Attorney Donald Watkins and his son have been indicted on fraud charges in Birmingham, U.S. Attorney Jay Town announced. The pair convinced investors to pay millions of dollars into a bank account controlled by the elder Watkins, 70, by telling them the money would be used for growing Watkins-linked companies, prosecutors said. But investigators say the pair treated the account as a personal piggy bank, using the money for buying clothes, and paying taxes, loans, and alimony. Watkins and his son, Donald Watkins, Jr., 46, are also charged with conspiring to obtain loans from Alamerica Bank, founded by the elder Watkins, through a fraudulent scheme. Donald Watkins, Sr., who gained notoriety for representing HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy and former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington, denied any wrongdoing, and accused prosecutors of misleading the grand jury.
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