Former Islanders Owner John Spano was charged with
fraud yesterday in federal court on Long Island, NY, and
then "failed to come up with enough assets to post bail,
even after his parents and sister pledged their homes,"
according to Ford Fessenden in NEWSDAY. Spano was released
until Monday, when he "must come up with $1.5 million in
assets to secure his $3-million bail." While Spano's lawyer
"has denied the charge and said he would plead not guilty,"
a plea was not required yesterday (NEWSDAY, 7/24).
THE CASE: Fessenden writes that prosecutors, "making
their case for bank- and wire-fraud charges against Spano,
presented a devastating picture of a man who had propped up
his attempt to buy the hockey team and its cable rights for
$165 million with outlandish claims, bad forgeries and thin
excuses -- and fooled just about everybody in the process."
The arrest affidavit "detailed how a bank official at
Comerica Bank in Dallas wrote a letter stating that Spano
had a net worth of more than $100 million but admitted it
was based on unverified documents provided by Spano.
Another letter from Comerica attesting that funds were on
deposit to cover a $17-million check to close the Islanders
deal was an obvious forgery, according to court documents --
and apparently had been faxed from Spano's Dallas business
office with the fax machine programmed to imprint the name
of the bank" (NEWSDAY, 7/24).
PRISON POSSIBLE: Asst. U.S. Attorney Joseph Conway said
that Spano faces a likely sentence of 3-5 years in prison if
convicted, and "issued an implicit warning" that he could
face a longer sentence as prosecutors could also seek an
indictment on money-laundering charges (NEWSDAY, 7/24).
