Criminal Investigation

Three Utah men took video of themselves toppling over an ancient rock formation in Utah's Goblin Valley State Park are under criminal investigation for their actions, officials said Friday. After viewing the video -- which shows one man pushing at the top of a mushroom-like rock formation until the boulder breaks off its rock stem and falls over -- parks officials immediately launched an investigation, Fred Hayes, director of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation, told the Los Angeles Times.

The Justice Department and FBI have opened an investigation of Los Angeles nutritional products company Herbalife Ltd., which has been fighting critics who say it's operating an illegal pyramid scheme. Law enforcement sources confirmed the investigation. The FBI started looking into the company "more than several months ago," said a person who has been briefed on the investigation. "We are doing our job of getting to the bottom of this issue," said the official, who asked not to be identified because the investigation is ongoing.

WASHINGTON -- Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said Tuesday that he had ordered a criminal investigation into allegations that top IRS officials targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny. “I have ordered an investigation to be begun,” he said. “The FBI is coordinating with the Justice Department to see if any laws were broken in connection with those matters related to the IRS. Those were, I think, as everyone can agree, if not criminal, they were certainly outrageous and unacceptable, but we are examining the facts to see if there were criminal violations.” He said the investigation, begun Friday, will be looking to see whether Internal Revenue Service officials “have gone beyond what they were supposed to do, broken regulations, broken rules, broken the law. We have prosecuted people.

CARACAS, Venezuela - One month after the arrest of a key opposition leader, Venezuelan government officials have moved to prosecute another: national assembly member Maria Corina Machado. The Venezuelan National Assembly has ordered Atty. Gen. Luisa Ortega Diaz to begin proceedings to strip Machado, a harsh critic of President Nicolas Maduro and National Assembly leader Diosdado Cabello, of her legislative immunity and place her under criminal investigation related to recent antigovernment protests that have left at least 30 dead.

The U.S. attorney's office in New York is conducting a criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs & Co. over mortgage securities deals the big Wall Street firm arranged, according to the Associated Press, citing an unnamed person knowledgeable of the investigation. The person said the inquiry stems from a criminal referral by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The source spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the investigation is in a preliminary phase. News of the action came a day after a group of 62 House lawmakers, including Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.

Federal prosecutors disclosed Friday that they were conducting a criminal investigation of Beverly Hills money manager Stanley Chais, who is accused of serving as the Southern California link to a Ponzi scheme operated by disgraced financier Bernard L. Madoff. Assistant U.S. Atty. William J. Stellmach revealed the criminal investigation in a motion that sought to postpone for six months a civil lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Chais in June. Stellmach said that proceedings in the SEC lawsuit, if not suspended, could interfere with an "ongoing, parallel criminal investigation" of Chais.

The paratroopers had their assignment: Check out reports that Afghan police had recovered the mangled remains of an insurgent suicide bomber. Try to get iris scans and fingerprints for identification. The 82nd Airborne Division soldiers arrived at the police station in Afghanistan's Zabol province in February 2010. They inspected the body parts. Then the mission turned macabre: The paratroopers posed for photos next to Afghan police, grinning while some held - and others squatted beside - the corpse's severed legs.

After weekend raids on the headquarters of Royal Ahold, the Dutch public prosecutor's office said it had begun a criminal investigation into the global grocery retailer for allegedly falsifying documents and publishing incorrect information in its annual reports. Ahold said it had "given its full cooperation" to investigators. The Dutch offices of Ahold's accountant, Deloitte & Touche, also were raided.

SAN DIEGO - After six weeks of civic turmoil over his treatment of women, Mayor Bob Filner submitted his resignation Friday, and the City Council approved a deal to pay for some of his expenses from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former aide. In an emotional and defiant address to the council after the vote was announced, Filner apologized to his victims and supporters but also said he had been victimized by "the hysteria of the lynch mob" caused by politicians and the media once the allegations by some 18 women became public.

Here's how Toyota Motor Corp. plans to finally put the sudden-acceleration issue to rest: Pull out the checkbook. The automaker is reportedly close to paying a $1-billion fine to settle a four-year federal criminal investigation into whether it properly reported safety complaints to regulators. Meanwhile, Toyota's lawyers are in settlement talks over hundreds of civil lawsuits alleging wrongful deaths or injuries, potentially adding hundreds of millions to the tab. Previously, Toyota agreed to pay $1.6 billion to settle a class-action case brought by thousands of Toyota owners who contended that sudden-acceleration problems damaged the value of their vehicles.

What would happen if the Energizer Bunny mated with Chucky? The result would probably look something like Toronto's crack-smoking mayor, Rob Ford. He has become the political horror show that just keeps going, and going, and going. After the Toronto City Council stripped him of all his non-statutory powers in November, reducing him to nothing more than a bobblehead , I mean figurehead, Ford was supposed to go away, get sober and engage in some meaningful introspection. Not that anyone would have noticed his absence from City Hall.

Here's how Toyota Motor Corp. plans to finally put the sudden-acceleration issue to rest: Pull out the checkbook. The automaker is reportedly close to paying a $1-billion fine to settle a four-year federal criminal investigation into whether it properly reported safety complaints to regulators. Meanwhile, Toyota's lawyers are in settlement talks over hundreds of civil lawsuits alleging wrongful deaths or injuries, potentially adding hundreds of millions to the tab. Previously, Toyota agreed to pay $1.6 billion to settle a class-action case brought by thousands of Toyota owners who contended that sudden-acceleration problems damaged the value of their vehicles.

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department said Wednesday that it has launched a criminal investigation into the recent cybertheft of more than 110 million Target customers' data, including the credit card numbers of 40 million Americans. "We are committed to working to find not only the perpetrators of these sorts of data breaches, but also any individuals and groups who exploit that data via credit card fraud," Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A woman who accused two Los Angeles police officers of threatening her with jail unless she had sex with them will be paid $575,000 to drop her lawsuit against the city. The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the payout to the woman, whom LAPD investigators believe is one of at least four women James Nichols and Luis Valenzuela coerced into sex. The Times generally does not name alleged victims of sex crimes. Nichols and Valenzuela, both 41, were working as narcotics detectives in Hollywood in 2010 when they arrested the woman, according to one of her attorneys, Dennis Chang, and a search warrant affidavit LAPD investigators filed as part of their criminal investigation into the officers' conduct.

A woman who accused two Los Angeles police officers of threatening her with jail unless she had sex with them will be paid $575,000 to settle her lawsuit against the city. The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the payout to the woman, who is one of four women to accuse officers James Nichols and Luis Valenzuela of coercing them into having sex with them, according to court documents. The Times generally does not name alleged sex crime victims. Nichols and Valenzuela, both 41, were working as narcotics detectives in Hollywood in 2010 when they arrested the woman, according to one of her attorneys, Dennis Chang, and a search warrant affidavit LAPD investigators filed as part of a criminal investigation into the officers' conduct.

GAZIANTEP, Turkey - An Istanbul prosecutor said Thursday that he had been removed from the investigation of corruption involving the families of high-ranking officials of the ruling Justice and Development Party. The complaint by prosecutor Muammar Akkas, a day after three senior government ministers were forced to resign when their sons were arrested in the graft investigation, signals increasing tension between his office and longtime government leaders concerned about a scandal that threatens to topple the government.

SACRAMENTO - The accounting scandal at the California parks department will end without a criminal investigation, law enforcement officials said this week. The decision will probably close an embarrassing episode for Gov. Jerry Brown's administration. The scandal, which cost the parks director her job, broke last year when it was revealed that her department had an undisclosed $54-million surplus even as officials were planning to close dozens of parks. A subsequent probe by the attorney general's office determined that $20.4 million of the money had been intentionally concealed by officials concerned that their department's budget would be cut if the state's number crunchers knew about the extra funds.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department hired dozens of officers even though background investigators found they had committed serious misconduct on or off duty, sheriff's files show. The department made the hires in 2010 after taking over patrols of parks and government buildings from a little-known L.A. County police force. Officers from that agency were given first shot at new jobs with the Sheriff's Department. Investigators gave them lie detector tests and delved into their employment records and personal lives.

Los Angeles police officials are seeking to fire two officers after an internal investigation determined that they pressured women to engage in sex acts with them in their car while on duty, sources said. The officers, James Nichols and Luis Valenzuela, have been ordered to appear at disciplinary hearings, where it will be decided whether to fire them. Through his attorney, Nichols denied wrongdoing. Neither Valenzuela nor his attorney could be reached. Although department officials have remained tight-lipped, the allegations against the officers are detailed in a search warrant affidavit filed by an investigator involved in an ongoing criminal investigation into the officers' conduct.