10A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
》 FRAUD
THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007
Man ordered to pay $4.18 million
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A former New York University whiz kid who posed as a Turkish heir and persuaded sophisticated investors
to pour millions into a nonexistent hedge fund was sentenced Wednesday to 3 1/2 years in prison.
H a k a n
Yalincak, 22,
who has already
served 20
months, needs
the time in prison to reflect and find his "moral compass," U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton said.
"It would appear the majority of his life was spent engaged in fraud," said Arterton, who ordered him to pay $4.18 million in restitution.
Yalircak, who pleaded guilty last year to bank and wire fraud.
"I made significant errors of judgement. If I could go back and take back what I've done I'd do it in a heartbeat."
HAKAN YALINCAK Convicted of fraud
acknowledged in court Wednesday that he did play a pivotal role in the scheme and pledged to work on paying the restitution.
restaurant "I made significant errors of judgment," he said. "If I could
go back and take back what I've done I'd do it in a heartbeat."
His attorney had asked for a sen-
ence of 20 months that he has already spent in prison as well as home confinement and restitution.
Yalincak's mother, Ayferafet Yalincak, 52, was sentenced last month to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the scheme.
The elder Yalincak said in court papers that she had been "bent to the will" of her brilliant college-age son and played a limited role in the fraud.
She purchased, or had purchased for her, a $56,000 Mercedes Benz and a $51,000 diamond ring with investors' funds, and lived in a house with an annual rental fee of $77,000 that came from investors' funds, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say Hakan Yalincak
charmed his way into the exclusive world of Greenwich high finance by posing as an heir to a wealthy Turkish family, shuttled counterfeit checks across the world and brokered deals with a Kuwaiti financier.
Authorities say the Yalincaks also gave $1.25 million of investor money as a down payment on a $21 million donation to NYU as a way to cast themselves as wealthy philanthropists in hopes of luring more investment.
Hakan Yalincki, 22, leaves U.S. District Court in New Haven, Cann, Wednesday after his sentencing hearing. Yalincki was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison.
Wednesday to 3 1/2 years in prison.
Bob Child/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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MILITARY
Army's tours extended 3 months
WASHINGTON — Stretched thin by four years of war, the Army is adding three months to the standard yearlong tour for all active-duty soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unpopular step aimed at maintaining the troop buildup in Baghdad.
BY ROBERT BURNS ASSOCIATED PRESS
The change, announced Wednesday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is the latest blow to an all-volunteer Army that has been given ever-shorter periods of rest and retraining at home between overseas deployments.
Rather than continue to shrink the at-home intervals to a point that might compromise soldiers' preparedness for combat, Gates chose to lengthen combat tours to buy time for units newly returned from battle.
"Our forces are stretched, there's no question about that," Gates said.
The extended tours are a price the Army must pay to sustain the troop
buildup that President Bush ordered in January as part of his re-jiggered strategy for stabilizing Baghdad and averting a U.S. defeat. Troop levels are being boosted from 15 brigades to 20 brigades, and in order to keep that up beyond summer the Army faced harsh choices; either send units to Iraq with less than 12 months at home, or extend tours.
Reaction on Capitol Hill to Gates' announcement was harsh.
Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the longer tours will have a "chilling effect" on recruiting and the Army's ability to keep soldiers from quitting the service.
"We also must not underestimate the enormous negative impact this will have on Army families," Skelton said.
Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, one of only two Republicans who voted to set a timetable for beginning to withdraw troops from Iraq, said Gates' announcement was a "stark admission that the administration's
Carol Frennier, whose husband, Command Sgt. Maj. Steve Frennier, is in Iraq, said she had prepared herself and her family for a longer deployment.
"Last time they said nine months, and it was 14 months," Frennier said.
policies in Iraq are doing permanent damage to our military.
"They kind of told us to expect 12 months to 18 months," she said. "We were already prepared to have them extended." And her family has been through an extended tour of duty before.
Gates said the new policy seeks to ensure that all active-duty Army units get at least 12 months at home between deployments.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who supports the troop buildup, said of the affected soldiers, "They'll be disappointed, but they'll do it."
Indeed, at Fort Hood, Texas, home of the 4th Infantry Division, some Army families took the news in stride.
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