Eat Some Gold!

Money Metals News Service
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Eat Some Gold!

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) Hungry? Eat gold. Seriously. It’s a thing.

Mind you, it’s not a thing that interests me in the least. But some people do eat gold.

The other day, I was doing a little headline search for gold stories, and I ran across a blog post on a site called Tita Italian. It’s a high-end food company that sells caviar, cured meats, and other delicacies.

The company also sells gold that you can eat.

But why?

Gold doesn’t add to the taste. But it is pretty. As the Tita Italian blog post explains, it’s all about plating and presentation.

“Food can tell a story. Use plating to create a visual narrative, letting your ingredients speak for themselves. Edible gold can be the finishing touch, adding a touch of luxury or symbolism.”

Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t need my food to tell a story. I need it to fill my belly. However, some people are more concerned with aesthetics than I am. And by aesthetics, I mean showing people how much money they have.

My wife and I often joke that people blowing down the highway 20 or 30 mph over the speed limit have “ticket money.” We don’t. We also don’t have “eat gold” money. But as the saying goes, if you have it, flaunt it.

And some people do!

Tita Italian sells 23-karat edible gold in three forms: leaf, powder, and crumbs.

According to the blog post, “Edible gold isn’t just about opulence; it’s a subtle yet impactful way to add a touch of luxury and elegance to your culinary creations.”

In fact, there are people out there who consider gold-covered food “art.”

Keep in mind here, when I say art, I’m using air quotes. When you use air quotes, you can turn anything into art. Randomly throw paint at a canvas – “art.” Throw sticks in a pile – “art.” Pee in a cup – bingo – “art.”

Anyway, back in 2019, French artist and performer Frederique Lecerf put on the dinner as a performance art piece to “celebrate extravagance and exuberance.”

The menu was actually pretty pedestrian: chicken, hard-boiled eggs, and vegetable crisps. What made the meal special, and apparently qualified the dinner as “art,” was the fact that all the food was covered in gold. I’m talking real gold here. The 24-karat kind. There were even gold-covered pastries for dessert.

Now, don’t get me wrong; I love art. But I find the pretension in the art world a bit amusing. Lecerf said she has been putting on these golden dinners since about 2004. She told EuroNews, “She was interested in illustrating the transience of her art through the dinners since nothing remained the next day except the experience.”

Yes! That was exactly what I was thinking when I heard gold-covered dinner — said nobody ever.

And the curators of Vanities Gallery said the idea was to critique the gold market, but at the same time, to show the importance of the material in contemporary art.

What exactly is the critique here? I have no idea. That you can’t have your gold and eat it too? Haven’t they already proved that with cake?

Perhaps I’m being too harsh. Or maybe I just don’t get it. Nobody ever accused me of being sophisticated.

But I do understand the appeal of gold. If you want people to know you have wealth, showing off some gold is a good way to do it. People around the world recognize the value of gold. It is instantly recognized as money. And if you can afford to eat money, well, you’ve probably “made it!”

And consider this – you never hear about people eating dollar bills.

That said, I still have no plans to eat real money either. I’d rather hold on to my gold and allow it to preserve my wealth instead of flushing it down the toilet.

We can help with that.

Call 800-800-1865 and talk to a precious metals specialist today.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

Plane Crashes in Ohio, Killing 2

Headline USA Editor
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Plane Crashes in Ohio, Killing 2

(Headline USA) Two people inside a small plane were found dead Thursday after it crashed into a house in Ohio and exploded into flames, the Akron Fire Department said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries inside the home after the crash shortly before 4 p.m., the department said in a news release. The home and another house had to be evacuated.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in an email the plane was a Piper PA-28.

Video circulating on X appeared to show a large plume of thick black smoke rising above a residential neighborhood after the crash. The aircraft itself is not visible in the footage, but flames can be seen at the base of the smoke as it rises into the sky above nearby homes.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Pentagon Seeks Record Budget Despite Failing Every Audit

Headline USA Editor
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Pentagon Seeks Record Budget Despite Failing Every Audit

(, The Center Square) President Donald Trump is asking Congress to approve the largest military budget in American history for an agency that has never passed a financial audit.

The Department of Defense, rebranded the Department of War by the Trump administration, says it has a new plan to finally clear that hurdle, but a congressional watchdog warns the effort may prioritize balancing the books over fixing the underlying problems.

The department is seeking $1.5 trillion for fiscal year 2027, a 44% increase from current spending levels, despite failing eight consecutive audits and remaining the only major federal agency never to pass one, unable to fully account for about $4.7 trillion in assets.

In March, the Pentagon unveiled a revised audit strategy that shifts away from repairing the internal controls needed to produce reliable financial data and instead emphasizes validating account balances through a combination of artificial intelligence, automation and hands-on verification.

“We rely on internal controls where they exist, maximize the use of artificial intelligence and automation wherever we can, and have the auditors perform substantive testing where they must,” Deputy Chief Financial Officer Thomas Harker told lawmakers.

Subcommittee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, welcomed the new approach but said questions remained.

“I’m encouraged by this approach, but still have questions about how sustainable this approach is for the entire department and how the department will prioritize high-risk areas that need attention,” he said.

The Pentagon’s size and complexity make the challenge immense. The Marine Corps is the only military branch to receive a clean audit opinion, a process that required more than 70 site visits and physical inventories of roughly 26 million assets, even though the Marines account for just over 1% of the department’s total assets.

The Government Accountability Office, Congress’s investigative watchdog, warned that the Pentagon’s new approach appears “more focused on bookkeeping” than correcting the systemic weaknesses that caused the audit failures in the first place.

“Even if under the new approach DOD achieves a clean audit opinion by the end of 2028, the department’s financial management will likely still be on the high-risk list,” said Asif Khan, the GAO’s director of financial management and assurance. “The department will still need to turn its attention back toward improving systems, internal controls, business processes and operations throughout the department.”

Khan also warned that weak internal controls, combined with a proposed $441 billion increase in military spending, could increase the risk of waste, fraud and abuse. He compared the vulnerability to the fraud that plagued several federal relief programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The money may not be going to the right places,” Khan told lawmakers.

The department expects to spend $1.7 billion on audit-related work in fiscal year 2027 alone, according to GAO, about the cost of a dozen F-22 Raptor fighter jets.

Pentagon officials have pushed back on the characterization that the department’s audit problems reflect poor financial management. Acting comptroller Jules Hurst told reporters in April that the difficulty lies less in wasteful spending than in tracking and valuing decades-old military assets.

“We buy a nuclear missile in the 1970s and then we have to account for the present-day value, which includes every single repair or modification we made of that missile over 50-plus years,” Hurst said. “That’s the kind of stuff that makes it hard for the department to get an audit.”

The explanation did little to satisfy lawmakers at Wednesday’s hearing.

“In all good conscience, I can’t vote for that, knowing we’ve gone seven straight years without an audit,” Rep. Kweisi Mfume, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said.

The department has, in fact, undergone eight consecutive audits since 2018, but has failed each one.

FBI Offers $200K for Ex-Air Force Specialist Wanted on Espionage Charges in Iran

Headline USA Editor
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FBI Offers $200K for Ex-Air Force Specialist Wanted on Espionage Charges in Iran

(Headline USA) The FBI is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to capture and prosecution of a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran in 2013 and was later charged with revealing classified information to the Tehran government.

Monica Elfriede Witt, who is in her 40s, was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2019 on charges of espionage, including transmitting national defense information to the government of Iran. She remains at large.

Witt “allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution more than a decade ago by defecting to Iran and providing the Iranian regime National Defense Information and likely continues to support their nefarious activities,” Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, said in a news release Wednesday.

“The FBI has not forgotten and believes that during this critical moment in Iran’s history, there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts.”

It wasn’t immediately known why the FBI was bringing attention to Witt’s case. The United States and Iran have been at war since Feb. 28.

Witt served in the Air Force between 1997 and 2008, where she was trained in the Farsi language and was deployed overseas on classified counterintelligence missions, including to the Middle East. She later found work as a Defense Department contractor.

The Texas native defected to Iran in 2013 after being invited to two all-expense-paid conferences in the country that the Justice Department says promoted anti-Western propaganda and condemned American moral standards.

Before that, Witt had been warned by the FBI about her activities, but told agents that she would not provide sensitive information about her work if she returned to Iran, prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, Witt placed at risk “sensitive and classified U.S. national defense information and programs,” the news release said.

“Witt allegedly intentionally provided information endangering U.S personnel and their families stationed abroad. She also allegedly conducted research on behalf of the Iranian regime to allow them to target her former colleagues in the U.S. government,” it said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Candace Owens’ Source Allegedly Dodging Subpoena from Charlie Kirk’s Ex-Bodyguard

Ken Silva
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Candace Owens’ Source Allegedly Dodging Subpoena from Charlie Kirk’s Ex-Bodyguard

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Mitch Snow, who’s fueled conspiracy theories that Charlie Kirk’s widow and his security team were involved in the plot to assassinate him, is allegedly avoiding service in a lawsuit over the matter.

Kirk’s former bodyguard, Brian Harpole, said in a court filing Thursday that Snow is “actively avoiding service or intentionally preventing the process server from serving him.”

“For example, on May 6, 2026, the process server placed a phone call to a number ending in 4498 and spoke with an individual who identified himself as Defendant Snow. However, Snow refused to cooperate and hung immediately after he confirmed his identity,” Harpole’s filing says. “A few minutes later, the process server attempted to serve Snow at his address, but was unsuccessful, citing ‘a hostile environment’ at Snow’s residence.”

As a result, Harpole’s attorneys have asked a judge for the U.S. Marshals to serve Snow, who hasn’t responded to the filing, which was first reported by Court Watch.

The lawsuit stems from Snow’s allegations that he saw Harpole, Erika Kirk and Army intelligence officers at Fort Huachuca in Arizona on Sept. 9—the day before Charlie’s assassination. Snow’s supposed sighting has fueled conspiracy theories that the group was plotting Charlie’s death.

Last December, podcaster Candace Owens, who is also a party to Harpole’s lawsuit, amplified Snow’s allegations on her show.

“Snow falsely and negligently, if not intentionally and with reckless disregard for the truth, told Owens that Harpole attended a conspiracy meeting at Fort Huachuca on the day preceding Kirk’s assassination and colluded with the federal government in connection with that assassination,” court records say. “He therefore also accused Harpole of conspiracy to commit murder, a criminal offense.”

Harpole sued Owens and Snow on April 30, saying that he’s never been to Fort Huachuca, where the conspiracy supposedly took place.

“The claim that Harpole was present at Fort Huachuca on September 9, 2025, for an alleged meeting is verifiably false—as Harpole’s travel records plainly place him in Dallas, Texas. There would also be records showing Harpole’s access to the base,” Harpole’s lawsuit says.

“Owens had access to these records, but dismissed them without any investigation, claiming they did not provide an alibi for when the meeting concluded. To avoid any uncertainty, Brian Harpole has never been to Fort Huachuca. Not ever. Additionally, there is no evidence that such a meeting even took place, with or without Harpole.”

Kirk was shot while addressing a crowd at the University of Utah on Sept. 10, 2025. The suspect, Tyler Robinson, has been charged in connection with the killing.

Harpole has previously blamed local police for failing to protect campus rooftops, allowing a gunman to fatally shoot his client.

Owens, for her part, has indicated that she intends to fight the lawsuit—bragging on April 30 that the case now gives her subpoena power.

“LET’S GO,” she said when she was sued.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Xi Warns That Taiwan Could Lead to ‘Clashes and Conflicts’ Between the US and China

Headline USA Editor
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Xi Warns That Taiwan Could Lead to ‘Clashes and Conflicts’ Between the US and China

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Chinese President Xi Jinping warned President Trump during talks in Beijing on Thursday that differences over Taiwan could lead to “clashes and conflicts” between the US and China, underscoring the issue’s significance from China’s perspective.

“As President Xi Jinping noted during the talks with President Trump, the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters.

“If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy. ‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water. Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the US. The US side must exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question,” Guo added.

The warning was delivered during two hours of talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, before which Trump praised the Chinese leader in public remarks. “You’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true,” Trumps said, according to The Associated Press. “It’s an honor to be your friend.”

Xi expressed hope for a beneficial, cooperative US-China relationship but also warned of the need to avoid conflict, asking “whether the two countries can transcend the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new model for relations between major powers.”

The AP noted that Xi has used the term “Thucydides Trap” for many years, which refers to the risk of war between a rising power and an established power, but said it was significant that he used it in comments directly to Trump.

Trump’s visit to Beijing, which includes a large delegation of his senior officials and CEOs of private US companies, comes a few months after his administration approved $11 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, more than were approved during the entire Biden administration, prompting Beijing to launch major military drills around the island.

The US does not appear to be heeding China’s warnings regarding Taiwan, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed what Xi told Trump, telling NBC News: “They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position, and we move on to the other topics.”

While issuing warnings about potential conflicts, Xi also stressed that the US and China could maintain a beneficial relationship. “Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand,” he said. “We can help each other succeed and advance the well-being of the whole world.”

The two leaders also discussed the US-Israeli war against Iran, with the White House saying that the two sides agreed the Strait of Hormuz “must remain open to support the free flow of energy” and that Xi “also made clear China’s opposition to the militarization of the strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use.” Chinese officials did not mention Iran or the Strait of Hormuz in their readouts of the meeting, which came as Iran was allowing Chinese tankers to exit the Persian Gulf.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.

Data Center Town Hall Speakers Criticize Industry, Shapiro, and Secrecy

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Data Center Town Hall Speakers Criticize Industry, Shapiro, and Secrecy

(, The Center Square) The vast extent of the Pennsylvania data center boom and the intense opposition to it were apparent during a virtual Town Hall Wednesday night, when it was called “an onslaught,” something that has “bulldozed” citizens, and – many times – a byproduct of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s support.

The session arranged by a pair of informal citizens’ coalitions may have been the most comprehensive sharing of views and outrage from many locations across the state since the headlong rush to build more data centers began. Speakers included Sen. Katie Muth, a Chester County Democrat who wants to impose a three-year moratorium on new “hyper scale” data center development, and Republican state Rep. Jamie Walsh of Luzerne County, who is pitching several bills including one to revoke a sales tax exemption for data centers.

But the bulk of the messages were from unelected residents.

Each had a few minutes to share personal impressions, tales of industry actions, non-transparency, and fears about the future. Some were business owners and some were connected with community groups. They came from Chester, Cumberland, Columbia, Montour, Lawrence, Beaver and other counties.

People who oppose data centers are being typecast as “uniformed” or “emotional” or “anti-progress,” said Jennifer Dusart, a Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County business owner. The rush to build, she said, takes place “often with very little public awareness.”

Colby Wesner, part of a citizens group in Montour County, harshly criticized a bill that passed the state House in April and is currently awaiting action in the Senate. Sponsored by Democratic Rep. Kyle Donahue of Lackawanna County, it would have the state create a model ordinance on data centers that would give communities “best practices” guidance for dealing with them.

Wesner said the bill was “a data center developer’s dream” and “needs to be buried and never see the light of day.” Another Montour resident, Sam Burleigh, said it would limit local government’s ability to make decisions.

Muth called it a “crappy bill.”

Monica Vega, who said she was a first responder in both Montgomery and Chester counties, said the forceful rush toward data center development appeared to be part of a “decline toward authoritarianism” underway in the country.

John Zola, of Sugarloaf in Luzerne County, described two major data center projects being pitched in his immediate area and “eight other proposals within a 20-mile radius.” He predicted a calamitous effect on Salem Township, Luzerne County, in particular, saying it would be “gone” five years from now.

“It’s just going to be machines and buildings,” Zola said.

The session was organized by the Better Path Coalition and No False Climate Solutions PA, both founded at least in part by Karen Feridun, who was host for the town hall. Feridun was part of a group of people who, eight days earlier, delivered a large placard invitation to the Town Hall to the Governor’s office in the Capitol. Feridun said the group never received a response.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Shapiro, Rosie Lapowsky, said, “The invitation was shared with the appropriate staff members for review in the Governor’s Scheduling Office. The Governor receives an extremely high volume of invitations, meeting requests, and event requests each day, and unfortunately is not able to participate in every event.”

Shapiro was repeatedly criticized Wednesday night.

Southeastern Pennsylvania business owner Kelly Donia said she once admired Shapiro enough to be willing to volunteer to campaign for him. Since the data center rush, she said, she will “make it my job” to see he is never elected again.

Roseann Weinrich of Schuylkill County said Shapiro had a “sacred duty” to uphold the state constitution, but what was happening was a prioritization of “money and big tech.” She said, “The lack of transparency and overall confusion about this is concerning.”

Muth – referring to the state that is considered to be overflowing with data centers – said, “We will be Virginia in 10 years.” She added, “None of us deserve to be living in industrial hell.”

CIA Did Not Raid Gabbard’s Office: Spox

Luis Cornelio
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CIA Did Not Raid Gabbard’s Office: Spox

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A domino effect of online comments turned a whistleblower’s claims about CIA document retrieval into viral rumors that the agency had raided Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s office. Her spokesperson, Olivia Coleman, is disputing the claims.

“This is false – the CIA did not raid the DNI’s office,” Coleman wrote Wednesday on X, in response to Fox News host Jesse Watters’s post discussing the rumored raid.

The speculation stemmed from comments made by CIA whistleblower James Erdman III during a Wednesday hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, along with subsequent reactions from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and social media users.

Eardman’s testimony largely pertained to the alleged cover-up of information about COVID-19’s origins. During the hearing, however, Erdman said that the CIA “took back 40 boxes of JFK files and MK ultra files being processed for declassification by DNI Gabbard.” The timeline around the alleged retrieval remains unclear.

(Video below. Relevant comments begin around the 8:08 mark.)

Luna, who chairs the House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, responded by demanding the documents be returned to Gabbard’s office, though it was also unclear whether any files were permanently removed or later returned.

“Given the nature of docs in question, we are sending a preservation notice. Docs need to be returned to ODNI given that ODNI was given direction and authority by the President to declass RFK, MLK, & JFK,” Luna wrote on X, shortly after Eardman’s comments.

“Regarding MKULTRA, these were documents specifically requested by my Task Force and currently being used for our investigation,” she added.

Some social media users took Luna’s comments as a suggestion that the CIA was stonewalling a declassification process ordered by President Donald Trump.

Beyond Coleman’s denial, other officials disputed the raid characterization, including Ezra Cohen, who served on the Public Interest Declassification Board.

Cohen said via X that the files taken by the CIA were unrelated to the declassification process and that such files were ultimately returned to Gabbard after being scanned.

Luna has since said the issue is not with CIA Director John Ratcliffe or Gabbard, though some of her earlier posts threatened to hold the CIA in contempt if the files were not produced.

This story may be updated if new information becomes available

Scientist Tied to Wuhan ‘Super Virus’ Research Suddenly Retires

Luis Cornelio
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Scientist Tied to Wuhan ‘Super Virus’ Research Suddenly Retires

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) One of the scientists most frequently cited in congressional scrutiny over COVID-19 origins announced his retirement Tuesday — just one day before Sen. Rand Paul held a hearing focused on gain-of-function research.

Dr. Ralph S. Baric, a professor of epidemiology at UNC-Chapel Hill, is set to retire in June, according to an email statement to faculty and staff, as reported by North Carolina outlet The Assembly.

“Dr. Baric has been responsible for creating pioneering life-saving treatments, important diagnostic advancements and vaccines that are used around the world,” UNC official Nancy Messonnier wrote, as quoted by the outlet.

Despite the praise, Baric has been a central figure in congressional criticism of U.S.-funded coronavirus research due to his long-running work on coronaviruses and research ties to Wuhan, China.

In a 2021 press release, Paul’s office specifically cited Baric’s collaboration with Wuhan-based virologist Shi Zhengli, alleging the two worked to create “super viruses.”

“For years, Dr. Ralph Baric, a virologist in the U.S. has been collaborating with Dr. Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Virology Institute, sharing his discoveries about how to create super viruses,” Paul’s office wrote.

“During their research, Dr. Baric and Dr. Shi worked together to insert bat virus spike protein into the backbone of the deadly SARS virus and then used the man-made super virus to infect human airway cells,” the office added.

Paul said Baric’s work was directly funded by tax dollars administered by disgraced former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci. The senator again highlighted Baric in his opening remarks during a Wednesday hearing on the “multi-agency cover-up of COVID-19 and gain-of-function research.”

Baric’s role has also been tied to the Biological Sciences Experts Group (BSEG), a panel under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that was intended to advise the intelligence community on biological threats.

Paul called out the arrangement on Wednesday, describing a circular system marked by apparent conflicts of interest:

“So, the scientists commissioned to investigate COVID origins were, in some cases, the very scientists who were complicit in the gain of function experiments that may have created COVID.

“In essence, the intelligence community pays researchers to review work and write papers. NIH funds their grants. The CIA consults them and gives them access to classified information. The National Academies publishes their work. Policymakers then cite the result as consensus.

“At the center of the government side of this circle was Dr. Anthony Fauci.”

Ex-NYC Judge Charged for Real Estate Fraud Scheme

Headline USA Editor
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Ex-NYC Judge Charged for Real Estate Fraud Scheme

(Headline USA) A former New York City judge who resigned last year while under investigation for professional misconduct was charged Wednesday with abusing his position to swindle real estate investors out of at least $5 million and then using some of the loot to pay his own bills.

Edward Harold King, who left the bench at the end of last year, and Yechiel “Sam” Sprei, a politically connected real estate developer, were arrested by IRS Criminal Investigation agents on wire fraud conspiracy charges after federal prosecutors say they duped a pair of investors into forking over $6.5 million for a bogus property bid and then failed to return all but a fraction of the money.

The allegations are similar to claims made against King in civil lawsuits and in complaints to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, whose investigation precipitated his resignation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Wang told a judge at the men’s initial court appearance on Wednesday that the transaction described in the criminal case was “one of several schemes that the government has been investigating.” Discussing Sprei’s finances, the prosecutor said “it’s safe to say many, many millions of dollars” have moved through his bank accounts in the last few years.

King, 72, and Sprei, 37, were released on bail and are scheduled to return to Brooklyn federal court on Monday to finalize their bond arrangements. King and his lawyer, Michael Vitaliano, declined to comment as they left the courthouse. The former judge cut through trees in a nearby park to avoid reporters and photographers. Sprei’s lawyer, Ezra Lent, declined to comment.

In court, Wang said that during Sprei’s arrest, the developer lied to federal agents that he had no electronic devices on him other than his cellphone. Agents executing a search warrant seized the phone and then found a second phone while patting Sprei down, Wang said.

If convicted, King and Sprei could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

“As alleged, the defendants stole millions of dollars from investors by cynically leveraging King’s position as a sitting judge to lend false legitimacy to supposed investment opportunities,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement.

King resigned on Dec. 31, 2025, just three years after becoming a judge, after the Commission on Judicial Conduct informed him that it was investigating complaints mirrored in his criminal case.

Among the complaints, the commission said, were that King was involved in a scheme to defraud real estate investors and that he continued to act as a lawyer — including by accepting funds into his own attorney escrow accounts — despite rules barring full-time judges from practicing law, acting as fiduciaries or engaging in business activities. King denied the allegations.

According to federal prosecutors, King and Sprei pitched investors on fictitious investment opportunities with false promises that their money would be kept safe in attorney escrow accounts and returned on demand if the investors decided to end their involvement.

In November 2024, prosecutors said, Sprei and King offered two investors an opportunity to buy commercial real estate in Freehold, New Jersey, through a bankruptcy auction. In order to proceed, Sprei told them, all bidders first needed to show “proof of liquidity” and that they could do so by depositing $6.5 million in King’s escrow account, prosecutors said. Sprei told the investors that King was both an independent escrow agent and a judge, according to prosecutors.

The investors wired the money to King’s account, where they were told it would be left untouched and not spent or transferred without their permission, prosecutors said. Within days, prosecutors said, King and Sprei transferred several million dollars to a bank account in Sprei’s name.

Later, when the investors exercised their right to have the money back, King offered up excuses and alternatives, at one point saying he would have his lawyer deposit the funds with an unspecified court, prosecutors said. King and Sprei eventually returned $1.5 million to the investors, but have yet to cough up the rest, prosecutors said.

King became a judge in 2023. He won a seat on the New York City Civil Court in Brooklyn and was appointed to the state’s main trial court in June 2024.

Prior to that he was in private practice and, according to news articles about his campaign, was appointed by courts to manage assets in real estate disputes. He also served as an administrative law judge for the city’s Parking Violations Bureau and as legal counsel to the state assembly.

When the state commission accepted King’s resignation, its administrator Robert Tembeckjian called the allegations “so egregious as to warrant his permanent departure from the bench.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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