Inquiry Into Use of Riggs Plane Expands

[seemslikeadream]

By Terence O'Hara
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 19, 2005; Page A01

Of all the perks made available to Joe L. Allbritton during his tenure at the top of Riggs Bank, none was more expensive than the "flying branch."

The Gulfstream jet was an unusual extravagance for a bank of Riggs's small size, yet Allbritton fiercely defended its use. In 1992, he defeated a shareholder proposal calling on Riggs to sell it. The following year, when an internal efficiency study recommended laying off 550 people and selling the Gulfstream, Riggs got rid of the employees but kept the jet.

Now, in addition to an investigation of money laundering at Riggs, the Justice Department is investigating Allbritton's extensive personal use of the Gulfstream and other company assets during and after his time as chief executive of the company.

Banking regulators were already looking into similar matters, but the Justice Department has expanded the inquiry into whether the jet -- first purchased in 1983 and then replaced in 1998 with a top-of-the-line Gulfstream V -- was maintained for business purposes or primarily for Allbritton's private transport, said several sources familiar with the details of the investigations who spoke only on the condition of anonymity.

Total business and personal use of the G-Five, as the jet is known, cost Riggs shareholders at least $55 million from 1999 until it was sold in fall 2004, the sources said. At least half of the plane's total time in the air was on personal trips for Allbritton, according to these same sources. Company policy did not require Allbritton to reimburse Riggs for his personal use of the aircraft, although it did require him to pay taxes on the amount the company said the benefit was worth
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19364-2005Jan18.html

[sattahipdeep]

1. DEAR CITIZENS, are you feeling the chill?

In Rhode Island, Jim Taricani, a television reporter, has been sentenced to six
months of home confinement for his refusal to say who leaked him a secret FBI
videotape of a top aide to former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. taking a
bribe. The home confinement - a sentence issued even after Taricani's source had
outed himself - was supposed to be a compassionate gesture. Taricani, 55, had a
heart transplant in 1996 and jail time might have jeopardized his health.

Some compassion. As The Associated Press reported earlier this week, "Taricani
is not allowed to go outside of his North Kingstown home - not even to his back
yard. He can seek medical care, but he can't work, use the Internet or appear on
radio or television. He must wear a strap around his ankle so that his movements
can be monitored."

This is the reward for giving the public evidence that a leading politician was on the
take. Feel the chill yet?

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzOTcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY2Mjc3MzkmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNA==

:hi:

[seemslikeadream]

2. I am so cold sattahipdeep

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Don’t let it kill you baby, don’t let it get to you
Don’t let ’em kill you baby, don’t let ’em get to you
I’ll be your breathin’ heart, I’ll be your cryin’ fool
Don’t let this go too far, don’t let it get to you

-Tom Petty

[emad]

3. Dennis Kozlowski's role model?

Ex-Tyco CEO Kozlowski being retried with CFO
Associated Press
Originally published January 18, 2005

NEW YORK - The retrial of two former Tyco International executives accused of stealing $600 million in company money to finance lifestyles of gaudy excess is set to begin today, probably with a different approach from that of the first trial.

Legal experts say prosecutors should, and probably will, focus less on items such as the $6,000 gold-threaded shower curtain bought with company money and concentrate more on the alleged thefts.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.tyco18jan18,1,7258376.story?coll=bal-business-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

[seemslikeadream]

4. 9/11 relatives sue bank in terror attacks - Riggs

Islander joins action accusing Washington's Riggs National Bank of aiding al-Qaida backers
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
By TERENCE J. KIVLAN

WASHINGTON -- Lawyers for Sept. 11 families suing the Saudis have filed a related class-action legal action accusing a major bank here of aiding financial backers of the al-Qaida terrorist group through negligence.

The bank, Riggs National Bank, was fined $25 million in May for failing to properly monitor millions of dollars in Saudi financial transactions, including withdrawals now being investigated for possible connections to terrorism.

The suit charged that Riggs officials "impeded the battle against terrorism and substantially contributed to the terrorists being permitted to evade detection."

Riggs has been under investigation since regulators reportedly traced the "charitable contributions" to the hijackers two years ago. Since then investigators have discovered tens of millions of dollars in questionable transactions at Riggs by Saudi diplomats.

more
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news...


more
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=826447