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2, including St. Cloud real estate agent, plead guilty in mortgage fraud case
ST. PAUL A St. Cloud real estate agent and a Maple Grove real estate appraiser have pleaded guilty to being involved in a $1.8 million mortgage fraud scheme that involved 28 properties.
Ryan Daryl Krutzig, 31, of Maple Grove pleaded guilty Thursday while Jesse Scott Hoffman, 32, of St. Cloud pleaded guilty Sept. 15.
Krutzig pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Krutzig owned and operated US Appraisal Management in Maple Grove.
In his plea agreement, he admitted that from March through June 2006 he conspired with others to commit mortgage fraud.
He admitted to purchasing a residential property but failed to disclose to the mortgage lender that US Appraisal had handled the appraisal.
As part of the appraisal process, Krutzig prepared and approved required paperwork for the lender, saying that he had no present or prospective interest in the property.
Also on March 28, 2006, Krutzig and others purchased a property in the 3600 block of Bryant Avenue North in Minneapolis.
Tax-free Shopping Online May Be Prohibited
Shoppers who depend on tax-free shopping when making purchases at online stores such as Amazon may be disappointed this holiday season. Senator Dick Durbin has introduced the
Marketplace Fairness Act that ensures that retailers collect sales taxes in states where they don’t have stores.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Amazon announced support last week for the bill, which would enable states to collect an estimated $23 billion a year. While eBay predicts the small vendors represented on its online-auction site might lose their advantage, states need the additional revenue. Online retailers worry about the costs and compliance issues associated with dealing with each state.
The bill gives this power to all states that collect sales taxes but exempts those online stores with less than $500,000 in annual sales.
LOUISIANA ENTREPRENEURSHIP DAY AT LSU TO FEATURE STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS
LOUISIANA ENTREPRENEURSHIP DAY AT LSU TO FEATURE STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS November 4, 2011
– Student entrepreneurs will showcase their businesses and have the opportunity to network with other young professionals during Louisiana Entrepreneurship Day at LSU, Tuesday, November 15, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the LSU Student Union Theater.
Louisiana Entrepreneurship Day will feature a student business exposition from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and an entrepreneurship speaker series from 6:00 pm to 7:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public. Participation in the student business exposition is limited to current students and graduates from the classes of 2010 and 2011, who currently own a business or are working on a startup.
Featured student speakers will include Daniel Gomez, founder of Solben Energy, and Catherine Cook, founder of MyYearBook.com, both of whom are young entrepreneurs who launched their companies while in school. C Read more…
Feds tighten belt by cutting agriculture reports; farmers left guessing when to sell, cut production
PIERRE, S.D. — When farmers need to check honey prices so they can decide whether to sell, there’s been a report for that. And when catfish and sheep farmers want to check production in their industries, there have been reports for that too.
The U.S. Agriculture Department has kept tabs for decades on a wide range of agricultural industries that generate billions of dollars for the U.S. economy. But that is about to change, as the agency eliminates some reports and reduces the frequency of others to save millions of dollars in tight budget times.
The reports influence the price and supply of many products that end up on American dinner plates. Without them, some farmers say they’ll be left guessing how much to produce and when to sell. Food processors and traders also will have less information when making decisions about buying and selling.
South Dakota farmer Richard Adee said he used the annual honey and bee report to decide when to sell his honey.
Roth IRA for education
The word college always rings a bell in every parent’s mind, right? No, its not about the good times you had while you were there, it is about the money you will have to somehow come up with so that you can pay for your kids’ college education. Yes, paying tuition fees for your child is a quite a worrisome thing. But if you have a roth ira account, you need not have the slightest worry about funding for college. There are very few roth-ira.org account holders who are aware of this particular benefit they are very much entitled to.
Using the usual bank loan for college funding is not a good idea anymore because of the high interest rates and also because the money withdrawn from a roth ira is tax-free! The Read more…
Insider Trading Sentence for Raj Rajaratnam Longest in History
Raj Rajaratnam’s insider trading sentence of 11 years is the longest in U.S. history. The hedge fund executive was the ring leader of the largest case in history as well, so perhaps the extraordinary punishment fits the crime. Of course, it is less than half of the 24 and a half-year sentence prosecutors asked for. How will this news impact the Wall Street protests?
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Holwell said, “His crimes and the scope of his crimes reflect a virus in our business culture that needs to be eradicated. Simple justice requires a lengthy sentence.” Do you think this 11 year sentence will help eradicate the insider trading virus in the U.S.? How many people do not end up getting caught making these kinds of shady deals? Obviously this type of crime is part of the reason for the Wall Street protests.
Raj Rajaratnam, 54, founded the Galleon Group, which paid a stiff $10 million fine as well as forfeited $53.8 million in ill-gotten gains.
New staff leader aims to give Memphis Realtors tools for a tough market
The person just picked to lead the staff of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors is well schooled in the supply and demand of property.
Melanie Blakeney’s first job after she graduated from the University of Oklahoma was as director of the historical museum in Norman, Okla.
Of course, a focus of the Norman and Cleveland County Historical Museum was the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889, when the government put 2 million acres up for grabs to those willing to settle the land.
In this economy, there’s hardly a rush for property as the 49-year-old Blakeney takes over the Realtors organization effective Dec. 1.
“The best thing we can do is …
DREAMWORKS’ SIXKILLER TO KEYNOTE LOUISIANA ENTREPRENEURSHIP DAY
Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to hear PDI/DreamWorks Research & Development Supervisor Marty Sixkiller discuss his work in the fields of animation, computer graphics, and technical production at the Louisiana Entrepreneurship Day, Friday, September 30. Sixkiller will also discuss his work developing his own business, Killer Designs, and how resources in Baton Rouge helped prepare him for his career.
Sixkiller is a Slidell, La. native and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Louisiana State University. He worked at the Louisiana Technology Park in Baton Rouge before going on to working on such Dreamworks films as “Shrek,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Antz,” and many more. Sixkiller has also operated his own business, Killer Designs, for 22 years.
The entrepreneurship day will also feature workshops on copyright protection and state tax incentives from attorneys with Kean Miller LLP of Baton Rouge. The worksho