Steve Pence: Court Records Contain "Inaccuracies".
Pence: Court records contain 'inaccuracies'
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Former Kentucky Lt. Gov. Steve Pence says court records in a guilty plea involving the federal bailout program contain "a number of inaccuracies," but he doesn't deny being an unindicted co-conspirator in the case.
Pence, who also served as U.S. Attorney for the western half of Kentucky from 2001 to 2003, told The Courier-Journal he's not the subject of any investigation related to Charles Antonucci. Antonucci, former chief executive of the now-defunct Park Avenue Bank in Manhattan, pleaded guilty in October to fraud charges and admitted that he tried to grab more than $11 million in taxpayer rescue funds.
Pence, who once represented Antonucci, is not named in the complaint. But descriptions of an unindicted co-conspirator match Pence. Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors in New York, declined to comment.
A 44-page complaint against Antonucci identifies an unnamed co-conspirator who is listed as an officer in three named companies allegedly involved in Antonucci's schemes to route $6.5 million in bank funds through several Louisville-based companies, then back to himself.
State and federal corporate records list Pence holding those positions at the three companies during the time of the alleged transactions in 2008 and 2009.
Pence, 57, declined to identify what he called the inaccuracies.
The criminal complaint, filed March 13, 2010, in support of Antonucci's arrest, included a detailed account of the alleged conspiracy. The charging document was filed after Antonucci agreed to plead guilty.
Antonucci admitted that he diverted money from the bank, then back to himself, so he could feign investing his own money in the troubled bank. He cited the bogus investment in seeking $11 million from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, the federal bailout program for banks. The bank was forced to close in March 2010, becoming the largest New York bank to fail in two decades.
The scheme was detected last fall after an unrelated investigation by federal customs agents, and in October Antonucci became the first person to plead guilty to trying to defraud TARP. He faces up to 135 years in prison, but his sentencing has been postponed as prosecutors and law-enforcement agencies continue to investigate, according to a news release issued by the FBI and other agencies.
Co-Conspirator 2 (Pence) is mentioned 16 times in the complaint against Antonucci, but never named.
The criminal complaint list "CC-2," or co-conspirator No. 2, as the majority owner and chairman of General Employment Enterprises of Oakbrook Terrace., Ill., a publicly traded employee-leasing company allegedly involved in one of the transactions.
Corporate records from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that Pence was the company's chairman and majority owner until last November.
The complaint also says CC-2 was the owner or manager of two other Louisville-based companies - PSQ LLC and H2H Holdings, which records from the Kentucky Secretary of State's office show Pence headed at the time. The records show Pence started H2H in 2008 at his home in Anchorage.
Former prosecutor Kent Wicker, now in private practice in Louisville, said someone might not initially be charged because the government doesn't have enough evidence at the time to convict. Louisville attorney Steve Romines said that could change, however, especially if the named defendant pleads guilty and is required to cooperate.
"You would always be concerned for a client in that position," Louisville lawyer Steve Romines said.
The criminal complaint ties co-conspirator No. 2 to Antonucci through a myriad of financial transactions involving millions of dollars in 2008 and 2009, but doesn't say of the co-conspirator knowingly took part in any alleged deceptions involving the bailout program.
Pence made his mark in the 1990s as an assistant U.S. attorney, when he was lead prosecutor in an investigation of Kentucky state government corruption that brought down nearly two dozen legislators, lobbyists and others.
As lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2007, he denounced his running mate, Gov. Ernie Fletcher, for his response to a widespread merit-system investigation. Pence, who was also serving as justice secretary at the time, criticized Fletcher for issuing a blanket pardon for everyone who may have been involved and the governor's decision to take the 5th Amendment when called before a grand jury.
Pence resigned as justice secretary and refused to run for a second term with Fletcher, who lost.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Former Kentucky Lt. Gov. Steve Pence says court records in a guilty plea involving the federal bailout program contain "a number of inaccuracies," but he doesn't deny being an unindicted co-conspirator in the case.
Pence, who also served as U.S. Attorney for the western half of Kentucky from 2001 to 2003, told The Courier-Journal he's not the subject of any investigation related to Charles Antonucci. Antonucci, former chief executive of the now-defunct Park Avenue Bank in Manhattan, pleaded guilty in October to fraud charges and admitted that he tried to grab more than $11 million in taxpayer rescue funds.
Pence, who once represented Antonucci, is not named in the complaint. But descriptions of an unindicted co-conspirator match Pence. Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors in New York, declined to comment.
A 44-page complaint against Antonucci identifies an unnamed co-conspirator who is listed as an officer in three named companies allegedly involved in Antonucci's schemes to route $6.5 million in bank funds through several Louisville-based companies, then back to himself.
State and federal corporate records list Pence holding those positions at the three companies during the time of the alleged transactions in 2008 and 2009.
Pence, 57, declined to identify what he called the inaccuracies.
The criminal complaint, filed March 13, 2010, in support of Antonucci's arrest, included a detailed account of the alleged conspiracy. The charging document was filed after Antonucci agreed to plead guilty.
Antonucci admitted that he diverted money from the bank, then back to himself, so he could feign investing his own money in the troubled bank. He cited the bogus investment in seeking $11 million from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, the federal bailout program for banks. The bank was forced to close in March 2010, becoming the largest New York bank to fail in two decades.
The scheme was detected last fall after an unrelated investigation by federal customs agents, and in October Antonucci became the first person to plead guilty to trying to defraud TARP. He faces up to 135 years in prison, but his sentencing has been postponed as prosecutors and law-enforcement agencies continue to investigate, according to a news release issued by the FBI and other agencies.
Co-Conspirator 2 (Pence) is mentioned 16 times in the complaint against Antonucci, but never named.
The criminal complaint list "CC-2," or co-conspirator No. 2, as the majority owner and chairman of General Employment Enterprises of Oakbrook Terrace., Ill., a publicly traded employee-leasing company allegedly involved in one of the transactions.
Corporate records from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that Pence was the company's chairman and majority owner until last November.
The complaint also says CC-2 was the owner or manager of two other Louisville-based companies - PSQ LLC and H2H Holdings, which records from the Kentucky Secretary of State's office show Pence headed at the time. The records show Pence started H2H in 2008 at his home in Anchorage.
Former prosecutor Kent Wicker, now in private practice in Louisville, said someone might not initially be charged because the government doesn't have enough evidence at the time to convict. Louisville attorney Steve Romines said that could change, however, especially if the named defendant pleads guilty and is required to cooperate.
"You would always be concerned for a client in that position," Louisville lawyer Steve Romines said.
The criminal complaint ties co-conspirator No. 2 to Antonucci through a myriad of financial transactions involving millions of dollars in 2008 and 2009, but doesn't say of the co-conspirator knowingly took part in any alleged deceptions involving the bailout program.
Pence made his mark in the 1990s as an assistant U.S. attorney, when he was lead prosecutor in an investigation of Kentucky state government corruption that brought down nearly two dozen legislators, lobbyists and others.
As lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2007, he denounced his running mate, Gov. Ernie Fletcher, for his response to a widespread merit-system investigation. Pence, who was also serving as justice secretary at the time, criticized Fletcher for issuing a blanket pardon for everyone who may have been involved and the governor's decision to take the 5th Amendment when called before a grand jury.
Pence resigned as justice secretary and refused to run for a second term with Fletcher, who lost.
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