E-bullion: Fayed attorneys seek to have $300,000 released

Source: http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/aug/20/nb1fayedbrief20/

Fayed attorneys seek to have $300,000 released

Attorneys for James Fayed are asking the U.S. District Court to release money seized by law enforcement officials after the Moorpark man's arrest earlier this month on suspicion of operating a money transmitting business without a license.

Fayed, 45, is being held in federal jail on the single count, and investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department consider him a suspect in the stabbing death of his estranged wife, Pamela, in a Century City parking garage last month. He has not been charged in that case.

The $300,000 would be used to preserve evidence, such as e-mails, audit trails, transaction histories and other electronic records and data on servers and computer network system that could clear Fayed, according to the motion filed Tuesday by Mark Werksman, Fayed's attorney, and James Spertus, who represents Goldfinger Coin & Bullion Inc.

The company was co-owned by Fayed and Pamela Fayed.

The motion states that $100,000 per month is needed to pay for server rack space, security software, bandwidth and personnel to maintain the Internet servers and computer network system.

Agents with the FBI and Internal Revenue Service seized bank accounts, business records, property and precious metals holdings, which are worth about $24 million, on Aug. 5, according to the court document. It also states that the evidence is at risk because of the investigators' seizure of the business and will be lost if the servers and network were to go down.

The motion also claims that Fayed and Goldfinger might not have been the target of the FBI and IRS investigation.

A spokesman with the U. S. Attorney's Office said the government "will respond in writing in due course."