Arcadia artist Qianjiao Ma (photo) vies for grand prize in the "Illustrators of the Future" competition to be honored during the 35th Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards.
City Council revoked the business license of IFitness & Beauty Spa due to a number of violations. It is located at 133 E. Huntington Drive and is the 10th massage service establishment to have its license revoked for code violations since January 2009 as part of a crackdown on code compliance and to eliminate prostitution and other illegal activities. Michelle Ma, the manager of IFitness and wife of the owner said they have been trying to comply but needed more time.
A recent report filed in federal court says Gemcoin's scam collected $164 million. Initially, investigators linked Gemcoin to $32 million in fraudulent investment. Steven Chen, his company U.S. Fine Investment Arts Inc., and Gemcoin (digital currency backed by precious gem reserves and amber mines) are accused of a "worldwide pyramid scheme."
57-year-old Richard Henry Solis of Arcadia faces two felony counts of grand theft from elder and six counts of petty theft from elder. The alleged crimes involved Solis claiming the victims had injured him with their vehicles and then asking for money for medical expenses or stealing their belongings, reportedly stealing $100,000 from the victims.
Troubles mount in GemCoin (digital currency) scheme. Arcadia company is accused of scamming investors out of millions in a pyramid scheme since 2013, possibly earlier. Arcadia Councilman John Wuo denies any involvement, even after YouTube videos surfaced showing him at Gemcoin marketing events.
Spotlight on Rose Queen Victoria Castellanos and the princesses of the Royal Court. Two of them, Maya Khan and Lauren Powers, are from Arcadia High School.
The trial for Isaac Campbell, charged with the murder of Liya "Jessie" Lu, has been delayed to give the Public Defender Jim Duffy time to transcribe a set of tapes from follow-up witness interviews from August. Lu went missing August 11, 2007 and her body was discovered a month later in the trash can of Campbell's friend's house in Arcadia.
John Edward Maust, 34, a teacher at Arroyo Pacific Academy in Arcadia, was arrested for kidnapping three juveniles after asking them for a ride. Maust pulled a knife on them. He turned himself in to Altadena Sheriff's Station.
Arcadia couple Edward Chen, aka Jianqiao Chen, Jian Qiao Chen, and Jian Chen aka Jing Jiang and Jean Jiang, accused of fraud involving defrauding investors through EB-5 visa schemes. The couple's companies raised more than $22.5 million from 45 Chinese investors, purportedly to build an interior design center in Ontario and a condominium building in Los Angeles. See also "Arcadia couple faces court hearing for stealing $12 million," Arcadia Weekly, p. 1,3 October 5, 2017.
Mei-Rung Lin, 47, was arrested in Arcadia and repatriated to Taipei, Taiwan, in connection with a 2.15 million dollar embezzlement scheme in her homeland. She was the subject of a "red notice" issues by the International Criminal Police Organization, better known as INTERPOL.
135 marijuana plants found in Arcadia home on the 500 block of West Huntington Drive. The suspect arrested is Tiv Ke Roeung, 40 year old Arcadia resident. He is being held without bail by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
A South Korean fugitive named Bae Chang-kul was captured in Arcadia and has been returned to his native country, where he is accused of stealing $37 million from his company's account in January 2003. The 48-year-old has been living in Arcadia with a long-expired visa.
Arcadia kidnapping, rape suspect Philippe Brian Lutete, 29, is charged with false imprisonment and sexual battery of a woman on November 26 in the 2900 block of Spruce Court. He was out on bail when he was also arrested on April 8, 2015 on suspicion of kidnapping and raping a woman over an 11-hour period.
Break-ins and vandlisms took place at Holy Angels Church and at Church of the Good Shepherd. Arcadia police are investigating them as possible religious-based hate crimes.
Ling Yu, 53, of Arcadia, and her sister Meichun Cheng Huang, 58, of Irvine, were sentenced to 37 months in prison for using their toy company, Angel Toy Company to launder money for Colombian drug cartels. Federal prosecutors said the toy company was a financial conduit for drug cartels in a scheme commonly known as the black market peso exchange.
Former Arcadia Catholic school teacher Elohim D'Leon released from jail. He was arrested last Thursday on suspicion of 10 counts of lewd acts on a child younger than 14 years old committed in 2003-2004 while he was a music teacher at Epiphany Catholic School in South El Monte. He worked at Holy Angels School in Arcadia 2004-2013. The investigation is continuing.
Arcadia High School students and staff, Mr. Christopher Schultz (Track and Field coach), aid victims of Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm that struck the coast of South Texas.