Archive
Former California Public Employee System CEO and Former Placement Agent Indicted for Conspiracy and Fraud www.privateofficer.com
According to the indictment, Mr. Villalobos, 69 and Mr. Buenrostro, 64, conspired to create and transmit fraudulent documents in connection with a $3 billion investment by the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) into funds managed by Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm based in New York City.
ARVCO Capital Research LLC, a financial services firm founded and managed by Mr. Villalobos, allegedly acted as a placement agent in helping Apollo to secure these investments by CalPERS. In each instance, Apollo required ARVCO to obtain an investor disclosure letter from CalPERS prior to paying ARVCO any fees for its efforts in securing CalPERS’ investments into Apollo-managed funds, citing, among other reasons, Apollo’s obligations under the securities laws.
After CalPERS’ legal and investment offices declined to sign a certain investor disclosure letter documenting ARVCO’s legal relationship with Apollo, Mr. Villalobos and Mr. Buenrostro allegedly conspired to create a series of fraudulent investor disclosure letters that were transmitted to Apollo. Apollo paid ARVCO a total of approximately $14 million dollars in fees after receiving the fraudulent letters.
ARVCO transmitted the last fraudulent investor disclosure letter in June 2008, a few weeks before Mr. Buenrostro retired from CalPERS. On July 1, 2008, Mr. Villalobos hired Mr. Buenrostro to work for ARVCO. When civil and later criminal investigations were opened into the operations of ARVCO and its role as a placement agent in connection with CalPERS’ investments in Apollo-managed funds, both defendants made false statements to and concealed information from the SEC, the USPIS, and the FBI about the authenticity of the investor disclosure letters in order to defeat and obstruct the lawful functions of those agencies.
Mr. Villalobos and Mr. Buenrostro made their initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco on March 18, 2013, and are currently out on bond. Mr. Buenrostro’s next scheduled appearance is Monday, March 25, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. for identification of counsel and review of the terms of his bond. Mr. Villalobos’ next scheduled appearance is April 9, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. for review of the terms of his bond. Both defendants are scheduled to appear before in district court on May 8, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. before Judge Breyer.
The maximum statutory penalty for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud is 20 years in prison; $250,000 fine or twice the amount of gain or loss, whichever is greater; three years of supervised release; and a $100 special assessment. The maximum penalty for each count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, false scheme against the United States, false statement to the United States, and obstruction of justice is five years in prison; $250,000 fine or twice the amount of gain or loss, whichever is greater; three years of supervised release; and a $100 special assessment. Restitution may also be ordered as to each of the five counts. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines a the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence.
Timothy J. Lucey is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Laurie Worthen and Maryam Beros. The prosecution is the result of a two-and-a half-year investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and FBI, with substantial assistance from the Los Angeles Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the U.S. Secret Service.
Las Vegas Man Indicted for Felony Bank Larceny www.privateofficer.com
BOISE ID Feb 15 2013—Clarence Edward Lancaster, 57, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in Boise on two counts of felony bank larceny, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. An arraignment date has not yet been set.
The indictment alleges that Lancaster stole three automatic teller machines (ATMs) from two college campuses in Idaho. Specifically, Lancaster allegedly took an ATM from the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho and stole $39,760 from the machine. The indictment also alleges that Lancaster took two ATMs from Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho and stole a total of $9,000 from those machines.
If convicted, Lancaster faces up to 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boise Police Department, Pocatello Police Department, and Twin Falls Police Department.
An indictment is only an allegation of criminal conduct and is not evidence of guilt. A person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Vegas women arrested in NY shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com
NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. June 27 2012 - Two women from Las Vegas have been charged after authorities say they stole clothes from Sears and then threatened a pursuing officer with a large stick.
According to New Hartford Police, on June 24 around 4 p.m., officers were called to Sears for a report of a larceny. Prior to the officers’ arrival on scene, Store Security told authorities that two females had fled the store on foot.
Store security followed the females – Joanne D. Henderson, 22 and Sebbra J. Kerr, 31, both of Las Vegas, Nevada – across Seneca Turnpike into a residential area where police said Kerr picked up a large stick and threatened the officer with it. Police located the duo on Balsam Crescent and they were eventually arrested after a brief foot pursuit.
New Hartford Police said that Henderson and Kerr worked together to steal more than $170 in clothing from Sears. Both were charged with petit larceny and resisting arrest.
Kerr was additionally charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree menacing.
They were both arraigned in the Town of New Hartford Court and remanded to the Oneida County Jail in lieu of bail.
Police said they located additional clothing from other stores with both women and additional charges are possible, pending further investigation.
Source:WKTV.com
Nevada, Alabama deadliest state for women killed by men www.privateofficer.com
WASHINGTON DC Nov 15 2011 — Alabama had the second-highest rate of women killed by men during 2009, according to a study released recently by the Washington-based Violence Policy Center.
The study focused on single victim/single offender incidents.
The rate of 2.64 deaths per 100,000 population accounted for 64 women killed by a man during 2009, the last year for which FBI statistics were available, the institute said. Alabama’s rate was twice the national average of 1.25, according to the study.
Only Nevada, with a rate of 2.7 per 100,000, ranked higher. Louisiana’s rate of 1.99 per 100,000 ranked a distant third.
The rest of the top 10, in descending order, were Arizona, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, a tie between Hawaii and South Dakota, and Missouri, the study showed. Wyoming, with no instances of women killed by a male assailant, ranked 49th. Statistics for Florida were unavailable for the study.
Alabama’s list of victims included two women under age 18 and four over age 65, with the average age being 38. Along racial lines, the victims’ list split almost evenly, with 32 of the women white and 31 black.
For homicides in which the weapon could be identified, 80 percent, or 41 of 51, were killed by guns, 32 of those killed by handguns. Knives or other cutting weapons accounted for seven deaths, and blunt or bodily force accounted for three more.
For Alabama incidents in which the relationship between victim and killer could be established, 51 out of 52 died at the hands of a man they knew, while one was killed by a stranger, the study noted.
Of the 51 victims who knew their attacker, 34 were wives, ex-wives, common-law wives or girlfriends of the offenders, the institute said. For homicides in which circumstances could be established, 25 out of 26 were not related to any other felony, and 18 of these homicides involved arguments between victim and offender.
The trend of women killed by men acting alone continued in 2010 and 2011 in Mobile and Baldwin counties, according to Press-Register archives.
At least eight homicides in the two-county area since the beginning of 2010 fit the institute’s profile, the archives show.
Some of the cases constitute high-profile incidents, and at least three were homicides that did not have anything to do with domestic violence, according to the archives.
These cases include:
•The May 9, 2010, shooting death of Angel Downs outside her Gulf Shores home. Former Mobile County Commissioner Steve Nodine, with whom Downs had a long-standing affair, was tried in connection with her death, and the case ended in a mistrial. A retrial of the case is pending.
•The June 28, 2010, slaying of retired businesswoman Zoa White, who had been a campaign worker for former Gov. Bob Riley. She was beaten to death during a home invasion in Midtown, and Carlos Kennedy is awaiting trial.
•The July 24, 2010, slaying of Velma Ratley, whose home in Prichard was set on fire after she was killed. Raymond C. White was arrested Sept. 6 of this year and charged with murder and first-degree burglary.
•The April 10, 2010, death of Jeannete Romprey, 59, who was killed and her home set on fire in Grand Bay. Derek Tyler Horton, who was 18 at the time, was charged with murder.
•The May 11, 2010, shooting death of Wendy Stevens, 36, who was shot in front of her children in a vehicle at a west Mobile bank teller machine. Her estranged husband, Michael Berry, was charged.
•The June 9, 2010, death of Deborah Burton, who was found dead after a fire in her home on South Murray Heights Drive. Her husband, Jerome Burton, was charged with murder and arson.
•The Dec. 14, 2010, shooting death of Kimberly Mixon, who was found shot at her home on Bowman Court after her 4-year-old son called relatives about the shooting. Leonard Darnell Coleman was arrested Feb. 24.
•The Feb. 2, 2011, shooting death of Sherlene Orr, 40, who was slain after opening the door of her home on Belvedere Loop. Arthur Douglas Yelder was arrested in New Orleans on Feb. 22 and charged.
