LAS VEGAS - (12/01/05) -- The driver of an armored car thatdisappeared in front of the Circus Circus casino in 1993 with $3million of credit union and bank cash in it pleaded guiltyWednesday to the spectacular heist. Wearing an orange jail jumpsuitand ankle shackles, Heather Tallchief, now 33, told the court shehas been living as a fugitive in Europe since then on a forgedpassport. Tallchief agreed to plead guilty after giving herself upOct. 27 to stealing the cash, $2.5 million of it headed to Bank ofAmerica and $500,000, of it belonging to Nevada FCU. Tallchief toldthe court she drove the Loomis Armored truck to a rented garagewhere she and her boyfriend, Roberto Solis, loaded the money ontoanother vehicle, then flew out of the country from a northernNevada airport. She told the court she doesn't know where Solis orthe money is. Tallchief claims she was seduced by Solis, aconvicted murderer, then brainwashed into getting a job at thearmored car company to commit the heist. Tallchief faces up to 40years in prison when she is sentenced in January and has agreed topay restitution of $2.9 million from any movie or book deal shegets.
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Synovus Financial demonstrated at an industry conference how it is using Microsoft's Copilot to help its staff address customers' concerns.
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The U.S. arm of Spanish banking giant Santander has hired Swati Bhatia to oversee retail banking and its digital transformation efforts. Bhatia joins at "an inflection point" for the company, which aims to be "a digital bank with branches," CEO Tim Wennes said.
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Mariya Rosberg is named Americas head of banking and financial services at Marsh McLennan's Oliver Wyman unit; startup ZayZoon raised $15 million in a new funding round; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.
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Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.
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Once a prominent figure spurring financial institutions to engage in cryptocurrency, Bankman-Fried's downslide began with the collapse of the digital asset exchange FTX in late 2022 and hit rock bottom with his sentencing to 25 years in prison.
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But the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is still near 7%, and that remains the overhang on the housing market, Freddie Mac said.
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