U.S. Virgin Islands — Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea today issued an investor alert warning residents about the growing surge of fraudulent investment schemes circulating across Meta platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. As part of a multistate coalition, Attorney General Rhea also joined efforts urging Meta to take stronger action against these scams. Fraudsters are increasingly leveraging deceptive advertisements and sophisticated “deepfake” technology to entice victims into high-risk schemes designed to drain their savings. These scams include “pump and dump” operations, confidence schemes, and fraudulent cryptocurrency investments, all engineered to extract as much money as possible from unsuspecting investors.
U.S. Virgin Islands — On Monday, V.I. Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea on joined a bipartisan coalition of 40 other attorneys general in calling on Congress to pass the Combating Illicit Xylazine Act. The bipartisan legislation would classify the dangerous animal tranquilizer xylazine – which is often mixed with fentanyl and other opioids – as a federal controlled substance to better protect communities and reduce opioid overdose deaths. In a letter to House and Senate leadership, Attorney General Rhea and the coalition explain the dangers of illicit xylazine, which is causing an increasing number of opioid overdose deaths, and argue that federally classifying xylazine as a controlled substance is essential to helping law enforcement stop the spread of the drug.
U.S. Virgin Islands – V.I. Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea announced Thursday that 21-year-old Ryan Branch has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the April 2024 shooting death of veteran Milton Gordon.
U.S. Virgin Islands — Today, V.I. Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea announced the filing of a lawsuit by the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice (VIDOJ) against Meta Platforms, Inc. and the company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries — including Instagram, LLC and Facebook Holdings, LLC — to protect the well-being and safety of the tens of thousands of U.S. Virgin Islands teens and children who use Facebook and Instagram. In addition, VIDOJ’s complaint marks the first effort by an attorney general to address reports of rampant fraud and scams on Meta’s platforms, which impacts all Virgin Islands residents, including the elderly.
U.S. Virgin Islands — Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea joins a coalition of 42 Attorneys General in sending a letter to OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and other major artificial intelligence software production and distribution companies demanding more quality control and other safeguards over chatbot products.