Crime
Ozy The media went from screaming to outrage. Its founder, Carlos Watson, appeared in court

NEW YORK (AP) – For nearly a decade, Ozy Media has projected a picture of recent media success.
The company boasted big-name interviews, an Emmy-winning television show, a vibrant festival of music and concepts, and impressive numbers to exhibit to potential investors – until it collapsed in 2021 amid doubts about its audience size, profitability and fundamental integrity .
These doubts at the moment are at the middle of the federal criminal trial. Founder Carlos Watson and Ozy are fighting charges of conspiracy to commit fraud.
Even after many other public and court hearings for Silicon Valley corporations that went from screaming to damage, it’s hard to forget the moment of Ozy’s downfall, when co-founder Samir Rao impersonated a YouTube executive to talk concerning the company to potential investors.
Lawyers for Watson and Ozy blame any false statements solely on Rao, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and identity theft. The defense also argued that prosecutors would criminalize common entrepreneurial bloat and single out Watson, a black founder in a tech world where there are disproportionately few African-American executives.
“I am not now and never have been a ‘fraudster,’” he said last 12 months when the costs were brought against him.
Prosecutors and Rao, their star witness, say Ozy straddled the road between hopeful hype and brazen fraud.
“We told so many lies to so many different people,” Rao testified after the struggling company produced rosy financial results in a desperate attempt to lure investors and stay afloat.
The hope was to enable “a diverse audience to consume hopefully a different, more meaningful type of content,” he said. But “survival within the bounds of decency, honesty and truth has evolved into survival at all costs and by any means necessary.”
“New and Next”
Ozy was founded in 2012 on the Millennial-friendly premise of providing a fresh, sophisticated but not cookie-cutter approach to politics, culture and more – what it calls “new and next” – while amplifying minority and marginalized voices.
The son of two South Florida teachers, Watson graduated from Harvard and Stanford, worked on Wall Street, founded and sold a test preparation company and anchored MSNBC. According to Rao, he fathered Ozy after which recruited Rao, a former colleague from the world of finance, after a probability meeting at a Chipotle restaurant in Silicon Valley.
Ozy debuted a web site, newsletters, and with a bang: former President Bill Clinton was one in all the primary interviewees. The company has expanded into podcasts, events and tv programming, winning a 2020 Emmy for Watson’s “Black Women OWN the Conversation” on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The annual Ozy Fest in New York’s Central Park has attracted big names, from John Legend to pre-presidential Joe Biden.
Testimony shows that the corporate acquired many major advertisers, clients and grants. But behind the scenes, prosecutors say, Ozy began to bleed in 2018 and resorted to lies.
“I don’t know where his numbers came from.”
The company told a possible investor that it “ended 2017 with approximately $12 million in revenue,” but gave its accountants a figure of lower than $7 million. The disparities widened through the years, reaching as much as $53 million compared to $11 million in 2020, according to testimony and documents presented throughout the trial.
Meanwhile, Ozy steadily delayed paying suppliers and rent, borrowed against future receipts to obtain expensive advances, and had difficulty paying salaries, former vp of finance Janeen Poutre testified.
The defense portrayed the scramble for money as a growing problem for a successful startup.
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“Ozy Media did not defraud its investors or anyone else,” said company attorney Shannon Frison.
Watson lawyer and Harvard Law School professor Ronald Sullivan Jr. he said his client “believed every number he gave to every investor.” Sullivan suggested that revenue figures may vary depending on whether or not they represent “in-kind” income, equivalent to promoting trading at one other outlet.
Poutre testified that auditors rarely agree to count such revenues and she or he didn’t think Watson was all the time honest.
“I don’t know where his numbers came from. I know where my numbers came from,” she said.
Fake emails and voice masking
The alleged programs went beyond questionable numbers.
In an attempt to get Ozy a bank loan in 2020, Rao falsified the deal by saying that Winfrey’s OWN network had renewed “Black Women OWN The Conversation” for a second season. When the bank needed information directly from the net, Rao arrange a fake email account for the actual OWN executive and used it to provide the bank with “transaction background.”
Rao told jurors that Watson verbally approved the charade. Jurors saw a text message from Watson urging Rao to “be brave and do this,” but “that” was not specified. Ultimately, witnesses said, there was no loan or extension of this system.
Rao’s infamous phone rang the next 12 months when Ozy was searching for an investment from Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs. He falsely claimed that YouTube was paying for Watson’s eponymous talk show. When Goldman’s bankers wanted confirmation, he downloaded a voice-modifying app and talked to them while posing as a YouTube executive.
But the bankers were wary, as the actual YouTube executive soon discovered, and Watson told the board of Goldman Sachs and Ozy that his co-founder had suffered a mental breakdown.
The investment fell through, but Goldman Sachs continued to advertise with Ozy after the episode, Rao said.
Rao told jurors he was taking antidepressants but was not having a mental health crisis when he called. Rao said Watson was present and gave him instructions via text messages.
“I’m a huge fan of Carlos, Samir and the show,” reads one in all the texts, which Rao explained when Watson prompted him with a line for his fake persona to say. Watson then urged, “use the right pronouns. You are NOT OZY” – amongst other messages.
– You’re a liar, aren’t you?
Watson’s lawyer said the Ozy founder stumbled upon Rao’s scam, was outraged and signaled him to hang up.
The defense emphasized that Rao drafted a 2021 letter – ultimately unsent – in which he stated that the phone ruse was entirely his doing. Rao told jurors he wrote it to protect the corporate.
Defense attorneys labeled him an incompetent executive, a confessed fabricator and a confessed criminal who falsely implicated Watson in hopes of avoiding prison for his own crimes.
“So, Mr. Rao, you are a liar, aren’t you?” Sullivan asked during last Friday’s hearing.
“Unfortunately,” Rao replied, “I told many lies during my time at Ozy.”
Crime
Georgia Woman packed for embracing $ 500,000 from local business, the police are looking for a second suspect


The police in Dunwooda are looking for Nicole Allen, who’s accused of helping a former worker in a definition of just about $ 500,000 from local activities in Georgia inside two years.
According to the report of April 29 with A rough project of AtlantaFelicia Kelley was arrested and accused of “computer forgery” and “theft by fraud” after allegedly manipulating wages of pay and suppliers when he’s employed by nameless activities. Arrest The order was also issued for AllenWhoever the investigators claim was a co -person
The police claim that the embezzlement took place in Georgia between May 2022 and August 2024. The program went to light in December 2024, when the company’s management noticed irregularities in the financial documentation and started internal control. The audit revealed around USD 500,000 in unauthorized transactions.
Kelley, who was responsible for managing pay and paying company suppliers, allegedly modified spreadsheets were created This seemed justified when redirecting company funds for personal use. According to police, Allen helped Kelley in hiding the discrepancy.
An organization that was not publicly listed by the authorities reported Dunwood’s police findings, which prompted the criminal investigation. Detectives claim that they identified each women as key suspects through a review of monetary documents, e -small and internal systems.
From May 22, Kelley was arrested and Allen stays at large. Law enforcement authorities call everyone who has details about the place of stay of Allen to contact the Dunwoody Police Department.
None of the suspects issued a public statement and no procedural dates were announced. It can be unclear whether additional fees or further arrests are expected in the case.
This stays an energetic investigation.
Anyone who has details about the place of stay Nicole Allen is inspired to contact Detective Robert Ehlbeck On 678-382-6925 Or Robert.ehlbeck@dunwodyga.gov.
(Tagstranslat) fraud
Crime
RAPER ROD WAVE stands in front of a dozen or so loads, some of the weapons in Georgia

The rapper referred to as Rod Wave will face a dozen or so charges, some engage the gun after he entered the officials of the sheriff in Georgia on Tuesday.
Wave, whose real name is Rodarius Green, voluntarily surrendered to the Fulton Sheriff Office regarding orders arising from the Police call of April 21 in the suburbs of Milton in Atlanta, the police said.
“There is no truth in these allegations,” said the lawyers of rapper Findling and Marissa Goldberg in a statement for the Associated Press.
“Rod Green was a victim of burglary and did not commit any crimes,” they said. “How he was even accused as a result of this situation is incomprehensible. It will be absolutely resolved for Mr. Green.”
Police Milton responded to a house in the city north of Atlanta after the report from 911 described “possible home interference,” the police said in a statement.

The police said that the officers determined that the connection was related to previously unpaid burglary and release of firearms. Later they obtained arrest warrant for Green, who was a resident of the house.
The allegations include an exacerbated assault, a conspiracy aimed toward committing a crime, criminal property damage and referring or aiming at someone weapons and hindering legal officers, show the files of the Fulton Fulton prison. He can be accused of manipulating evidence – a crime – and obstructing legal officers.
He was released from Bond shortly after he turned the same day on Tuesday, the authorities reported.
The 26-year-old rapper in Florida is well known for his soul trap, a unique combination of R&B and Rap, which brought him 11 Singles Certified Platinum by the American Industry Association. Four of his six albums hit No. 1 on the best list of albums Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop, including his latest, “Last Lap” from 2024.
This yr he brought the title song Sing Title “Sinners” to the Ryan Coogler record, recognized by critics Hit with the same name.
Green grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he had not less than one past with the law before The national battery charge has been rejected in 2022
The ex -girlfriend accused Green of entering the house in the Orlando area and choke her, while their two children were in a different room, in response to the arrest warrant. They each arranged for about 4 years, and the girl told investigators that Green accused her of seeing other men during their breakdown.
Later, prosecutors told court officials that the case is just not suitable for prosecution.

(Tagstranslate) georgia
Crime
“Protection of his public image was very important”: a psychologist, former assistant to testimony at the Diddy trial

Dawn Hughes, a clinical and criminal psychologist certified by the management board, testified on Wednesday in a federal case for criminal trade against hip-hop tycoon “Diddy” Combs.
Hughes, who particularly testified as an authority in the process of defamation of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp in 2022, said that she was in court to provide contextual details about individuals who experience domestic violence and traumatic stress.
“They (survival that survived) experience great shame, humiliation, degradation,” said Hughes, discussing sexual abuse, According to CNN. “They don’t want to talk about it. They don’t even want to think about it in their brain.”
In the case of people used, Hughes testified that many remain in relations, and financial dependence and lack of resources are the most important aspects why someone stays.

She also talked about trauma ties and the way offensive relationships often have a component of love and kindness for them, which hinders the departure of individuals who survived.
“There is such a pattern of return and reconciliation and then returning,” Hughes testified.
During her testimony, she explained that abuse could seriously affect memory, which hinders individuals who survived the recall of individual incidents. However, individuals who survived can remember the event more often if it coincided with a significant date, comparable to the anniversary, holiday or birthday.
However, the defense lawyer Johnathan Bach was incompatible.
As interrogated Bach Dawn Hughes, she testified that she had not checked the specific details of the case. Her interrogation led to several side strips when the defense of the control of her six meetings with the prosecutor’s office, some of which took place after the trial began. As a blind witness, her role was only in providing knowledge about domestic violence and sexual abuse, not comments on the details of the case. She maintained that the discussions between the prosecutor’s office and her didn’t contain detailed details about the case.
Bach also questioned Hughes’s credibility, arguing that she approached the stand with a specific “perspective”. The court further warned that witnesses could possibly be “dangerous” because of the “aura of power” they carry.

After Hughes, he was a former executive assistant of Combs, George Kaplan, he took a position. Kaplan, who joined Combs Enterprises in 2013, testified that he worked from 80 to 100 hours a week. His duties included ensuring that the chef and cleansing staff were prepared for the whole day and preparing the Bathroom Comb with medicines. He exchanged each day connections with Combs, who expressed what he needed, allegedly included drugs or alcohol.
Kaplan also testified that part of his responsibility was to protect the image of Combs.
“Protecting him and protecting his public image was very important and it was something that I really wanted to do,” said Kaplan.
Kaplan testified that just about every month Combs allegedly threatened his work. Combs allegedly wanted to be surrounded by the best, and “people around him did not perform at this level,” Kaplan reminded.
At the starting of the day, a special agent Gerard Gannon ended his testimonies, expressing that agents who searched Comb ‘Miami Beach House in March 2024, found a range of pills and a “crystal substance resembling rock” in the Gucci COMBS bag. There were also six people at home, including a music producer, real estate manager and other facilities.
Looking to the future, the musician Kid Cudi is to testify on Thursday morning.

(Tagstranslate) Crime
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