| Three on trial in Hong Kong over laughable, billion-dollar scam
Hong Kong - Two Singaporean men and a Chinese man accused of trying to cash bogus cheques for 108 billion US dollars have gone on trial in a Hong Kong court, a news report said Saturday. The men produced the cheques dated 1948 at the DBS Bank in Hong Kong in April, claiming they had been entrusted to draw the money from an aunt's account, the South China Morning Post reported. The scam fell apart when staff at the DBS, previously named the Overseas Trust Bank, told the men that their bank had not even been founded at the time the cheques were allegedly written. Singaporeans Eddie Woon Kwok Jin, 53, and Lin Ban Hoong, 62, and mainland Chinese man Ma Ping, 32, denied charges of forgery at a hearing Friday in District Court. The case resumes Monday. .
Charity group denies terror link
Trustees of a New Zealand affiliate to an international Tamil charity accused by the United States of a terrorist link insist their fundraising efforts have been purely humanitarian. The US Treasury says it will freeze US assets of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation, which has affiliates in 18 countries, including New Zealand, and which it describes as "the support network" of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It accused the rehabilitation organisation of raising funds in the US for the Tamil Tigers, which has been listed as a terrorist organisation by Washington, Canada and the European Union, and of helping it to buy munitions, communications devices and other equipment. "TRO passed off its operations as charitable, when in fact it was raising money for a designated terrorist group responsible for heinous acts of terrorism," said senior US Treasury official Adam Szubin.
Discovery brings new life into savings policy market
Discovery launched a range of mix- and-match investment products this week, including some complex underlying investment options that the company claims address typical investor dilemmas and have the potential for you, the investor, to pay no investment costs if you have a Discovery life policy and participate in Discovery's Vitality programme. The new range of investment policies and underlying unit trust funds and life portfolios will make use of existing asset managers' expertise - Discovery has partnered with Investec Asset Management, Deutsche Bank and multi-manager Investment Solutions to provide various underlying investments. Launching Discovery's latest venture, Discovery Invest, this week chief executive Adrian Gore described the new policy offerings, which include an endowment (savings policy), a retirement annuity (RA), a retirement income plan (including a living or traditional annuity) and preservation funds, as "buckets" that investors can fill with underlying unit trust and life funds.
Business Highlights
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street finished a turbulent week with another huge drop Friday after major banks warned of further losses on their debt portfolios, raising investor concerns that the credit market slump shows no sign of abating.The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 220 points.Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wachovia Corp. all said the ongoing credit crisis will cause another round of heavy losses during the fourth quarter.Financial institutions took big hits during the third quarter as losses from subprime mortgages hurt their balance sheets, and these three companies were just the latest to report bad news that sent stocks lower.Also Friday, financial services provider EÀTrade Financial said it expects the value of its asset-backed securities to continue to drop in value, while credit card leader Capital One Financial Corp.
Don't let overdraft fees drain your account
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)(MCT)It was late Friday afternoon. With a thin envelope from my bank in hand and a sick feeling in my stomach, I sped to the nearest branch to beg them to reverse about $100 worth of insufficient funds fees. Fresh out of college, I couldn't afford the charges and was frustrated and confused about how I had screwed up to begin with. Fortunately, the banker took pity on me and reversed three of the four fees.Flash forward to today. I recently wrote a story about a Center for Responsible Lending report that found that 18- to 24-year-olds pay about $1 billion per year in overdraft fees. I was relieved to find that many of the students I spoke with about the findings had never overdrawn their accounts. Some others, such as 21-year-old Nadia Labyad, a senior at Hamline University, have tried to no avail to get their banks to reverse some fees.
Karma Klub meeting today
Karma Klub, a group of women dedicated to helping those in need, will have its next regular monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 19, at 11:3am at Pierre's Restaurant (next to the Modern Stationery branch and Bank of Guam in Garapan).Guest speakers will be DYS staffers Debra Inos and Vivian Sablan. Contributions collected at the meeting will go to their Special Children's Account. This fund assists children who are under DYS' care. These are victims of abuse or neglect. DYS uses this money for basic necessities and health care.The Karma Klub is also seeking new members. The only membership requirement is a $20 donation, which will go directly to designated groups that serve individuals or families in need. The more members that the Karma Klub has, the more it can help. All interested are invited to join the group on Nov.
Tax Website Glitch Exposes Customer's Personal Information
Your taxes are due April 17th. While your mind might be on 1040's and deductions, the News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters are watching out for you, to make sure your tax returns don't accidentally make you a victim of identity theft. "I knew immediately how big this was. This is very very bad." Jennifer isn't an identity thief. She is a Turbo Tax customer who had planned to file her taxes online. While looking for her tax filings from years past, she came across the returns of other customers. They all had her same last name, but different first initials. "For a bad guy to get this information would mean they could retire rich and happy." With a simple search, Jennifer was able to access the tax returns for three other turbo tax customers in different parts of the country.
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