FraudBaron.com

Forex Trading “Guru” Sentenced to Prison for Scamming Over $11M

fbi.gov | 4/30/08 | Press Release

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced that JOEL NATHAN WARD, 49, of Turlock, California, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr. to nine years in prison for masterminding a Ponzi scheme in which nearly 100 investors lost over $11 million. WARD was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $11,275,501.53 and to serve three years of supervised release after the completion of his prison sentence. He was remanded into custody immediately following the sentencing hearing.

SEC Charges Birmingham Mayor and Friends for Undisclosed Payment Scheme in Municipal Bond Deals

sec.gov | 4/30/08 | Press Release

Washington, D.C., April 30, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford and two of his friends in connection with undisclosed payments to Langford related to municipal bond offerings and swap agreement transactions Langford directed on behalf of Jefferson County, Ala. Also charged was the Alabama broker-dealer firm that reaped millions of dollars in fees from the deals.

A Nation of Enrons

fool.com | 4/30/08 | Seth Jayson

An understatement: We are living through a time of considerable market and economic turmoil. Since we stand to see trillions of dollars' worth of assets vaporize in the ensuing mess, we ought to take a look at history to see how we got into it, and how investors can get out.

Thomasville Church Treasurer Charged With Embezzlement

digtriad.com | 4/30/08 | Staff Writer

Thomasville, NC -- The former treasurer of a Davidson County church is facing embezzlement charges. Teresa Swartz of Thomasville was arrested Tuesday in connection with the disappearance of $104,521 from the Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church.

Bookkeeper sentenced in Novato embezzlement case

marinij.com | 4/29/08 | Gary Klein

A 34-year-old bookkeeper was sentenced to one year in jail for embezzling more than $180,000 from a Novato construction company, the district attorney's office said.

Ex-HealthSouth CFO's lawyers told to produce docs

reuters.com  | 4/29/08 | Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday ordered lawyers representing a former chief financial officer of HealthSouth Corp to turn over documents to investment bank UBS AG. 

Appraisal Fraud & Abuse: Learning from the Last Mortgage Crisis to Address Today’s Problems

nationalmortgagenews.com | 4/29/08 | Thomas Inserra

The last mortgage crisis in the U.S. occurred from 1980 to 1995 and involved the failure of 2,912 federally insured financial institutions with combined assets of $924 billion.  In an FDIC report prepared afterward, the agency noted that most of the assets of the failed financial institutions were “… secured by real estate mortgages and their disposition was hampered by a nationwide decline in real estate markets.”

 

Deloitte: Volunteerism Leads to Tangible Gains

smartpros.com | 4/29/08 | Staff Writer

April 29, 2008 (SmartPros) — Skills-based volunteerism is a powerful and cost-effective professional development tool, yet very few companies are leveraging volunteer programs for this purpose, according to a survey by Deloitte.

Fraud Charges Against Block Brokerage Dismissed

smartpros.com | 4/28/08 | Mark Davis

April 28, 2008 (The Kansas City Star, Mo.) — Regulators dismissed 3.5-year-old civil fraud charges today against the brokerage business of H&R Block that arose from its sales of Enron Corp. bonds to investors shortly before its spectacular 2001 failure.

Oregon officials quit over ethics rules

latimes.com | 4/27/08 | Stuart Glascock

Help wanted: public servants willing to disclose major sources of income, business interests, real estate holdings and the names of their adult relatives.  Sayonara and good luck with that, said some 150 elected and appointed Oregon officeholders who walked away from their public service gigs this month rather than disclose personal data. Many said they were particularly disturbed by the new requirement -- apparently unique to Oregon -- that they name so many family members.  Resignations struck dozens of cities.