Business news in brief

$25M in sanctions proposed for PayPal

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are proposing that PayPal Inc. pay $25 million to resolve allegations that it illegally signed up customers for its online credit product, used misleading advertising and mishandled billing disputes.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday its proposed consent order against the digital payments processor. If the order is approved by a federal judge in Maryland, PayPal would refund $15 million to customers and pay a $10 million fine.

PayPal, based in San Jose, Calif., is a division of eBay Inc. The two companies plan to separate.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said that PayPal signed up customers without their permission for the online credit product, formerly known as Bill Me Later and now called PayPal Credit. PayPal also failed to post payments properly and lost payment checks, the agency said.

— The Associated Press

Ex-guard indicted in thefts of whiskey

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A former security guard accused of looking the other way as thieves spirited away thousands of dollars’ worth of whiskey from a Kentucky distillery was indicted Tuesday, as prosecutors widened their net on what they say was a longtime theft ring.

A grand jury in Franklin County indicted 34-year-old Leslie Wright on a charge of complicity to receiving stolen property over $10,000.

Assistant prosecutor Zachary Becker said Wright was paid for doing nothing as the thieves stole barrels filled with bourbon from the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky’s capital city. Becker said Wright was paid a total of $800, and that she turned a “blind eye” on two occasions when a total of 11 barrels were stolen.

It’s the latest indictment as Kentucky authorities crack down on what they described as a theft ring in the heart of the state’s renowned bourbon country. Prosecutors say the scheme led by rogue distillery workers lasted for years.

The thefts targeted the Buffalo Trace and Wild Turkey distilleries and included prestigious brands, such as pricey Pappy Van Winkle bourbon.

Nine people were indicted earlier this year as part of the alleged theft ring. Two of the indicted defendants pleaded guilty recently and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Kentucky is home to about 95 percent of the world’s bourbon production, according to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association.

— The Associated Press

6 Chinese accused of swiping phone tech

Six Chinese citizens, including two university professors, have been indicted on U.S. charges of pilfering sensitive mobile-phone technology from two U.S.-based companies and sharing it with the Chinese government.

One of the six men, Hao Zhang, 36, was arrested Saturday after his flight from China landed at Los Angeles International Airport. Zhang, who was visiting the U.S. to attend a conference, was ordered held after a brief court appearance Monday, according to a Justice Department statement Tuesday.

Zhang and the others are accused of orchestrating a conspiracy that stole technology that filters radio signals in mobile devices from Avago Technologies Ltd. and Skyworks Solutions Inc., according to the indictment. Zhang and another alleged conspirator, Wei Pang, 35, are both professors at the state-run Tianjin University in China.

“The defendants leveraged their access to and knowledge of sensitive U.S. technologies to illegally obtain and share U.S. trade secrets with the PRC for economic advantage,” Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement describing the charges.

— Bloomberg News

Shopify raises maximum price for IPO

Shopify Inc., which provides software for merchants to run their businesses, has increased the maximum price of shares it plans to sell in its initial public offering expected later this week.

The company is now seeking to raise as much as $123.2 million in the IPO, selling 7.7 million shares for $14 to $16 apiece, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.

Prior to raising the price range by $2, Shopify was seeking an IPO size of as much as $107.8 million.

Shopify is based in Ottawa and plans to list in both Canada and the U.S. It will use proceeds from the IPO for research and development, sales and marketing, and merchant services, the prospectus shows.

Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG and Royal Bank of Canada are managing the offering. Shopify will be listed both on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SHOP and the Toronto Stock Exchange as SH.

— Bloomberg News

U.S. selling more corn to its neighbors

The U.S. is selling more corn to its neighbors in the Western Hemisphere, and the gains in demand can help to keep a floor under prices that have slumped into a bear market.

As of May 7, U.S exporters sold 20.5 million metric tons for delivery before Aug. 31 to destinations from Canada to Venezuela, government figures show. That’s up 16 percent from a year earlier. Sales to Peru are up 67 percent, and those to Colombia climbed 33 percent. Mexico, the biggest buyer of U.S. corn after Japan, boosted purchases by 2.2 percent.

U.S. farmers, the world’s top corn growers, harvested two straight record crops.

“The prices we have now are spurring new demand for U.S. supplies,” Chip Flory, the editorial director of the Professional Farmers of America newsletter in Cedar Falls, Iowa, said in a telephone interview Monday. “U.S. corn is price competitive with supplies from South America, and exporters are working to expand U.S. market share.”

Corn futures for July delivery fell 6 cents to $3.62 on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices touched a six-month low of $3.5575 on May 5.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that domestic exporters will ship 48.26 million tons in the season that starts Sept. 1, 4.1 percent more than a year earlier. That gain comes even as world trade is forecast to decline 0.1 percent, the agency said in a May 12 report.

— Bloomberg News

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