Business Briefs

Force Dynamics denied Army contract

A joint venture between Ladson- based Force Protection Inc. and General Dynamics Corp. was among three bidders that lost out on a $1.06 billion contract to build off-road vehicles for ground forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

The job went to Oshkosh Corp. The Wisconsin-based vehicle maker beat out three teams for the deal to build 2,244 vehicles, including: BAE Systems; Navistar International Corp.; and Force Dynamics, the Force Protection-General Dynamics venture.

A spokesman for Force Protection could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The company's shares skidded in after-hours trading as news of the contract reached investors.

Battle brews over consumer agency

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama asked Congress on Tuesday to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to police the fine print on credit card bills and mortgage documents and determine what fees, penalties and interest rates are fair. Obama said Americans are demanding it.

"Those ridiculous contracts with pages of fine print that no one can figure out — those things will be a thing of the past," he said in a statement accompanying the 152-page draft bill. "And enforcement will be the rule, not the exception."

Republicans and bankers, however, already are balking and gearing up for a fight.

Part of the agency's mission would be to implement new restrictions on credit card companies passed by Congress this spring. That law prohibited arbitrary rate hikes and limited access to cards by minors.

The consumer protection agency also would regulate high-rate "payday loans" and the terms on savings, checking and debit card accounts, including overdraft charges.

Probe of Madoff's scam widening

NEW YORK — The day after Bernard Madoff received a 150-year prison term, investigators are continuing their pursuit of other suspects in his massive investment fraud.

A person close to the investigation told The Associated Press that no more arrests are imminent, but 10 people are expected to face charges by the time the investigation is completed. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe is ongoing.

Madoff, 71, was sentenced Monday. He had pleaded guilty to charges that his investment business was a scam that wiped out thousands of investors.

Madoff has claimed members of his inner circle — including a brother and two sons who ran a brokerage operation under the same roof as his firm — were innocent bystanders. Lawyers for the family have vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Stanford's bond revoked by judge

HOUSTON — A judge on Tuesday revoked the bond of Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, ordering he be kept in jail while he awaits trial on charges alleging he swindled investors out of $7 billion.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner issued an order overturning a decision last week to allow Stanford to be free on $500,000 bond. Stanford has been in custody since being indicted and arrested June 18.

Hittner called Stanford "a serious flight risk." Stanford attorney Dick DeGuerin said he would appeal the ruling.