Headlines:

     

        PinnLease USA to Fold??????  44 Nationwide Offices-- $100 Million Fraud

               Friday Odds and Ends:

                     United Capital/www.quickenloan.com/Kansas City

 

 

 Equipment Leasing Association's National Funding Exhibition 2001

      April 18-20, 2001 * Fairmont Hotel * Chicago, IL

 

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Look for PinnLease USA to go down with its parent PinnFund.

 

http://www.pinnlease.com/contact.html

 

Supposedly there will be millions of dollars of unfunded deals. They list 44 offices

through out the United States.

 

    http://www.pinnlease.com/regions.html

  

    http://www.pinnlease.com/map.html#top41

 

Whether these are real offices with many employees or sales offices of independent

contractors is not known at this time.  They also appear to be mortage offices, too.

 

The parent company is PinnFund USA, as noted at the bottom of the PinnLease USA site:

     ( Copyright © 2001 Pinnfund.com. All rights reserved to Pinnfund, USA.)

 

          SEC Says Fraud Case Topped $100 Million

 

Here is the story printed in yesterday's Los Angeles Times

 ( it reads like a Hollywood tabloid story )::

 

 

 

SEC Says Fraud Case Topped $100 Million

 Court: Officials say some of the funds invested in a Carlsbad mortgage company

   were spent on a porn actress.

By RALPH FRAMMOLINO, JEFF LEEDS, Times Staff Writers

     Calling it one of the biggest mortgage fraud cases in years, federal officials alleged

Wednesday that two California men bilked investors of more than $100 million--and some of the

funds were spent lavishly to woo a porn actress.

     Securities and Exchange Commission officials, seeking an injunction, asked San Diego

Federal Judge Marilyn J. Huff to prevent Michael J. Fanghella of Carlsbad and James L. Hillman

of Oakland from soliciting investors for PinnFund USA Inc., a Carlsbad mortgage lender. Huff

froze the firm's assets Wednesday, ordered it not to destroy documents and set a hearing on the

full request for today, SEC officials said.

     PinnFund USA, through various funding entities, has raised $276 million from at least 166

investors in California, Chicago and other parts of the country since the mid-'90s, SEC

officials said. Some of the money was used legitimately to write mortgages at higher-than-market

interest rates for individuals with bad credit ratings, they said.

     But at least $107 million was transferred to Fanghella, who used it to underwrite a "lavish

lifestyle" that included trips to Switzerland, Hawaii, New York and at least one meal that cost

$36,000, said Lisa Gok, assistant regional director for the SEC's Los Angeles office.

     "This is one of the biggest [securities] frauds I've seen," Gok said.

     She said Fanghella, 49, allegedly spent about $10 million of the investor funds on Kelly

Cook, 35, a onetime girlfriend and porn star known as Kelly Jaye. A spokesman for Van Nuys-based Vivid Pictures, a prominent adult movie production house, confirmed Wednesday that Jaye had

appeared in at least six movies, such as "Sexual Healing" and "Blonde Angel."

     The two met in December 1999 while both were finalizing divorces, according to SEC court

filings. Believing the two would marry, Fanghella bought Cook a $5-million house in Laguna

Niguel, gave her $2 million in cash, a $75,000 piano, New York shopping trips and sumptuous

meals.

     In addition, he transferred at least $3.7 million of other investor funds to an offshore

account at Barclay's Bank in Barbados, the SEC court filings say.

     Cook is not accused of wrongdoing, the SEC said, but the agency wants to recover investor

funds allegedly given to her as gifts.

     SEC officials said Fanghella and Hillman raised money by offering bogus partnerships

through funding companies controlled by Hillman, including Peregrine Funding Inc. Peregrine then turned the money over to PinnFund USA, court filings say.

     To trick investors, the SEC said, Peregrine circulated fraudulent PinnFund financial

reports, along with forged documents from an independent auditor, to falsely present PinnFund as a profitable firm. The company has lost more than $95 million since 1997, the SEC said.

     The men also gave phony audit reports to Department of Housing and Urban Development

officials for approval to sell mortgages in 46 states, the SEC alleged.

     But when the auditor, the Arias accounting firm, learned of the falsified 1999 financial

statements, the company resigned, informed HUD and asked PinnFund to inform future prospective

investors that it hadn't audited the books.

     Instead, the SEC said, PinnFund sent letters signed by Fanghella to third parties, assuring them of the financial statements' accuracy.

     Court records also show that Fanghella filed suit against Cook in August for $9 million in

damages and return of his gifts. He alleged that months before Cook had secretly altered the

escrow instructions tied to the home purchase so ownership would be transferred to Reliance

Holdings, a company she controls. She then broke off the relationship and barred him from the

house, court documents say.

     Cook's attorney, Jeff Walsworth, said the suit was settled out of court in his client's

favor.

     Fanghella couldn't be reached for comment late Wednesday and his Los Angeles attorney,

Irving Einhorn, wouldn't comment on the allegations. Neither Hillman nor his attorney could be

reached.

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        " Going to Chicago..."

 

Equipment Leasing Association's National Funding Exhibition 2001

April 18-20, 2001 * Fairmont Hotel * Chicago, IL

 

 ELA members only: to learn more, go to:http://www.elaonline.com/events/2001/FundExHome.htm

 To become a member, go to: http://www.elaonline.com/aboutela/BE_A_MBR.HTM

 

 

ELA's National Funding Exhibition 2001

April 18-20, 2001 * Fairmont Hotel * Chicago, IL

ELA Member * $475 Non-Member Registration: $750.00

Nonmembers who have previously attended the Funding Exhibition are not eligible to attend again as a nonmember.

In order to appear on the FINAL LIST OF ATTENDEES, you must register by April 12, 2001. Remember: On-line registration is faster!

 

Hotel Information

Fairmont Hotel at Grant Park

200 North Columbus Drive

Chicago, IL

Cutoff date is March 19, 2001

A block of rooms has been reserved for this exhibition at the Fairmont Hotel at Grant Park, 200 North Columbus Drive, Chicago. A special group rate of $175 single/double is available for attendees. Make your reservations by calling the hotel directly at (312) 565-8000. Tell the reservations clerk you will attend the ELA Funding Exhibition in order to get the group rate. Reservations should be made before the cutoff date of March 19, 2001, and guaranteed with a credit card. After the cutoff date, rooms are on a first-come, first-served basis and possibly at a higher rate.

 

Current list of exhibitors:

Alliance Capital Resources

All Points Capital Corp.

Amembal Capital Corp.

Bank of Lincolnwood

BayView Financial Trading Group

Boston Financial & Equity Corp.

CIT

CitiCapital

Cobra Capital LLC

Comerica Leasing Corp.

Epic Funding Corp.

Equilease Financial Services, Inc.

European American Bank

1st Farm Credit Leasing Services

First International Bank

Firstar Bank, N.A.

Fleet Capital Leasing Healthcare Finance

Fleet Healthcare Finance Corporation

GE Capital Corporation

Hanifen Imhoff, a div. of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc.

Heller Financial, Inc.

IBJ Whitehall Business Credit Corp.

IBM Global Financing

IFC Credit Corporation

Information Leasing Corporation

Leasing Technologies International, Inc.

Liberty Federal Bank

Manufacturers Bank

MarCap Corporation

MicroTech Leasing Corp.

National City Leasing

ORIX Financial Services, Inc.

Pentech Financial Services, Inc.

People's Capital and Leasing Corp.

Pullman Bank and Trust

Safeco Credit Company, Inc.

Sentry Financial Corp.

SG Cowen Industries Corp.

SierraCities

Southern Pacific BanCapital

Stamford Computer Group, Inc.

Sterling Bank Leasing

SunTrust Leasing Corp.

TCF Leasing, Inc.

Tokyo Leasing (U.S.A.) Inc.

Transamerica Equipment Financial Services Corp.

Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc.

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     Why the Story on www.quickenloans.com?

 

Why are you letting Rock Financial, Quicken Loans have so much space to advertise

their mortgage brokerage?

 

Name With Held

 

  (The calculator is very useful, and the information that it has, shows the

industry how far things have come along.  Quicken is a major software program, not

owned by Microsoft, and the head of Colonial left his position to run the

Quicken Tuit program for the internet.  It is the wave of the future. editor )

 

Kit---

I hate Quicken, but I sure do like the calculator.  Did they pay you to publish

the story?

 

Name Witheld

 

(No advertising or banners, here. I think you have the right to ask why an editor chooses a

story, and am glad you like the calculator. editor )

 

 

QUICKEN LOANS PURCHASED ROCK FINANCIAL, A MORTGAGE BROKER IN SOUTHFIELD

MICHIGAN. AND WHILE THE CALCULATOR MAY BE USEFUL, ALL THE VERBIAGE ABOUT

REFINANCING WAS UNNECESSARY ON A PUBLIC FORUM.  IF YOU GO TO THE SITES THEY

REFER TO YOU CAN ONLY GET THE INFORMATION IF YOU SPEAK/MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

WITH A "LOAN OFFICER". I TRIED MYSELF AND COULDN'T GET ANY INFORMATION

UNLESS I SPOKE TO A LOAN PERSON.  SO THEIR INFORMATION ON YOUR SITE SEEMS

LIKE AN ADVERTISEMENT TO ME!!

 

 

Name With Held

 

(It was a press release on business wire.  If you look at it in the way you are looking

at it, sure it is a plug. Every press release is a plug for a product or service.  And

if you stretch it, then every press release is an advertisement.

 

As editor of the electronic newspaper, I chose the story because of the calculator for people

who are unaware of it, for readers to understand the growing use of the internet

for banking and other programs, because Quicken is the leader in accounting software

in the United States, and what they are doing is news that the leasing industry

should be aware. I thought it was a very interesting story and relating to the

leasing industry. editor ).

 

 

Kit---

Please stop with the stories that are of no interest to us!  Who care about

www.quickenloans.com?

 

Name With Held

 

 ( okay-okay, no more stories about Quicken, but you can use the program for

   leasing, too. editor )

 

_____________________________________________________________

 

  United Association of Equipment Leasing Kansas City Funding Symposium Today

 

      Amembal Capital Corporation

    Bancorp Financial Services, Inc.

    CapitalStream

    Commercial Money Center, Inc. (CMC)

    Creative Capital Leasing Group, LLC

    Equipment Lessors Protection Association

    Financial Pacific Leasing, LLC

    Leverage Leasing Company

    The Manifest Group

 

                 

 

Hi Kit,

Make that 5.  I am listed as an attending funder and we canceled months ago.

 

Regards

Alister

Creative Capital Leasing Group

HUGHMAC@aol.com

 

 

     ( I hope the funding symposium is well attended.  Perhaps someone who did

       go will give us a report. editor )

 

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         United Capital  Hello,Dere!!!!

 

Heya,

Just wanted to let you know that everything your readers submit about UCap and Spectrum is read

by the UniSpec employees. I think it's ironic that if you can't reach them any other way, you're sure to get through to them via your newsletter.  They cut and paste your articles and send them to all employees. I remember one time they wrote to everyone and said, "We're NOT on

leasingnews.org today!"  Keep up the good work. Please let your readers know their comments are

not falling on deaf ears (or blind eyes!).

 

Name With Held

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Meet Kit Menkin and the Leasing News Advisory Board at the National Association of

 Equipment Leasing New Orleans Conference  http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/March01/3-13-01a.htm

 

 Here is your chance to "sound off" or find out why we do what we do and

  learn more about us, plus tell us what you like, don't like, and want to see