N. Idaho woman pleads guilty to embezzling

Topics in Legal News 2011/11/12 11:20   Bookmark and Share
A northern Idaho woman has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $260,000 from Coldwater Creek.

Susan Alene Hopkins, also known as Susan Scott, pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft on Thursday. The Bonner County Daily Bee reports  that a second grand theft count is being dismissed as part of the deal.

Authorities say the former Coldwater Creek executive used a company credit card to embezzle the money between 2006 and 2010. Police say she also took money from the Panhandle Alliance For Education between 2008 and 2010.

The 54-year-old Hopkins is scheduled to be sentenced in February. Prosecutors are recommending a suspended prison term of three to 10 years and 90 days in jail.

The plea agreement also calls for Hopkins to repay $251,943.
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First U.S. class-action overdraft fee case settles

Court Watch 2011/11/12 09:39   Bookmark and Share
Union Bank, part of Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc , agreed to pay $35 million to settle the first class-action lawsuit arising from nationwide litigation accusing lenders of charging excessive overdraft fees.

The litigation consolidates lawsuits filed against more than two dozen U.S., Canadian and European lenders such as JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co .

It accuses lenders of routinely processing transactions from largest to smallest rather than in chronological order. This can cause account balances to fall more quickly, and overdraft fees, typically $25 or $35, to pile up faster.

A notice of the Union Bank settlement was filed on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Miami. The settlement requires approval by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King, who oversees the litigation.

King granted class certification in the Union Bank case in July. That meant that customers, estimated in the tens of thousands, could sue the San Francisco-based bank as a group.

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