LOS ANGELES — Michael Avenatti, the brash former attorney for the porn actress Stormy Daniels, was arrested for allegedly violating bail by committing numerous financial crimes to conceal assets from creditors while living a lavish lifestyle, U.S. prosecutors alleged in a court document released Wednesday. Avenatti was arrested by IRS...
Chevron Will Write Down Assets by at Least $10 Billion
SAN RAMON — Chevron Corp. said Tuesday it will book a charge of at least $10 billion because lower long-term prices for oil and natural gas will reduce the value of its assets. More than half the write-down is related to gas drilling operations in Appalachia. The huge fourth-quarter write-down...
California’s Pension Debt Cannot Be Ignored
A decade ago, at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s request, I supervised a graduate student team that performed a comprehensive analysis of public pensions in California. The goal was to calculate California’s pension debt, the difference between assets and liabilities. The team’s conclusions: the unfunded liability was over $500 billion—seven times the number officially...
Epstein May Have Gamed the System From Beyond the Grave
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The will that Jeffrey Epstein signed just two days before his jailhouse suicide puts more than $577 million in assets into a trust fund that could make it more difficult for his dozens of accusers to collect damages. Estate lawyers and other experts say prying open...
Israeli Bank to Pay $195M for US Tax-Avoidance Scheme
LOS ANGELES — One of Israel's largest banks has agreed to pay $195 million for helping U.S. citizens avoid paying taxes by stashing their assets in offshore accounts. The U.S. attorney's office says Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Ltd. and two subsidiaries acknowledged guilt Tuesday in a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department...