| Romanians jailed after admitting credit card fraud
Two Romanian men were jailed for 15 months each this afternoon after admitting credit card fraud of Lm9,000. Police inspector Ian Abdilla told the court that the two men were caught by the police following reports by the major banks. They admitted to having been sent to Malta by a criminal organisation in London with about 50 counterfeit credit cards. .
Credit markets: Inside a crisis
There's never a good time to run out of money. But for Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., the cruel blow couldn't have come at a worse moment. The junior mining company owns iron ore deposits on the northwestern end of Baffin Island in Nunavut. CEO Gordon McCreary knew it would be an expensive summer. Baffinland operates two sites on the island, one on the coast, where supplies are received, and one at the Mary River project site 100 kilometres inland. The warmer months offered a brief window of opportunity to sea-lift critical supplies. Dry goods, trucks and other kinds of equipment were needed. The company also decided to switch from barrelled to bulk fuels, requiring $5 million worth of investment in storage facilities. And Baffinland opted to upgrade an old winter road linking its sites.
United Rentals Extends Debt Tender Offer
Shares of United Rentals Inc. lost a quarter of their value Wednesday amid concerns the company's $4 billion going-private deal with Cerberus Capital Management could fall through. Earlier Wednesday, the Greenwich, Conn.-based company extended a debt tender offer after failing to secure enough buyers to cover all of the $2.04 billion it needs to help pay for the deal. The tender was scheduled to close Tuesday but was extended until midnight Friday. .
Credit card and personal loan refusals soar
The number of consumers having their loan and credit card applications turned down is rising as the impact of the credit crunch is felt on the high street. The financial website Moneysupermarket.com said yesterday that the proportion of people being accepted for a personal loan has fallen every month since April as lenders have imposed tougher terms. The group said in April that about 67% were having applications approved. This fell to 52% last month, it said, despite the number of applications remaining constant. The increase mirrors the state of the credit card market. Figures from another website, MoneyExpert.com, this week showed a 17% jump in the number of applicants refused a new card. Tim Moss, head of loans at Moneysupermarket, said turmoil in the markets was affecting everyone - even those with reasonable financial records.
P&Z votes to eliminate impact fee
The Plano Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously Monday to eliminate impact fees, hoping that the move will attract new construction to the area. The vote came at the request of the Plano City Council, which reviewed the matter last month.The Planning and Zoning Commission also acts at the Impact Fee Advisory Committee. City council has the final say.If the city eliminates the fee, it will be one of the first communities to do so, said Jeff Zimmerman, long range planner for the city.How and when to implement the change questions the city would have to have," he said. The issue is particularly thorny in subdivisions already under construction. If the city adopts a blanket end date, developers could halt planned projects, which haven't begun. For example, developers might not apply for building permits for new homes within an emerging subdivision.The city also could decide to continue the fee for projects already on the books."That could be a nightmare as far as administrating it," Zimmerman said.
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