Jackson (US): Kanye West will appear as a presidential candidate on Mississippi's ballot in November, after being approved as a qualified candidate by the State Board of Election Commissioners on Tuesday.
The rapper has already qualified to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate in several states, including Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Utah.
To qualify in Mississippi, he was required to pay a USD 2,500 fee to the Secretary of State's Office and get the signatures of at least 1,000 Mississippi voters.
It was interesting to see him pick Mississippi, and obviously it will be interesting to see what happens with that vote on November 3, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said after the board's meeting. But he did qualify.
West, who once backed Republican President Donald Trump, announced last month that he had broken with Trump and would launch his own presidential bid. His campaign filed paperwork July 15 with the Federal Election Commission.
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Bhubaneswar (PTI): Odisha Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested the prime accused in a Rs 40-crore trading fraud, an officer said on Friday.
The accused, identified as Amit Mandal of West Bengal's Bankura, was arrested from his home district on December 31, the officer said.
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After producing him in a local court there, Mandal was brought to Odisha on Friday, the EOW officer said.
The arrest was made in connection with a case registered on December 29 at the EOW police station on the basis of a complaint lodged by Sushant Kumar Das of Khurda district.
The complainant alleged that Mandal and his associates induced him to invest in share trading by promising high monthly returns ranging from 3.5 to 7 per cent per month.
Das had reportedly deposited Rs 8.5 lakh during 2022–2024.
According to police, Mandal induced around 500 depositors from Odisha and 100 from West Bengal between 2020 and 2024 and collected over Rs 120 crore, of which over Rs 40 crore is yet to be returned to investors.
"Initially, he paid monthly returns of depositors. However during 2023, Mandal failed to pay the returns and falsely assured the depositors that their money will be re-invested in his newly formed company. But suddenly he went missing before being arrested in Bankura district," the official said.
According to the EOW, the accused had been collecting deposits in his personal bank accounts maintained with two banks. "Scrutiny of one bank account revealed transactions amounting to Rs 122 crore. Other accounts are under verification," the officer said.
