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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StockDung who wrote (89488)	1/21/2005 10:01:14 PM
From: StocksDATsoar	Respond to of 122087

sad my.aol.com TYLER, Texas (AP) - A college student whose abduction was captured on a surveillance videotape as she was leaving her clerk's job at a Wal-Mart was found shot to death Friday, and a suspect was arrested, authorities said. The body of Megan Leann Holden, 19, was discovered in a ditch alongside a highway in western Texas. Police said she was killed at the hands of a man who went on a multistate crime spree before he turned up Friday at an Arizona hospital with a gunshot wound. Authorities said the suspect, Johnny Lee Williams, 24, was driving the woman's pickup truck, which was parked outside the hospital. The abduction was captured in chilling detail Wednesday after the student at Tyler Junior College clocked out from the Wal-Mart just before midnight. The apparent abductor - a man in a long, dark coat - was seen loitering around the front entrance of the store ``for a good period of time,'' Tyler police spokesman Don Martin said. The man was also seen on tape about 90 minutes before the abduction, emerging from a bathroom and walking around inside the store. The tape later shows Holden getting into her truck and the man ``running up behind her and either hitting her or pushing her,'' Martin said. Two days later, her body was found near Stanton, about 380 miles west of Tyler. Tyler Police Chief Gary Swindle provided little detail about the killing, but said Holden died of a gunshot wound and added that ``we have every indication that she was shot at the location where her body was found.'' Authorities said the suspect kept heading west as he continued his crime spree, attempting a robbery at an Arizona RV park. It was during the robbery attempt that a store worker fired the shot that landed Williams in the hospital, authorities said. His condition was not immediately known. ``He said, 'This is robbery, I want all the money in the cash register,''' store worker Richie Chapman said. ``And as he said that, he drew a weapon from underneath his shirt, and I drew and fired.'' It was not known if Williams had an attorney. Police said Williams, who was honorably discharged last year after four years as a Marine, was arrested last month in Tyler on a cocaine possession charge. He was released the same day on $2,000 bond. Police said Williams also was involved in an armed robbery at a convenience store in Texas on Thursday. Texas prosecutors said they would seek kidnapping and murder charges, and other counts may follow. The kidnapping and killing has shocked this town of 86,000 people. Martin, the police spokesman, said the victim's mother was in a wreck while driving to Tyler. She was shaken and covered with cuts and bruises after flipping her car three times, a relative said. A makeshift memorial was set up at the Wal-Mart on Friday. More than a dozen flower bouquets, some with notes including ``Megan we will miss you,'' were placed on a bench by passing shoppers. ``While I was here, I just wanted to do that,'' said a tearful Jill Kitchens, who placed flowers, a red teddy bear and a red candle as she left with a cart of groceries. Some shoppers said they were still shaken. ``We're such a small town here; it's just a total shock,'' said Mary Osborn, 24, as she loaded groceries. She said she kept her pepper spray clutched in her hand in the parking lot. ``You always have to be aware of your surroundings,'' she said. Jan 21 2005 8:44PM Clerk-Abducted

To: StockDung who wrote (89488)	1/23/2005 3:11:56 PM
From: rrufff	Respond to of 122087

German REIT and fund bribery scandal. Allegedly buy assets at inflated value and get bribed. German property groups probed for alleged fraud By Patrick Jenkins and Reinhard Hönighaus in Frankfurt Published: January 21 2005 21:16 \| Last updated: January 21 2005 21:55 Some of Germany's most prominent fund managers and real estate brokers were on Friday night under investigation for allegedly taking up to €20m in bribes amid a deepening Frankfurt-centred property scandal. Wolfgang Schaupensteiner, the city's chief public prosecutor, told a news conference that he had uncovered evidence of bribery associated with 30 properties worth €3bn-€4bn, mainly office buildings and shopping centres in Germany and the Netherlands. The affair, which first blew up in September, has hit confidence in Germany's retail-dominated open-ended property funds and cast a shadow over Frankfurt's reputation as a financial centre. Drawing interim conclusions from a probe into what is alleged to be one of the biggest such rings ever uncovered, Mr Schaupensteiner said: “We are investigating an illustrious collection of fund managers, architects, lawyers, project managers and brokers. The accusation is that they were involved in bribery, breach of fiduciary duty, money laundering, deception and tax evasion. An end to the investigations in this affair is not foreseeable.” Mr Schaupensteiner said individuals had enriched themselves in cash or kind during property deals that took place between 1999 and 2003. “The monies were transferred in a professional way using fake bills.” He said between €15m and €20m of bribes, both at home and abroad, had been paid combined with an estimated €10m-€12m in evaded taxes of which €5m had now been recovered. At the heart of the case is an accusation that Deka and DB Real Estate, Deutsche Bank's subsidiary two of Germany's biggest fund managers accepted bribes in exchange for acquiring properties for their funds at inflated prices. Both fund companies are co-operating with the investigation. Hans-Günter Seckerdieck, formerly of DB Real Estate, and Michael Koch, formerly of Deka, are the only two of the 80 allegedly implicated in the affair who have so far been named. On behalf of the two men, the companies have refused to comment. Mr Schaupensteiner refused to identify any other individuals but said there had been only a “handful” of other suspects at Deka and DB Real Estate and none were still employed there. Nonetheless, special investigations by chief financial regulator BaFin are continuing at both asset managers to identify whether investors were prejudiced by the corruption. The damaging impact of the allegations was underlined when BVI, the German fund management association, reported this week that open-ended property funds, until recently one of the most favoured asset classes for German private investors, suffered a €653m outflow of cash in the fourth quarter of the year. The affair is also an embarrassment for Frankfurt, dubbed Manhattan after its distinctive skyscraper skyline and its location on the Main river. news.ft.com