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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaJury finds NRA and ex-leader Wayne LaPierre liable for corruptionPublished3 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesThe National Rifle Association and its ex-leader, Wayne LaPierre, have been found liable in a civil corruption trial.A New York jury found Mr LaPierre cost the gun rights group millions of dollars through lavish spending on himself.New York Attorney General Letitia James had accused the NRA and Mr LaPierre of violating state laws. Mr LaPierre stepped down from his job just before the trial began. On Friday, the jury found that Mr LaPierre cost the group a total of $5.4m (£4.26m), of which slightly more than $1m has already been repaid. He must now bay $4.35m. While former NRA finance chief Wilson “Woody” Phillips, general counsel John Frazer and the NRA itself are also co-defendants, Mr LaPierre has been characterised as the “central figure” of the case. The jury found that Mr Phillips cost the NRA $2m through mismanagement. Mr Frazer was found to not have cost the organisation financially. In a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, after the trial, Ms James said that Mr LaPierre and the NRA “are finally being held accountable for this rampant corruption and self-dealing”. Altogether, she said the group and two executives must pay $6.35m.”In New York, you cannot get away from corruption and greed, no matter how powerful or influential you think you may be,” she wrote. “Everyone, even the NRA and Wayne LaPierre, must play by the same rules.” In the trial, defence attorneys for the three men and the NRA sought to portray the proceedings as a “baseless, premeditated attack” and politically-motivated “witch hunt” by Ms James, a Democrat. But during closing arguments, assistant attorney general Monica Connell said that the NRA, a registered charity, should have spent the funds on its primary mission, rather than on lavish expenses, and of trying to shift responsibility after the fact. “Saying you’re sorry now, saying maybe you’ll put back a couple of those cookies, doesn’t mean you didn’t take the cookies,” Ms Connell said. Over the course of the six-week trial, prosecutors detailed several specific expenses that they said showed that Mr LaPierre and other top leaders used NRA funds as their “personal piggy bank”. One example of misconduct alleged in the lawsuit stated that Mr LaPierre visited the Bahamas more than eight times by private plane using funds intended for the NRA, for a total cost of $500,000 (£380,000).The evidence also included helicopter trips to car races to avoid being stuck in traffic and expense reports for reimbursement of money spent on landscaping and mosquito treatment at his home, as well as gifts for friends and family and “out-of-pocket” expenses such as hair and makeup styling for Mr LaPierre’s wife. The judge must now determine – without a jury – whether independent monitors and experts will be installed to oversee the NRA’s charitable assets and administration, and whether Mr LaPierre and Mr Phillips should be barred from re-election or appointments as officers in the NRA or other New York-based non-profits. Additionally, the judge must determine whether the NRA and Mr Frazer should be barred from soliciting or collecting funds for charities in New York.Though based in Virginia, the NRA is incorporated in New York City. The attorney general’s Charities Bureau is responsible for oversight of any non-profit organisation, which has strict state and federal rules governing spending.Founded in 1871 as a recreational group designed to “promote and encourage rifle shooting”, the NRA has grown into one of the most powerful political organisations in the US.The NRA now lobbies heavily against all forms of gun control and argues aggressively that more guns make the country safer. It relies on, and staunchly defends, a disputed interpretation of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution that individuals are guaranteed the right to own guns.But the NRA has taken a back seat within the gun rights movement in recent years, as its legal costs soared while revenue and membership dues plummeted.Related TopicsNRAUnited StatesMore on this storyWhy is US gun lobby group NRA so powerful?Published13 April 2023When parents get the blame for a child’s mass shootingPublished6 FebruaryMexico can sue US gunmakers, court rulesPublished23 JanuaryTop StoriesWW2 bomb detonated at sea after removal through cityPublished50 minutes agoSpanish police search gutted flats after nine killedPublished2 hours agoTrump calls on Alabama to protect IVF treatmentPublished1 hour agoFeaturesWhy jet streams mean ‘piggy-backing’ planes can fly across the Atlantic faster. 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[ad_1] The jury found former CEO Wayne LaPierre cost the guns group $5.4m through lavish spending on himself.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaDonald Trump hit where it hurts most in New York fraud rulingPublished33 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Donald Trump built a real estate empire in Manhattan in the 1980sBy Nada TawfikBBC News, New YorkDonald Trump’s latest legal loss hits him where it hurts most because it takes aim at his very identity. For decades, he has marketed himself as a genius business mogul who made it big in one of the world’s most cutthroat cities, in large part because of relentless self-promotion.That image – forever tied to New York deal-making – catapulted him to international fame, allowing him to reinvent himself first as a reality TV star and then ultimately the president of the United States.But Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling in a civil fraud case related to the inflation of property values and lying on financial statements to obtain better loan terms undermines Mr Trump’s entire narrative. It instead paints him as a fraud and inflicts a massive blow to his business empire and wealth.Donald Trump once remarked that the mind can overcome any obstacle. But what an obstacle this is.The verdict significantly curtails the Trump Organization’s ability to do business in New York. He has personally been banned from holding any directorships for three years and his company cannot secure loans with financial institutions registered with the city during that time either.He has been hit with an enormous financial penalty of $355m – which jumps to more than $450m once interest is included – and that far exceeds how much cash he has to hand. His business will continue to be be watched by an independent monitor, with a separate independent director of compliance also signing off on major business decisions.In perhaps the only bright spot for the former president and Republican frontrunner, the Trump empire was spared from the equivalent of the corporate death penalty – the cancellation of its business licences. Key findings in Trump’s ‘overwhelming’ fraud trial lossThe many lives of Trump TowerMr Trump has for decades seemed to rally and recover from scandals and legal challenges that could irreparably damage others, so much so that he has been referred to as Teflon Don, because nothing sticks. The nickname previously belonged to the mob boss John Gotti after he won a series of high-profile acquittals in the 1980s. But today’s verdict signals that Donald Trump’s luck, like Gotti’s, may be running out.Judge Engoron noted Mr Trump and the other defendants’ lack of remorse and history of repeated and persistent fraud. In this case, he said the examples of fraud over more than a decade at the company “leap off the page and shock the conscience”.Yet the defendants were incapable of admitting the error of their ways, he said, writing: “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.”This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Watch: New York Attorney General Letitia James says ‘no one above law’ after Trump rulingUnsurprisingly, Mr Trump sees things very differently. He says he built a “perfect company” and rejects that he should be punished for fraud because banks were paid back in full. He continues to repeat claims, without evidence, that his legal challenges are just a plot by elite Democrats to keep him out of the White House.According to Mr Trump’s estranged niece Mary Trump, the judge’s ruling amounts to the end of the Trump family legacy. “Today is an emotional day, but one thing is for certain: the Engoron decision is absolutely devastating for Donald,” she wrote on social media.As the son of a real estate developer whose projects included middle-class apartment buildings in the outer boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, Mr Trump always dreamed of making a name for himself among the skyscrapers of Manhattan.A seven-year spree of construction from 1976-1983, including the eponymous Trump Tower, solidified his reputation as a real estate giant in New York. ”Not many sons have been able to escape their fathers,” he told the New York Times in 1983 – the implication being that at 37, he already had.And it’s true that the 1980s era of greed and excess was a prosperous time for the brash young developer.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Donald Trump reinvented himself as a reality TV star in the early 2000s – with New York at the centreTrump Tower, with its prime location on 5th Avenue, put Donald Trump on the map. Once his reputation was established, he subsequently put his name on every project he did. By the early 1990’s though, Donald Trump filed for several corporate bankruptcies and nearly lost it all.It was during this time that Rich Herschlag, the chief engineer in the Manhattan Borough President’s office, worked with Mr Trump and his organization on the Riverside South project, a redevelopment in a former rail yard on the Upper West Side. He says it meant “everything or darn close to everything” for Donald Trump to be seen as a successful real estate developer – and in particular build an empire from his father’s legacy.”To watch it [potentially] gutted and decimated, I can’t image that’s anything less than an emotional horror,” he told the BBC. How can Trump pay massive civil penalty?It is not yet clear how Mr Trump will pay the nearly half a billion dollars that he is liable for and if that will involve selling any assets or businesses to raise the cash. His sprawling real estate empire in New York is valued by Forbes at $490m but there are many other properties around the country, including hotels, golf courses, condominiums and even a winery.Selling any of his prime Manhattan real estate would be a fresh indignity for the former president – and a decision he would not take lightly.But whether or not Donald Trump is able to recover from this financial shock, the outcome has surely dented his fortune, perhaps irreparably.The ruling in the city where he rose to the top – while always remaining something of an outsider – is undoubtedly a big loss. And for more than six decades in New York real estate, there’s no figure Mr Trump has derided more than the “loser”.Related TopicsNew York CityDonald TrumpTop StoriesLive. 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityAsiaChinaIndiaChina warns citizens against ‘exotic beauty’ traps of foreign spiesPublished2 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, China is warning citizens against “honey traps” with the tale of a man who was lured by foreign spies while overseasBy Kelly NgBBC NewsChina has warned its citizens against “exotic beauties” seeking to lure them into the hands of foreign spy agencies.The Ministry of State Security said a Chinese man, Li Si, went to a nightclub while on an overseas trip and was later blackmailed by foreign spies.The ministry’s WeChat post’s title read, “Hunting for beauty? You may become the prey”.Analysts say such warnings reflect a sense of insecurity among China’s leaders.The Ministry of State Security, which functions as China’s intelligence and secret police agency, has increasingly been raising the alarm among citizens about the dangers of foreign spies.The ministry has also been making public the cases of people being arrested for espionage in China. Earlier this month, the ministry said Beijing had detained an individual alleged to be spying for Britain’s foreign intelligence service, MI6.”I do not think honey traps are any more prevalent now than at other points in time. Part of espionage work has always exploited human weaknesses, be it greed, lust, pride, vanity, anger, disappointment or such,” Ian Chong, a non-resident fellow with Carnegie China, told the BBC.”To me, the Ministry of State Security’s media campaign and the recent highlighting of risks relating to honey traps are more reflective of a sense of insecurity and threat, particularly from the outside world, that the current Chinese leadership appears to perceive,” Mr Chong said.The most recent warning, which went into graphic detail, said that a local tour guide invited Mr Li to an adult entertainment venue and invited him to “pick” several women for the night. It did not specify when and where the incident took place.Mr Li, who supposedly works for a state-owned firm, did not know that his activities were being tracked until several “burly foreigners in uniform” barged into his room and photographed him naked, according to the post.They then used those photographs to blackmail Mr Li and coerce him into joining their intelligence organisation. Mr Li handed over his work laptop out of fear, the ministry said.”In this way, the computer which contained close to 10 years of classified information fell into the hands of the spy organisation,” the post added.It added that Mr Li’s “nightmare was far from over” even after he returned to China, as he was continuously coerced into providing the organisation with classified information.”In the end, Mr Li [was] completely reduced to a puppet at the mercy of the foreign intelligence group and has caused immeasurable harm to China’s national security.” the ministry said. It added that Mr Li had been arrested and will face a “rigorous trial”.The ministry has been posting frequent updates on its official WeChat page since it was launched in August. In the past month, it has also cautioned citizens against photographing military equipment. It also warned against organisations “recruiting aviation enthusiasts as volunteers” to transmit China’s flight data to other countries. 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