TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Mortgage Defendant Told To Scratch Cat Show Plans

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 14, 2008

TAMPA - The cats of New Zealand will just have to be judged by someone else.

A federal judge denied Wednesday a bid by a defendant charged in an $83 million mortgage loan scheme to leave the United States to judge a cat show.

Sarasota lawyer John Yanchek is "a recognized international feline judge" and breeder of Oriental shorthairs and Somalis, according to a defense court pleading. He was scheduled to judge at the Karnak National Festival of the Cat on Saturday.

A federal prosecutor filed a response opposing Yanchek's being allowed to travel, saying the cat show "is hardly a compelling reason."

U.S. Magistrate Mary Scriven agreed, saying Yanchek had not presented any new information justifying a trip out of the court's jurisdiction.

Yanchek is free on a signature bond, meaning he signed a document agreeing to owe the government money if he fails to show up for court. One of the conditions of his bond is that he not leave the Middle District of Florida.

A co-defendant, Larry P. Nardelli, 49, of Tampa, filed an emergency motion Monday asking to be allowed to travel to Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and/or the Bahamas.

He is self-employed as a financial consultant who arranges financing for real estate development projects, according to the court pleading. Nardelli needs to attend conferences with clients, wrote his attorney, Daniel Castillo.

Castillo followed a subsequent motion stating he needs only to travel to Texas this weekend and not the other locations.

The prosecution wrote it would not object to travel within the United States.

Yanchek and Nardelli are two of four men who have been charged with participating in a scheme that defrauded seven banks.

One of the defendants, Neil Mohamed Husani, 38, remains at large. Also arrested and charged in the multimillion-dollar scheme was Michael A. Tringali, 46, of Sarasota.

According to a 44-page indictment handed up in July, between May 2004 and June 2006, the four defrauded Orion Bank, Mercantile Bank, Bank Atlantic, Coast Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Wachovia Bank and First State Bank.

The indictment said the defendants agreed to purchase commercial real estate properties, intending to simultaneously resell the properties to other conspirators at a substantially higher price.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT