The financial news that actually matters
A job left decades ago can still carry a retirement benefit that never found its owner. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation keeps a federal search tool for unpaid money transferred when retirement plans ended, and it updates the database quarterly. For workers with fragmented careers, the search can uncover a pension or account that was…
A late Social Security applicant may be offered up to six months of benefits at once, but the payment is not free money. Electing earlier entitlement gives up delayed retirement credits for those months, permanently lowering the continuing check from what it would have been at the later filing date. The decision exchanges cash now…
A Social Security overpayment notice can threaten half of a retiree’s next check, but the first 30 days carry an important protection. Social Security says a timely appeal or waiver request stops collection from starting until the agency decides the request. The deadline does not settle whether the debt is valid; it protects cash flow…
A corporate secret can move a stock price before ordinary investors have any chance to react. The Securities and Exchange Commission says a Desktop Metal director passed confidential acquisition information to three friends who allegedly earned a combined $497,124. The case traces the advantage from a board-level relationship to coordinated purchases and rapid sales after…
A bookkeeper’s access can be as powerful as an executive’s signature, particularly inside a small firm where one employee handles bank records, checks and credit cards. A Louisiana paralegal has now admitted using that access to steal more than $1.8 million and evade tax on the proceeds. The plea turns a long-running workplace betrayal into…
A bank-impersonation crew does not always work by phone. In a multistate conspiracy described by federal prosecutors, a participant entered branches using other people’s identities to make or attempt withdrawals and buy bank checks. One organizer has received a four-year sentence, and the case puts $91,300 behind a practical retirement-money risk: an identity can be…
The Paycheck Protection Program stopped making loans years ago, but its certifications remain active evidence. A North Carolina man now faces six federal wire-fraud counts alleging that three businesses with no real operations, employees or payroll obtained $996,668.50. For business owners nearing retirement, the case shows how emergency paperwork can outlive both the emergency and…
A tax preparer has admitted using an obscure-looking withholding entry to inflate hundreds of refunds and extract larger fees. The resulting federal tax loss was approximately $3.9 million. For retirees, the case is a reminder that signing a return transfers legal exposure to the taxpayer even when a professional created every number on the screen….
A vehicle maker’s order book can look like evidence of demand, but the SEC says one electric-truck company presented expressions of interest as something far firmer. Battle Motors allegedly told two outside investors it had 115 vehicle orders worth more than $30 million when actual purchase orders covered eight vehicles and about $2 million. The…
Rooftop solar is often sold as a way to reduce future utility costs, but financing can turn the installation into a large household debt. A new federal indictment alleges that two homeowners instead received loans totaling $128,928.04 without consenting to them. The case makes the loan account—not the panel—the key record for protecting home equity…