The FBI’s Portland Division has awarded Musse Olol the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award for his many years of work and dedication in Oregon. Mr. Olol is the chairman and spokesperson for the Somali American Council of Oregon (SACOO). In this role, he has been instrumental in organizing and leading efforts within the Somali community to promote public understanding and collaboration. Specifically, he has focused on developing positive relationships between the Somali community and law enforcement. Mr. Olol is also known for his work as a volunteer in assisting new Somali refugee families as an interpreter, facilitator, counselor, and co-sponsor.

“Mr. Olol has worked to empower Somali families,” said Greg Fowler, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. “His efforts have paved the way for these new immigrants to have strong, positive relationships with the wider community that we all share.”

“It is quite an honor to receive this level of recognition and we are humbled by it,” said Mr. Olol. “SACOO members were called in to fill the leadership void of our community. This award further strengthens our commitment to our community to achieve an environment of unity and hope that will lead to successful citizens.”

Each year, every FBI field office honors one person or organization with this award for outstanding contributions to their community through service. Mr. Olol will travel to Washington, D.C., in March 2012 to be personally recognized by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III.

Mr. Olol has lived in Oregon for 30 years, and he graduated from Portland State University with a degree in mechanical engineering. He currently works in the field of water and wastewater engineering. To find out more information about the Somali American Council of Oregon, go to http://sacoo.org/.

FBI Honors Local Somali American with the Director’s Community Leadership Award | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

GULFPORT, MS—Lisa Brooks, 45, of Gulfport, pled guilty in U.S. District Court today to federal bank fraud, U.S. Attorney John Dowdy and FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen announced. Brooks will be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., on January 4, 2012, at 1:30 p.m., and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

From October 2006 to October 2008, Brooks was employed by Hancock Bank as an auditor in the Recoveries Department in Long Beach, Mississippi. During that time, she received checks at Hancock Bank for collection matters, which were made payable to Hancock Bank, and she would deposit them into a general ledger account and prepare money orders to post to the individual charged-off accounts. Brooks would then fraudulently convert a portion from the amount of the checks to money order for the use or benefit of herself and others. In some instances, Brooks concealed her theft by forging someone else’s signature on some of the money orders when depositing the funds into an account she held at another bank. The amount taken was approximately $143,976.91. Brooks was interviewed by investigative agents and confessed to fraudulently stealing money from Hancock Bank in this manner.

U.S. Attorney Dowdy praised the efforts of the special agents from the FBI Office in Gulfport, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst who is prosecuting the case.

Hancock Bank Auditor Pleads Guilty to Federal Bank Fraud | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Director Robert S. Mueller, III has named Keith L. Bennett assistant director of the FBI’s Inspection Division. Mr. Bennett most recently served as deputy assistant director for the FBI’s Training Division.

Mr. Bennett began his career as an FBI special agent in 1987 and was initially assigned to the Salt Lake City Division. While there, he investigated white-collar crime and drug violations. He transferred to the San Diego Division, where he served from 1993 to 1998.

In 1998, Mr. Bennett was promoted to supervisory special agent at FBI Headquarters, where he provided support to the organized crime and drug programs. Two years later, he returned to the San Diego Division, where he supervised drug intelligence, counterterrorism, and alien smuggling squads and directed the San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force.

While in San Diego, he served temporarily at FBI Headquarters as a team leader in the Inspection Division. He conducted inspections of field offices, Headquarters entities, and legal attaché offices.

In 2005, Mr. Bennett was appointed as assistant special agent in charge (ASAC) of the Phoenix Division. As ASAC, he was program manager of international and domestic terrorism, counterintelligence, and intelligence programs. He oversaw the special operations group, training, and SWAT programs.

He subsequently served as a special assistant to Director Mueller, where he provided counsel to the Director on policy and administrative matters. After serving as special assistant, he was selected as special agent in charge of the Cincinnati field office in 2007.  

Mr. Bennett graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and earned a degree in mechanical engineering. He served on active duty from 1978 through 1983, and as a reservist from 1983 to 1987, earning the rank of lieutenant commander. After serving in the military, he served as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, D.C.

Keith L. Bennett Named Assistant Director of the Inspection Division | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

MARCEL R. HERRERA, age 27, of Chicago, was arrested yesterday afternoon, without incident, by FBI special agents and officers from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) and the Niles Police Department (NPD). HERRERA was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago late yesterday with one count of bank robbery, which is a felony offense.

According to the complaint, HERRERA entered the bank branch just before closing at approximately 6:50 p.m. He approached the teller counter, where three bank employees were preparing to close for the day. He then verbally announced a robbery, ordering the bank employees to give him the money from the vault while handing them a fabric shopping bag.

After receiving in excess of $200,000 in cash, HERRERA is alleged to have fled the bank on foot and was last seen running through the bank parking lot towards southbound Milwaukee Avenue. No injuries were reported during the robbery.

A major break in the investigation came when a tip was received from a member of the public, who recognized HERRERA after watching news media accounts of the theft, which included images of the robber captured on bank surveillance cameras. Subsequent investigation by the FBI, CCSO, and NPD developed additional evidence linking HERRERA to the robbery and the filing of the charges announced today.

HERRERA appeared before Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys late yesterday, at which time he was formally charged. HERRERA was ordered held without, bond pending his next court appearance which is scheduled for Friday, December 10. If convicted of the charge filed against him, HERRERA faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years’ incarceration.

Additional information about this and other recent Chicago area bank robberies, including downloadable photographs, is available at the Bandit Tracker website, www.bandittrackerchicago.com.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Copies of the criminal complaint filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199.

Arrest Made in Niles Bank Robbery | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

David Yen Lee, formerly a technical director in Valspar Corp.’s architectural coatings group since 2006, pleaded guilty in September to using his access to Valspar’s secure internal computer network to download approximately 160 original batch tickets, or secret formulas for paints and coatings.

He also obtained raw materials information, chemical formulas and calculations, sales and cost data, and other internal memoranda, product research, marketing data, and other materials from Valspar’s offices in Wheeling.

Lee, 54, formerly of Arlington Heights and currently of Jersey City, N.J., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, who also ordered mandatory restitution of $30,975 to reimburse Valspar for the costs of its internal investigation. Lee was ordered to begin serving the sentence next year.

Lee admitted that between September 2008 and February 2009, he had negotiated employment with Nippon Paint, located in Shanghai, China. On Feb. 27, 2009, Lee accepted employment with Nippon as vice president of technology and administrator of research and development beginning on April 1, 2009, in Shanghai.

Lee was scheduled to fly from Chicago to Shanghai on March 27, 2009. He did not inform Valspar that he had accepted a job at Nippon until he resigned on March 16, 2009.

At Valspar, Lee’s duties included scouting new paint technologies, coordinating with other paint laboratories, coordinating staffing and projects with Huarun Limited, a Valspar subsidiary located in China, and overseeing Valspar’s technical service group, which conducted experiments for paint coloring.

Between November 2008 and March 2009, Lee downloaded technical documents and materials belonging to Valspar, including the paint formula batch tickets. He further copied certain downloaded files to external thumb drives to store the data, knowing that he intended to use the confidential information belong to Valspar for his own benefit.

The total value of the trade secret information Lee took was estimated at between $7 million and $20 million. There was no evidence that he actually disclosed any of the stolen trade secrets.

The sentence was announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of Federal Bureau of Investigation. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Romero.

Former Paint Manufacturing Chemist Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for Stealing Trade Secrets Valued up to $20 Million | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The defendant, Scott M. Ross, was charged with three counts of mail fraud in a criminal information filed yesterday, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today.

Ross allegedly misused money he raised from investors for his own benefit, including salary and a stadium sky box, and to make Ponzi-type payments to certain customers who complained.

Ross, 42, of Woodstock, will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court.

According to the charges, Ross owned and operated Harbor Wealth Management, LLP, and two subsidiaries that together purportedly engaged in the insurance investment business, primarily from an office in Schaumburg. Between 2006 and 2009, Ross’ businesses offered and sold investments to the public in three investment funds: the Elucido Fund, LP, the Moondoggie Fund, LP, and the Maize Fund LP.

Ross raised approximately $1,920,000 from about 25 investors in the Elucido Fund, which claimed to invest in life settlement contracts, described as the purchase of the right to receive death benefits upon the death of the insured on a life insurance policy.

He raised about $3,080,000 from approximately 134 investors in the Moondoggie Fund, which purported to invest in the stock of Moondoggie Technologies, Inc., and its reported development of a dual-sided computer monitor.

Ross allegedly caused more than 150 of these investors to lose more than $5 million they invested in the two funds combined by commingling the money he raised and misappropriating funds for his own use and benefit. He allegedly made fraudulent statements to investors about his business and investment background, the risks involved in an investment, the return on an investment, the use of investors’ funds, and the status of an investment.

As part of the fraud scheme, Ross falsely represented to certain investors that he was board certified in estate planning; was a certified fund specialist; had earned a seal of approval from the National Ethics Bureau; and “had passed a comprehensive seven-year background review with all regulatory bodies, including the NASD, SEC, and all state insurance and securities boards.”

As an example of the alleged misappropriation of funds, Ross allegedly used all of the funds invested in the Elucido Fund for such improper purposes as paying expenses of the Maize Fund, making Ponzi-type payments to repay investors in the Moondoggie Fund, purchasing a $75,000-per-year sky box at the Indianapolis Colts’ football stadium, and paying himself a $319,000 salary.

Ross falsely represented to investors in the Elucido Fund that they could expect returns of as much as 34 percent from the fund’s investing in a combination of traditional life settlement and viatical instruments, when he neither intended nor did purchase any such instruments, the charges allege.

In offering and selling interests in the Moondoggie Fund, Ross falsely represented that Moondoggie Technologies had agreed to buy back its shares purchased by the fund for $3.75 per share in 30 months and later for $5 per share in 36 months; however, Moondoggie Technologies never agreed to repurchase any of its shares at any price, the charges add.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Reynolds. The Securities and Exchange Commission assisted the investigation conducted by the FBI.

The investigation falls under the umbrella of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources.

The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit: www.StopFraud.gov.

Each count of mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and restitution is mandatory. The court may also impose a fine totaling twice the loss to any victim or twice the gain to the defendant, whichever is greater. If convicted, however, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

An information contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Northwest suburban man allegedly swindled $5 million from approximately 150 victims in investment fraud scheme | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Originally reported by WISH-TV News. Read the original article here.

Tracking Down Tim Durham | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The defendant, Forrest David Laidley, owned and operated Forrest Properties, Inc., which engaged in real estate development in the northern suburbs. Laidley obtained well in excess of $10 million from investors and financial institutions by offering and selling limited partnership interests in a commercial development and short-term, high-interest, guaranteed promissory notes to the public.

Laidley, 66, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning, who said she will also impose restitution in an amount to be determined at future court proceedings. Judge Manning ordered Laidley to begin serving his sentence on Jan. 14, 2011.

Laidley pleaded guilty in February to one count of bank fraud and one count of mail fraud affecting a financial institution after he was indicted in July 2009. The sentence was announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office also assisted in the investigation.

The court record showed that Laidley, through Forrest Properties, fraudulently obtained funds from investors and financial institutions by misrepresenting the expected return on investments, the risks associated with investments, his ownership of property, his ownership of loan collateral, his financial condition, the status of investments and the use of the funds he obtained.

Laidley commingled the fraudulently obtained funds and at times misappropriated them to make Ponzi-type payments to investors, to repay delinquent loans including bank loans, to benefit unrelated real estate development projects and to benefit himself.

The government presented evidence at sentencing that victims were defrauded of a total of approximately $9 million. Of that amount, about $7 million was lost by investors in the promissory notes, while approximately 40 investors in a shopping center development were defrauded of about $2 million when Laidley sold their limited partnership assets without their knowledge.

The prosecution was conducted under the auspices of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources.

The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

For more information on the task force, visit: www.StopFraud.gov.

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Edward G. Kohler and Shoshana Gillers.

Libertyville man sentenced to five years in prison for cheating some 100 victims of more than $9 million in “Ponzi” scheme | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The crime of Making a False Threat to Detonate an Explosive Device is punishable by not more than five years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years’ Supervised Release.

The crime of Influencing a Federal Officer by Threat is punishable by not more than 10 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years Supervised Release.

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge and is entitled to a fair trial at which the Government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The indictment replaces a Criminal Complaint that was filed on September 22, and alleges that on September 21, 2010, agents of the FBI and United States Secret Service went to CONAWAY’s home to investigate allegations that he had made threats to an individual associated with a St. Louis area mosque.

CONAWAY allegedly walked out of his home to confront the agents wearing what appeared to be an explosive device affixed to his torso. After a seven-hour standoff with authorities, CONAWAY ultimately surrendered.

Agents from eleven law enforcement agencies participated in ending the seven-hour standoff.

The investigation is being conducted by the United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft.

Fairview Heights Man Indicted on Explosive, Threat Charges | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Edward C. Crow, 30, was sentenced to 30 months; Keister A. Gallman, 30, was sentenced to 30 months; and Ramon Torres, 26, was sentenced to 27 months.

Each pled guilty following investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Warden, who prosecuted the cases for the government, Crow, Gallman and Torres were each found with plastic or metal “shanks,” which are forbidden because of their potential to cause bodily harm to other inmates and prison officials.

These sentences will be served consecutive to the judgment that originally sent them to FCC – Terre Haute.

All three defendants will also be subject to three years of supervised release when released from prison.

Three Terre Haute inmates sentenced | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SAMI SAMIR HASSOUN, who lives in the 4700 block of North Kedzie in Chicago, was arrested just after midnight Saturday, without incident, on Seminary Avenue near the 3500 block of North Clark Street, by members of the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

The arrest followed an investigation that accelerated in June of this year. HASSOUN was charged in a criminal complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count each of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted use of an explosive device, both of which are felony offenses.

In announcing this arrest, Mr. Grant and Mr. Fitzgerald wish to emphasize that at no time was the public in danger during this investigation. The supposed explosive device was inert and provided to HASSOUN by an undercover agent.

In addition, HASSOUN was under intermittent surveillance as the plot developed and the undercover agents were in regular contact with HASSOUN, monitoring his activities. There was no indication that any foreign or domestic terror groups were in any way connected to this plot or inspired HASSOUN.

According to the complaint, starting in June of this year, HASSOUN, who is a Lebanese citizen and permanent resident alien, began expressing to an associate the desire to commit acts of violence in the city for both monetary gain and to cause political transformation in Chicago. Unbeknownst to HASSOUN, his associate was secretly cooperating with the FBI and assisted with the investigation of these alleged threats.

Throughout the summer, HASSOUN allegedly discussed with this associate a number of possible targets and plots, including a biological attack on the city, poisoning Lake Michigan, attacking police officers, bombing the Sears (Willis) Tower, and assassinating the mayor. Eventually, HASSOUN is alleged to have selected the Wrigleyville area of Chicago as his target, utilizing an explosive device which he would detonate on a weekend night to inflict maximum damage.

Because of HASSOUN’s stated desire to carry out this attack, an undercover agent (UCA) was introduced to him in July by his associate. The UCA indicated that he was from California and that he had access to explosives and the expertise necessary to construct an explosive device which HASSOUN could use to carry out his plot.

During this and subsequent meetings with the UCA, at which time a second UCA was also introduced, HASSOUN allegedly discussed several possible plots and scenarios in which he could dramatically impact the city and force the mayor to resign. HASSOUN eventually settled on a bombing outside a crowded Wrigleyville nightclub as the first step in his plan.

The complaint indicates that HASSOUN met with the UCA late on Saturday night, at which time he was provided a backpack which he thought contained a high powered explosive device. HASSOUN was shown the various components of the device and instructed on its operation.

Although the explosive device was designed to look real, it in fact was constructed by the FBI of inert materials and was incapable of detonating.

HASSOUN and the UCA then left together in a rented vehicle, en route to the Wrigleyville area, where the bombing would take place. HASSOUN was under constant surveillance and agents watched as he placed the fake explosive device into a trash receptacle, after which he was arrested and the fake device recovered.

The complaint indicates that HASSOUN’s motivation for planning this attack was a combination of personal greed and political motivation.

HASSOUN is scheduled to appear today at 2:40 p.m. before Magistrate Judge Susan Cox in Chicago, at which time he will be formally charged. HASSOUN has been held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago, since his arrest on Sunday. If convicted of the charges filed against him, HASSOUN faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five (5) years to a maximum of life in prison.

This case was investigated by the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) which is comprised of FBI special agents, officers from the Chicago Police Department, and representatives from 20 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Copies of the criminal complaint filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199.

Chicago man arrested in attempted bombing plot | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

BRENT CASH, age 31, of Eldon, Missouri, pled guilty on September 15, and is currently scheduled to be sentenced on January 3, 2011. DARRYL MADISON, age 28, of St. Louis, Missouri, and TERRILL CLARK, age 33, of Lithonia, Georgia, pled guilty on September 16, and are scheduled to be sentenced on January 4, 2011.

THADIUS PAGE, age 33, of Fairview Heights, Illinois, and MICHAEL WILLIAMS, age 29, of Red Bud, Illinois, entered pleas of guilty on September 17, and are scheduled to be sentenced on January 5, 2011.

Each defendant pled guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit unlawful activities of dog fighting. The conspiracy operated between November 18, 2008, and, April 18, 2009, in St. Clair County, Illinois.

Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release to follow any term of imprisonment.

Headed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General, this dog fighting investigation is the latest in a series of major animal fighting investigations conducted throughout the country since the passage of the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, signed into law in May 2007.

Participating in the investigation were the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Humane Society of Missouri, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Hudson and Mike Thompson for prosecution.

Five guilty pleas in dog fighting conspiracy | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The indictment alleges that Schaffner robbed the Community First Bank in Corydon, Indiana, on October 2, 2009, while brandishing a semi-automatic pistol. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Warden, who is prosecuting the case for the government, if convicted, Schaffner faces a maximum of 32 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Former Indianapolis Man Indicted for Corydon Bank Robbery | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

He implied he had a weapon, though none was observed, and threatened harm if his demands for cash were not met. After getting an undisclosed amount of money, he fled the bank on foot. No injuries were reported.

Around 4:50 p.m., on the same day, he walked into the Chase Bank branch at 545 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana and robbed that bank, getting away with an undisclosed amount of cash.

It is also believed that this individual is responsible for the Sept. 2, 2010 robbery of the Chase Bank branch at 1204 East 53rd Street, Chicago, Illinois.

He is further described as being 20’s to early 30’s years of age, thin build, 5’6” to 5’8” tall. He was wearing a black baseball-style cap with pinstripes, dark wraparound sunglasses, and a gray hoodie sweatshirt. He disguises his face by wearing medical gauze or a surgical mask.

Anyone having any information regarding this individual or the robberies is asked to call the Chicago Office of the FBI at 312-421-6700 or the Merrillville Office of the FBI at 219-769-3719.

For more information about this and other unsolved Chicago area bank robbery cases, including downloadable photos, please go to our Bandit Tracker Chicago website at bandittrackerchicago.com.

FBI seeking information: Man robs two banks in two states in one day | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Charges Include Obstructing SEC Investigation and Tax Fraud

CHICAGO — The owner of an aircraft leasing company, who was indicted earlier this year on commercial bribery charges, his corporation, and five new individual defendants are facing an expanded federal indictment alleging that they engaged in a fraudulent financing scheme that raised more than $50 million.

Several defendants, including one additional defendant not charged in the fraud scheme, were charged with obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against the leasing company and its owner based on the allegedly fraudulent aircraft investment deals.

In all, seven defendants and a corporation were charged in a 21-count superseding indictment returned today by a federal grand jury. An eighth man, who is cooperating with the government, pleaded guilty last month to fraud and tax evasion, admitting that he accepted more than $400,000 in bribes as part of the scheme.

The charges were announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Alvin Patton, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The SEC cooperated with the investigation, which falls under the umbrella of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

The lead defendant, Brian Hollnagel, 37, of Chicago, the owner, president and chief executive officer of the defendant corporation, BCI Aircraft Leasing, Inc., was charged with 12 counts of wire fraud, two counts each of tax fraud and obstruction of the SEC lawsuit, and one count of bribery.

Hollnagel has remained free on a $1.7 million secured bond since he was arrested last March on one count of wire fraud in connection with the commercial bribery scheme alone.

BCI Aircraft Leasing, Inc., which buys, sells and leases commercial airplanes and operated first in Naperville and later Chicago, was charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of obstructing the SEC lawsuit, and one count of bribery.

Also indicted were:

• Craig Papayanis, 49, of Moorpark, Calif., who held various positions at BCI, including managing director and chief financial officer, who was charged with six counts of wire fraud. Prior to joining BCI in 2000, Papayanis was vice president at Los Angeles-based Coast Business Credit, where he acted as the loan officer on bank loans and a credit line to BCI totaling more than $40 million;
• Jason R. Hyatt, 37, of Winfield, Ill., an owner of Hyatt Johnson Capital, LLC., an investment company that offered and sold to its customers investments totaling more than $20 million in BCI aircraft financing deals; two counts of wire fraud and one count of obstructing the SEC lawsuit;
• William Hatamyar, 55, of Edmond, Okla., president of AirBanker, a division of Chicago-based Bridgeview Bank Group, where he acted as the loan officer on bank loans and a credit line to BCI totaling more than $30 million; two counts of wire fraud, and one count each of false statements to a financial institution and bribery;
• Jeffrey Meyer, 52, formerly of suburban Lake Zurich, who was BCI’s controller from 2003 to 2006; two counts of wire fraud;
• Martin Collier, 64, of Chicago and Woodland Hills, Calif., who was the chief financial officer, among other positions, at BCI; two counts of wire fraud and one count each of obstructing the SEC lawsuit and perjury; and
• Robert Carlsson, 41, of Chicago, a licensed securities broker who raised money for BCI from outside investors. At various times, he was a managing director for BCI, was chief executive officer of BCI Capital Management, and owned 21 Capital Group, Inc., a registered securities broker-dealer; two counts of obstructing two separate SEC examinations of him and his company, 21 Capital Group.

The defendants will be arraigned at a later date before U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve in Federal Court in Chicago.

The indictment also seeks forfeiture from all eight defendants of proceeds of the fraud scheme, including at least $840,000 in bribe payments from Hollnagel to Hatamyar and $400,000 in bribe payments to cooperating defendant, Brian Olds, 67, of suburban Kildeer, as well as all proceeds from the loans and credit lines from Coast Business Credit and Bridgeview Bank, all proceeds from the sales of aircraft involved in the alleged fraud scheme, all proceeds from the more than $40 million raised by BCI from investors, and 13 Boeing 737 aircraft.

According to the indictment, beginning no later than early 2000 and continuing through at least early 2009, Hollnagel, BCI, Papayanis, Hyatt, Hatamyar, Meyer, Collier, and others fraudulently obtained and retained financing and other funds for BCI and enriched themselves to the detriment of investors, lenders and others.

Specifically, they allegedly:

• made and caused misrepresentations to be made to investors and prospective investors about the expected returns on the investments, the source of funds used to pay returns to investors, the use of funds raised from investors, the status of investments, and the ownership interest that certain investment groups had in particular aircraft;
• used bribes and other payments to obtain term loans, lines of credit, and pricing and competitive advantages; and
• made and caused misrepresentations to lenders regarding the membership of various investment groups and BCI’s ownership interest in collateral.

As a result, the defendants allegedly raised or otherwise obtained more than $50 million, commingled these funds, and misappropriated some of the funds for their own use. They also concealed the scheme by providing false testimony and information in connection with the SEC’s lawsuit, misleading and attempting to mislead BCI’s investors and independent auditors, and creating phony accounting records.

For example, the indictment alleges that Hollnagel, BCI, Papayanis and others falsely represented to prospective investors and actual investors in two BCI-managed investment groups, as well as to Hyatt Johnson Capital and its customers, that their combined funds of more than $5 million would be, and had been, used to acquire an ownership interest in one or more aircraft on lease to US Airways that BCI had acquired in the spring of 2005.

The defendants allegedly knew, however, that the lender that had financed the acquisition of the aircraft had prohibited any ownership interests by outside investors without the lender’s approval, which was never sought nor granted.

As a further example, in December 2004, Hollnagel and BCI sold two aircraft on lease to US Airways for a combined total of $15.4 million, resulting in a profit of almost $4 million, which was supposed to be split with investors, but was misappropriated for other purposes, the indictment alleges.

Both the initial and superseding indictments alleged that those two aircraft were the subject of a bribe, with Hollnagel paying $250,000 to Olds—formerly vice president of a competing commercial aircraft sale and leasing company, AAR Corp., of suburban Wood Dale—to ensure AAR’s purchase of the aircraft for $15.4 million from BCI, providing BCI with a $4 million profit just a few months after BCI acquired one airplane and only two weeks after it acquired the second aircraft. Hollnagel, BCI, Papayanis and Meyer then allegedly concealed from investors that both aircraft had been sold.

After the SEC filed its civil enforcement action against Hollnagel and others in 2007, SEC v. Hollnagel, et al., 07 CV 4538 (N.D. Ill.), Hollnagel, BCI and Collier allegedly fraudulently created documents and provided them to the SEC, and Hyatt allegedly deleted data from two computers that had been subpoenaed in the SEC civil litigation. Collier also allegedly committed perjury by providing contradictory sworn testimony on two separate occasions.

Hollnagel was also charged with two counts of filing false federal income tax returns. One count charges that in 2009 he filed a false amended return for 2005 that failed to disclose on Schedule C gross income that he received from the sale of a Lear35A aircraft by BCI Jet Sales and Leasing, LLC, which BCI Jets had purchased for approximately $1 million and sold a few months later for approximately $2.35 million, minus about $260,000 in maintenance expenses.

The second tax count alleges that Hollnagel filed a false tax return for 2006, stating that his gross income was $75,488, knowing that he failed to disclose more than $3 million he received from BCI Jets and which he used to purchase a home in Aspen, Colo., for approximately $7 million.

The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources.

The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

For more information on the task force, visit: StopFraud.gov.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Drury and Kenneth Yeadon.

The maximum penalties for the crimes charged in the indictment are as follows: wire fraud and making false statements to a financial institution: 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or a fine totaling twice the loss to any victim or twice the gain to the defendant, whichever is greater; bribery: 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or a fine totaling three times the value of the amount given or twice the loss to any victim or twice the gain to the defendant, whichever is greater; obstructing the SEC lawsuit: 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; perjury: five years in prison and a $250,000 fine; filing a false federal income tax return: three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In addition, a defendant convicted of tax offenses faces mandatory costs of prosecution and remains liable for any taxes owed, as well as a civil fraud penalty up to 75 percent of any underpayment plus interest. If convicted, the court would impose a sentence it deems reasonable under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Aircraft leasing company, its owner, and six other defendants indicted in alleged $50 million fraudulent financing scheme | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Owens spoke with the Tribune after a bench trial ended today on murder charges against Gilbert Knowles, 35, the best man in Owens’ 2004 wedding.

Originally reported by ChicagoBreakingNews.com. Read the original article here.

Best man accused of killing groom’s son testifies | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Chicago – Mayor Daley has spoken publicly for the first time about the feud he and the FBI have been having thru the media.

A war of words started after the FBI and Chicago Police worked together to make a major gun and drug bust. Instead of congratulating the feds for their role, the mayor said, “It’s about time. Where have they been?”

Robert Grant, the head of Chicago’s FBI office, blasted the mayor and called the remark demoralizing.

The mayor said he did not mean to insult the FBI. He said over the course of long investigations, he just gets impatient.

“It wasn’t derogatory,” Daley said. “Of course I want it done right away. Let’s be realistic. …They come in and talk to me about their investigation. I want it completed right away. I’m like that. You know that. I want it done.”

Daley has said for a long time that the federal government needs to do more to stop the flow of guns from state to state.

Originally reported by FOX News Chicago. Read the original article here.

Daley Addresses Feud with FBI | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

NEW YORK – The FBI says it is investigating a data breach at AT&T that exposed the e-mail addresses of more than 114,000 owners of the Apple iPad, including government officials.

The agency said on Thursday that it is looking into “the potential cyber threat” from the breach.

AT&T Inc. said it has no comment. The Dallas-based phone company acknowledged Wednesday that it had exposed the e-mail addresses through a Web site, and had closed the breach.

The vulnerability only affected iPad users who signed up for AT&T’s “3G” wireless Internet service.

An AT&T Web site could be tricked into revealing an iPad owner’s e-mail address when supplied with a code associated with their particular iPad. A hacker group that calls itself Goatse Security said it got the site to cough up more than 114,000 e-mail addresses by guessing which codes would be valid.

The group said it contacted AT&T and waited until the vulnerability was fixed before going public with the information. AT&T said the problem was fixed Tuesday but that it was alerted to it by a business customer.

Apple Inc., the maker of the iPad, has not commented on the breach, referring all questions to AT&T.

AT&T has apologized and said it will notify all iPad users whose e-mail addresses may have been accessed. It noted that the only information hackers would have been able to steal using the attack were users’ e-mail addresses. But that can be enough to launch an effective attack, since the attacker also knows that the person receiving the e-mail is an iPad user and an AT&T customer and would expect to receive e-mail from Apple and AT&T about their accounts. Criminals could use that knowledge to trick them into opening e-mails that plant malicious software on their computers.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s e-mail address was among those exposed, but the billionaire media mogul shrugged it off Thursday and said he didn’t understand the fuss.

“It shouldn’t be pretty hard to figure out my e-mail address,” Bloomberg said, “and if you send me an e-mail and I don’t want to read it, I don’t open it. To me it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

FBI investigating AT&T iPad security breach (AP) | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

HAROLD BECK, 57 years of age, 6525 Stanley, Berwyn, was arrested yesterday afternoon. According to the complaint, BECK entered the TCF Bank branch at around 11:03 a.m. Tuesday, March 16, 2010, handed the teller a note announcing a robbery, and threatened harm if his demands for cash were not met.

BECK implied he had a weapon, although none was observed. After receiving approximately $3,269 in cash, the robber fled the bank on foot.

One of the tellers observed BECK get into a green, older-model Dodge minivan,and leave the bank parking lot. Within 15 minutes of the robbery, an officer of the Elmhurst Police Department received a radio dispatch describing the getaway vehicle and soon after spotted a minivan matching the description. The officer stopped the vehicle.

A person later identified as BECK was observed driving the green Dodge minivan and was later arrested.

Subsequent investigation by the Chicago FBI and the Elmhurst Police developed additional evidence linking BECK to the robbery and the filing of charges today. Though not charged, BECK is also the suspect in 12 other bank robberies in Chicago and the western suburbs dating back to December 2007.

BECK appeared before Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole earlier today, at which time he was formerly charged. BECK was ordered held without bond pending his next court appearance and will be housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, Illinois. If convicted of the charge filed against him, BECK faces a sentence of up to 20 years’ incarceration.

Additional information about this and other recent Chicago-area bank robberies, including downloadable photographs, is available at the Bandit Tracker Web site, bandittrackerchicago.com.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Copies of the criminal complaint are available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199.

TCF Bank robbery suspect arrested | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Even as one of the oldest names in local manufacturing prepares to leave town, in the form of Honeywell Hobbs Corp., Thomas Debrey says there remains a place for old-fashioned production jobs in Springfield.

Well, not so old-fashioned anymore.

Debrey, the third-generation head of Simplex Corp. — a local manufacturer of electrical testing and fuel-production systems — says traditional mass-production jobs probably are gone for good. According to state figures, manufacturing accounted for about 3,300 jobs in a Springfield-area work force of more than 112,400 at the end of 2009.

But Debrey said there is room for a new breed of small and medium-sized manufacturers, even in a town dominated by health care and state government.

“We do not have a manufacturing base, but the notion that Springfield is bad for manufacturing, or doesn’t need manufacturing is false,” said Debrey. “Springfield has been a good location. We have transportation, available land, a good labor market and standard of living, and you don’t have the congestion.”

Simplex products go across the country and overseas, including to major corporate names such as Boeing, Caterpillar, General Electric and Sundstrand. The U.S. military is also a customer for devices used in calibrating fuel and electrical testing systems.

Hospitals nationwide use Simplex products to provide back-up electrical power in emergencies.

High-tech production

Don’t look for smokestacks at the west-side plant. In fact, extraction and filtering systems pull welding, paint and other fumes out of workspaces to be recycled.

Debrey describes work that goes on at the Simplex plant — steel fabrication, welding, painting and wiring — as “medium manufacturing.”

Production workers account for most of the 140-employee work force at Simplex, but the company also hires engineers, designers and other high-tech skills. Even front-line fabrication and assembly work requires skills in electronics, math and computers, said Debrey.

Electrostatic paint

Linda Standish of Dawson went to work at Simplex right out of high school. Her first entry-level job was threading wiring into amp-testing cabinets. Three decades later, she supervises wiring crews.

“When I got out (of high school), I didn’t know what I was doing,” said Standish.

She learned most of her skills on the job as the technology changed, including the transition to computer-driven production. Sifting through a stack of wiring blueprints, Standish said she never gave much thought to another line of work.

“I’d rather do this kind of work than anything else. It’s something new every day,” said Standish.

Scott Young of Springfield says he is a painter by trade, has been for 30 years. But the “painting” has nothing to do with brushes or cans. The paint isn’t even a liquid.

“Electrostatic painting,” he explains, relies on positive and negative charges, so that the talcum-powder-like paint sticks to the steel much like static electricity sticks to fabric.

“It has a tendency to wrap around, and it’ll go places you can’t get to with paint,” said Young, who has worked at Simplex for about seven years.

Young wears a full protective suit and headgear as he attaches what appears to be a large battery jumper cable to a steel frame and a black fog of paint/powder drifts toward the charged metal.

The steel is then baked in what looks to be an oversized pizza oven, a process that also is much faster than traditional painting, said Young.

Laser beams

Rob Young of Chatham alternates between stacking fabricated steel and programming the Tru Laser 2030.

“It burns holes in sheet metals,” he says by way of explaining the basics of the bus-sized welder.

Very precise holes, actually. Young punches the specifications into a computer screen.

“I just set it and check it every now and then,” said Young, who also is responsible for sorting and stacking the finished product, which is used in steel testing cabinets.

There are still traditional painting and welding booths at the factory, but Debrey said computer-driven systems are the future.

The right space, skills

Simplex operations were housed in 14 buildings at 14 locations when the company relocated to the existing plant in 2006. The main operations previously were on North MacArthur Boulevard.

The facility at Wabash Avenue and Interstate 72 had been vacant since 2002, when John Deere relocated electronic-components manufacturing from its Springfield plant to one in North Dakota.

Space is a challenge for Springfield when it comes to small and mid-sized manufacturing, said Debrey.

“Springfield has a lot of empty buildings, but it doesn’t have a lot of big empty buildings. It’s 20,000, 30,000 and 50,000 square feet. We needed 100,000 square feet,” said Debrey.

The original, 90,000-square-foot plant has been expanded since Simplex moved in, he said.

The departure of traditional manufacturing also has taken with it the tradition of production skills handed from one generation to the next, said Debrey.

Debrey said Simplex has taken the same hit as other manufacturers as a result of the recession. The work force dropped from 180 before the financial market meltdown in 2008 to 130 before rebounding a bit this year.

Even with relatively high unemployment, Debrey said, it can be difficult to find the right mix of worker skills.

“We’re a technology company. We need wiring technicians, engineers, testing technicians, welders and tool makers,” said Debrey. “We don’t have a manufacturing skilled labor force (in Springfield), but we do have a good pool of people.”

Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536

Hobbs plant to go on market

The Honeywell Hobbs manufacturing plant at 11th and Ash streets will go on the market once operations are relocated to Mexico.

The parent company announced last fall it would move production of electronic components for transportation to Juarez by the end of 2010. Honeywell cited the need to remain competitive in a global marketplace. The local plant has 140 employees.

“We are still in the process of getting a market assessment, and we’re hoping to have it on the market about mid-year,” said spokesman Mark Hamel.

Hamel said the company plans to use the Chicago real estate firm of Colliers B&K.

John W. Hobbs founded the Springfield company in 1938. Honeywell Hobbs purchased the facility in 2002.

– Tim Landis

Former manufacturers

Hobbs Corp. is one of the oldest manufacturing names remaining in Springfield, at least for now. Other large-scale manufacturers that are now history include:

* Fiatallis. Closed 1985. In its heyday, the heavy-equipment plant had a work force of 2,000. Retail and office buildings — ranging from Starbucks to an FBI headquarters — have filled in the site.

* Sangamo Electric. Manufactured electric meters from 1899 to 1978. Site at Ninth Street and North Grand Avenue now headquarters of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

* Howden Buffalo. Industrial-fan manufacturer closed the plant at 3501 Mayflower Blvd. in 2003, after more than 25 years. Some mixed-use tenants are now using portions of the west-side facility.

* Pillsbury/Cargill. Pillsbury Corp. operated the mill on the northeast side of Springfield from 1921 to 1991, when Cargill purchased the facility. The plant closed in 2001 and was later sold to a salvage company. Remains vacant.

* Illini Technology. Software design and electronic manufacturing company founded in 1983 was purchased by Phoenix International Corp. in 1996. After moving to a new plant at Wabash Avenue and Interstate 72 in 1998, Phoenix was acquired by John Deere Co. John Deere closed the plant in 2002 at cost of 200 jobs. Now home to Simplex Corp.

Source: State Journal-Register archives

Job count

At the end of 2009, manufacturing accounted for about 3,300 jobs out of a work force of more than 112,400 in Sangamon and Menard counties, according to data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Here is the annual average from 2000-2009.

2000: 4,100

2001: 3,900

2002: 3,800

2003: 3,500

2004: 3,400

2005: 3,400

2006: 3,400

2007: 3,500

2008: 3,500

2009: 3,300

The definition of manufacturing

“It’s taking raw materials and converting it into finished goods,” said Ron Payne, a labor-market economist with the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

The official definition changed eight years ago in response to the explosion of information-technology jobs.

“Newspapers used to be in manufacturing,” Payne said. “The information sector now is the publishing industry, motion pictures, broadcasting, all the cable companies, telecommunications and data processing.”

About Simplex Corp.

* Started by Michael Debrey in 1938 in Burlington, Iowa. Later moved to Moline and came to Springfield in 1952. Debrey’s grandson, Tom, is now company president.

* Manufactures electrical testing and fuel-supply systems, primarily for other manufacturers but also for emergency generator systems at hospitals and other institutions.

* On the Web: www.simplexdirect.com.

Read the original article from The State Journal-Register.

Still a place in Springfield for manufacturing, but jobs have changed | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.