Attorney General James Secures $450,000 from Companies Selling Home Security Cameras that Failed to Secure Private Videos

 

eufy Cameras’ Poor Data Security Left Private Home Security Footage Accessible to Outsiders  

New York Attorney General Letitia James secured $450,000 from three companies that distribute eufy home security video cameras for failing to secure consumers’ private home security videos. The companies, Fantasia Trading LLC, Power Mobile Life LLC, and Smart Innovation, LLC distribute a line of video cameras, video doorbells, and video smart locks under the eufy brand. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that video streams from the cameras were not always securely encrypted and could be accessible to anyone with the relevant link without authentication. The settlement requires these companies to take steps to ensure stronger protections for customers’ data and pay $450,000 in penalties and costs.

“New Yorkers buy home security cameras to protect themselves and their homes,” said Attorney General James. “The eufy cameras’ poor data security allowed anyone to access people’s security camera footage, defeating the purpose of having a home security system. Today my office is taking steps to ensure eufy cameras’ developers improve their data security so that New Yorkers home security footage is private and protected.”

In November 2022, a security researcher publicly disclosed tests indicating that marketing claims about the eufy products’ security and “end-to-end encryption” of data might not be accurate. The OAG opened an investigation focused on a line of eufy-branded internet-enabled video cameras, video doorbells, and video locks distributed by Fantasia Trading, Power Mobile Life, and Smart Innovation. The marketing for these home security products assured consumers that their data would be kept private and secure.

The OAG’s investigation revealed that, in certain situations, video sent over the internet from eufy home security products was not protected by end-to-end encryption, and that at least a portion of the connection did not use any type of encryption at all. The investigation also uncovered that an active video stream could be accessed by anyone with the relevant URL, without authentication, and that it may have been possible to deduce the URL without obtaining it from a user. The companies had not previously identified these security vulnerabilities because they did not have the necessary processes in place to test their safeguards or to identify risks to the security and privacy of consumers’ video.

As a result of this settlement, Fantasia Trading, Power Mobile Life LLC, and Smart Innovation will pay $450,000 in penalties and costs and take steps to ensure the eufy home security products they sell better protect consumers’ private videos. The agreement requires that the companies regularly substantiate that the developer of the eufy home security products:

• Maintains a comprehensive information security program designed to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of consumer information;
• Uses secure software development processes, including the use of third-party tools for testing software for security vulnerabilities;
• Maintains a vulnerability management program that includes regular penetration testing and vulnerability testing; and
• Implements appropriate encryption processes, including the encryption of video in storage and in transit.

This announcement continues Attorney General James’ efforts to protect New Yorkers’ personal information and hold companies accountable for their poor data security practices. Last month, Attorney General James secured $500,000 from an auto insurance company for failing to protect New Yorkers’ data.  In November 2024, Attorney General James and DFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris secured $11.3 million from GEICO and Travelers for having poor data security. In October 2024, Attorney General James secured $2.25 million from a Capital Region health care provider for failing to protect the private information and medical data of New Yorkers. In August 2024, Attorney General James and a multistate coalition secured $4.5 from a biotech company for failing to protect patient data. In July, Attorney General James launched two privacy guides, a Business Guide to Website Privacy Controls and a Consumer Guide to Tracking on the Web, to help businesses and consumers protect themselves. In April 2023, Attorney General James released a comprehensive data security guide to help companies strengthen their data security practices. In January 2022, Attorney General James released a business guide for credential stuffing attacks that detailed how businesses could protect themselves and consumers.

State Senator Rivera on Trump Administration’s Outrageous Decision to Lock Out New York of its Medicaid Reimbursement Portal

 

“It is incredibly troubling yet unsurprising that this administration decided to freeze all Medicaid reimbursement portals across the country earlier today. This indefensible decision will carry serious consequences for not only those who rely on Medicaid for their healthcare, which is 1 in 3 New Yorkers, but for struggling healthcare professionals who provide services to some of the most underserved of New Yorkers."

"The White House eventually tried to blame the blackout on an accidental outage but make no mistake that this was part of their decision to illegally freeze all federal funding going to states, which launched chaos nationwide."

"I laud and support Attorney General James for fighting back by immediately bringing legal action against an administration that does not seem to care about jeopardizing the livelihood of already struggling Americans. I am glad she is there doing her part."

"As far as the Legislature and the Executive, we can prepare for further attacks by finding ways to garner more revenue during this budget cycle so we can cover at least some of the federal cuts that we know are coming. To do so, we must not be afraid to tax the wealthy who historically have not paid their fair share in our state."

"I look forward to fighting that battle on behalf of all New Yorkers in the days and weeks ahead.”

Woman Sentenced for Fraud Scheme Involving Claims for Unnecessary Respiratory Tests Submitted with COVID-19 Tests

 

A California woman was sentenced to nine years in prison for her role in fraudulently submitting claims to governmental and private insurance programs during the COVID‑19 pandemic for expensive respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) tests that were medically unnecessary and never ordered by health care providers.

According to court documents, Lourdes Navarro, 66, of Glendale, and Imran Shams owned and controlled Matias Clinical Laboratory, doing business as Health Care Providers Laboratory (HCPL). Navarro and Shams conspired to obtain nasal swab specimens that enabled HCPL to test for COVID-19, as well as to obtain testing orders from physicians and other medical professionals. The specimens were collected from, among others, residents and staff at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, rehabilitation facilities, and similar types of facilities, and from students and staff at primary and secondary schools, for the purported purpose of conducting screening tests to identify and isolate individuals infected with COVID-19. However, Navarro and Shams caused HCPL to perform RPP tests on most of the specimens, even though only COVID-19 testing had been ordered and there was no medical justification for conducting RPP tests on asymptomatic individuals who needed only COVID-19 screening tests. Through HCPL, Navarro and Shams billed approximately $369 million for the RPP tests to Medicare, the Health Resources and Services Administration COVID-19 Uninsured Program, and a private health insurance company, and were reimbursed approximately $46.7 million for fraudulent claims.

Navarro was also ordered to forfeit $11,662,939 in funds that the government had previously seized from three bank accounts. The total amount seized and forfeited from Navarro and Shams is $14,518,485. Navarro also was ordered to pay $46,735,400 in restitution.

Navarro pleaded guilty on Oct. 5, 2023, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. Shams pleaded guilty on Jan. 24, 2023, in the Central District of California to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and concealment of his exclusion from Medicare and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Jan. 30, 2024. In addition, on May 29, 2024, Shams was sentenced to five years in prison in connection with his 2017 plea in the Eastern District of New York to conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, and defrauding the United States by obstructing the lawful functions of the IRS, of which three years were ordered to run consecutive to the Central District of California sentence.

Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Rochelle Wong of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Regional Office made the announcement.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Gary A. Winters and Raymond E. Beckering III of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maxwell Coll for the Central District of California handled the financial penalties.

The Justice Department’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force marshals the resources of the department 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, among other methods, 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. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson - Preliminary Budget Hearing FY 2026

 

Former West Virginia Supervisory Correctional Officer Found Guilty Following Jury Trial on Conspiracy and Obstruction Charges

 

Following a four-day jury trial, Chad Lester, a former lieutenant at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia, was found guilty of conspiracy, witness tampering, and giving false statements to the FBI. The charges arose out of a staff assault of an inmate named Quantez Burks, who later died from injuries he suffered during the assault. Seven correctional officers pleaded guilty in connection with the assault of Burks; several of those former officers testified against the defendant during the trial. The defendant faced charges related to his efforts to obstruct the investigation into the assault.

According to the evidence presented at trial, the defendant conspired with other officers at the Southern Regional Jail to tamper with witnesses to cover up the assault of Burks. The evidence showed the defendant directed a subordinate correctional officer to leave truthful information out of his report related to the circumstances of Burks’ death. The defendant directed another officer to include in his report false information about Burks. The defendant told a third officer that he would beat him if he discovered that the officer was providing information about the assault to investigators. Finally, the defendant provided false information relating to the assault of Burks to the FBI during an interview.

Lester is scheduled for sentencing on April 16 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Pittsburgh Field Office, Charleston Resident Agency, investigated the case.

BROOKLYN MAN SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR REVENGE SHOOTING THAT WOUNDED WRONG MAN

 

Victim Shot in Hail of Bullets on Claremont Street 

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a Brooklyn man has been sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to Attempted Assault in the first degree for wounding a man he wrongly believed had been involved in his friend’s murder. 

District Attorney Clark said, “The senselessness of this retaliatory shooting cannot be overstated. The defendant and his accomplices fired numerous shots at a group they believed had fatally shot the defendant’s friend, but the group had no connection to the murder. Now he will spend years of his life in prison after the criminal justice system has held him accountable.” 

District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Wilfredo Solano, 28, of Brooklyn, was sentenced today to seven years in prison plus five years post-release supervision for Attempted Assault in the first-degree by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Timothy Lewis. He pleaded guilty to that charge on December 11, 2024. 

According to the investigation, on June 1, 2023, at approximately 8:15 p.m., in the vicinity of 1311 College Avenue in Claremont, Solano along with Shameek Parker, 23, of the Bronx, and unapprehended individuals fired at least 10 shots from at least four firearms at three men riding Citi Bikes. Solano himself fired three times at point blank range. A 19-year-old man was struck in the knee. Solano, Parker, and the other shooters fled the scene. The incident was recorded on video. The night before the incident occurred, Solano’s friend Antoine Strong, 21, was fatally shot at the same location by individuals riding Citi Bikes. The people Solano shot at had no connection to Strong’s murder; two defendants are awaiting trial in that case. 

Shameek Parker pleaded guilty to Attempted Assault in the first-degree on January 16, 2025 and will be sentenced on February 13, 2025.

District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Daniel Nunez of the 44th Precinct for his work on the case. 

Statement from NYC Comptroller Brad Lander on Trump Freezing Federal Aid & Grants

 

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released the following statement:

“President Trump’s illegal order to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars that Americans rely on risks throwing cities, states, and families across the country into chaos.

“New Yorkers rely on those federal funds for food stamps, for housing payments, for child care, for our hospitals, for special education, for our infrastructure – even for school lunches. The freeze could deny FEMA emergency payments to Los Angeles and eliminate funding for cancer research. It’s unconstitutional, and risks shattering the foundation of trust that American government is built on – that the federal government will keep the financial promises it makes.

“New York City cannot wait to see how the memo plays out. President Trump is illegally breaking promises that the federal government made to the City of New York. I call on the Mayor and Corporation Counsel to file or join a lawsuit against this illegal action, to make sure federal resources are administered in accordance with the law.

“This is no time to cower in the face of a bully who is stealing our lunch money.”

Statement From Governor Kathy Hochul

“In the hours since the federal government released their memo threatening to slash $3 trillion in federal funding, millions of New Yorkers have voiced their fears that this unprecedented step would take away their health care, defund their local law enforcement agencies, block repairs to roads and bridges and so much more.

“The federal government committed this money to New York — they must keep their end of the bargain. For that reason, I am working with Attorney General Letitia James on new litigation to ensure these funds are delivered to New York as promised, and as required by law. And as we let the judicial process unfold, New York’s Republican leaders in Congress must step up and use their influence to protect our state, our people, and our federal funding.

“I’ve been consistent: I’ll work with anyone in any party who is willing to collaborate on making New York more affordable and safer. But we’ll never hesitate to fight for the people of this state.”