NHL owner gets more than 8 years in prison (and pay back $67.4 million in restitution)

ap on SfGate.com ^ | 9/8/09 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

SAN FRANCISCO, (AP) --

A federal judge has sentenced a Silicon Valley financier to more than 8 years in prison for bilking banks and investors out of millions of dollars in an attempt to buy a pro hockey team and finance a lavish lifestyle.

William "Boots" Del Biaggio III was sentenced Tuesday in San Francisco. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to a felony charge of forging financial documents to obtain $110 million in loans from several banks and two NHL owners.

[NormsRevenge]

The team is the Nashville Predators.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

If you’re going to screw up, why not screw up big?

[2banana]

The insane credit bubble still has such a long way to go to get any where near normal.

Hang on for a bumby ride - the fraud is massive and has to go!

[Puppage]

A federal judge has sentenced a Silicon Valley financier to more than 8 years in prison

I thought it was only a 5 minute major & a game misconduct?

[Alberta's Child]

How many times does this nonsense have to occur before the NHL wises up to these frauds? This seems eerily similar to the criminal charges that brought down former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall in the 1990s.

Around the same time, the NHL nearly approved the sale of the New York Islanders to a guy who (as it turned out) had a negative net worth and no assets of any consequence to his name.