First Vietnamese American Bank one time Director, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Lending Officer Walter Hannen co-conspirator David H. Hagen previously convicted of Securities Fraud and International Money Laundering Scheme sentenced to 45 years and forfeiture of $27.6 million and restitution of +$22,000

On November 17, 2009 David A. Hagen aka David DeFusco was sentenced to 540 months – 45 years, forfeiture of $27.6 million and restitution of +$22,000.  Mr, Hagen will be remanded to the Bureau of Prisons at a facility as close to San Diego, CA as possible.

DAVID A. HAGEN WAS CONVICTED OF SECURITIES FRAUD AND INTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME Local Businessman and His Co-Conspirators Made Approximately $28 Million Selling Stock to the Public CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- DAVID A. HAGEN was convicted by a jury on Friday, May 15, 2009, after a two-week trial on three counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit mail/wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.


HAGEN, a United States citizen who fled to the Bahamas during the investigation of this matter, was originally arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with joining a multi-million dollar international securities fraud and money laundering conspiracy. HAGEN was arrested at J.F.K. International Airport in Queens, New York in September 2007, as he attempted to enter the United States on a commercial airline flight from Nassau, Bahamas after living in the Bahamas for approximately 18 months. HAGEN was denied bond and has been held in custody since that time.

The evidence at trial showed that HAGEN was the owner of a company in Southern Pines, North Carolina known as Gatelinx Corp. (hereafter, “Gatelinx”). Gatelinx was later merged with a publicly-traded shell company known as Autoleasecheck.com, Inc., which company was quoted on the Pinksheets and traded in the Over-the-Counter market. The merged company was renamed GTX Global Corp. (hereafter, “GTX Global”). Following this merger, HAGEN and his co-conspirators controlled approximately 90% of the company’s stock, but held the stock in the names of offshore companies. The evidence at trial showed that, from October 2005 through in or about June 2006, HAGEN and his co-conspirators engaged in a fraudulent promotional campaign designed to drive up the stock price and trading volume of GTX Global. Specifically, the evidence showed that the co-conspirators created websites fraudulently touting the company’s supposed VoIP technology and misstating the company’s financial condition. In addition, the evidence showed that the company issued press releases designed to mislead the public into believing that HAGEN – who was a two-time federal felon – was not involved in the management of the company. Finally, the evidence showed that HAGEN caused the company to issue Disclosure Statements to the public, which statements falsely stated that no one controlled more than 5% of the company’s stock.

The evidence at trial further showed that, from in or about October 2005 through in or about June 2006, HAGEN and his co-conspirators used Canadian brokerage firms to sell approximately 6 million shares of GTX Global stock held in the names of offshore companies for proceeds of approximately $32 million. HAGEN and his co-conspirators then wired these funds from the Canadian brokerage firms to bank accounts in the Bahamas, Curacao, Panama, Cyprus, Dubai, Switzerland, and Gibraltar.

Other co-conspirators included Walter Hannen, Bryan S. Kos, Jeremy D. Jayned, aka Lyle Andrews, Donald E. Oehmke, Mark e. Brecher, Mr. R., Howell We. Woltz, Vernice C. Woltz, US Attorney and North Carolina Superio Court Judge Samuel T. Currin, and Michael D. Spadaccini.