Aug. 11, 2010 at 10:50 a.m.
Filed under:
Fraud,
Investing,
Litigation,
Retirement
By Becky Yerak
About 120 Illinois and California residents thought they were investing more than $20 million in Turkish Eurobonds when, in fact, a Lisle man and others were spending the money on luxury automobiles, homes, vacations and online pornography, the Illinois Department of Insurance alleged Tuesday.
The state’s action follows a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in March in which the federal regulator said the group was using the investors’ money to also buy a stamp collection, and also invest in “the cryogenic preservation of umbilical cord stem cells.” Get the full story »
A U.S. District Judge in Chicago ruled Monday that Sam Zell can’t be made to pay for the company’s retirement fund losses because Tribune isn’t directly involved in the lawsuit. Zell was sued by workers who claimed that the billionaire caused the company’s employee stock ownership plan to lose value.
Aug. 4, 2010 at 2:12 p.m.
Filed under:
Consulting,
Criminal charges
By Reuters
A former Deloitte and Touche LLP partner and his son were charged with insider trading in securities of Best Buy Co. Inc. , Sears Holdings Corp. and other companies, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday.
Thomas Flanagan, a former Deloitte vice chairman, used inside information obtained through his duties at the accounting firm to reap more than $430,000 in illegal profits, the SEC said. Get the full story »
Aug. 3, 2010 at 8:11 a.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Work culture
By Tribune newspapers
At least three people are dead and at least three injured in a workplace shooting in Manchester, Conn. at Hartford Distributors. State Police said Omar Thomas, the suspect, shot himself as police approached, and is dead. The suspect was an employee, the marketing director of the company said, before police identified Thomas.
July 28, 2010 at 4:43 p.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Criminal charges,
Litigation
By Ameet Sachdev and Ray Gibson | In an extraordinary maneuver, the federal appeals court in Chicago removed a judge from an ongoing criminal trial after ruling that he had made an error in the case.
The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals did not give an explanation in its Tuesday order, which dismissed U.S. District Judge James Holderman from the jury trial of a man facing drug charges. The court said it would follow up with an opinion.
The lack of explanation left court watchers wondering what Holderman did to incite such a harsh penalty. The appellate court reverse judges all the time. But removing one in the middle of a trial may be unprecedented. Get the full story »
July 23, 2010 at 12:57 p.m.
Filed under:
Criminal charges,
Fraud,
Litigation
By Ameet Sachdev
Conrad Black enters the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Friday. (Terrence Antonio James/ Chicago Tribune)
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve said she would not allow Conrad Black, who once controlled a media company that owned the Chicago Sun-Times, to return to his home in Canada until she has more information about his financial condition. She asked to return Aug. 16 with a complete and thorough financial affadavit.
Black arrived in St. Eve’s Chicago courtroom for a 12:30 p.m. hearing to learn the conditions of his recent release from prison. He wore a blue suit and salmon-colored tie, and was accompanied by his wife Barbara Amiel Black. He didn’t say anything, but smiled and gave a thumbs up.
Get the full story »
By Ameet Sachdev
Conrad Black left a Florida prison Wednesday, after a Chicago federal judge ordered his release on a $2 million bond pending a review of his 2007 fraud conviction.
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ordered Black, who once controlled a media company that owned the Chicago Sun-Times, to appear in her courtroom at 12:30 p.m. Friday, to go over the conditions of his release. Get the full story »
July 21, 2010 at 1:43 p.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Criminal charges,
Transportation
By Problem Solver
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit Wednesday against a Melrose Park bus company, saying it defrauded a group of hearing-impaired students and their families.
The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, claims Sleepless in the City Bus Service Inc., took $1,750 from the Illinois Service Resource Center, then failed to provide transportation for 55 students and their families on April 27, 2009. Get the full story »
July 19, 2010 at 4:55 p.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Criminal charges,
Media,
Updated
By Ameet Sachdev
Conrad Black leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse after his sentencing hearing in Chicago in this December 10, 2007 file photo. (Reuters/John Gress/Files)
Conrad Black won his request for bail Monday while a federal appeals court reviews whether to overturn his 2007 fraud conviction related to his one-time control of Hollinger International Inc., the former parent of the Chicago Sun-Times.
It is not clear when Black will be released from prison. He has been in federal custody in Florida for more than two years, serving a 78-month sentence for three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice. Get the full story »
July 16, 2010 at 5:05 p.m.
Filed under:
Criminal charges,
Fraud,
Investing
By Reuters
American International Group Inc. has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a long-running securities fraud lawsuit led by three Ohio public pension funds, in one of the largest class-action settlements in U.S. history.
AIG would pay $175 million within 10 days of preliminary court approval of the settlement with a class of shareholders. The company may fund the remaining $550 million through one or more common stock offerings. Get the full story »
July 15, 2010 at 5:28 p.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Crime,
Energy,
Government,
Investigations
By Reuters
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a July 29 hearing into last year’s release of a Libyan convicted for the 1988 bombing of an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, and related actions by BP.
The committee said Thursday that it will ask officials of BP Plc to testify after the U.K.-based oil giant acknowledged that it had lobbied the British government in 2007 to transfer Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Basset al-Megrahi to Tripoli. The company said it was concerned that his continued imprisonment in Scotland could hurt an offshore oil drilling deal with Libya. Get the full story »
July 15, 2010 at 5:03 p.m.
Filed under:
Fraud,
Government,
Investing,
Litigation
By MarksJarvis on Money
Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $550 million in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of misleading investors.
July 12, 2010 at 12:57 p.m.
Filed under:
Credit Cards,
Fraud
By Associated Press
A Colorado grand jury has indicted six people from the Oakland, Calif., area on charges of using fake credit cards to get cash and goods in Illinois and six other states.
The indictment, made public Monday, alleges the suspects got a toll-free number and printed it on the back of the cards. When bank or business employees couldn’t authenticate the card, they called the number.
June 25, 2010 at 2:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Fraud,
Government,
Housing,
Taxes
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Another report is out looking at fraudulent activity related to the homebuyer tax credit and this one’s got a new wrinkle.
Almost 1,300 prisoners in jail – including 241 serving life sentences — wrongly received $9.1 million in credits for home purchases they purported to make while in jail. Another 2,555 improperly received $17.6 million for home purchases made before the tax credit became effective, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
According to the Internal Revenue Service, 1.8 million taxpayers received $12.6 billion in homebuyer credits before March.
But that doesn’t mean 1.8 million homes were sold. The agency found that 10, 282 taxpayers received a credit for buying the same home as was used by other taxpayers for the credit. In fact, 67 taxpayers used one house. Auditors said the erroneous credits are likely to add up to tens of millions of dollars.
June 25, 2010 at 11:53 a.m.
Filed under:
Fraud,
Investing,
Regulations
By Associated Press
The government says it obtained a court order to halt an alleged $34 million Ponzi scheme targeting federal employees and law enforcement agents nationwide with promises of safe investments in a nonexistent bond fund.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said the order issued Thursday by a federal judge in Miami also froze the assets of the estate of the late Kenneth Wayne McLeod, his consulting firm Federal Employee Benefits Group and an affiliated investment firm. The SEC alleges that McLeod and the firms defrauded an estimated 260 investors starting in 1988.
