Chattanooga brokers begin jail sentences
Two Chattanooga investment dealers are headed to federal prison this weekend after pleading guilty earlier this year to defrauding hundreds of local investors out of more than $4.9 million at their Broad Street Ventures.
Doug Dyer, the 58-year-old former president of the Chattanooga Quarterback Club, reported to federal prison on Friday and his partner, 68-year-old James Brennan, will report to federal prison in Atlanta on Monday. Brennan was granted another three days after saying he needed extra time to deal with the foreclosure on his home. The former business executives raised millions of dollars in both California and later in Chattanooga for investments that authorities said were improperly made or illegally diverted for personal use. But since regulators seized Broad Street Ventures and charged the partners with multiple counts of fraud and tax evasion, the two have worked in manual labor jobs for a fraction of what they previously made.
Mickey McCamish, a retired Navy captain and businessman who met Dyer through support of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic events, said Friday he was “glad that justice has finally come” two years after he first learned of the FBI probe of the investment fraud.
Brennan did not contest his 4-year sentence, but Dyer did file an appeal of his 5-year sentence after U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough imposed the penalty in September. But Dyer’s original attorney, Lee Davis, who was previously paid for by a family member, withdrew from representing Dyer in the sentencing appeal.
Prosecutors seek prison for Volkswagen manager
Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for a Volkswagen senior manager who pleaded guilty in the automaker’s U.S. diesel emissions scandal.
Oliver Schmidt will be sentenced Wednesday in Detroit federal court. In a court filing this week, federal prosecutors said the 48-year-old followed a “script of deception” while VW was using software to cheat emissions rules on nearly 600,000 vehicles.
Schmidt led VW’s engineering and environmental office in Michigan from 2012 to early 2015. Defense lawyers are recommending that his sentence not exceed 40 months in prison. He’ll get credit for the nearly one year he’s spent in custody.
Schmidt’s lawyers say he “accepts full responsibility” for his role in the scandal. But they say he’s less culpable than others. VW pleaded guilty as a corporation in March.
UT-Knoxville boosts MBA school rankings
The full-time MBA at UT’s Haslam College of Business showed the largest gains of all programs ranked in the 2017 Poets and Quants Top 100 U.S. MBA Programs.
The program climbed 24 positions to 56th and is ranked 29th among public institutions.
Poets and Quants cites UT’s current upward trend in the rankings published by U.S. News and World Report, Forbes, and Bloomberg Businessweek.
“Haslam’s full-time MBA is building momentum in our push to join the top 25 public institutions,” said Mary Goss, director of the full-time MBA program at UT. “This windfall of positive rankings news is the result of our MBA team’s important work toward recruiting talented students and delivering positive career outcomes for them.”
The program is designed to produce successful managers with a broad base of business knowledge along with a specialization to deliver direct value for a business unit.
U.S. wants ‘Pharma Bro’ to give up $2 million album
The government wants to seize Martin Shkreli’s one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album.
The recording that Shkreli has boasted he bought for $2 million is on a list of assets that prosecutors argue the jailed former pharmaceutical CEO should forfeit after his conviction earlier this year in a securities fraud scheme involving two failed hedge funds.
In a letter filed this week in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors told a judge that Shkreli is on the hook for $7.3 million.
The 34-year-old “should be held financially responsible and forfeit this amount as it was obtained by him as a result of the fraud,” the letter says.
Along with the Wu-Tang Clan “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” album, prosecutors say Shkreli should give up $5 million in cash in a brokerage account, his interest in a pharmaceutical company and other valuables including a Picasso painting and another unreleased recording that he claims he owns, “Tha Carter V” by Lil Wayne.
Ford recalls SUVs and pickup trucks
Ford is recalling more than 202,000 pickup trucks and SUVs in North America because front seat cushions can come loose and fail to properly hold people in a crash.
The recall covers certain 2016 F-150 and Explorer vehicles equipped with front power seats.
The company says a bolt in the power seat adjuster can come loose or fall out. If that happens, the seat cushion can move too far. Ford says it’s not aware of any crashes or injuries from the problem.
Dealers will check the bolts. If they pass inspection, mechanics will clean and reinstall them with an adhesive to keep them secured. If the bolt fails inspection, dealers will follow the same procedure until parts for a final repair are available.
Owners will be notified starting Jan. 8.