News Briefs 10/11/22

BPW Finance Committee to meet

The Lewes Board of Public Works Finance Committee is meeting at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 12 in the BPW conference room.

Committee members will discuss two nominations to the committee, the framework of capital projects over the next 10 years, and review various financial scenarios.

See the meeting agenda and link at lewesbpw.com.

Rehoboth planning commission to meet

The Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission has scheduled a meeting for 2 p.m., Friday, Oct. 14. The agenda calls for a preliminary review of an application to partition the lots at 7, 9 and 11 Cookman St. into two lots. As proposed, the partition would include lot 7 and the easterly portion of lot 9 to become one lot of 6,285 square feet, and the westerly portion of lot 9 and lot 11 to become one lot of 6,277 square feet. The agenda also includes continued discussion and a possible recommendation to commissioners on the request by the owners of 20663 Coastal Highway to rezone the parcel from C3 commercial to C1 commercial.

The meeting will be conducted in the commissioners room of city hall, 229 Rehoboth Ave. A full agenda, meeting materials and a livestream are accessible at cityofrehoboth.civicweb.net. To comment, a person must attend in-person. For more information, contact the city at 302-227-6181 or information@cityofrehoboth.com.

Black Oak on Sussex P&Z Oct. 13 agenda

Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 13, in the county administration building, 2 The Circle, Georgetown. Included on the agenda are possible votes on the Black Oak subdivision near Lewes and an amendment to land designation on the county's comprehensive plan future land use maps for Eagle Crest Aerodrome near Milton. Plans for Black Oak, located along New Road, include 131 single-family lots on 77 acres. Meetings are available in person, live streamed at sussexcountyde.gov/council-chamber-broadcast or via phone at 302-394-5036 using code 570176.

Acres commissioner meeting Oct. 14

Henlopen Acres commissioners have scheduled a meeting for 10 a.m., Friday, Oct. 14, in the meeting room of town hall, 104 Tidewaters. A copy of the agenda is available on the town’s website at henlopenacres.delaware.gov. For more information, call 302-227-6411 or email townclerk@henlopenacres.com.

AG warns of cryptocurrency scams

Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings is warning residents about an online cryptocurrency scam that encourages victims to invest in the currency, which then disappears.

Jennings said the fraud is known as a pig-butchering scam because scammers fatten the victims before absconding with their assets.

Delaware Department of Justice’s Investor Protection Unit received complaints from residents who were contacted online by unknown persons who urged them to purchase cryptocurrency for investments, Jennings said. After purchasing some crypto and seeing large returns on their initial investments, she said, the victims were encouraged to invest more. Ultimately, she said, they were never able to withdraw the funds, and their cryptocurrency disappeared. Officials say thousands of victims across the country have lost billions of dollars through this international scam.

Working with a data analytics company, Jennings said, the protection unit traced cryptocurrency belonging to two Delaware residents to a number of virtual wallets on various crypto exchanges. The unit has since issued a cease-and-desist order against 23 entities and individuals, prohibiting them from withdrawing or otherwise moving assets owned by the residents. This, in turn, prevents the exchanges holding the wallets from permitting parties to move the fraudulently obtained crypto, thus effectively freezing the accounts holding assets belonging to the Delaware victims, Jennings said.

Jennings warns individuals to be wary when contacted online by people they do not know. Anyone who believes they are a victim of the pig-butchering scam or other cryptocurrency investment scam can file a complaint with the Investor Protection Unit at de.gov/investorcomplaint.