ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270043
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
Bank-bilking suspect's court hearing delayed
RICHMOND - A hearing for a former Philip Morris employee accused of getting millions of dollars from at least six banks on the pretext he was financing a top-secret cigarette research project was postponed Tuesday.
A scheduled hearing in U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., for Edward J. Reiners was rescheduled for next week.
Reiners, 51, of Somers, N.Y., was arrested March 19 in a New York City suburb with an alleged accomplice, Judy R. Brachiman, on bank fraud charges. Reiners was ordered held in a New York jail pending his hearing.
Brachiman, 38, of Cliffside Park, N.J., was released last week on a $40,000 bond. Her attorney says she was duped into helping Reiners, and prosecutors said Tuesday she has agreed to give herself up to federal authorities in Virginia.
An FBI affidavit filed last week alleges Reiners secured loans totaling $323.5 million from Richmond-based Signet Banking Corp., NationsBank of Charlotte, N.C., and other banks based in the United States, Canada and Japan. Reiners, who worked in Richmond for the tobacco giant until 1992, allegedly posed as a Philip Morris executive to persuade the banks that Philip Morris needed millions of dollars for computers. -Associated Press New River gets Wal-Mart center
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opens a 200,000-square-foot supercenter in Christiansburg today, the second of its planned five in Western Virginia. The store is at U.S. 460 and Peppers Ferry Road, across from the New River Valley Mall.
The supercenter carries general merchandise and groceries under one roof, along with a McDonald's, an auto garage, hair salon, bank, Virginia Tech apparel shop, video rental center and a pharmacy.
Wal-Mart opened a supercenter in Roanoke earlier this year. -Staff report Briefly ...
ETS International Inc. of Roanoke said Tuesday its Richmond-based subsidiary, ETS Water and Waste Management Inc., has won a contract from the city of Richmond to build the third stage of a suction main. The contract price is $924,785. Work will begin May 1 and last about six months.
Tultex Corp. of Martinsville has authorized the purchase of up to 2.5 percent of the company's outstanding common stock, or 750,000 shares, during the next year. The stock closed Tuesday at $4.62 1/2 per share, up 12 1/2 cents.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB