First off I’d like to thank okosh for bringing this to my attention. Here is some breaking news regarding the murder case of e-Bullion co-founder Pamela Fayed:
Police arrest man in connection with fatal Century City stabbing
The manager of James Fayed’s Moorpark ranch was taken into custody last week. Fayed’s wife Pamela was killed in a parking garage.By Scott Glover and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 15, 2008Los Angeles police have arrested a man in connection with the highly publicized stabbing death of a woman in July in the parking garage of a Century City office complex, according to a law enforcement source.
Detectives from LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division arrested 47-year-old Jose Luis Moya last week on suspicion of murder for his alleged role in the death of Pamela Fayed, the source said.
Authorities had previously identified Fayed’s husband, James, as the prime suspect in the killing.
Moya, who worked as the manager of James Fayed’s Moorpark ranch, allegedly rented a sport utility vehicle that was used in the attack and was seen fleeing from the scene in the vehicle, according to a law enforcement source who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation. Moya is not believed to have actually wielded the knife in the attack, the source said.
Moya was arrested Thursday and is being held without bail in Los Angeles County Jail, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department website.
Pamela Fayed was stabbed in the neck and face in July by a suspect who was described as a slender man in his 20s wearing a black, hooded sweat shirt. A red sport utility vehicle was seen speeding away from the bloody scene. The stabbing took place in front of several witnesses.
James Fayed was arrested shortly after his wife’s death on fraud charges stemming from the couple’s international gold trading business and remains in custody.
He has not been charged with his wife’s death, but prosecutors in court proceedings described him as “the primary suspect,” saying his credit card had been used to rent the vehicle they believed was later driven by the killer.
A judge later ordered James Fayed should be held without bail.
James Fayed’s attorney has called the prosecution’s allegations unsubstantiated and uncorroborated.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Aveis in court proceedings last month said Fayed told his wife, “I could have you killed and my hands would be clean,” gesturing as if he were wiping his hands.
Aveis also said that Fayed had a motive to have his wife killed so she could not testify against him in a criminal case relating to his business, an operation the prosecutor described as Ponzi schemes in which individuals invested up to $20 million.
A month before she was killed, Pamela Fayed had offered to help federal prosecutors in the criminal probe into the business she owned with her husband, court documents later revealed. James Fayed’s attorney said his client was unaware of her offer.
Family and friends of Pamela Fayed told The Times that Pamela felt her life might be in danger for months leading up to her death.
The couple was engaged in bitter divorce proceedings at the time of Pamela’s death, and prosecutors noted in court documents that James Fayed was expected to be ordered to pay about $1 million in spousal support and attorney fees on July 29, the day after his wife was killed.
The couple had two children, an 18-year-old daughter from Pamela’s first marriage, and a 9-year-old daughter.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fayed15-2008sep15,0,6992687.story
Forum tread where you can discuss this topic:
UPDATE: Pamela’s husband James Fayed is facing murder charges
Capital murder charges filed in Century City stabbing
Daily News
Article Launched: 09/15/2008 01:35:20 PM PDTCapital murder charges were filed today against a 45-year-old businessman and one of his employees in connection with the murder of Pamela Fayed, who was stabbed to death in a Century City parking garage on July 28.
James Micheal Fayed, 45, and Jose Luis Moya, 47, also were charged with “conspiring together and with another person and persons whose identity is unknown to commit the crime of murder.”
Moya was scheduled to appear for arraignment this afternoon. Fayed, currently in federal custody, was expected to appear for arraignment tomorrow in the same courtroom.
The criminal complaint alleges the special circumstances of murder for financial gain and lying in wait. The District Attorney’s office will not decide until the case moves closer to trial whether to seek the death penalty against the defendants. Both remained in custody without bail.
The conspiracy count alleged that sometime between Jan. 1 of this year and July 28 – when the killing occurred – Fayed paid Moya “approximately $25,000 to arrange the murder of Pamela Fayed.”
The complaint alleged that on July 3, Fayed and his company – Goldfinger, Inc. – rented a Suzuki sport utility vehicle that was used by the killers at the Watt Tower parking garage where Pamela Fayed was killed.
The Suzuki SUV was driven to Fayed’s Ventura County ranch on Happy Camp Road after the killing, the complaint alleged. The next day, according to the complaint, Moya returned the SUV to the rental company.
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District Attorney David Walgren of the Major Crimes Division filed and will prosecute the case.
Source: http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_10470765?nclick_check=1&forced=true
Oh my! Kiss e-Bullion goodbye!
But wait, it gets better. Read below:
Ordered Without Bail In Slaying Of Businessman’s Estranged Wife
Attorney: James Fayed ‘Absolutely Denies’ Involvement In Wife’s Death
POSTED: 4:13 pm PDT September 16, 2008LOS ANGELES — The estranged husband of a woman stabbed to death in a Century City parking garage in July and one of his employees were ordered Tuesday to remain jailed without bail while awaiting arraignment on murder and conspiracy charges.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Henry J. Hall ordered James M. Fayed, 45, of Moorpark, and his employee, Jose Luis Moya, 47, to return to the downtown Los Angeles courthouse on Oct. 8 for arraignment in connection with the July 28 slaying of Pamela Fayed.
Fayed’s attorney, Mark Werksman, told reporters outside court that his client will plead not guilty, KNBC’s Gordon Tokumatsu reported.
“Let me say that this is a double tragedy for Mr. Fayed. Not only was his wife brutally murdered, but now he’s being charged with her murder and will sit in county jail until this case is resolved,” the defense lawyer said.
“Mr. Fayed absolutely denies that he had anything to do with the murder of his wife, and he looks forward to an opportunity to prove his innocence in court, where we will finally have an opportunity to see and hear the evidence that the district attorney claims to have marshaled against him,” Werksman told reporters.
Werksman said his client is “dumbstruck by these allegations, and I don’t think he has any idea who killed Pamela Fayed.”
He called the case against Fayed “purely circumstantial” and said it involves “a number of either coincidences or facts which will have an innocent explanation.”
Part of the prosecution’s case is based on “statements that were obtained by a jailhouse informant, which is the most contemptible and unbelievable form of evidence that the prosecution could possibly marshal,” Werksman said.
“As you know, it’s the policy of the D.A.’s Office not to discuss the evidence until it’s actually testified to in court, which it will be. We do feel that we have a very solid case here,” Sandi Gibbons of the District Attorney’s Office told reporters outside court.
She noted that “circumstantial evidence has the same weight as direct evidence, and the jury is told that.”
In a criminal complaint filed Monday, the prosecution contended that Fayed paid Moya about $25,000 between Jan. 1 and July 28 “to arrange the murder of Pamela Fayed.”
The criminal complaint also alleged that a Suzuki sport utility vehicle was rented by James Fayed and his company, Goldfinger Inc., on July 3, and that the SUV was driven 25 days later to the Watt Tower parking garage in Century City, where Pamela Fayed was killed, by a person who then “entered Fayed’s rented Suzuki sport utility vehicle.”
The criminal complaint filed by the District Attorney’s Office alleges that the SUV seen at the murder scene was driven by “persons” to James Fayed’s ranch in Ventura County, and returned the following day by Moya to the rental car company.
Fayed’s attorney said “the mere fact of Mr. Fayed’s company renting a car for use by its employees in and of itself does not bear on Mr. Fayed’s guilt or innocence with regard to the murder of Mrs. Fayed.”
The murder charges against the men include the special circumstance allegations that Fayed’s 44-year-old estranged wife was killed July 28 by means of lying in wait and was murdered for financial gain. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty in the case.
Fayed has been held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center since the FBI arrested him Aug. 1 on a federal money transmitting charge. But federal prosecutors dropped their pending case Monday against Fayed over an alleged illegal money transmitting operation in light of the murder and conspiracy charges.
“The other shoe has dropped,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Aveis told the court in his motion to drop the federal indictment against Fayed.
Aveis, in court proceedings last month, said Fayed had told his wife he could kill her and “my hands would be clean.”
A possible motive for the killing may have been to prevent Fayed’s wife from testifying against him in a criminal case related to his business, an operation the prosecutor described as a Ponzi scheme in which individuals invested up to $20 million.
Fayed and his wife jointly owned Camarillo-based Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales and an associated Internet firm, E-Bullion.
A month before she was killed, Pamela Fayed offered to help federal prosecutors in the criminal probe into the business, officials said.
The couple was engaged in divorce proceedings at the time of the killing, and federal prosecutors noted in court documents that James Fayed was expected to be ordered to pay about $1 million in spousal support and attorney fees on July 29 — the day after his wife was killed.
The couple had two children, an 18-year-old daughter from Pamela’s first marriage, and a 9-year-old daughter.
Moya was arrested last Thursday and has remained jailed since then.
After coming under suspicion, Fayed allegedly tried to have Moya killed to prevent his employee from testifying against him, according to today’s Los Angeles Times, which cited an unidentified law enforcement source. That allegation is not part of the criminal complaint.