Planning to spin his vindication in the long-unsolved murder of Washington intern Chandra Levy into something larger, former California Rep. Gary Condit is shopping a proposal to write a tell-all memoir.

The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday accused R. Allen Stanford and three of his companies with “orchestrating a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme.”

Could one man operate an alleged $50-billion Ponzi scheme without help from anyone else?

What’s a Ponzi scheme got to do to get lasting respect? In October, Thomas J. Petters, a Minnesota businessman, was the talk of the business world for allegedly defrauding investors of $3 billion or more.

Disgraced trader Bernard Madoff may be relieved not to have to trade in the comforts of his $7 million East Side penthouse for a jail cell, but his neighbors are none too happy.

Money is in. Murder is out. High-profile crime seems to have gone upscale (think Rod Blagojevich, think Bernard Madoff), blue collar turning white.

Bernard L. Madoff, the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and a former NASDAQ governor, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with multi-billion-dollar criminal securities fraud.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the prosecutor in the federal case against Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, is no stranger to high-visibility prosecutions.

Even by Chicago standards, the criminal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is a page-turner.

In August, prominent Manhattan lawyer Marc S. Dreier was in court arguing that celebrity editor Judith Regan had stiffed his firm out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yesterday, Dreier was in another court, attending his own bail hearing.

The headline in The Onion may have nailed it: “In Thanksgiving Tradition, Bush Pardons Scooter Libby In Giant Turkey Costume.” In fact, many are betting that Libby will be among those pardoned before the president steps down.

A trial that has riveted the world of philanthropy ended today with the conviction of Alberto W. Vilar, a man who pledged, and sometimes gave, millions of dollars to the arts.

The curtain is coming down on the trial of a man who loved opera, perhaps too much.

Thomas J. Petters gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to political candidates, Democrats and Republicans alike. And he has given millions to institutions of higher education.

A federal judge in Minnesota today ruled that Thomas J. Petters, the multi-millionaire businessman and philanthropist arrested last week on investment fraud charges, could not be released on bail.

Twin Cities businessman and philanthropist Tom Petters was arrested yesterday, charged with mail and wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

Thirteen years to the day after he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend, O.J. Simpson was convicted yesterday of all counts in a robbery and kidnapping case.

While the U.S. financial crisis captured the world’s attention, another kind of financial story made headlines in Minnesota last week.

A government watchdog has detailed bid-rigging, acceptance of improper gifts and sexual relationships among top Interior Department officials charged with overseeing oil and gas companies.

Samuel Israel III, the fugitive hedge fund manager, has come in from the cold.