SAN FRANCISCOPatricia Morgen pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco yesterday to wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. In pleading guilty, Morgen admitted that the company she founded and controlled, Chicago Development and Planning, engaged in two fraudulent…

PORTLAND, ORA Federal Grand Jury has indicted a Portland mortgage broker for bank fraud related to the sale of his parents home in 2006. Alex Z. Biscocho, 42, of Portland, is accused of devising a scheme to defraud First Franklin…

Lucette Montane, a fugitive since June 2008, was arraigned on a 2008 indictment in federal court today before Magistrate Judge Jan Adler. Montane surrendered to Customs and Border Protection officials yesterday at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Agents from…

Hugh Zuber, a lawyer formerly employed by the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, has plead guilty to two counts of mail fraud arising from his participation in schemes to defraud two former clients. Zuber…

James Nicholson, the President, Senior Portfolio Manager, and sole managing member of investment firm Westgate Capital Management L.L.C., pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court before United States District Judge Richard J. Sullivan to three felony charges, including securities fraud,…

Stock brokers Anthony Martin and Alain Lustig were sentenced today to 57 months and 28 months in prison, respectively, on securities fraud charges arising from a scheme to manipulate the stock of Smart Online. Ruben Serrano received a sentence of…

Las Vegas, NV Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has filed a lawsuit alleging Service Corporation Internationals (SCI) proposed purchase of Palm Mortuary, Inc. violates federal and state antitrust laws and reduces competition in the market for cemetery services in…

Washington, DC The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained a default judgment order requiring Robert J. Sucarato to pay $800,000 in restitution and a $1.2 million civil monetary penalty for fraudulently soliciting commodity pool participants to trade futures…

By Lora Shinn Bankrate.com With hundreds of thousands of homes in foreclosure or on short sale lists, theres never been a better time to score a sweet deal. But discount-priced foreclosures and short sales can come with a raft of…

Some changes are effective now, most start next year Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 the Credit CARD Act the most sweeping statutory changes in card protections for consumers since the Truth in Lending…

Reaches Settlement with American National Mortgage Partner Defendants, and Sanctions Others PHOENIX, AZThe Arizona Corporation Commission has approved a settlement with two American National Mortgage Partners defendants who are accused of promoting a million-dollar Ponzi scheme involving land trusts. In…

New Bankrate.com Study Reveals Average Costs for ATMs and Checking Accounts across the Country NEW YORK -- A new study released by Bankrate, Inc. shows that the costs of checking account fees have risen again this year to an all-time…