Bankrupt Banker

Home of Carlos and Brenda Brown finally sold at auction for $108,000 after the house and all of its contents were seized

Former home of Carlos and Brenda Brown finally sold at auction for $108,000 after the house and all of its contents were seized following the Browns' drug trafficking convictions last year. More than 1,000 people attended the auction at 4712 Hayes Road in Ravenna Township on Saturday, generating a total of $141,000 in proceeds to benefit the Portage County Drug Task Force, said Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci. The 2,375-square-feet home sits on 4.2-acre irregular lot, that was filled with rows of the former belongings of the Browns. Among the hundreds of items sold at the 10-hour affair, a John Deere tractor with the price tag still attached sold for $1,800; an ATV sold for $4,000; and nearly 20 bottles of laundry detergent sold for $17.50 apiece. All of the items sold totaled approximately $33,000, Vigluicci. Motorists parked where ever they could find a patch of grass. Cars lined Hayes Road and S.R. 5; some neighbors allowed eager participants to park on their property, others charged $3. Even children got in on the action, setting up lemonade and soda stands adjacent to the auction site. People shuttled back and forth from the auction to their cars, often carrying boxes full of items or large items such as computers or other electronics. Auctioneer Jerry Cross said there were 500 people registered to participate in the auction, and another 500 who came along to watch. His crew had three different auction sites set up on the property. Everything from appliances, yard equipment and dozens of electronics were sold at the auction. "It's been overwhelming to see this many people," Cross said. Vigluicci said the proceeds will be split several ways, with the majority benefiting the drug task force. First, he said, the cost of the sale will be paid as well as utilities and maintenance, and a share going to the prosecutors office. "This has been a good success for law enforcement," said Vigluicci. "This sends a good message to the community showing what happens to your house and belongings if you sell drugs. This is the best example I can show." In what was once a bedroom of the home, a broken safe laid on its side with door torn off after the raid. It was found to be loaded full of cash and drugs. As part of their plea deals, the Browns forfeited $92,000 in cash, as well as their home and belongings. Carlos Brown, 78, and his wife Brenda, 54, both pleaded guilty in October to charges stemming from a July 20 raid at the Hayes Road home that resulted in the arrest of both of them. The raid, according to Portage County Sheriff Duane Kaley, was the result of an undercover operation by the drug task force during which an agent successfully purchased the painkiller Oxycontin at the home. Carlos Brown pleaded to one count each of aggravated possession of drugs, a first-degree felony; aggravated trafficking in drugs, a second-degree felony; two counts of aggravated trafficking, both third-degree felonies; and one count of permitting drug abuse, a fifth-degree felony. Brenda Brown pleaded guilty to one count each of aggravated possession of drugs; aggravated trafficking of drugs; complicity to aggravated trafficking; and permitting drug abuse. Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman sentenced Carlos Brown to 10 years in prison while she gave Brenda Brown a five-year sentence. The auction finally came to a conclusion just before 6 p.m., after a line of people waiting to pay for their purchases cleared. Dan Lintz, who participated in the auction, bought a lawnmower for his father-in-law who just moved to the area. "I got a good deal on it," he said, adding that he was fascinated with the number of people who attended. "I couldn't believe it. There were more people here than there was at the circus (Friday night). The circus didn't cost as much as it did here."

Home of Carlos and Brenda Brown finally sold at auction for $108,000 after the house and all of its contents were seized

Former home of Carlos and Brenda Brown finally sold at auction for $108,000 after the house and all of its contents were seized following th...

police majors Dmitry Tselyakov and Alexander Nosenko had attempted to extort 1.5 million euros from Inkredbank vice president Pyots Chuvilin.

Two Moscow police officers have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to extort a 1.5 million euro ($2.3 million) bribe from a bank in th...

senior Mideast executive at U.S. investment bank JP Morgan Chase & Co. , is being detained in Dubai as part of a widening fraud investigation

A senior Mideast executive at U.S. investment bank JP Morgan Chase & Co. , is being detained in Dubai as part of a widening fraud invest...

Dubai Islamic Bank's (DIB)Dubai Islamic Bank's (DIB) financial irregularities case

Dubai Public Prosecution records show that seven suspects including DIBDIB's former deputy director for project finance, 50-year-old Pakistani, R.I.U., his 39-year-old compatriot U.H.M., executive director of JPMorgan Chase & CoJPMorgan Chase & Co in Dubai, 44-year-old Turkish visitor, R.N., 49-year-old British visitor, C.M., and his 54-year-old compatriot visitor, R.L., 41-year-old American manager, Z.U., and 58-year-old British, A.P., are facing charges of swindling.Dubai: Seven suspects are being questioned for their alleged involvement in the Dubai Islamic Bank's (DIB)Dubai Islamic Bank's (DIB) financial irregularities case. Sources said police received a tip-off on the alleged financial irregularities on June 1 and arrested the first suspect on June 3. Gulf News sought to contact Dubai Attorney General Eisam Eisa Al Humaidan but without success. Media reports quoted Simon Goldsmith, the second secretary for political and media affairs in the British Embassy in Dubai, saying they are aware of the case and are offering consular assistance to their citizens. A bank statement issued on June 11 confirmed the reports and said the investigations will have no financial impact on the company.

Dubai Islamic Bank's (DIB)Dubai Islamic Bank's (DIB) financial irregularities case

Dubai Public Prosecution records show that seven suspects including DIBDIB's former deputy director for project finance, 50-year-old Pak...

LTT Bio-Pharma Co., a Tokyo-based biotechnology company arrested two of its former employees as part of a fraud investigation

The company issued a statement after local media reported the arrests of four people suspected of using documents purported to be from Marubeni Corp. to defraud Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Marubeni said in a separate statement it would continue to cooperate fully with the investigation. Lehman, the fourth- largest U.S. securities firm, declined to comment on the arrests. LTT Bio-Pharma Co., a Tokyo-based biotechnology company, said police in Japan arrested two of its former employees as part of a fraud investigation. The four people who were arrested raised about 108 billion yen ($996 million) from companies and individuals as part of the fraud, Kyodo News and the Asahi Shimbun said. Some of the money has been recovered and 50 billion yen has not yet been retrieved, Kyodo said, citing police. Lehman Brothers submitted a complaint against Marubeni Corp. in a Tokyo court on May 28, kicking off a trial in which the New York-based firm is seeking to recover 35 billion yen for alleged fraud involving two of the Japanese trading company's former employees. Marubeni has said it was also a victim of fraud that involved forged documents, and that the two employees were fired. The two LTT employees were Yuzuru Yamanaka, a former president, and Shigenori Saito, former president of medical consultancy firm Asclepius Ltd. Yamanaka was also a Marubeni employee, Kyodo and the Yomiuri newspaper said. Police also arrested Shingo Yamaura, a contract worker at Marubeni when the alleged fraud occurred, and Fumihiro Takahashi, president of a Tokyo-based building planning company, the Asahi and Kyodo said. Saito has denied the allegations, Kyodo said, citing the police. The Asahi said all but Takahashi have denied the allegations.

LTT Bio-Pharma Co., a Tokyo-based biotechnology company arrested two of its former employees as part of a fraud investigation

The company issued a statement after local media reported the arrests of four people suspected of using documents purported to be from Marub...

Probe into a former UBS banker's role into suspected tax fraud. Bradley Birkenfeld, a Geneva-based US expat, is currently detained in Florida

The United States formally requests Swiss assistance in its probe into a former UBS banker's role into suspected tax fraud. Bradley Birkenfeld, a Geneva-based US expat, is currently detained in Florida awaiting a court appearance on charges of helping US citizens defraud tax authorities. Swiss officials indicate that they are likely to cooperate.US authorities made their formal request last Wednesday, Swiss Federal Justice Office spokesman Folco Galli confirmed. He declined to give details on the request, including how many people were involved or the exact charges. However, Bradley Birkenfeld, a former private banker for UBS, who was most recently working for a Geneva financial services firm, is currently awaiting a court appearance in Florida on charges of tax fraud. US justice authorities arrested him during a trip to the country earlier this year, accusing Birkenfeld of helping a local property developer to secretly transfer 200 million dollars through accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein when he worked for UBS in 2001 to 2005. Mario Staggl, a Liechtenstein financial lawyer, is also wanted by US authorities. A network also encompassing offshore trusts or holding companies in Denmark, Gibraltar, the British Virgin Islands and Bahamas is mentioned in the US indictment. The New York Times has reported that Birkenfeld was cooperating with federal investigators and would implicate Switzerland's largest bank and other financial institutions in the scheme. His hearing at a US district court in southern Florida was originally scheduled early last week, but was postponed. The case has raised fears in Switzerland that several thousand names of US account holders could be revealed during the court case, thereby delivering a blow to Swiss banking secrecy and UBS's reputation in the private banking sector. That part of the bank's business has so far emerged largely unscathed from the recent financial turmoil involving its investment banking units. UBS and its customers are meant to declare their American-sourced income to US tax authorities under an agreement they reached in 2001, in line with other international banks. While Swiss secrecy law effectively rules out probes into tax evasion - which is not a criminal offence in Switzerland but a misdemeanour - secrecy is lifted in criminal cases. The indictment lodged at a US district court in southern Florida against Birkenfeld and Staggl clearly accuses them of "tax fraud", which is a criminal offence in Switzerland. Equally, the indictment says the evasion scheme involved falsifying Swiss bank documents and internal revenue service forms. Falsification of documents has often been central to determining fraudulent behaviour in previous legal cases in Switzerland.Other Swiss officials, who declined to be identified, have told Swisster that they were likely to cooperate with US investigators, depending on the exact form of the official request. However, the scope of cooperation would also depend on the ability of US justice authorities to name those it suspects of involvement in fraud.At the Federal Justice Office, Galli said that he could not give further details while the procedure was underway. "Swiss authorities are examining the [US] request with a view to administrative assistance or judicial assistance," he told Swisster. Administrative assistance would limit the scope of a probe in Switzerland to Swiss tax authorities, rather than the magistrates who would have wider powers to unlock bank account details.

Probe into a former UBS banker's role into suspected tax fraud. Bradley Birkenfeld, a Geneva-based US expat, is currently detained in Florida

The United States formally requests Swiss assistance in its probe into a former UBS banker's role into suspected tax fraud. Bradley Birk...

Billionaire Henry Nicholas, 48, former chief-executive of the California-based firm, denied all 21 charges revealed in two indictments

Billionaire Henry Nicholas, 48, former chief-executive of the California-based firm, denied all 21 charges revealed in two indictments earlier this month relating to the stock fraud and drugs cases.Justice officials say Nicholas and a co-defendant, former Broadcom chief financial officer William Ruehle, 66, engaged in a stocks back-dating scheme that led to a 2.2 billion dollar write-down in profits.Ruehle also pleaded not guilty to the charges.Prosecutors have described the 1995-2005 stock fraud as one of the largest of its kind in US history."Nicholas and Ruehle were involved in a wide-ranging fraud that resulted in the largest financial restatement related to options backdating in the United States," US Attorney Thomas O'Brien said earlier this month.A separate indictment alleges that Nicholas alone maintained a supply of drugs -- including ecstasy and cocaine -- for use and distribution. The indictment alleges Nicholas used ecstasy to spike the drinks of industry executives and employees of Broadcom customers. The charges say that in one incident, Nicholas and others smoked so much marijuana during a flight on a private jet travelling from California to Las Vegas that the pilot was required to put on an oxygen mask.Nicholas was included in Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans last year, with his worth estimated at 2.3 billion dollars.

Billionaire Henry Nicholas, 48, former chief-executive of the California-based firm, denied all 21 charges revealed in two indictments

Billionaire Henry Nicholas, 48, former chief-executive of the California-based firm, denied all 21 charges revealed in two indictments earli...

Christopher P. White faces criminal charges that appear related to his efforts to keep his company afloat.

Christopher P. White, whose sprawling Indianapolis real estate development company collapsed in bankruptcy, now faces criminal charges that appear related to his efforts to keep his company afloat.The founder and head of Indianapolis real estate developer Premier Properties USA was charged Monday with theft, check fraud and fraud on a financial institution.Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi alleges White committed the crimes earlier this year, a time when he was struggling to fend off creditors and keep his development company solvent.The theft charge involves at least $100,000 from National Bank of Indianapolis, according to documents filed in Marion Superior Court. The check fraud charge involves at least $25,000, also from the National Bank.White, Indianapolis, is the sole owner of Premier Properties, whose best-recognized local holding was the Metropolis open-air mall in Plainfield. He founded the company 15 years ago and built it into a prominent regional retail developer with holdings in several states.Its collapse came suddenly this year, after commercial credit began drying up in a national recession in the commercial real estate industry.Premier filed a Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in April. It was converted into a Chapter 7 liquidation last month after Premier lost control of its properties. The company cited debts of $32.5 million and assets of $2.3 million, most of which is furniture or accounts receivable.White, 50, also has been named in numerous civil lawsuits by creditors and suppliers to Premier who seek payment on millions of dollars in overdue loans or unpaid work. Police say White wrote a $500,000 check payable to Premier Properties on Jan. 30 for deposit into a National Bank of Indianapolis account used by Premier, according to a probable cause affidavit.The check was drawn on a JP Morgan Chase account White controlled that contained no more than $1,000, the affidavit says.The check was returned for insufficient funds. National Bank of Indianapolis handled White's and Premier's banking needs, the affidavit says.The three charges against White are all Class C felonies, with each count carrying a penalty of two to eight years in prison and a $10,000 fine.No initial hearing has been set, the prosecutor's office said. As of Monday evening, a warrant had yet to be issued for White's arrest. "We're continuing to investigate to determine if this was a one-time occurrence or if there was a pattern," Brizzi said. He declined to comment further.

Christopher P. White faces criminal charges that appear related to his efforts to keep his company afloat.

Christopher P. White, whose sprawling Indianapolis real estate development company collapsed in bankruptcy, now faces criminal charges that ...

Mickey Friedmann,of Bank Leumi was arrested along with 13 other businessmen on allegations of a massive fraud

Miki Friedman, who is currently Bank Leumi's manager of its operations in Britain, is alleged to have approved loans worth NIS 25 million ($7.5 million) to various businessmen on the basis of fictitious bank statements and without requiring collateral or a guarantor, as is mandated by bank regulations. arrested a Bank Leumi executive and 13 senior businessmen who are suspected of colluding in a fraud and embezzlement scheme worth millions of shekels. The alleged offenses occurred during Friedman's tenure as the chief of Bank Leumi's central branch from 2005 to 2007. Police also suspect that the chief executive officer of a furniture company acted as a middleman in deals with other businessmen, and that he received commission on those deals. Investigators are attempting to ascertain whether Friedman received bribes in exchange for authorizing the loans. Police are expected to request the courts extend the remand of the suspects.The CEO of Bank Leumi in Britain, Mickey Friedmann, was arrested along with 13 other businessmen on allegations of a massive fraud, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. Friedmann, who served previously as the CEO of Bank Leumi's central branch in Tel Aviv, allegedly gave loans based on false statements, without guarantees and against the bank's regulations. The fraud is estimated at NIS 25 million. An investigation is taking place in the Tel Aviv District Fraud Unit.

Mickey Friedmann,of Bank Leumi was arrested along with 13 other businessmen on allegations of a massive fraud

Miki Friedman, who is currently Bank Leumi's manager of its operations in Britain, is alleged to have approved loans worth NIS 25 millio...

Dossey Richard, Lovie Hobbs,Montra McKenzie,Cyrus Davis charged one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud based on a mortgage scheme

charged Dossey Richard, 36, of Atlanta, Lovie Hobbs, 47, of Lithonia, Montra McKenzie, 29, of Atlanta, Cyrus Davis, 42, of Atlanta, Marcus Vickers, 35, of Ellenwood, Rayshaun Harmon, 27, of East Point and Michelle Davila, 35, of Atlanta, of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud based on a mortgage scheme. The complaint, filed June 18, alleges the group fraudulently sold condos in the Blue Sky condo project at 3106 Memorial Drive, in East Lake. The sales, between March and May 2008, artificially inflated the value of the condos to between $135,000 and $155,000, and received mortgages on the properties through a straw buyer, even though units at the complex are now selling between $2,000 and $28,750. The group includes: A closing attorney, Vickers; two mortgage brokers, McKenzie and Davis; Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) employee Davila; and appraiser Harmon. Hobbs served as the straw buyer in the transactions. Other inflated loans in the complex have already entered foreclosure, federal prosecutors said. The group attempted to defraud certain lenders, but did not name specific banks, federal prosecutors allege. Only Wachovia, as employer for Davila, was explicitly mentioned. "This is unfortunately another in a long series of major mortgage fraud cases in metro Atlanta," said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias in a release. "In this case, an entire condominium complex was gutted by fraud and greed. And as we have seen too many times before, one of the defendants charged is a closing attorney, someone the victim lenders retained and trusted to protect them against such fraud, but who instead became a participant in it. Mortgage fraud will remain a high priority for federal law enforcement in North Georgia."

Dossey Richard, Lovie Hobbs,Montra McKenzie,Cyrus Davis charged one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud based on a mortgage scheme

charged Dossey Richard, 36, of Atlanta, Lovie Hobbs, 47, of Lithonia, Montra McKenzie, 29, of Atlanta, Cyrus Davis, 42, of Atlanta, Marcus V...

Howe Electric pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division,

Howe Electric pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, to charges that the company engaged in two conspiracies to rig bids to two Fresno-area schools, the DOJ said. The bids were part of the E-Rate program, operated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which allows schools and libraries to receive money for cabling, Internet backbone equipment and monthly Internet and telephone service fees.electrical contractor based in Fresno, California, has pleaded guilty and agree to pay US$3.3 million in fines and restitution for rigging bids on a U.S. government program designed to help schools and libraries in poor areas connect to the Internet, the U.S. Department of Justice said.Howe Electric obtained agreements from potential competitors not to compete on the bids in return for Howe's agreement to use those competitors as subcontractors on the school projects, the DOJ said. The conspiracies began in 1998 and 1999 and continued into 2001, the DOJ said. Howe Electric entered into agreements with former education consultant Judy N. Green in which Howe was awarded contracts for the E-Rate projects at the West Fresno Elementary School District and the W.E.B. DuBois Charter School in exchange for awarding subcontracts to other vendors, the DOJ said. The other vendors had the capability to bid against Howe Electric on the projects but had agreed with Green not to compete in exchange for the award of the subcontracts, the DOJ said. After completion of the projects, Howe Electric requested and received reimbursement from the E-Rate program for the work that it and the subcontractor vendors performed at the schools. Green was convicted and sentenced in March to serve seven and a half years in prison for her role in the E-Rate conspiracies.Howe Electric will pay $300,000 in criminal fines and $3 million in restitution and civil settlements. It's plea agreement is subject to court approval.Howe Electric was charged with violating the Sherman Act, covering antitrust violations, which can carry a fine of $10 million for companies with violations occurring before June 22, 2004. The DOJ's Antitrust Division is conducting a continuing investigation into fraud and anticompetitive conduct in the E-Rate program. Seven companies and 16 individuals have pleaded guilty, have been convicted and found guilty, or entered civil settlements, resulting in more than $40 million in criminal fines and restitution and jail sentences of nearly 29 years. Trials are currently pending in three additional E-Rate cases, and one defendant remains an international fugitive.

Howe Electric pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division,

Howe Electric pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, to charges th...

Dennis Raymond Sheffield pleaded guilty in federal court to six counts of bank fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors

Dennis Raymond Sheffield pleaded guilty in federal court to six counts of bank fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors. That agreement also...

Roland Harper pleaded guilty to mail fraud Tuesday in connection with a scheme involving a $1.5 million minority landscaping contract

Roland Harper pleaded guilty to mail fraud Tuesday in connection with a scheme involving a $1.5 million minority landscaping contract with the Chicago Public Schools. Harper, 55, admitted in a plea agreement he allowed Aidan Monahan to use his trucking company, Rohar, as a front, after CPS began requiring that a minority company get a portion of the work. Previously, the Arlington Heights-based Monahan Landscape mowed the lawns for all the system's schools. The minority set-aside rule meant Monahan would lose work for half the schools, according to court testimony. But Monahan was able to keep some of his former assignments by roping in Harper. So Harper signed on to act as the minority contractor, but Monahan Landscape did the work for a three-year period between 2003 and 2006. Monahan, a Democratic Party fund-raiser, also pleaded guilty last week to one count of mail fraud as part of the scheme. Harper, of Algonquin, will be sentenced Oct. 14. He faces up to 20 years in prison, but Harper's lawyer, Patrick Cotter, said prosecutors will be seeking a less severe punishment of roughly 16 months based on sentencing guidelines. Harper played eight seasons with the Bears.

Roland Harper pleaded guilty to mail fraud Tuesday in connection with a scheme involving a $1.5 million minority landscaping contract

Roland Harper pleaded guilty to mail fraud Tuesday in connection with a scheme involving a $1.5 million minority landscaping contract with t...

Virendra Rastogi was jailed for nine and a half years

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwdt-glLN2yf2vqmLIpULvr2qUwq7RCK_3NR7GZBoBDtjEsSdd5Bs8RTV1vXdq3TevZ6UbL6r0nhnkiCCD6kTVNlATFm6r4Te2HvH7C1AAvS2TAz0Kl_2b2FiAl_RsBkDjyCyc_n58LlY/s1600-h/sfo-404_676610c.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211919809801592514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwdt-glLN2yf2vqmLIpULvr2qUwq7RCK_3NR7GZBoBDtjEsSdd5Bs8RTV1vXdq3TevZ6UbL6r0nhnkiCCD6kTVNlATFm6r4Te2HvH7C1AAvS2TAz0Kl_2b2FiAl_RsBkDjyCyc_n58LlY/s400/sfo-404_676610c.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Virendra Rastogi, 40, had swanky offices in Piccadilly and made the Sunday Times' rich list with a sham £150million fortune. He bought disused mines and foundries as front for RBG metals and spent six years tricking banks into investing billions.The scam was eventually uncovered when one employee faxed documents to accountants Price Waterhouse Coopers by mistake.Rastogi was yesterday jailed for nine and a half years, his accomplices Anand Jain, 43, got eight and a half years and Guantam Majumdar, 56, seven and a half. Judge James Wadsworth QC told them at the end of the eight-month trial: "The loss to the banking system was enormous. This was not a fraud done in a moment of madness but by years of calculation." Rastogi hid behind a "veneer of respectability" with a proper trading room and MP Jack Cunningham and three Lords as unsuspecting advisors. His brother ran a mirror firm in the US creating 324 bogus client firms - using headed notepaper and company stamps - through which they siphoned off the cash. One was a US launderette, another the home of an old woman who sold scrapbooks.Fraud Office staff who checked the phone number of one investor found it was answered by a child of 10, Southwark crown court in South London heard.The money was laundered through India, Dubai and Switzerland and never found.When police raided Rastogi's Mayfair apartment, he was frantically shredding documents.Rastogi, Jain, of North Finchley, North London, and Majumdar, of Chenai, India, claimed they were innocent of the massive scam going on around them.Paige Rumble, SFO investigator, said: "This was a truly audacious and ruthlessly efficient fraud ranging from the poorest areas of India to the corporate tower blocks of Manhattan."

Virendra Rastogi was jailed for nine and a half years

Virendra Rastogi, 40, had swanky offices in Piccadilly and made the Sunday Times' rich list with a sham £150million fortune. He bought d...

Police operation against the Russian mafia across Spain

Police operation against the Russian mafia across Spain. More than 400 police, including GEO specialists, took part in the swoop against the members of the Russian mafia who are accused of laundering money coming from illegal activities carried out outside Spain and also of arms trafficking.The operation is codenamed ‘Troika’, and is against the ‘Tamboskaya’ mafia, so named as coming from a town close to San Petersburg.Some arrests are also taking place on the Costa del Sol, in Málaga, Marbella and also Nerja, where searches of luxury properties are said to be underway. Arrests have also been seen in Madrid, Valencia and Alicante, and Europa Press also reports arrests in Barcelona and on the Balearic Islands. First reports speak of a total of 18 people detained so far.The operation is being coordinated by the National Court judge, Baltasar Garzón and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor.It comes three years after ‘Operacion Avispa’ which was the largest swoop against the Russian mafia ever seen in Spain. That resulted in 28 arrests, 22 of whom were thought to be top members of the mafia, 41 searches and the intervention of some 800 bank accounts in June 2005.

Police operation against the Russian mafia across Spain

Police operation against the Russian mafia across Spain. More than 400 police, including GEO specialists, took part in the swoop against the...

The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Lincoln Funds International Inc. and Paropes Corp., previously known as Brookstone Capital

The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Lincoln Funds International Inc. and Paropes Corp., previously known as Brookstone Capital; ...

Livent was once a dominant North American live theatre company, with hits like Show Boat, Ragtime and Phantom of the Opera playing New York, Chicago,

Livent’s former chief financial officer Maria Messina was so deeply implicated in the theatre company’s fraud after failing to immediately report it that all she felt able to do was fight it from the inside, she told her former bosses’ trial today. Crown prosecutor Alex Hrybinsky asked Messina, a chartered accountant, if she ever raised any concerns with outside auditors Deloitte & Touche when they were examining the books at the end of the 1997 fiscal year. “No, I did not,” Messina told Superior Court. “It was a very bad and difficult situation. I had known about the fraud from July 1997 until the year-end and I had not disclosed at that point. “All I could do is fight it from the inside.” Messina had been a partner with Deloitte in charge of auditing Livent’s year-end results before she was lured to join the Toronto-based theatre production company in May 1996 by its president and co-founder, Myron Gottlieb. She said after she discovered the fraud she worked with the auditors from her old accounting firm to effect write-downs of what she knew to be inflated revenues. “I did what I could to get the financials to the point where they were closer to what the actuals were without discussing the fraud,” she told Superior Court. Gottlieb, 64, and partner Garth Drabinsky, 58, an award-winning theatre impresario, have pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and one of forgery. Their lawyers have implied that the fraud was orchestrated by former senior vice-president Gord Eckstein without their knowledge. Livent was once a dominant North American live theatre company, with hits like Show Boat, Ragtime and Phantom of the Opera playing New York, Chicago, Toronto and other major cities. Messina pleaded guilty in 1999 in New York State to making a false statement regarding Livent’s financial results and has not yet been sentenced. She is the subject of complaints from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that are on hold. Defence lawyers Brian and Edward Greenspan are to start cross-examining Messina on Monday

Livent was once a dominant North American live theatre company, with hits like Show Boat, Ragtime and Phantom of the Opera playing New York, Chicago,

Livent’s former chief financial officer Maria Messina was so deeply implicated in the theatre company’s fraud after failing to immediately r...

Luis Uribe, a mortgage broker, was accused of submitting loans under false pretenses.

Luis Uribe, a mortgage broker, was accused of submitting loans under false pretenses. According to the prosecution, Uribe fraudulently disbu...