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ยป VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 85 IN THE NEWS Kentucky Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Bribing Executives at TARP Applicant Bank A Kentucky man has pleaded guilty for his role in a massive tax scheme and for bribing executives at a Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) applicant bank, according to an announcement from Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for TARP (SIG- TARP). Wilbur Anthony Huff, 53, of Caneyville and Louisville, Kentucky, offered a guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald on December 23, 2014, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on April 8. Huff pleaded guilty to one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws; one count of aiding and assisting with the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent tax returns; one count of failing and causing the failure to pay taxes to the IRS; and one count of conspiracy to (a) com- mit bank bribery, (b) commit fraud on bank regulators, and (c) fraudulently purchase an Oklahoma insurance company. e charges carry a combined total of up to 12 years in prison. Huff also agreed to pay $10.8 million to the United States and provide restitution totaling more than $128 million to the four institutions he pleaded guilty to defrauding, which include the IRS ($53.1 million) and the FDIC ($4.8 million). Romero made the announcement along with Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; and Da- vid A. Hubbert, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. "Huff, a Kentucky businessman, pleaded guilty to conspiring with senior executives at TARP applicant Park Avenue Bank to bribe those officials and to commit bank fraud in an illicit scheme to make the bank appear better capitalized in order to seek $11 mil- lion in TARP bailout funds," Romero said. "Huff conspired with Park Avenue Bank president and CEO, Charles Antonucci, and others to orchestrate a $6.5 million fraudulent 'round-trip' financial transaction, essentially a shell game designed to disguise the bank's own money as new money pur- portedly being invested by an outside source into the bank. Bank president and CEO Antonucci pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme in October 2010 and was the first person convicted of attempting to steal from TARP. We commend U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and our law enforcement partners for their steadfast commitment to protecting federal taxpayers and bringing to justice per- petrators of fraud and other crimes related to TARP." Kentucky RANK: 23 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 2.23% 1.44% 6 YEAR AGO 2.36% 1.89% 8.1 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -5.5% -23.7% -2.1 Top County JOHNSON COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 5.26% 4.77% YEAR AGO 4.53% 2.94% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 16.1% 62.4% Top Core-Based Statistical Area LONDON, KY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 3.56% 2.81% YEAR AGO 2.97% 3.56% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 20.0% -20.9% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the November 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary November 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Louisiana RANK: 21 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 3.68% 1.61% 6.5 YEAR AGO 3.50% 2.15% 5.6 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 5.2% -25.4% 0.9 Top County CONCORDIA PARISH 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 3.85% 3.66% YEAR AGO 5.23% 2.35% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -26.5% 55.5% Top Core-Based Statistical Area BASTROP, LA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 9.17% 2.74% YEAR AGO 7.40% 3.27% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 23.9% -16.1% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the November 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary November 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Mississippi RANK: 22 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 5.39% 1.60% 7.3 YEAR AGO 5.36% 2.10% 8 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 0.6% -23.9% -0.7 Top County WINSTON COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 7.54% 4.91% YEAR AGO 9.77% 1.80% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -22.8% 173.0% Top Core-Based Statistical Area NATCHEZ, MS-LA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 5.04% 3.42% YEAR AGO 5.38% 3.24% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -6.3% 5.5% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the November 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary November 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. The number of percentage points the unemployment rate declined in Kentucky from November 2013 to November 2014, from 8.1 percent down to 6.0 percent. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics STAT INSIGHT 2.1