SEATTLE - (07/11/05) -- An Auburn man known as the'Pillowcase Robber,' for the vehicle in which he carried out stolenloot, was sentenced Friday to 184 years in prison for a robberyspree police believe may have included as many as 20 credit unions,banks and check cashers. U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly imposedthe stiff sentence on 41-year-old bank robber Ivy Gaines because oflegislatively mandated minimum terms for defendants who usefirearms during robberies, and because higher courts have upheldheavy sentences in comparable cases. Gaines was convicted on 10counts of bank robbery, including the August 4, 2003 heist atWashington Employees CU and the August 7, 2003 hold-up at AlaskaUSA FCU. Authorities dubbed him the Pillowcase Robber because heoften handed tellers a pillowcase and ordered them to fill it withcash. Gaines was arrested after a hold-up at KeyBank when policefound a pillowcase with $15,000 stuffed in it in hiscar.
-
Synovus Financial demonstrated at an industry conference how it is using Microsoft's Copilot to help its staff address customers' concerns.
March 28 -
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.
March 28 -
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.
March 28 -
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.
March 28 -
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.
March 28 -
But the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is still near 7%, and that remains the overhang on the housing market, Freddie Mac said.
March 28