Star Tribune
Edina financial adviser admits stealing $1.6M to buy 6 homes in the city
The owner and operator of Edina-based financial adviser and real estate investment firms has admitted to cheating investors out of $1.6 million and using the money to buy property in the city.
Kristi Margaret Berge, 47, founder and CEO of Keep Safe Investments, LLC, or “KSI Financial,” pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to wire fraud in connection with the scheme that ran from mid-2020 to early 2023.
The agreement between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Berge points out that federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison term ranging from slightly more than three years to nearly four years, along with being required to make restitution in full to her victims.
However, federal judges have discretion when sentencing defendants and are not bound by the guidelines calculation. A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.
According to Berge’s plea agreement and other court documents:
Starting in June 2020 and continuing until February 2023, she stole roughly $1.6 million from client accounts, including retirement investments maintained by a company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Berge withdrew amounts ranging from $5,000 to $220,000 without the Texas company’s knowledge, and moved them to a KSI bank account. She used the money to buy properties in Edina for her real estate business J&K Connect, which bought, renovated and resold properties.
Berge disguised her thefts by labeling the withdrawals as payments for management or administrative fees and created false authorization records.
The plea deal directed Berge to forfeit six properties in Edina: three condominiums in two buildings in the 7300 block of S. York Avenue and homes in the 5200 block of Danens Drive, 6300 block of Josephine Avenue and the 6400 block of Wilryan Drive. She also used the money to buy one of the homes in the city for a family member.
The combined value of the residences is more than $1.7 million, according to Hennepin County property records.
Minnesota’s only lawmaker of Puerto Rican descent slammed former President Trump’s campaign over racist remarks made at a Madison Square Garden rally Sunday night.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” during his campaign event set in New York. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory.
State DFL Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega said in an interview Monday the comedian’s comments weren’t shocking but should serve as “a wakeup call” for Puerto Ricans, Latinos and every other marginalized group to recognize the treatment of Trump’s campaign.
“Whether it’s Minnesota, whether it’s Pennsylvania, whether it’s Ohio, this is the reality of how Project 2025 is moving. The only way to stop it is by getting out to vote and voting against the maltreatment of Puerto Ricans, of humanity, of everyone,” Pérez-Vega said.
Pérez-Vega, whose family includes multiple Puerto Rican veterans who fought in Normandy during World War II and the Vietnam War, doesn’t buy it.
“The response from their campaign is that that wasn’t directly from Trump or JD Vance. Those things are monitored and scripted and approved. They use words instead of paper towels now,” she said, referencing a 2017 incident when then president Trump tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd of survivors shortly after Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria.
“Even though there’s a lot of energy, creativity and hard work going on around downtown, never have we been more aligned in the direction we’re heading,” Duininck said.
To execute its plan, the city is convening a Downtown Action Council, a group that consists of representatives from the business, nonprofit and government sectors, including the Minnesota Vikings, Target and the Guthrie Theater.
A top priority for the group, from July 2024 to 2026, will be helping figure out the long-awaited transformation of Nicollet Mall into a pedestrian-only corridor. A task force Frey convened called the Vibrant Downtown Storefronts Workgroup made that suggestion and others for the thoroughfare back in June 2023. The city and its partners will have to determine where to move bus traffic and stops, but Frey said Marquette and Second avenues are ripe for that transition.
The plan would also focus time and resources on downtown’s Warehouse District, which Frey said “has the potential to be an entertainment Mecca.” The blocks between the North Loop and the central business district could have a social district that allows open containers, billboards and lights that help attract visitors from around the state.
“I’m not arguing that the Warehouse District is going to be like Times Square,” Frey said. “But I am arguing that we can create our own version of it right here in Minneapolis.”
Officials also emphasized efforts to make it easier for developers to convert downtown office buildings to housing and other uses. Frey touted the city’s Vibrant Storefronts initiative, which has been connecting property owners with vacant storefronts to local artists.
Star Tribune
Two more victims from encampment shootings identified as Mayor Frey says, ‘This is about fentanyl.’
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has identified three murder victims from two separate shootings at homeless encampments this weekend in Minneapolis as three others were left with life-threatening injuries.
Christopher Martell Washington, 38, of Fridley, and Louis Mitchell Lemons, Jr., 32, of Brooklyn Center, were identified Monday afternoon as the two men who died from multiple gunshot wounds on Sunday afternoon in the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue. Deven Leonard Caston, 31, was identified as the victim at an encampment shooting near E. 21st Street and 15th Avenue S. that happened Saturday.
Minneapolis Police Spokesman Sgt. Garrett Parten, said it was unclear if there was a connection between the shootings but “we can’t rule it out.”
The city has dealt with several shootings in and around homeless encampments this year. Mayor Jacob Frey attended a news conference Sunday after the shooting on Snelling Avenue and said the city needs to continue to provide options for people seeking shelter. But, he said, encampments are not an alternative answer.
“Yet again we have more people that are dead,” he said. “We need to be honest and realistic about what is happening right now. We need to call a spade a spade. This is not about a lack of shelter. This is about fentanyl.”
Officers initially detained three people in the shooting of Washington and Lemons Jr., but were released after police found they were not believed to be involved in the shooting. No charges had been filed in either shooting as of Monday.
Ward 12 Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, who represents the area and lives nearby, was at the site of Sunday’s shooting. She said officials need information about what happened to better understand how to address situations like this long-term.
“This is an absolute tragedy, and this type of violence should never occur within our city,” she said. “It really makes me think about how we need to look at this more systemically and not just take a whack-a-mole approach and expect the problem to go away.”
