Comptroller

President Reagan has nominated Maj. Gen. Claudius E. Watts III for a promotion and appointment as the Air Force's comptroller, the Pentagon announced Thursday. If confirmed by the Senate, Watts would receive his third star and replace Lt. Gen. Truman Spangrud.

A New York State judge gave a light sentence to a Los Angeles venture capitalist and philanthropist for his participation in a pay-to-play corruption scandal involving former New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Elliott Broidy, 55, on Monday pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempting to receive a reward for official misconduct, the New York attorney general's office said. The judge let him change his plea to a misdemeanor from a felony and spared him jail time. Broidy provided important evidence in a case against former New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who served as the sole trustee to a $125-billion public pension fund, Justice Lewis Bart Stone said.

Henry Earl Riddel, who had pleaded guilty last month to mail fraud and conspiracy and was sentenced to three years in prison for his part in hiding ESM Government Securities' losses, has become the second figure in the scandal to take his own life. Riddel, 68, who was in poor health, was to begin serving his federal prison term on Dec. 4. ESM, which owed about $315 million to dozens of creditors, collapsed in March, 1985.

WASHINGTON — The top U.S. bank regulator had no inkling of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s more than $2-billion trading loss until just weeks before it became public — even though the agency had 65 examiners working full-time at the firm's Manhattan headquarters and other company offices. To some lawmakers, the acknowledgment was another black mark for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which has been criticized for not being more aggressive in its oversight of major financial institutions in the years before the financial crisis.

New York City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. cruised to victory in the Democratic mayoral primary and will face billionaire incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg. With 62% of precincts reporting, Thompson had about 69% of the vote. Bloomberg is not registered with a political party and did not compete in a primary.

Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, is suing the Comptroller of the Currency to get the list of consumer complaints that have been filed against banks across the country. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Consumers Union had requested the information in 1985 under the Freedom of Information Act as part of an effort to evaluate bank compliance with the Fair Credit Billing Act.

General Motors Corp. promoted Wallace W. Creek to comptroller at the auto maker's board of directors' meeting in New York. Creek, 53, replaces 59-year-old John E. Mischi, who will be on special assignment until he retires Sept. 1, GM Chairman Robert C. Stempel said in a statement. Creek was named assistant comptroller in 1988. He was named assistant comptroller at Cadillac in 1977, and later served as comptroller and director of finance at GM Espana. Returning to the United States from Spain, he served as comptroller at Inland division and the Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac group.

Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer was unapologetic after making suggestive comments to a governor's aide during a meeting. Schaefer had requested tea at the Wednesday session, attended by more than 100 people, and a 24-year-old executive assistant from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s front office set a mug in front of the comptroller. Schaefer, 84, watched her walk away, then beckoned her to return.

The Reagan Administration, engaged in a far-reaching constitutional conflict with Congress, urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to strike down the automatic deficit-reduction provisions of the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget law. In oral argument, Solicitor General Charles Fried told the justices that the landmark law violates the separation of powers by giving an officer of Congress--the comptroller general--budget-cutting authority that should be reserved to the executive branch.

The city's comptroller, indicted on charges of mishandling city funds, apparently attempted suicide by taking an overdose of prescription drugs, police said. Jacqueline F. McLean, 50, was semiconscious in her home Thursday night when police arrived, responding to a phone call. She was taken to Union Memorial Hospital, where she was in guarded condition Friday. Police said they found a note, but refused to reveal its contents.

Delinquent borrowers who think they've been treated unfairly by their mortgage lenders and the companies that service their loans will soon have their day in court. Well, not court, per se. But within the next few weeks, federal regulators will announce a new complaint procedure for borrowers who think they've been unjustly harmed by errors, misrepresentations or other deficiencies in the foreclosure process. Under the process, which is being spearheaded by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, aggrieved borrowers whose primary residence was in any stage of the foreclosure process between January 2009 and December 2010 will be eligible to have their cases reviewed by an independent consultant.

JPMorgan Chase was ordered to pay more than $35 million to settle allegations that employees participated in a bid-rigging scheme for derivatives sold to municipalities and non-profit organizations. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said JPMorgan employees engaged in the scheme beginning in at least 1999 though 2005, submitting false or sham courtesy bids and communicating with direct competitors to fix prices. The OCC said the enforcement action is part of a global resolution with the U.S. Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve Board, and about 25 state attorneys general.

A former top New York state official with ties to Southern California securities and investment executives pleaded guilty Wednesday to corruption charges in a still-unfolding "pay to play" scandal. David Loglisci, the chief investment officer at the New York State Comptroller's office from 2003 to 2007, admitted that he violated public trust by basing investment decisions on whether they would benefit former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi and his political advisor, Henry "Hank" Morris, New York Atty.

The Democratic gubernatorial primary in Illinois is a tossup between Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes as controversy over an inmate early-release program and an imploding state budget has cut into Quinn's once-sizable advantage, a Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll has found. On the Republican side, three candidates also are in a close battle ahead of the Feb. 2 primary. Former state GOP Chairman Andy McKenna, former Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan and state Sen. Kirk Dillard lead the field, but none had reached 20%, according to the new poll.

New York City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. cruised to victory in the Democratic mayoral primary and will face billionaire incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg. With 62% of precincts reporting, Thompson had about 69% of the vote. Bloomberg is not registered with a political party and did not compete in a primary.

The state's chief financial officer, Comptroller Alan Hevesi, resigned Friday and pleaded guilty to a felony for using a state employee as his wife's chauffeur. The plea effectively ended Hevesi's 35-year political career and wrapped up an investigation by Albany County Dist. Atty. David Soares, who had been presenting evidence about Hevesi to a grand jury. Hevesi, 66, will serve no jail time. He agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and not file any appeals. He also agreed not to take office Jan.

Chase Manhattan's plans to open four so-called "non-bank banks" this month in California, including one in Newport Beach, have been delayed indefinitely by a federal court in Florida. The court issued a restraining order Friday that prohibits the U.S. comptroller of the currency from chartering any such limited-service banks, pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the Independent Bankers Assn.

The Providence, R.I.-based firm reported that the California Insurance Commissioner has approved the purchase, and the Comptroller of the Currency has determined that it will not object to the acquisition. Textron also said it has begun buying all Avco common shares that have been tendered to it in its $50-a-share tender offer, which expires Jan. 16.

The state comptroller has agreed to pay more than $200,000 to settle an investigation into his use of a state employee to drive for his ailing wife, the attorney general's office said in Albany. Alan G. Hevesi paid the state $82,688.82 after doing his own calculation and was subsequently ordered by the attorney general's office to hand over $90,000 more. Under an agreement with the same office, Hevesi will pay an additional $33,604.97.

The nation's top bank regulator issued an alarm Thursday about mortgages with artificially low starting payments, telling participants at a Los Angeles conference that borrowers needed better warnings that their bills inevitably would jump. After the steep rise in home prices over the last few years, such loans have helped people stretch their finances to buy properties. But eventually, the payments ramp up.