There is news regarding TEIM's CEO on Bloomberg this morning
Tridon's Ebeling Arrested for Fraud in Yacht Sinking (Update1)
4/20/99 23:20
Tridon's Ebeling Arrested for Fraud in Yacht Sinking (Update1)
(Adds that CEO arrested in Beverly Hills apartment that also
served as corporate headquarters.)
Beverly Hills, April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Paul Ebeling, chief
executive of Tridon Enterprises Inc. -- a high-tech toupee
developer -- was arrested by federal agents on charges that he
and an accomplice sank a yacht off the Italian coast in 1992 to
defraud an insurance unit of Cigna Corp.
Ebeling, 59, of Beverly Hills, and Rex K. DeGeorge, 62, a
Beverly Hills attorney, were arrested yesterday. They were named
in a 14-count indictment returned by a Los Angeles grand jury in
January. It was unsealed yesterday.
The men allegedly conspired to buy a $1.9 million, 76-foot
ship, the Principe di Pictor. After insuring it for $3.5 million,
they allegedly sank it on its maiden voyage off the coast of
Naples on Nov. 7, 1992.
Ebeling resigned as president of Tridon after his arrest,
said Kevin Welch, interim president.
''This matter is not related to the company's current
business plan to become an international telecommunications
carrier,'' he said. The toupee company announced a $303.4 million
telecom contract earlier this month, as part of its plan to
become a long-distance service provider.
Ebeling and DeGeorge allegedly cut holes in the hull and
abandoned ship. They were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard. The
men claimed their boat was hijacked by three drug runners, led by
a ''Captain Libovich,'' who locked them in a cabin and sank the
boat. Ebeling and DeGeorge claimed the pirates then left in a
speedboat to evade the Italian Navy.
Cigna Property Insurance and Casualty Insurance Co. refused
to pay off on its policy, saying the men made false statements in
connection with the claim.
Charges
The defendants were both charged with three counts of mail
fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to
destroy the ship and one count of destroying the ship. Each was
also individually charged with one count of perjury.
DeGeorge allegedly had previously collected insurance money
after the loss of three other boats he claimed were accidentally
lost at sea. Ebeling was the sole witness on board one of those
ships, prosecutors said.
Ebeling was arrested last night at his Beverly Hills
apartment, which also serves as Tridon's corporate headquarters.
Today, he was ordered held without bail until a detention hearing
on Friday. DeGeorge was arrested in New York at John F. Kennedy
airport after arriving on a flight from Greece, where he's lived
for the past year. A magistrate has ordered him returned to Los
Angeles to face the charges.
Neither defendant was immediately available for comment.
Welch said Ebeling's 24 percent ownership of Tridon will be
placed in a trust until his legal problems are resolved.
Two weeks ago, Ebeling was asked how Tridon, with a market
value of $26 million but a negative net worth of $56,465, was
able to survive.
''I loan this company whatever it needs,'' he said.
--David Evans in Los Angeles (310) 827-2348 through the San
Francisco newsroom (415) 912-2980/dfr/dfr
Story illustration: To see a graph of Tridon's recent stock
performance, type TEIM US <Equity> GP.
Company news:
TEIM US <Equity> CN Tridon
CI US <Equity> CN Cigna
Industry news: Category news:
NI RET Retail NI COS Company
NI HOU Housewares NI GEN General interest
NI TLS Telecom Services NI CRIME Crimes
NI INS Insurance NI LAW Legal
Regional news:
NI CA California
NI US U.S.
NI ITALY Italy
NI GREECE Greece
People:
For news about any of the people mentioned in this story, type
WHO followed by the person's name and <Go>.
For more California crime news, type TNI LAW CA <Go>.
-0- (BN ) Apr/20/1999 23:20 |
