One of those stories was a copyright infringement claim made by a local artisan who says the company lifted from her the concept for its “Kony 2012” bracelet.

In the weeks since, the artist, Corine Grant, a 26-year-old who previously had a kiosk in Horton Plaza, has hired as her attorney Timothy O’Leary of Gaston and Gaston.

O’Leary has yet to file a lawsuit against the organization. He sent a letter of complaint to Invisible Children and received a response from the organization taking the stance that it had done nothing wrong. He said he’s now explaining to Grant her legal options, and will soon decide whether to file a lawsuit.

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Nelson Grant Hallahan, 65, and wife Janet Hallahan, 54, were arrested by deputy marshals Saturday afternoon at a rural home in Tonopah, 50 miles west of Phoenix. The agency said it received a tip about their location after they were featured on “America’s Most Wanted” the previous night.

The couple pleaded guilty in Illinois federal court to bank and mail fraud conspiracy charges and money laundering. They didn’t show up for their sentencing and have been fugitives ever since.

The Hallahans lived in Peoria, Ill., and targeted family, friends and elderly victims by promising significant returns on investments. They also defrauded investors by selling interests in a tanning salon they later sold without telling investors. They were actually running a Ponzi scheme, repaying earlier investors with proceeds from new ones.

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“I hadn’t heard that and I just can’t say anymore,” said one woman, who was picking up her children.

The SEC sued two brothers, Little Elm resident Terry Wiese and California-based Scott Wiese, who they say ran a fake investment offering while preying on evangelical Christians at TCA, who were asked to pony up money.

In the lawsuit, federal investigators say the men took money from 80 investors and promised returns of up to 1,000% in the first year. The phony securities offerings stemmed from what the complaint identifies as a company called “Usee”, a voice over the internet protocol. Authorities say investors were bilked out of $6 million, amid false claims of big returns.

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Colorado Banking and Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph alleged in complaint filed in Denver District Court that the individuals solicited investors to invest in a Pennsylvania hedge fund that was operated as a Ponzi scheme.

Joseph alleged that the defendants solicited investors and directed approximately $5.4 million of investor funds into Life’s Good Family of Funds .

Named in the complaint are Michael Philip McNamara, John Staiano, Jon Bradon Peterson, all of Denver, and their business entities, Brentwood Equity Advisors, LLC; Jomac, LLC, and Sierra Capital Resources, LLC, all of Denver.

Joseph said that the defendants solicited investors into a Ponzi scheme headed by Robert Stinson, Jr., and an individual with a criminal history and a “securities fraud recidivist”.

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An 18-count federal indictment charges Donna Bello, 55, of Guilford, Jill Platt of Guilford, and Bettejane Hopkins, 66, of Ivoryton with defrauding the IRS, filing false tax returns, and committing wire fraud.

The women plead not guilty to the charges during their arraignments in U.S. District Court in Hartford on Wednesday afternoon.

Bello was the “ringleader and principal promoter” of the alleged pyramid scheme, according to prosecutors. She made at least $400,000 from the arrangement, according to the indictment.

During the hearing, Bello’s attorney, Richard Marquette said, “She didn’t profit whatsoever. She did it for philanthropic purposes, giving money back to people.”

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Joseph Blimline was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison on each of the charges related to the Ponzi schemes following a five-hour sentencing hearing on May 3, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone. Judge Crone ordered the sentences to run concurrently and ordered that restitution be made to the victims of the schemes.

At the sentencing hearing, the government presented testimony and evidence which established that Blimline and others began operating a Ponzi scheme in Michigan between November 2003 and December 2005, specifically by promising inflated rates of return in order to obtain payments from investors.

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Three of the suspects were arrested without incident on New York’s Long Island and a fourth was taken into custody in Florida, said FBI spokesman J. Peter Donald.

The three New York suspects — Jason Keryc, 34; of Wantagh, N.Y.; Anthony Ciccone, 39, of Locust Valley, N.Y.; and Diane Kaylor, 36, of Bethpage — made initial court appearances Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.

Attorneys for Keryc and Ciccone declined to comment. Michael J. Schwed, an attorney for Kaylor, told a reporter before the proceeding: “She’s innocent. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

A fourth suspect, Anthony Massaro, 40, of Boynton Beach, Fla., was arrested at his home. A date for his court appearance has not been announced.

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Andrew Bogdanoff, 65, founder and chairman of Remington Capital, and son Aaron Bogdanoff, 24, were named in the 33-count indictment announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

“It is incumbent on federal prosecutors to root out and prosecute this illegal activity so that innocent people do not suffer traumatic financial losses at the hands of people who flagrantly lie to make money,” said Zane Memeger, U.S. attorney for the district.

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“To have this kind of thing happen is rare, indeed,” said Larry Pettit, a retired banking professor at the University of Virginia. “You have to wonder how it could have happened. The regulatory bodies are pretty consistent on checking in on what’s going on in the bank. In other words: How did the bank hide what they were doing?”

Prosecutors last week said Norfolk developers Eric Menden and his partner, George Hranowskyj, conspired in a $49 million fraud involving insider real estate deals and -bogus applications for historic tax credits. They said former bank officials, whom they did not name and who haven’t been charged, had parts in $41 million of the alleged fraud.

Menden pleaded guilty in the case last week and is free awaiting sentencing. Hranowskyj is in jail pending trial.

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