By ROD McGUIRK

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A trainee surgeon was released from custody on bail Friday after he was accused of secretly video recording hundreds of medical colleagues in the restrooms of Australian hospitals.

Related Articles

Large Interpol cybercrime crackdown in Africa leads to the arrest of over 1,200 suspects

Canada will match US tariff exemptions under USMCA trade pact, Prime Minister Carney says

Iran confers with European nations on its nuclear program as sanctions deadline nears

Trump frustrated after thinking he made headway on Russia-Ukraine talks only to see Putin balk

Israeli defense minister warns of Gaza City’s destruction unless Hamas yields to his country’s terms

Ryan Cho, 28, will likely face around 500 charges relating to 4,500 intimate videos he secretly recorded with phones mainly in the staff restrooms of three Melbourne hospitals since 2021, police alleged in documents cited in the Victoria state Supreme Court.

Justice James Elliott ruled that the junior doctor be released on the condition he live with his parents, who moved from Singapore to Melbourne in anticipation of their son’s month in prison ending. His parents were required to post a 50,000 Australian dollar ($32,000) surety.

The parents of trainee surgeon Ryan Cho, arrive at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (Con Chronis/AAP Image via AP)

The prosecutor argued that Cho had no meaningful ties to Australia after being suspended from his job and the charges against him could be an inducement to flee. While Cho became an Australian permanent resident in April, he would face deportation if he was convicted and sentenced to 12 months or longer in prison, Hammill said.

The judge noted Cho had surrendered his Singapore passport and had no criminal connections to help him leave Australia.

Cho ignored reporters’ questions as he left the court building wearing sunglasses over his prescription glasses and a surgical face mask.

Police allege Cho recorded intimate images of at least 460 women. The judge noted there was no allegation Cho had disseminated those images.

Cho was arrested in July after a phone was found recording from inside a mesh bag hanging in an Austin Hospital restroom. Police allege he also recorded in restrooms in the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Trainee surgeon, Ryan Cho is escorted into the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (Con Chronis/AAP Image via AP)

His lawyer Julian McMahon rejected prosecutors’ fears that if released, Cho could interfere with witnesses. There were likely to be hundreds of witnesses alleging similar offenses, McMahon said.

“There’s a sense here that if my client were to engage in the criminal offense of interfering with witnesses that it wouldn’t affect the outcome of the case,” McMahon said.

Cho was initially charged with six offenses but another 127 charges were added Thursday, including intentionally recording intimate images without permission.

McMahon said it was too early to tell if the allegations would go to trial. Cho hasn’t entered pleas.

Cho came to Australia as a student in 2017 and studied medicine at Melbourne’s Monash University.

By WILSON MCMAKIN

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A major cybercrime crackdown coordinated by Interpol has led to the arrest of 1,209 suspects across Africa and the recovery of nearly $97.4 million, the organization announced Friday.

Related Articles

Doctor accused of secretly recording 4,500 videos in Australian hospital restrooms freed on bail

Canada will match US tariff exemptions under USMCA trade pact, Prime Minister Carney says

Iran confers with European nations on its nuclear program as sanctions deadline nears

Trump frustrated after thinking he made headway on Russia-Ukraine talks only to see Putin balk

Israeli defense minister warns of Gaza City’s destruction unless Hamas yields to his country’s terms

Dubbed Operation Serengeti 2.0, the operation took place between June and August. It brought together investigators from 18 African countries and the United Kingdom to fight harmful cybercrimes including inheritance scams, ransomware and business email compromise.

Altogether, the scams targeted nearly 88,000 victims, the international police organization said in a statement.

From cryptocurrency mining to online scams

Interpol said that authorities in Angola dismantled 25 cryptocurrency mining centers where 60 Chinese nationals had been mining cryptocurrency. The operation resulted in the confiscation of equipment worth over $37 million; the government now plans to use the equipment to support power distribution in vulnerable areas.

In Zambia, the operation dismantled an online investment scheme that defrauded more than 65,000 victims of an estimated $300 million through a fraudulent high-return cryptocurrency scam.

“The scammers lured victims into investing in cryptocurrency through extensive advertising campaigns promising high-yield returns. Victims were then instructed to download multiple apps to participate,” Interpol said. It said that 15 people had been arrested and that authorities seized evidence including domains, mobile numbers and bank accounts.

In locating the scam center in Zambia, authorities also disrupted a suspected human trafficking network, Interpol said.

Interpol also said it dismantled a transnational inheritance scam in the Ivory Coast which had originated in Germany. Victims of that scam were tricked into paying fees to claim fake inheritances, causing $1.6 million in losses.

“Despite being one of the oldest-running internet frauds, inheritance scams continue to generate significant funds for criminal organizations,” it said.

Interpol’s role

Interpol, which has 196 member countries and celebrated its centennial last year, is the world’s largest international police network to combat international crime. Headquartered in Lyons, France, it works to help national police forces communicate with each other and track suspects and criminals in areas like counterterrorism, financial crime, child pornography, cybercrime and organized crime.

In recent years it has grappled with new challenges including a growing caseload of cybercrime and child sex abuse, and increasing divisions among its member countries.

Last year in the first Operation Serengeti, Interpol arrested over 1,000 people in operations that had targeted 35,000 victims.

A special primary election on Tuesday will determine the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee for the state Senate seat left vacant by the resignation of Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Wodbury, who was convicted on felony burglary charges in July.

Vying for the DFL nod in Senate District 47 are two sitting state representatives: Rep. Ethan Cha, DFL-Woodbury, and Amanda Hemmingsen Jaeger, DFL-Woodbury. Hemmingsen Jaeger won the District 47 DFL endorsement at the Aug. 12 convention.

Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger (Courtesy of the candidate)

The winner of the primary will face Republican Dwight Dorau in a Nov. 4 special election. District 47 includes the city of Woodbury in Washington County and the southern part of the city of Maplewood in Ramsey County.

The special election’s outcome could change the balance of power in the Minnesota Senate, where the DFL has a one-seat majority.

Woodbury has favored DFLers in recent elections, though many expect Republicans to invest in the race as victory would flip control of the Senate. Democrats have controlled the chamber since the 2022 election.

Rep. Ethan Cha. (Courtesy of the Minnesota House of Representatives)

The circumstances leading to the vacancy — Mitchell’s criminal conviction and unwillingness to resign even as she was stripped of committee assignments and DFL caucus involvement — could prove a potent message for Republicans, former lawmakers from the area have said.

Still, it would be a steep climb for the GOP as the east metro suburbs have become bluer.

Mitchell, a DFLer, won election to the Senate with nearly 59% of the vote in 2022. Hemmingsen-Jaeger won House District 47A, which falls in the Senate district, with more than 60% of the vote in 2024 and 2022.

Dorau, a retired Air Force commander, ran against Cha in the 2024 election for House District 47B and lost by nearly 9 percentage points.

Both DFL candidates’ House districts fall within the Senate district. Each are in their second terms in office, Hemmingsen-Jaeger won reelection last year with 61% of the vote and Cha with 54%.

Senate District 29 election

Mitchell’s former district isn’t the only pending special election for state Senate. Republican Sen. Bruce Anderson of Buffalo died unexpectedly in July, leaving a vacancy in the District 29 seat.

On Tuesday, primary voters will pick one of three candidates for the GOP nomination: Rachel Davis, Michael Holmstrom Jr. and Bradley Kurtz.

The winner will face sole DFL candidate Louis McNutt in a Nov. 4 special election for Senate District 29, which includes most of Wright County, and parts of Meeker and Hennepin counties.

District 29 heavily favors Republicans and is not seen by political observers as an especially competitive race.

Record year for special elections

The special primaries come amid a record year for special elections in the Minnesota Legislature. Gov. Tim Walz has called six total.

Vacancies due to deaths, criminal cases and a candidate residency dispute have led to the unusual number of off-year elections.

Absentee voting started on Aug. 18. Polling places are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

More information on polling places can be found on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website: pollfinder.sos.mn.gov.

Related Articles

How 17 Minnesota third graders made blueberry the state muffin

Judge’s strike-down of binary trigger ban spotlights Minnesota’s habit of ‘monstrous’ omnibus bills

Minnesota Rep. Kristin Robbins announces bid for governor

Ramsey County judge strikes down Minnesota’s binary trigger ban

Why a successful redistricting effort in Minnesota is unlikely

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday called for a county coroner to resign after state inspectors found at least 20 decomposing bodies behind a hidden door in a funeral home he owns.

Related Articles

Trump says Intel agreed to give US a stake in its company

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is freed from Tennessee jail so he can rejoin family in Maryland to await trial

Justice Department issues transcripts of interviews with Epstein ex-girlfriend Maxwell

Rollover crash involving tour bus on the New York Thruway leaves multiple dead, others injured

Body cam footage shows Milwaukee judge denying she hid an immigrant wanted by ICE

Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter told inspectors from the state Department of Regulatory Agencies that some of the bodies had been awaiting cremation for about 15 years, according to a document from state regulators. Cotter also told them he may have given fake ashes to families who wanted their loved ones cremated.

Inspectors found a “strong odor of decomposition” during a Wednesday inspection of Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, about 110 miles south of Denver, and discovered the bodies in a room hidden behind a cardboard display. Cotter asked the inspectors not to enter the room, according to the documents.

Polis said Cotter undermined public trust with how he handled the bodies and should resign immediately. Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero also called for Cotter’s resignation at a news conference Friday.

“No one should ever have to wonder if their loved one is being taken care of with dignity and respect after they’ve passed, and Mr. Cotter must be held to account for his actions,” Polis said.

The governor does not have the authority to remove Cotter, an elected official, from office. If Cotter does not resign, voters could petition for a recall election to remove him.

Cotter did not immediately respond Friday to email and phone messages seeking comment on the calls for his resignation.

Cotter has not been arrested. Pueblo County District Attorney Kala Beauvais said no charges will be filed until a “slow and thorough” investigation is complete.

Investigators are still searching the property in hazmat gear and collecting evidence to build a criminal case and start identifying the victims, said Armando Saldate III, director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. He said the bureau has received more than 500 calls from people who believe their loved ones may be among the deceased.

“We know that families are desperately seeking information,” Saldate said. “This is going to be a long and complex case. We have a lot of forensic evidence to process and a great deal of information to sort through from the public.”

Colorado long had minimal oversight of funeral homes, which allowed for numerous abuses. In one case, nearly 200 decomposing bodies were found stored at room temperature in a building in Penrose, about 30 miles from Pueblo.

The discovery in Pueblo occurred during the first inspection of Davis Mortuary, conducted under state laws adopted last year to tighten oversight of Colorado’s funeral industry. Before the change, funeral homes could only be inspected if a complaint was filed against them. State regulators said Davis Mortuary did not have any prior complaints.

Cotter was elected as county coroner in 2014, and his current term is set to end in 2027. He and his brother, Chris, bought Davis Mortuary in 1989 after learning from their father, who owned and operated funeral homes in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska, according to the mortuary’s website.

An attorney with the National Funeral Directors Association, Chris Farmer, said the discovery at the Pueblo funeral home suggests Colorado’s increased oversight of the industry is working.

“These inspectors should be lauded for finding remains behind ‘hidden doors,’” said Farmer, the industry group’s chief counsel. “There are over 250 funeral homes and crematories in Colorado…It will take some time to inspect them all.”

Associated Press writer Matthew Brown contributed reporting from Billings, Montana.