Probe grows convoluted

Probe grows convoluted

WASHINGTON — The fraud investigation of Wall Street money manager Bernard L. Madoff took unusual twists Wednesday as the U.S. attorney general removed himself and the Securities and Exchange Commission looked into the relationship between Madoff’s niece and a former SEC attorney who reviewed Madoff’s business.

The question of Madoff’s connection to regulators goes to the heart of the investigation of the alleged $50 billion fraud, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox told reporters.

The chairman of the House capital markets subcommittee, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., announced an inquiry that will begin early next month into what may be the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time and how the government failed to detect it.

U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey recused himself from the Madoff probe because his son, Marc Mukasey, is representing Frank DiPascali, a top financial officer at Madoff’s investment firm.

No criminal charges

OLATHE, Kan. — Former Attorney General Paul Morrison won’t face criminal charges for his actions during an extramarital affair that forced him out of office, special prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The prosecutors, Robert Arnold III and Timothy Keck, announced the results of a nine-month investigation in a letter to Johnson County commissioners and District Attorney Phill Kline, who had appointed them to investigate his political opponent.

Morrison’s former mistress, Linda Carter, had worked in the Johnson County district attorney’s office for Morrison and later for Kline. She has alleged that after Morrison became attorney general, he tried to use her to influence a federal lawsuit against Kline and to gather sensitive information on Kline’s investigation of an abortion clinic.

Kline appointed Arnold and Keck to investigate whether Morrison engaged in blackmail or telephone harassment during his affair or as it soured.

Sentenced for adultery

SEOUL, South Korea — One of South Korea’s most famous actresses was convicted of adultery Wednesday in a high-profile case that drew renewed attention to a decades-old law prohibiting extramarital affairs.

Ok So-ri, who was handed a suspended jail term, had lost a battle in October to have the ban declared unconstitutional.

A district court in Goyang, near Seoul, handed Ok a suspended eight-month jail sentence, South Korean media reported, meaning she will not have to serve time. Ok’s lover received a six-month suspended term.

Those convicted under the anti-adultery law face prison sentences of up to two years, though few serve time.

Jury seeks transcripts

CAMDEN, N.J. — A jury considering the case of five New Jersey men accused of plotting an attack on the Army’s Fort Dix has finished its first day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.

On Wednesday afternoon, the jury asked a judge for transcripts of testimony from government informant Besnik Bakalli on days government lawyers questioned him. Bakalli said the suspects used a trip to Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains to train for waging a holy war.

The suspects face life in prison if they’re convicted of the most serious charges, which include conspiracy to kill military personnel and attempted murder.

Defense lawyers told jurors their clients — all foreign-born Muslims who lived for years in Cherry Hill, N.J. — were not seriously planning anything.

Illinois high court rejects effort to remove governor

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday denied an effort to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich, rejecting what could have been the quickest way to force the Democrat from office.

Ed Genson, Blagojevich’s lawyer, meanwhile, said the governor would not appoint someone to fill Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat, potentially answering one of the key questions surrounding the scandal.

The state court’s ruling came as Genson was challenging the strength of the corruption case against Blagojevich before a panel of lawmakers considering whether to recommend impeachment.

Lawmakers rejected all of Genson’s complaints, saying the committee has broad power to review anything related to the governor’s performance.

Associated Press