Raffaello Follieri Nears Guilty Plea In Burkle-Related Money Laundering, Fraud

Wall Street Journal:

Raffaello Follieri, the 30-year-old Italian entrepreneur who has attracted attention for business dealings with billionaire Ron Burkle, is near an agreement to plead guilty to fraud and money-laundering charges in his federal criminal case, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Follieri was charged in June with paying for a lavish lifestyle with money from a real-estate venture with Mr. Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. The venture was supposed to capitalize on Mr. Follieri's Vatican ties to redevelop surplus Catholic Church properties. Currently in custody in New York in lieu of a $21 million bail, he could face roughly four to five years in prison under the proposed plea agreement, says a person familiar with the matter.

A court hearing on his case could take place as early as Tuesday. In a recent court filing, prosecutors said plea negotiations were being conducted in connection with the 12-count criminal complaint filed in June that charges Mr. Follieri with fraud in his business venture with Mr. Burkle.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[jachoukian]

02:01 PM on 09/11/2008

This post makes no mention that John McCain and his Campaign Manager, Rick Davis, spent McCain’s 70th birthday with Raffaello Follieri on a yacht in Montenegro in 2006.

It seems that John McCain has an attraction to money regardless of the means. He divorced only to marry a wealthy woman and then no matter the unethical source, Charles Keating or Raffaello Follieri, he seems to be around money. When you can live large on both coasts and have a few houses in between and have swimming pools, indoor and out, and hob-knob with characters who have money to burn until they go to jail, no wonder McCain said he thought an income of $5 million made you rich. This explains why the McCain campaign would rather talk about lipstick than discuss issues; they don’t understand the plight of every day America and have no plan for the economy. This not the person we need to lead us. We need someone who is putting forth ideas and a plan for the country’s future regarding the economy, education, energy, and our standing at home and abroad, we need Barack Obama.

[repugnicansfearme]

12:39 PM on 09/09/2008

This guy is a freaking goofball. And she must be a dunce.

[Chavez08]

04:37 PM on 09/09/2008

A very hot dunce!

[Chavez08]

09:48 AM on 09/09/2008

ONLY ONE BAD APPLE-YAAYYYYY!!!!

[ramal]

09:35 AM on 09/09/2008

That pretty boy is going to end up being someone's b***h.