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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 »
Associated Press | An Ohio roller derby skater who used the team name “Sadistic Sadie” has admitted in federal court to illegally obtaining more than $400,000 in airline tickets while working for United Airlines. Mercedes Stafford, 34, of Cincinnati pleaded guilty to wire fraud Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Covington, Ky., according to court documents.
William Hogan Jr. in a 1996 file photo. (Nancy Stone/Tribune)
By Ameet Sachdev |
William Hogan Jr., once Chicago’s most powerful Teamster, has reached a
settlement with federal prosecutors in New York to resolve criminal
contempt charges against him.
In 2007, Hogan was charged with contempt for, effectively, refusing to
stop associating with members of the union, from which he was expelled in 2002.
The charge was later amended to include an alleged violation arising
from Hogan’s 2007 employment by a business employing Teamster members.
Associated Press | A financial adviser to celebrities including
Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone was arrested Thursday on charges
that he carried out a $30 million fraud on his clients, using some of
their money to purchase a lavish Manhattan apartment. Kenneth Starr,
65, of Manhattan was charged with wire fraud, investment adviser fraud
and money laundering and was awaiting an initial court appearance in
federal court in Manhattan.
From the Winnipeg Free Press | Lawyers for Conrad Black will appear in an Ontario, Canada appeals court today to argue that six libel lawsuits should proceed allowing him to refute statements published on the Sun-Times Media Inc. website about his use of Hollinger shareholder money. One document listed in the suit was a 2004 report from a special committee of Hollinger International that said Black “looted” the company and that he ran a “corporate kleptocracy.”
Get the full story: winnipegfreepress.com
By P.J. Huffstutter | Federal authorities filed new charges in their case against tomato scion Frederick Scott Salyer, alleging a wider conspiracy that set inflated prices for tomato products.
The indictment charged Salyer, who had been head of agribusiness giant SK Foods, with five new felony counts. It alleged that he conspired with others to fix prices or rig bids on products sold to three of the company’s customers — McCain Foods USA, ConAgra Foods Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc.
Get the full story: New charges in tomato price-fixing case.
By Ameet Sachdev |
A Chicago area lawyer who handles primarily divorce cases has been
charged with writing $50,000 in bad checks, Cook County authorities said
Wednesday.
Michael Skoubis, 48, of Des Plaines, turned himself in Saturday to the
Cook County Sheriff’s office, which had received a complaint last month
from a business associate of Skoubis. The lawyer allegedly wrote three
checks to this associate in 2009 that were returned because the bank
account that had been closed the year before.
By Wailin Wong |
A Memphis-area former trader is facing federal fraud charges for
allegedly carrying out massive rogue bets in Chicago’s wheat markets
that generated a $141 million loss to his firm, New York-based MF
Global.
A federal grand jury returned an 18-count indictment against
42-year-old Evan Brent Dooley on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick
Fitzgerald announced today in a statement. Dooley, whose residence is
in Mississippi, was charged with 16 counts of wire fraud and two counts
of violating limits on speculative positions established by the
Commodities Exchange Act.
Associated Press | A federal judge sentenced fallen Minnesota
tycoon Tom Petters to 50 years in prison on Thursday for orchestrating
a $3.7 billion Ponzi scheme that counted hedge funds, pastors,
missionaries and retirees among its victims.
“Every day, I’m filled with pain and anguish for all the lives that
have been destroyed and touched by this episode,” Petters said at his
sentencing hearing.
He apologized to family, friends, co-workers and
others who were hurt but did not concede guilt.
From Canada’s Globe and Mail | The 21,000-square-foot, $32 million Palm Beach mansion owned by former newspaper magnate Conrad Black, who is serving a prison sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice during his tenure heading former Chicago Sun-Times parent Hollinger International, has been transferred to its mortgage company and put up for sale.
Black appealed his convictions to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on the case this spring. He is not expected to get out of prison before the fall of 2013.
Get the full story: globeandmail.ca
| By Greg Burns | Federal prosecutors have leveled formal charges against a once-prominent commodity trader accused of cheating investors while falsely claiming to make them money.
Jay C. Nolan of Wilmette was charged Wednesday with five counts of fraud through a criminal information, a legal document that often precedes a plea deal. |
See also • Read the criminal information against Nolan.
|
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart delivered an eviction notice and changed the locks on Boston Blackie’s offices and warehouse at 1245 W. Fulton St. on the Near West Side. The Sheriff’s office plans to auction off the items inside in 20 days.
Get the full story: chicagobusiness.com
Associated Press | A computer hacker who helped orchestrate one
of the largest thefts of credit and debit card numbers in U.S. history
faces sentencing this week for hacking into computer systems of major
retailers, including TJX Cos., BJ’s Wholesale Club and Sports Authority.
Prosecutors plan to ask for a 25-year prison sentence for Albert
Gonzalez, a former federal informant from Miami who pleaded guilty last
year in three hacking cases brought in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New
York.
By Ameet Sachdev | The chief executive of a Chicago aircraft leasing company was arrested Tuesday for allegedly engaging in a commercial bribery scheme, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago.
Brian Hollnagel, who founded BCI Aircraft Leasing Inc. in the late 1990s, was released today on $1.7 million secured bond, along with home confinement and electronic monitoring after appearing before U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, said the U.S. attorney’s office. Hollnagel pleaded not guilty to one count of wire fraud.
