David L Paul

CenTrust Chairman Sentenced to 11 Years: David Paul was also ordered to pay $60 million in restitution and a $5-million fine for his part in the $1.7-billion collapse of the largest savings and loan in the Southeast. Paul, 55, was earlier convicted of 97 counts of racketeering and fraud in connection with the 1990 failure of Miami-based CenTrust Bank, whose failure was the fourth-biggest in U.S. history. Paul must report to prison in 30 days.

The Office of Thrift Supervision said today that it will seek $30.8 million in restitution from David L. Paul, the former chairman of the failed CenTrust Bank of Miami. OTS officials told a news conference that it is the second-largest amount they are seeking in a savings-and-loan case. They said Paul's "insatiable vanity and greed" were a major factor in the failure of CenTrust, which will cost taxpayers an estimated $1.7 billion. The thrift agency said it is serving Paul with an order demanding restitution to CenTrust and barring him from selling or transferring any assets of more than $5,000.

David Paul, convicted chairman of failed Centrust Bank, has agreed to settle federal securities charges without admitting wrongdoing in junk bond deals with Charles H. Keating Jr., a regulator said Tuesday. Paul will accept an injunction barring him from any future fraud or disclosure violations following charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A federal grand jury has indicted David L. Paul, the former CenTrust Savings Bank chairman, on fraud charges arising from the alleged sham purchase of $25 million in securities by BCCI, authorities said Friday. James McAdams, acting U.S. attorney for southern Florida, announced that a federal grand jury had issued the indictment against Paul, who was jailed earlier this week on contempt of court charges. The indictment listed counts of conspiracy and other crimes.

Former CenTrust Chairman David L. Paul, a national symbol of extravagance in the savings and loan crisis, says he's $3.5 million in debt, according to court documents released Friday. Paul, who has pleaded poverty for months, filed a personal financial statement with the Office of Thrift Supervision saying that his $4.9 million in assets are outweighed by $8.4 million in loans he must repay.

Companies promoting security systems have for some time been hiring as experts the very people who made careers of breaking through them. Ex-burglars advised 7-Eleven stores on anti-robbery measures; one even became a company spokesman and a Johnny Carson regular. A New York ex-thief promoted his door alarm system as the invention of a "crime expert." A Los Angeles security firm offers consumers tips from its in-house "ex-con."

Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) wrote a letter to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in September, 1988, at the request of a contributor, David L. Paul, owner of CenTrust Savings Bank, the Miami-based thrift owned partly by the scandal-ridden Bank of Credit & Commerce International, according to a report published Saturday.

Great Western Financial agreed Friday to buy CenTrust Federal Savings Bank in Florida in the biggest taxpayer bailout yet of a savings and loan. The deal marks the end of a thrift that came to symbolize some of the worst examples of greed and gluttony in the nation's thrift debacle. Taxpayers will pick up a bill of about $1.7 billion for CenTrust. Great Western, the Beverly Hills parent of Great Western Bank, will pay $86.4 million for CenTrust's 71 branches and $5.2 billion in deposits.

More than 1,000 people jammed the white-marble "sky lobby" of the CenTrust Bank here Saturday, many to bid hungrily for a silver-plated piece of the wreckage from the collapse of the U.S. savings and loan industry. About 16,000 pieces of Limoges china, Baccarat crystal, first edition books and even the Tiffany ashtrays in which deposed CenTrust Chairman David L. Paul ground out his gold-tipped cigarettes were snapped up in seven hours of spirited buying.

Ousted Centrust Bank Chairman David Paul was convicted Wednesday of federal fraud charges for using millions of dollars in thrift funds for his personal expenses while the savings and loan was failing. Paul, convicted on all but one of 69 counts, faces a maximum of 350 years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 11. He was acquitted of one minor charge. Prosecutors asked that Paul, who is free on bond, be taken into custody immediately as a flight risk.

Sanford Bohrer was one of many attorneys who represented CenTrust Bank Chairman David Paul in his battles against regulators, but he was the only one compelled to testify in the millionaire's fraud trial. Prosecutors stepped into choppy legal waters to put Bohrer on the stand in the 71-count federal case against Paul, who presided over one of the nation's worst thrift failures, costing taxpayers $1.7 billion.

Ousted CenTrust Savings Chairman David Paul walked out of his trial on federal civil charges Monday after lecturing the judge for 45 minutes about the proceedings, which he later called a "charade." The Office of Thrift Supervision, which is supervising the savings and loan bailout, is seeking $3 million in fines for Paul's allegedly improper money transfers and his failure to comply with its orders since his thrift's $1.7-billion failure in February, 1990.

CenTrust Chief Faces First Trial on Government Charges: David Paul, former head of CenTrust Savings, faces trial in Miami today in a civil case brought by the Office of Thrift Supervision over $3.2 million in fines. Paul is a focal point in three major financial scandals: the savings and loan bailout, Michael Milken's junk bond sales and the rogue international bank BCCI.

Once he ate from Limoges china, sipped his wine from Baccarat crystal goblets, imported five French chefs for a private dinner party and hosted Elizabeth Taylor on his $7-million yacht. He founded a world-class symphony orchestra, donated millions to charity and elbowed his way into Miami's elite circle of power brokers. From atop a gleaming 47-story office building designed by architect I. M.

A federal grand jury has indicted David L. Paul, the former CenTrust Savings Bank chairman, on fraud charges arising from the alleged sham purchase of $25 million in securities by BCCI, authorities said Friday. James McAdams, acting U.S. attorney for southern Florida, announced that a federal grand jury had issued the indictment against Paul, who was jailed earlier this week on contempt of court charges. The indictment listed counts of conspiracy and other crimes.

Federal officials on Monday denounced the "insatiable vanity and greed" of former CenTrust Bank Chairman David L. Paul, whose executive bathroom at the Miami thrift had gold-plated sinks and pipes, and began action to force him to repay nearly $31 million to the failed institution. "The American taxpayers have every right to be outraged," Timothy Ryan, director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, said at a news conference.

Once he ate from Limoges china, sipped his wine from Baccarat crystal goblets, imported five French chefs for a private dinner party and hosted Elizabeth Taylor on his $7-million yacht. He founded a world-class symphony orchestra, donated millions to charity and elbowed his way into Miami's elite circle of power brokers. From atop a gleaming 47-story office building designed by architect I. M.

David Paul Must Surrender on Contempt Charge: The ousted chairman of CenTrust Savings Bank of Miami was sentenced to 18 months in prison after refusing to give documents to a grand jury investigating the thrift's $1.7-billion failure. U.S. District Judge Stanley Marcus found Paul in contempt of court and gave him until Monday afternoon to surrender to U.S. marshals.