Arizona Attorney General

Mark Brnovich

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07/2008

Terry Goddard Announces Nearly $2 Million in Racketeering Forfeitures

(Phoenix, Ariz. – July 30, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that a Maricopa County jury has found against John A. LaVoie, 52, of Tucson, on racketeering charges connected with his prostitution business and ordered him to pay the state close to $2 million in civil forfeitures.

The forfeitures include $850,000 in racketeering proceeds and $81,000 in cash seized when search warrants were executed. The jury also ordered LaVoie to forfeit an office building worth between $750,000 and $1 million.

Terry Goddard Applauds Surrender of Financial Fugitive

(Phoenix, Ariz. --July 2, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard applauded the surrender today of Samuel Israel, a fugitive convicted in a massive securities fraud which the Arizona Attorney General's Office helped uncover in 2005.

Israel, 48, turned himself into federal authorities in Massachusetts this morning. He had disappeared almost a month ago when he was to report to a federal prison to begin serving a 20-year sentence. Israel had sought to create the belief that he had taken his own life with the message "suicide is painless" written in the dust of his car's windshield.

Terry Goddard Announces Settlement with Money Transfer Company

(Phoenix, Ariz. – July 2, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced an agreement with Minneapolis-based MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. (MoneyGram), that will establish a $1.1 million fund to help educate consumers about using money wire services. Goddard joined 43 other states and the District of Columbia in this agreement.

Under the agreement, in the form of an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC), MoneyGram will fund the $1.1 million national consumer awareness program and set out very prominent consumer warnings on the forms used by consumers to wire money.

Jury Gives Death Sentence to Yuma Man for Murder

(Phoenix, Ariz. – July 9, 2008) A Yuma County Superior Court jury today sentenced Vincent Lee Accardo, 60, of Yuma, to death in the 1997 killing of Kenneth Cloud, 55, of Bard, Calif. On June 27, the jury found Accardo guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder in the 1997 death.

In December 1997, Cloud was sitting in his pickup truck outside Burgers and Beer, 321

Nogales City Council Found in Violation of Open Meeting Law

(Phoenix, Ariz. – July 9, 2008) An investigation by the Attorney General's Office has concluded that the Nogales City Council violated the state Open Meeting Law earlier this year. The violation occurred when a proposed order to appoint new city officials, signed by four Nogales City Council members, was discussed by a quorum of the council outside of a properly noticed meeting.

Proposed Scholarship Funding Unconstitutional, Attorney General’s Office Says

(Phoenix, Ariz. - July 16, 2008) The Attorney General’s Office today concluded that the Arizona House of Representatives does not have legal authority to provide funding to the Arizona Department of Education for two scholarship programs without a specific appropriation.

The scholarships would allow families with disabled children and families with foster children to send them to schools of their choice.

Lake Havasu City Man Indicted for Securities Fraud

(Phoenix, Ariz. – July 18, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced a 53-count indictment of Morris Clyde Kuykendall, 62, of Lake Havasu City, on charges of fraud, theft, securities fraud and transactions by unregistered dealers or salesmen.

According to court documents, Kuykendall took $950,000 from people who invested with Kuypow, Inc., a Lake Havasu City company owned by the defendant and his wife. He offered high interest rates with even higher interest rate returns for larger investments.

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