Dec 31 (Reuters) - When several Colombian men were indicted in January 2010 on money-laundering charges, the case in Brooklyn federal court drew little attention.
It looked like a bust of another nexus of drug traffickers and money launderers, with mainly small-time operatives paying the price for their crimes.
One of the men was Julio Chaparro, a 48-year-old father of four who owned three factories that made children's clothing in Colombia.
But to U.S. authorities the case was anything but ordinary. Chaparro, prosecutors alleged, helped run a money-laundering ring for drug traffickers that took advantage of lax controls at UK-based international banking group HSBC Holdings Plc. It was one of the most important leads for U.S. investigatorspursuing a case against the bank that eventually led to a $1.9 billion settlement on Dec. 11.
Chaparro was "basically putting the orchestra together" and investigators saw "him as amajor player in terms of cleaning a lot of money," said James Hayes, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York.Known as ICE, the agencyand its task force led the probe.
The Colombian's lawyer, Ephraim Savitt, said Chaparro was a middleman in the operation, but disputed the extent of his client's role, saying he was the"page turner of sheet music for the conductor."
Chaparro, who was arrested in Colombia in 2010 and extradited to the United States in 2011, pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy count in May and is awaiting sentencingin 2013.
An HSBC spokesman declined comment.
Much about the trail that drug traffickers used to move U.S. dollars - the proceeds from drug sales - through HSBC and other banks remains unclear. By design, the process is layered to evade detection.
But a review of confidential investigative records that originate fromtwo U.S. Attorney office probes and federal court filings in New York and California, as well as interviews with senior law-enforcement officials, shows how investigators tracing the activities of people who allegedly worked with Chaparro were able to expose large-scale money laundering at one of the world's biggest banks.
The federal law-enforcement task force - named after El Dorado, the mythical city of gold in South America - used wire taps, email and computer searches, information from at least one inside source, and old-fashioned surveillance, to piece together the ring's operations.
SMUGGLED ACROSS BORDER
Drug cartels sold narcoticsin the United States and routed the cash to Mexico,often using couriers to smuggle it across the border. That cash would then be put into bank accounts at HSBC's Mexicounit, where large depositscould be made without arousing suspicion, according to U.S. Department of Justice documents.
In one filing, U.S. prosecutors said, Chaparroand others allegedly utilized accounts at HSBC Mexico to deposit "drug dollars and then wire those funds to ... businesses located in the United States and elsewhere. The funds were then used to purchase consumer goods, which were exported to South America and resold to generate 'clean' cash."
In a typical transaction, a middleman in a drug cartel would offer to deliver consumer goods, such as computers or washing machines, to Colombian businesses on favorable terms. Another person in the United States would buy the goods from firms using funds from drug trafficking, and fulfill those orders.
Money launderers exploited the laxness of HSBC in policing shadowymoney flows, the Department of Justice saidearlier this month. Failuresincluded not conducting due diligence on customers, not adequatelymonitoring wire transfers or cash shipments and nothaving enough employees to run anti-money laundering systems. U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer called the lapses"stunning failures of oversight."
The situation was so bad, according to the Department of Justice, thatin 2008, the head of HSBC's Mexican operations was told by Mexican regulators that a local drug lord describedthe bank as "the place to launder money."
The Chaparro probe, led by ICE and the Justice Department, converged over the past two years with two other investigations - led by federal prosecutors and investigators in West Virginia and by the Manhattan district attorney- resulting in this month's settlement with HSBC.
HSBC and its employees avoided criminal indictments, as the bank agreed instead to a deferred-prosecution deal that forces it to strengthen controls and accept a compliance monitor.
Today, Chaparro sits in a federal detention center in Brooklyn, reading the Bible and awaiting sentencing, said Savitt, a former U.S. prosecutor in Brooklyn, who submitted a list of questions to Chaparro for Reuters.
"He is contrite, regretful and ashamed about his crimes," Savitt said. "He wants to serve his time and rejoin his family.
Tuesday 1 January 2013
Friday 28 December 2012
Apple's products were the preferred mobile device target of many thieves in the NewYork city,
A surge in thefts of iPhone and iPads is responsible for a slight uptick in New York City's overall crime rate, according to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Apple's products were the preferred mobile device target of many thieves in the city, Bloomberg noted duringhis weekly radio address,according to the New York Times .
Statistics published by the New York Police Department revealed thatas of Monday, there were3,484 more major crimes reported in 2012 than forthe same period last year.During that time, the city experienced 3,890 more thefts of Apple products.
"If you just took away thejump in Apple, we'd be down for the year," Marc La Vorgna, the mayor's press secretary, told the Times.
NYPD announced in September that thefts of iPhones and iPads have increased 40 percent this year, compared with the same period last year. To combat the rise in iPhone and iPad thefts, New YorkCity police have been running sting operations to catch people fencing stolen devices.
The NYPD has also launched a new service dubbed "Operation ID" to help owners find mobile devices that are lost or stolen. Because theloss of mobile devices is not limited to New York, the FCC announced earlier this year that it wasworking with the four major U.S. wireless carriers to create a centralized national database of lost or stolen cell phone information.
In addition, Apple recently filed a patent application for a theft detection system for smartphones that would sound an alarm if the device determined that ithad been stolen.
In the meantime, the mayor also had some advice for people using mobile devices on the streets of his fair city.
"Put it in a pocket in sort of a more body-fitting, tighter clothes, that you can feel if it was -- if somebody put their handin your pocket, not just an outside coat pocket," the mayor said.
Apple's products were the preferred mobile device target of many thieves in the city, Bloomberg noted duringhis weekly radio address,according to the New York Times .
Statistics published by the New York Police Department revealed thatas of Monday, there were3,484 more major crimes reported in 2012 than forthe same period last year.During that time, the city experienced 3,890 more thefts of Apple products.
"If you just took away thejump in Apple, we'd be down for the year," Marc La Vorgna, the mayor's press secretary, told the Times.
NYPD announced in September that thefts of iPhones and iPads have increased 40 percent this year, compared with the same period last year. To combat the rise in iPhone and iPad thefts, New YorkCity police have been running sting operations to catch people fencing stolen devices.
The NYPD has also launched a new service dubbed "Operation ID" to help owners find mobile devices that are lost or stolen. Because theloss of mobile devices is not limited to New York, the FCC announced earlier this year that it wasworking with the four major U.S. wireless carriers to create a centralized national database of lost or stolen cell phone information.
In addition, Apple recently filed a patent application for a theft detection system for smartphones that would sound an alarm if the device determined that ithad been stolen.
In the meantime, the mayor also had some advice for people using mobile devices on the streets of his fair city.
"Put it in a pocket in sort of a more body-fitting, tighter clothes, that you can feel if it was -- if somebody put their handin your pocket, not just an outside coat pocket," the mayor said.
Thursday 27 December 2012
Lending by U.K. banks to companies fell sharply in November
LONDON—Lending by U.K.banks to companies fell sharply in November, underscoring the fragility ofthe British economy and raising doubts about the prospects of the Bank of England and U.K. Treasury'sflagship program to boost the credit supply.
Figures from the British Bankers' Association Thursday showed lending to companies outside the financial sector fell by £3.1 billion ($5.0 billion) in November, the steepest drop since...
Figures from the British Bankers' Association Thursday showed lending to companies outside the financial sector fell by £3.1 billion ($5.0 billion) in November, the steepest drop since...
Marvell Technology Group,Ltd., to pay $1.17 billion in damages
A federal jury in Pennsylvania on Wednesday ordered Marvell Technology Group,Ltd., to pay $1.17 billion in damages after finding it infringed on two patents held by Carnegie Mellon University.
A lawsuit filed in 2009 by the Pittsburgh university claimed that Marvell infringed on its patented technology fundamental for "increasing the accuracywith which hard disk drivecircuits read data from high-speed magnetic disks," according to a pressrelease from K&L Gates, thelaw firm representing Carnegie Mellon.
The damages could be increased by as much as three times by U.S. District Court judge Nora Barry Fischer since the jury found chipmaker Marvell's infringements were willful, according to K&L Gates.
The jury also found Marvell sold billions of chips incorporating the university's technology without a license to do so, according to K&L Gates.
Marvell has denied the claim.
A lawsuit filed in 2009 by the Pittsburgh university claimed that Marvell infringed on its patented technology fundamental for "increasing the accuracywith which hard disk drivecircuits read data from high-speed magnetic disks," according to a pressrelease from K&L Gates, thelaw firm representing Carnegie Mellon.
The damages could be increased by as much as three times by U.S. District Court judge Nora Barry Fischer since the jury found chipmaker Marvell's infringements were willful, according to K&L Gates.
The jury also found Marvell sold billions of chips incorporating the university's technology without a license to do so, according to K&L Gates.
Marvell has denied the claim.
Wednesday 26 December 2012
UAE bad loan provisions drop for first time since crisis
DUBAI, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Outstanding provisions for bad loans set aside by banks in the United Arab Emirates fell in October for the first time since the global financial crisis began building in 2008, central bank data showed on Wednesday.
The small drop does not indicate an end to the corporate debt problems that have weighed on UAE banks' earnings over the past several years. But it does suggest the banks are over the worst of thoseproblems, helped by solideconomic growth and a fledgling recovery of Dubai's real estate market.
Provisions set aside for specific non-performing loans edged down to 65.3billion dirhams ($17.8 billion) at the end of October from 65.4 billion dirhams in September, thedata showed.
The official WAM news agency said it was the firsttime since 2008 that provisions had dropped. In October 2011 they stood at 51.9 billion dirhams and at the end of2008 they amounted to 19.7 billion dirhams, according to the central bank.
General provisions earmarked for other purposes by the 23 UAE-based banks and 28 units of foreign banks alsofell slightly in October to 17.4 billion dirhams from 17.6 billion dirhams in September; they totalled 15.4 billion dirhams in October 2011.
Banks in the UAE were hitfirst by the global financialcrisis, then by the Dubai corporate debt disaster of 2009-2010, when the emirate's real estate market crashed and conglomerate Dubai World asked to restructure $25 billion of debt.
The debt problems have not yet been fully workedthrough. For example another investment conglomerate, Dubai Group, is still struggling torestructure $10 billion of debt, and it is not clear whether banks may have to take further provisions against that debt.
Early this month, credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded ratings of three Dubai banks including the emirate's biggest, Emirates NBD. It cited large amounts of problem loans and said the banks had low levels of balance sheet coverage for loan losses and would need additional provisioning.
But a recovery in Dubai's real estate market has greatly improved the bond market's confidencein the financial strength ofUAE banks and many of their big customers, and their bond yields have plunged this year.
Moody's predicted last month that the ratio of problem loans to gross loans in the UAE banking sector would be between 10 and 12 percent for 2012 and drop marginallyin 2013.
Banks in the UAE have built up strong capital buffers against losses; theyhad core capital worth 17.2 percent of risk-weighted assets in September, a much higher level than banks inmany Western countries, central bank data showed.
However, the aftermath ofthe debt crisis has slowed growth in their lending, which rose just 2.8 percent from a year earlierto 1.10 trillion dirhams in October.
Total deposits, boosted bythe real estate recovery and Dubai's ability to attract foreign funds as a safe haven in an unstable region, jumped 9.4 percent to 1.16 trillion dirhams. (editing by Jane Baird)
The small drop does not indicate an end to the corporate debt problems that have weighed on UAE banks' earnings over the past several years. But it does suggest the banks are over the worst of thoseproblems, helped by solideconomic growth and a fledgling recovery of Dubai's real estate market.
Provisions set aside for specific non-performing loans edged down to 65.3billion dirhams ($17.8 billion) at the end of October from 65.4 billion dirhams in September, thedata showed.
The official WAM news agency said it was the firsttime since 2008 that provisions had dropped. In October 2011 they stood at 51.9 billion dirhams and at the end of2008 they amounted to 19.7 billion dirhams, according to the central bank.
General provisions earmarked for other purposes by the 23 UAE-based banks and 28 units of foreign banks alsofell slightly in October to 17.4 billion dirhams from 17.6 billion dirhams in September; they totalled 15.4 billion dirhams in October 2011.
Banks in the UAE were hitfirst by the global financialcrisis, then by the Dubai corporate debt disaster of 2009-2010, when the emirate's real estate market crashed and conglomerate Dubai World asked to restructure $25 billion of debt.
The debt problems have not yet been fully workedthrough. For example another investment conglomerate, Dubai Group, is still struggling torestructure $10 billion of debt, and it is not clear whether banks may have to take further provisions against that debt.
Early this month, credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded ratings of three Dubai banks including the emirate's biggest, Emirates NBD. It cited large amounts of problem loans and said the banks had low levels of balance sheet coverage for loan losses and would need additional provisioning.
But a recovery in Dubai's real estate market has greatly improved the bond market's confidencein the financial strength ofUAE banks and many of their big customers, and their bond yields have plunged this year.
Moody's predicted last month that the ratio of problem loans to gross loans in the UAE banking sector would be between 10 and 12 percent for 2012 and drop marginallyin 2013.
Banks in the UAE have built up strong capital buffers against losses; theyhad core capital worth 17.2 percent of risk-weighted assets in September, a much higher level than banks inmany Western countries, central bank data showed.
However, the aftermath ofthe debt crisis has slowed growth in their lending, which rose just 2.8 percent from a year earlierto 1.10 trillion dirhams in October.
Total deposits, boosted bythe real estate recovery and Dubai's ability to attract foreign funds as a safe haven in an unstable region, jumped 9.4 percent to 1.16 trillion dirhams. (editing by Jane Baird)
Tuesday 25 December 2012
Kingfisher files revival plan with air regulator
NEW DELHI, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Grounded Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines has filed a revival plan with the country's airline regulator, a senior government official said on Tuesday, in an effort torenew its operating license before it expires atthe end of the year.
Kingfisher, which has not flown since October, has estimated debts of $2.5 billion and owes money tobanks, airports, tax authorities, plane leasing companies, and its staff.
The Directorate General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator, which suspended Kingfisher's licence to fly after months of cancelled flights and staff walkouts, has demanded a turnaround plan before the airline is permitted to fly again.
The DGCA wants all creditors to agree to the revival plan submitted by Kingfisher, and has not decided on its course of action, said the government official who has direct knowledge Of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bankers maintain they have the option of restructuring Kingfisher's loans for a second time, orinfusing more capital, but they are awaiting a concrete revival or turnaround plan from the company, including capital injection by company chairman Vijay Mallya.
The airline did not say where it would find the money it needs, but mentioned it was in talks with several parties, including one in London, for new cash, the source said.
Mallya's United Breweries Group plans to invest 6.52billion rupees ($119 million) in the airline as part of the turnaround plan it filed on Monday, according to reports in a local newspaper on Tuesday.
Kingfisher has tried unsuccessfully to raise cash for more than a year. It said earlier this month itwas in talks with Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and other potential investors about selling a stake in the carrier. ($1 = 54.9650 Indian rupees) (Additional reporting by Swati Pandey in Mumbai; Writing by Aditi Shah; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
Kingfisher, which has not flown since October, has estimated debts of $2.5 billion and owes money tobanks, airports, tax authorities, plane leasing companies, and its staff.
The Directorate General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator, which suspended Kingfisher's licence to fly after months of cancelled flights and staff walkouts, has demanded a turnaround plan before the airline is permitted to fly again.
The DGCA wants all creditors to agree to the revival plan submitted by Kingfisher, and has not decided on its course of action, said the government official who has direct knowledge Of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bankers maintain they have the option of restructuring Kingfisher's loans for a second time, orinfusing more capital, but they are awaiting a concrete revival or turnaround plan from the company, including capital injection by company chairman Vijay Mallya.
The airline did not say where it would find the money it needs, but mentioned it was in talks with several parties, including one in London, for new cash, the source said.
Mallya's United Breweries Group plans to invest 6.52billion rupees ($119 million) in the airline as part of the turnaround plan it filed on Monday, according to reports in a local newspaper on Tuesday.
Kingfisher has tried unsuccessfully to raise cash for more than a year. It said earlier this month itwas in talks with Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and other potential investors about selling a stake in the carrier. ($1 = 54.9650 Indian rupees) (Additional reporting by Swati Pandey in Mumbai; Writing by Aditi Shah; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
Egypt has banned travellers from carrying more than $10,000 in foreign currency cash in or out of the country,
Political turmoil over the past month has raised fears among ordinary citizens that the government - which has pushed back talks to seal IMF funding till January -may not be able to get its fragile finances under control.
The central bank has spent more than $20 billion of its foreign reserves to support the pound since the popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. It now has only $15billion, which is equal to only about three months of imports cover.
Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali on Tuesday confirmed the government decision, which includes U.S. dollars or their equivalentin other foreign currencies. The decision also forbids sending cash through the mail.
The decision prohibits all travellers from "bringing foreign currency into the country or carrying it out to only $10,000".
Any funds over $10,000 must be transferred electronically, Ali added.
Previously, travellers weresimply required to declare any amounts above $10,000 to authorities on their way in or out.
Bankers say depositors had been withdrawing greater amounts of cash from their accounts since President Mohamed Mursiissued a constitutional declaration last month thatexpanded his powers andthrew the country into a political crisis.
The crisis has complicated a $4.8 billion loan the government is seeking from the International Monetary Fund.
The central bank has spent more than $20 billion of its foreign reserves to support the pound since the popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. It now has only $15billion, which is equal to only about three months of imports cover.
Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali on Tuesday confirmed the government decision, which includes U.S. dollars or their equivalentin other foreign currencies. The decision also forbids sending cash through the mail.
The decision prohibits all travellers from "bringing foreign currency into the country or carrying it out to only $10,000".
Any funds over $10,000 must be transferred electronically, Ali added.
Previously, travellers weresimply required to declare any amounts above $10,000 to authorities on their way in or out.
Bankers say depositors had been withdrawing greater amounts of cash from their accounts since President Mohamed Mursiissued a constitutional declaration last month thatexpanded his powers andthrew the country into a political crisis.
The crisis has complicated a $4.8 billion loan the government is seeking from the International Monetary Fund.
a California Instagram user leveled breach of contract and other claims against the company.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook's Instagram photo sharing service has been hit with what appears to be the first civil lawsuit to result from changed service terms that prompted howls of protest last week.
In a proposed class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Friday, a California Instagram user leveled breach of contract and other claims against the company.
"We believe this complaintis without merit and we will fight it vigorously," Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in an e-mail.
Instagram, which allows people to add filters and effects to photos and share them easily on the Internet, was acquired by Facebook earlier this year for $715 million.
In announcing revised terms of service last week, Instagram spurred suspicions that it would sell user photos without compensation. It also announced a mandatory arbitration clause, forcing users to waive their rights to participate in a class action lawsuit except under very limited circumstances.
The current terms of service, in effect through mid-January, contain no such liability shield.
The backlash prompted Instagram founder and CEO Kevin Systrom to retreat partially a few dayslater, deleting language about displaying photos without compensation.
However, Instagram kept language that gave it the ability to place ads in conjunction with user content, and saying "that we may not always identify paid services, sponsored content, or commercial communications as such." It also kept the mandatoryarbitration clause.
The lawsuit, filed by San Diego-based law firm Finkelstein & Krinsk, says customers who do not agree with Instagram's terms can cancel their profile but then forfeit rights to photos they had previously shared on the service.
"In short, Instagram declares that 'possession isnine-tenths of the law and if you don't like it, you can't stop us,'" the lawsuit says.
Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation who had criticized Instagram, said he was pleased that the company rolled back some of the advertising terms and agreed to better explain their plans in the future.
However, he said the newterms no longer contain language which had explicitly promised that private photos would remain private. Facebook had engendered criticism in the past, Opsahl said, for changing settings so that the ability to keep some information private was no longer available.
"Hopefully, Instagram willlearn from that experienceand refrain from removingprivacy settings," Opsahl said.
The civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Lucy Funes, individually and on behalf of all otherssimilarly situated vs. Instagram Inc., 12-cv-6482.
(Reporting by Dan Levine;Editing by Dan Grebler)
In a proposed class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Friday, a California Instagram user leveled breach of contract and other claims against the company.
"We believe this complaintis without merit and we will fight it vigorously," Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in an e-mail.
Instagram, which allows people to add filters and effects to photos and share them easily on the Internet, was acquired by Facebook earlier this year for $715 million.
In announcing revised terms of service last week, Instagram spurred suspicions that it would sell user photos without compensation. It also announced a mandatory arbitration clause, forcing users to waive their rights to participate in a class action lawsuit except under very limited circumstances.
The current terms of service, in effect through mid-January, contain no such liability shield.
The backlash prompted Instagram founder and CEO Kevin Systrom to retreat partially a few dayslater, deleting language about displaying photos without compensation.
However, Instagram kept language that gave it the ability to place ads in conjunction with user content, and saying "that we may not always identify paid services, sponsored content, or commercial communications as such." It also kept the mandatoryarbitration clause.
The lawsuit, filed by San Diego-based law firm Finkelstein & Krinsk, says customers who do not agree with Instagram's terms can cancel their profile but then forfeit rights to photos they had previously shared on the service.
"In short, Instagram declares that 'possession isnine-tenths of the law and if you don't like it, you can't stop us,'" the lawsuit says.
Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation who had criticized Instagram, said he was pleased that the company rolled back some of the advertising terms and agreed to better explain their plans in the future.
However, he said the newterms no longer contain language which had explicitly promised that private photos would remain private. Facebook had engendered criticism in the past, Opsahl said, for changing settings so that the ability to keep some information private was no longer available.
"Hopefully, Instagram willlearn from that experienceand refrain from removingprivacy settings," Opsahl said.
The civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Lucy Funes, individually and on behalf of all otherssimilarly situated vs. Instagram Inc., 12-cv-6482.
(Reporting by Dan Levine;Editing by Dan Grebler)
Jaguar Land Rover's Chinese subsidiary will recall 337 cars
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its website that Jaguar Land Rover's China unit is recalling 190 2012 Evoque and Freelander vehicles produced on June 11 this year.
The agency's statement saidthe recall was prompted by concerns that substandard fixings in the vehicles' rear brake calipers may lead to brakes failing and sudden tire deflation.
The agency said another 147 2012 Evoque and 2013Evoque vehicles made between October 20 and September 18 will also be recalled due to problems intheir steering boxes, which contain "security risks".
Jaguar Land Rover, the British luxury marque owned by India's Tata Motors , has relied on strong demand over the past year from emerging markets such as China for itsluxury SUVs and sleek sedans to offset sluggish growth in developed markets.
The agency's statement saidthe recall was prompted by concerns that substandard fixings in the vehicles' rear brake calipers may lead to brakes failing and sudden tire deflation.
The agency said another 147 2012 Evoque and 2013Evoque vehicles made between October 20 and September 18 will also be recalled due to problems intheir steering boxes, which contain "security risks".
Jaguar Land Rover, the British luxury marque owned by India's Tata Motors , has relied on strong demand over the past year from emerging markets such as China for itsluxury SUVs and sleek sedans to offset sluggish growth in developed markets.
Spain's awards billions lottery winners
The country's annual Christmas lottery pays out this year $2.2 billion to thousands of winners, but those holding the winning number for the top prize --76058 -- for El Gordo, or"the fat one," reaped the biggest rewards, accordingto Spain's state-run lottery.
The first prize paid $950 million overall, or 43 percent of the total prizes, and most of "El Gordo" waswon by some residents of the historic university town of Alcala de Henares, just east of Madrid, the lottery administration said.
There, in a working class neighborhood with public housing and many immigrants, Spanish media reported that champagne bottles were popping at the lottery office that sold many of the winning tickets.
Spaniards typically buy a share of a ticket, among friends or family, at the local bar or workplace, so the joy was spread around.
Is praying for a lottery win frowned upon? Depends on who you ask
A man in Alcala de Henares bought 10 shares -- an amount known as a"full ticket," and now worth $5.2 million -- and had given them away otherfamily members. One recipient, the father of a young child, said he would try to buy a decent home and a car.
Another winner was a cafe owner who said he'd still probably open for businesson Monday, after going to collect his earnings at the bank, Spanish media reported.
The second biggest prize mostly went to residents in the town of Aranda de Duero, north of Madrid. Numerous towns across thenation also got a piece of the action, and some portions of the top El Gordo prize were sold in 15 Spanish provinces.
But Spain's recession and the unemployment rate that tops 25% clearly had an impact on the lottery intake this year.
The first prize paid $950 million overall, or 43 percent of the total prizes, and most of "El Gordo" waswon by some residents of the historic university town of Alcala de Henares, just east of Madrid, the lottery administration said.
There, in a working class neighborhood with public housing and many immigrants, Spanish media reported that champagne bottles were popping at the lottery office that sold many of the winning tickets.
Spaniards typically buy a share of a ticket, among friends or family, at the local bar or workplace, so the joy was spread around.
Is praying for a lottery win frowned upon? Depends on who you ask
A man in Alcala de Henares bought 10 shares -- an amount known as a"full ticket," and now worth $5.2 million -- and had given them away otherfamily members. One recipient, the father of a young child, said he would try to buy a decent home and a car.
Another winner was a cafe owner who said he'd still probably open for businesson Monday, after going to collect his earnings at the bank, Spanish media reported.
The second biggest prize mostly went to residents in the town of Aranda de Duero, north of Madrid. Numerous towns across thenation also got a piece of the action, and some portions of the top El Gordo prize were sold in 15 Spanish provinces.
But Spain's recession and the unemployment rate that tops 25% clearly had an impact on the lottery intake this year.
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