Press Release
For Immediate Release
March 19, 2010
Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending March 19, 2010

Chicago: Chicago Resident David Coleman Headley Pleads Guilty to Role in Terrorism Conspiracies in India and Denmark

David Coleman Headley, a U.S. citizen of partial Pakistani descent, pleaded guilty to a dozen federal terrorism charges, admitting that he participated in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, as well as later planning to attack a Danish newspaper. In pleading guilty to all 12 counts that were brought against him in December and were repeated in a subsequent indictment in January, Headley admitted that he attended training camps in Pakistan operated by Lashkar e Tayyiba, a designated foreign terrorist organization, on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from three members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks three years later that killed six Americans among approximately 164 people and wounded hundreds more. Full Story

Boston: FBI Continues Hunt for Stolen Art on Anniversary of Gardner Museum Heist

Early in the morning of March 18, 1990, two men disguised as Boston police officers bluffed their way into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. After tying the security guards in the basement, the subjects spent 81 minutes seizing works of art valued at more than $500 million, making it the largest property crime in U.S. history. The museum has offered a $5 million reward for the return of the stolen pieces. Anyone with information pertaining to the theft is asked to call the Boston FBI at 617-742-5533. Full Story

New York: Former Bank President Charged with Attempting to Defraud Troubled Asset Relief Program

Charles J. Antonucci Sr., the former president and chief executive officer of The Park Avenue Bank, was arrested on allegations of self-dealing, bank bribery, embezzlement of bank funds, and fraud, among other charges. Antonucci was also alleged to have attempted to fraudulently obtain more than $11 million worth of taxpayer rescue funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Antonucci is the first defendant ever charged with attempting to defraud TARP. Additionally, Antonucci was alleged to have used The Park Avenue Bank in a scheme to defraud two pastors of a Florida congregation out of more than $100,000 set aside to build a new church. Full Story

Dallas: Forty Indicted in Major East Texas Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Forty individuals were arrested and charged in connection with a major mortgage fraud scheme in the Eastern District of Texas. All 40 defendants, from Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Georgia, are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Many of the defendants are also charged with various counts of mail fraud and money laundering. The purpose of the scheme was to defraud lending institutions by convincing them to approve mortgage loans for residential properties for which the property values had been fraudulently inflated. Full Story

San Diego: Leader of Casino-Cheating Criminal Enterprise Sentenced to 70 Months

Phuong Quoc Truong was sentenced for his role in a scheme by the Tran Organization to cheat casinos across the United States. In his plea agreement, Truong admitted that he and his co-conspirators unlawfully obtained up to $7 million during card cheats. Truong was sentenced to 70 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and he was also ordered to forfeit $2,791,146 and to pay $5,753,416 in restitution. Full Story

New Orleans: 10th Defendant Charged in Operation Illegal Motion

Robert L. Stevens was charged with conspiracy to use interstate facilities in aid of racketeering for allegedly accepting bribes from individuals with pending criminal charges in the Baton Rouge City Court, and then sharing the proceeds of the bribes with a prosecutor who would arrange for the matters to be dismissed or otherwise “fixed.â€