_________::::___#519 - December 6, 2007________________
FRAUDBARON.com
The Anti-Fraud Professionals'
Source for Fraud News
#519 Updated: 12/06/07 11:01 a.m.

Ex-Priest To Prison For Church Funds Embezzlement
North Country Gazette | 12/6/07 | Staff Writer
BRIDGEPORT, CONN—-The former priest of an affluent Roman Catholic parish in Darien who
helped himself to up to $1.3 million in donations prior to his resignation last May has been
sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and ordered to make $1 million in restitution.
Prosecutors said Michael Jude Fay, 56, took the money over a six year period and used the
funds for personal luxuries with his frequent companion, Cliff Fantino, including the
purchase of a Florida condo, limousine rides, world wide travel, jewelry and designer
clothing. Fay kept about half of the money taken from St. John Roman Catholic Church in a
secret bank account. Last September, Fay had pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge. He
apologized in court and asked for leniency. “I beg you for your mercy”, Fay, who has
terminal prostate cancer, said in addressing the judge. Do not send me to prison. I am
already in prison”  He said he accepted responsibility for his actions but said that the
effects of medication and his trust in others had played a role in his actions. U.S. District
Judge Janet Bond Arterton said Fay’s acts had devastated church members and said that
the prison term was intended to promote respect for the law.  “Not even the collar can
protect you from prison,” she told the former priest. She rejected probation, saying that “A
sentence of probation would be impunity for a crime of enormity”.  However, she postponed
his entry into prison until April 2 to give him time to be a participant in a clinical trial of a
new cancer drug. Fay had been pastor of the church for 15 years. The allegations were first
raised last May by a private investigator hired by the church. A report issued after a
financial review of the church funds claimed that about $250,000 was used to purchase a
Florida condo and another $87,000 was expended to lease a luxury apartment
on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Personal credit card charges are listed at $829,000
and over $500,000 withdrawn from the church accounts by check and cash for himself.
Officials said Fay had perpetuated the fraud over a seven year period. He has reportedly
repaid about $280,000.

Ex-bank exec charged in kickback scheme
Chicago Tribune | 12/6/07 | Jeff Coen
A former executive who oversaw security at LaSalle Bank has been charged with soliciting
$400,000 in  kickbacks for steering tens of millions of dollars in contracts to a suburban firm.
According to court records, the operator of the security firm told the FBI last year that he
provided the bank executive with a second safe for his home after learning the first was full
of cash.  George Konjuch, a former first vice president in charge of security at LaSalle Bank,
began pocketing bribes of $200 a month in 2000 after explaining he was just "a poor
man who needs to put my daughter through college," the records state. By the end of the
scheme last year, the bribes from Armando Navarrete, the security firm owner, had soared
to $44,000 a month, authorities alleged.  An indictment unsealed Wednesday charged
Konjuch and Navarrete each with five counts of bank fraud and bank bribery. Navarrete,
who owned Integrity Security Solutions of Wood Dale, was arrested Wednesday by FBI and
Internal Revenue Service agents, authorities said. Konjuch was to turn himself in Thursday.
Federal prosecutors said Konjuch directed $45 million in LaSalle Bank business to Navarrete
in exchange for the payoffs as well as exercise equipment, trips to Puerto Rico and Las
Vegas and a $10,000 wedding gift to Konjuch's daughter.  In a lawsuit filed last year in
Cook County Circuit Court, LaSalle Bank accused Konjuch and Navarrete of massive fraud.
In seeking a warrant last year to search Konjuch's Des Plaines home, the FBI alleged that
Navarrete's firm billed the bank for security work at a rate 10times the industry standard.
According to court records, Navarrete told agents he started paying "thank-you" money to
Konjuch after the bank vice president asked, "Why is everyone else allowed to benefit but
not me?"  Navarrete told authorities he often passed the cash bribes to Konjuch in an
envelope or newspaper during lunches at a Norridge restaurant, the court records state. In
return, Konjuch revealed the details of competing bids for security work so Navarrete could
underbid and win the contract, the court records showed.  The kickback demands escalated
after Konjuch asked, "How appreciative can you be?" court records stated. The bribes grew
to $40,000 a month by 2004 and then $44,000 last year, the court records stated. Before
his alleged wrongdoing came to light and he was fired by the bank last year, Konjuch's
annual salary was $125,000, records show. Konjuch's lawyer could not be reached for
comment. A LaSalle Bank spokesman said the bank was cooperating with authorities.
According to the court records, Konjuch attributed sizable deposits in bank accounts to
gambling winnings. (Excpert)

Ex-traders accused of fake data
Houston Chronicle |12/5/07 | Tom Powers
A trio of former El Paso natural gas traders repeatedly lied to energy industry publications
to try to manipulate natural gas prices, prosecutors alleged Wednesday, but defense
lawyers retorted that the men reported accurate information under an "imperfect system."
During opening statements in the criminal trial of Jim Brooks, Wesley Walton and James Pat
Phillips, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Lewis said the defendants were trying to deceive the
publications with trading data that would then be used to create widely followed price
indexes. Lewis said evidence would show dozens of reports the defendants provided from
2000 to 2002 were false.  "They weren't half real, they weren't a quarter real, they were
fake," Lewis said. Defense attorneys countered the trading information was legitimate,
even if it wasn't exactly what the publications asked for, because it reflected the prices El
Paso was seeing in the market.  Wendell Odom, Brooks' attorney, said imperfections in the
pricing system "did not mean someone committed a crime."  Brooks is guilty only "of not
following the directions of a private magazine," Odom said. The trial continues today in U.S.
District Judge Melinda Harmon's courtroom. Prosecutors said it will take four to six weeks to
present their case. The three men face 49 charges each, including conspiracy, false
reporting and wire fraud, in connection with price reports sent to Inside FERC and Natural
Gas Intelligence, industry publications.  The publications used the data to create monthly
indexes that are widely used to set prices for such transactions as power plant fuel
purchases and royalty payments to mineral rights holders. El Paso has said it is cooperating
with the investigation. The government doesn't have to prove the reports affected prices,
just that the men were trying to deceive the publications when they sent the data. (Excerpt)

Redding attorney sentenced for embezzlement
redding.com | 12/4/07 | Ryan Sabalow
A Redding attorney was sentenced Monday on charges he stole more than $50,000 from
his clients. Superior Court Judge William Gallagher sentenced Eric R. Maire to six months in
jail and three years probation after Maire pleaded guilty in October to three counts of
embezzlement. He's also required to pay back all the money he stole from his clients, said
Erin Dervin, a Shasta County deputy district attorney. He has until Friday to check into the
Shasta County jail to serve his sentence, Dervin said.  Maire was accused of taking the
money from at least 10 clients.  Dervin said several of the allegations involved Maire settling
personal injury claims but not giving the settlement winnings to his clients. In another
instance, a client gave him $12,000 for a contract dispute case. Maire took the money, but
never did any work, Dervin said.  The thefts ranged from a few hundred dollars to $18,000.
The embezzlement took place between 2005 and 2006, she said. "There are probably
others out there (who were defrauded) but they didn't think there was anything
anybody could do for them," Dervin said. The defrauded clients reported the thefts to the
California Bar Association and the Redding Police Department, which conducted an
investigation.  Maire resigned from the bar organization when the investigation began.
Dervin said it's unlikely Maire would ever be reinstated as an attorney.  "They take these
kind of embezzlement cases more seriously than any other kind of case," Dervin said.
"If you steal from your client, you're done."  Eric Maire is the brother of prominent Redding
attorney Wayne Maire, an attorney at Maire and Beasley, a civil litigation firm. Dervin said
the brothers did not work in the same office, nor did the two have a working relationship
during the time the embezzlements took place.

37-month sentence for embezzlement
Houston Chronicle | 12/3/07 | Staff Writer
A former Anadarko Petroleum manager has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for
embezzling money from the company and making a false statement on an income tax form.
Mario M. Garza, 53, of Houston, also must pay $800,000 in restitution and serve three years
probation, according to a statement Monday from U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle. A grand
jury indicted Garza in May on 22 counts of wire fraud and making false statements on
tax returns. He was accused of a scheme to defraud Anadarko of more than $800,000
between 1996 and 2003 while running a Peruvian business unit for Anadarko. He also was
accused of failing to report the income on tax returns, avoiding $267,000 in federal income
taxes.  He entered into a plea deal with prosecutors in August, admitting he had tricked
Anadarko into paying bills to two sham vendors, then used the money for personal
expenses. He could have faced up to eight years in prison for the two charges to which he
pleaded guilty. U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon, who sentenced Garza Friday, allowed
him to remain free on bond for at least 60 days before he begins serving his sentence.
Garza's attorney could not be reached for comment.

Trial date set in embezzlement
recordnet.com | 12/4/07 | Staff Writer
STOCKTON - A February trial date was set Monday for a Stockton woman charged with
embezzling $150,000 from the Downtown Stockton Alliance, her attorney said.  But Dana
Boccoli, 36, likely will never go to trial, as she hopes to reach a plea agreement, Stockton
attorney Gil Somera said. Police searched her home Oct. 25 and arrested her on
embezzlement charges.  Boccoli kept the books for four years for the organization, which
promotes downtown Stockton businesses. Boccoli will give an interview to the Probation
Department, and all the parties will review bank records, Somera said. "Now it's just a
matter of sitting down with a judge and looking at the case," Somera said. Her next court
date is scheduled for Jan. 13, and her trial, if no plea agreement is reached, is scheduled to
begin Feb. 15.
________________________