NPR finds Mazal Group targeted older adults, people with disabilities

  • An NPR Investigations team spent more than a year documenting that California-based Mazal Group ran a network of mall skincare stores that systematically targeted older adults and people with disabilities across the United States.
  • The investigation began with a tip about a colleague’s friend in Ann Arbor, Michigan, whose elderly mother had been walking through a mall when a salesperson approached her with an eye cream sample; the mother walked out of Beauty Essentials with $5,000 in unwanted skincare products.
  • Reporters Monika Evstatieva and Caley Fox Shannon spoke with more than 50 people, examined state and federal court lawsuits, hundreds of online reviews, and nearly 500 consumer complaints obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
  • The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating suspicious mailings — some containing a white powdery substance — sent to state election officials and congressional offices.
  • Trump canceled the livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution; the former Army psychiatrist killed 13 people and wounded 32 at Fort Hood, Texas.

DOJ California lawsuit seeks to block counting of alleged noncitizen ballots

An NPR Investigations team spent more than a year documenting that California-based Mazal Group ran a network of mall skincare stores that systematically targeted older adults and people with disabilities across the United States, NPR reported.

Reporters Monika Evstatieva, senior producer on NPR’s Investigations team, and Caley Fox Shannon spoke with more than 50 people, including customers who say they were taken advantage of, their family members, and former employees. They examined state and federal court lawsuits, hundreds of online reviews, and nearly 500 consumer complaints obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, according to NPR. They visited stores selling Mazal Group products in Virginia, Maryland, and California, as well as the company’s Chatsworth, California headquarters.

The investigation began with a tip. A colleague of Evstatieva’s had a friend in Ann Arbor who needed help. When Evstatieva called her, the friend said her elderly mother had been walking through a mall when a salesperson approached her with an eye cream sample. The mother went into a store called Beauty Essentials in Ann Arbor and came out with $5,000 in skincare products she did not want, tried to refuse, and could not return. The friend posted on Facebook and connected with more than 30 people with complaints about the store, according to NPR.

Separately, the Justice Department is suing California to stop the state from counting ballots the federal government claims came from noncitizens, NPR reported. Three weeks before Election Day, the DOJ provided a flash drive containing the names of 20,000 people it suspected of being noncitizens on California’s voter rolls to Los Angeles County’s top voting official. The DOJ gave him 48 hours to investigate the names or face a lawsuit, which the department filed the previous day, according to NPR.

California and many election experts doubt the administration’s noncitizen voting claims, citing President Trump’s history of misinformation around the topic and flawed data analysis that can produce false positives, NPR’s Miles Parks reported. With vote-by-mail ballots already sent out for upcoming elections, the DOJ is seeking to segregate ballots linked to these claims for investigation so they do not get counted. Parks said it would be surprising if the DOJ succeeds in this lawsuit, as the Constitution clearly states that states manage elections.

The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating suspicious mailings, some of which contained a white powdery substance, sent to state election officials and congressional offices, according to NPR.

Trump has canceled the livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution. The former Army psychiatrist killed 13 people and wounded 32 at Fort Hood, Texas, NPR reported.

The Smithsonian National Zoo welcomed five cheetah cubs this month, according to NPR. Visitors can watch them grow and snuggle with their mom on a 24-hour livestream cheetah cam.

In a separate item from the same newsletter, NPR’s Arezou Rezvani observed that the Bend-La Pine Schools website emphasizes security protocols. The district said it had secure vestibules for sign-in, ID checks for visitors, and electronic buzz-in systems, but none of those measures stopped the gunman at Silver Rail Elementary School, according to NPR. Police arrived at the school within minutes after the shooting started, but an unidentified community member shot the alleged shooter soon after the officer arrived.