MILLENNIUM FUND CO-CONSPIRER SENTENCED

BIRMINGHAM, AL - RICHARD E. BUSCH, JR., 64, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court, to serve five months in federal custody and five months of home detention. He was charged in a two-count indictment filed in January 2003, and was a fugitive until his capture in March 2007. Busch was one of five people indicted for conspiring to sell unregistered securities that cost many victims thousands of dollars. In addition to his prison sentence, he is ordered by the Court to pay $5,611,959 in restitution to the victims in this case.

“Busch bilked investors of millions,” stated U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. “He is now in prison and we will turn our attention to finding any assets he has in any location.”

The indictment charged that James Michael Hanks, Richard E. Busch, Jr., Jacques Latourette, R. Stephen Bowden, and Brian Burgdorf conspired to sell unregistered securities through an investment fund known as “the Millennium Fund.” The conspirators schemed to induce victims to invest in a series of Panamanian foreign foundations and international business corporations established in the investors’ names.

Hanks, Bowen and Burgdorf pled guilty to the charges in the indictment and were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre to home detention, payment of restitution, and probation terms. Jacques Latourette remains a fugitive, and anyone with information about him should contact the U.S. Marshal Service at 205-731-0100.

Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Alabama Securities and Exchange Commission, conducted the investigation of this case. The U.S. Marshal Service with the cooperation of foreign law enforcement apprehended Busch in the Republic of Panama. Assistant United States Attorney Michael W. Whisonant is prosecuting this matter on behalf of the U.S. Government.