By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
A federal judge has ordered the return of $21.2 million in coins and bullion to gold customers of indicted Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford. Judge David C. Godbey issued his ruling Tuesday in federal court in Dallas.
The ruling affects 220 customers, including 147 who had $20.2 million in coins and bullion individually marked and stored in Stanford vaults. About another $1 million in gold was paid for and marked for delivery to about 70 customers when the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Stanford and froze the assets of his companies.
Stanford denies allegations that he led a $7 billion Ponzi scheme by promising inflated returns to about 28,000 investors on certificates of deposits at his Antiguan bank.
IRS rep in Dallas admits to accepting bribe
An IRS worker in Dallas who accepted a bribe in exchange for a promise of no audit faces a maximum 15 years in prison. Sentencing is March 29 for 33-year-old Fernando Hernandez of Dallas.
Prosecutors say Hernandez on Tuesday pleaded guilty to receiving a bribe by a public official. He also could be fined up to $250,000. Investigators say Hernandez was arrested Oct. 9 at his IRS office over a June 2005 incident in which he sought and accepted a $2,000 bribe from a taxpayer.
Details on who paid the bribe were not immediately released.
Hernandez, who no longer works for the IRS, was free on a personal recognizance bond.
Space shuttle moved to launch pad on freezing morning
Space shuttle Endeavour is on the launch pad after a freezing three-and-a-half-mile trip.
NASA moved the shuttle out of its hangar before dawn Wednesday. The temperature was bitterly cold, getting as low as 29. As a precaution, NASA turned on the shuttle heaters earlier than usual. In addition, workers limited their time outside to 30-minute shifts during Endeavour's six-hour trip to the pad.
Six astronauts will ride Endeavour into orbit Feb. 7. They will deliver two of the last major pieces of the International Space Station, a connecting chamber named Tranquility and a cupola with seven windows.
NASA's shuttle program is in its final countdown. Only five missions remain.