FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – County Judge Daniel Wong, speaking Friday as a candidate for reelection, called on Tax Assessor-Collector Carmen Turner to resign following her federal indictment in a case involving alleged misuse of taxpayer-funded county payroll positions.
Federal authorities announced Thursday that Turner and two other people were indicted in connection with the alleged scheme. Wong said Turner faces charges including conspiracy, theft involving federal program funds and wire fraud. The allegations have not been proven in court, and Turner is presumed innocent unless found guilty.
“The seriousness of these allegations raises substantial concerns about public confidence in her office,” Wong said, while calling for Turner’s immediate resignation. He also urged county employees and residents with credible information about suspected corruption, misuse of public funds or abuse…
THE HASHFLARE “CLOUD MINING” PONZI SCHEME (GLOBAL/ESTONIA)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Guilty Pleas) Perpetrators: Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin
Case Description: This $577 million cryptocurrency fraud remains one of the largest digital asset scams in history, with major legal developments concluding in 2025. Potapenko and Turogin operated “Hashflare,” which they marketed as a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide purchased “mining contracts,” believing they were renting hash power to mine Bitcoin. In reality, the duo was running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
They created fake customer dashboards that showed “real-time” mining profits, but the money being paid out was simply the capital of newer investors. They laundered the proceeds through shell companies to purchase luxury real estate and a fleet of high-end vehicles. After a massive international investigation involving the FBI and Estonian authorities, the pair agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. This case underscores the “Cyber-enabled Fraud” warning issued by the FATF in early 2026: as technology evolves, the scale of fraud moves from local millions to global billions in the blink of an eye.
Link to Original: ACFE – High Profile Fraud of 2025