IN BRIEF
Man gets suspended sentence, fine in insurance fraud case
Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto's office on Friday said Bradley D. Buchanan was sentenced to 12 to 32 months suspended sentence, placed on probation and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution for felony insurance fraud.
In a statement, Masto's office said the charges stemmed from Buchanan's writing fake insurance policies for friends and relatives without their knowledge to gain commissions and bonuses.
Buchanan, 38, pleaded guilty to the charges in December and was sentenced in Washoe District Court by Judge Patrick Flanagan. The policies were written between October and December 2008. The Nevada Insurance Commission revoked Buchanan's license in October 2009.
Masto's office said the fraud scheme was discovered when Buchanan's sister began receiving notices demanding payment on an insurance policy that she didn't know existed.
Buchanan also wrote policies on his stepfather, common-law wife, her ex-husband and their two children. Buchanan used a Social Security number and fake information to complete insurance policy applications and used his wife's checking account to send initial payment on the policies. The checks bounced.
Unlicensed loan-modification company will pay refunds, fine
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto's office said Friday an agreement has been reached with Focus 2000 Financial Corp. regarding its unlicensed loan modification program.
In a statement, Masto's office said the state of Nevada alleged that Focus 2000 Financial operated a loan-modification service without the proper licensing by the Nevada Mortgage Lending Division and took payment for services before completing the loan modification in violation of Nevada's deceptive trade law.
Under the settlement, Focus 2000 Financial will refund money paid by homeowners who didn't have their loan modification completed and will pay a $5,000 penalty. Focus 2000 Financial will provide documentation to show refunds were paid as promised and has agreed not to modify loans or repair credit without the proper licenses and permits.
Bethlehem mayor requests time line for Sands project
The mayor of Bethlehem, Pa., wants Las Vegas Sands Corp. to set a construction time line for the Sands Bethlehem's stalled hotel, mall and conference center.
Mayor John Callahan asked the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to make the time line part of the casino's relicensing.
"Bethlehem and the state invested a great deal in this project and are entitled to a firmer timetable for restarting construction," Callahan said.
Las Vegas Sands plans to wait until the financial markets improve before restarting a 300-room hotel, 200,000-square-foot mall and 46,000-square-foot conference center.
Las Vegas Sands President Michael Leven, at a gaming conference in Las Vegas last month, said the company would not evaluate restarting the hotel's construction until the end of the year, and only after the casino adds recently approved table games.
NEW YORK
JPMorgan chief Dimon gets $16 million stock bonus for '09
JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon received a stock bonus valued at nearly $16 million for 2009 after steering the big bank through the aftermath of the financial crisis, the company said Friday.
Dimon's bonus carries several restrictions and can be recouped by the bank at any time and for any reason. The stringent measures are aimed at countering criticism over lavish pay at banks that helped cause the financial crisis and then received billions in taxpayer bailouts.
Like other big bank CEOs, Dimon received no cash bonus for 2009. Instead, he got $7.8 million in restricted stock and 563,562 in restricted stock options, JPMorgan said. The options are valued at about $8.1 million, bringing his total 2009 bonus to $15.9 million.
Tax gain pushes Beazer Homes to profit in its first quarter
Homebuyers spurred by low interest rates and government incentives helped lift Beazer Homes USA Inc.'s sales in the last three months of 2009, but the builder only turned a profit because of a hefty tax gain.
Management said Friday it expects to reel in more home shoppers this year, but stopped short of forecasting a profitable year.
Beazer earned $48 million, or $1.17 a share, in its fiscal first quarter ended in December. That compares with a loss of $80.3 million, or $2.08 a share, in the prior-year period.
The builder booked a $101 million tax gain.
Revenue was flat at $218.8 million versus $218.2 million.
NEW YORK
Facebook redesigns site to emphasize applications, games
Facebook is redesigning its site yet again, this time to better emphasize applications, games and search.
The latest evolution continued Friday after Facebook started rolling the changes out late Thursday, the company's sixth birthday. Links and items have moved as Facebook tries to streamline navigation and make games and apps stand out more.
The world's largest online social network has continuously morphed its home page as it's grown from a closed hub for college students to a Web and mobile destination for 400 million people worldwide.
Past changes have sparked protests from many users, though Facebook says it makes them to serve its audience better after months of testing.
NEW YORK
Jenny Craig will end ads in deal with Weight Watchers
Jenny Craig has agreed to end an ad campaign featuring actress Valerie Bertinelli as part of a legal settlement with Weight Watchers International, the dueling companies said Friday.
Bertinelli, clad in a white lab coat, tells viewers a "major clinical trial ... run by some serious lab geeks" found dieters using the Jenny Craig approach lost twice as much weight as those using the nation's largest weight-loss program.
The problem was no such study existed, Weight Watchers said in a federal lawsuit filed in January. At that point, the campaign had run for less than a month on TV, in print and online, and a U.S. judge in Manhattan temporarily barred Jenny Craig from broadcasting, publishing or distributing the ads.
Weight Watchers said Jenny Craig's claim was not supported by fact or science.
