Free Republic

A former employee of one of the world’s largest international banks has provided WND with more than 1,000 pages of documents, including customer account ledgers for dozens of companies through which the financial institution was laundering money each month, according to the whistleblower. “I found many accounts through which hundreds of thousands of dollars were being flowed as a conduit on a monthly basis,” John Cruz, an account relationship manager who worked in the HSBC southern New York region. told WND. As WND reported, Cruz has a raft of customer account records he claims are evidence of an international money-laundering...

Metro hired as an accountant a woman who admitted to being convicted of multiple counts of bank fraud, documents obtained by The Washington Times show, and who faced life in prison after separately being implicated in one of the largest heroin rings in the District... The heroin gang had relied on financial maneuvering to avoid detection and increase its profits, including laundering money and . ... “Latonya Denise Curtis was responsible for providing advice and guidance to the organization as well as assisting the organization to hide and launder the illegal proceeds from the organization’s narcotics trafficking activities,” prosecutors said...

The founders of the three largest online poker sites were indicted by the FBI on Friday in what could serve as a death blow to the thriving industry. Eleven executives at PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker were charged with bank fraud and money laundering in an indictment unsealed in a Manhattan court. Two of the executives were arrested on Friday morning in Utah and Nevada. Federal agents are searching for the others. Prosecutors are seeking to immediately shut down the sites and to eventually send the executives to jail and to recover $3 billion from the companies. By...

A onetime Tony Rezko business partner, who once was a Chicago cop and chief executive of a company that won a $50 million security contract in Iraq, has pleaded guilty to federal charges in Chicago after he cooperated with authorities. Daniel T. Frawley pleaded guilty on Feb. 14 to bank fraud and structuring transactions — a plea that came about two weeks after his charges were made public.

USAA and San Antonio police said they uncovered a complicated scheme by a group of people that skimmed thousands of dollars from the financial firm's bank and two other banks over the past year. Meilee Diaz, 25; Deonte Kershaw, 24; Rhonda Ellison, 27; Takeisha Martin, 30; Shanika Todd, 32; Frances Griffin, 36 and Beverly Ellison, 52, were arrested this week in connection with the scheme, according to Bexar County records. Each of the seven faces one count of engaging in organized criminal activity with theft from $20,000 to $100,000. Arrest warrant affidavits state Todd was one of two people who...

Ron Paul explains why we need to put our money in gold and how we can do that as America slowly drifts towards socialism. I'm fully aware I can't change any one's mind about Dr. Paul on FR but please listen to this video you might agree with some of what he says.

CHELSEA CLINTON in full meltdown mode after severe panic attacks - that new hubby will be a cheater. Panicky bride-to-be Chelsea Clinton is secretly undergoing emergency prenuptial counseling ordered by her mom Hillary, insiders say. "Chelsea is a nervous wreck as her wedding approaches. She's terrified that she'll disgrace herself and her family," a Clinton family friend told The ENQUIRER. The 30-year-old former first daughter is set to wed Wall Street-er Marc Mezvinsky in a $1 million dream wedding on July 31 at the Astor Courts, a 50-acre private estate in Rhinebeck, N.Y. But now she's having second thoughts. "Chelsea...

Hassan Nemazee, an Iranian-American businessman who raised money for the political campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for defrauding Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and HSBC Holdings Plc out of $292 million. U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein imposed the sentence on Thursday following Nemazee's March 18 guilty plea in Manhattan federal court to charges of bank fraud and wire fraud over loan transactions with the three major banks. Nemazee said he needed the money to pay debts arising from his dealings in hedge funds and properties.

Note: The following text is a quote: Al Qaeda Supporter Pleads Guilty to Supporting Terrorist Organization Kansas City Man Also Admits to Bank Fraud, Overseas Money Laundering KANSAS CITY, MO—Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist organization al Qaeda. He also pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering. “National security is the highest priority of the Department of Justice,” Phillips said. “I applaud the diligent work of our...

April 29, 2010 Note: The following text is a quote: http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/wfo042910.htm Ashburn, Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to $53 Million Bank Fraud ALEXANDRIA, VA—Osama El-Atari, 31, of Ashburn, Va., pleaded guilty today to operating a fraud scheme that stole more than $53 million from banks throughout the United States. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio; Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Field Office; and C. André...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Robert Rubin, a senior adviser to Citigroup Inc. at the time of its deep losses from subprime mortgages, said Wednesday that he learned belatedly that Citi had $43 billion in high-risk securities on its books. "I do not recall knowing before September 2007" that the bank had held onto the investments composed of repackaged mortgage bonds, Rubin said. In November 2007, Citigroup publicly estimated it would lose $8 billion to $11 billion in the fourth quarter that year from those securities.

Note: The following text is a quote: Eight Area Men Sentenced on Federal Racketeering Charges Involving Conspiracy to Transfer Cash and Checks to the Palestinian Territories ST. LOUIS, MO—The United States Attorney’s office announced today that eight members of a criminal enterprise operating out of five St. Louis area convenience stores have been sentenced on charges of federal racketeering or related charges. As far back as 2000, the RICO conspiracy has involved bank fraud, receipt of stolen property, conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business, purchasing contraband cigarettes for resale, evading reporting requirement on exporting monetary instruments, and transporting monetary instruments...

The shady Iranian fundraiser who for years donated lucrative sums to top Democrats—including the president, vice president and secretary of state—has pleaded guilty to a major bank-fraud scheme that could land him in jail for nearly two decades.Disgraced Democratic money man Hassan Nemazee admitted this week that he defrauded three financial institutions out of nearly $300 million in loan proceeds by falsifying documents and signatures to show he had hundreds of millions of dollars worth of collateral. The Ivy League-educated crook then used the proceeds to donate big bucks to the campaigns of federal, state and local candidates. Among them...

Note: The following text is a quote: Hassan Nemazee Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to $292 Million Bank Fraud PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that HASSAN NEMAZEE pleaded guilty today to charges of defrauding Bank of America, N.A. ("BofA"), Citibank, N.A. ("Citibank"), HSBC Bank USA, N.A. ("HSBC"), and a longtime friend and business associate of a total of more than $290 million in loan proceeds. NEMAZEE entered his guilty plea before United States District Judge SIDNEY H. STEIN in Manhattan federal court. According to the superseding Information, filed today, to...

Pictured below (see pics at link) is what’s known as a skimmer, or a device made to be affixed to the mouth of an ATM and secretly swipe credit and debit card information when bank customers slip their cards into the machines to pull out money. Skimmers have been around for years, of course, but thieves are constantly improving them, and the device pictured below is a perfect example of that evolution. This particular skimmer was found Dec. 6, 2009, attached to the front of a Citibank ATM in Woodland Hills, Calif. Would you have been able to spot this?...

NEWARK—A Clark man was sentenced today to 76 months in federal prison for his scheme to defraud customers of two banks where he had been employed of more than $2.5 million, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. After imposing the sentence, U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan revoked bail for Carlos Pinho and ordered him detained immediately to begin serving the sentence. A hearing to determine the amount of restitution Pinho will have to pay to his victims was scheduled for Dec. 15. Judge Sheridan also ordered Pinho to serve four years of supervised release upon completion of his custodial...

The Math Manifests Itself in the Charts… Sorry, but the American capital system is dead. Not dying, dead… sorry, it’s all over, the only part of it left is watching the show land on the rocks. How did it get that way? Did you view FRONTLINE: The Warning? Bad math that was created and supported by fraud and deception in the shadow banking world. That world is still being hidden and supported today in an attempt to breathe never ending life into an impossible math situation. It was allowed to happen because those creating the false money were, and are,...

The FBI on Wednesday announced that it had charged 53 defendants, the largest number ever charged in a cybercrime case, following a multinational investigation into a phishing scheme that operated in the United States and Egypt. Thirty-three of the 53 defendants named in the indictment have been arrested, the FBI said, and several others are being sought. The investigation, dubbed "Operation Phish Phry," began in 2007. Authorities in Egypt have charged 47 defendants linked to the phishing operation. Phishing is a form of social engineering that attempts to convince Internet users, via e-mail or other means, to provide online credentials...

Note: The following text is a quote: Bryan Resident Sentenced to Prison for Bank Fraud HOUSTON—Mohammad Ghafrullah Choudhry, aka Muhammad Ullah, a Pakistani national and resident of Bryan, Texas, was sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment for bank fraud, United States Attorney Tim Johnson and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard C. Powers announced today. Convicted in June 2009 after pleading guilty to bank fraud, Choudhry, 46, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon. In June, Choudhry admitted to using the name Muhammad Ullah and a fraudulently acquired Social Security number to open credit card accounts with five banks—JP...

A prominent Democratic party fund-raiser for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton was arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday and accused of trying to defraud Citibank of a $74 million loan, the United States Attorney’s office said. The fund-raiser, Hassan Nemazee, 59, had been a national finance chairman for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign before raising more than $500,000 for Mr. Obama’s campaign after the Democratic National Convention last August. F.B.I. investigators found that Mr. Nemazee, a Park

The bankruptcy of Colonial Bank (CNB) was the largest bank-bankruptcy in the U.S. since several large, U.S. financial institutions collapsed last year – with the most recent being Washington Mutual, last fall. However, there is one huge difference between the mega-bankruptcies of last year and the collapse of Colonial Bank a week ago. During the large bank-failures of 2008, the acquiring institutions wrote-down the “assets” on the books of these banks by an average of 18% - according to a Bloomberg article. However, when BB&T Corp purchased Colonial, it immediately wrote-down Colonial's assets by 37%, double the amount of discounting...

Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael J. Folmar, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced the various sentencings of defendants Ramon Puentes, Jorge Nobrega, Jorge Arrieta and Sebastian Kishinevsky for their roles in a bank fraud scheme that resulted in the approval and disbursement of two fraudulent home equity loans, totaling approximately $1 million. The defendants were indicted for their respective roles in obtaining two fraudulent loans, one from Bank of America and the other from Wachovia, each in the amount of $500,000. The defendants simultaneously submitted two...

LAFAYETTE, LA—United States Attorney Donald W. Washington announced the unsealing of a federal indictment and the arrest of WILLIAM EVERETT NICHOLS, age 56, of Alexandria, Louisiana, on federal charges involving bank fraud. On July 23, 2009, a two-count indictment was returned by the Western District of Louisiana Federal Grand Jury charging NICHOLS with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of bank fraud. The indictment alleges that NICHOLS, who is the President and sole shareholder of First Fidelity Mortgage, Inc., knowingly and willfully conspired to devise a scheme to defraud Sabine State Bank and obtain money...

William J. Edwards, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today that an information has been filed against Bridget D. Varnes charging her with bank fraud. Varnes, age 28, resides in Shreve, Ohio. The information alleges that Varnes was employed as the branch manager of First Merit Bank in Berlin, Ohio. The information further alleges that, from December 2006 through December 2008, Varnes made numerous unauthorized withdrawals from several bank customers’ accounts and obtained loans in their names without their knowledge or authorization. The information charges that First Merit Bank lost $236,335.21 as a result of Varnes’...

LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, ROSE GILL HEARN, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, and JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), announced that ZENA JOHNSON, a former Quality Control Coordinator at the New York City Department of Buildings, was charged with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud for her role in a scheme to steal bank account information provided to the Department of Buildings by individuals submitting permit renewals and alteration...

Madison, Wis. - Stephen P. Sinnott, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Madison returned a 20 count indictment on July 15, 2009, charging David K. Henke, 50, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, with bank fraud and embezzlement. If convicted on all charges, Henke faces a maximum penalty of 600 years in prison, a $1 million fine, a 5 year period of supervised release, a $2000 special assessment and the entry of an appropriate restitution order. The indictment alleges that Henke, as President of the Rapids Municipal Credit Union (RMCU),...

TOPEKA, KS—Former Junction City Commissioner Michael R. “Mick” Wunder, 52, Junction City, Kan., is charged in a federal indictment unsealed today with bank fraud, perjury, conspiracy, and unlawful monetary transactions, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today. The indictment, which has been under seal by court order since it was filed June 9, charges the former commissioner with 11 counts including: * One count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, violate the Hobbs Act and structure financial transactions to evade federal currency reporting requirements. * One count of structuring financial transactions to evade the Bank Secrecy Act requiring reports on transactions...

NEWARK, NJ—A Clark man pleaded guilty today in connection with his scheme to defraud customers of two banks at which he was employed, admitting he stole more than $2.5 million in customer funds, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr., announced. Carlos Pinho, 49, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to a one-count Information charging him with mail fraud. The defendant is free on a $250,000 secured bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 21, 2009. At his plea hearing, Pinho admitted that from 2001 through Jan. 21, 2009, during which time he was employed by...

Waynesboro Woman Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud- Mary Ann Blair Faces a Maximum Sentence of 30 Years in Prison United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley announced today that Mary Ann Blair, age 36, of Waynesboro, Virginia, pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville to charges related to bank fraud. Today in District Court, Blair waived her right to indictment and instead pled guilty to a one-count information charging her with bank fraud. The defendant admitted that beginning in September 2007 and continuing through at least July 2008, she, and others...

PHILADELPHIA—Michael Sullivan, 38, of New Hope, PA, was sentenced today to 12 months and one day in prison for his scheme to defraud Yardville National Bank (“Yardville”) of approximately $648,106, announced United States Attorney Laurie Magid. The scheme involved a series of misrepresentations concerning the status of collateral that Sullivan was pledging to support a $900,000 loan for his car dealership. Total monetary losses exceed $936,000. Michael Sullivan was the owner, operator, and president of Sullivan Motors (“Sullivan Motors”), a used automobile dealership with lots located in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania and Burlington, New Jersey. In 2007, on behalf of Sullivan...

Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that BRIAN SCOTT HOCKETT, 45, Indianapolis, Indiana, was charged Monday with bank fraud, following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Information alleges that from January 2003 through May 2006, HOCKETT was the owner of Family Management Corp., which did business in the Indianapolis area as Fleetmax, a wholesaler of used motor vehicles. In early 2002, HOCKETT established a line of credit for Fleetmax with National City Bank and Fifth Third Bank to provide working capital for Fleetmax. The line of credit was secured by...

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Michael K. Fithen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, announced that defendants Vittorio Tarantino, a/k/a “Feruccio Romagnioli,” 32, of Sunny Isles Beach, Alexandru Dragomir, 28, of Hallandale, Iosif Rauca, 35, of Boca Raton, and Gabriel Mircea Staicu, a/k/a “Gaby,” 41, of Boca Raton, were arraigned in Fort Lauderdale this morning on charges of conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(b)(2), possession...

Now-Failed Omni National Bank Was One of Many Banks That Funded Millions of Dollars in Loans for Convicted Mortgage Fraudster ATLANTA, GA—MARK ANTHONY MCBRIDE, 43, a/k/a “Charles Conley,” “Charles Conley, Jr.,” and “Manuel Evans,” of East Point, Georgia, pleaded guilty today in federal district court to a conspiracy to obtain millions of dollars in fraudulent mortgages and other loans and to a bankruptcy fraud designed to stay foreclosures on dozens of fraudulently obtained properties. United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, “We are moving with dispatch to review bank failures and to investigate and prosecute any frauds we find that...

LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, ANDREW CUOMO, the Attorney General of the State of New York, and RICHARD H. NEIMAN, the Superintendent for the New York State Banking Department, announced today that TAHIR ALI KHAN, the leader of a ring that used fake identification documents to bilk over 50 financial institutions out of more than $24 million, was sentenced today by United States District Judge LORETTA A. PRESKA to 14 years in prison. KHAN was indicted, along with 14 other co-defendants, in a multi-count Indictment unsealed on August 15, 2007....

A former bank manager who pleaded guilty to embezzling funds from accounts held by family members was sentenced today to three years imprisonment and three years supervised release. Cheryl Carlini, 51, of Lake Havasu City, Arizona (formerly of Riverside) was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge, Stephen G. Larson, in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California. Carlini, a former branch manager for Guaranty Bank's Canyon Crest branch in Riverside, California, pleaded guilty in November 2008 to one count of embezzlement by a bank officer or employee, Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 656, in connection with the fraudulent scheme....

ALEXANDRIA, VA—A jury convicted Henry “Uche” Obilo, age 29, of Miami Florida today of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, David Baker, Chief of Police, Alexandria Police Department, Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office, and Jeffrey W. Irvine, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Washington Field Office, made the announcement. Obilo faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of approximately $17 million. United States District Judge T.S. Ellis,...

Wow. Below is an identity theft article which almost has it all. The criminal activity in this case included check forgery, ACH fraud (automated clearing house – using the checking account number electronically), new account fraud, true name fraud-banking, utility identity theft, elderly abuse, and minor identity theft. Perpetrators of identity theft have a longer run in their business of fraud when they do not leave such an easy trail. This perpetrator made the investigative case very easy. All too often, amateur criminals find the path to criminal activity a very easy one but, like this girl, don’t believe that...

At a funeral one day, the minister stood up and said, "You know, I didn't know Ralph terribly well. Could someone stand up and say something nice about him?" Silence. Finally, a guy stands up in the back of the room to offer words of consolation. "Yes?" the minister says. "His brother was worse," the mourner says. It's an old joke, but for bond investors, it rings true: The only thing good that can be said about bond funds lately is that stock funds have been worse. If you're looking for someplace to put your money, a high-grade corporate bond...

A federal grand jury Friday indicted four Vallejo women, including a county employee, on charges of bank fraud and identity theft. Among the accused is Jennifer Miller, 43, an accounting supervisor in the Solano County Health and Human Services Department. Miller abused her position to allegedly obtain names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers of Solano County health and social services clients, including food stamp recipients, federal prosecutors said. Miller allegedly provided the stolen identities to accomplices who opened bank accounts in the names of the victims, prosecutors said.

The fortune he earned on Wall Street helped Bert Fingerhut's conservation efforts in the American West....but the former banking executive orchestrated a complex scheme that cheated banks and depositors out of more than $12 million........he contributed tens of thousands of dollars to candidates, mostly congressional Democrats.

Joyce Mucci, the Southern Field Representative for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is coming to Little Rock March 3rd -5th! Keeparkansaslegal has created some events for citizens who want to do something about illegal immigration can attend. Saturday March 3rd at 12:00pm Julie's, 110 South Shackleford Rd Little Rock, AR 72211-5721 (501) 224-4501 (just off I630 and I430) We will have a lunch/meeting at Julie’s where we will discuss legislation, the Mexican Consulate, banking, ballot initiatives, and other items concerning immigration in Arkansas. Monday March 5th at 2:30pm State Capitol (Exit 2B off I630) We will also have...

A coalition of groups that advocate for tighter U.S. borders has launched a boycott against Bank of America Corp. because of a new credit card that could be used by illegal immigrants. The National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition is asking people to close their accounts and sign an online petition at www.bankofamericaboycott.com. Organizer William Gheen, president of Raleigh-based Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, also argues bank officials should face federal charges for "aiding and abetting" illegal immigrants.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has called for the House Financial Services Committee to investigate Bank of America's practice of extending credit through secured credit cards sometimes used by undocumented workers. "As a member of the Financial Services committee, I believe that thorough Congressional oversight is necessary to address this legal loophole, which allows banks to issue credit cards to those who are in this country illegally," Blackburn said in a statement Friday. "We must protect our country and financial institutions from the security, financial, and terrorist risks this poses," Blackburn said. The call for an investigation followed...

Sen. Hillary Clinton has spoken up in support of her husband Bill’s defense of his anti-terror efforts, saying she’s tired of Democrats being pushed around on national security issues. "I just think that my husband did a great job in demonstrating that Democrats are not going to take this,” she said on Monday in remarks reported by Newsday. In a heated discussion with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday,” Bill Clinton said that as president, he did more than many of his conservative critics to pursue al-Qaida, and alleged that President Bush didn’t try to stop terrorism in the eight...

Former President Bill Clinton turns 60 years old on August 19. Just don’t remind him. "In just a few days, I will be 60 years old. I hate it, but it’s true,” Clinton said at a world AIDS conference in Toronto. "For most of my working life, I was the youngest person doing what I was doing. Then one day I woke up and I was the oldest person in every room.” Clinton was a youthful 46 when he was first elected president in 1992. "Now that I have more days behind me than ahead of me, I try to...

Bush's Anti-Terrorism Record (CBS/AP) SCHENECTADY, N.Y. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible contender for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008, on Monday criticized the Bush administration for failing to do enough to protect the country from terrorists. Clinton's comments came after authorities in the United Kingdom last week said they thwarted a terror plot involving airplanes bound from Britain to the United States. Conspirators allegedly planned to blow up as many as 10 planes flying from Britain to the United States using liquid explosives, which the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's security equipment cannot detect in carry-on luggage. "We've done...

Senator Hillary Clinton has denounced Vice President Dick Cheney for saying terrorists would be emboldened by the results of Connecticut's Democratic Primary. REPORTER: That's where an anti-war candidate defeated Senator Joe Lieberman. CLINTON: I don't take anything he says seriously anymore. I think that he has been a very counterproductive even destructive force in our country and I am very disheartened by the failure of leadership from the president and vice president. REPORTER: During a campaign stop in the Bronx yesterday, Clinton accused the administration of shortchanging New York of its homeland security money. A spokeswoman for the vice president...

HOUSTON - Yet another clash of Enron trial titans is on the horizon, but it may be less explosive than the first. While jurors deliberate the outcome of the fraud and conspiracy trial of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling, Lay is on trial again without a jury on charges stemming from his personal banking. The 64-year-old former chairman spent six days on the witness stand during the conspiracy trial, often combative and contentious with federal prosecutor John Hueston, who secured the indictment against Lay nearly two years ago. Lay is expected to square off...

Kennedy’s brother-in-law charged with fraud in La. By PENNY BROWN ROBERTS proberts@theadvocate.com Advocate staff writer Federal authorities in Louisiana have charged the brother-in-law of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy of committing millions in bank fraud. A bill of information filed Wednesday in New Orleans federal court claims Raymond Reggie, 43, of New Orleans submitted fake documents to get a loan from Hibernia National Bank in December 2000. In the bill of information, federal authorities said Reggie “submitted fictitious documents purporting to be a contract” between his company, Media Direct, and the U.S. Census Bureau. A separate bill of information also filed...

I was doing our weekly checkbook balancing this afternoon, when I noticed a $9.00 charge on 12/15 from something called VISA-WLI*RESERVATIONREW800-7327031 CT. It rung a bell, and I remembered seeing a similar charge last month on 11/15. I had not really thought much about that previous charge because my new wife (HairOfTheDog) and I had merged bank accounts the previous week, and I had assumed it was a transaction she had performed and forgotten to write down, or some kind of bank charge related to the changes to our account. But we now saw that this was fishy, and knew...