds.”

New York authorities said Akmal Narzikulov was the mastermind behind a DMV scam that allowed some people to illegally obtain their commercial driver’s license.

It is alleged that Narzikulov charged people who, for one reason or another, were unable to pass their commercial license exams thousands of dollars to help them get a license to drive school buses, big rigs and heavy equipments.

Narzikulov then hired surrogate test-takers to take the exams.

He is also accused of bribing DMV security guards in lower Manhattan, Harlem, Jamaica and Massapequa, Long Island, to look the other way while people were allowed to leave the room and building with the exams.  Authorities said these people then allegedly gave the exams to surrogate test-takers outside the building who looked up the answers on their laptop.

In addition, authorities said Narzikulov sold “special coded pencils” for $2,500 that were marked up with a series of dashes and dots that corresponded to correct true and false answers.

Working on a tip from two informants, investigators began monitoring the guards and they captured surrogate test-taker Marie Daniel filling out the exams in a downtown Manhattan fast-food restaurant.

DMV workers Firdavs Mamadaliev, Dale Harper, Joachim Pierre Louis, Luc Desmangles, Jose Tayano, Tanel Daniel, Baeyaeh Kamara, Latoya Bourne and Inocente Martinez were arrested Wednesday morning and charged with mail fraud and defrauding the DMV.

Narzikulov, Marie Daniel, Tanel Daniel and Tayano are all being held without bail.

Kamara, Martinez and Bourne, who is eight months pregnant, were released on $150,000 bail after being charged in Brooklyn Federal Court.