The last of three former employees charged along with swindler Edward Hugh Okun was sentenced to three years in prison in federal court in Richmond yesterday. U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne imposed a lower sentence than the five-year maximum called for under a plea agreement between former lawyer Richard B. Simring, once the chief legal officer of Okun Holdings Inc., and the government.

Last Nov. 24, two days before LandAmerica Financial Group went bankrupt, the company refused to release funds it was holding for retired Army Col. Tracy Ralphs of Suffolk. He was about to close on a land purchase for a new home when he got an e-mail from a LandAmerica executive saying the company no longer was in business. Ralphs had put $81,666 of proceeds from selling land—his life savings—into a LandAmerica account on Oct. 15, just two days before that same LandAmerica official sent an e-mail to the company’s chief lawyer warning that the company was about to run out of money to pay customers like him.

LandAmerica Financial Group’s plan to pay off most of the people who entrusted it with tax-shelter funds is to go after the banks and brokers who sold it an obscure kind of investment. The plan the Henrico County-based insurer filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond on Wednesday night says most investors who put millions of dollars into its 1031 exchange accounts will be paid after a relative few who arranged special security for their funds.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, a rough but orderly line forms in a parking lot on Auburn Avenue, three doors from the birthplace of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At 11:30 a.m., several hundred people start shuffling off the asphalt into a former school cafeteria. Most are chipper at the prospect of a good meal, some are wary and a few appear hungry for more than food.

Former Miami businessman Edward Hugh Okun is facing 400 years in prison when his two-day sentencing hearing starts Aug. 4. Okun, 58, was convicted in March of 23 charges in a $126 million scam that victimized hundreds across the country. The scam was run through Okun’s now-defunct, Richmond-based businesses, Investment Properties of America and The 1031 Tax Group. It has not been disclosed why Okun moved his Indianapolis businesses to Richmond in 2005.

Former Miami businessman Edward Hugh Okun is facing 400 years in prison when his two-day sentencing hearing starts Aug. 4. Okun, 58, was convicted in March of 23 charges in a $126 million scam that victimized hundreds of people across the country. The scam was run through Okun’s now-defunct, Richmond-based businesses, Investment Properties of America and The 1031 Tax Group. It has not been disclosed why Okun moved his Indianapolis businesses to Richmond in 2005.

SILVER SPRING, Md. An important part of Bonnie Schloss’ life centers on sailing a modest, 30-foot boat she keeps in Annapolis. The semiretired video editor enjoys the companionship of other sailors. And, she said, “there’s something about sailing. You just go out there and there’s a nice breeze, it’s quiet and I love the water. There’s nothing like the water, any kind of water.“

Miami businessman Edward Hugh Okun is facing 400 years in prison when his two-day sentencing hearing starts on Aug. 4. Okun, 58, was convicted in March of 23 charges in a $126 million scam that victimized hundreds of people across the country. Some of his victims are expected to testify during the sentencing hearing. The scam was run through Okun’s now-defunct, Richmond-based businesses, Investment Properties of America and The 1031 Tax Group. It has not been disclosed why Okun moved his Indianapolis businesses to Richmond in 2005.

Marriage made in fraud: Watch scenes from the lavish wedding of Edward Hugh Okun and Simone Bolani, financed by a $126 million scam. Read the story of a couple defrauded when their nest egg of $854,000 is stolen.