Man accused of bilking banks
Seattle A 26-year-old Kirkland man was arrested Thursday after investigators said he tricked several banks into giving him millions of dollars – money he used to buy a plane, sports cars, boats and a condo.
Michael Alan Cassini was charged in U.S. District Court with one count of loan fraud. He managed to convince several banks that he was a technology consultant who made millions of dollars on Microsoft stock options from June 1994 to January 2000, charging documents said.
He persuaded the banks — including Key Bank, Pacific Northwest Bank (now Wells Fargo), The Commerce Bank of Washington, Sovereign Bank and Silicon Valley Bank — to give him successively larger loans, in some cases using the later loans to make payments on the earlier ones, prosecutors said.
In all, he is accused of obtaining loans worth $4.2 million.
To help persuade the banks to overlook any fishy transactions in his past, he claimed to have been a victim of identity theft and changed his name to Cassini from Jeffrey Michael Leavitt in mid-2003, the documents said. He was also given a new Social Security number; investigators with Social Security’s inspector general uncovered the fraud, Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa said Thursday.
“It’s a reverse play on identity theft,” Barbosa said. “He’s using that to escape his bad credit.”
Investigators have seized many items from Cassini, including a Ferrari sports car, which he raced; a Lotus; and a P-180 Avanti plane.
Cassini said nothing when he made his initial appearance in court Thursday.
Man pleads guilty in machete-sword battle
Yakima A man charged after a dispute over his girlfriend’s car escalated into a sword and machete standoff has been given a suspended sentence.
Isaac John Ozuna, 23, had been charged with armed robbery and second-degree assault, but pleaded guilty Wednesday in Yakima County Superior Court to a reduced charge of fourth-degree assault. Ozuna was sentenced to 365 days in jail with 320 days suspended and credit for 45 days already served.
According to court documents, Ozuna and his girlfriend got into an argument outside her home on Feb. 13. Ozuna punched his girlfriend in the face after she refused to lend him her car. The woman then grabbed a sword and swung it at him in self-defense, and Ozuna grabbed a machete.
The woman then ran into her home and he drove off in her car, court papers said.
Prosecutors said they were forced to offer the plea because Ozuna’s girlfriend was uncooperative with police. As a result, investigators never determined why the couple had quick access to long-bladed weapons.
Ozuna can be sent back to jail to serve the balance of his sentence if he violates probation or a two-year no-contact order with his girlfriend.
‘Flower fairy’ surprising island residents
Anderson Island, Wash. A “flower fairy” is making deliveries all over this small island southwest of Tacoma.
Someone has been dropping off flower bouquets or potted plants for the past several weeks. Residents who’ve received the deliveries said they will hear a knock late at night and answer the door to find the floral gift and a handwritten note saying, “Hope these make you smile.” The notes are signed, “Love, the Flower Fairy.” The handwriting appears to be feminine.
No one has seen the person delivering the gifts or has admitted knowing who the person is.
The fairy also makes daytime deliveries, dropping off flowers at the community church during morning service last Sunday. Anderson Island Fire Chief Jim Bixler said he received some flowers, and the person did it without activating his motion-detector lights.
“It was so cool,” Betsey Rodgers told The News Tribune. “It was such a sweet gesture.”
Not everyone is thrilled. Debbie Lowe of the Anderson Island Citizens Advisory Committee said some elderly women have called her, spooked by the late-night knocks on the door or upset with someone trespassing on their property.