Empire National Bank

The former president of Empire National Bank in Westwood has been sentenced to three years in prison for fraudulently diverting bank funds to his use and approving a series of bad loans that investigators blamed in part for the failure of the bank in 1987. William R. Ziegler, 49, was also ordered to pay $50,000 restitution to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The former president of Empire National Bank in Westwood has been sentenced to three years in prison for fraudulently diverting bank funds to his use and approving a series of bad loans that investigators blamed in part for the failure of the bank in 1987. William R. Ziegler, 49, was also ordered to pay $50,000 restitution to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The former president of Empire National Bank in Los Angeles was indicted Thursday on charges of tax evasion and misappropriating more than $48,000 in bank funds for his personal use. William R. Ziegler, 49, is accused in a 29-count federal grand jury indictment of taking loan fee money from bank customers to pay his credit card bills, property taxes and fees to his personal accountant and attorney, then failing to report the money as income.

The former president of Empire National Bank in Los Angeles was indicted Thursday on charges of tax evasion and misappropriating more than $48,000 in bank funds for his personal use. William R. Ziegler, 49, is accused in a 29-count federal grand jury indictment of taking loan fee money from bank customers to pay his credit card bills, property taxes and fees to his personal accountant and attorney, then failing to report the money as income.

Former Ram football guard Roy Hord Jr., who later was general manager of Riverside International Raceway and long was active in politics and community projects in Riverside, died of cancer Thursday. He was 67. Hord was born in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 25, 1934. He attended Duke University, where he played defensive tackle and offensive guard, and was named first-team All-American in 1957. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1960, and eventually played guard for three seasons.

In February, Bank of New York Co. had a good idea. It decided to spin off its ARCS Mortgage subsidiary in Calabasas in an initial public stock offering that it hoped would raise $58 million for the mortgage banking company, and help ARCS reduce its sizable debt. At the time mortgage companies were getting renewed attention because lower interest rates were luring homeowners to refinance their mortgages.

When it comes to calamities, Abraham Flores is far more concerned about the Big One than he is about a further outbreak of civil unrest. "Cops can stop riots," reasons the Boyle Heights sixth-grader. "But you can't put an earthquake in jail. You can't give it the electric chair." Shaken by last month's magnitude 7.5 Landers temblor--and ominous reminders from seismologists that a larger shake is long overdue--Southern Californians are exhibiting lingering symptoms of earthquake Angst.

Keven Lippert will be the first person from his family ever to go to college, and when he leaves for his first year at UC Berkeley he will take with him moral and financial support beyond that of his family. Armed with a $500-a-year scholarship for as long as he remains in college and the encouragement of his "mentor," Lippert is one of 105 students who will have an extra boost toward successfully completing their college careers because of the Beca Foundation.

Like many Texas businessmen in 1985, Tom Lundberg was being squeezed by collapsing real estate prices. But he hit upon a novel solution: buying a New Mexico potash mine at a time when the potash industry was as bad off as Texas real estate. Peculiar as Lundberg's plan might have seemed, a clue to his intentions may have emerged at the closing of the potash mine sale on Dec. 31, 1985. He and his lawyer, John N.