Probe into multi-million Anglo fraud begins

investigation into an alleged multi-million euro fraud in funds which AIB acquired from Anglo Irish Bank has been started by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation.

The probe is centred on a former senior official at Anglo who is believed to have stolen about €3m from deposit accounts.

That man has since passed away, reports RTE.

The theft was discovered by AIB, after a customer tipped the bank off about something unusual in a deposit account. AIB then made the Central Bank and Gardai aware of it.

AIB has said that no customers will be financially affected by the theft.

The bank said yesterday that it has already started its own investigation to see if any fraud occurred in what it says is a small number of transactions concerning certain discrete funds.

AIB bought about €8.6m in deposit funds from Anglo in February

 

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Flamboyant tycoon finances massive collection of luxury cars with £27million fraud

Life for a man jailed following a £27million fraud will be somewhat more humble after a judge ordered the confiscation of a fleet of cars, houses and Rolex watches.

Paul Cope, 46, lived the lifestyle of a Premiership footballer at his £1.3m mansion in Stafford, complete with two swimming pools and an alpaca field in 19 acres of Land.

His life of excess came crumbling down when police investigated the finance manager when it emerged he had used leasing and mortgage scams to maintain his spending.

Among his assets were a £305,000 convertible Rolls Royce, a £170,000 Ferrari and a £120,000 Lamborghini which he kept on the gravel drive to his home, Bank Barn Manor.

Despite the house being worth a whoppnig £1.3m, Cope tried to claim it was worth £4.25m when a crooked friend and surveyor, Dr Christopher Jarvis, valued it much higher than the market rate.

He went to Yorkshire Bank and re-mortgaged it for £3million in January 2008 on the back of Jarvis's quote which they had actually concocted the scam together.

Cope also lost a villa in Marbella, four other houses, several business premises and designer jewellery including two Rolex watches worth £30,000 each. He also lost a Range Rover and several Mercedes cars.

On top of that, the father-of-four will have to pay back a further £406,000 from the profits of his crimes. At an earlier hearing he was jailed for five years and four months while co-conspirator, Jarvis was imprisoned for two years.


Cope liked to show of his 'wealth' by parking his expensive cars on his gravel drive for the world to see


Hundreds of thousands of pounds in cars were seized by the courts including this Rolls Royce

Detective Constbale Mark Kelsall, of Staffordshire Police, said: 'Cope surrounded himself with all the trimmings of a luxury lifestyle using the proceeds of his serious crimes.

'Not only has Cope lost his liberty, he has now been stripped of his array of properties, high-performance cars and other items - such as expensive jewellery - that he amassed.

 

'This latest cash confiscation order is significant but represents only a portion of the property and possessions - worth millions of pounds - that have been taken from Cope as part of our extensive inquiries.'

Cope ran Kingdom Finance which was worth £3million in 2008 and employed 700 people. He told friends that he was richer than a Premiership football team and said he would live an even more excessive life than they do.

He conned lenders into paying for non-existent hospital equipment and issued false invoices to give loans on which he would then charge up to 25 per cent interest.

He bought his house in 2001 for £425,000 then extended it and bought more land before committing the fraud with Jarvis who claimed it was 'one of the best, if not the best in the Stafford area, with a standard of fittings considered to be peerless'.


This £120,000 Lamborghini was on the list of assets to go along with several homes


His £170,000 Ferrari, complete with private registration number, was taken back by the courts

He has been given six months to pay the money he now owes or another three years and nine months will be added to his sentence.

Along with Johnson, two other Stafford men, Andrew Oxlade, 54, and Brian Challiner, 61, were jailed and two were ordered to pay back £300,000.

Oxlade was ordered to serve 64 months behind bars and Challiner was handed three and a half years.

They had provided false invoices with £20million channelled through the former and £5million through the latter in 600 transactions between 2004 and 2008.

Ed Beltrami, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service said: 'The Proceeds of Crime Act is sending out a clear message to criminals that crime will not pay.

'We are determined to use these powers given to us to reduce crime, disrupt criminal enterprises and remove the negative role models from our society.'

A former business associate of Cope said: 'He thought he was some kind of corporate untouchable but what he built was a huge house of straw and now it's all come back to bite him on the backside.

'He always boasted of being flashier than a whole team of footballers and seemed to prove the point by showing off his fleet of motors on the driveway.

'Sometimes his home looked like the Hotel De Paris in Monte Carlo with all his flash cars parked outside but it was more a case of Monte Carlo or Bust with him.

'It was all done through massive loans and I doubt he had much of it paid off. He was the very epitome of the phrase 'all fur coat and no knickers'.'

 

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Fraud-probe worker 'lost €20,000 a day betting'

The postal manager who went missing following the discovery of a €2m fraud at Gorey Post Office is believed to have been losing €20,000 a day gambling online with Paddy Power.

It is understood that Tony O'Reilly, 36, who disappeared last Wednesday on his way from his home in Carlow to his work in Gorey Post Office, has since been in contact with a family member from an internet connection in Northern Ireland.

Gardai and postal authorities are now investigating the massive fraud -- which this weekend could have risen to €2m -- and have interviewed members of staff after an internal audit discovered the "black hole" in the finances of the post office branch.

Mr O'Reilly, who lives in Carlow town, has been missing for the past four days.

Last night Paddy Power said it could not comment on individual clients: "Our relationship with our customers is private and we do not discuss individual customers. Should any of our customers have an issue with gambling, we have many measures in place to assist them."

Up to yesterday there had been no sighting of Mr O'Reilly or his car. He did not have his passport when he disappeared after telling his wife he was on the way to work.

The full extent of the alleged fraud was not determined until Friday after post office chiefs were alerted to financial irregularities.

Gardai called in the assistance of the garda fraud squad as they stepped up their inquiries into the disappearance of the cash.

Gardai are anxious to interview all of the staff in the post office, including Mr O'Reilly.

Mr O'Reilly left his home at 6.30am to drive to the post office in Gorey. His wife Lorraine (nee O'Grady), a native of Skeaghvonsteen, Graignamanagh, Co Kilkenny, became concerned when she received a text message from his work mobile stating that he had been involved in a car crash near Tullow while on his way to work.

Mrs O'Reilly helped gardai in Gorey garda station with their inquiries throughout Friday before returning home. Later she went to her parents' home in Skeaghvonsteen for fear of media attention after news of her husband's disappearance became public.

It is also understood that gardai are examining the content of the text message to his wife which was not the usual English grammar he used when texting home.

Internal auditors were present in Gorey Post Office throughout last Wednesday and it's believed they also received a text message from Mr O'Reilly stating that he had crashed in Tullow.

A garda source said yesterday that all CCTV footage along the route from Carlow to Gorey was being examined by them in a bid to piece together his movements. Of the tapes examined so far, his car has not been spotted.

Officers are examining phone records and it is understood a text message sent from his work mobile was last picked up from a telecommunications mast in Gorey on Wednesday morning.

There has been no contact from him since then and his Volkswagen Golf car has not been located.

After it was established that he had not turned up at work that morning, gardai at Gorey and Carlow were notified. Officers were initially concerned that Mr O'Reilly might have been abducted as part of a tiger kidnap by a crime gang targeting a ransom in the post office.

Mr O'Reilly, the father of a 10-month-old daughter, normally carried two mobile phones but neither has been in use since then. There have been no recent transactions in his bank accounts.

Gardai said his disappearance is being treated at this stage as a missing person case but acknowledged they would be anxious to speak to him along with all the other staff at the post office as their inquiries progressed into fraud.

Members of Mr O'Reilly's family and dozens of friends and acquaintances have been searching the mountains in Wicklow and also checking side roads on the route between Carlow town and Gorey over the past three days in a bid to establish some clues as to his whereabouts.

A full inquiry has now been initiated by An Post's internal investigation unit and will be carried out in parallel with the garda investigation.

 

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FSA wins first criminal conviction for 'boiler room' fraud

The Financial Services Authority has secured its first criminal conviction for a "boiler room" fraud after David Mason was sentenced to two years in prison and disqualified from being a director for six years.

The FSA regards boiler rooms – where investors are cold called to buy worthless, overpriced or nonexistent shares – as a "major menace to the public".

After a two-year investigation, Mason pleaded guilty at Southwark crown court to 13 counts of carrying on a regulated activity without authorisation, one count of making false or misleading statements and three counts of money laundering.

The FSA also took regulatory action against David Sinclair, who had unwittingly allowed Mason to use a bank account under his control and helped him set up EduVest, an investment vehicle used by Mason to lure customers to buy shares.

Some 32 people invested in EduVest after being cold called between November 2008 and May 2009 by salesmen employed by entities including Rothman Capital, Investor Relations Corp, Bernam Shore and Bishop Capital. The 32 invested £270,000, in the belief that EduVest would be listing on the Plus stock exchange in the near future.

Sinclair was fined £68,000 and banned from holding a "significant influence function" (SIF) at an FSA-approved firm. Axiom Capital Limited, which Sinclair financed and which specialised in helping companies list on the Plus market, was not subjected to any regulatory action.

Sinclair co-operated fully with the FSA and, as he settled his case at an early stage, his fine was reduced by 20%; without this, his penalty would have been £85,000. Axiom has voluntarily paid for all known investor losses and interest.

The FSA said Mason had laundered the proceeds of the boiler room operation via accounts in Switzerland and the Seychelles and had helped EduVest appear convincing by arranging for a letter to be sent from a fictional "David Branscombe" to give updates on its progress.

As he sentenced Mason, the judge, HHJ Rivlin QC, said: "I am satisfied that without your involvement this scheme could never have operated … I do believe the arrangements made by you were sophisticated … You caused distress, worry, frustration and in some cases serious disruption … You acted with blatant and I would say ruthless dishonesty which was thoroughly reprehensible."

Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, said: "This prosecution must be seen as part of the development of our strategy in the fight against the major menace to the public posed by boiler rooms … This sentence sends a clear message that the court takes boiler room offences seriously and will hand down significant sentences to those involved in them."

The FSA is keen to deter fraudsters from setting up boiler rooms and last month fined stock market trader Samuel Nathan Kahn £1.09m for share ramping just three years after it bankrupted him for his part in a boiler room scheme.

McDermott added that while Sinclair had not made a deliberate breach of FSA rules, he had "failed to exercise the due skill, care and diligence required of an individual holding a significant influence function so must shoulder some of the blame for investors' money being paid to boiler rooms. This substantial fine and the SIF prohibition reflect the seriousness of his failings."

The FSA stressed that anyone contacted about buying shares should hang up, check whether the caller is authorised on the FSA register and if not, contract the FSA or the police.

 

 

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Bernard Madoff's payroll manager, Eric Lipkin, has pleaded guilty in a New York court after being charged with involvement in the Wall Street trader's multi-billion dollar fraud.

Lipkin, 37, admitted on Monday night that he "worked to deceive auditors". He pleaded guilty to six criminal counts, including falsifying documents and bank fraud, in a hearing in Manhattan federal court. The plea was part of an agreement to co-operate with the US government in its investigation of the biggest Ponzi scheme in US history.

Madoff, 73, was arrested in December 2008 and is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina prison.

Lipkin admitted that he had doctored documents to show nonexistent account holdings, added fake employees to the Madoff payroll and lied to get a construction loan. US district judge Laura Taylor Swain told Lipkin he could face up to 70 years in prison.

Lipkin, the ninth person to be charged with involvement in the fraud, was released on a $2.5m (£1.5m) bond pending his sentencing. He told the court that "I'd like to first apologise to my family, my friends and all the victims in the case."

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scheme which pays out returns to early investors using money paid in by later investors.

Prosecutors have obtained guilty pleas from Madoff's former accountant, David Friehling, and a key Madoff associate, Frank DiPascali Jr, who faces as long as 125 years in prison. Five more former Madoff employees await trial before Swain, all of whom have pleaded not guilty.

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Pennsylvania Supreme Court this morning refused to hear an appeal of a 2009 civil fraud verdict against Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Willis W. Berry Jr.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court this morning refused to hear an appeal of a 2009 civil fraud verdict against Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Willis W. Berry Jr.

The one-sentence denial of review by the state's high court brings to an end the fight about the propriety of the verdict by a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury, which found that Berry defrauded a woman named Denise Jackson in the sale of a North Philadelphia lot.

The jury awarded Jackson damages totaling almost $200,000 against Berry and his real estate development company, Reddberry Development Corp.

"I'm really disappointed about this," said Berry's attorney, Samuel C. Stretton. "I thought we had some really good issues there."

The legal battles, however, are not over. Pending is a hearing before the trial judge over his decision to reduce punitive damages awarded by the jury from $180,000 to $20,000.

Jackson's attorney, Barry S. Yaches, said he expected the Supreme Court's ruling on the verdict in the case but is girding for the hearing on punitive damages before Judge Charles B. Smith.

The hearing before Smith, a retired federal magistrate judge and former Chester County Court judge, was ordered by the state's Superior Court in a parallel appeal after Smith reduced the punitive damages.

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businessman linked to a £100million investment scandal faked his death and is on the run in South-East Asia, fraud investigators suspect.

David Elias was declared dead after a bout of pneumonia in May 2009. He was living as a fugitive in Singapore and his ashes were purportedly scattered in the Malaysian rain forest on Borneo.

The financier was said to be behind one of the biggest personal finance frauds in recent years.

Investigators at the Serious Fraud Office probing the collapse of investment firm Keydata, to which Elias was linked, were reported yesterday to have ‘serious doubts’ that he is dead.

One is understood to believe that he may have faked his own death  ‘Reggie Perrin-style’ and is at large in Asia.

The City watchdog has been following the money trail left by Elias in the hope of uncovering the £100million taken from savers during the fraud in the 1990s. They are now believed to be hunting him.

In the television show The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, the principal character fakes his suicide by drowning, leaving clothes and personal effects on a beach, to escape the mundanity of his job and day-to-day life.

Elias’s suspected ruse also recalls the disappearance of Lord Lucan, who went missing in 1974 after the murder of his children’s nanny. He was never seen again.

Eight years ago Elias, a former associate of restaurant critic Egon Ronay, emerged from his hideaway promising to write a ‘warts and all’ expose of his life and the people he had done deals with. He named a number of prominent British business figures who he claimed had threatened to kill him.


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He said he was living in Borneo but travelled frequently to Europe, although he was unable to return to Britain because of these threats.

Keydata was an investment marketing firm which focused on complex high-income bonds that were sold via a chain of independent financial advisers and managed by SLS Capital.

This was a Luxembourg-based firm part-owned by Elias. The bonds were billed as low risk investments and promised a 7.5 per cent return. Keydata had about 85,000 investors, many of them elderly savers wooed by this high return.


Martin Clunes as Reggie Perrin in the BBC's remake of the series

But the firm was put into administration after an investigation by the Financial Services Authority revealed that £103million of life insurance policies may have been misappropriated.

In June 2009 the FSA applied for Keydata’s closure ‘to protect  investors’, saying it was concerned about ‘potentially missing assets’. The firm was fast-tracked into administration. Over the past year more than £300million has been paid out by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to investors who lost money.

Norwich and Peterborough building society was fined £1.4million for the way it sold Keydata products.

But not everyone at the SFO is convinced Elias is still alive.

One source said yesterday: ‘His death was timely from his point of view. There’s always a question over people who die in convenient circumstances but all the information suggests he is dead.’

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A staff member is being investigated for defrauding one of New Zealand's oldest friendly societies, allegedly taking up to $1 million over a decade.

The Serious Fraud Office said yesterday it was working with Wellington police to investigate allegations of employee fraud at Hibernian Catholic Benefit Society, whose headquarters are in Dixon St, Wellington.

SFO chief executive Adam Feeley said that, after initial investigations, it appeared a single staff member had been committing fraud over an extended period.

"It's not a case of someone writing a single big cheque and walking off with it.

"It appears to be more covert and to have been carried out over a longer time, so there are a fair number of documents to look through."

Blenheim man Dan Murphy has been a member of the society since the 1940s. He said news of the embezzlement was a bit of a shock, but he was sure the society would endure.

He had some money in the credit union, but it was not much and he was not too worried about it, Mr Murphy said.

The union was a modest, working-class thing, and helped its members in small ways: "You get one rotten apple and things go a bit sour."People should use the society more, as it was a good organisation, he said.

Marlborough branch secretary Jane McKee said there are 244 society members in Marlborough, and 11 credit union members.

The Hibernian Society, founded in 1869, manages $9.6m of assets on behalf of 2700 members, providing services including insurance, mortgages and funeral benefits to members and their spouses.

Most – although not all – of the alleged fraud is believed to have taken place within the Hibernian Credit Union, which offers savings and loans, and is part of the larger society. According to its last financial accounts, the credit union had assets of less than $900,000 in March 2010, with several hundred depositors believed to be holding investments of up to $40,000.

Society president Mike McBride said financial discrepancies were discovered after the society contracted accountancy firm Munro Benge to carry out its administrative functions. As the firm began to prepare the accounts for audit, a staff member noticed irregularities, prompting further investigation.

It was possible that as much as $1m was missing.

He said some problems had been identified in the accounts of the benefit society "but they are nowhere near the precarious position that the credit union has found itself in".

Michael Gibson, a former manager of the society, said he had received a letter from the credit union last week explaining that withdrawals had been frozen after it was discovered more than $500,000 was missing.



Mr Gibson, who left the society more than a decade ago, said the news was distressing.

"Basically it is good, ordinary, honest Catholic lay people and I feel very, very sad about it."

COMMITTED TO HELPING

Friendly societies are member-owned organisations, offering financial products such as insurance or pensions. Before the welfare state was established they were common, often based on religious or political affiliations or at large workplaces such as mines. Credit unions are also co-operative financial institutions, typically offering savings accounts and loans. There are now believed to be only six traditional friendly societies operating in New Zealand, the largest of which is Manchester Unity

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A wanted Irish man who has been on the run for over 25 years has reportedly been found dead in France.

Robert Stapleton is wanted in connection with a multi-million pound fraud, with Irish, UK and European Warrants for his arrest.

Lincolnshire Police previously said the 67-year-old was wanted over allegations of fraud of £5 million relating to companies he controlled.

Mr Stapleton, who has appeared on Crimewatch’s Most Wanted board, was arrested on a European arrest warrant in Ireland in 2005 but failed to surrender to extradition and disappeared.

It is now believed his body was found in a town in Brittany, France, on May 22nd. It is understood his death is not being treated as suspicious.

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said the French authorities have been in contact.

French authorities are working on the assumption that the dead man is Mr Stapleton, based on the documentation found on his person, but no formal identification is thought to have taken place yet.

A spokesman for Lincolnshire Police said they were aware a body had been found in France which may be Mr Stapleton, but he said they were awaiting confirmation of formal identification.

Mr Stapleton was wanted in connection with more than 30 offences involving a fraud perpetrated between 1978 and 1982 related to the collapse of his firm, Ultraleisure.

The firm, which marketed foldaway squash courts, collapsed, leaving a division of the British department of trade and industry (DTI) - the Export Credit Guarantee Department, which had guaranteed loans given to the company - out of pocket by £3 million.

It was alleged that the fraud involved company directors drawing up bogus invoices and supporting documents to show that Ultraleisure had exported goods and services to foreign buyers. Its banks - Lloyds Bank and Coutts - then advanced funds to Ultraleisure in the belief that the transactions represented on the documents were genuine.

When Ultraleisure had to repay the loan, a larger advance was obtained on similarly false documents and part of that was issued to repay the earlier borrowings. Ultraleisure therefore had to borrow larger sums of money to hide the fraud.

Mr Stapleton's wife was convicted in 1986 in Britain for participation in elements of the fraud and given a suspended sentence. Mr Stapleton had left Britain for Spain prior to this trial.

Spain did not have an extradition warrant with Britain. He returned to live in Ireland in 1994.

Mr Stapleton said he suffered a deterioration in his health due to the stress following an extradition request and his arrest by gardaí in 2005.

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Consultant Charged in Theft of $3.6 Million From Department of Education

former consultant hired to manage a large-scale project aimed at bringing Internet access to all New York City public schools was charged Thursday with stealing $3.6 million from the Department of Education, authorities said.

The charges marked the second time in less than a year that federal prosecutors accused consultants hired by the city of multimillion dollar thefts in connection with a high-profile technology initiative.

In December 2010, six people were charged for allegedly defrauding the city of $80 million allocated to a long-delayed computerized payroll system, known as CityTime.

In the most recent case, the former manager of Project Connect, Willard "Ross" Lanham, hired outside consultants, including his brother, at low rates and billed subcontractors at much higher rates, then "pocketed the difference," prosecutors said.

The money was redirected to his company, Lanham Enterprises, and was used to finance a lavish lifestyle that included $600,000 in luxury cars and to purchase and develop real estate on Long Island, prosecutors said. Mr. Lanham was eventually fired in 2008—two years after investigators received tips about the alleged fraud, prosecutors said.

Joseph Ryan, Mr. Lanham's attorney, said his client denies that he is guilty of wrongdoing and called him a "problem-solver extraordinaire on Project Connect and other DOE projects."

The complaint alleged that Mr. Lanham went to great lengths and enlisted the help of vendors to conceal the theft.

A report by the special commissioner of investigation for city schools, Richard Condon, alleged that Mr. Lanham convinced International Business Machines Corp. and Verizon, the two largest vendors involved in the project, to deal with him, not directly with the Department of Education. Mr. Condon's report said all of the vendors involved "profited, to some extent, from Lanham's scheme."

In separate statements, both IBM and Verizon said they were cooperating with the investigation. IBM said that none of its employees have been charged in the case, and that the company was misled by Mr. Lanham.

Verizon said its employees were "unaware of any wrongdoing in connection with the project" and that the company was prepared to return any "inappropriate profits."

Mr. Condon's report also criticized the DOE for giving Mr. Lanham complete control over the project while "no one exercised any oversight."

Newly appointed Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, in a statement, said his agency "should have been more vigilant in our oversight of this project."

"Since we severed ties with this contractor and reported his criminal activity in 2008, the Department of Education has established new safeguards to ensure that no contractor has oversight over his own projects," the statement said.

Mr. Lanham surrendered to authorities Thursday morning and was charged with one count of mail fraud and one count of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the mail-fraud count and 10 years for the theft count, as well as a maximum fine of $250,000.

Mr. Lanham appeared in federal court in Manhattan briefly, where a judge informed him of the charges against him and agreed to a prosecution request for $250,000 bail.

During the hearing, U.S. Attorney Paul Krieger said Mr. Lanham has said he has "substantial debt."

The announcement of the allegations comes as schools face budget cuts and potential layoffs. In January, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council agreed to cut $4 million from IT consulting contracts at the DOE, to stave off the closing of 20 fire companies at night. At the same time, the DOE is set to increase technology spending to about $542 million in 2012.

 

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Fraud office looks at scamming of Sven-Goran Eriksson

The Serious Fraud Office is examining a con that took in Sven-Goran Eriksson and the North Korean government, BBC Panorama has learned.

Investigators are also looking at how the same conman stole a football club and broke a bank.

Convicted fraudster Russell King persuaded the former England manager to join Notts County FC as director of football and to visit North Korea.

Mr King denies any fraud and said he was just a consultant on the deals.

Mr Eriksson was appointed at Notts County in 2009 following a takeover that promised to bring millions of pounds of Middle Eastern investment.

"For me as a football man it was fantastic, building a club from the bottom of League Two and having the funding to do it, to be a Premier League club. It's like a dream, so I signed. Big mistake," he said of the deal.

Milk bill
The promised money never arrived and the club was left £7m in debt. Mr Eriksson says there were early signs that all was not as it seemed.

"I started to have doubts when they came and told me the milk bill has not been paid," he said.

 

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Con artists netted big-time financiers

woman with a previous fraud conviction, an elderly former shoe shop manager and a female accomplice who rose no higher than a private in the army conned "savvy professional investors" Mark Hotchin and Kerry Finnigan in a $15 million Rotorua-based Ponzi scam.

Mr Hotchin and Mr Finnigan together invested $680,000 of their personal money. They did so without doing their homework, handing over large sums despite commenting that there was "bugger all information" about the schemes.

Margarite Huia Papple, known as Lee, 56, and Tina West, 51, were jailed in 2005 for the maximum five years. Former shoe salesman Bill Papple, 74, was sentenced to two years.

The scam they ran from 2000 to 2002 was like a goldmine for them but one certain to end badly.

Before they launched the schemes in 2000, the Papples lived a modest life in a rented house. Their only asset was a piece of land on the Rotorua lakefront which they sold for $50,000 to get their new lives as high-rolling business people under way.

In the next two years Lee Papple spent $2 million raised from their victims on herself, husband and family.


The SFO listed these as:

* $1.4 million on building and furnishing a mansion in Rotorua

* $260,000 on general living expenses

* $186,000 on travel and accommodation

* $33,700 on jewellery

* $60,000 on art

* $7260 on a cloak

* $279,000 on a house for her son.

Prosecutor Philip Morgan, QC, told the Rotorua District Court that a suggestion West had not spent lavishly was misleading. In 2002 alone she had taken $818,000 from the two companies the schemes were operated through. Some had gone to pay interest to out-of-pocket investors in a previous company she was involved in but the SFO did not have access to her Australian bank accounts and so did not know what she spent the rest on.

The trio spent a quarter of the money the scam raised on themselves, half on paying so-called interest to investors and a quarter on "ridiculous" schemes they found on the internet, the court heard during the 2004-2005 case.

That the scam operators were themselves victims of more "sophisticated criminals" based overseas did not mean they could wash their hands of the lies they told their investors, Mr Morgan said.

They worked hard to keep up the facade that their companies were hugely successful.

Lee Papple, a Mormon, self-assured and confident, and her outgoing and friendly husband were able to get people to place their faith and trust in them and their money in their hands. What those who were duped were unlikely to have learned from Lee Papple was that she had fraud convictions from 1996 under a previous name, Marguerite Huia Seymour.

As a life insurance agent she admitted she entered bogus superannuation contracts that earned her commission of $12,000.

 

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Former Arcade Building owner gets 13 years for fraud

Steven Byers, the former president and CEO of the company that once owned the historic Arcade Building in downtown Riverside, was sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison on Monday for his part in a securities fraud scheme that bilked investors out of millions.
Judge Denny Chin sentenced Byers, the former head of Wextrust Capital LLC, to 160 months in prison at a hearing held April 11 in New York City. Byers in April 2010 pleaded guilty to two felony counts of securities fraud.
"Steven Byers used smoke and mirrors to defraud his investors out of millions of dollars," said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement. "But his scheme was ultimately exposed for the sham that it was, and now he will be punished severely for his crimes."
Court documents reveal the extent of the Wextrust scheme, which played out between 2003 and 2008. Byers and his co-defendant in the case, Joseph Shereshevsky, began raising money from investors for various private offerings, including the purchase of real estate.
A subsidiary of Wextrust Capital purchased the Arcade Building in Riverside in December 2004 for $3.1 million and quickly unveiled plans to turn it into a mixed-used commercial/condominiums development.
The plan was bogged down and the scope of the development changed over the next couple of years. In August 2008, when work had begun on some aspects of the building's renovation, it suddenly ground to a halt when Byers and Shereshevsky were charged with securities fraud.
While Wextrust did buy the Arcade Building and several other properties, it failed to invest millions of dollars as promised. In one instance, the company raised $9.2 million to buy seven commercial properties leased to the U.S. General Services Administration. The company also took out a $21 million mortgage to help cover expenses for buying and operating the properties.
In the end, none of that money was used to buy or operate the properties, a fact never told to investors.
"Byers and others later agreed to make up a story that they would then tell the GSA investors regarding what happened to their investment," according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office on April 11.
The Arcade Building, completely vacant by January 2009, was mired in the Wextrust lawsuit for six months, when Chin returned the property to the mortgage holder. However, it would be another year before the Arcade Building would find a buyer in Giuseppe Zappani, who has been restoring the building.
In addition to the prison time, Byers was order to pay restitution totaling $7.7 million and forfeit the $9.2 million his company was given by investors for the GSA properties.
Shereshevsky, who pleaded guilty in February to similar charges, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 13.

 

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Israel's attorney general moved Wednesday to possibly indict Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on fraud and other corruption charges,

Israel's attorney general moved Wednesday to possibly indict Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on fraud and other corruption charges, capping a decade-old investigation into the leader of the hawkish Yisrael Beiteinu party.

The announcement of the top justice official's intention to indict raised questions about the political future of Lieberman, who many suspect was preparing to challenge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the next election.

The case also could destabilize Netanyahu's government; Lieberman has the power to bring down the coalition by withdrawing his party's adherence, though he has said that he does not intend to do so.

Under Israeli law, Wednesday's announcement begins an indictment process that still must be finalized. Lieberman has the right to request a hearing before that happens, which could take until fall to complete.

For years Israelis have been speculating about whether Lieberman, an ultranationalist Moldovan native who draws large support from Russian immigrants, would face criminal charges in an investigation that has focused on allegations that he received millions of dollars through fictitious companies set up while he served in other government posts.

The statement that Atty. Gen. Yehuda Weinstein issued Wednesday said Lieberman could face charges of fraud, aggravated fraud, breach of trust, money-laundering and harassing a potential witness. An earlier accusation of bribery was not included in the draft indictment.

Lieberman has consistently denied the allegations, calling the probe a political witch hunt. "I have always abided by the law and I have no reason for concern," he said Wednesday. "I am a man of my word."

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FrontPoint portfolio manager charged with securities fraud

Joseph F. “Chip” Skowron, FrontPoint Partners portfolio manager, was charged with conspiracy and securities fraud as part of a U.S. crackdown on so-called expert networks.

Mr. Skowron surrendered on Wednesday to FBI agents at their New York office, said James Margolin, an FBI spokesman. He also was charged with insider trading by the SEC, according to a news release from the commission.

Information Mr. Skowron obtained from an insider about hepatitis C drug trials enabled him to avoid more than $30 million in losses in the six now-closed FrontPoint Healthcare Funds he once managed, prosecutors said.

He was named in a three-count felony complaint unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York, charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

A lawyer for Mr. Skowron couldn't be immediately identified.

Mr. Skowron is linked to a case brought in November by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and the SEC against Yves Benhamou, an expert in hepatitis drugs and a former adviser for Human Genome Sciences Inc., prosecutors said.

Mr. Benhamou acted as a paid consultant to hedge funds while working as an adviser to HGSI and serving on its steering committee for Albuferon trials, according to federal allegations. The U.S. case alleged that Mr. Benhamou shared inside information with an unidentified co-conspirator at a hedge fund. The government on Wednesday identified Mr. Skowron and FrontPoint as the recipients of Mr. Benhamou's tips, court papers said.

Mr. Benhamou pleaded guilty on Monday before U.S. District Court Judge George Daniels in New York to conspiracy, securities fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to the FBI, said Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bharara's office. He has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, according to a plea agreement unsealed Wednesday. No sentencing date has been set. Securities fraud carries a term of as long as 20 years in prison.

Among other allegations by federal authorities, Mr. Skowron paid Mr. Benhamou more than $14,600 in cash as well as other gratuities such as hotel rooms and expenses.

As part of an amended complaint filed by the SEC on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York, FrontPoint agreed to pay more than $33 million in disgorgement and interest, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the SEC said in its news release.

The FrontPoint Partners-SEC settlement was confirmed in a Wednesday client letter that was obtained by P&I Daily.

“The announced agreement with the SEC amounts to a resolution of this matter. Our decision to settle this matter eliminates any future distractions from our focus on investing. It is also very important to note that the alleged conduct of the former portfolio manager is completely contrary to FrontPoint's principles and represents a clear violation of FrontPoint's policy against insider trading,” FrontPoint co-CEOs Daniel Waters and Michael Kelly, who also is CIO, wrote in the client letter.

The FrontPoint letter stressed that the settlement was funded with money set aside before the firm's separation from former parent company Morgan Stanley.

 

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Ireland's embattled banks need to be bolstered by an extra €24bn (£21bn) – some €13bn of which needs to be used to prop up the troubled Allied Irish Banks (AIB).

It takes the total bill for repairing the hole in the banking sector caused by the bursting of the Irish property bubble to €70bn.

All the Irish banks are now likely to be state-owned. Two new universal banks are expected to be created from existing institutions - Bank of Ireland will remain while AIB and building society EBS are to be merged.

"We will also ensure that they are fully recapitalised so that the world looks at these core banks with confidence and they in turn help instil confidence in our economy," said Michael Noonan, minister for finance. The extra funds are within the funding envelope available for this purpose from the EU/IMF programme of support announced last year.

Ireland's central bank governor, Patrick Honohan, said it was "one of the costliest banking crises in history".

He said that by forcing banks to hold even more capital, he hoped that confidence would be restored to the sector, which is reliant on the European Central Bank for day-to-day funding.

He said the banks needed to be able to have enough capital to meet even the markets' most "gloomy prognostications".

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Investors in Hong Kong who lost money from investing in so-called Lehman minibonds will receive compensation of up to 96.5% of their investments,

Investors in Hong Kong who lost money from investing in so-called Lehman minibonds will receive compensation of up to 96.5% of their investments, up from about 60% agreed to in 2009, banks in the city announced Sunday.

The joint announcement by the 16 banks follows a conditional settlement deal between Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and its receivers and trustees to allow investors in Lehman-linked derivatives to recover some of the underlying collateral assets.

Hong Kong lenders sold millions of dollars worth of so-called minibonds linked to Lehman before it collapsed in 2008.

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One of Malcolm X’s daughters, Malikah Shabazz, appeared in a Queens court today on charges that she defrauded the 70-year-old widow of one of her father’s former bodyguards.

One of Malcolm X’s daughters, Malikah Shabazz, appeared in a Queens court today on charges that she defrauded the 70-year-old widow of one of her father’s former bodyguards.

Shabazz, 45, is accused of stealing more than $55,000 from the unidentified victim. She was arrested two weeks ago in Mars Hills, N.C. and held in lieu of $100,000 bail. She was extradited to New York on Wednesday and placed in protective custody.

Malikah’s twin sister, Malaak, was in the courtroom showing her support, despite their ongoing family feud over their father’s $1.4 million estate and unpublished writings.

"We love her, no matter what," Malaak said after the hearing. "Families have ups and downs, but she's still our sister."

Shabazz was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court for third-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree forgery, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, first-degree identity theft, first-degree falsifying business records, first-degree scheme to defraud and third-degree unlawful possession of personal identification information.

She faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

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Barry Minkow, the former 80s whiz kid/fraudster turned pastor/fraud buster and Fox News commentator, is in hot water for making false charges of fraud against Lennar.

Barry Minkow, the former 80s whiz kid/fraudster turned pastor/fraud buster and Fox News commentator, is in hot water for making false charges of fraud against Lennar.  In the closing hours of 2010, a Florida judge ordered Minkow to reimburse Lennar for the legal fees it incurred ferreting out many of the lies he told before and during the trial.  Well, things just got a whole lot worse.  Late on Thursday, federal prosecutors in Miami filed a criminal complaint charging Minkow with conspiracy to commit securities fraud.  Minkow is charged with helping extort Lennar by driving down its stock price and illegally trading on knowledge of a pending criminal investigation into Lennar.  Both the Miami Herald and the LA Times report that Minkow is going to plead guilty.

How'd this come about?  Well, Minkow has been known to short the stock of companies on which his Fraud Discovery Institute reports.  He initially denied shorting Lennar stock before issuing his report on the company, but was forced to recant when confronted with trading records.  Now it turns out Lennar was the target of a criminal investigation based on Minkow being considered a trusted source at the time.  After Minkow found out the investigation was underway, he shorted Lennar stock even though he knew he was barred from doing so.

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The Real Housewives star intends to plead "not guilty" to the fraud charges that have been leveled against him.

 The Real Housewives star intends to plead "not guilty" to the fraud charges that have been leveled against him.

Teresa Giudice's controversial husband has been charged with Forgery and Wrongfully Using the Identifying Information of Another in an attempt to obtain a driver's license in his brother's name.

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Officials claim he presented his brother's birth certificate and marriage license, and signed his brother's name to the application.  Joe's own license is suspended as a result of a DUI conviction.

He was arrested at his home Friday and as RadarOnline.com previously reported, spent six hours in jail before family members put up his $50,000 bail.  His mother then drove him to a resort in the Poconos where his The Real Housewives of New Jersey star wife was having a book signing.

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key figure in an international lottery fraud scheme was sentenced to over 12 years in prison.

A key figure in an international lottery fraud scheme was sentenced to over 12 years in prison.  Matthew Getto was sentenced in Manhattan federal court for his participation in a lottery telemarketing scheme based in Israel in which he and others stole over $8 million from elderly victims in the United States between 2007 and July 2009.

In October 2010, Getto was convicted after a non-jury bench trial.

Eleven other individuals who were part of the same fraudulent scheme, all of whom are residents of Israel, have been charged in a separate Indictment, and have either pled guilty, are awaiting trial, or awaiting extradition to the U.S.

"Matthew Getto is a con artist who used every trick in the book to swindle elderly victims in the United States out of their hard-earned savings”, said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.  “Today’s sentence sends a clear message that anyone who preys on the citizens of the United States, whether at home or abroad, will not get away with it."

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Afghan government has agreed to break up Afghanistan's biggest private lender after a multi-million dollar fraud scandal.

Under threat of the loss of support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and billions of dollars of aid, the Afghan government has agreed to break up Afghanistan's biggest private lender after a multi-million dollar fraud scandal.

Diplomats in Kabul said government approval for placing Kabulbank into receivership would be given later on Monday and the process would be complete within two weeks, clearing the way for the IMF to renew its support programme under which billions of dollars of foreign aid are mandated.

All existing shareholders' rights will be extinguished and a special court set up by President Hamid Karzai to determine complaints from last year's troubled parliamentary election would conduct fraud prosecutions, one diplomat said.

Karzai's government and the IMF have been at loggerheads since last September, when news emerged of the scandal at the politically well-connected Kabulbank that has put at risk at least $579 million dollars through fraud, bad loans and mismanagement.

The IMF last month delivered a withering assessment of the Afghan government's handling of the Kabulbank crisis, a review that raised the possibility of the IMF not renewing support.

The IMF wanted the bank placed into receivership immediately to stem losses, while the Afghan government wanted to keep the bank trading and rehabilitate it before a sale in two or three years.

An IMF representative briefed diplomats in the capital, Kabul, late on Sunday. One Western diplomat based in Kabul said negotiations would be concluded during the annual World Bank conference in Washington from April 11-18.

"The renewal of IMF support is one of the conditions that will allow the alignment of our programmes with Afghan needs," the Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

"It's very encouraging that the government and president Karzai are taking it seriously," he said.

Earlier this month, the British government said it would delay payment of 85 million pounds ($136 million) in aid to Afghanistan because of the continued lack of an IMF support programme, the first warning shot fired by Afghanistan's international aid donors over the banking crisis. [ID:nLDE7282L3]

Britain's Department For International Development said at the time IMF support was used by donors as an indication of sound economic and financial management.

The delayed British aid was to have been paid into the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), the main vehicle for donor funding.

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Five people have been arrested in a fraud investigation into the sale of four mining sites in south Wales.

Five people have been arrested in a fraud investigation into the sale of four mining sites in south Wales.

Eight properties were searched in the operation, which is being led by the Serious Fraud Office.

Those arrested included three men from south Wales aged 65, 36 and 31, a London man, 47, and a Birmingham woman, 28. All have been released on bail.

Seven residential properties were searched - five in south Wales, one in London and one in Birmingham.

One business premises in south Wales was also searched.

Investigators are looking into allegations of conspiracy to defraud relating to the sale of each of the sites.

More than 90 Serious Fraud Office investigators and officers from South Wales Police, Gwent Police, the Metropolitan Police and West Midlands Police have been involved in the inquiry.

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Former University of Nebraska Regent David Hergert admitted in court Thursday to misstating his assets

Former University of Nebraska Regent David Hergert admitted in court Thursday to misstating his assets in loan documents during his term representing western Nebraska.
"Are you guilty?" U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf asked Hergert at the noon-hour hearing in a Lincoln courtroom.
Yes, said Hergert, who won election in November 2004 and soon after faced allegations he had broken campaign finance laws.
He pleaded guilty to bank fraud as part of an agreement that calls for five years of probation and six months house arrest when he is sentenced in June.
Hergert, 71, sat flanked by attorneys and admitted he misstated the assets, including grain inventories, of Hergert Milling Inc. in monthly reporting documents submitted as terms of a loan with the First National Bank of Omaha.
Kopf asked him what it was about the base borrowing certificates that was false.
"We had a terrible mess, but part of it was not correct," said Hergert of Mitchell.
In the indictment, in which he originally faced 18 charges, the government alleged that from January 2000 to December 2006 he inflated the assets of Hergert Milling Inc. in order to keep a $3 million revolving loan.

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Fourteen people, including a solicitor, surveyors, valuers and mortgage advisers, have appeared in court charged in connection with an alleged £20m conspiracy to defraud.

Fourteen people, including a solicitor, surveyors, valuers and mortgage advisers, have appeared in court charged in connection with an alleged £20m conspiracy to defraud.

It follows a two-year inquiry by North Wales Police into alleged multiple fraudulent mortgage applications.

The defendants made their first appearance before Flintshire magistrates on Thursday.

They were granted bail until a crown court hearing in April.

The defendants are Nicholas John Jones, 52, of Leeswood, Flintshire; Frank Edward Darlington, 59, of Kelnbrook, Barnoldswick, Lancashire; Christopher Hansen, 48, of Kinmel Bay, Conwy; Lisa Margaret Hansen, 41, of Kinmel Bay; Antony Lowry-Huws, 62, of Kinmel Bay; Raymond Charles Whalley, 36, of Prenton, Merseyside; Sheila Rose Whalley, 65, of Llanfairtalhaiarn, near Abergele; Linda Campbell, 40, of Glasgow; Michael Georgieff-Jones, 67, of Dyserth, Denbighshire; Susan Margaret Lowry-Huws, 58, of Kinmel Bay; David Arthur McMeekin, 54, of Riddrie, Glasgow; Brendan Derek Spencer-Whalley, 43, and Nicola Jane Spencer-Whalley, 38, of Royan, France; and George Walker, 57, of Colwyn Bay, Conwy.

All defendants were rebailed before a preliminary hearing at Caernarfon Crown Court on 13 April.

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Maryland police officer Delores Culmer faced federal charges Wednesday

Maryland police officer Delores Culmer faced federal charges Wednesday that she used her privileges as an officer to help her fiance, a convicted drug dealer, operate a cocaine trafficking ring, according to reports.

Culmer, 37, was charged with "conspiracy to distribute cocaine and fraud in connection with computer use," according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office.

She was hired by Montgomery County Police in July, 2003 and, according to the affidavit, used her privileges as an officer to access databases for information about her fiance and his "drug associates" between August, 2008, and September, 2009, reports CBS affiliate WUSA.

The affidavit alleges Culmer made computer inquiries on cars registered to a drug customer's girlfriend. The customer reportedly owed her fiance money. A few months afterward, the customer reported to police in Pennsylvania that the cars were vandalized and later became arson targets, according to WUSA.

The affidavit states Culmer accepted money from her fiance, including $30,000 in drug proceeds, to purchase houses in her name. According to the criminal complaint, she also received gifts from him and an engagement ring worth around $100,000, the station reported.

If convicted, she faces up to 20 years for the conspiracy charges and 10 years in prison for the fraud charges.

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Serious Fraud Office (SFO) made it clear that two property tycoons would not be able to attend the party.

While most of the industry were basking in the French Riviera last week, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) made it clear that two property tycoons would not be able to attend the party.

Following a 16-month probe into the failed Icelandic bank Kaupthing, the SFO chose to arrest regular partygoers Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz last Wednesday, just one day before real estate professionals gathered in Cannes for the MIPIM property show.
If they had intended to set an example to the industry, the organisation’s choice of arrest dates for the Tchenguiz brothers and 7 others could not have been better planned.
Vincent and Robert were supposed to hold their annual open yacht party in Cannes whilst the property show was underway and so news of their arrest spread quickly around the cafes and hotels of Cannes, where over 18,000 fellow property professionals gathered.
Jonathan Samuels, CEO of Drawbridge Finance, said: “News of the Thenguiz arrest reached Cannes in the thick of the event; it was a major talking point.”
“The timing was unfortunate but it did cause maximum embarrassment to those had been arrested.”
The Tchenguiz brothers made their fortunes through real-estate investments, but ironically an investigation into the duo is unlikely to centre on their property business.
Their highly-geared investments, facilitated by loans from Kaupthing, boded well for Robert and his R20 investment company during the boom. He was part of a consortium that bought the Somerfield supermarket chain and later sold it to The Co-op for £1.57 billion. He also had a 26 per cent stake in pub group Mitchells & butlers and 10 per cent in J Sainsbury.
Both brothers were using the same highly-geared strategies up until the market turned. At that point, Robert was nursing losses of up to £1,5 billion and Kaupthing seized £137 million of the profits he had made from selling Somerfield.
Vincent managed to avoid some of the high profile problems that his brother experienced, however he still holds huge amounts of debt behind his property business and portfolio.
 The brothers were arrested for ‘questioning’ about the collapse of Kaupthing and were not charged therefore their involvement in any wrongdoing remains unclear.
What is clear though is that the latest arrests, made at such a poignant time, sends a concise sign to the industry that they are not yet free from the legacy of boom-time investments.
Jonathan Samuels added: “Whilst news of the arrests was well-known, it did not ruin the event, and MIPIM was still a resounding success.
“People were still focused on doing business and the sector remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the future.”

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London and US police has revealed how one of Britain’s biggest fraudsters operating out of Spain cheated thousands of Britons out of an estimated £80m while he lived a life of luxury.

A joint investigation by London and US police has revealed how one of Britain’s biggest fraudsters operating out of Spain cheated thousands of Britons out of an estimated £80m while he lived a life of luxury.
Between 2004 and 2008 Richard Pope, from Hertfordshire, was one of the leaders of an international crime gang that used a network of Spanish boiler rooms to target UK investors, many of which were elderly and vulnerable.

Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart, from City of London Police, said: "This is one of the worst crimes I have ever had to investigate and Richard Pope is on a par with some of the most unpleasant villains out there.”

Pope, 53, has now pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in a Federal Court in Florida. He could now face up to 20-years in prison.

City of London Police said they worked with their US counterparts to uncover how the conspirators stole the identities of dormant companies and used high-pressure sales tactics to sell millions of pounds of worthless shares.

Mobilestream was one of the four businesses that formed part of the scam. Cold-callers sold it as an up and coming company when in reality it was just a worthless entity. websites and false press releases were used to give further credibility to the gang’s bogus investment opportunities that would ultimately account for at least 2,300 victims.

London police said many were left penniless, some even destitute. One individual was conned into handing over $1 million. The stolen money was funnelled off into US bank accounts, where it was used to finance the boiler room operation and enjoyed by the gang leaders.

Pope spent millions of pounds on a jet-set lifestyle that saw him buy a plane and a sailing yacht.

His operation began to unravel when UK victims complained to their banks about investments made through one of Pope’s associates.

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Richard Pope was a "wannabe playboy" who spent the life savings of British pensioners on a top-of-the range Ferrari, a yacht and a private jet.

Richard Pope was a "wannabe playboy" who spent the life savings of British pensioners on a top-of-the range Ferrari, a yacht and a private jet.

Detectives described how the 53-year-old bachelor, originally from St Albans, Hertfordshire, lived a "champagne" lifestyle from his home in Spain.
A 55ft boat, a Beach King aircraft and a Ferrari Daytona Spyder were among Pope's favourite toys.

Pope, who is unmarried and has an elderly mother, showed scant regard for his elderly victims, some of whom were left destitute by his scam, police said.

Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart said: "I would describe his style as fast and loose.

"He was funding a millionaire lifestyle at the expense of thousands of victims.

"Yet for those victims it had tragic consequences."

His extravagant lifestyle began to unravel when UK victims complained to their banks about investments made through one of Pope's associates.

After two-and-a-half years on the run, he was eventually caught following an appeal on BBC Crimewatch.

Det Supt Wishart added: "We had been in touch with his relatives. Pope knew full well there was a warrant out for his arrest. I do not give him much credit at all."

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arrests have been made in dawn raids by the Serious Fraud Office as part of its investigation into the collapse of the Icelandic bank Kaupthing.

Seven men aged between 42 and 54 were arrested in central London. Two further arrests were made in Reykjavik.

Mayfair investment tycoons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz, who were among Kaupthing’s largest clients, were among those detained.

It is understood that Armann Thorvaldsson, who was head of Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander (KSF) in the UK, and Sigurdur Einarsson, Kaupthing’s London-based former executive chairman and chief executive, have also been arrested.

All deny any wrong-doing.

KSF (Isle of Man) collapsed in October 2008 when the UK authorities placed its sister operation in London into administration. Some 11,000 creditors were faced with losing deposits totalling more than £840 million.

Two years ago, Armann Thorvaldsson published a book, Frozen Assets, giving his account of Iceland’s boom and bust which chronicled KSF’s final hours.

Investigators at the SFO want to know how some clients were able to withdraw funds in the days before the bank’s collapse and why some were able to take large loans backed with minimal collatera

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5 arrested for soccer ticket fraud in London

5 arrested for soccer ticket fraud in London - BusinessWeek: "British police made five arrests involving soccer tickets and other events as part of a campaign to deter fraud before the 2012 London Games.

The arrests come a week before Olympic tickets are to go on sale. Scotland Yard detectives fanned out over London on Tuesday.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Downing told The Associated Press that police have a list of more than 1,000 people they suspect of being involved in illegal ticket sales. They plan to work until the London Games to refine it and cross-check the information.

The arrests weren't directed at fake Olympic ticket sales -- the official sale doesn't start until March 15. Police say the arrests are intended to send a message to potential scammers."

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1,000 lawsuits have been filed in 30 countries seeking the return of $100 billion for investors who were wronged by the fraud

: "The trustee managing the liquidation of convicted Ponzi conman Bernard Madoff’s business said Tuesday that he estimated more than 1,000 lawsuits have been filed in 30 countries seeking the return of $100 billion for investors who were wronged by the fraud.

In addition to lawsuits against individual investors who got out more than they paid in to Madoff’s scheme, Irving Picard, the trustee is going after feeder funds and institutions like JPMorgan, claiming they should have known about the fraud.

The lawsuit against JPMorgan is seeking $4.5 billion. The bank has said it did nothing wrong.

Madoff even gave a jailhouse interview claiming banks were complicit in his scheme."

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Pastor arrested in $1M fraud case

Pastor arrested in $1M fraud case: "evangelical pastor whose ex-followers say he fleeced them of hundreds of thousands of dollars was arrested yesterday in connection with a nearly $1-million fraud case at a zoo.

Provincial police arrested Mwinda Lezoka, 47, along with two alleged associates, Ruth Eugène, 38, and Jasmin St. Louis, 43.

All three face fraud charges in connection with $978,000 allegedly diverted from Parc Safari in Hemmingford from 2005 to 2008.

Lezoka and Eugène are also accused of forgery.

Eugène, the zoo's former accountant, was a member of Lezoka's congregation, the Bethel Christian Community in Ahuntsic, at the time.

Police charge the trio made 37 illegal electronic transfers from Parc Safari's account to outside recipients, including Actions Béthel du Canada Inc.

The Sûreté du Québec said it opened an investigation into the case in July 2009. Fifteen investigators worked on the probe, it said.

Lezoka also faces a string of lawsuits for unpaid bills, bounced cheques and bad debts."

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Football star was 'fleeced by agent'

Football star was 'fleeced by agent': "ENGLAND football star Stewart Downing has accused his former agent of fraud after discovering only £11,000 in a bank account that he believed contained between £600,000 and £700,000.

However, his former representative, Ian Elliott, 53, argued that the money had been spent legitimately by Mr Downing on items that included luxury cars, holidays and home improvements, as well as services provided by Mr Elliott.

The former Middlesbrough FC winger told a jury at York Crown Court yesterday that he found only £11,000 in an account that he believed contained up to £700,000.

Mr Elliott is accused of siphoning off money to prop up failing business ventures. He denies four charges of fraud."

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Now banks ignore the rules on chip and PIN fraud | Mail Online

Now banks ignore the rules on chip and PIN fraud | Mail Online: "Banks are flouting rules to protect victims of card fraud, despite the City watchdog bringing in strict guidelines more than a year ago.

Under Financial Services Authority (FSA) rules introduced in November 2009, all banks must reimburse fraudulent transactions even if the genuine card and PIN was used.

Yet Money Mail has received dozens of letters from readers who have not received a payout. Instead, their bank insists they must have been 'grossly negligent' with their PIN, either by writing down the number or telling it to someone else."

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Citi fraud: I-T Dept likely to probe source of funds

Citi fraud: I-T Dept likely to probe source of funds: "Income Tax Department may conduct a probe of its own into the Rs 400 crore fraud exposed at Citibank's Gurgaon branch to ascertain if black money found its way into the ponzi scheme designed by Relationship Manager Shivraj Puri.

'The department may look into the matter to find out if unaccounted money was routed to the stock market or elsewhere with the help of the accused,' sources said.

However, the Income Tax Department is yet to initiate action on the fraud, which at present only covers the investment made by about 20 corporate entities and two dozen high net-worth individuals (HNIs)."

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: Hurling legend calls gardai on his own sister over 'missing cash' | Mail Online

 Hurling legend calls gardai on his own sister over 'missing cash' | Mail Online: "Hurling legend DJ Carey has made a complaint to the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation about his own sister, after funds of up to €1m could not be accounted for in the firm they ran together.

A Garda investigation has been under way since the complaint was made, a year ago. The Revenue has also been asked to look into the matter by Carey, 40.

Gardaí are now investigating the finances of his sister, Catríona, 32, who is herself an elite camogie star and multicapped hockey international."

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Bel Air manager pleads guilty to $370K embezzlement scheme - Baltimore buzz | Examiner.com

Bel Air manager pleads guilty to $370K embezzlement scheme - Baltimore buzz | Examiner.com: "Timothy C. Kany, Sr., age 49, of Bel Air, Md. pleaded guilty yesterday to mail fraud arising from a scheme to embezzle over $370,000 from his employer.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to Kany’s guilty plea, K-Line America was the American subsidiary of a multinational corporation specializing in international ocean cargo transportation. K-Line was headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, and had an office at 3600 O’Donnell Street in Baltimore.
Kany was the manager of K-Line’s Baltimore office from 2000 to August 13, 2009, where he oversaw the office’s daily business and approved invoices submitted by K-Line’s vendors for payment."

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Vt high school coach accused of embezzlement

Vt high school coach accused of embezzlement: "Police say a Vermont high school football coach has been accused of embezzlement after money he collected for players' sweatshirts ended up in his bank account.Forty-eight-year-old Steve LaLonde of Bennington is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
Detective Sgt. David Rowland tells the Bennington Banner players didn't receive the sweatshirts. Mount Anthony Union High School Athletics Director Tim Brown eventually contacted police.
Police noticed that $1,725 raised was in LaLonde's account, instead of a school activities account. Rowland said the money was wired in two installments to a location in Texas to pay LaLonde's rent. Rowland says LaLonde has since returned most of the money.
LaLonde said Saturday he didn't have an attorney and declined to comment further."

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Open Door's ex-chief indicted - CharlotteObserver.com

Open Door's ex-chief indicted - CharlotteObserver.com: "federal grand jury has charged Ed Payton with embezzling more than $145,000 from Mecklenburg Open Door, the publicly funded mental health contractor he once led.
Payton characterized the money he received from Open Door as loans or advances. But in reality, the grand jury said Wednesday, for 31/2 years he was 'simply embezzling money from MOD.'
While the former executive director said he intended to repay the loans, he reimbursed Open Door for 'barely 25% of these unauthorized payments' before the nonprofit's board confronted him in May, the indictment said."

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