Husband of slain woman charged with fraud

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The owner of a California gold-trading firm, whose estranged wife was stabbed to death Monday, has been arrested on federal charges, the FBI said Saturday.

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the arrest to the Los Angeles Times, saying that James Fayed was picked up late Friday at his home in Ventura County. A source told the newspaper the charges involve fraud and that Fayed's home and business have both been searched.

Pamela Fayed was killed in the parking garage of a Century City, Calif., office building. She had just left her lawyer's office.

The couple ran two companies, Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales and a related online gold-trading company, E-Bullion. A judge had been scheduled to hear arguments on Pamela Fayed's request to have the business treated as a separate entity in the divorce because she feared her husband was trying to conceal assets.

Fayed's lawyer, Mark Werksman, a former federal prosecutor, said he believes federal authorities are trying to use Pamela Fayed's killing to press the fraud case against James Fayed.

"They accelerated this as a result of Pam's death on Monday," he said.