Favara to be Sentenced on December 11th, 2008.

From the Court Docket:

"MINUTE entry before the Honorable Blanche M. Manning:as to Christine Favara, Sentencing set for 10/16/2008 is reset to 12/11/2008 at 12:00 PM. Sentencing memorandum and/or objections to the presentence investigation to be filed by 12/4/2008. Any responses to be filed by 12/9/2008. Mailed notice (rth, ) (Entered: 10/07/2008)"

According to her plee agreement, Favara can expect a minimum of 78 months. The final setencing, however, is left to Judge Manning's discretion. The recent economic meltdown, in part steming from Wall St's greed, corruption and excess, has created a caustic environment for blue collar crimes, investment scams, and other financial transgressions. (It has also emphasized the critical function of the SEC.) This may impose on the Judge's mind another compelling reason to issue the harshest of penalities to Favara and her ilk.

I will post several court doucments in the coming weeks. I must say, however, (as reflected by my absence here over several months) I have little interest in Favara or even chronicling her court case. For me, she is like yesterday's newspaper and belongs in the trash.

Until next time.

CHRISTINE FAVARA TO PLEAD GUILTY

Read this doc on Scribd: Christine Favara Pleads Guilty

USA v Christine Favara Criminal Docket

Favara's Arraignment: The Door Slams Shut

Updated 2/24 . . .

Christine Favara's arraignment was held before Magistrate Judge Kimberly J. Mueller in Sacramento on February 20th. Judge Mueller reinforced Justice Blanche M. Manning's decision to revoke Favara's bond earlier this month, and slammed the door shut in the form of a detention order, effectively ending any chance Favara had of posting bail.

The order itself is a series of options. Each provides a reason why the order for detention was given. One of the reasons checked by Judge Mueller states: "By a preponderance of the evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant as required." This assertion is reflected in the government's motion to revoke Favara's bond, submitted by the district attorney in Chicago, which describes Favara as a "risk of flight."

The motion granted by Justice Manning also reasoned that Favara is a "risk to the safety of the community." In this regard, while Judge Mueller does not necessarily disagree, she seemingly diverges from Justice Manning. In Favara's detention order, Judge Mueller does not check the option which reads: "By clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of any other person and the community."

Judge Mueller may have declined to check this option simply because it was not necessary for the purposes of securing Favara's detainment order. Or perhaps the DA in Sacramento employed a strategy arguing Favara's detention for different reasons, focusing instead on lack of ties in the area, an extensive criminal background, and a perceived mental instability identified as "bi-polar disorder," instead of the danger she represents to the community as cited by the government in Chicago. This is evidenced by the other options Judge Mueller checked in Favara's detention order. Despite these minor variations in the government's presentation, the outcome was the same: The district attorney in both Sacramento and Illinois, Judge Mueller and Justice Manning resonate in their belief Christine Favara is no longer deserving of bail.

In fact, their decision wasn't difficult to make. The detention order states: "at the time of the current arrest, the defendant was on release pending trail." This was certainly an important consideration, if not the overriding factor. Christine Favara was indicted by a federal grand jury for conning a retired couple out of their life savings WHILE she was out on pre-trail release, already indicted for defrauding investors out of millions. Under these conditions, the malefactor Favara signed her own detention order.

Indeed, Magistrate Judge Sidney I. Schenkier's order setting conditions of Favara's release, which Favara put her name to, states: "a violation of any of the foregoing conditions of release may result in the immediate issuance of a warrant for your arrest, a revocation of release, an order of detention, and a prosecution for contempt of court and could result in a term of imprisonment, a fine, or both." As Christine Favara discovered, the government was not bluffing. Her warrant has been executed, her bond revoked, and her detention ordered. The con artist can now look forward to a contempt of court charge, additional fines, and further imprisonment.

Favara's outlook grows even bleaker as the order setting the conditions of release continues: "The commission of a Federal offense while on pretrial release will result in an additional sentence of a term of imprisonment of not more than ten years. . . This sentence shall be in addition to any other sentence." In other words, Christine Favara is looking at decades in prison, and rightly so. Even when confronted with daunting consequences, of which she is fully aware, Favara cannot control her felonious inclinations. The moment she hits the streets is the moment her cons continue and more people are victimized. Her actions are proof that only imprisonment will put a stop to her incessant criminality and ensure the safety of the general public.

The criminal docket also discloses federal defender Ned Smock was appointed as Favara's counsel. A revealing development, this marks the first time in Favara's criminal career she has never been forced to rely on a public defender and suggests her stolen funds are running dry. Thousands of defrauded dollars have been funneled into her attorney fees over the years and Favara would not divert from this model now as everything hangs in the balance. Could it be Christine Favara is now as broke as the victims she has plundered?

At the same time, it's interesting to note Judge Mueller did not mark the box which states "the defendant has no known financial resources." I can only surmise the pile of evidence showcasing Favara's personal debt was not in possession of the DA in Sacramento at the time, nor was it relevant to maintain her detention. The issue of her finances, however, will certainly be revisited with great interest; And not only for purposes of restitution.

This process will reveal Favara falsified her financial affidavits in both federal cases (Sacramento and Chicago), passing off a host of fabrications to the government in an effort to conceal her nearly constant criminal enterprises and fraudulent activities. Under penalty of perjury, Christine Favara lied about her income, debt, expenses, charge accounts and creditors, bank accounts, assets, employment status and more. The facts show that as Favara was misleading the government - in addition to the present charges - she was busy stealing identities and using them to open credit cards, approve loans, authorize utilities, rent homes, lease cars, bury assets and hide all sorts of financial information. The next post will discuss this further.

Finally, it is noted that upon Favara's request, the arraignment was continued to February 28th. I suspect her newly appointed public defender recommended this approach to provide additional time for him to research the case and advise Christine Favara of her options. It appears those will be confined to multiple choice: A) frying pan or B) fire

Favara's Farewell: Government's Motion To Revoke Christine Favara's Bond

The Government, represented by US District Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald and Assistant US District Attorney John F. Podliska of the Northern District of Illinois, motioned the court on February 4th to revoke Christine Favara's bond and terminate her pretrial release. She is described as "both a risk of flight and a threat to the safety of the community." The Honorable Blanche M. Manning granted the motion on February 7th, and ordered Christine Favara's bond revoked.

Read this doc on Scribd: Government's Motion To Revoke Favara's Bond Granted

Favara's Indictment by Federal Grand Jury

The Federal Grand Jury concluded that:

"defendant FAVARA did devise and intend to devise a material scheme and artifice to defraud clients of Zulu Equity Group, Inc. Defendant FAVARA, by means of stealing and embezzling money, converted client funds to her own use, and obtained money by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. As part of the scheme and artifice to defraud, defendant FAVARA obtained financial institution account withdrawal/surrender forms, powers of attorney, and other documents, and used said items without authorization to convert client funds to her own use and benefit in the amount of at least $155,000. Defendant FAVARA deposited stolen client funds into her own personal bank accounts or into accounts of her associates to purchase goods and services and to pay personal debts for her own benefit."

Favara's Favorite Lies

Christine's mastery of lying facilitated her career as a con artist. In fact, it's hard to identify a shred of truth in her fraudulent life, and one could argue her existence is one big lie. It would seem, however, the thousands of lies she spewed to hundreds of people can be summarized in a few dominant themes.

1. WEALTH. Christine actively cultivates the notion she is wealthy. She would carry thick wads of cash, refer to her expensive vehicles, and speak of homes she claimed to own in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Florida, Italy and Costa Rica. Of course, she would also take this opportunity to highlight her supposed generosity, claiming to buy many of these homes for family members. In reality, Christine has conned her own family out of thousands! Depending on who she was talking to, Christine proudly trumpeted her net worth to between $1,000,000 and $25,000,000. A closer examination of her so called wealth, however, consists of a mountain of debt. Far from the self-made millionaire she anxiously pronounces to all within earshot, her financial profile is nothing more than a trail of over drafted checking accounts, unpaid credit cards, outstanding loans, evictions, bankruptcies, and a never ending stream of attorney bills. These delinquent accounts are often placed under the names of identities Christine has stolen, and then disguised under her corporations, which include “Zulu Equity Group”, “Kiwi’s Kause,” “Just for Tonight,” and others. In fact, her flower shop, "Christine's Precious Petals" and later called "Sylmar Florist" was nothing more than a front for scamming credit cards and obtaining personal information to be used in other identify theft crimes.

2. GENEROSITY & PHILANTHROPY. Her supposed horse rescue is just another con. (See the post below.) Any animal she has "rescued," has been financed with defrauded money, stolen credit cards, over drafted bank accounts, hot checks, fake loans or other forms of identity theft, cons and deception. In much the same way she does by claiming she is suffering from cancer, Christine uses the idea of helping animals to manipulate emotion, generate sympathy or respect, and create opportunity for further scams.

3. DISEASE & SICKNESS. She claims to be inflicted with cancer, speaking of her battle against this disease in heroic terms. Christine would describe her weekly trips to the doctor for radiation treatments and the horrible effects it would supposedly wreak on her body, causing her great fatigue and stress. In fact, it is Christine's sister that suffers from this disease. Shamefully, Christine borrowed her sister's lifelong fight against cancer and made it her own, leveraging the sympathy it created to advance her scams. Christine also told different parties that she is suffering from a ruptured spleen, tumors adjacent to her lung, walking pneumonia and other serious ailments. In each case, she lied about her health to buy time and create space to more effectively carry out her cons.

4. BOYFRIEND, HUSBAND, FIANCE or EX NAMED CHRIS. It is true Christine has a special relationship with a gentleman named Chris: he is her favorite target of identity theft. For years, she has used his personal information to open credit cards and bank accounts, authorize loans, establish phone services and other utilities, address insurance needs and more. She also hides assets under his name, including her cars and rental properties. In the process, she has most definitely perjured herself in the SEC indictment.

5. WALKING WITH THE STARS. She claimed to have a strong relationship with Kerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian, an American billionaire, who she also described as her 'mentor.' According to her now ridiculous story, she learned the tricks of the trade in business and the financial world having worked with him personally during her years at MGM Grand. Of course, she wasn't just anyone at MGM, she was the head hauncho, and the entire staff of the hotel and casino answered to her. As she described it, the only individual she was accountable to was Kirk.. In this very prominent position, she claimed to rub elbows with many celebrities, and told detailed stories about her supposed interactions with them. In one instance Sylvester Stallone called MGM to acquire tickets for a Mike Tyson fight. Apparently Christine would field calls of this nature. Stallone demanded his tickets be comped, which Christine found to be pretentious and rude, and so decided to reject his request. Frustrated, Stallone asserted that "nobody says no to Sylvester Stallone!" Christine then hung up, demonstrating her command and authority in that make-believe situation. Christine is also on a first name basis with George Clooney. Even better, she claimed they were neighbors. She told many of a jovial relationship with the famous actor. I only wonder if George is going to write her in prison?