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It just cost me a grand total of $3.95 to retrieve this from the Tribune archives. Mike's partner is a prince of a guy, ain't he?
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For some 60 years, Esther Pappadopoulos worked a minimum-wage job in a Chicago candy factory, in time managing to accumulate savings of several hundred thousand dollars with her frugal lifestyle.
With the money earning little interest in a passbook savings account, Pappadopoulos' son and daughter turned to a trusted family friend to find a better return, though they still wanted a conservative, risk-free investment.
Their friend, David J. Hernandez, then a vice president of operations at Columbia National Bank at 5250 N. Harlem Ave., offered them an investment he said was usually reserved for corporations. He promised them returns of up to 10 percent a year or more and assured them the money would be safe.
Over time, Pappadopoulos, a Greek native in her 80s, and her son and daughter invested $528,000 in the corporate trust accounts.
But there was a problem, according to federal prosecutors. There was no such investment.
Hernandez spent the money, with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars going toward tickets to Bulls games and other Chicago sporting events for himself and dozens of friends, federal authorities said.
On Wednesday in federal court, Hernandez, 38, weeping and apologetic, was sentenced to 2 years and 10 months in prison for a fraud conviction.
Pappadopoulos and her family weren't Hernandez's only victims, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Jacqueline Ross, who prosecuted the case.
Ronald Zabadal also entrusted his elderly parents' financial affairs to Hernandez after he had been diagnosed with leukemia and was going out of town to undergo chemotherapy treatment.
Zabadal's mother, Lillian Geneser, was 78 and suffering from multiple sclerosis and other serious ailments, while his father, Joseph, 86, was blind, partially deaf and a cancer victim.
Ross said that Hernandez befriended Lillian Geneser, calling her "Grandmother" during frequent visits to her home. He brought her flowers when she passed her driver's test.
The couple lost $83,000 in the fraud by Hernandez.
Even after Columbia National Bank discovered the fraud in 1996 and notified the Genesers, the couple didn't understand that they had lost all their money, Ross said.
Hernandez was able to retrieve the bank's letter from the Genesers and then lied to Zabadal about its contents, Ross said.
Only months later, when federal authorities contacted the family, did they realize they had lost the $83,000, Ross said.
A third family also lost money in Hernandez's scheme, authorities said.
In addition to the 34-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Paul Plunkett ordered Hernandez, formerly of Chicago, to pay full restitution to the bank--$723,397.
Columbia National Bank, which was bought by LaSalle Bank in 1996, covered the families' losses.
Hernandez has already served 14 months in custody. He pleaded guilty to the federal fraud charge in April.
He also faces a state charge of child abduction for allegedly kidnapping his two young children during a divorce fight with his wife in 1997. Ten days after disappearing, Hernandez was arrested near Phoenix with the children, said David Goldman, the ex-wife's attorney.
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