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Miami Herald
10 hours ago
- Miami Herald
The end for a Fort Lauderdale attorney who disappeared with at least $630,000
The odyssey of a Fort Lauderdale attorney who disappeared with at least $630,000, some of which was intended for an octogenarian woman's care, went to Philadelphia, returned to Fort Lauderdale and will end in Texas. Specifically, a federal prison in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. On Thursday in Fort Lauderdale federal court, Judge David Leibowitz ordered John Spencer Jenkins, 55, to surrender Friday to start serving time at a federal prison in the Metroplex, where Jenkins has family. After pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, Jenkins got two years, nine months for each charge, sentences to be served concurrently, plus $760,865 restitution. READ MORE: What happened to a Florida attorney accused of misappropriating $1 million Another part of Jenkins' sentence is a 500-hour residential drug and alcohol treatment program. That and a line from his lone pre-sentence letter of support — 'John completed a residential substance abuse program and continues to regularly attend AA/NA meetings' — indicates what might have driven Jenkins to desert a promising law career to disappear with a chunk of neighbor William Walters' estate. MORE: A Fort Lauderdale lawyer stole a $643,000 inheritance and disappeared Disappearing acts and funds Like Jenkins, Walters lived in Wilton Manors. Walters set up his estate to go to a nephew, two nieces and the care of a younger sister. That sister is now 89, the age at which Walters died on Oct. 18 2021. As executor of the estate, Walters' nephew, Larry Corbin, hired Jenkins, aka 'Spencer,' to handle the legal side of getting the money to whom it needed to go. '[Jenkins] represented to [Corbin] that funds relating to [Walters'] estate should be deposited into the Jenkins Law Firm's (trust) accounts so that [Jenkins] could manage the distribution of those assets among [Walters'] designees,' Jenkins admission of facts states. But after Walters' estate got liquidated and $543,832 got wired into Jenkins' firm's trust account. He soon moved some of that money through a couple other accounts, cash movements that prompted the money laundering charge. Jenkins' admission says he 'caused the deposit of money from [Walters'] estate into the Jenkins Law Firm's (trust) accounts under the false pretense that he would be distributing the estate when, in truth and in fact, he embezzled the funds for his own personal use.' Not just those. Jenkins also took $88,000 he'd been wired for another client after a commercial asset sale. Also, the Florida Bar audit said the trust account wasn't empty when Jenkins' received Walters' estate money. None of Walters' estate money reached the Louisville, Kentucky-based family it should have. By the time Corbin filed a complaint to the Florida Bar on July 17, 2023, Stealth Supply had filed a complaint to the Florida Bar that Mullins bungled, then abandoned their case. Also, Jenkins' client Peter Mullins claimed in a lawsuit that Jenkins abandoned his case so totally that Mullins didn't know about the judgment against him until he learned there was a lien on real estate he wanted to sell. Corbin hadn't heard from Jenkins in a month when he filed a complaint with the Bar. Jenkins let his law firm's state registration corporate paperwork lapse in September 2023. His Fort Lauderdale office was empty. His phone numbers were disconnected. Jenkins was found in Philadelphia on Sept. 12, 2024, and charged days after. Assistant U.S. Attorney Altanese Phenelus handled the prosecution of the case.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fintechs ask court to uphold open banking
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. Banking groups suing to block an open banking rule are trying to restrict competition, the Financial Technology Association said Sunday in a motion that asks a federal judge to grant summary judgment supporting the 2024 rule. Meanwhile, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is merely using that lawsuit, in which it agrees with the bank industry plaintiffs, 'to overturn the prior Administration's actions,' the association contended. The banking groups' 'true concern is that allowing consumers to unlock and leverage their banking data opens opportunities for other financial-services providers to compete with banks,' the FTA said in its motion, which also requests that U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves rule against the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and in favor of the FTA's position. The CFPB is 'improperly short-circuiting notice-and-comment requirements' by asking the court to find the open banking rule unlawful, according to the FTA's brief. The bureau's 'newfound objections to the rule are pure policy arguments that are its own responsibility to rectify, to the extent lawful, as part of the ordinary rulemaking process,' the FTA said in its motion. The Bank Policy Institute, which represents most of the big U.S. banks, and the Kentucky Bankers Association brought the lawsuit against the CFPB last October, along with Kentucky-based Forcht Bank, immediately after the rule was finalized the same month. The rule stems from Section 1033 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and was enacted after years of deliberations. The open banking rule gives consumers a right to share their detailed financial data with third parties under the notion that a consumer's ability to easily swap accounts among banks, credit unions or fintechs will allow increased consumer choice and spur greater competition for financial services. 'This rule is grounded in longstanding legal authority and reflects a bipartisan commitment to modernizing how Americans manage their financial lives,' Penny Lee, the FTA's chief executive, said in a Sunday press release. 'We urge the Court to uphold the rule and reaffirm Americans' rights to securely share their financial data.' In a May 14 ruling, Reeves allowed the FTA, which represents fintech players such as Block, Intuit and Stripe, to intervene in the case to defend its members' interests. The bureau filed a brief soon after urging Reeves to void the rule, which 'unlawfully seeks to regulate open banking by mandating the sharing of data with 'authorized third parties,'' the CFPB asserted. The Trump administration has dramatically reduced the CFPB's mission and staffing under Acting Director Russell Vought. However, the bureau has not moved to rescind the rule, so far, as it manages the litigation targeting the rule. The agency also agreed with the plaintiffs that the rule unlawfully prohibits financial institutions from imposing fees for sharing the data and wrongly sets compliance deadlines without a consensus on how standards will be developed, the CFPB said in its May 29 court filing. The FTA took issue with those assertions too. 'The CFPB correctly concluded that without a ban on access fees, banks could well leverage the power to impose such fees to obstruct the open-banking scheme,' the fintechs said in their Sunday motion. The association's argument rests partially on the Supreme Court's landmark 2024 Loper Bright ruling, which found that U.S. district courts owe no deference to executive branch agency's statute interpretations. 'The CFPB's newly expressed statutory-interpretation arguments are entitled to no deference … because the CFPB's position does not 'reflect careful consideration'; has never been expressed by the CFPB before now; is inconsistent with the agency's prior views; is an 'about-face'; and has never been articulated in rulemaking or enforcement,' the FTA wrote in its filing. The CFPB did not immediately respond Monday to an email seeking comment. Fintechs' efforts to connect with consumers and offer free access to banking information 'have struggled in light of banks' obvious incentives to restrict competition,' the FTA wrote. 'Vacating the Rule — and adopting the atextual constraints on the CFPB's authority Plaintiffs endorse — would place consumers' right to control their financial data at risk, while ceding market control to incumbent banks.' The CFPB position represents a departure on the open banking rule under the second Trump administration. The bureau first began work in earnest on the rule during Trump's first term, which continued during the Biden administration. The banks' compliance deadlines under the open banking rule are layered from 2026 through 2030, with the largest banks required to begin operating within the open banking parameters next year, absent a court injunction halting the rule, or the CFPB vacating or reworking it. The plaintiffs and CFPB have 30 days to file replies, with the FTA allowed to file a response in late August before Reeves issues his decision, according to the FTA. Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the subtitle. Recommended Reading Open banking to survive Trump, fintechs say Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Hancock Claims Consultants Expands Field Coverage with Acquisition of Knight's Solutions
ALPHARETTA, Ga. & BARDSTOWN, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hancock Claims Consultants Holdings, LLC ('Hancock'), a leading property insurance claims services business, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Knight's Solutions to expand the scale of its field network. With the addition of the Knight's Solutions team, Hancock Claims is able to provide an even greater level of support for our combined customer base. -Brad Hancock, Executive Chairman & Founder, Hancock Claims Consultants Established in 2003, Hancock, a pioneer in field inspections for property insurers, has expanded its service offerings in recent years to include interior inspections, estimating, property contents, engineering services, and mitigation & repair services including tree removal. Hancock boasts partnerships with hundreds of U.S. insurers, including 50 of the top 50. Kentucky-based Knight's Solutions provides property inspection services similar to those offered by Hancock. They serve a number of leading insurance clients with both daily and catastrophe support and have coverage primarily in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Hancock Claims Consultants' Founder and Executive Chairman Brad Hancock commented, 'We are excited to have Knight's Solutions joining the Hancock team. Both companies have a common history and shared culture of delivering service excellence to the property claims industry. With the addition of their team, we are able to provide an even greater level of support for our combined customer base.' Knight's Solutions' owner Ryan Knight added, 'This brings together two teams that believe in hard work, in-depth knowledge, complete and fulfilled reporting, and a true dedication to our craft — the kind that bridges the gap between top-tier inspectors and the highest level of documentation across the insurance industry. We've built something strong here at Knight's, and now we're stepping into a new chapter with even more opportunities to grow, improve, and serve more carriers — all while staying true to who we are.' The companies expect to complete operational integration over the next 90 days in order to deliver a seamless experience for their combined customers. Ryan Knight will be an AVP directly reporting to Ray Tant, Hancock's Senior Vice President of Inspections & Estimating, effective immediately. For additional information about the acquisition, please contact Jason Smith at press@ About Hancock Claims Consultants With more than two decades supporting property insurers, Hancock Claims Consultants provides full claims lifecycle support under one roof. From supporting claims adjudication to mitigation and restoration, we help insurers make policyholders whole again. Our services are technology-enabled from beginning to end. We integrate our systems and technology partners with your internal systems for faster claims processing. Hancock's nationwide network of inspectors, contractors, and engineers provides the scale and breadth of support services that adjusters need. For ladder assists, property inspections and estimating, full contents services, mitigation and repair services, tree removal, and more, we have your claims needs covered. For more information, please visit About Knight's Solutions Knight's Solutions, LLC. is a team of professionals specializing in assisting property insurance carriers. Knight's Solutions provides services such as ladder assist, virtual assist, direct inspections, and post-construction services throughout Southeast and Midwest portions of the U.S. For more information about Knight's Solutions, visit
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Palantir partners to develop AI software for nuclear construction
Palantir Technologies on Thursday said it was teaming up with a nuclear deployment company to develop an artificial intelligence-driven software system built for the construction of nuclear reactors. Nuclear energy has garnered renewed interest from investors and companies, as it is considered to be a cleaner source of fuel and more reliable than wind or solar energy. Palantir and Nuclear Company will jointly create the nuclear operating system (NOS), which will simplify construction, allowing the firm to build plants faster and at lower cost. The deal follows US President Donald Trump's executive orders that aimed to boost US nuclear energy production amid a boom in demand from data centers and AI. The orders, signed in May, direct the nation's independent nuclear regulatory commission to cut down on regulations and fast-track new licenses for reactors and power plants. Kentucky-based Nuclear Company will pay the data analytics company around $100 million over five years to develop the platform, according to a Palantir spokesperson. The industry is also expected to benefit from Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill, which rolled back many green-energy subsidies but preserved tax credits for nuclear energy. US power consumption is estimated to reach record highs in 2025 and 2026 after stagnating for nearly two decades, as power-hungry data centers dedicated to AI and crypto miners plug into the grid.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Palantir partners to develop AI software for nuclear construction
Palantir Technologies on Thursday said it was teaming up with a nuclear deployment company to develop an artificial intelligence-driven software system built for the construction of nuclear reactors. Nuclear energy has garnered renewed interest from investors and companies, as it is considered to be a cleaner source of fuel and more reliable than wind or solar energy. Palantir and Nuclear Company will jointly create the nuclear operating system (NOS), which will simplify construction, allowing the firm to build plants faster and at lower cost. The deal follows U.S. President Donald Trump's executive orders that aimed to boost U.S. nuclear energy production amid a boom in demand from data centres and AI. The orders, signed in May, direct the nation's independent nuclear regulatory commission to cut down on regulations and fast-track new licenses for reactors and power plants. Kentucky-based Nuclear Company will pay the data analytics company around $100 million over five years to develop the platform, according to a Palantir spokesperson. The industry is also expected to benefit from Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill, which rolled back many green-energy subsidies but preserved tax credits for nuclear energy. U.S. power consumption is estimated to reach record highs in 2025 and 2026 after stagnating for nearly two decades, as power-hungry data centers dedicated to AI and crypto miners plug into the grid.
