Reed E Slatkin

During more than 15 years of fraud that cost his investors $240 million, Reed E. Slatkin seemed as much trusted friend as money manager. He schmoozed clients with tips on how to landscape their estates, attended funerals of their family members and all the while offered assurances that he would protect their college and retirement funds. His victims have asked to tell some of those stories today at Slatkin's sentencing hearing in Los Angeles, hoping to persuade U.S. District Judge Margaret M.

An associate of Earthlink Inc. co-founder Reed Slatkin agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into a $593-million fraud scheme, prosecutors said. Richard McMullin, 38, will admit to making false statements to the FBI and the bankruptcy trustee for the Slatkin estate. Slatkin, 54, pleaded guilty last year to orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that solicited $593 million from almost 800 investors. He could face up to 105 years in prison and fines of $3.

Investors defrauded of $255 million by EarthLink Inc. co-founder Reed Slatkin are hoping to recover funds from the Church of Scientology International and six affiliated organizations that allegedly wound up with tens of millions of dollars from the investment scam, their attorneys said Tuesday.

Investors who saw more than $225 million evaporate when Earthlink Inc. co-founder Reed E. Slatkin's long-running fraud collapsed won a court round Friday in their efforts to recover funds from the relatively few Slatkin investors who profited -- a group including celebrities such as actor Peter Coyote and former supermodel Cheryl Tiegs.

UnionBanCal Corp. must face claims by six investors in Reed Slatkin's Ponzi scheme who claim that California's third-largest bank conspired to conceal the EarthLink Inc. co-founder's fraud. UnionBanCal will have to go to trial on three of four claims over Slatkin's scheme, including aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy to commit fraud, U.S. District Judge Margaret Morrow ruled.

UnionBanCal Corp. and Comerica Inc. aided Earthlink co-founder Reed Slatkin's Ponzi scheme that solicited more than $590 million from investors, according to a suit filed by his estate's bankruptcy trustee. Slatkin this year agreed to plead guilty to 15 felony changes in connection with the investment scheme and acknowledged responsibility for at least $254 million in losses. He filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

Pacific Capital Bancorp's Santa Barbara Bank & Trust is accused of knowingly participating in EarthLink Inc. co-founder's Reed Slatkin's $593-million Ponzi scheme in a lawsuit filed by former investors. The nine plaintiffs, including one who lost more than $1 million, claim that Santa Barbara Bank & Trust aided Slatkin's plans by allowing him to co-mingle their money with his personal funds.

Reed E. Slatkin, the money manager to Hollywood luminaries who admitted to having lost $255million during a 15-year fraud spree, was taken into custody in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday to await months of questioning by investigators. The co-founder of EarthLink Inc. agreed last month to plead guilty to 15 counts of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. He returns to court Monday to enter his plea to charges carrying a potential sentence of as many as 15 years.

Santa Barbara money manager Reed Slatkin, who built an illusory investment empire using money collected from Hollywood celebrities, Internet moguls and fellow Scientologists, agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to 15 counts of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy for masterminding one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history.

UnionBanCal Corp. and a California law firm face a suit claiming they conspired to conceal information from U.S. authorities investigating Reed Slatkin, the bankrupt investment manager who is under criminal investigation for alleged investment fraud. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of Los Angeles investor Harry Rockoff, claims that the No.