Banking Services

Jeremy Alters, big-time Democratic fundraiser, fights off legal challenges as he wins big in court

Jeremy Alters, Top Dem Fundraiser, Wins Big Class-Action Cases But Fights Lawsuits

​Call it an American life lesson: The bigger you win, the more people want in on the action. At least that's how Jeremy Alters says he's been feeling lately. In the past two years, Alters has become Miami's class-action-lawsuit king, raking in more than a billion dollars in settlements from defect ... More >>

South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cheap Seats: Tickets Under $100

​Although the South Beach Wine & Food Festival is still a month away, the time to get those tickets is now. Indeed, some of the more popular events are sold out. You've already missed the meaty Burger Bash, BBQ & The Blues hosted by Food Network's "Iron Chef" Michael Symon, and Paula Deen' ... More >>

Stand-Up Comedian Sticks Up Tampa Bay Bank Twice in a Week

​So, a stand up comedian walks into a bank ...and robs it twice in one week. 27-year-old Jeffrey Lluis was arrested on Thursday after making his second robbery at a SunTrust branch in Citrus Park. He pulled off the second heist on Thursday even after police had interviewed about the Tuesday r ... More >>

Occupy Miami Protesters Target Bank of America, Plan Mass Account Cancellations UPDATED

photo by Brian Katt via Wikimedia CommonsThe Occupy movement started with mass outrage against Wall Street, and while Miami may not be home to the slimy realm of Gordon Gekko, protesters outside the Stephen P. Clark Government Center are turning their economic outrage onto the local equivalent: the ... More >>

Feds Put Clamps On Miami Bank With Most Insider Deals In Florida

​Two years ago, U.S. Century Bank earned the distinction as the bank with more insider deals than any other banking institution in Florida. Several U.S. Century board members and executives accounted for $110 million in insider loans at a bank with deposits of $1.5 billion in 2009.One of those ins ... More >>

Full Lineup and Set Times for SunFest 2011 With Cee Lo Green, MGMT, and Others

Worship with Cee Lo at SunFest.​Read Crossfade's print feature on Taking Back Sunday at SunFest 2011. Throughout history, humans have worshipped the sun in strange ways, often involving mass orgy and human sacrifice. Our ancestors really knew how to party, huh? Well, yes ... But it's now the 2 ... More >>

Franco, Finally

Florida Carpenters Union Wages War on TD Bank

The Florida Carpenters strike again, this time against a TD Bank on Biscayne Blvd. in North Miami​From Ohio to Wisconsin, organized labor is under attack. In that mitten-shaped slab of cheese up north, governor Scott Walker used a budget bill to kill collective bargaining. In Ohio, the working man ... More >>

Wachovia Now Off the Hook for Laundering Mexican Drug Money

Off the hook for millions in money laundering.​Happy Anniversary, Wachovia!A year after the bank admitted to laundering hundreds of millions in Mexican drug money -- and paying $160 million in fines and penalties -- the company is now off the hook for further punishment.According to the British pa ... More >>

Finance director Larry Spring can't keep his own house in order

South Beach Wine & Food Festival Tickets Still Available

Food Network Party with Guy​Every year the South Beach Wine & Food Festival Rolls out its tents on the beach off Ocean Drive and every year you procrastinate, waiting to see if somehow some business associate or rich benefactor will bestow on you a complimentary golden ticket. If you ha ... More >>

Hialeah Man's $40 million Ponzi Scheme Nets More Arrests

Julio Robaina​Nine more individuals have been criminally charged in the ongoing federal investigation into a $40 million ponzi scheme in Hialeah. The arrests come in the wake of news reports that the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service are investigating Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina for alleged loa ... More >>

Girl with the Pearl Necklace

Jorge Uscamayta, Skycap Arrested In Luggage Scam, Is Dad Of Bomb-Strapped Bank Robbery Victim

via Miami-Dade CorrectionsJorge Uscamayta was arrested along with more than 20 other baggage handlers yesterday.​How's this for a truly bizarre crime connection? Last night, Miami-Dade police announced the arrests of more than 20 curbside baggage handlers at MIA on charges that they'd taken cash b ... More >>

South Beach's Dumbest Bank Robbers Foiled by Sleeping Getaway Driver

You've been hit by, you've been struck by a dumb criminal​Bank robbery is not a dumb man's game. With high-tech security and cunning police, there's little room for amateurish. Even if you do manage to make off with some loot, you better have a good get away plan. That usually involves making sure ... More >>

Hostage Crisis Unfolding at Coral Gables Bank of America Near UM Campus (Update)

​A Miami PD SWAT team has surrounded a Bank of America near the University of Miami and shut down nearby Coral Gables streets as negotiators try to talk down an armed robber holding at least one hostage inside.UM sent students an alert about an hour ago warning them to stay away from the bank ... More >>

Yet Unseen

Admire the Full SunFest 2010 Lineup and Schedule, Advance Tickets Still Available

Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, after knocking out Chris Cornell in four rounds​Now Crossfade isn't taking any steps to become Sunfade for the week, but there's going to be a lot of SunFest coverage. The lineup, which includes Weezer, the Flaming Lips, Nas, among many others, is strong to say the least. A ... More >>

Wachovia Admits It Laundered Millions in Mexican Drug Cash

Wachovia bank executives have admitted that the banking giant laundered millions of dollars for Mexican drug lords between 2003 and 2008, prosecutors announced in Miami this afternoon. DEA photo via Wikimedia Commons​The bank has promised to pay $160 million in fines and penalties and to set ... More >>

Getting Screwed by Overdraft Fees? Banks Just Lost Big in Miami Lawsuit Over Abuses

How many times has this happened? Desperate for a caffeine jolt, you stumble into a Starbucks and order a $2 tall coffee. As usual, your wallet is bereft of cash, so you whip out the debit card to pay the bill. courtesy Channel R, via Wikimedia Commons​In your sleep-deprived state, you forge ... More >>

Carlos Migoya, Former Wachovia Exec, To Be Named Interim City Manager

via City of Miami Former City Manager Pete Herandez handed in his resignation on Friday. Bank exec Carlos Migoya will be announced as his replacement this afternoon.​Mayor Tomas Regalado will name Carlos Migoya, a former Wachovia Bank president and Autonation executive, as interim city mana ... More >>

RPOF, Which Took $628k From Rothstein, Calls Sink Corrupt for Returning $6,000 From Rothstein

via The Buzz​Well, this tweet from the Republican Party of Florida's Twitter page sure ain't subtle: "Alex Sink is a lousy corrupt Ultra-Liberal Dem., fully-owned by banking industry and trial lawyers."Jeez, RPOF, tell us how you really feel.The tweet linked to a RedState.com user diary titled "Th ... More >>

305 Photo of the Day: The Only Snowflakes We See All Year

​Are we the only ones who think the snow flakes that go up this time of year on the Bank of America Building look like giant glowing infectious sores? Probably. Sorry to ruin a holiday tradition. Today's photo come MagicCity305's Flickr. If you'd like to see your photo here, join our Flickr group.

President Obama fails to go after those responsible for the financial meltdown

If Van Damme Could Cook

Report: Floridians Hit Hard by Recession; Lost $1.2 Trillion in Household Wealth

via Josie B's flickrIt's hard to illustrate these type stories, but this seems appropriately depressing. It's more of a mood pic. Well, your bank account may already know this, but a new Wachovia report says that Florida was hit the hardest by the recession. Here's your depressing factoids ... More >>

GOP's Twitter Attacks Alex Sink's Working Mom Credentials

The News Service of Florida's article about Alex Sink's appearance at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner this weekend on Miami Beach contains some praise from an unlike source: former Republican Party of Florida chairmen David Johnson.   "The farming background could help in North Florida and th ... More >>

News Roundup

Local Coral Gables-based Bank United collapsed yesterday in the biggest bank failure of 2009. The remnants were sold to an investor group, and all their offices should be open today. [AFP] A man tried to set fire to a synagogue on Miami Beach, but was caught on video. The suspect has be ... More >>

Roam and Stare for No Charge

Another Day, Another Caribbean-Based Ponzi Scheme

Forget Edison, Franklin, even Steve Jobs. If there's one innovator we truly love and respect here in South Florida and the Caribbean, it's Charles Ponzi.The guy, let's face it, invented pretty much the best scheme ever. Why do complicated stuff like "invest money" when you can just take it and prete ... More >>

Chile Takes American Banks to Court for Aiding Pinochet

via Wikimedia CommonsHave you seen this new, weird children's television program Fox News has on called "The Glenn Beck Show?" I've seen it only once, and Beck was harping on about how Obama was a socialist, and how socialism or anything vaguely like it is horrible because Stalin killed a ... More >>

Sad: Obama's Grandmother Dies

News Roundup

If You Think We're In A Recession...

Good, Sweaty Fun

For participants and spectators

Pedestrian Pig-Out

Pedestrian Pig-Out

Latin Funk at Sunday on the Mile

BEST SPORTS VENUE RENOVATION

Homestead Miami Speedway

Best Bar Wrapped Around A Banyan Tree

The bar at Big Fish

To Hatch a Thief

Venezuela's financial crisis as seen through the eyes of a motley robbing crew

Best Not-So-Cheap Thrill

Helicopter rides