Body of New York man recovered from Monroe Lake
Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating after the body of a New York man was recovered from Monroe Lake on Saturday afternoon. Just before 4pm on Saturday, emergency personnel were dispatched to Paynetown State Recreation Area after a man went under the water and never resurfaced.
Rajesh Kumar, 40, of Ozone Park, New York, was located a short time later by Indiana Conservation Officers with the assistance of the Monroe County Dive Team. Lifesaving measures were attempted but Kumar was pronounced dead on scene.
Witnesses stated that Kumar jumped off a boat to swim, and then never resurfaced after going under the water. No life jackets were being used at the time of the incident.
City of Bloomington and U.S. Department of Justice Host United Against Hate Forum
On Thursday, September 7th, from 6-9pm, the U.S. Department of Justice and City of Bloomington will host the United Against Hate Forum in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 401 N. Morton Street.
The goal of the forum is to address hate crime legislation, how hate crimes are prosecuted, and to provide resources for campus and community members. Since 1990, the Bloomington Human Rights Commission (now the Bloomington/Monroe County Human Rights Commission) has been collecting data and tracking hate incidents in our community. In 2022, the Human Rights Commission documented five hate incidents. Hate Incident Reports for the last ten years can be found on the Bloomington/Monroe County Human Rights Commission webpage: bloomington.in.gov/boards/human-rights.
Please note that the annual reports contain descriptions of verbal harassment, threats of physical harm, actual physical harm, and vandalism. The reports also address the apparent motivations behind each incident. The Commission alerts prospective readers that the language contained in the reports has been preserved for accuracy and is as such often offensive by definition.
This forum will be available on Zoom or on Community Access Television Services (CATS) at catstv.net.
Bloomington woman sentenced to Federal prison for $5.5 million international COVID Fraud Scheme
Oluwatobi Seton, 28, of Bloomington, Indiana, has been sentenced to nearly 5.5 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to court documents, Seton conspired with partners in Nigeria to obtain unemployment and other benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic from state and federal governments by falsely applying for such benefits using the stolen identities of others. Seton and her co-conspirators obtained personal identifiable information of their victims, which they used to open GoBank accounts and obtain debit cards. The conspirators then submitted false and fraudulent employment applications to unemployment agencies throughout the United States in the victims’ names and had the stolen benefits monies deposited into their fraudulent GoBank accounts and onto debit cards. Seton then used fake driver’s licenses in the victims’ names to access the proceeds of the fraud scheme. At the time of her arrest, Seton had over 1,400 GoBank cards and ten driver’s licenses with different names in her possession.
In total, the conspiracy resulted in at least $5,475,459.00 in actual and attempted losses to state unemployment offices and other state and federal agencies: Seton kept a portion of the proceeds for herself and sent the remainder to her conspirators, including her business partners in Nigeria. Investigators seized over $550,000 in cash and GoBank accounts linked to the scheme during the investigation.
“This international criminal enterprise conspired to steal millions of dollars meant to help our citizens as we fought through the unprecedented pandemic,” said United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Zachary A. Myers. “Fraudsters like this defendant who sought to exploit the urgent need to provide pandemic relief must be held accountable. I commend the work of our partners at the FBI, Bloomington Police Department, and Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, along with our federal prosecutors, to identify criminals like this defendant and ensure that they pay the price for their crimes.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bloomington Police Department, and Monroe County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Chief Judge, Tanya Walton Pratt. Judge Pratt also ordered that Seton be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 1 year following her release from federal prison and pay restitution in the amount of $4,309,027.00.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant United States Attorney MaryAnn T. Mindrum, who prosecuted this case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID‑19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.
Bloomington infrastructure project update
Trail Maintenance – Urban Greenspace, Urban Forestry, and Natural Resources staff closed the south end of the Bloomington Rail Trail between Rogers St and the Clear Creek Trail to complete trail repairs, and to remove hazardous trees and overgrown vegetation. The work was necessary to keep the trail corridor clean and the lines of sight open for the safety of trail users. Similar work is planned later this month for the Polly Grimshaw Trail and the Clear Creek Trail.
3rd Street – On 3rd St between Overhill and Eagleson, there are delineators to be installed and sign work to be done, as well as pavement markings. This should be completed by August 11, weather permitting. There may be lane restrictions for some of this work.
Hopewell, Phase I East – Construction has begun on this first phase of reconstructing the former Bloomington Hospital site. Over the next couple of weeks Milestone Contractors will be removing the remaining parking lots and beginning construction of the new parking facilities for Centerstone. Construction will continue for the next 14 months and is anticipated to be completed in November of 2024.
The Hopewell Phase 1 East project site is bounded by 2nd St to the north, 1st St to the south, B-Line to the east, and Rogers St to the west. Additional information about the project and the contractor can be found at the following links: https://bton.in/mRp~I, hopewellbloomington.org & renascentinc.com
Resurfacing Projects – During the week of August 14, weather permitting, the Department of Public Works Street Division crews will begin resurfacing on S Franklin Rd from W 3rd St to End of City Maintenance, W Holiday Dr from S Franklin Rd to S Fairfield Rd, S Fairfield Dr from S Franklin Rd to W Holiday Dr. The Division will prep streets prior to resurfacing and will have restrictions during work hours (7 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Signage will be posted. View an interactive map of 2023 paving projects at: bton.in/tpNzZ
Fountain Drive- City of Bloomington Utilities (CBU) will be replacing a 6-inch pipe with an 8-inch pipe along W Fountain Dr beginning at the W Gray St intersection and ending at the Bender Lumber Office entrance. This will allow for better water service to the area and room for a future stormwater improvement project. CBU will start this project at 6pm on Sunday, August 6, working overnight until 6am. They will continue to work overnight until the project is complete, anticipating one week. W Fountain Dr will be closed while they are working overnight, but open during the day. There will be signage and flaggers to direct traffic around the construction area.
This Week in Hoosier History
1933 – Bobby Helms, American country music singer, was born in Bloomington. He is best remembered for his 1957 Christmas hit “Jingle Bell Rock”. Additionally, he had two other hit records from that year: “Fraulein” and “My Special Angel”.
For more local news . . . Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson