Opinion ID: 529387
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Entities.

Text: 4 1. FSI: Fiscal Services, Inc. (FSI) operated between 1979-80 as a payables factoring company 1 located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although FSI was not the target of this indictment and trial, it was a predecessor company to the clearing house operation, which is the subject of this trial. 2 During trial, the prosecution offered extensive evidence of the fraudulent operation of FSI under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) in order to show pattern or plan in this fraudulent scheme. 3 5 2. The Clearinghouse Operation: The clearinghouse operation consisted of an interrelated collection of payables factoring and consulting companies--International Clearing House, Universal Clearing House, Business Consultants, Inc., Payable Accounting Corporation, and Accounting Services Company. 6 3. FAS/BCI: Fiscal Advisory Services (FAS), which also operated between 1979-80, was the predecessor company to Business Consultants, Inc. (BCI). In 1980, BCI was organized to act as a consultant to and handle accounting and related services for the clearinghouse operation. In exchange, BCI received two percent of the funds channeled through the clearinghouses. 7 4. Clearinghouses: General Clearing House and National Clearing House, two California-based clearinghouses, formed an integral part of the fraudulent scheme. In 1980, they were served with a cease and desist order which was later made enforceable in Utah. As a result, the operations were renamed, respectively, Universal Clearing House (UCH) and International Clearing House (ICH), and Salt Lake City became the new base of operation. 8