| #525 - December 20, 2007 |
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| #525 Updated: 12/20/07 9:43 a.m. Man sentenced for stealing identities of USC students sfgate.com | 12/20/07 | Staff Writer A man who rang up more than $400,000 in fraudulent credit card charges after stealing the identities of students at the University of Southern California was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison. Victor Igbineweka, 26, was sentenced Tuesday and also ordered to pay more than $411,000 in restitution to the various banks he defrauded. Igbineweka pleaded guilty in September to bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, admitting that he set up a business in the San Fernando Valley to facilitate the identity theft scheme. prosecutors said Igbineweka targeted college students, and on at least one occasion, was able to steal mail from a USC dorm room. He used pre-approved credit card applications to apply for credit cards in students' names. He fraudulently obtained scores of credit cards in the names of dozens of students, and he used the cards to make more than $400,000 in fraudulent charges through his business merchant account, prosecutors said. When Igbineweka was arrested in March, federal agents found hundreds of pre-approved credit card applications and the personal information of hundreds of individuals in his apartment. Former Skandia CEO Cleared of Fraud Houston Chronicle | 12/19/07| Associated Press STOCKHOLM, Sweden — An appeals court on Wednesday acquitted the former chief executive of Swedish insurer Skandia of fraud charges. Lars-Eric Petersson, who was fired in April 2003, had been convicted by a lower court of handing out 156 million kronor (euro17 million; US$22 million) in bonuses to Skandia executives without board approval. The Svea appeals court overturned the conviction and Petersson's two-year prison sentence, saying prosecutors failed to prove that he had tried to bypass the board. It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. The insurance company came under heavy criticism in 2003 from media and the Swedish public for the size of bonuses paid to top executives, for an alleged improper relationship with life insurance arm Skandia Liv and for having awarded luxury apartments to a small group of executives who have since departed. Williamsburg restaurateur to be sentenced for embezzlement dailypress.com | 12/19/07 | Seth Freedland The former owner of a since-closed Williamsburg restaurant is expected to be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $285,000 in city and state tax money. Anne C. Bull, who ran popular A. Carroll's Bistro on Prince George Street before the restaurant changed ownership, faces up to 20 years in prison for each of two felony counts of embezzlement, plus up to a year in jail on each of four misdemeanor counts for failure to file her tax returns. According to prosecutors, the discrepancy was discovered when Bull reported about $6.4 million in sales to the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control between July 1999 and November 2005, but just $3.5 million in sales to the city and the Virginia Department of Taxation. Businesses are required to collect taxes on retail sales each month and send the proceeds to the taxation department. Because it had a liquor license, state law also mandated that the restaurant file annual sales reports with the ABC. Bull's attorney, Stephen Harris, told a judge in July 2006 that Bull already paid more than $150,000 in restitution to the city of Williamsburg and was making an effort to pay back the state. The state process had been delayed by accusations that Bull also failed to file her personal income taxes for 2003, 2004 and 2005. The sentencing hearing is set for 9 a.m. in Williamsburg Circuit Court. The sentencing was deferred from last December to give Bull time to complete drug rehabilitation. Embezzlement suspect nabbed in Virginia charlotte.com | 12/20/07 | Adam Bell Virginia authorities this morning caught a Concord woman who had fled after a warrant was issued for her arrest on charges of embezzling more than $137,000 from a Harrisburg charter school, officials said. Sandra Vielbaum, 57, of Concord was the finance officer at Carolina International School, and had worked at the school since shortly after it opened in fall 2004. The warrant was issued Monday. “We’re in shock that someone who has been such an integral part of our community was allegedly involved in this,” school director Richard Beall said Tuesday. “But we will persevere.” The alleged embezzlement had been going on for two years, according to the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office, which also said the school had contacted the agency about the case Dec. 14. Vielbaum fled after learning of the investigation, the sheriff’s office said. Officials there said she was caught by local police at a Days Inn motel in Whiteville, Va., about four hours north of Concord. She will be extradited to North Carolina. Vielbaum is also wanted by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Phoenix, Ariz., for a 2003 outstanding warrant for fraudulent schemes, the Cabarrus sheriff’s office also said. The U.S. Secret Service is involved in the Cabarrus investigation. Beall said he was unaware of any financial trouble Vielbaum might have had. At the school, Vielbaum was well- known, Beall said, and had volunteered as a cheerleading and volleyball coach. As of Saturday, Vielbaum no longer worked at Carolina International School. In an e-mail to parents, school officials recommended that they stop payment on any outstanding checks written to the school that were issued before Dec. 1. The school has 450 students in kindergarten through 10th grade, and an operating budget of $3.7 million. On its Web site, the school said its core values, include: “We will respect others and their roperty at all times.” Rabbi indicted in tax fraud and money laundering scheme in LA mercurynews.com | 12/20/07 | Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES—The head of an Orthodox Jewish group was arrested along with several associates Wednesday, accused of operating a sophisticated tax fraud and money laundering scheme involving millions of dollars. Naftali Tzi Weisz, 59, identified as the Grand Rabbi of Spinka, faces federal charges including conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering, according to a 37-count indictment returned Tuesday. He was expected to make an initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities say Weisz helped solicit millions of dollars in contributions to five Spinka charitable groups by promising to secretly refund up to 95 percent of the donations. That way, the contributors could falsely claim higher tax deductions, In some cases, donors received cash payments through an underground money transfer network involving business owners in Los Angeles' jewelry district, prosecutors said. Contributors also were reimbursed through wire transfers from Spinka-controlled entities into accounts secretly held at a bank in Israel, prosecutors said. Weisz is from Brooklyn, N.Y., where the charitable organizations are based. Also indicted were his executive assistant, Moshe E. Zigelman, 60. Six of the seven charged in the case were taken into custody as federal agents conducted searches in Los Angeles and New York on Wednesday morning. It was unclear whether the defendants had retained attorneys yet. ________________________ |
