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Non-Tech : LVEN:NASDAQ--Las Vegas Entertainment Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Janice Shell who wrote (148)	1/11/2000 1:58:00 AM
From: EL KABONG!!!	Respond to of 228

More news from KVBC Las Vegas... msnbc.com Company once tied to El Rancho raided Darcy Spears LAS VEGAS, Jan.10– The mystery surrounding the defunct El Rancho Hotel and Casino deepens as it spreads to a neighboring state. Our News 3 Investigators broke the story behind the El Rancho last month. Now, Investigator Darcy Spears has a follow-up report on more of the property's shady past. A PLAIN LOOKING BUILDING in Scottsdale, Arizona has attracted attention from the FBI. Acting on a sealed search warrant, the feds raided U.S. Guarantee, a company once tied to the El Rancho. Those ties come down to a claim of promised dollars never delivered. Doctor fred cruz, a Las Vegas podiatrist, once pledged $190 million to Las Vegas Entertainment Network or LVEN. The network used to own the El Rancho and the company is still tied to the property. The government thinks LVEN is also behind a stock scheme to artificially inflate their company's stock value. The money behind that scheme came from Cruz's purported millions, allegedly coming from U.S. Guarantee. U.S. Guarantee's operation in Nevada may be shady as well. A document on file with the Nevada Secretary of State's Office for U.S. Guarantee is not even accurate. It says U.S. Guarantee's legal representation in Nevada is an attorney out of a law office near U.S. 95 and Jones Boulevard. But News 3 learned that attorney no longer practices in that office or even in Nevada. The doctor claims he hasn't heard from U.S. Guarantee in more than three years. The last time News 3 heard from U.S. Guarantee was when a local couple claiming to be financed by U.S. Guarantee made a failed bid to buy the Minnesota Vikings. What was the Arizona FBI looking for and what did agents find? They won't say anything except to confirm that no one's been arrested yet. The Las Vegas FBI office hasn't taken any action locally and our calls to U.S. Guarantee were not returned. KJC

To: Janice Shell who wrote (148)	2/24/2000 12:52:00 AM
From: EL KABONG!!!	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 228

Oh dear! Poor Alvin! Poor Dr Fred! Poor Alvin indeed!!! lasvegassun.com February 16, 2000 Judge freezes assets of more than 30 people, companies ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) - A federal judge has frozen the assets of more than 30 people, companies and trusts connected with a Ponzi scheme that authorities say bilked investors out of $52 million. Authorities already had seized the assets from Alliance Trust and Chemical Trust, which investigators said were used as fronts in the scheme. On Monday, U.S. District Judge G. Ross Anderson Jr. froze the assets of eight people and 28 companies and trusts in South Carolina, Arizona, Florida, Nevada and the Bahamas, many of which were thought to be shell companies. Greenville attorney Beattie Ashmore, who has been appointed receiver in the case, said the trusts can operate for months before investors realize anything is wrong. Virgil Womack, of Seneca, is accused of masterminding the scheme, which attracted 1,275 investors by promising guaranteed returns on high-yield government securities and real estate investments. Womack; his wife, Cheryl Womack; and Clifton Wilkinson, of Toccoa, Ga., are charged with conspiracy wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. Wilkinson's wife, Cheryl Wilkinson; and Alvin A. Tang, of Scottsdale, Ariz., have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and are waiting to be sentenced. All except Mrs. Wilkinson had their assets frozen. Anderson also froze the assets of George H. Williamson Sr., Fred Morgenstern, Lewey L. Cato III and Allan J. Clarke. A staffer in Ashmore's office, who would not give her name, said authorities didn't know where the individuals were from. Last week, investigators estimated investors had lost $57 million in the scheme, but Ashmore said Monday that only $52 million had been identified. Ashmore said more than $23.5 million has been recovered from domestic and offshore bank accounts, including $16.6 million that had been in a London bank. Authorities are "still finding entities, still finding bank accounts" as they go through "boxes and boxes and boxes" of records connected to the case, Ashmore said. Last month, an insurance agent and his wife who sold investments in the scheme were found dead in their Amarillo, Texas, home in what police said appeared to be a murder-suicide. Lt. E.W. Smith of the Amarillo-area Special Crimes Unit said the financial dealings of Mayo and Jeanette Gilland McGhee had recently come under scrutiny. KJC