Suit

In these troubled economic times, it's not hard to understand why people might want to protect their life savings by purchasing a hard asset like gold or silver. At least, that's the pitch of Monex, the big Newport Beach investment firm, which bills itself as "America's trusted name in precious metals investments" and assures clients that it's "committed to customer service. " So let's take a look at the experiences of some customers who say their trust in Monex was misplaced.

In his opening statement in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death suit, an attorney for AEG said his side would expose the singer's secrets. "We're going to show some ugly stuff," Marvin Putnam said. But on Wednesday, it was lawyers for the singer's family who revealed some ugly stuff from AEG. Hours before Anschutz Entertainment Group executives headed to Michael Jackson's Holmby Hills home to sign multimillion-dollar contracts for his 50 concerts in London, the firm's top lawyer called Jackson "the freak" in an email.

ABC killed two of its long-running soap operas - "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" - more than a year ago. Now, in true soap opera fashion, the network stands accused of trying to snuff out the very same shows - again. On Thursday, production company Prospect Park Networks filed a $25-million breach of contract lawsuit against the Walt Disney Co-owned broadcast network. The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleged that ABC backstabbed the production firm by carrying out a devious plot to destroy Prospect's efforts to bring the beloved daytime dramas back to life as online productions.

Palmela Green sits amid hundreds of fabric rolls in her West L.A. swimsuit shop, surrounded by pink and red sequins, animal prints, knits and faux furs. A photo of one of her recent projects, a swimsuit in a Lexus ad, is proudly displayed on a wall. Green, who works by appointment, is one of only a few designers - the pool also includes Lissa Walker and Merrilee Madrigal, who are both based in Orange County - in the area who create custom swimwear. Green's customers pick a fabric and then choose one of her styles or order a one-of-a-kind pattern.

After days of silence during which long-held resentment toward Abercrombie & Fitch Co. began to boil over, Chief Executive Michael S. Jeffries tried to stem a backlash against the teen-focused retailer. Jeffries, in a statement Thursday, discussed criticism that the company lacks women's XL and XXL sizes in favor of catering toward young, good-looking customers. "A&F is an aspirational brand that, like most specialty apparel brands, targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers," he said in the statement.

Chevrolet has found a bit of mojo over the past 24 months in a segment of the automotive landscape that, historically, hasn't been its strong suit: small cars. The compact Cruze was a sales leader for much of 2011 and after slowing a bit for some of 2012, was the bestselling car in its class for August. Meanwhile, GM (Chevrolet's parent) says people bought almost 74,000 of its sub-compact Sonic in its first 12 months on the market. So Chevrolet is going even smaller with the Spark.

Accusing Wells Fargo & Co. of reneging on a sweeping mortgage-modification deal, a lawyer for troubled homeowners is trying to reopen a case involving risky "pick-a-pay" loans written during the housing bubble. Legal filings last week claimed Wells Fargo failed to provide wide-ranging reductions of loan balances to delinquent borrowers as it had promised two years ago when it settled a combined national class-action suit. A bank spokeswoman strongly disputed the claim, saying it was riddled with errors.

Marc Christian MacGinnis, who won a multimillion-dollar settlement in 1991 from the estate of his ex-lover, actor Rock Hudson, after convincing a jury Hudson had knowingly exposed him to AIDS, has died. He was 56. Known as Marc Christian, he died of pulmonary problems June 2 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. The details were confirmed Friday by his sister, Susan Dahl, who said she did not publicly announce his death earlier because of her brother's wish for privacy.

The Federal Trade Commission has sued longtime bulb manufacturer Lights of America Inc., charging that some of the company's energy-saving LED bulbs don't burn nearly as brightly or as long as advertised. Light emitting diode bulbs made by the Walnut company are sold at major national retailers, such as Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Costco. The suit alleges that Lights of America made false claims about the performance of some bulbs on its packaging and marketing materials beginning in 2008.

A breach-of-contract suit filed against comedian Adam Carolla by three former business associates suggests that the new media world may not be all that different from old Hollywood. Producer Donny Misraje -- who claims to have persuaded the radio and television personality and longtime friend to use podcasts to reach his listeners -- filed suit against Carolla on Thursday in Superior Court in Los Angeles.  Misraje is joined in the suit by his wife, Kathee Schneider-Misraje, a creative director, and Sandy Ganz, who helped rebuild and maintain websites for the company's podcasts and co-hosted a show, "CarCast," with Carolla.  The trio allege Carolla failed to distribute their share of the profits in the podcasting business -- or even provide an accurate accounting of the books -- in violation of an oral partnership agreement.

A group of parents and students have filed a federal lawsuit against the Compton school district alleging a pattern of abuse and racial profiling of Latinos by school police. One family alleged that school police targeted a student's father for arrest and deliberately got him deported to Mexico after he filed a complaint against an officer. In another incident, school officers allegedly beat, pepper sprayed and used a chokehold on a bystander who was taking video of an arrest on his iPod, and erased cellphone videos taken by students.

To some, a Mother's Day getaway means a don't-look-back, tires-screeching hall pass for an escape with girlfriends. To others, it means an amorous sojourn with a husband or partner. Then there are those who want to take along their kids or even the family pet. Herewith, places to suit all preferences. A tip: You can sometimes get fantastic last-minute deals on websites such as http://www.hotels.com . Le Méridien, Isle of Pines, New Caledonia For the mother - or family - who has been everywhere.

What's to live for? The price of wine continues to skyrocket, and Warren Buffett is now tweeting. What's next for us culturally? Bingo night at the Louvre? Meanwhile, the criminal justice system insists on hammering on poor Lindsay Lohan. It's only a matter of time before her work suffers, and then who takes over as the freckled queen of American cinema? Leonardo DiCaprio? That's the obvious answer. Yes, I have issues with him as Gatsby, but more on that in a moment. For now, I'll tell you what's to live for. Summer, that's what.

Michael Jackson's diminishing figure - so thin that a costume designer claimed he could see the pop star's heartbeat through his skin - failed to even concern his own manager, according to testimony given Friday. "Get him a bucket of chicken," Frank DiLeo replied when told of the singer's dramatic weight loss, Karen Faye said. "It was such a cold response," said Faye. "I mean, it broke my heart. " Over two days on the witness stand, Jackson's longtime friend and hair and makeup artist offered dramatic and sometimes emotional testimony in a trial that will determine whether the music legend's mother and three children are awarded damages in the millions - even billions - for his death.

When he died, Michael Jackson had a cocktail of anti-depressant and mood drugs in his system as well as a level of the anesthetic propofol typical of a patient undergoing major surgery. The revelation came during testimony Monday in the lawsuit Jackson's mother and children have filed against AEG, the entertainment giant that was promoting the singer's comeback concert series in London when he died. Dr. Christopher Rogers, the Los Angeles County deputy medical examiner, testified that after toxicology tests found Jackson had used propofol, he consulted with an anesthesiologist.

Pale and emaciated, Michael Jackson lay on his bed in his $100,000-a-month Holmby Hills mansion looking like an end-stage cancer patient who had come home to die. The scene inside the house where Jackson lived as he prepared for a comeback tour was described Tuesday in stark detail by Richard Senneff, the lead-off witness in a wrongful-death case brought by the pop legend's mother and three children against entertainment firm AEG. FOR THE...

The Trinity Broadcasting Network, which bills itself as the world's largest Christian network, is embroiled in a legal battle involving allegations of massive financial fraud and lavish spending, including the purchase of a $100,000 motor home for family dogs. Brittany Koper, a former high-ranking TBN official and the granddaughter of its co-founder, Paul Crouch Sr., was fired by the network in September after discovering "illegal financial schemes" amounting to tens of millions of dollars, according to a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court.

Sprint Nextel Corp. is being sued for $300 million by New York Atty. Gen. Eric T. Schneiderman, who is accusing the wireless carrier of tax fraud. Schneiderman called Thursday's suit - which alleges, based on a whistle-blower's tip, that Sprint underpaid sales tax on some of its wireless plans for the last seven years - a “groundbreaking” filing. The complaint alleges that Sprint's debt to New York is growing by $210,000 a week. Schneiderman claims the company already owes more than $100 million.

LAS VEGAS - Hotels open restaurants all the time. But a restaurant opening a hotel? That happens less often. But stuff happens in Las Vegas. The newest Nobu here is, indeed, a hotel. Not only that, but it's also a hotel within a hotel. And it's backed by two stars in their fields. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Robert De Niro first partnered in 1993, after De Niro dined at Nobu, Matsuhisa's flagship restaurant in Beverly Hills. The actor was impressed and persuaded the chef to open a Nobu in New York City.

Two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies say the department hid an inmate working as a federal informant from the FBI, according to a lawsuit they filed this week. The allegations are the latest development in the ongoing question of whether top sheriff's officials obstructed an FBI investigation after learning that an inmate at Men's Central Jail was secretly collecting information on allegedly abusive and corrupt deputies. In the summer of 2011, sheriff's deputies discovered the inmate's cellphone with a history of calls to the FBI. In an unusual move, sheriff's officials responded by transferring the inmate, a convicted bank robber, to a different jail under aliases, including Robin Banks.