In the Region

Ex-contractor exec to plead guilty

A former military-contracting executive from Doylestown intends to plead guilty to a kickback scheme after his case is transferred to a federal court in northern Florida. Court documents filed late Tuesday show Richard S. Ianieri has agreed to plead guilty after federal prosecutors transfer his case from Pittsburgh to Pensacola, Fla., though neither U.S. Attorney's Office returned calls yesterday to explain the move. Prosecutors in Pittsburgh charged Ianieri on Monday with taking $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor while he headed Coherent Systems International Corp., a military contractor with ties to U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D., Pa.). Ianieri and his attorney, W. Thomas Dillard, of Knoxville, Tenn., did not immediately return messages left by the Associated Press yesterday. - AP

Sunoco cited, fined over safety

Accused of 25 safety violations that could endanger workers at its Marcus Hook refinery, Sunoco Inc. was cited yesterday and fined $202,000. The violations, which come as part of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's safety review at the nation's refineries, include improper cleanup facilities for workers exposed to corrosive materials and failure to provide protective equipment. OSHA spokeswoman Leni Uddyback-Fortson said there were three other OSHA investigations at the facility, including one into the cause of a May 17 fire and explosion at a chemical plant in the refinery. No one was injured, and the chemical factory is now being closed. Sunoco spokesman Thomas Golembeski said the company was very concerned about safety and was reviewing the citations. "We have already addressed many of the concerns raised by OSHA during the inspection process," he said. In December, Sunoco contested $305,000 in OSHA safety citations against its Eagle Point refinery in Westville, N.J. - Jane M. Von Bergen

Chester casino operator seeks loan

Chester Downs & Marina L.L.C. is seeking a $230 million term loan to repay debt owed to its parent company, casino operator Harrah's Entertainment Inc., and to fund purchases of partnership stakes. The first-lien credit line and Chester Downs will have B3 credit grades, Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday in a statement. The junk ratings are six steps below investment grade and three levels above Harrah's corporate credit grade. - Bloomberg News

Mt. Laurel man charged in fraud

A Mount Laurel man who had been a settlement agent at real estate closings has been charged with keeping more than $1 million that was intended for mortgage and tax payments, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia. Jason Bloom, 39, was charged in a one-count information, which is considered to be the prelude to a guilty plea. Bloom owned A Great Title Co. in Evesham, according to information from the "ineligible" list of Mortgage Services III, a FirstBank subsidiary. Bloom could be sentenced to 30 years in prison and fined $1 million, said U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy in announcing the case last Thursday. The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, along with the Philadelphia Office of Inspector General. - Roslyn Rudolph

Channel to focus on Olympics

Comcast Corp., Philadelphia, and the U.S. Olympic Committee say they will partner for the new Olympic Network, a cable sports channel focused on the the U.S. participation in the Olympic games. The channel will launch in 2010 and appear on Comcast's Digital Classic tier. Other sports programming on the tier in 2010 will be the professional sports networks for the professional football, hockey and basketball leagues. - Bob Fernandez

AstraZeneca paying $10M milestone

AstraZeneca P.L.C. said it had agreed to make a $10 million milestone payment to Targacept because the two companies plan to conduct further development of AZD3480. AstraZeneca, a British company whose U.S. headquarters are in Wilmington, said it would begin Phase IIb studies on the drug to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. AstraZeneca also plans to continue development of AZD1446 for Alzheimer's disease. AZD1446 is in Phase 1 and was discovered in the AstraZeneca-Targacept research collaboration. - Miriam Hill

Shareholders say farewell to BITI

Bio-Imaging Technologies Inc., which provides clinical trial services in the life sciences industry, said that it won shareholder approval to change its name to BioClinica Inc., effective immediately. The Newtown company's stock symbol, currently BITI, will change to BIOC at the start of trading Monday on the Nasdaq Global Market. The company announced a pending name change in early May. - Reid Kanaley

Elsewhere

Treasury names 9 asset managers

The U.S. Treasury Department named nine asset managers for the Public-Private Investment Program, in an effort to remove as much as $40 billion in troubled assets from banks and other financial firms. The nine fund managers are: AllianceBernstein LP, BlackRock Inc., Invesco Ltd., Marathon Asset Management LP, Oaktree Capital Management LP, RLJ Western Asset Management LP, the TCW Group Inc., Wellington Management Co., and a team of Angelo Gordon & Co. and GE Capital Real Estate. - Bloomberg News

Fed: Consumers trim borrowing

Consumers trimmed borrowing in May for the fourth straight month as the recession took another bite out of investments and drove unemployment higher. The Federal Reserve says consumer credit fell at an annual rate of 1.5 percent, or by $3.2 billion, from April. Economists expected a deeper cut of $9.5 billion. But the new figures still mark the latest move by consumers to curb borrowing, pay down debt and strengthen household budgets. Revised data show consumers ratcheted back borrowing at a 7.8 percent pace in April, or by $16.5 billion. That was a bigger cut than first reported. - AP

Mixed yields on money funds

The average seven-day yield on taxable money-market funds was 0.12 percent this week, up from 0.11 percent last week, according to iMoneyNet Inc. A seven-day yield is an annual yield that is based on the preceding seven days' level of income by the fund. The average yield on tax-free funds was 0.13 percent this week, down from 0.17 percent last week. - Rhonda Dickey