Legal dispute to go through courts

A legal dispute stemming from the $66 million investment fraud masterminded by Al Parish will be resolved through the courts, not private arbitration. A federal judge in Charleston last week approved class-action status for a lawsuit filed by some of Parish's victims who also had retirement accounts through financial services giant Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. Read More

Mr. Madoff, meet Mr. Parish

2 disgraced financiers whose Ponzi schemes fell apart now share something else — the same prison

BUTNER, N.C. - The disgraced financier blamed for what is believed to be the largest Ponzi scheme in history arrived Tuesday at a federal prison in North Carolina that houses another convicted financial swindler, former Charleston Southern University economist Al Parish. Read More

Judge delays ruling on paybacks

2 options being considered to reimburse victims of Ponzi scheme

A judge temporarily put off deciding what method he'll back for repaying the victims of Al Parish's Ponzi scheme, while investors on the losing end of what appears to be the most-favored option said the effect on them would be severe. Read More

Key Parish victim given extra time to organize claim

The financial paperwork for the biggest cash loser in Al Parish's failed Ponzi scheme is in such disarray that officials are giving her extra time to get things in order. Kalpana Patel and her family invested as much $30 million with Parish, but because she only recently hired an attorney and opted to take an active role in the settlement process, she was given until August to get their claims organized. Read More

Parish files appeal seeking 6 years

Ex-CSU economist: Losses, 24-year term don't add up

Convicted investment swindler Al Parish has filed his own appeal of his 24-year prison term, saying his time behind bars runs 18 years too long. Citing statistical models comparing a decade's worth of white-collar fraud cases, Parish said his 24-year term is out of proportion and heavy-handed, and that a sentence of six years, two months is more applicable. Read More

Parish story to be told on TV's 'American Greed'

The story of Al Parish, the former Charleston Southern University economics professor and investment advisor, will be featured on the CNBC program "American Greed." Read More

Judgment against Parish

Former economist ordered to pay $40M

The federal agency that regulates commodity trading said Monday it has obtained a judgment against former Charleston Southern University economist Al Parish. The order signed by U.S. District Court Judge David Norton settled a lawsuit alleging that Parish and his Parish Economics LLC "lied to customers and misappropriated millions of dollars in customer funds" between 1986 and March 2007, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a statement. Read More

Attorney won't appeal

Public defender doesn't think economist has case

An attorney for convicted economist Al Parish says he has no grounds to appeal his 24-year prison sentence, dealing a setback to Parish's argument that his punishment was too severe. In a filing Thursday to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., Assistant Federal Public Defender Mary Gordon Baker said she doesn't think Parish has a case. Read More

Parish given 10 years on state fraud charge

Sentence will run concurrently with federal prison term

Failed economist Al Parish was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for securities fraud, the maximum penalty he could get in state court for an investment scheme in which hundreds of investors lost an estimated $66 million. Prosecutors wanted the stiffest possible penalty in case Parish's appeal of his 24-year federal sentence on similar charges leads to a significant reduction in his prison time. Read More

Parish going back to court for sentence on state charge

Convicted economist Al Parish is scheduled to be back in a Charleston courtroom Thursday to be sentenced on a state charge associated with his failed investment empire. Parish, 51, was indicted last year on a single state count of securities fraud, mirroring the several federal charges he pleaded guilty to earlier. Read More

Parish granted legal aid

Incarcerated economist Al Parish's appeal of his 24-year prison sentenced has been assigned to the federal public defender for South Carolina. Read More

Parish takes step toward getting public legal aid

Incarcerated economist Al Parish squandered millions of dollars running what authorities said was a Ponzi scheme of investor money. Now he wants the federal court system to help financially with the appeal of his 24-year prison sentence. Read More

Parish to appeal 24-year prison sentence

Disgraced economist Al Parish did the crime when he bilked $66 million out of nearly 600 investors. But he doesn't want to do the time - at least not all of his 24-year sentence. The former Charleston Southern University economist, who last month was handed the federal prison term after pleading guilty in a massive case of fraud, is planning to appeal the sentence, said Andy Savage, the lawyer for his criminal case. Read More

Judge: Parish deserved long prison term

Convicted economist Al Parish deserved his 24-year prison sentence because he took advantage of people he'd known for years and didn't act out of financial necessity or after a life of neglect, "unlike many criminal defendants," the sentencing judge wrote Wednesday. Read More

Parish deserves his hard time

The 24-year, four-month federal prison term Al Parish drew for investment fraud Thursday might seem excessive for a non-violent criminal since violent offenders often get shorter sentences. But as numerous Parish victims pointed out at his sentencing hearing, non-violent criminals can inflict serious damage, too. Read More