Interbank

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - An admitted accomplice in what federal prosecutors contend was an illegal, multimillion-dollar visa scheme testified yesterday that a Virginia company owned by the defendants routinely submitted fraudulent documents to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service on behalf of foreign clients seeking permanent residency in the United States. Frank Ricci, 60, who has pleaded guilty to visa fraud and money laundering, told U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III that he also "misappropriated" $1.3 million from clients seeking permanent green cards under the decade-old investor visa program.

Commercial bakery opens in Halethorpe Bakery Express opened a new manufacturing facility with 300 employees yesterday on Hollins Ferry Road in Halethorpe. The commercial baking company is the lead tenant in a new 210,000-square-foot plant that was redeveloped by Baltimore-based Merritt Properties. Bakery Express consolidated three divisions from other Baltimore locations into the renovated building: a division that makes baked goods for 1,100 7-Eleven stores in the mid-Atlantic; Ms.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The head of a company that marketed an investor visa program to foreign residents acknowledged yesterday that he used about $220,000 of investor funds to pay his personal federal and state income taxes. James F. O'Connor, who headed the Interbank Group of Herndon, Va., made the admission during the second day of cross-examination in his trial on federal charges of visa fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and income tax violations. Shown a series of documents by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Spencer, O'Connor acknowledged that the money he used to pay his Virginia and U.S. federal income taxes in 1998 had come from a bank account of Invest In America, the name given to his investor visa program.

Federal prosecutors said yesterday that the two principals of a Herndon firm stole about $21 million by preying upon hundreds of vulnerable aliens, the "perfect victims," who desperately wanted to become U.S. residents. In closing arguments of an unusual trial that stretched over nearly three weeks, the two prosecutors in the case said the defendants, James F. O'Connor and James A. Geisler, lied to their clients, lied to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and lied to the court.

Federal investigators allege that it is a company "permeated with fraud." It's founders say it is a victim of the "meddlesome fervor'' of a federal agency. The Interbank Group of Herndon, Va., quickly became a major player in a little-known federal program that allowed foreigners to become permanent U.S. residents by investing up to $1 million in an American business. A $500,000 investment qualified in areas of high unemployment. Set up four years ago by James F. O'Connor and James Geisler, Interbank promised to create hundreds of jobs in economically depressed West Virginia through its Invest in America program.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - One of the defendants in an alleged visa fraud scam bragged to an employee that he had $5 million stashed in an offshore bank account and "no one would be able to find it," according to court testimony. Martin Turk, a former vice president of the Interbank Group, testified yesterday in U.S. District Court that James A. Geisler, one of the principals of the company, confided to him about the secret bank account two years ago. Turk, who was a vice president at the Herndon-based company, was called as a prosecution witness in the case against Geisler and James F. O'Connor, the head of Interbank.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Two defendants accused of visa fraud were torpedoed by their own witness yesterday when he testified that he was shocked to learn that they had tapped client funds that were supposed to be kept in special accounts. "I blew my top," said Dale M. Schwartz, an Atlanta immigration lawyer, when asked what he did when he learned that clients' escrow accounts had been raided. He said he told a staff lawyer at the Interbank Group, a Herndon, Va., company run by defendants James F. O'Connor and James A. Geisler, that "she ought to quit and get out of there."

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - One of the defendants on trial in a visa fraud case openly admitted yesterday that dozens of foreign investors were lied to and millions of dollars were never placed in escrow accounts as promised. Calling his actions a "misrepresentation," James F. O'Connor testified that instead of being placed in separate bank accounts, the clients' money was used to fund ongoing expenses of the Interbank Group, the Herndon company he headed. The admission came during a daylong court session marked by the unusual.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Bahamian businessman testified yesterday that he served as the middleman as hundreds of thousands of dollars were swiftly and routinely wired in and out of an offshore bank account for a firm whose principals are on trial for visa fraud. Testifying in U.S. District Court here, Howell Jones said the wire transfers, most of them in the $400,000 range, were so frequent that officials at one bank raised concerns that the actions appeared to resemble a money laundering scheme.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - An IRS agent testified yesterday that the principals of a company that specialized in marketing an investor visa program failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income on their tax returns. Robert A. Warren, the IRS agent, told U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III that by his calculations, James F. O'Connor, president of the Interbank Group of Herndon, failed to report income of more than $450,000 over a four-year period ending in 1996. He said co-defendant James A. Geisler failed to report slightly lesser amounts over the same period.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The head of a company that marketed an investor visa program to foreign residents acknowledged yesterday that he used about $220,000 of investor funds to pay his personal federal and state income taxes. James F. O'Connor, who headed the Interbank Group of Herndon, Va., made the admission during the second day of cross-examination in his trial on federal charges of visa fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and income tax violations. Shown a series of documents by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Spencer, O'Connor acknowledged that the money he used to pay his Virginia and U.S. federal income taxes in 1998 had come from a bank account of Invest In America, the name given to his investor visa program.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - One of the defendants on trial in a visa fraud case openly admitted yesterday that dozens of foreign investors were lied to and millions of dollars were never placed in escrow accounts as promised. Calling his actions a "misrepresentation," James F. O'Connor testified that instead of being placed in separate bank accounts, the clients' money was used to fund ongoing expenses of the Interbank Group, the Herndon company he headed. The admission came during a daylong court session marked by the unusual.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Two defendants accused of visa fraud were torpedoed by their own witness yesterday when he testified that he was shocked to learn that they had tapped client funds that were supposed to be kept in special accounts. "I blew my top," said Dale M. Schwartz, an Atlanta immigration lawyer, when asked what he did when he learned that clients' escrow accounts had been raided. He said he told a staff lawyer at the Interbank Group, a Herndon, Va., company run by defendants James F. O'Connor and James A. Geisler, that "she ought to quit and get out of there."

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - An IRS agent testified yesterday that the principals of a company that specialized in marketing an investor visa program failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income on their tax returns. Robert A. Warren, the IRS agent, told U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III that by his calculations, James F. O'Connor, president of the Interbank Group of Herndon, failed to report income of more than $450,000 over a four-year period ending in 1996. He said co-defendant James A. Geisler failed to report slightly lesser amounts over the same period.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - One of the defendants in an alleged visa fraud scam bragged to an employee that he had $5 million stashed in an offshore bank account and "no one would be able to find it," according to court testimony. Martin Turk, a former vice president of the Interbank Group, testified yesterday in U.S. District Court that James A. Geisler, one of the principals of the company, confided to him about the secret bank account two years ago. Turk, who was a vice president at the Herndon-based company, was called as a prosecution witness in the case against Geisler and James F. O'Connor, the head of Interbank.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - An admitted accomplice in what federal prosecutors contend was an illegal, multimillion-dollar visa scheme testified yesterday that a Virginia company owned by the defendants routinely submitted fraudulent documents to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service on behalf of foreign clients seeking permanent residency in the United States. Frank Ricci, 60, who has pleaded guilty to visa fraud and money laundering, told U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III that he also "misappropriated" $1.3 million from clients seeking permanent green cards under the decade-old investor visa program.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A key prosecution witness in a multimillion-dollar visa fraud case testified yesterday that one of the defendants admitted to him that what was being done with investors' funds was illegal. Simon Oliver of Sarasota, Fla., one of several victims to testify on the trial's opening day in U.S. District Court here, said he had found that money that was supposed to be kept in an escrow account had been diverted. Oliver testified that in a phone conversation with defendant James A. Geisler, "I told him, `What you're doing is illegal,' and he said, `Yes, but we need to do it.'" Geisler was a principal of the Interbank Group, a Herndon, Va., company set up to market a program under which foreign investors such as Oliver, a British native, could become permanent U.S. residents by investing $500,000 to $1 million in an American business.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Clearing the way for a March 28 criminal trial of two men accused of masterminding a multimillion-dollar visa fraud scheme, a federal judge summarily rejected yesterday a series of defense motions charging prosecutorial misconduct. "I don't find any misconduct," said U.S. District Court Judge Claude Hilton in denying the motions by the operators of a Herndon-based immigration company. The judge rejected several of the motions before prosecutors could even speak to oppose them.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Bahamian businessman testified yesterday that he served as the middleman as hundreds of thousands of dollars were swiftly and routinely wired in and out of an offshore bank account for a firm whose principals are on trial for visa fraud. Testifying in U.S. District Court here, Howell Jones said the wire transfers, most of them in the $400,000 range, were so frequent that officials at one bank raised concerns that the actions appeared to resemble a money laundering scheme.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A key prosecution witness in a multimillion-dollar visa fraud case testified yesterday that one of the defendants admitted to him that what was being done with investors' funds was illegal. Simon Oliver of Sarasota, Fla., one of several victims to testify on the trial's opening day in U.S. District Court here, said he had found that money that was supposed to be kept in an escrow account had been diverted. Oliver testified that in a phone conversation with defendant James A. Geisler, "I told him, `What you're doing is illegal,' and he said, `Yes, but we need to do it.'" Geisler was a principal of the Interbank Group, a Herndon, Va., company set up to market a program under which foreign investors such as Oliver, a British native, could become permanent U.S. residents by investing $500,000 to $1 million in an American business.