FBI arrests Moorpark gold trader
By Daniel Wolowicz camarillo@theacorn.com

A Moorpark man whose wife was fatally stabbed last week in Century City was arrested Aug. 1 at his ranch home by FBI agents on charges connected with a federal investigation into his Camarillo-based Internet gold trading business, prosecutors said.

According to the onecount indictment unsealed last week, James Fayed, 45, allegedly moved money without proper licenses both domestically and overseas through his company Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Inc. and its two related websites, Goldfinger Coin and E-Bullion.

The indictment said the company had been out of compliance since April 2006.

In federal court Monday evening, a federal prosecutor said evidence links James Fayed to the murder of his wife, a Camarillo resident who was stabbed to death July 28 in a Century City parking lot by an unknown attacker around 6:30 p.m.

Prosecutors said in court that the credit card used to rent the sport utility vehicle that was reportedly seen leaving the crime scene was issued to James Fayed and his company.

The credit card, according to federal investigators, was found at James Fayed's Moorpark ranch when he was arrested.

Pamela Fayed was a co-owner of the gold trading business. The couple were in the midst of a divorce.

Officials with the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Tuesday that James Fayed was a suspect in his wife's murder investigation. No arrests have yet been made in connection with her death.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ralph Zarefsky set James Fayed's bond at $500,000. Mark R. Aveis, a federal prosecutor, said the initial bond amount was too low and filed a motion to keep James Fayed in custody without bond.

Aveis said James Fayed posed a flight risk and was a danger to the community.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Otis Wright ruled to keep Fayed in custody until he's due back in court.

Mark Werksman, James Fayed's attorney, did not return phone calls made by the Acorn Newspaper.

Thom Mrozek, a spokesperson with the U.S. attorney's office, said FBI agents found a number of firearms at James Fayed's ranch home in the 9100 block of Happy Camp Canyon Road. He said James Fayed had permits for the collection of handguns and rifles.

Wrestling for millions

James and Pamela Fayed were arguing over their divorce settlement at the time of the murder, court records show.

The pair filed for divorce in October 2007, according to court records, and were battling over bank accounts which reportedly totaled "in excess of $12 million."

In numerous letters between the couples' attorneys, Pamela Fayed argued that her husband had not given her forensic accountant access to books and records for various business accounts he controlled.

James Fayed said in court documents that he'd given the forensic accountant access to the requested accounts but argued that full disclosure would violate confidentiality between his firm and its clients.

Pamela Fayed was set to meet with attorneys to further discuss the terms of the divorce settlement when she was killed a few blocks from the offices of her husband's divorce attorney.

License issues

James Fayed said in court papers that his wife had attempted to withdraw $800,000 from a business account and deposit it into a personal bank account just days before the two filed for divorce.

Pamela Fayed, according to court records, said she made the wire transfer on the advice of her lawyer, who said she needed the money to pay for various state license fees because the company was reportedly in violation of money transfer laws.

James Fayed contended his wife's reason for money transfer was untrue and that concerns regarding his licensing were being reviewed by the company's corporate attorney because of "the complexity and ambiguity of Internet law."

Aveis, a federal prosecutor, would not comment when asked if Pamela Fayed had agreed to assist agents with the investigation into her husband's company.

Family matters

The couple's divorce and subsequent arguments involved other family members.

"Pamela has a consistent history of regular, complex lying since their marriage began," said James Fayed's sister Mary Mercedes in court records.

Mercedes said Pamela Fayed threatened her brother on numerous occasions and said she would call "the I.R.S., and I will make sure he gets locked up forever."

Mercedes said Pamela Fayed also threatened to tell police that he had sexually assaulted both their 8-year-old daughter and Pamela Fayed's 18yearold daughter from a previous marriage.

Although the couple argued in memos between attorneys about visitation issues, the two shared joint custody of their youngest daughter.

James and Pamela Fayed had filed for divorce in 2000, but later withdew their papers, records show.

In 2003, Pamela Fayed tried unsuccessfully to file a restraining order against Anthony Fayed, James Fayed's older brother and a former employee of the family business.

Pamela Fayed said in court records that Anthony Fayed had threatened other employees of Goldfinger Coin and Bullion and had even fired gun shots while leaving a message for a co-worker. She accused him of using the company credit card for unauthorized purchases and said he had bragged about the connections he had made with a white supremacist prison gang, the Aryan Brotherhood, while he was in an Arizona state prison.

Court records show that Anthony Fayed has been in and out of jail since 2001 on various charges, mostly for drug-related crimes. He currently has an open warrant for his arrest for failure to appear in court following a January arrest on multiple charges of possession of a controlled substance. Last year, he pleaded guilty to felony charges of possession of ammunition.

The gold trading business

According to court documents, James Fayed began his business Goldfinger Coin and Bullion in 1977.

The company trades, sells and stores precious metals, with storage facilities in North America, Europe and Australia.In the late 1990s, it expanded its operation to include its online sites, according to the company's website.

James Fayed manages the business—with suites on Flynn Road in Camarillo—from his home office in Moorpark, court records show.

He said that because of the nature of Internet sites, they are often targeted by computer hackers and require a high level of security.

"I personally designed and customized the installation of a complex, ultra-sophisticated, double redundant security system that is both physical (in the building and its parameters) and virtual (reporting to his private office network round the clock)," James Fayed said in court documents.

He said his home office is a "bulletproof, hightech, bankindustryquality firewallprotected Virtual Private Network that exceeds the level of protection and security used by most commercial U.S. banks."

Rick Copelan, president of the Santa Barbara-based Better Business Bureau tri-counties office, said both E-Bullion and Goldfinger Coin and Bullion have low ratings for customer service.

Copelan said Goldfinger Coin and BullionhasaDrating,whileEBullion has an F rating. The ratings are given based on the company's responsiveness to customer complaints.

"Most of the complaints are for frozen accounts," Copelan said. "They come from all over the world."

Copelan said in one instance a client posted an unanswered complaint that he lost $51,000 during a wire transfer between the E-Bullion website and a bank.

Police said the investigation into Pamela Fayed's murder is ongoing.