Poll: Is it time for Christians to redirect their efforts from politics mainly to the greater power inherent in the Kingdom of God?
total: 10286
YES (82 %)
N0 (18 %)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
National Homeownership Month, 2003
Department of Housing and Urban Development is leading an Administration-wide effort to bring new tools and resources to would-be homeowners
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 13, 2003
National Homeownership Month, 2003 By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Homeownership is more than just a symbol of the American Dream; it is an important part of our way of life. Core American values of individuality, thrift, responsibility, and self-reliance are embodied in homeownership. I am committed to helping more families know the security and sense of pride that comes with owning a home.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is leading an Administration-wide effort to bring new tools and resources to would-be homeowners. We are providing financial assistance to qualified families through the American Dream Downpayment Fund, funding educational programs that stress financial literacy, and offering a compassionate hand to those who dream of moving from subsidized housing into homeownership. And through the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program, my Administration partners with nonprofit organizations that offer homeownership oppor-tunities to families willing to contribute their skills and labor to help build a home of their own. We are also proposing ways to make it easier to shop for a mortgage and to make mortgages available to more families through the Federal Housing Administration.
Today, the United States is fortunate in that our homeownership rate is at an all-time high, and low interest rates continue to encourage millions of Americans to become first-time homeowners. Although a record number of Americans own their own homes, we continue to see a gap between the homeowner-ship rates of minorities and nonminorities. By a significant margin, minority families are less likely to own their own homes. Therefore, I have called upon the entire housing industry to join with my Administration to expand minority homeownership across the Nation. Our goal is to help at least 5.5 million minority families become homeowners by the end of this decade, and our Blueprint for the American Dream Partnership is taking bold steps to make this a reality.
Across our Nation, every citizen, regardless of race, creed, color, or place of birth, should have the opportunity to become a homeowner. Homeownership represents a pathway to pride and prosperity for many families, encourages values of responsibility and sacrifice, creates stability for neighborhoods and communities, and generates economic growth that helps strengthen the entire Nation.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2003 as National Homeownership Month. I call upon the people of the United States to join me in recognizing the importance of offering every American the opportunity to realize their dream of homeownership and to help work towards making that dream a reality.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-seventh.
GEORGE W. BUSH
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 13, 2003
National Homeownership Month, 2003 By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Homeownership is more than just a symbol of the American Dream; it is an important part of our way of life. Core American values of individuality, thrift, responsibility, and self-reliance are embodied in homeownership. I am committed to helping more families know the security and sense of pride that comes with owning a home.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is leading an Administration-wide effort to bring new tools and resources to would-be homeowners. We are providing financial assistance to qualified families through the American Dream Downpayment Fund, funding educational programs that stress financial literacy, and offering a compassionate hand to those who dream of moving from subsidized housing into homeownership. And through the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program, my Administration partners with nonprofit organizations that offer homeownership oppor-tunities to families willing to contribute their skills and labor to help build a home of their own. We are also proposing ways to make it easier to shop for a mortgage and to make mortgages available to more families through the Federal Housing Administration.
Today, the United States is fortunate in that our homeownership rate is at an all-time high, and low interest rates continue to encourage millions of Americans to become first-time homeowners. Although a record number of Americans own their own homes, we continue to see a gap between the homeowner-ship rates of minorities and nonminorities. By a significant margin, minority families are less likely to own their own homes. Therefore, I have called upon the entire housing industry to join with my Administration to expand minority homeownership across the Nation. Our goal is to help at least 5.5 million minority families become homeowners by the end of this decade, and our Blueprint for the American Dream Partnership is taking bold steps to make this a reality.
Across our Nation, every citizen, regardless of race, creed, color, or place of birth, should have the opportunity to become a homeowner. Homeownership represents a pathway to pride and prosperity for many families, encourages values of responsibility and sacrifice, creates stability for neighborhoods and communities, and generates economic growth that helps strengthen the entire Nation.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2003 as National Homeownership Month. I call upon the people of the United States to join me in recognizing the importance of offering every American the opportunity to realize their dream of homeownership and to help work towards making that dream a reality.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-seventh.
GEORGE W. BUSH
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Morgan Stanley private incarnation
Another PUBLIC goes PRIVATE SCAM....PONZI SCHEME
Morgan Stanley hasn't said yet if Crescent's top executives will stay with its new, private incarnation.
"...despite four shareholder lawsuits in Tarrant County, Texas, contesting it. "
This spring, Crescent said it intended to sell off its non-office holdings. A deal to sell the whole company to Morgan Stanley came up in May.
Financial adviser Richard Rainwater of Fort Worth, who formerly worked with Texas' wealthy Bass brothers, co-founded Crescent in 1994 with CEO John Goff.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
REIT with extensive Colo. holdings to be soldDenver Business Journal
Shareholders in Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. of Fort Worth, Texas, OK'd the company's sale on Wednesday to Morgan Stanley for roughly $6 billion.
As of mid-July, Crescent owned 2.5 million square feet of office properties in Colorado and several residential developments in downtown Denver and mountain ski towns.
Nearly 74 percent of holders of Crescent's outstanding shares favored the sale.
The transaction includes a $22.80 per-share offering, valued at $2.3 billion, plus the assumption of $3.1 billion in Crescent debt.
The sale is expected to close Aug. 3, despite four shareholder lawsuits in Tarrant County, Texas, contesting it. Publicly traded Crescent (NYSE: CEI) will merge into an affiliate of New York-based Morgan Stanley's (NYSE: MS) real estate group. The existing Crescent company will cease to operate.
Crescent, a real estate investment trust (REIT), currently has 23 million square feet of office space nationwide, as well as residential and resort holdings.
The Texas company sold its 613-room Marriott City Center hotel in downtown Denver -- one of the metro area's largest hotels -- in a package deal in March. Walton TCC Hotel Investors V LLC bought the Marriott and Crescent's 190-room Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort for $550 million.
Crescent's current Denver-area office holdings include:
Johns Manville Plaza -- 675,400 square feet at 717 17th St., Denver, one of downtown Denver's largest office buildings;
707 17th Street (also called MCI Tower) -- 550,805 square feet in downtown Denver;
Regency Plaza One -- 309,862 square feet at 4643 S. Ulster St. in the Denver Tech Center;
Peakview Tower -- 264,149 square feet at 6465 S. Greenwood Plaza Blvd. in Centennial;
44 Cook -- 124,174 square feet at 44 Cook St. in Denver;
55 Madison -- 137,176 square feet at 55 Madison St. in Denver;
The Citadel -- 130,652 square feet at 3200 Cherry Creek South Drive in Denver.
Crescent's Denver residential developments that have not yet sold out include One Riverfront and The Park at One Riverfront. The company has another 310 acres in metro Denver for future housing development, including nearly seven acres downtown.
The Fort Worth company's mountain residential holdings range from Eagle Ranch in Eagle to Three Peaks in Silverthorne and Riverfront Village in Beaver Creek. Crescent has 170 acres for future projects.
This spring, Crescent said it intended to sell off its non-office holdings. A deal to sell the whole company to Morgan Stanley came up in May.
Financial adviser Richard Rainwater of Fort Worth, who formerly worked with Texas' wealthy Bass brothers, co-founded Crescent in 1994 with CEO John Goff.
Rainwater currently sits on company boards, and owns or controls more than 4 percent of the company's shares, according to GlobeSt.com. He also has more than 5 million partnership units. Goff and company president Dennis Alberts recently forfeited their $10.3 million worth of partnership units as part of the Morgan Stanley deal.
Morgan Stanley hasn't said yet if Crescent's top executives will stay with its new, private incarnation.
Morgan Stanley hasn't said yet if Crescent's top executives will stay with its new, private incarnation.
"...despite four shareholder lawsuits in Tarrant County, Texas, contesting it. "
This spring, Crescent said it intended to sell off its non-office holdings. A deal to sell the whole company to Morgan Stanley came up in May.
Financial adviser Richard Rainwater of Fort Worth, who formerly worked with Texas' wealthy Bass brothers, co-founded Crescent in 1994 with CEO John Goff.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
REIT with extensive Colo. holdings to be soldDenver Business Journal
Shareholders in Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. of Fort Worth, Texas, OK'd the company's sale on Wednesday to Morgan Stanley for roughly $6 billion.
As of mid-July, Crescent owned 2.5 million square feet of office properties in Colorado and several residential developments in downtown Denver and mountain ski towns.
Nearly 74 percent of holders of Crescent's outstanding shares favored the sale.
The transaction includes a $22.80 per-share offering, valued at $2.3 billion, plus the assumption of $3.1 billion in Crescent debt.
The sale is expected to close Aug. 3, despite four shareholder lawsuits in Tarrant County, Texas, contesting it. Publicly traded Crescent (NYSE: CEI) will merge into an affiliate of New York-based Morgan Stanley's (NYSE: MS) real estate group. The existing Crescent company will cease to operate.
Crescent, a real estate investment trust (REIT), currently has 23 million square feet of office space nationwide, as well as residential and resort holdings.
The Texas company sold its 613-room Marriott City Center hotel in downtown Denver -- one of the metro area's largest hotels -- in a package deal in March. Walton TCC Hotel Investors V LLC bought the Marriott and Crescent's 190-room Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort for $550 million.
Crescent's current Denver-area office holdings include:
Johns Manville Plaza -- 675,400 square feet at 717 17th St., Denver, one of downtown Denver's largest office buildings;
707 17th Street (also called MCI Tower) -- 550,805 square feet in downtown Denver;
Regency Plaza One -- 309,862 square feet at 4643 S. Ulster St. in the Denver Tech Center;
Peakview Tower -- 264,149 square feet at 6465 S. Greenwood Plaza Blvd. in Centennial;
44 Cook -- 124,174 square feet at 44 Cook St. in Denver;
55 Madison -- 137,176 square feet at 55 Madison St. in Denver;
The Citadel -- 130,652 square feet at 3200 Cherry Creek South Drive in Denver.
Crescent's Denver residential developments that have not yet sold out include One Riverfront and The Park at One Riverfront. The company has another 310 acres in metro Denver for future housing development, including nearly seven acres downtown.
The Fort Worth company's mountain residential holdings range from Eagle Ranch in Eagle to Three Peaks in Silverthorne and Riverfront Village in Beaver Creek. Crescent has 170 acres for future projects.
This spring, Crescent said it intended to sell off its non-office holdings. A deal to sell the whole company to Morgan Stanley came up in May.
Financial adviser Richard Rainwater of Fort Worth, who formerly worked with Texas' wealthy Bass brothers, co-founded Crescent in 1994 with CEO John Goff.
Rainwater currently sits on company boards, and owns or controls more than 4 percent of the company's shares, according to GlobeSt.com. He also has more than 5 million partnership units. Goff and company president Dennis Alberts recently forfeited their $10.3 million worth of partnership units as part of the Morgan Stanley deal.
Morgan Stanley hasn't said yet if Crescent's top executives will stay with its new, private incarnation.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, ....
MORE PONZI SCHEMES? THIS NEEDS TO END! WAKE UP AMERICA!
JPMorgan and CITI were found GUILTY of contributing to the ENRON PONSI SCHEME.
JPMORGAN CHASE and CITI PAID GOVERNMENT SETTLED AGREEMENTS FOR FRAUD in our nation's “LARGEST ‘PRIVATE’ FINANACIAL FRAUD CASE “ in our history! National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. (NCFE) Federal prosecutors proclaimed “no one has ever heard of” this case. I believe that was intentional. (DOJ case ended 2008)
This month, FEBRUARY ‘09, although the DOJ’s NCFE case ended in December 2008, we now have ‘Credit Suisse Securities LLC has asked the court overseeing litigation over the collapse of health care lender National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. to sanction Lloyds TSB Bank PLC for allegedly hiding a deal with Moody's Investor Services Inc…’
December 2008, at the last trial of NCFE in Columbus, Ohio, ALL executives EXCEPT ONE, was acquitted. Funny, Mr. Happ was the last executive to go on trial, even after the so-called master mind, CEO Lance Poulsen.
Mr. James K Happ, the ONE and ONLY EXECUTIVE acquitted in this trial that NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF. Who is Mr. James K Happ?
Mr. James K Happ was the CFO at Richard Rainwater's Columbia Homecare Group prior to arriving at National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. (NCFE)
As CFO at Columbia Homecare Group, Mr. James K. Happ was responsible for divesting the ‘losing assets’ of a publicly traded company’s homecare segment via NCFE's financing. The alleged divestiture was a sale to a 'PRIVATE' company, Medshares, Inc. Medshares was a healthcare company that was already under investigation for MEDICARE/MEDICAID FRAUD. Medshares acquired this divestiture and six months or so later, filed bankruptcy.
Associated Press - February 21, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A former executive of NCFE says the company withheld financial information from its investors. Sherry Gibson testified Thursday in federal court in the government's securities fraud case against five former owners and executives of National Century Financial Enterprises.
The government alleges the five schemed to defraud investors of $1.9 billion.
A guilty executive told jurors she told investors "absolutely nothing" about National Century's practices of advancing cash to Memphis, Tenn.-based Medshares, a home-health care provider.
National Century executives also had voting control of Medshares stock. National Century wired that company $93 million without receivables during that same time frame.
The last trial in the “LARGEST ‘PRIVATE’ FINANACIAL FRAUD CASE “in our history, the one and only executive, James K Happ gets his acquittal. According to the jurors, “The PROSECUTOR did not do his JOB!”
The LARGEST CORPORATE BANKRUPTCY ever filed in Memphis, TN was filed by Medshares, Inc. in 1999.
If one searches the court records, the outcry from so many lawyers of fraud were only to be scolded by the judge and warned not to use the "F" word in her court.
JPMorgan and CITI were found GUILTY of contributing to the ENRON PONSI SCHEME.
JPMORGAN CHASE and CITI PAID GOVERNMENT SETTLED AGREEMENTS FOR FRAUD in our nation's “LARGEST ‘PRIVATE’ FINANACIAL FRAUD CASE “ in our history! National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. (NCFE) Federal prosecutors proclaimed “no one has ever heard of” this case. I believe that was intentional. (DOJ case ended 2008)
This month, FEBRUARY ‘09, although the DOJ’s NCFE case ended in December 2008, we now have ‘Credit Suisse Securities LLC has asked the court overseeing litigation over the collapse of health care lender National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. to sanction Lloyds TSB Bank PLC for allegedly hiding a deal with Moody's Investor Services Inc…’
December 2008, at the last trial of NCFE in Columbus, Ohio, ALL executives EXCEPT ONE, was acquitted. Funny, Mr. Happ was the last executive to go on trial, even after the so-called master mind, CEO Lance Poulsen.
Mr. James K Happ, the ONE and ONLY EXECUTIVE acquitted in this trial that NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF. Who is Mr. James K Happ?
Mr. James K Happ was the CFO at Richard Rainwater's Columbia Homecare Group prior to arriving at National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. (NCFE)
As CFO at Columbia Homecare Group, Mr. James K. Happ was responsible for divesting the ‘losing assets’ of a publicly traded company’s homecare segment via NCFE's financing. The alleged divestiture was a sale to a 'PRIVATE' company, Medshares, Inc. Medshares was a healthcare company that was already under investigation for MEDICARE/MEDICAID FRAUD. Medshares acquired this divestiture and six months or so later, filed bankruptcy.
Associated Press - February 21, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A former executive of NCFE says the company withheld financial information from its investors. Sherry Gibson testified Thursday in federal court in the government's securities fraud case against five former owners and executives of National Century Financial Enterprises.
The government alleges the five schemed to defraud investors of $1.9 billion.
A guilty executive told jurors she told investors "absolutely nothing" about National Century's practices of advancing cash to Memphis, Tenn.-based Medshares, a home-health care provider.
National Century executives also had voting control of Medshares stock. National Century wired that company $93 million without receivables during that same time frame.
The last trial in the “LARGEST ‘PRIVATE’ FINANACIAL FRAUD CASE “in our history, the one and only executive, James K Happ gets his acquittal. According to the jurors, “The PROSECUTOR did not do his JOB!”
The LARGEST CORPORATE BANKRUPTCY ever filed in Memphis, TN was filed by Medshares, Inc. in 1999.
If one searches the court records, the outcry from so many lawyers of fraud were only to be scolded by the judge and warned not to use the "F" word in her court.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
HARRY MARKOPOLOS....look at the publicly traded companies dumping the losing assets into private companies....
THIS NEEDS TO END! WAKE UP AMERICA! MORE PONZI SCHEMES?
JPMorgan and CITI were found GUILTY of contributing to the ENRON PONSI SCHEME. Both JPMORGAN CHASE and CITI PAID GOVERNMENT SETTLED AGREEMENTS FOR FRAUD in our nation's “LARGEST ‘PRIVATE’ FINANACIAL FRAUD CASE “ in our history! National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. (NCFE) Federal prosecutors proclaimed “no one has ever heard of”. I believe that was intentional.
In the trial in Columbus, ALL executives except one, was acquitted. Who was this one and only executive acquitted? James K Happ. Mr. James K Happ was the CFO at Richard Rainwater's Columbia Homecare Group before arriving at National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. NCFE.
BUT HOLD ON......Now, FEBRUARY 2009, even though NCFE case was supposedly CLOSED by the DOJ in the BUSH ADMINISTRAION, in 2008, is now back in the INVESTIGATIN OF :
Credit Suisse Seeks Sanctions against Lloyds
Law360, New York (February 03, 2009) -- Credit Suisse Securities LLC has asked the court overseeing litigation over the collapse of health care lender National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. to sanction Lloyds TSB Bank PLC for allegedly hiding a deal with Moody's Investor Services Inc. in order to manipulate a deposition in its favor.Credit Suisse, which is accused by Lloyds and others of committing fraud as an agent for National Century's note offerings, said in a motion filed Friday that Lloyds concealed an...
JPMorgan and CITI were found GUILTY of contributing to the ENRON PONSI SCHEME. Both JPMORGAN CHASE and CITI PAID GOVERNMENT SETTLED AGREEMENTS FOR FRAUD in our nation's “LARGEST ‘PRIVATE’ FINANACIAL FRAUD CASE “ in our history! National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. (NCFE) Federal prosecutors proclaimed “no one has ever heard of”. I believe that was intentional.
In the trial in Columbus, ALL executives except one, was acquitted. Who was this one and only executive acquitted? James K Happ. Mr. James K Happ was the CFO at Richard Rainwater's Columbia Homecare Group before arriving at National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. NCFE.
BUT HOLD ON......Now, FEBRUARY 2009, even though NCFE case was supposedly CLOSED by the DOJ in the BUSH ADMINISTRAION, in 2008, is now back in the INVESTIGATIN OF :
Credit Suisse Seeks Sanctions against Lloyds
Law360, New York (February 03, 2009) -- Credit Suisse Securities LLC has asked the court overseeing litigation over the collapse of health care lender National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. to sanction Lloyds TSB Bank PLC for allegedly hiding a deal with Moody's Investor Services Inc. in order to manipulate a deposition in its favor.Credit Suisse, which is accused by Lloyds and others of committing fraud as an agent for National Century's note offerings, said in a motion filed Friday that Lloyds concealed an...
WAKE UP AMERICA! Credit Suisse Securities LLC investigates NCFE...
THIS NEEDS TO END! WAKE UP AMERICA! MORE PONZI SCHEMES?
JPMorgan and CITI were found GUILTY of contributing to the ENRON PONSI SCHEME. Both JPMORGAN CHASE and CITI PAID GOVERNMENT SETTLED AGREEMENTS FOR FRAUD in our nation's “LARGEST ‘PRIVATE’ FINANACIAL FRAUD CASE “ in our history! National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. (NCFE) Federal prosecutors proclaimed “no one has ever heard of”. I believe that was intentional.
In the trial in Columbus, ALL executives ECCEPT ONE, was acquitted. Who was this one and only executive acquitted? James K Happ. Mr. James K Happ was the CFO at Richard Rainwater's Columbia Homecare Group before arriving at National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. NCFE.
BUT HOLD ON......Now, FEBRUARY 2009, even though NCFE case was supposedly CLOSED by the DOJ in the BUSH ADMINISTRAION, in 2008, is now back in the INVESTIGATIN OF :
Credit Suisse Seeks Sanctions against Lloyds
Law360, New York (February 03, 2009) -- Credit Suisse Securities LLC has asked the court overseeing litigation over the collapse of health care lender National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. to sanction Lloyds TSB Bank PLC for allegedly hiding a deal with Moody's Investor Services Inc. in order to manipulate a deposition in its favor.Credit Suisse, which is accused by Lloyds and others of committing fraud as an agent for National Century's note offerings, said in a motion filed Friday that Lloyds concealed an...
JPMorgan and CITI were found GUILTY of contributing to the ENRON PONSI SCHEME. Both JPMORGAN CHASE and CITI PAID GOVERNMENT SETTLED AGREEMENTS FOR FRAUD in our nation's “LARGEST ‘PRIVATE’ FINANACIAL FRAUD CASE “ in our history! National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. (NCFE) Federal prosecutors proclaimed “no one has ever heard of”. I believe that was intentional.
In the trial in Columbus, ALL executives ECCEPT ONE, was acquitted. Who was this one and only executive acquitted? James K Happ. Mr. James K Happ was the CFO at Richard Rainwater's Columbia Homecare Group before arriving at National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc. NCFE.
BUT HOLD ON......Now, FEBRUARY 2009, even though NCFE case was supposedly CLOSED by the DOJ in the BUSH ADMINISTRAION, in 2008, is now back in the INVESTIGATIN OF :
Credit Suisse Seeks Sanctions against Lloyds
Law360, New York (February 03, 2009) -- Credit Suisse Securities LLC has asked the court overseeing litigation over the collapse of health care lender National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. to sanction Lloyds TSB Bank PLC for allegedly hiding a deal with Moody's Investor Services Inc. in order to manipulate a deposition in its favor.Credit Suisse, which is accused by Lloyds and others of committing fraud as an agent for National Century's note offerings, said in a motion filed Friday that Lloyds concealed an...
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
made loans to inner-city Medicare hospitals....HEALTH and FINANCIAL FRAUD connection
The treasurer has stated on numerous occasions that a Texas law firm helped recover funds from the NCFE case, and has said he is not sure whether Goddard's office is entitled to the full 35 percent.
The state treasury lost $14.3 million to NCFE. So far, the state has recovered about 53 percent of $131 million in losses, Martin said.
An accompanying provision was touted by Martin as a means to ensure independent attorneys could be hired only to handle complex cases such as securities, bankruptcy matters and to offer financial advice.
The fraud, committed in 2002 by National Century Financial Enterprises, cost Arizona governments approximately $131 million. Two-hundred local Arizona governmental entities and many governments in other states invested in NCFE, which made loans to inner-city Medicare hospitals,...
January 27, 2009
Breaking News
Changes coming for bill on state Treasurer’s legal counsel
By Christian Palmer, christian.palmer@azcapitoltimes.com
A bill intended to allow the Office of the State Treasurer to hire his own attorney to handle complex financial cases was held by a House committee on Jan. 27 after its sponsor raised concerns the legislation would have more sweeping effects.The decision to hold H2103 came from Rep. Sam Crump, the chairman of the House Government Committee. Crump also was the prime sponsor of the proposal, which State Treasurer Dean Martin told committee members could cut costs and help end a longstanding "political turf war."
In official capacity, Martin is represented by the Attorney General's Office, but Crump's bill would attach the Treasurer's Office to a list of nine agencies allowed to hire and pay for their own representation.
An accompanying provision was touted by Martin as a means to ensure independent attorneys could be hired only to handle complex cases such as securities, bankruptcy matters and to offer financial advice.
However, House analysts contested Martin's translation of the bill. They said the measure, as written, would allow the state treasurer to secure lawyers separate from the Attorney General's Office for any matters.
David Gass, a legislative liaison for the Attorney General Terry Goddard, told committee members the option to hire outside legal counsel should not be extended to the Treasurer's Office, which conducts business with almost all state agencies on a daily basis.
The frequent interaction - and the prospect of differing opinions on legal matters - can provide the foundation for interagency conflict, he said.
"You create a conflict that's statewide," Gass said.
Yet, Martin said the benefits to the state presented by the law change are apparent. State law dictates the attorney general is entitled to collect a 35-percent fee on recovered funds, an amount Martin regards as outlandish and far more expensive than bills that would be incurred through specialized private-sector attorneys.
Crump said he will amend the bill and give it another try.
"Let's get it right and bring it back," he told members of the committee.
The issue of the treasurer's access to independent counsel stems from a years-long dispute between Goddard and Martin over a legal bill Martin's office was asked to pay in return for money recouped in a national fraud settlement.
The fraud, committed in 2002 by National Century Financial Enterprises, cost Arizona governments approximately $131 million. Two-hundred local Arizona governmental entities and many governments in other states invested in NCFE, which made loans to inner-city Medicare hospitals, before collapsing in 2002 in a fraud scandal involving $3 billion in lost investments.
After the legal battle, then-Chief Deputy Treasurer Blaine Vance refused to transfer payment for the attorney general's legal services without written approval from the state solicitor general. But in June of 2006, the state Treasurer's Office agreed to pay the Attorney General's Office $1.9 million for legal expenses associated with recouping the lost investments.
The payment was not disclosed to the state Board of Investment, which oversees the state's investment portfolio.
The deal came months after agents with Goddard's office seized computers, 15,000 pages of documents and other materials from the Treasurer's Office as part of an investigation into allegations that Petersen had committed several felonies by using his office to promote character-building teaching materials sold by Character First.
Initially, Petersen faced charges of theft, fraud and conflict of interest. But weeks after resigning in October 2006, he pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count for failing to disclose a $4,200 commission he received for selling Character First products.
Martin, as a candidate running for treasurer in 2006, cast suspicions on the payment and criticized Petersen's sentence, which included three years of probation, as a "slap on the wrist."
Goddard has defended the payment repeatedly; pointing out that state law authorizes the Attorney General's Office to receive 35 percent of all state funds it recovers.
Upon taking office, Martin stopped issuing Goddard's office a portion of the fraud settlement, which was being distributed to the state periodically, and asked Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to investigate the payment.
Martin has asked for separate legal counsel to review the deal and to conclude how much the Attorney General's Office should be paid. The treasurer has stated on numerous occasions that a Texas law firm helped recover funds from the NCFE case, and has said he is not sure whether Goddard's office is entitled to the full 35 percent.
The state treasury lost $14.3 million to NCFE. So far, the state has recovered about 53 percent of $131 million in losses, Martin said.
The state treasury lost $14.3 million to NCFE. So far, the state has recovered about 53 percent of $131 million in losses, Martin said.
An accompanying provision was touted by Martin as a means to ensure independent attorneys could be hired only to handle complex cases such as securities, bankruptcy matters and to offer financial advice.
The fraud, committed in 2002 by National Century Financial Enterprises, cost Arizona governments approximately $131 million. Two-hundred local Arizona governmental entities and many governments in other states invested in NCFE, which made loans to inner-city Medicare hospitals,...
January 27, 2009
Breaking News
Changes coming for bill on state Treasurer’s legal counsel
By Christian Palmer, christian.palmer@azcapitoltimes.com
A bill intended to allow the Office of the State Treasurer to hire his own attorney to handle complex financial cases was held by a House committee on Jan. 27 after its sponsor raised concerns the legislation would have more sweeping effects.The decision to hold H2103 came from Rep. Sam Crump, the chairman of the House Government Committee. Crump also was the prime sponsor of the proposal, which State Treasurer Dean Martin told committee members could cut costs and help end a longstanding "political turf war."
In official capacity, Martin is represented by the Attorney General's Office, but Crump's bill would attach the Treasurer's Office to a list of nine agencies allowed to hire and pay for their own representation.
An accompanying provision was touted by Martin as a means to ensure independent attorneys could be hired only to handle complex cases such as securities, bankruptcy matters and to offer financial advice.
However, House analysts contested Martin's translation of the bill. They said the measure, as written, would allow the state treasurer to secure lawyers separate from the Attorney General's Office for any matters.
David Gass, a legislative liaison for the Attorney General Terry Goddard, told committee members the option to hire outside legal counsel should not be extended to the Treasurer's Office, which conducts business with almost all state agencies on a daily basis.
The frequent interaction - and the prospect of differing opinions on legal matters - can provide the foundation for interagency conflict, he said.
"You create a conflict that's statewide," Gass said.
Yet, Martin said the benefits to the state presented by the law change are apparent. State law dictates the attorney general is entitled to collect a 35-percent fee on recovered funds, an amount Martin regards as outlandish and far more expensive than bills that would be incurred through specialized private-sector attorneys.
Crump said he will amend the bill and give it another try.
"Let's get it right and bring it back," he told members of the committee.
The issue of the treasurer's access to independent counsel stems from a years-long dispute between Goddard and Martin over a legal bill Martin's office was asked to pay in return for money recouped in a national fraud settlement.
The fraud, committed in 2002 by National Century Financial Enterprises, cost Arizona governments approximately $131 million. Two-hundred local Arizona governmental entities and many governments in other states invested in NCFE, which made loans to inner-city Medicare hospitals, before collapsing in 2002 in a fraud scandal involving $3 billion in lost investments.
After the legal battle, then-Chief Deputy Treasurer Blaine Vance refused to transfer payment for the attorney general's legal services without written approval from the state solicitor general. But in June of 2006, the state Treasurer's Office agreed to pay the Attorney General's Office $1.9 million for legal expenses associated with recouping the lost investments.
The payment was not disclosed to the state Board of Investment, which oversees the state's investment portfolio.
The deal came months after agents with Goddard's office seized computers, 15,000 pages of documents and other materials from the Treasurer's Office as part of an investigation into allegations that Petersen had committed several felonies by using his office to promote character-building teaching materials sold by Character First.
Initially, Petersen faced charges of theft, fraud and conflict of interest. But weeks after resigning in October 2006, he pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count for failing to disclose a $4,200 commission he received for selling Character First products.
Martin, as a candidate running for treasurer in 2006, cast suspicions on the payment and criticized Petersen's sentence, which included three years of probation, as a "slap on the wrist."
Goddard has defended the payment repeatedly; pointing out that state law authorizes the Attorney General's Office to receive 35 percent of all state funds it recovers.
Upon taking office, Martin stopped issuing Goddard's office a portion of the fraud settlement, which was being distributed to the state periodically, and asked Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to investigate the payment.
Martin has asked for separate legal counsel to review the deal and to conclude how much the Attorney General's Office should be paid. The treasurer has stated on numerous occasions that a Texas law firm helped recover funds from the NCFE case, and has said he is not sure whether Goddard's office is entitled to the full 35 percent.
The state treasury lost $14.3 million to NCFE. So far, the state has recovered about 53 percent of $131 million in losses, Martin said.
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