NEWS
By Robert Little | February 28, 2009
Senior executives at the investment firm Ferris Baker Watts were warned numerous times over three years that one of their employees was manipulating stock prices and trading money from the accounts of unwary customers, but didn't rein in the illegal scheme and even allowed it to widen, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ending its long-running investigation into the trading scandal at the Baltimore brokerage, the SEC fined Ferris $500,000 and ordered it to return another $300,000 in ill-gotten gains and interest.
NEWS
By DAN THANH DANG | November 30, 2008
Beware of an extortion scheme by callers who falsely identify themselves as "FDA special agents" or other FDA officials, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Several cases have been reported of callers enticing consumers to purchase discounted prescription drugs by wiring funds to one of several locations in the Dominican Republic. No medications are ever delivered. A subsequent call is received from a fraudulent "FDA special agent" who orders the consumer to pay a fine of several thousand dollars to an address in the Dominican Republic to prevent incarceration or other legal action.
NEWS
By Dan Thanh Dang | September 7, 2008
The Internet Crime Complaint Center issued another warning about the hit man e-mail scheme that first surfaced a couple years ago and, more recently, earlier this year. The center said it continues to receive thousands of reports on the hit man e-mail, but it warns that the content has evolved since late 2006. The two new versions of the scheme started appearing in July. One e-mail instructed recipients to contact a designated telephone number, and the other e-mail claimed the recipient or a "loved one" would be kidnapped unless a ransom was paid.
NEWS
By Gadi Dechter | June 25, 2008
A former concrete contractor from Cockeysville has been sentenced to five years in jail, all suspended, for a kickback scheme involving University of Maryland, Baltimore County construction projects, the attorney general's office said yesterday. In 2006, Patrick R. Sisk pleaded guilty in Baltimore County Circuit Court to theft, conspiracy to commit theft and bribery. He admitted that between 1999 and 2003, he participated in a scheme with a UMBC construction manager to create a steady stream of illegal cash generated by false and inflated invoices to the university.
NEWS
By Nick Madigan | June 13, 2008
GREENBELT - Federal prosecutors accused eight people yesterday of bilking homeowners and banks of more than $35 million in a complicated mortgage fraud scheme involving phony loans and home purchases. The defendants, several of whom are related, preyed on homeowners who were in trouble with their mortgages and were facing foreclosure, according to a 47-page grand jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court. Under the scheme, the defendants promised to help them if they would temporarily turn over ownership of their homes, prosecutors said.
NEWS
March 18, 2008
Bribery scheme nets jail time A former correctional officer at a federal medium-security prison in Western Maryland was sentenced yesterday to a year and a day in federal prison for taking bribes in a scheme to allow cigarettes to be smuggled to inmates, federal prosecutors said. After the prison term, Robb Phillips, 34, will spend two years on supervised release, according to the U.S. attorney's office. "Robb Phillips abused his authority as a correctional officer," Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement after Phillips' guilty plea in November.
NEWS
By Josh Mitchell | August 11, 2007
The Internet love interest came off as a single dad from Odenton with a tender side. He said he liked to paint and travel. He e-mailed a supposed picture of himself smiling and standing on a sailboat on a picturesque pond. From her small Parkville condominium, Shirley Singer was smitten. The dental assistant didn't realize that she was destined to become the latest victim of a devious Internet scheme that preys on the lonely looking for love online. After connecting with Singer on a dating Web site this summer, the mystery romancer made a seemingly innocent request: Would she accept deliveries for him at her condo while he tended to a hospitalized brother in Africa?
NEWS
By Laura Smitherman | May 27, 2007
A single customer got Baltimore County Savings Bank in trouble. Now it is looking to many customers to get it out. Still wobbling from a check-kiting fraud last year that cost it millions of dollars, the suburban thrift is hoping that depositors will look past its losses and the government's concerns about its operations to buy up most of the stock in a sale that's expected this summer. Without a successful offering, the bank says, it could deplete its liquid assets within two years. Offering stock from such a position may be a tough sell.
NEWS
By Paul Adams | March 21, 2007
Ferris Baker Watts said yesterday that its director of retail sales will return to work tomorrow while the brokerage and federal officials continue to probe an alleged stock manipulation scheme carried out by a former client. Patrick Vaughan was among six executives and traders placed on temporary leave as the firm's outside counsel conducted an investigation of the scheme. The alleged scheme involves a one-time Ohio client of Ferris who is accused of cheating investors in his IPOF fund.
NEWS
By LAURA SMITHERMAN | July 25, 2006
The chief executive of Baltimore County Savings Bank has resigned, less than a month after the community financial institution revealed $6.9 million in losses from an alleged check-kiting scheme by one of its commercial customers. Gary C. Loraditch informed the board of his resignation effective yesterday, according to a news release issued by the bank's parent, BCSB Bankcorp Inc., after stock markets closed. David M. Meadows, the bank's general counsel, will act as interim chief executive while the board searches for Loraditch's replacement, according to the release.