Car used in woman's stabbing rented with husband's credit card

Police have determined that the vehicle used by the perpetrator in the slaying of a woman in a Century City parking garage was rented with a credit card bearing the name of her estranged husband, a federal prosecutor said today.

The credit card was seized from the wallet of James Fayed during a recent search of his Moorpark ranch house, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark R. Aveis. The license plate of the vehicle was caught on security surveillance cameras and traced to an Avis rental car agency near Fayed's Camarillo business, he said.

Aveis' comments came as Fayed appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to face felony charges of conducting unlicensed money transactions through the international gold trading company he ran with his wife, Pamela. Fayed was arrested Friday evening and remains in federal custody.

During the hearing, Aveis argued that Fayed should not be allowed to post bail.

The prosecutor recounted a meeting this summer between Fayed and his wife, who were in the midst of a bitter divorce, in which Fayed allegedly told her "I could have you killed and my hands would be clean," Aveis said, making a motion to indicate he was wiping his hands.

In addition to the credit card, authorities seized $60,000, some of it sealed in shrink wrap, and $3 million in gold bullion at Fayed's house, Aveis said. Twenty-five assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition were also seized, he said.

Pamela Fayed was attacked by a man with a knife on July 28 in the parking garage of a Century City high-rise, investigators said. The perpetrator was "lying in wait," Aveis said.

He said Pamela and James Fayed and their attorneys were meeting at the office complex to discuss legal matters.

Los Angeles police detectives investigating Pamela Fayed's slaying have been looking for possible links between her death and the couple's jointly owned companies, Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales and an associated Internet firm, e-Bullion, law enforcement sources have said. Police searched James Fayed's home looking for evidence in the murder investigation earlier this week, the anonymous source said.

Aveis characterized Fayed's business operations during 2005 and 2006 as ponzi schemes in which individuals invested up to $20 million.

Mark Werksman, Fayed's attorney and a former federal prosecutor, said Saturday that he was troubled by the timing of his client's arrest.