Free Republic

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...

22-year-old gets prison sentence By Jessica Lowell rep5@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CHEYENNE - A Cheyenne man who pleaded guilty in April to charges of bank fraud and money laundering was sentenced Friday to 25 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release. Raymond Peter Montoya, 22, also was ordered to pay restitution totaling $350,000. Court papers say Montoya was working at First Interstate Bank as a teller when he started taking money from the account of Thrifty Cash Services in October 2002. He faked 35 transactions over the course of a year. The money funded an...

Teller pleads guilty to fraud By Jessica Lowell rep5@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CHEYENNE - Raymond Peter Montoya was living large. He drove a Lincoln Navigator, a Lexus and a Volkswagen Jetta. He had put down a deposit on a Mercedes Benz at a dealership in Colorado. The 22-year-old told his co-workers that he had a trust fund that paid him $8,000 to $10,000 a month, and that's how he paid for his cars and trips to places like Miami, Las Vegas, Arizona and Beverly Hills as well as for jewelry and designer clothes. He told his family he...

Four men arrested under the Terrorism Act have been charged with conspiring to defraud clearing banks of large sums of money, police said. A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said 28-year-old Muhammed Khatimi, of Lothian Court, Midhurst Road, Eastbourne, 20-year-old Samir Adimi, of no fixed address, and 28-year-old Muhammed Rida, of Woodland Vale Street, St Leonards, East Sussex, had been charged. They were arrested in Eastbourne under the Terrorism Act on November 27. Mostapha Safi, 32, of High Road, Leytonstone, east London, has also been charged, the spokeswoman said. He was arrested in London last Friday. All four will now appear...

<p>Published in the Asbury Park Press 11/17/03 By ERIK SCHWARTZ GANNETT NEW JERSEY The Camden County Democratic Committee relied on more than $1.1 million worth of loans from 33 party supporters to help fund the final campaign push in the 4th Legislative District, with a large share coming from people with connections to Commerce Bank.</p>

EDMONTON, Oct 19, 2001 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- A federal lawyer has told an immigration detention review that three men nabbed in northern Alberta are being investigated regarding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Emad Jamal Hassan, Yousef al-Amleh and Mohamadkhair Salah were arrested last week in Fort McMurray, Alta., and are now in custody in Edmonton. The trio faced detention review hearings on Wednesday. Tapes of the reviews for Hassan and Salah were released Friday. Al-Amleh's review was held in camera and the tape will not be released. During the reviews, federal lawyer ...