Monitor - January/February 2012

LEGAL NEWS

THREE EFI DEFENDANTS FACE ADDITIONAL CHARGES A FEDERAL GRAND JUR Y INDIC TED EQUIPMEN T FINANCE INC. (EFI) loan fraud defendants Misty L. Kroesen, her husband Curtis A. Kroesen and Harold W. Young on multiple new counts, the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal reported. The article said that both Kroesens were charged with three counts of wire fraud, a new offense, and two more counts of mail fraud. Each had been charged last year with one count of conspiracy and eight counts of mail fraud. Those charges still stand.

Young was charged with one count of wire fraud, a new offense, one more count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two more counts of money laundering. He had been charged last year with one count of conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, five counts of money laundering and eight counts of mail fraud, the article reported. Their trial is scheduled for April 5. n

areas. According to the
indictment, between
2001 and 2004, Rezko
orchestrated the sale
of Papa John’s pizza
restaurants in four
separate transactions,
each of which was
financed by GE
Capital. In three of
those transactions,
Rezko concealed from
GE undocumented
agreements he made
with the buyers that were
material to GE because
they made it appear that
the buyers actually had
put money into the deals,
when, in fact, the buyers
had not done so.

C&J Leasing Owner
Sentenced in Frontier
Leasing Fraud
Clarence Allen Rice,
owner of C&J Leasing,
was sentenced to 70
months in prison for wire
fraud in connection with
a complex $8 million
scheme against Frontier
Leasing, according to

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

CSI Leasing Expands to Italy CSI Leasing opened an office in Milan, Italy, CSI Lifecycle Services Italia Srl. CSI now has a global network of 24 subsidiaries leasing in more than 36 countries. Federico Marchese was appointed country manager and brings 11 years of leasing experience to CSI.

HNA Group, Bravia Close
Acquisition of GE SeaCo
HNA Group of China
and Bravia Capital of
Hong Kong completed
of the acquisition of GE
SeaCo. The company was
rebranded as Seaco. All of
Seaco’s key management,
including CEO David G.
Amble, will remain with
the company. Seaco
owns and manages
over 870,000 20-foot
equivalent units, and
now operates as a core
business within HNA’s
existing logistics and
finance operations. The
transaction includes the
divestiture by GE Capital
and SeaCo Ltd. of all
of their interests in the
business to be known as
Seaco as well as fleets
of containers they owned
separately. The total
enterprise value of the
transaction is $2.5 billion.

CI T Appoints Green President of CI T Europe CIT appointed Richard Green as president of CIT Europe. In this new role, he will be responsible for overseeing the European operations of CIT Corporate Finance and CIT Vendor Finance. He will report directly to CIT president Nelson J. Chai. Prior to this appointment, Green served as managing director of CIT Vendor Finance, Europe.

Siemens Obtains License to do Business in India Siemens Financial Services (SFS) obtained a non-banking financial company license from the Reserve Bank of India. Siemens noted that the expansion of its presence in the Indian market represents a significant milestone for SFS, and it is expected to become a significant part in the company’s strategic growth plans.

documents from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Rice misappropriated funds from Frontier Leasing between 2003 and 2006 to pay day trading debts. He concealed his fraud by making false statements to Frontier and his auditors, including KPMG, according to U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. Frontier suffered losses in excess of $5.5 million and lessees lost more than $2 million in security deposits that had been given to Rice’s company.

Bankruptcy Judge Rules
Against CIT In Tyco Dispute
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
Allan L. Gropper ruled
against CIT in a tax
dispute with its former
parent company Tyco
International. The judge’s
opinion denied CIT’s
motion for summary
judgment in the matter,
ruling the lender
can’t subordinate an
unsecured claim that
Tyco filed as part of CIT’s
2009 bankruptcy. The
claim related to a tax
agreement the companies
entered when Tyco spun
off CIT in 2002.

Allied Health Care’s
Schwartz Gets 16 Years
in Fraud
Allied Health Care
Services founder
Charles K. Schwartz
was sentenced to 16
years in prison for
defrauding more than 50
financial institutions in
a $135 million medical
equipment leasing
scheme, according to
court documents. In
April, he admitted to
organizing and executing
the phony lease scheme
that caused losses of
more than $80 million
and victimized more than
50 financial institutions,
according to U.S.
Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
Schwartz pleaded guilty
in federal court to one
count of mail fraud. In
addition to spending
millions of dollars on
properties in New Jersey
and New York, including
a horse farm, Schwartz
used the money in
Ponzi-scheme fashion
to repay earlier bank
loans that were a part
of the scheme, the U.S.
Attorney said.

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