Lawyers drained Linda Brice’s bank account and seized a quarter of her take-home pay, or more than $900 a month. Brice, a first-grade teacher and Coast Guard veteran, begged for mercy, saying she couldn’t afford food, gas or utilities. more

National Grid has issued a warning to New England customers of a new utility bill scam that fraudulently claims the federal government will pay customers’ bills through a new program. more

CRANSTON – R.I. Department of Corrections Director Ashbel T. Wall II has announced the appointment of Roy Wells of Warwick as inspector. He assumes the role on July 23. more

BOSTON –Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. have agreed to pay $232,000 to cities and towns across Massachusetts to settle claims that they allegedly overcharged public agencies for prescription drugs through the workers’ compensation insurance system. more

Rhode Island had the fifth-highest Mortgage Fraud Index rating in 2011 for fraud investigations, according to LexisNexis’ 14th Annual Mortgage Fraud Report. more

In a reversal of public statements made in the wake of the revelations of its financial difficulties, executives of 38 Studios LLC told U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that its its first product, the video game “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” did not meet its sales expectations. more

The Washington Trust Co. has been alerted by authorities regarding a text message scam that was sent to individuals in the Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut area. more

When the Supreme Court upheld the health care-reform law on federal tax grounds, it restoked a housing issue that had been relatively quiet for the past year: The alleged 3.8 percent “real estate tax” on home sales beginning in 2013 that is buried away in the legislation. more

Raytheon Co., the Massachusetts-based defense contractor with a facility in Portsmouth, won a $59.2 million case against the U.S. seeking to recover pension deficits for government contract work after the company sold off four units as part of a restructuring plan that began 12 years ago, Bloomberg News reported. more

PROVIDENCE – A Superior Court judge this month dismissed a lawsuit from the Pawtucket and Woonsocket school departments challenging the state’s new education-funding formula, upholding the constitutionality of the formula. more