Source: http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7228354&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
| Husband of Woman Killed in Century City to Be Arraigned |
LOS ANGELES -- The estranged husband of a woman who was stabbed to death last month in a Century City parking garage is set to be arraigned today on a federal charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
James Michael Fayed, 45, is scheduled to appear this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Eick in downtown Los Angeles. Deemed a flight risk, Fayed is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Fayed's 44-year-old wife, Pamela, was killed July 28. Fayed has not been charged in connection with the slaying, but prosecutors say in court documents that he is "the primary suspect" in her killing.
According to court documents filed by federal prosecutors, Pamela Fayed's criminal defense attorney notified prosecutors about a month before her slaying that she wanted to cooperate in a criminal probe into the businesses she owned with her estranged husband.
Prosecutors allege that the killer's getaway car had been rented with James Fayed's credit card, which police later found in his wallet.
Fayed was arrested Aug. 1 on a federal charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
James Fayed's attorney, Mark Werksman, has argued there was no evidence that his client's wife was cooperating with the government or, if she was, that his client knew about it.
Werksman also accused the government of presenting its case with hearsay and unsubstantiated allegations and said the real focus was the lone federal charge of operating an unlicensed money business.
In court papers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Aveis wrote that James Fayed was likely to have been ordered to pay about $1 million in spousal support, attorney fees and court sanctions at a hearing set for July 29, the day after his wife was killed.
According to Aveis, Pamela Fayed told a close friend that her husband told her, "I could have you killed and my hands would be clean."
Pamela, the co-owner of the Camarillo-based Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales and an associated Internet firm, E-Bullion, was murdered about 6:35 p.m. July 28.
Witnesses said the woman was repeatedly stabbed by a slender man in his 20s who fled in an SUV as she screamed for help. |
